#absolutely no judgement to the person i'm replying to on this post!

[sphorus]

I have to preface this as yes, this kind of post is always 100% designed to farm engagement. But I'm gonna take this reblogs advice and make it a learning opportunity for those unfamiliar with why this kind of expression is fundamentally ambiguous. Additionally, this is not about how ÷ is visually similar to +.

The original poster to this meme is correct.

There are two major flaws in this argument and the way I've been seeing a lot of people justify 9 being the 'correct' answer. The second of which is the more important one:

1. While PEMDAS is used in the USA, other completely valid acronyms to the order of operations are used elsewhere. For example, BEDMAS is used in Canada, BODMAS or BIDMAS is used in the UK, as far as I know. (Where B -> Brackets, O -> Order, and I -> Indices). (I am sure there are other acronyms and methods used in countries that aren't English-speaking, but I'm not very educated on what they are, nor is it particularly important to my argument.)

2. Math isn't formally done left -> right. It just isn't. The left -> right method, is exclusively convention, not a rule.

Let's break it down, from the start:

At it's core, the order of operations consists of 4 steps:

1. Parenthesis (()): any operations contained within brackets. For example, in the expression 2 x (1 + 4), (1 + 4) is grouped within a bracket, so you would do that part first. Therefore, it simplifies to 2 x 5 = 10.

2. Exponents (^, E): exponentials (powers) are done next, and take priority over additive and multiplicative groups. For example, 2 x 3 ^ 2 is equal to 2 x (3 ^ 2). Thus, the correct answer is 2 x 9 = 18, as opposed to 6 ^ 2.

3. Multiplication (x, *) and Division (÷, /): this is done after exponents, and can also be referred to as the the "multiplicative group". This is because dividing by a number can also be seen as multiplying by the inverse. For example, 6 ÷ 2 = 3 can be also written as 6 x (1/2) = 3.

4. Addition (+) and Subtraction (-): this is done as the very last step. Similar to multiplication and division, addition and subtraction can also be also referred to as the "additive group". This is because subtracting by something can also be seen as adding by its negative. For example, 3 - 2 = 1 can also be written as 3 + (-2) = 1.

Now, often times in questions like the one OP complains about, the problem lies with an intrinsic ambiguity that multiplication and division have. That is, there is no rules in mathematics that states math must be done from left to right. This left -> right assumption is one many calculators make, so that basic arithmetic doesn't output an error, or multiple outputs.

The ambiguity of the original problem is due to the uncertainty in whether it is asking 6 x (1/2) x (1 + 2) = 9 OR 6 / (2 x (1 + 2)) = 1

Both of these interpretations of the question are mathematically correct, and outside of these kinds of online questions, you will most certainly see the problem stated as either one or the other. It's very important when writing math problems like this to prioritize clarity with the use of brackets!

Here are some more ambiguous problems as food for thought - how would you interpret these? Are your interpretations all left -> right? (Examples from Knill, 2014):

3 / 4 / 5

3 ^ 3 ^ 3

5 / 2π

References (Where I get my talking points, and provide a more in depth explanation to the ambiguity of problems like these):

AMBIGUOUS PEMDAS, Oliver Knill, written as a collection and on the Harvard math website

Journal of Mathematics Education at Teachers College, Jae Ki Lee, Susan Licwinko, and Nicole Taylor-Buckner

"Order of operations" and other oddities in school mathematics, Hung-Hsi Wu

Stolen from twitter.

Remember that the ÷ symbol is never used in equations because it would create ambiguity. You can't give a correct answer to an incorrect equation.

[comfybirdie]

5 REASONS WHY I REFUSE TO BELIEVE THIS IS JUST ABOUT A TOUR

I don't think I'm smart enough for plausible theories, so this is just a vent of a long time fan. I also have not read many posts, because I've been busy with life, so sorry if someone also said these points.

1. The concept.

I hope this is an album, but I wouldn't pledge my life on it. What I think, however, this is going to be something that brings all the storylines together from previous albums. At least from the Black Parade and Danger Days definitely, but I'm also thinking a bit about Conventional Weapons, too. This is because while yes, the tour does carry the Black Parade name and comes right after everybody spent time crying about not being in the select few to attend the WWWY Fest, the Secretary was not part of the Black Parade storyline. The closest thing we had eas the Director of BLI in Danger Days. And I think we all knew who this woman was the moment she popped up on the screen:

So what if Gerard's costume for the tour was the now undead Director, who became the Secretary of the Dictator?

2. The storyline itself.

I know every word to every album, from the singles to the B sides to leaked ones. But there may always be a chance that I misinterpreted the whole thing, maybe we all did, but the Black Parade is about the afterlife. Whether you got there because of illnes, war, it doesn't matter, you become part of the Black Parade when you die. I believe it to be a celebration of life, or carrying on even after the end.

