#a lot of takes i seen were weird about it

[captain-kit-adventuress]

Let me tell you some things about American plumbers probably almost none of you know, especially because I've seen people complaining that plumbers make "$42 an hour while I can't even make $15!"

[Note that much of this is state-specific, so ymmv, but most states have an interest in keeping it pretty similar to what I'm going to outline.]

First of all, you have to be licensed, and anything licensed takes forever and costs a fortune. You spend 7 years as an apprentice plumber, which means taking full-time classes on top of full-time work, for which you definitely do not get paid $42 an hour, and you're lucky if you get $20. You're on the hook for all of the tuition and books and whatever else, tools and whatnot, and we all know tuition and books are out of control, but have you seen what decent tools cost these days? This in addition to all of the regular school stuff like a computer, an internet connection, probably a mobile phone of some description, etc. Some you may have already and some you may not.

That's just the education part. Next, even after you've completed your 7 year apprenticeship under extremely strict and exacting standards, for which you get paid almost nothing and have tons of expenses just like any other student, you're still under some kind of supervision for another few years. So you've put in about 10 years into this already and you're nowhere near pulling in the kind of income that people say plumbers make.

But once you actually get into being licensed and bonded and the whole shebang, maybe you get a job with a company, because it's really hard to hang your own shingle, especially in the larger communities where nobody knows anybody else or the quality of their work. You'll work for a plumbing company like anyone else, and let me tell you, it's like any other company where profit matters most and it's for shareholders and not anyone else.

Now comes the part you probably have never heard about: many, many, many plumbers don't really have health insurance for most of their careers, and if they do, it's like the shittiest insurance possible and they have to pay for much of their healthcare out of pocket. Except that these are plumbers, they're constantly on hands and knees on hard, unyielding surfaces, bending, lifting...really physical, difficult work. How many of you actually know how much a toilet weighs? it's anywhere between 50-120 lbs depending on a variety of factors. All that, in addition to actually diagnosing whatever the problem is and knowing how to fix it. Do that for the next 20 years of your life and you're not going to have any knees left, you're going to have a bad back, probably most of your other joints are shot or on the fritz in some way, and this is if you were healthy to begin with and didn't have many health problems during your career. Depending on the collective bargaining agreement, sometimes the unions will cover your healthcare at close to 100% after that, but when it was easier to prevent a lot of it by having time off and the ability to afford care? None of that is covered.

Not only that, but most plumbers don't really get paid time off from work, either, depending on what the agreements are. I know it doesn't seem like plumbers ever work timely, but everyone thinks they have an emergency when the plumbing breaks, and you've got to triage the for-real emergencies alongside the "Timmy backed up the toilet again because he keeps flushing his toys and now there's water and poop and who knows what else everywhere." That's not including the emergency answering services where they're relaying that stuff 24/7/365.

How is that different from most of us today, you might wonder? Because they're literally knee-deep in your shit from morning 'til night. All of the weird stuff you do to screw up your toilets, your sinks, your showers, your fixtures, your pipes, they have to deal with all of it. All of the clogs, the gross hair masses, the half-eaten food from when the disposal stops working, the people who don't know not to flush things they shouldn't, the people who do know and don't care, the floods when the sump pump stops working or there's so much rain it just completely overwhelms it, the people who are sure they can "fix" it, the people who listened to youtube or tiktok and picked the wrong accounts for advice, and most of all, metric tonnes of your actual shit and vomit and whatever other bodily excretions you've got. That is all hazardous enough on its own, and if you think it's gross, I don't think plumbers feel any differently, but it is a part of their job and there's no getting around it. They are paid to deal with all of the stuff no one else wants to even think about. And after they've been exposed to your biohazards for 10 hours a day, they themselves have to pay for any care they need to make sure they don't die from it. You know how many people have dangerous mold in their bathrooms and don't know it? I bet a plumber can tell you.

Those are the conditions with unions trying to fight for them.

[As one more note, not everyone wants to leave home, and that's fine! Why does anyone assume there are no tradespeople in cities when that couldn't be further from the truth? Don't be arses about geography.]

tl;dr: plumbers don't make the money you think they do, they spend half their career earning next to nothing and then when they finally start catching up their bodies are so shot they can't enjoy it; in the middle they have to deal with everybody's grossness and basic repair illiteracy, and they pay for most of it themselves.

source: I was an external auditor for a lot of trade unions.

some of the worst classism is white collar middle class americans against blue collar & minimum wage workers. “why does that plumber make more than me” because he’s been perfecting his craft for 30 years and you send emails. “they’re in the trades bc they’re too dumb to do anything else” ok take that engine apart and put it back together real fast babe. “they’re boring bc they never left their home town” have you considered they financially couldn’t? I am not saying it is anyone’s job to educate, nor you need to respect people who do not respect you, but while you maybe never sympathize we need to learn to empathize. consider why (who) allowed for massive parts of country to be uneducated and how many impoverished areas of this country haven’t had a voice for a very long time. we are all victims of the rich. remember it is up vs down

[imagineshere-forall]

- the calendar ✰ e. buckley (smut version)

Summary: an unexpected person stars for the 118 in the firefighter calendar  Genre: angst & smut Warnings: smut (quickie at work, oral m receiving, unprotected p in v) & swearing & jealousy  Pairing: evan buckley x fem!reader Word count: 2.6k Note: this is my first ever time writing smut so pls pls be kind (or i’ll cry) but also pls leave constructive criticism, if it is bad i need to know so i can get better.

Due to the strict ‘no fraternisation’ rule at the 118, you and Evan had kept your relationship a secret. There had been a few times where someone had nearly caught the two of you, including Eddie walking into the shower room while you and Buck were sharing one cubicle, but no one had caught on yet. In this scenario, Buck had quickly picked you up, wrapped your legs around his waist and covered your mouth with his hand. 

Everyone had just assumed the two of you were best friends, you guys had lots of inside jokes and were always working out together, and today was no different. All the men were working out extra hard as the firefighter calendar had just been announced and they were all fighting to star.

Last year, Chimney had surprised everyone and had represented the 118 in the calendar, so the competition was on. Today was the last day of submissions, and impulsively you had decided to enter some photos for the calendar. You didn't need to take any new photos as for Buck’s birthday the month before, you had done a sexy photoshoot and periodically sent them to him, printing off a few which he kept in his wallet. 

After the submissions had closed, everyone had been eagerly checking the mail for the calendar delivery as they had decided not to announce who was featuring for each firehouse prior to the release. 

Weeks later, you walked into the fire house and were met with whistles by some of the men who you had not spoken to much. Forgetting you had submitted pictures for the calendar you were confused at the sudden attention you were receiving. 

“Why is everyone being so weird today?” you asked walking up to Hen, who was also looking at you funny.

“You don’t know?” questioned Hen, to which you simply shook your head.

“Good morning, Miss August!” Eddie exclaimed as he saw you appear upstairs. Suddenly the pieces clicked together, you must have been picked for the calendar.