What the Black Parade has never been, was a personal celebratory National Band, which is exactly what the post writes as the story. I'm going to insert a screenshot with the story.

I saw a theory that the entire concept is going to be revamped, which it might as well be, but even it doesn't make sense.

3. Because that's not what My Chemical Romance is.

And right now I'm thinking about the captions under the pictures.

After seeing the Secretary, my first thought about these captions was that we - The Black Parade - originally must have answered by wanting to be killjoys, the rebellious ones, but eventually we broke and stood in line, becoming the Dictator's beloved National Band, to which the Secretary replied: "Good boy."

However, My Chemical Romance never stood for that. They would never reward us with a tour for standing in line and shutting our mouth. They would never become the corporate machine they stood against since the very beginning. They would never lead the Black Parade in this manner and for this purpose.

And maybe it's just my naivety, the long lost teenager somewhere deep in me saying this, but I still believe they would never do that.

4. Foundations of Decay.

Has it been 2 years since this song came out? Yes. Am I going to bring it up? Absolutely.

(This is definitely overthinking on my part, but I was a history major and with the current events, the parallels are unmatched.) So the thing about wars is, you need people to fight it for you. You need soldiers and military leaders and all of them have to be loyal and obey the orders. The easiest way to achieve that, is by building an ideological foundation you can use to sway their judgement and decision making. The mustache man started with the theory of the back stabbing of the nation. During the middle ages, Christianity provided this foundation for the crusades in the middle east. If you give people something to fear or you give them something to idolise, they will be willing to fight against or for what you want.

And this is the Foundation of Decay.

"you must build an altar where it wells"

"Take his body as a relic to be canonised"

"You stumble through your last crusade"

And is you ask me, this is why this one song came out so much earlier than the rest of the project. Because they lay the ideological foundation first, and you need people to absorb it and truly believe before you can lead them with it. So you tell them again and again and again. Play it at every show on a tour. And so that reunion tour is when the Black Parade became the National Band, instead of the Killjoys. Because we sang along to every word, we absorbed it and not just believed it, but lived it as we attended the tour and sang when they told us to, cheered if they just came on the screen. We became conditioned to follow Gerard's orders as he walked on the stage, just as we will follow the order to play for the Dictator, instead of standing against him.

5. But empires and dictatorships never last, do they?

Rome fell apart. There is a reason there was a Third Reich, because the first 2 also fell. The Ottoman Empire also eventually weakened and fell apart. And just because the Communist Party always said that life is great and everyone is happy "In the Concrete Age", everyone who has lived in a ex-soviet occupied country (hello to my fellow Eastern and Central European MCR fans), we can all tell you, it was everything but true.

And so it is only a matter of time before Dictator's reign has to see its end? Perhaps maybe even bought on by his beloved band, put together from the misfits who the Secretary had to break to stay in line.

But, this is all just my theory. Thank you for clowning with me and my tinfoil hat if you read it this far.

[marlasomething]

Sawlentine's Week 2025: Day 6 - The Parenting Game

I found @sawlentines2025 two Saturdays ago, after I made all my friends watch the OG movie (in a double feature with Zombies Party, soooorry, English speaking audience: Shaun of the Dead) and, fuck if I'm going to try to post this (though AO3 it's a mystery when it'll be available). I'm doing this with the promps + dice rolls + very short format (trying to)

Day 6: Date + Spiralshipping + Lawrence took William under his wing AU

CW: mentions of cops violence and manipulation, chronic pain

Hope you enjoy! All feedback is always GREATLY APPRECIATED

This could absolutely not be happening.

Not to his kid.

William had been a little boy, afraid but pretending not to be, in the corner of a foster care facility, staring daggers at him and Adam when they had first arrived.

He remembered perfectly well the entire story: after surviving the trap, people had begun trying to interview them and, by mere luck, got interested on Adam’s photographic abilities; and he had chosen to be active about it, no more hiding behind his objective…

…and that included taking pictures of one of Police’s biggest shit shows of All Time, of which only a little boy had survived, having witnessed his dad getting shot only a few meters from him.

“Nobody is going to want him, and, with what happened, he might become the kind of person your former psycho boss would have recruited” Adam had tried to lay his head in Lawrence’s lap, but got pushed ever so slightly away.

“We don’t work for him anymore”.

“Yes, but you and the other two legit piggies are still…well…”

“He’s just a kid, barely older than Diana; I am not making him join a murderous cult!”