“Miss August? What are you talking about?” Evan looked up, pausing as he poured himself a drink.

“y/n here, was chosen to represent the 118 in the firefighter calendar.” Eddie said as he pulled the calendar off the wall, flicking to August.

Suddenly, you were met with a picture of you on your knees, wearing your fireproof trousers but no top, the suspenders on your trousers over your shoulders, giving you a small bit of modesty. The strips of fabric only just covered your nipples, the outline of piercings visible through the fabric of the suspenders. 

You looked up to Buck whose jaw clenched as he took in the picture before him, which he had seen before, as a copy of it lived behind his driver's license in his wallet. You could see as he tried to regain his composure before deciding what to say next. 

“I, uh, I wasn't aware you had submitted pictures for the calendar?” Buck questioned, his voice wavering as he tried to hide his agitation. Now, Buck was usually not a jealous guy, but seeing that picture of you on display on the wall of the firehouse made him want to drive to every firehouse and rip up all the copies of the calendar that had been printed. 

“Yeah, I did it on the last day of submissions, I didn't think I'd get picked so I just forgot about it,” you smiled as you spoke to Evan. The two of you held eye contact, not paying attention to the rest of the crew bustling around you. “I must admit I was confused with the wolf whistles when I walked in this morning.” 

This sentence triggered Evan’s protectiveness.

“People have been whistling at you? Who? Point them out.” Buck demanded as he walked over to the balcony overlooking the main floor.

“Buck, dude, calm down,” Eddie said as he walked over to Buck “She’s single, and she looks great, of course there’s gonna be some attention.”

“Oh yeah, of course,” Buck said, rubbing the back of his neck. Eddie looked at Buck as he paced, clearly confused by his behaviour.

“Oh y/n, I’ve been meaning to get your help with something, could you come help me?” Buck asked, ignoring the looks Eddie was sending his way.

“Uhh, yeah, just let me drop my bag,” you said as you headed to go put it down.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got it.” Buck grabbed your bag and walked to the locker room downstairs and put it in your locker. 

“Buck?” You asked repeatedly as you followed him, getting louder each time until he finally stopped pacing in the locker room. 

“Sorry, it’s just, I don’t like everyone seeing you like that,” Buck whispers as he walks towards you. Thankfully the two of you were in a blindspot to the rest of the firehouse so no one could see as he put his hand up to your face and raised your chin so you were looking into his eyes. “Everyone keeps looking at you, because they think you’re single and I just wish I could tell everyone you’re mine.”

“I’m sorry Buck, I should’ve asked you first,” you whispered.

“No, no, it’s your body and you look great in those photos. I just get a little insecure sometimes,” Buck whispered, fiddling with your fingers as you spoke. 

“I love you Buck.”

“I love you too. Also, I’m going to be having a boner for the entire month of August at work now, so thank you for that.” Buck laughed

“You know, my shift hasn’t officially started, and I was thinking I needed a shower. Plus, jealous Buck is kind of hot.” you said as you pulled Buck towards the showers.

“That's interesting, because I was thinking I needed a shower after that last call,” Buck said as he used his free hand to start unbuttoning his shirt. 

“You definitely do,” You said as you started to unbutton your own shirt. 

Buck’s hands quickly copied yours and raced to unbutton his shirt, as he did he leant forward and harshly attached your lips to his. With your shirt unbuttoned, you placed your hands on Buck’s shoulders, pushing him into the shower cubicle behind the pair of you and easing the shirt off his torso. You and Evan moved in sync as he simultaneously pushed your shirt off your shoulders.

Your feet tangled together as you passionately tumbled into the cubicle. With your lips still locked you reached down and began undoing your belt, Buck quickly following suit. Within seconds, both of your clothing was heaped on the bench, leaving the pair of you in your underwear. 

You reached your hand down between the two of you and you could feel Buck’s hardness through his underwear. You gently palmed him, causing him to groan and lean into you. He very quickly shed his underwear in a desperate effort to feel your skin on his. 

You separated your lips, causing Buck to groan at the loss of contact. Buck’s disappointment was short lived as you began to kiss your way down his neck and his torso. As you dropped to your knees you looked up at Buck who gently stroked your head, beginning to clasp your hair into a ponytail. 

You leant forward and used your hand to hold Buck as you began to deliver small licks to his tip, causing Buck to groan loudly. 

“Please stop teasing,” Buck whimpered. At this you took him in your mouth causing him to drop his head back against the wall in pleasure. 

As you knew your time was likely to be cut short any moment, you sped up your bobbing on Buck’s cock. After a minute you removed Buck from your mouth and licked a stripe all along the underside of him and cradled his balls as your tongue serviced him. 

“Get up here, I’m going to finish soon if you keep that up,” Buck pulled your head away from his crotch and pulled you up so you were standing again. As you stood, precum and saliva leaked from your mouth and you wiped your mouth as you looked back at Buck.

He quickly reached behind and unclasped your bra, kissing your neck and chest as he did so. He kissed down the gap between your breasts and then paid attention to your nipples. He took one of your nipples in his mouth and swirled his tongue around the piercing that lived there, while his other hand twisted your other nipple. Unable to speak from the sensations, you just moaned in pleasure, holding tightly onto the curls at the nape of Buck’s neck. 

His lips went back up to your neck, and his hand went down to your underwear and started pushing your panties off your hips and helping you step out of them. Once your underwear was flung to somewhere in the cubicle his fingers danced over your pelvis before landing on your clit. He rubbed gently with his thumb before his fingers slowly worked their way down to your opening. His fingers gently pressed against your thighs, encouraging you to slightly part them to give him better access. 

“You are so beautiful,” Buck breathed. His face was mere millimeters from yours, with his curls sticking to his forehead from the sweat of the excitement. 

“Buck please,” You groaned, his fingers were slowly exploring you, causing you to gently bite down on his muscular shoulder. 

“Please what baby? I need to hear your words,” he breathed heavily. His fingers were delicately reaching the most pleasurable place while his thumb worked your clit. 

“I, I need your cock, please” You spoke breathlessly. Despite being with Buck many times, the passion had never ceased and every single time with him was exhilarating. 

“Where baby? Where?” He teased. He knew damn well where, he just loved watching you writhe under his thumb. 

“B-Buck, Please, in-inside,” Every syllable was hard for you to push out as you edged closer to the brink. 

“Just let go first,” He said. As he did, you felt your legs begin to wobble, luckily Buck had began to hold you up with his other hand before. You let out a loud moan as he fingered you over the edge and then he quickly retracted his fingers. He maintained eye contact as he licked your juices off his two fingers. 

“Delicious,” he muttered. 

“I think we’re going to need this for the noise,” Buck said as he leant past the wall and turned the shower on. You both stood in the far end of the shower part of the cubicle as you had learnt the hard way that shower sex, under the water, was very dangerous and ended up in fits of giggles. 

Buck grabbed your thighs and lifted you up, pressed your back into the wall and littered your neck in light kisses. 