“Thick, are you? Good think I like your pretty face…how did you manage to get a Medicine degree? No, what I mean is… we bring him in, we take care for him and, if when he gets older he is…a certain way, at least he will have people to support him. Plus, if we adopted a kid maybe people would stop thinking I am just a boy to play with in your mid-life post-almost-death crisis. It gets tiring, and I am not even that hot” Larry laughed, God he loved how ridiculous Adam could get.

And, now, a full grown-up William stood before him and Adam, Diana as small-half-step-sister supporter. He was seriously telling them he was going out on a date-ish (fine, people sometimes are bit oblivious about what their relationship really is), with another man (no problem there either)…that was a cop.

A very compromised cop; so much that Daniel Rigg would have looked crocked next to him. If he didn’t eventually get William, if he decided (rightfully so) that they being rather cruel killers (absolutely correct) was something to be stopped…

…they would be royally screwed. Furthermore, just as a principle thing, he wasn’t thrilled about him actually being the same only-one-good-cop that had been there when William had been orphaned on the first place.

“This is a terrible idea”.

“Larry, let the boy make mistakes. At least he’s not marrying his best friend to try to fix himself, and then fooling around with the staff and his students…Sorry Di, for bringing it up”.

“No worries Adam” she replied, getting closer to William, as almost a human shield.

“Adam, he’s a cop!”

“So is he!” the girl interfered.

“He’s much older!” William stared dead-pan at him, while his partner raised an eyebrow and Diana gave him the most judgemental look in history of mankind.

“You have to be fucking kidding me with that one. Look, I get, you would prefer me to be your little project, but I’ve grown up, I am my own person now” he sighed. “Remember, if you need to call, I am Charlie, okay?” and left, closing as violently as he could. His daughter when right after William, giving him her best ‘I cannot believe you’ stare before leaving with another door slam.

Adam broke into laughter.

“He’s much older! Brilliant, hon, you are the perfect person to accuse someone of cradle-hoping. Remind me, how much wasn’t I born when you were already getting pissed for the first time? Maybe I have been an even worse influence than I thought, showing him to forget about people his own age in favour of older, self-loathing men…” Adam let his head rest in his partner’s elbow. “Now, seriously, I know what you meant and what worries you, but…you know William, if we stop him from doing something, he would double-down on it”.

“When did you become such a mature person?” Adam scoffed.

“Right after the orgy joke, I think; asbestos-filled bathrooms do really change `people. And now, let’s go and have a date of our own, we have to top Amanda and Lynn’s” he stood up and lent him a hand and his cane with the other.

With a bit of effort (there were still bad days regarding his missing feet and partial leg), he stood up and smiled.

He should stop worrying (that much).

At least, William wasn’t creating a trap circuit for Zeke to accept his truth…

…right?

[bunnakit]

my stand in ep 2 thoughts, feelings, etc.

alright i wanted to write this up nicely but it took me... two hours to get through the episode bc i kept stopping to write notes, so i'll do my best i guess.

weird thing about me is when i watch shows and write notes for these posts i always write the notes on napkins? i have like 5 different notebooks in arms reach at all times but i really like scribbling on a napkin for the true unhinged effect.

anyway blah blah reminder i'm just a silly dude on the internet, idk shit about dick, i just like to say shit, don't take me too seriously.

also please DO NOT leave novel spoilers in my reblogs, tags, or replies without some kind of warning label. please? it seems to happen with every show i write meta for and i LOVE that people get hyped but there's no way for me to avoid it when it's in my notifications like that.

some before the actual episode stuff; after learning last week that some of the kinnporsche people worked on this it really becomes apparent, especially in the style of the intro.

the music choices also seem a bit reminiscent of kinnporsche (and a little bit of not me) which i really enjoy. it feels kind of familiar and comforting.

immediately i loved how soft this episode started, the slight stubble on each of them, the way joe speaks so softly as if afraid to shatter their little bubble of peace, etc. i also love that the show doesn't skirt around the topic of sex and the fact that sometimes sex is awkward and clumsy, especially with a new partner and doubly so when it's your first queer partner.

and then the peace was shattered with ming kissing his back yet again. ouchies.

"will tong be at the set?" he's just not even trying to hide it. he basically said 'yeah ur great and all but tong????' but DAMN if poom isn't the absolute king of microexpressions.

at this point i can't really tell if tong is being a spoiled prince (derogatory) or if he's tired of acting in general? judgement withheld until a later date.

and then we jump into this actress being a parallel to ming and OOF OUCHIES MY ORGANS. she's a fan of tong but has to "settle" for joe - just like ming. and yet joe takes the time to be kind, to soothe her worries and put her at ease, because he has a heart of absolute gold. "it's her first movie but she was left to drown by the male lead." it's ming's first love and he has been left to drown in it.

mek's acting is really endearing. this is my first exposure to him (ive seen some of his social media and really like what he stands for as a person) and i'm instantly drawn to his performance. he also pulls off a great balance of adorable/sexy.