“Who’s teasing now?” You asked as you felt Buck’s length gently stroke your pussy but not going in. He breathed a laugh and pressed his lips to yours for a moment. 

“As you wish ma’am,” Buck whispered as he maneuvered himself to your entrance. You hissed as he started to push himself into you. Another thing you were not used to despite being with Buck so many times, was his size. 

“More, please.” you grunted, trying to grind yourself into him to get him deeper. 

At your request, Buck’s hands tightened on your thighs, his mouth attacking your neck and pushed himself all the way in. For a moment, he stilled, allowing you to get accustomed to him and then slowly began to thrust. 

Each thrust hit you so deeply, putting you in a state of bliss. So much so, that you nearly didn’t hear the door to the bathroom open. You quickly tapped Buck’s shoulder to alert him as he was borderline drunk on you, and could not form a coherent thought, let alone be aware of his surroundings. 

“Buck? Is that you?” Eddie’s voice rang out.

“Y-Yeah,” Buck stuttered. He was still inside you and struggled to reply without moaning. You gently pushed your hips into him in a desperate need for friction. 

“Are you okay? You sound funny?” Eddie asked. This made you nearly laugh so one of Buck’s hands quickly covered your mouth, and he glared into your eyes. 

“All good, water just went cold,” He shouted back, focusing on trying to sound normal.

“Have you seen y/n? Her shift is about to start and we need to do a handover?” Eddie asked. 

“I think I saw her take a phone call, I’m sure she will be back in any minute,” Buck replied as he slowly began pulling himself out of you. 

“Okay, thanks. See you back upstairs when you’re done” Eddie said.

“I’ll be done any minute,” Buck smirked as he slowly re-entered you. 

You both waited for the bathroom door to close, and once it did Buck began pistoning his hips into you at an ungodly pace. You must have looked like a mess as you leant back into the wall, holding tightly his shoulders. 

“Buck, please,” you moaned. He reached on of his hands down between you and rubbed your clit causing you to lean forward and bit his shoulder. 

“I’m so close,” He grunted as he continued to pound into you, his pace unrelenting. 

The edges of your vision began to blur as you felt yourself getting closer and closer. The coil in the pit of your torso clenched so tight until you finally let go. Your legs began shaking, unable to catch your breath as you came all over his cock. 

Buck kept his pace as he worked his way to his end, his load shooting deep inside you as you milked him. He leant forward, his forehead against yours as he tried to regain his breath. He was still inside you and was still leaking cum as he kissed you gently.

Once you had both caught your breath, he slowly pulled out of you and set you gently on the floor. 

“That was amazing,” he sighed as he began to get feeling back in his legs. 

“Now I really need a shower,” you said as you pushed the two of you under the water, beginning to wash the two of you. “I love you, Evan.”

He gently kissed you on the shoulder before lathering the two of you up with soap. The next few minutes were spent with him delicately washing you, and then you him. 

This moment of intimacy felt so special, you almost didn’t want to get out of the shower. You were in pure bliss in this moment with him.

“You are the love of my life,” Evan breathed as he kissed you gently. 

[just-my-latest-hyperfixation]

Dream a little dream

Written for the Kissing Booth bonus card of the @steddiebingo and for the February round of the @stmonstercalendar Prompts: Lust | Incubus Ship: Steve/Eddie Rated: E Tags: Sex dream (or is it???); Top Steve; Bottom Eddie; Implied mind control; Dubious consent; Blow jobs; Anal sex; Body modification

Eddie has been having this dream a lot lately - finding out you'll be trapped in this shithole of a school for another year will do this to a guy, he guesses. Almost every night, he finds himself back in the deserted halls of Hawkins High, taking twists and turns and bends in his search for the exit. It's no use. Every time he rounds a bend, another empty corridor stretches out before him, leading him ever deeper into the maze. 

The worst part is that he isn't alone. 

He has never seen it. Every time he looks over his shoulder, there's only rows upon rows of lockers and classroom doors behind him. Still, he knows that it is there, with that weird, inexplicable certainty you only get in dreams. Stalking him. Watching him. Getting closer. 

Except tonight, it is different. Tonight it isn't following him. 

Tonight, it is calling to him. 

It's nothing audible. No disembodied voice floating through the neon-lit corridors whispering his name. It's a tingle and thrum in his very blood, an irresistible pull behind his navel. Like a higher force is controlling his steps, luring him closer and closer to where it wants him. He's powerless to stop it. 

Invisible strings guide him to one of the doors lining the walls. He has never walked through any of the doors before, and somewhere in the back of his mind, something wails in alarm, warning him to stop, to turn back while he still can. His steps falter, briefly, but then the thing in his abdomen lurches and his hand pushes the doorknob. 

The air inside is warm and humid, smelling of sweat and cheap shampoo. The locker rooms, he thinks. Some distant part of him wonders how the hell he got here, but that is dreams for you, he guesses. They tend to warp the laws of time and space.

Which is also why he is only mildly surprised to discover he's no longer alone. 

Steve Harrington is lounging on one of the wooden benches in front of, haughty and confident as if it were a throne. 

“There you are,” he rumbles, low and pleased. “Took you long enough.”

Eddie opens his mouth to ask what the hell he's doing here - unlike him, Steve has graduated, he has no reason to be haunting this place - but then those pink lips curl into a smile, and a graceful hand beckons him closer, and he forgets to wonder about it. It's fine. It's just a dream. 

“That's right, baby,” Steve murmurs, gently taking him by the shoulders and guiding him down to the floor. Somehow, Eddie only realizes that they are both naked when his bare knees hit the cold tiles and he catches sight of Steve's hard, flushed cock right in front of his face. Was he naked all this time? He doesn’t remember. “Don't worry about it. Don't worry about a thing. You've been wanting this, haven't you?” 

It's true. He's been lusting after Steve for years. Has imagined in the quiet of his dark room, with his hand wrapped around himself, what it would feel that perfect mouth wrapped around him. What it would be like to have the King bucking and writhing under him, moaning and whimpering and begging to be fucked. 

“Wouldn't you love to know?” Steve smiles down at him. “I'll have to disappoint you. I prefer being the one who does the fucking. You don't mind, do you?” 

Eddie can't say he does. Not when Steve’s hand slipping into his hair to cup the back of his head feels like it belongs there. Not when the weight of Steve’s cock settling warm and heavy on his tongue feels like something slotting into place. 

It’s a large cock, longer and thicker than any Eddie has ever seen before, and when it hits the back of his throat, he tries to pull off, afraid that he'll gag. Steve makes a low shushing sound and keeps him in place with the hand tangled in his hair, fingers scratching soothingly over his scalp, and after a second of panicked flailing, he realizes that it's actually okay. His sound of surprise turns into a muffled whine, and above him, Steve chuckles fondly. Then, with gentle pressure, he starts to guide him into a rhythm, picking up speed as they go. Soon, Eddie’s head is bobbing up and down in his lap, drool running down his chin as he fucks his own throat on Steve’s cock. 

“So very good, baby,” Steve praises. His voice is a raspy, sultry thrum that vibrates right into Eddie’s abdomen. “Knew you’d be a natural at this. Now c’mere.” 

As Steve pulls him up into his lap, Eddie wastes a brief moment wondering how he's supposed to take that huge cock without any preparation. But then Steve is lining himself up, and he realizes that he's already lubed and stretched wide open, clenching uselessly at thin air as he waits to be filled. As if he’d been waiting for this for hours.  

“Look at you,” Steve murmurs, hands settling on his hips as he pushes past his rim, then bottoms out in one swift movement. His eyes are hungry as he watches Eddie’s face go slack, and so intense they seem to be glowing gold in the light of the neon bulbs overhead. “So eager to take me. Like you were made for this. Feel good, honey?” 

The only reply Eddie manages is a wanton moan. He feels obscenely full, stretched wide open around the girth of Steve’s cock, stuffed so completely that every little movement and twitch of his hips makes white-hot sparks of pleasure erupt at the base of his spine. His hands have found Steve's upper arms, nails digging into skin hard enough to leave angry red welts as he starts bouncing up and down on Steve’s cock. 

“Of course it does,” Steve hums, one hand reaching out to thumb at Eddie’s leaking slit. “We're going to have so much fun, you and I. God, you’re more eager than any of the girls I've had. Maybe I should give you a pussy next time. Wonder what that would feel like. Would you like it?” 

Eddie arches his back, trying to buck into Steve’s hand, and whimpers. Of course he'd like that. He'll love anything Steve wants to do to him, and still beg him for more when they're done.

“Good boy,” Steve murmurs. His eyes are swirling, liquid gold, his voice is an electric current in Eddie’s blood. “You’re gonna be perfect, I can tell already. Go ahead now, come for me.” 

Eddie shatters apart, like Steve's permission was all that was holding him back. Maybe it was. 

And if he wakes with Steve’s name on his lips and his hand shoved down his pajama pants, fingers and belly slick with his own relief? And if he comes a second time that night, with three fingers shoved inside himself, pretending they're Steve’s cock? 

That's okay. It's just a fantasy. 

And if Steve catches his eye and smiles the next time he picks up the kids from Hellfire, eyes uncannily bright in the musty drama room? And if there's a trail of half-healed scratch marks poking out from the sleeves of his polo?

He doesn’t worry about it. 

Dreams are weird like that. 

He cannot wait for the next one. 

More Steddie Bingo More Monsters

[genderqueerdykes]

Every time a trans woman speaks up for trans men it's like drinking water after going without it for days. A girl I hang out with mentioned how some trans women in the area are really rude, especially to trans men, and it was like I was finally not crazy anymore. It's weird feeling like I can't trust my experiences of transandrophobia until a trans woman confirms that, yes, trans women can be transphobic too

god i feel it so hard. it's really a wonderful thing that makes the bonds that trans people have so much stronger. it's such a wonderful display of compassion and solidarity. sometimes all it takes is someone else going, no, i see it too, and i don't think it's right. obviously we're not saying all trans women are rude as hell to trans men, but there are behaviors that need to be challenged.

i feel like there was way stronger transfem/transmasc solidarity ~10 - 15 years ago before terf rhetoric became as wide spread as it is now. i remember going to a queer conference when i was around 19 and while there were no groups for transmascs there, all of the transfem people i met were so, so chill, and so kind. to everyone, not just other transfems. i had transfems gently asking me questions on what it's like to be transmasculine, what things make me feel euphoric or dysphoric, how i realized i was a man, and so on! conversations were very open and honest. and these trans women and transfems took the time to educate me on their experiences, too- there was more genuine conversation and exchange of information. we were focusing on helping each other understand. it was genuinely wonderful to learn about tranfemininity as I taught others about transmasculinity. that honest, open dialogue created an environment where sharing and listening were the norm

this divisiveness we've seen lately is so manufactured. and a lot of trans men feel the same way you do, that they can't trust themselves on this matter. it's okay, you're not the only one being made to feel that way

and i know that so many trans women appreciate it when trans men genuinely stand up for us, too. like. it shouldn't have gotten to the point where people only really want to listen to trans women when it comes to trans men, but that solidarity is so huge right now. like seriously, to every trans woman who stands up against this behavior and sticks up for trans men: thank you. we would have had your back regardless, but this makes the bond stronger than steel. we will always have your backs no matter what. thank you for having ours. we owe so much to the trans women who stand up against this behavior. thank y'all, from the bottoms of all of our hearts. thank you for understanding what trans solidarity is all about.

[sapphiresaphics]

Okay, after seeing a bunch of WILD takes on Arcane (and specifically season 2), I feel like I need to educate you guys on some deep Arcane Lore to understand why some things are happening in Arcane.

Magic in League of Legends is kinda a curse. It’s a gift from the gods, but the gods are also cosmic Eldridge Horror H.P.Lovecraft style deities of malevolence. The more you use the magic, the more corrupted you’ll become.

And rest assured… Magic WANTS to be used, just like the One Ring in Lord of the Rings WANTS to be found. When people use magic in League of Legends it’s very easy for the power to corrupt in unusual ways as the magic flows through them and convinces them that their way is the right way.

Heimerdinger actually calls this out:

“I've seen miracles spring from the hands of mages many times, but so often they turned to horrors. I'd always presumed it was due to mankind's turbulent relationship with power.. but perhaps it is a property of the Arcane itself.”

This is explained by Rise in League of Legends lore:

"Magic wants to be used," said the sorcerer. "It is all around us, emanating from the first fragments of creation. It wants to be wielded. And that is the true challenge on the path we both walk. When you realize what the magic wants, how eager it is... Well, then the difficulty isn't how to begin wielding it. It's knowing when to stop."

So like… THIS is why Hextech is so dangerous. Hextech isn’t just like nuclear power being introduced into the world, but like a version of nuclear power that ITSELF wants to destroy the world and will possess and corrupt anyone it can reach around them to achieve its goals.

And THIS is why when Viktor is fused with Hextech he starts seeing Sky and being led down to the undercity to “heal” all the shimmer addicts and become a hive mind community. Viktor THINKS he’s doing something good, but all along hes being guided and manipulated by the powers of cosmic magic.

And THIS is why he needs to be snapped out of it to realize what he’s done. He is NOT himself when he’s manipulating and controlling everyone. The Arcane has been guiding him there so it can be used and achieve what it wants.

Magic isn’t progress. It isn’t beneficial to the world by and large. It’s DANGEROUS and CORRUPTING.

Just think about this too: in areas where the Arcane seeps into the world, it corrupts the world around it. What do you think is making those toxic caves under Zaun? What do you think is in Shimmer? Why do you think Jayce was being corrupted in the AU world when he fell down into that cave? Why do you think that AU works was so bleak and moldy and gross?

You guys need to understand the role of Magic in League of Legends lore to understand WHY the show LITERALLY CALLED ARCANE is about the dangers of magic and how it manipulated and corrupts people to spur the cycle of violence until it destroys everything.