OOH THE SHOW SAID BISEXUAL OUT LOUD. A WIN FOR THE BI'S WE LOVE TO SEE IT.

i personally find ming's jealously hilarious. what a little caricature of toxicity.

anyway, it seems to me that if ming could get over his feelings and enjoy what he has in front of him he could be part of and enjoy a very sweet family, as it does seem tong IS giving him love, just not the exact flavor he craves.

the cut to joe's training made me laugh. little oat lore dump but my bio dad was actually a stunt man for movies (which is another part of why i was so excited for this show) and i can promise you nothing like this was part of it. what do i know, though, maybe things have changed since the early 2000s lol.

(no, they're probably not any movies you know, aside from maybe wild wild west [1999]. he mostly did westerns, historical docudramas, and historical fiction.)

ANYWAY AGAIN. with this little glimpse into ming's home life we get to see that he's very accustomed to doing what he wants and getting what he wants, which makes a lot of sense when applied to his almost obsessive behavior regarding tong - and now joe. i did absolutely LOVE linin and her sassy independence (minus the 'i can buy anything i need'.)

but... girl... did you just spray perfume in your mouth?

your actions are strange and unsettling. i like that in a woman.

ugh getting into ming venting his frustrations on joe's body. listen. liiiisten. while toxic without prior discussion... i'm into it. it may or may not be one of my favorite tropes in fanfic. toxic and unhealthy as fuck and i'm here for it.

AND THEN DAMN POOM THOSE NOISES. ACTING FOR YOUR LIFE BBY -- and the SNEEZE AT ORGASM LMAAAO oh i hope that's a running bit for some comedic relief.

because we then make a SHARP pivot into "then stop me" and there's so much potential for pain and self loathing there, for joe to think "i can't blame ming, i didn't stop any of it." i'm sat.

a little side bar, but i'm enjoying the fact that while there is discussion of topping and bottoming as a narrative device there really aren't any stereotypes here. i think on a surface level people would think "oh joe is the top" (pit babe style) and the show said no actually he isn't. love that for us.

"you can even move in haha jk" but the thing is, not jk, because joe would do that for ming - for anyone - bc that's the type of person he is.

[i had to stop and have a lil snack here]

hold up is this wut out drinking with them? OH SHIT IT IS. OKAY. it didn't give us much but at least it's a little connection to him finally. we knew joe knew him from his first life, just didn't really know how.

"i missed you" and when was the last time someone missed joe? not who he's replacing or the space he's filling, but HIM?

love ming's goofy ass locking the door and going inside just so he can make a dramatic ass appearance like he's 'the other woman' or some shit LMAO.

"what's in you to make me jealous?" quite possibly the worst dialogue tree choice ming could've picked.

[joe's emotional well being -45]

[everyone hated that]

"don't be so full of yourself" something joe has never been a day in his life. "you're just a stand-in." he knows. it's not something he ever forgets.

but after all that toxicity we have ming back home, seeking out joe's food for comfort, and we finally get to see him interact with his sister. i LOVE that she knows the importance of being a little silly as a treat, one of my biggest life mottos. we also get to see more of how ming is surrounded by love that he misses out on bc of his own wallowing and self sabotage.

oh, the homoeroticism of sparring with your bestie.

[everyone liked that]

oop- joe is wearing the shirt ming borrowed while sol is wearing a shirt with the word 'fantasy.' i'm good, i'm fine, gwenchana, gwenchana.

ough. sol with too many eyes on him and none of them sincere and joe with nothing but sincerity to offer but remains invisible. oof ouch.

enter ming with more religious imagery to match last week's cross scene. something something the sin of greed? confessing your sins? coveting - idk man, i don't have any religious trauma, my family let me just do my own thing.

but with ming knowing joe's true feeling every toxic thing he does is going to be 1000x more painful and i'm here for it. bring it you fucked up little guy.

"we can't mess with each other's privacy" don't mess with MY privacy. "you can't mess around with anyone else" emphasis on YOU, not we.

and then it's driven home what a romantic joe is, both with his workout heartbreak poetry and this little lady and the tramp noodle moment. this man, again much like pit babe, wants to be domesticated so bad.

and i know we all have hated on ming, that's the point, he's been a caricature of a toxic relationship spelled out in neon letters --

but when was the last time ming laughed with someone like this?

ok im exhausted, i'm falling into bed to read fanfic, but i'm absolutely in love with everything this is doing so far. i haven't written anything as in depth as this since last twilight (pre-betrayal) so it's really nice to feel insane again.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for inquiring after a blog that got deleted?