If you were ever confused about why the show that SEEMS to start as a commentary on systemic oppression ends with a giant cosmic marvel style battle, THIS is why. The Arcane is waking up. It’s heard it’s masters call. It WANTS to be used. And it’ll use ANYONE it can find to achieve its goals. Zaunites and Pilties alike.

Every one of you who’s like “oh but shimmer is Zaun’s only form of medicine! It’s bad Piltover tried to snuff it out!” is REALLY missing the forest for the trees.

When you stop trying to compare Arcane’s storyline to that of real world conflicts and history and instead engage with Arcane on its own terms with its own lore, a lot of what you might think are weird choices start to make a lot of sense.

Arcane can be enjoyed by everyone but it was made for the fans of League of Legends first and foremost. Maybe brush up on some of the lore and you’ll start to see what the writers were ACTUALLY trying to say.

[church-of-crayak]

Do you think the reason Ax hates human music is because Andalites have multiple hearts and a different heart rate so they're used to a different beat compared to humans?

i think that could be part of it! i actually put something abt this in the tags of something recently, and i also found a post by somebody else talking about it from a little while back. my take is that the 4/4 standard time signature we humans tend towards (not always of course, my favorite time signature is 6/8), on account of our heartbeats and the pattern of our footsteps, Among Other Things, doesn't feel Quite Right to an andalite, whose heartbeats and hoofbeats could really be in any pattern at all and might make a different rhythm more satisfying to listen to?

the other post i saw was in reference to the too-slow bpm of human music, i believe, implying that the three hearts would make a faster rhythm. i've also seen headcanons that andalite music is not as harsh as human music can get, but the most grating thing we hear elfangor and ax talk about in human music is the singing. so i think the way we sing with our mouths also has a lot to do with it, since we communicate verbally and they communicate by telepathy. i think it would require building up a taste for it, the way any out-of-your-personal-ordinary art requires.

i think it also may have something to do with the way the two andalites we really get to know were raised and taught to act about alien species. they were both growing up in the military after seerow's kindness, during the war between the yeerks and the andalites, after the hork-bajir planet was lost/wiped clean, and the culture around them was incredibly hostile towards other species because of it all. they're both, at least initially (ax for significantly longer i think), extremely critical of any human culture and constantly calling it harsh or primitive. and even after character growth, a lot of their compliments towards the human species are still undercut with something like <for a bunch of wobbly two-legged fffFFFREAKS with WEIRD EYES>. and i think perhaps human music isn't actually that offensive to the andalite ear, and that it just requires someone more open to learning about and attempting to find joy in our joy

[kpopimaginings]

Intense - Seonghwa (NSFW)

A/N: This was a bit inspired by the clip of Seonghwa talking about how much Atiny seem to like pictures of him with things in his mouth.

CW: strap-on, dom/sub vibes, sub!seonghwa, use of safeword

You had a weird love of your boyfriends lips and he had become aware of the fact. He would comment on the great reception from fans if he posed touching his lips or with something in his mouth. This sparked the conversation that led to the purchase of a strap-on.

Arriving home one day, Seonghwa greeted you at the door with a rather sheepish expression on his face.

"Hi, jagi."

"Why do you sound guilty?" you questioned immediately.

"I was a bit excited and I opened the post without you," he explained, producing the strap-on from behind his back.

You felt an instant shift in your demeanor as the air thickened.

"Now?" you asked.

Seonghwa simply nodded, handing you the toy and heading to the bedroom. With a smile on your face you followed your boyfriend, watching as he pulled off his shirt and grabbed a pillow to kneel on so that he was ready for you. Following suit, you got yourself ready, positioning the toy around your hips. Even just the sight of your beautiful boyfriend kneeling on the floor, watching you attentively with his wide eyes was enough to turn you on.

As you finally took your place in front of him you checked in one last time.

"Are you sure you're ok with this?" you asked. As excited as you were to explore this new kink, you needed to make sure he was comfortable with it and not just indulging you.

He nodded again. "Yeah, I want to try this."

It was your turn to nod now as you stepped closer to him. He reached out to stroke the length of the toy. You stayed still for a while, allowing him to familiarise himself with it, slowly starting to kiss, lick and suck at the strap-on at his own pace.

The moment you watched his plush lips delicately envelop the tip, you knew this toy was going to be a great investment. As you noticed him getting more and more comfortable, you threaded your fingers through his hair, gently encouraging him to take more of it into his mouth. You heard yourself let out an involuntary moan at the sight in front of you.

The grip you had on his hair tightened as you felt a new sensation wash over you. The urge to push Seonghwa's face further down the length of the toy grew as you started to lose yourself. You imagined how hot it would be to hear him gagging around it, to push your hips forwards. Your thoughts ran away with you as you lost yourself to the images in your mind.

Managing to see through the haze that was now clouding your brain, you knew that would be a lot to put Seonghwa through on your first session with this new dynamic. You quickly managed to use your grip on his hair to pull him away and take a few steps back before you froze, a distant, far off gaze in your eyes.

"Jagi?" Seonghwa asked, wiping the drool from his chin and climbing to his feet. "Hey, is everything ok?" he spoke again, placing his hands on your shoulders, clearly concerned.

You simply hummed in acknowledgment of his words and took hold of his wrists as you took some deep breaths, trying to ground yourself.

"I just... I-I felt..." you couldn't manage to finish a sentence, your eyes flicking about but still not quite focusing on anything.

"It's ok angel, can you look at me?" Seonghwa asked, moving his hands to cup your face, your grip on his wrists never faltering as he moved.

As calm as he was appearing for you, your boyfriend couldn't help but worry, he'd never seen you like this. He simply stayed in front of you, watching and waiting for your gaze to focus on him.

The gentle strokes of his thumbs along your cheek bones helped to slowly pull you back to him.

"I'm sorry," you told him.

"It's ok," he assured you, looking at you with eyes full of affection. "Are you alright?"

You nodded. "I just kind of felt myself slipping way, losing control. I was worried I'd get carried away and hurt you if I didn't stop."

"But you stopped and I'm not hurt, just worried about you."

You finally moved then, pulling him closer and nuzzling into him as you hugged him tight.

"Thank you," you mumbled. "Thank you for looking after me."

"You don't need to thank me. It's my job as your boyfriend," he said as he began to stroke your hair. "Why don't we get that off you and just snuggle for a bit?"

"Sounds perfect," you told him, pulling back to smile up at him. "But I would like to try this again sometime. I was actually really enjoying it."

Seonghwa helped you out of the strap as he continued the conversation. "Yeah, we definitely can. I got more into it than I thought I would."

"Good," you said as he pulled his top back on.

"Come on then, angel," he said, taking your hand before leading you to the sofa for all the cuddles and soft kisses you could possibly need.

NAVIGATION  |  ATEEZ MASTERLIST

[utilitycaster]

Man, I didn’t want to believe the c3 stans on twitter were actually being that dense and hypocritical, but one quick search and woooooow. I can’t believe I’m seeing ‘I wish people could criticize CR without people jumping to CR’s defense!’ from the same people who’d call you homophobic for saying Laudna’s story arc has been poorly handled. Like these people aren’t even disagreeing that C3 has pacing issues now! But somehow they still can’t admit that maybe the naysayers had a valid point and it’s only a problem when their blorbos don’t get all the spotlight in the ending, something the naysayers were worried about ever since the Keyleth speed dial moment.

I’ve seen people say ‘to make up for BH not getting the full spotlight I want them to show up in C4!’ and like, that really does just highlight how all that matters to these people is their little blorbos getting more screen time. They see that pulling past parties into the current campaign can lead to them overshadowing the current party, and rather than arrive at the conclusion ‘we should limit the ability for past PCs to show up in future campaigns’ they think ‘I want C4 to focus on my favorite blorbos at the expense of the new party!’

YUP. One of the consistently worst, most unkind, and self-absorbed of the lot, who constantly takes anything that challenges the idea that their blorbos are not the most morally justified in the worst faith possible, made a post during their gross tantrum regarding the charity one-shot about how Bells Hells should crash the Fjorester wedding and like...I mean honestly it's just deeply sad. Like, most of the Bells Hells stans don't even like Fjord, Jester, Fjorester, or the Mighty Nein in general, and they probably wouldn't enjoy watching a one-shot (let alone paying to see it live) just to catch a brief glimpse of Bells Hells, and as someone who is paying to see it live my feeling is much more just...I mean that would be kind of weird, but like, the thing is, I like the Mighty Nein so much that a party I like less showing up is like, ok, weird choice, but the Nein are here. And they clearly hate the Mighty Nein more than they enjoy Bells Hells, and that is something of a tragedy.

A lot of us repeatedly said that the Bells Hells fans really wanted Campaign 2 but with Bells Hells and every time they jeered at us and now they're pointing to the time and space that the Aeor arc was given and crying that this is what they wanted. Hell, as someone else pointed out, they're too stupid to come up with a unique slogan - they've taken Liam's "what's sexier than wizards NOTHING" and swapped in sorcerers. They wanted Vox Machina in the story when it meant bringing back one of the most weakly conceived actual play characters to ever exist, and a lot of them even liked the Nein in episode 50 because they could write scenarios with Beau and Imogen, but suddenly, when it's apparent that this was never Bells Hells' campaign, it was the big trilogy finale in which Bells Hells were the current PCs, they're so bitter that they've already written off a Campaign 4 on every possible level. They can't ever extricate the party from past ones given Orym and Laudna's baked-in concepts and won't admit they got exactly what they signed up for.

They've been mad at us for literal years for calling various party members selfish, and we've known for years it was because they were, themselves, utterly selfish. It's really that simple.

[halexxsam]

Can I request a fic about the ghouls and Copia? Perhaps about the first time the pack kidnapped him for a cuddle pile. Copia was going through a tough day, and maybe he was feeling lonely and down. And the ghouls sensed it. So they literally straight up kidnap him from his room and take him to the den where he experiences his first cuddle pile

Stressed out

Characters: dewdrop, aether, mountain, swiss, rain, cirrus, cumulus, copia

tags:

words: 1360

read below the cut! (coming to a03 shortly)

It was a few days after the pack arrived back at the Ministry from the Copia's first tour as Papa. The pack was just at that stage where they emerge from their rooms and want the touch of the others.

Now, the whole pack was scattered across the den. Dewdrop and Aether occupied the love seat, the mated pair tied up in each other. It was hard to see where one started and one ended. Mountain was laying across the couch, his ankles dangling off the ends. His arms were bent behind his head, arms and biceps a delectable view for his pack. Swiss and Rain immediately gravitated towards him, sitting delicately on his lap, Rain leaning into Swiss, neck bared for him. Cirrus and Cumulus sat on the huge bean bag, the ghoulettes sinking into it, only their tails were seen under the large blanket they pulled over them. The den was filled with the sounds of purring and chuffing, the ghouls relishing in the touch of each other.

Aether was first to pull away and stretch out, bones cracking as he pulled his arms above his head, a small groan escaping him. Dew laughed at his mate. "Good stretch, big guy?"

The quintessence ghoul just smirked, his tail coming to swat at his mate's leg. "I'm gonna get some food, any requests?"

"Oh! I want pizza!" Swiss said, jumping up a bit, causing Mountain to let out a punched breath as Swiss' knee made contact with his stomach.

"Calm down, puppy. You'll get your pizza," Mountain laughed out, pulling Swiss down and moving his knee away.

Aether grabbed his shoes, intent on making his way to the kitchen. "Alright, Pizza it is, you bossy ghoul!"

Dew laughed, throwing his mate a jacket. "Love you."

Aether chuffed, smiling. He shut the door to the den and started the cold walk to the kitchen, the abbey being so old that heating was something they didn't feel was necessary to add in. Sister said that it took away from the atmosphere. Aether didn't make it to the kitchen, though, as he got hit with a terrible smell. He followed it to the Papa wing, slowly walking down the hallway.

When he hit Copia's room, he recoiled. Just from outside, Aether could feel extreme bouts of loneliness and depression. The ghoul let out a sad sound, hand itching to just open up his Papa's door and figure out what was wrong. If Aether learned anything on tour, it was that his Papa was a private man, he wouldn't appreciate someone bargaining into his room, no matter if they had good intentions.

"Papa?" Aether knocked, feet shuffling softly. "Is everything alright?"

He hears a weird noise, almost like a ton of books and papers landing on the desk. "Eh, My ghoul! Yes, I'm okay."

"Are you sure?" Aether muttered, "You don't...can I come in?"

When Papa didn't answer, Aether shrugged, deciding it was better to ask for forgiveness than permission. "Alright, I'm coming in."

When he opened the door, his frown worsened as he saw the state his Papa was in. Copia was dressed in his sweatpants and a hoodie, Mountain's old one by the looks of it. He was hunched over his desk, piling of papers almost as high as him. His hair was out of place, eye's red and sore. It was like he didn't even hear Aether come into his room.

"Oh, Papa, are you okay?" Aether said, bounding over to the man, hands shaking at the rush of emotions his quintessence picks up.

Copia looked up at his ghoul beneath his paperwork. Aether couldn't keep the sad sound from erupting, heart breaking at the mere sight of despair and tiredness coming from him. "I'm alright, just lots of work to catch up on after the tour, you know?"

Aether came up and placed a hand on Copia's cheek, the man sagging into his hold pitifully. "Oh papa," He said sadly, his quintessence reaching out and working on undoing his stress. "Come on with me and the pack. We miss you."

He watched how his Papa pulled away and glanced at his paperwork, grumbling about some tax form. "I wish, my ghoul, but Sister demands the paperwork be done."

Aether tsked, "Forget what Sister says, she can't work you to the bone for months and then expect you to bounce back and do paperwork. We all had time to relax, and you need time too."

When Copia didn't make a move, Aether made the decision for him. He bent down and picked up his Papa, slinging him over his shoulder.