This happened several months ago and my friends have told me that I wasn't in the wrong, but my stupid anxiety keeps bringing it up and saying actually they only told me that because they like me. Maybe the judgement of strangers will finally get my brain to put it to rest. Repliers, please use she/her pronouns only for me, I don't like being called by they/them.

I'm keeping this vague to respect the privacy of the others involved; if you somehow recognize the situation, please do not give further details. Feel free to ask for clarification if something is confusing, but I will not be providing additional information like what fandom it was as I believe that would just risk revealing who was involved, and I can't think of any additional info that would affect someone's judgement of what I did. I would like judgement of what I did without risking violating anyone else involved's privacy. Also, sorry this is so long. It's the ADHD. I hate it too.

I'm relating the dms involved as closely as I can, but they won't be word-for-word.

I follow several roleplay blogs in the same fandom. One day I noticed one that I particularly liked seemed to have been deleted. I wasn't sure if they'd made a goodbye post I didn't see before deleting or something, so I made a post asking if anyone knew if something had happened with their mod, as it seemed to come out of nowhere to me. No one ever interacted with this post, but I have no way of knowing if people saw it.

I messaged a blog that I had seen interact with them a lot asking something like "hey, do you know if something happened with [blog]'s mod? I noticed they had deleted and was wondering if something happened." They replied with the single word "no" and I thanked them and apologized for bothering them. This one word was the only thing they ever said to me. I took this to mean that they didn't know if anything had happened, but didn't try to investigate further. I was vaguely concerned that they seemed to have suddenly disappeared without anyone knowing, but it wasn't my place to try and dig things up.

A couple days later I was scrolling back through a different blog and I noticed an old post they'd reblogged from the person who deleted's sideblog, and the sideblog had also been deleted. I sent a dm asking something like "Hey, I noticed [blog] and [sideblog] were both deleted, and was wondering if you knew if the mod was alright" and received a response just saying that no one wanted to make what happened public, least of all the mod. I thanked them for responding, apologized for prying, and said I hoped things were alright, then deleted my post asking if anyone knew what had happened, so that people couldn't stumble on it, get curious, and try and pry themselves.

Very shortly after, I received an anonymous ask scolding me for prying into the mod's business when they wanted things kept quiet and continuing after being told no. I posted the anon and explained that I hadn't meant to pry - just was wondering if things were okay - and that I must have misinterpreted that first "no", apologized if I'd made anyone uncomfortable, and made it clear I would absolutely not ask further. That was the end of it, at least as far as I know.

I think I might be the asshole because: I didn't know the mod, we'd never talked beyond their answering some of my asks, but I asked people about them anyways. I was genuinely wondering if they were okay and was careful not to ask what happened, but I know I can have trouble finding the line between normal and nosy, and maybe messaging two people was too far, even if the first person seemed to not know anything.

I think I might not be the asshole because: I wasn't asking for details on what happened, I was just wondering if they were okay or if I'd missed a goodbye post, and backed off immediately after being told it was private. I don't think it's really my fault that I misinterpreted the first person saying "no" to me asking if they knew if something had happened, since I thought they were literally answering my question.

Again, please do not try to figure out who was involved in this if you think you recognize it; I just want my brain to stop turning this damn situation over and over and maybe having strangers judge it will do that.

So. AITA for asking after someone who deleted their roleplay blog?

What are these acronyms?

[cheshire-castle-library]

The op who made that "wahh why isn't fandom fun anymore" post LITERALLY maintags their hate lol, they've done it for ATLA characters and ATSV characters among others. It's so embarrassing.

See this is why I don't participate in many fandoms.

Honestly, everyone is a little blind about themselves once in a while. And you and I are no exception. I'm not in the business of checking into every op on every post on this website. I have like,,, a job and shit. I don't have time for that.

OP can be right and still mess up. OP might just have unpopular opinions that you don't like, and are assuming malice where there isn't any. I don't know, and I'm not here to put that OP on the coroner's table. All I can do is reply to you.

People are allowed to have opinions. People are allowed to share their opinions in fandom space (which is the main tag, I can send you scientific papers that explain this). People are allowed to have unpopular opinions, Publicly, and SHARE THEM. What they are not supposed to do, is lord those opinions over others and use them to hurt people.

What I was agreeing with when I peer reviewed those tags was when people vent into main tags, or frankly this kind of thing? Like, when people can't stay in their lane and have to make a "judgement call" on other people? Or when people are just straight up resentful of a character or fandom, and so they like spit vinegar at everyone over it? I don't know anything about the person you are talking about, and I don't plan to look for it, but unless they're literally pointing fingers and calling people evil for liking 'unlikable' characters, I doubt it's as serious as you're concerned it is.