"Gah! Aether! What are you doing?!" Copia yelled, quickly grabbing onto his shirt for security.

"I told you, you need to relax, and we miss you."

Copia grumbled but went limp anyway, legs resting and head bobbing as Aether carried him down the hall to the den. He shut his eyes, enjoying the feel of his ghoul and the warmness and comfort he began to feel. He yelped when he was moved, Aether pulling him down and plopping him on the couch, grabbing hold of the couch cushion. Before he could even scan his eyes across the room, he heard the loud purrs of a ghoul underneath him.

Mountain's hand came up to his Papa's hip, securing him on his lap. "Hi Papa," he mumbled out, smiling up at him. "Finally came to your senses, hm?"

Copia laughed, looking at Aether. "I wish, but no. Aether dragged me away from my paperwork."

"Good," Mountain chuffed, pulling on his element to release a soothing lavender smell.

He held onto his Papa as the rest of the pack started to assemble a nest of pillows and blankets on the floor. Rain and Swiss ventured into the dorms, arms overflowing with everyone's personal furs and laundry, stuffing them into the gaps. The girls started to braid their hair, the ghouls always ended up laying on it and pulling it. Dew and Aether prepared snacks and brought some water bottles and lined it all up on the outside of the nest, just close enough so that no one would have to leave.

Copia poked Mountain, grabbing his attention. "Erm, what are they doing?"

"They are making a nest." He answered, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"What for?"

Mountain laughed a bit, before realizing his Papa was serious. "It's for us, all of us. Ghouls will make big nests for their entire pack, it's meant for bonding and re-establishing a connection, or just simple comfort."

Copia moved his head like a cat watching a goldfish in a bowl. "So," he paused, watching at how Dewdrop started building up a two pillow wall, "We lay in it, together?"

The earth ghoul hummed. "We are comfort creatures, you know this. This is how we provide comfort."

"And I'm...pack?"

At that, everyone stopped and looked at him. "Of course you are, Papa. You've always been pack." Rain said, coming up to the pair.

Soon enough, they were all cuddled up in the nest. Copia remained on Mountain's lap, now laying down with his head in the crook of his neck, the ghouls long arms wrapped around his waist. Rain laid on one of Mountain's shoulders, a hand thumbing over the bit of Papa's hip exposed from his shirt. Swiss was on the other side, already conked out and drooling down Mountain's arm. Bracketed in Rain's legs sat Dewdrop and Cumulus, cuddled up closely while the ghoulette braided Dew's hair. Sitting next to Swiss was Aether, his arm extended around both the multi ghoul and Mountain. On his lap sat Cirrus, who was nodding off and mumbling something Aether couldn't understand.

Eventually, everyone was purring again, Copia completely engulfed by his ghouls. His scent mellowed out, smelling more like his usual oak and flowers. He felt relaxed for the first time since they came home from tour, and by looking at his ghouls, they were happier with him around. He tucks that thought away for later, promising himself to spend more time with them. They loved him, and he loved them too.

[audliminal]

It's Just a Game, Right? Pt 2 Redux

Masterpost

"Okay, so. Like I said before, the first video is pretty basic.” Bernard tells Tim. He’s got his laptop perched on his lap and Tim leans into him as he clicks play.

He’s not wrong, either. The video in front of him looks like it was made with movie maker software from at least a decade ago. Hell, Tim’s pretty sure he remembers using a couple of those transitions in elementary school projects. The background remains stagnant, for the most part, with just the pictures at the center of the screen and the text beneath them changing. The pairing pretty obviously is supposed to be a caption for the videos, but the letters are a jumbled mess. Still, it feels familiar.

“Yeah, that’s definitely a Caesar cipher,” Tim mutters. He’s seen enough of them used by shitty two-bit rogues to recognize the patterns on instinct. It’s a bit harder to determine the exact amount of shift just by looking – especially since the shift amount seems like it’s changing on the different captions. Presumably the ciphers have already been solved, so Tim turns his attention away from them for a moment.

Looking around the screen, he can spot hints of distortion against the blank background. It’s blurry, almost invisible to the naked eye, but there’s not really any reason for it to be there naturally.

“The background looks weird,” Tim says.

“Oh yeah, there’s a text overlay on the video. It’s real blurry but somebody identified it as a poem. Something by Emily Dickinson; I don’t remember what the name was, though.”

“Hmmm. Did anyone recognize the song?” It sounds off, but it doesn’t seem to be random notes either. In fact, Tim almost feels like he could hear it on the radio.

“Yeah, a couple people recognized it as Space Oddity, only its been transcribed in a different key. There’s also some random discordant notes in there, too.”

“Heavily modified audio. Doesn’t sound like it’s poor quality, though.”

“True.”

They let the video finish playing. It’s not very long; they were probably timing the visuals to the song, rathen than the other way around. Tim stares at the finished video for a few moments. He’s never really had time for ARGs before. They weren’t exactly very big when he was younger, and now he spends so much time solving rogue shit and actual crimes that he doesn’t really need to go seeking out more puzzles to solve.

“So?” Bernard prompts. “What do you think?”

Honestly, the vibes aren’t the best. It’s clearly intended to be creepy in a way that’s probably exciting for most people, but just sort of reminds Tim of a rogue.

"I can see why you called it basic," Tim says.

“Yeah, it really didn’t seem like it was gonna be much at first.”

“Okay what does the decoded text say?”

"Here," Bernard switches tabs, to an impressive document with screenshots of the actual video, and loads of color-coded notes. “This is a copy of the community document so far.” Tim leans in, and considers the transcriptions.

Honestly, the transcriptions seem pretty basic, too. They’re all simple captions; just a name for the person or location in the image, and some semblance of a date. Notes next to each transcription denote the cipher used. First, a shift of four, then twenty-five, then seven, then nineteen. It’s a simple trick, scrambling the cipher between captions. Even without a key, Caesar ciphers are pretty easy to solve – there’s only ever going to 25 possible solutions, after all. Changing up the key ensures that it takes a lot longer to solve.

“Odd choice of content, too, honestly?” Tim says. It seems so simple, so benign, in comparison to the upsetting music.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, imagine if a novel started with that. They’ve literally made their first video just about names and setting.”

“Huh. Yeah, that is odd.”

Tim lets Bernard consider that, and turns back to look at the document. It’s pretty obvious from the lack of mention of a solution path that they brute forced it. Which, that could be the intended method of solution, but there could also be a key hidden somewhere in the video. Possibly, that’s the point of the poem, or of the music choice. But either of those are something that’ll take further looking into.

Tim may have taken a few years of piano lessons as a kid, but he’s certainly not capable of transcribing music himself, so he’ll probably have to hire someone for that. The document also names the poem as A lane of Yellow led the eye. Tim sits up, reaching out to pull the laptop towards him.

“I’ll see if I can’t get someone more musically gifted to look at the audio. For now, I wanna know more about that poem.”

[icelynia]

YES!