Like for example, I don't like Twilight. I don't personally find it interesting. I've never read it, but my friends were really into it when it came out, and what I heard of it didn't like... sound fun to me at all. There was a while in my life when I was a little bitch about that, and I'd like make fun of Twilight and I didn't think about how that might upset my friends, and it absolutely never crossed my mind to try and read it and like idk trust my friends to have good taste?

So I try to be better now that I look back on that and see how much of a tool I was. Twilight has stuff in it that's unique. It has stuff in it that's silly and melodramatic too, but its pulp and it explores some interesting themes of romance and "otherness" and age and mental health and stuff like that. So I understand that it appeals to people and it has value, regardless of whether I personally find or make use of that value.

But if I were on tumblr in 8th grade when it came out, I 100% would have been maintagging Twilight hate memes, because I was just kinda tonedef and dumb. That's being a kid. But being a kid doesn't excuse the hurt it causes.

And that is what I think people need to be careful about. Not making fun of things they don't like. Not hurting people for no damn reason, when it would be healthier for everyone to just not interact in the first place.

So also like... this anon message you sent counts as that same thing. Sending an anonymous message (so there's no accountability for what you say) to someone over the character of a third party is not a responsible way to act, and innately causes drama and stress. The OP has nothing to do with me. I have nothing to do with them. I literally don't even know their URL, and I don't plan to go looking for it. Because I know how to stay in my lane and not go looking for drama. That's an important part of adulthood, is choosing your battles. Choosing what to spend your energy on, and not looking to cause problems for yourself and others where it's not absolutely necessary.

For instance, I'm choosing to reply to this, because I think there's something important I can share about my long years in fandom with not just you, but the rest of Tumblr as a whole. I also can take this time to clarify something that obviously wasn't as intuitive as I assumed it was.

Anon, I don't know why you sent this. I don't know whether your intent was out of innocence, whether you were cross with me for some reason, or some secret third thing that I can't fathom. But if you'd like to talk about it more, my dm's are open to everyone. I won't keep replying to anon's, because that's just going to gum up my followers and friends' dashboards; but I'd be more than happy to have a one on one conversation about what you are concerned about, and your fandom experiences, and mine and how fandom has changed over the years.

This type of message isn't very effective at communicating problems.

The best possible outcome of the message you sent me is me not taking it personally as an attack or judgement, and either replying like I am here with civil and clear communication, or me just deleting it and going on with my day. Which, isn't much of a positive impact. The worst possible outcome is you hurt me badly, trigger past traumas, scare me or cow me from ever voicing my opinion again, and cause me to cut myself out of fandom again. Which has happened to me, and enough that I only interact with precious few fandoms as it stands - something you should already know since I mentioned it in the tags of the post we're talking about.

So again, please DM me if you want to talk about this or have other concerns you need help working through. But hiding behind anon and not fully explaining yourself doesn't give me a lot to go on. I just don't know what your intent is, and I'm not going to bend myself into funny shapes trying to guess.

In all honesty, the words you wrote kind of feel like you want me to feel embarrassed about OP or about agreeing with OP or about something I did? And if not, you are asking me to agree to throw a stranger that I don't know and have no interactions with under the bus to validate your opinion.

This sort of thing is why its hard to exist in fandom spaces. This is "big brother" behavior, and turns fandom into a police state. Pointing fingers only makes people retaliate, it doesn't help fandom heal or grow.

That is what people need to stop themselves from doing.

[helianthus-tarot]

hmm, controversial opinion (perhaps) about what I think of your post, first I absolutely agree with everything, and we live more and more with a level of stupidity that surpasses everything! I think this inability to understand comes a lot from the excessive use of technology and too few books, the truth is that reading really fosters critical thinking while technology imposes unfounded opinions. Also I think meaningless scroling makes people feel worthless and useless and they try to be the defender of the "oppressed" to gain some meaning in life

Sorry for the late reply, I thought I had posted it but it was in my draft. Unfortunately, people who read can make this type of judgement too. I have seen people agree with everything the narrator of a book says instead of questioning it or looking at it through a critical lens. There are also a lot of shitty books, with shitty arguments, and people agree with the content of the books. It's like people who travel often but are still racist and close-minded— whatever they see strengthens their own belief instead of expanding their understanding of the world.

I guess while those things (eg. reading more books) logically can help expanding people's minds, I'm not sure how effective it will be if the people themselves have never wanted to reflect, question their own judgement, and look deeper. Same with technology; it can make it easy for people to be smart, it can also make it easy for people to be dumb, it all depends on how people use it. It goes back to whether or not the person has a desire to reflect on the information they consume (through books or tech) and look deeper. And other things like people's emotional needs like you said 'wanting to gain some meanings in life', probably influence it too.

Years ago I got one astroblog who argued against argument that I didn't even make. They made a post on their blog with an assumption of what I meant and what my stance was to get validation from their people. Same thing with the recent comment I got in an anime Patreon I joined, they argued against argument I did not make (I made a different argument) and came at me passive aggressively. All because they assumed "oh they said A so that means they also believe in B", instead of asking me about it.

[vodika-vibes]

Stealing the Commander - Part 4

The Liberation of Ylesia. Cody considers his options.

I wrote this on my phone, so it's a bit short. And also, sorry for any spelling mistakes.

This was far, far worse than any of Alpha-17's surprise inspections back on Kamino. Turns out that Bug's attention to detail, and lack of humor when it comes to reckless behavior was on par with the Alpha he low-key considered his buir.

It was awful.

He spared a glance at Fira, who looked completely calm. Though there was a slight twitch in her fingers that made him think that, maybe, she was just as unsettled by Bug's judgemental silence as he was.

Was this how his vod'e felt when they were trying to sell a plan to him? If so he owed them an apology.

Well. Maybe not. His vod'e were dumbasses sometimes and they needed to know it.

Finally Bug looked up from the datapad, his expression severe, and he pinned Cody with a glare that had his back straightening. "You were supposed to be the reasonable one." Bug accused.

"I'm not sure why you would think that," Cody said, "Sir." He added belatedly.

"You're a soldier! A Commander at that!"

"And I, with the assistance of Fira, came up with a strategically sound plan that would see the slaves of Ylesia freed and receiving aid." Cody pointed out, "And Alderaan agreed to bear the weight of responsibility."

"That's not...you're not..." Bug stopped and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Fine. I don't see anything wrong with the plan you came up with. Or either of the back-up plans you also wrote up."

Fira flashed a small grin, "Told you it was a good idea."

Cody grinned back at her, though, when Bug cleared his throat, they both focused their attention on him. "I will sign off on this plan. But-" he held up a single finger, "The only people going are you two and Gray. I will not leave the ship, and neither will Juffo."

"The plan did account for that," Cody pointed out cheerfully. Amusement filling him at the look Bug shot him. He hadn't been able to be the little shit he was because of the war. But Fira wasn't interested in the Marshal Commander. She was much more interested in the man.

He appreciated that.

Especially since so many people didn't even view him as a person.

"Fucking idiots, the both of you." Bug groused, and then he jabbed a finger at Fira, "Get your boy some appropriate armor."

"Since when was I 'your boy'?"

"Since right now, I guess." Fira grinned at him, "I'm guessing you're not gonna let me paint your white armor black?"

"Absolutely not."

"His armor screams Republic Trooper, resize mine." Bug interrupted, and then he shoved the datapad into Cody's arms, "And get out of my office."

The pair left Bug's office, and Fira led him down the hall to the armory.

Unlike every other spot on the ship, the armory was well lit, and clean. Well, aside from some stains on the floor. Honestly, he was beginning to wonder if the ship had ever been cleaned.

He supposed his judgement wasn't all that fair. After all, he had seen the chore list posted on the fridge, and had even been added to it, though he was mostly just assigned to helping Camma with her chores.

He flickered his gaze around the room. Weapons of all makes and sizes were carefully, and neatly, attached to the walls, and against the back wall were several armor stands.

There was even a set of tiny black and orange armor for Camma. Cute.

Though. He was curious.

"Why orange?"

"Hm?" Fira glanced over her shoulder, looking away from the foot locker she had half buried herself in, "What was that?"

"The detailing on the armor. Why orange?"

"Oh," Fira dug around the foot locker a moment longer, and then pulled out a chest plate, "It represents freedom in Mandalorian culture. But you knew that. I mean, your armor has orange detailing on it too."

"It's gold," Cody replied dryly, "and you're not Mandalorian."

Fira paused and turned to look at him, bewildered, "It's clearly orange. And no, I'm not. But someone who once saved my life was, and this is how I chose to honor her."

"Orange means freedom, which is not something the republic wants us to have. Gold means vengeance, which is somehow fine."

Fira let out a laugh, and pulled a second foot locker over to herself, "You could have started with 'we're conning the pubbies', you know."

"We're not conning them!" Cody paused at her disbelieving look, "okay, maybe we're conning them a little."

"You're my sort of people, Commander."

Cody twitched, "yeah, yeah. Don't call me that."

Fira grinned at him, and tossed the rest of the black armor at him, "Here. They should fit well enough. You and Bug have the same body type."

"And what body type is that?"

"Built like a brick wall." Fira replied easily, "We'll have to use one of Gray's spare helmets, though."

Cody started tugging the armor on, and wasn't the least bit surprised when he realized that it fit just like Fira thought it would. He'd come to accept that Fira was far more competent than she acted.