That is the perfect way to put it. Mob had so many ideas for this chapter that instead of saving them for either other chapters or games, they decided to shove them in Chapter 4. Honestly if they still wanted to go this route then some simple restructuring could help the chapter a lot:

When we meet Pianosaurus we end up in a chase/stealth section with him that ends in a scripted loss. Doey then comes in and the story proceeds as usual. Doing this allows Pianosaurus to have his big shining moment and get eaten by Doey. Which speak of that, don’t the toys in the Safe Haven not eat other toys? I might be wrong about that, but if I’m remembering right, then Doey eating Pianosaurus is even weirder.

Yarnaby doesn’t die by random combustion on a hook, but rather dies trying to protect the Dr. in a combined boss battle. Some parts of this original section were just too similar to CatNap for me. The Doctor also shows up over the monitors some more, as there are large periods of time without him.

Doey gets introduced the same way, but it’s framed more as him rescuing you and he maybe doesn’t eat Pianosaurus, just kills him? Most of his story progresses the same way, with the last thing I’d like to change being his boss battle. The room it happens in is just weird, so why not have it in a kitchen area? They had to have somewhere to prepare food, so if it was somewhere that had both freezing temperatures (freezers) and stuff to cut him with, then the area should suffice. I’d also change his final boss form, as it looked too much like a Banban character for me to take seriously.

There’s so much room in the 10 years between the Hour of Joy and our Player’s arrival to tell some of these stories. We have never fully learned the total amount of Bigger Bodies toys that got made, so what happened to the rest of them?! How did CatNap and the Prototype kill the rest of the Smiling Critters by the time the game happens?

This chapter should’ve belonged to Harley Sawyer who has been having hype built around him since the launch of Project: Playtime! He’s one of the major forces that caused all of this to happen. He’s the one that started turning kids into toys! He’s an actual monster, not the kids whose hands have been forced by circumstance. He didn’t need to torture children, turn them into something else, and even take delight in the process and the children’s screams for help.

Everyone (including Doey) has a lot of missed potential. They focused on telling the big picture story (all the VHS tapes, notes, lore drops from characters) that they forgot to look at the here and now. What is the story of this chapter? Who are the important characters in it and how can we get the fans excited about them? They misfocused the answers to these questions in the ARG and marketing, which led to the player base getting somewhat disappointed by what we got, as it wasn’t similar to what was advertised.

I’m hoping that at least Pianosaurus gets to come back in the future, since that didn’t look like a Bigger Bodies version. Maybe if they do a game set in the decade we haven’t seen, we can get another (a better) look at these characters and they can all meet their full potentials.

As for Huggy Wuggy, I wasn’t as shocked by him reappearing as there were quite a few clues that he survived, but I am curious as to their plans with him. In a room in Chapter 2 (The Bunzo Box room I think?) there is blood and blue fur leading up into a vent. Huggy is also the only major boss to have a cutout that is still working and not all static; though noticing that is complete hindsight.

Overall, some restructuring of the chapter was needed. They definitely needed to advertise it better to be more in line with the final product aka advertising Doey more!!).

Okay, it was less than sixty seconds but still. WTF Mob!!!!

[anghraine]

I know this isn't only an autistic thing or always an autistic thing, but over the least few years, I've realized that a lot of my difficulties with humor are not actually with humor itself. If anything, there are specific kinds of humor that really work for me and I end up laughing so much harder and longer than everyone else that it's uncomfortable or embarrassing.

But a lot of popular humor fundamentally relies on saying things that aren't true. Sometimes this is drastic exaggeration, sometimes it's OTT parody that is far more about Being Funny than about the actual thing being parodied, and often it's flatly false and that's what is supposed to be funny about it. And yes, that's a humorless and ungracious way to describe that kind of humor—I don't mean to say that this is objectively bad or something.

I even understand the jokes intellectually. But in the vast majority of cases, there is something deeply unfunny to me about jokes reliant on something that is either obviously untrue or which I firmly disagree with.

I've seen quite a few posts recently about how, in online fandom, mocking your faves or being amused at other people mocking your faves is an important part of fandom culture. But for me, jokes about my faves based on things they actually said or did, or qualities they clearly possess, can be very funny, while jokes that are based on misrepresentations—even obvious, it's-all-in-good-fun-and-we-all-know-the-truth misrepresentations—are tedious at best.

For an easy example: Anakin and Luke Skywalker are two of my main Star Wars faves. Jokes about sand or Anakin mass-murdering children in his good phase or Luke being far less concerned than Han over the revelation of who his twin is or "it's not faaaaair" can still be really funny to me when told right. Jokes about Anakin obviously mind-tricking Padmé or Luke being obviously an eternally optimistic loser twink are intensely annoying to me regardless of context or delivery, not because they're comparably objectionable or anything but because they're not true.

Functionally this does cut out a lot of humor—especially online humor—but it's not that I literally don't understand it. I get it. I just don't get it.

[essektheylyss]

I don't understand how some folks, both people who like and don't like shadowgast, seem to still want me to believe that Liam "caved" to Caleb and Essek being in a relationship because of fandom pressure and continues to go along with it halfheartedly only because of that even though he secretly hates it.

And meanwhile we have entirely unprompted asides like "Imagine two wizards—" "I do. Often."

[simptasia]

being in the DS9 fandom, you'll discover there are so many ways for people to be wrong about julian bashir

[sskk-manifesto]

Ep 5!!!

[chibishortdeath]

Ok stupid rant, but I’m sick of looking up a game and only being able to find guides and wikis made by people who obviously hate the game they’re writing information about.

I was looking for guides for the hedge maze portion of Castlevania 64 because I was stuck in it and couldn’t visualize what the layout of maze looks like (turns out, it’s not technically a traditional maze, aka one route to the exit, which helps a lot) and the only guide I can find is one on gamefaqs or something where the person cannot contain themselves from constantly interjecting to say how much they don’t like Malus cause “ugh overdramatic cutscene, his parents are dead who cares, he looks like a girl” or how they hate the game cause it’s too hard and annoying and “oh boy as if this game couldn’t get worse”.

And like dude! Sincerely! Shut up! I don’t care! I just want to know what I’m supposed to do! You are allowed to dislike the game and express your opinions, just please keep those to a little ending opinion section or a review!!! Stop breaking up actual instructions I can’t keep track of what you’re telling me to do!!!!!!!!!!!

And I saw something similar happen on a different smaller wiki-ish sort of website (it might have been the Castlevania Dungeon, I’m not sure. Definitely not Fandom tho.) on the Castlevania: The Adventure page when I was looking for some facts. Again, the person writing was constantly being all “not that this game is important anyway” and like! I literally don’t care if you don’t like the game that’s not what I’m here for!!! Heck the website even had some misinformation on the page too saying that Christopher was Simon’s grandson in that “or whatever, it doesn’t matter” kind of tone! Like!!!!! Shut up!!!!!!!!!!!! I am here for factual information! Not a review!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It’s just absolutely annoying and now I don’t even know what I’m supposed to do in CV64 cause I can barely process what this guy is saying ugh.