And he kind of hated how attractive it made her.

Fucking competency kink.

His brothers could never find out. Period.

"Hm...it looks like it fits well." Fira was suddenly in his personal space and Cody worked hard to not twitch. She tugged on the chest piece, to make sure it didn't give, and Cody felt a surge of amusement.

"Does it meet your approval, mother?"

Fira flushed, "Shut it. I'm the one who has to pay the price if you get hurt."

Cody grinned even wider, "Do you check everyone's armor, or am I special?"

Fira flushed even more, and shoved a full face helmet into his arms, "put on the fucking helmet and grab some weapons, you absolute prick."

The door to the armory slid open, and Gray stepped into the room. He glanced at Fira, who had moved to her armor stand to start strapping on her own armor, and then he glanced over at Cody. "Did she check your armor?" He asked, his a deep voice carrying over to Fira who jammed her helmet on her head, though not before Cody caught a glimpse of her red face.

"She did." Cody confirmed.

Gray nodded, he towered over Cody, which was an interesting experience, "She does that to every new person. It's how she shows she cares. Camma's the only one who regularly needs it, at this point."

Cody grinned and pulled his new helmet on, "I think it embarrassed her."

"Absolutely. But emotions are hard for her." Gray smiled at Cody and pulled his own helmet on, "Your plan was well thought out. And good job on convincing Fira to accept the help of Alderaan."

"She didn't need much convincing." Cody admitted.

"She never does. Not when it comes to the well being of people like us." Gray confirmed. And then he turned to Fira, who just finished strapping on the last of her armor and weapons, "We're all set, boss."

"Right. Let's make this quick then."

********

Many people weren't aware of this, but Queen Breha Organa did not inherit the throne from a parent. No. She won it in battle.

She was a warrior queen, and though she much preferred peace, she was not afraid to get her hands dirty, if she had to.

So when her military advisor received word about a massive slave operation on Ylesia, Breha was already inclined to send aid to the people suffering there. And, as they got more and more information about the operation on Ylesia, Breha's thoughts changed direction.

She could not, would not, stand aside and do nothing while thousands of innocent people were enslaved while looking for a religious retreat.

So here she was, on the flagship of the Alderaanian fleet, dressed in her finest armor weave dress, reaching out to the small junker ship who messaged them originally.

The video feed snapped open, and Breha smiled, peacefully, at the pair on the screen. One, clad in black armor with orange and white detailing, was clearly in command, though her companion, much taller wearing black and orange, seemed to be the one feeding her information.

The man leaned closer to his commander officer and murmured something, Breha didn't hear what he said, but his accent was clear. She hid her surprise under a pleasant smile. She hadn't known that any of the clones were running around with known pirates.

"Your majesty," the young woman seemed very uncomfortable with the situation, "we weren't expecting you, or your fleet, for...well...until we finished."

Queen Breha smiled, "It is not in our nature to allow others to do all of the dangerous work. So, we are here to help."

The young woman tilted her head towards the man Breha suspected was a clone.

"Our plan only accounts for three people on Ylesia." He said. And, yes, he was definitely a clone. Breha vaguely remembered something about a Marshal Commander getting kidnapped by pirates but...

Well, he seemed content enough to listen to the Firebrand.

"Is there no way that your plan can be enhanced with several elite soldiers?" The Queen asked instead.

He paused, "Of course there is."

"We're already on route to Ylesia," Firebrand pointed out.

"Then my men will join you on Ylesia and you can work out a plan there." Breha nodded once. She would have to remain on the ship, she promised Bail that she would, but she would be watching closely.

******

With the aid of Alderaanian elite soldiers, the fight went startlingly quickly. Fira hated it. She was grateful, but she still hated it.

So, when the fighting was over, and the Hutt and the T'Landa Til were dead, and the slaves were getting the medical attention they so desperately needed, Fira was leaning against a building, with Gray and Cody standing next to her.

She tilted her head towards Cody, "You could go with them, if you wanted." She said lowly, grudgingly. She wouldn't hold him against his will, but she didn't want him to become a slave again.

Cody glanced at her, and then at the fleet at Alderaanian ships, "I could." He agreed.

"We would ship your stuff to Alderaan," Gray said quietly, "you could rejoin your brothers." As a slave, remained unsaid, but it was heard all the same.

Cody hummed an acknowledgement, but didn't say anything.

None of them said anything as Queen Breha walked over to them, a smile on her face, "Firebrand," She greeted Fira politely, "and two of your sparks, I presume?"

"They are," Fira agreed.

The woman nodded once, "Thank you for letting my people help with this." She said quietly, "None of us are fond of slavery, and this was particularly bad."

"All slavery is particularly bad." Gray said grimly. "The only difference is that the people here didn't know they were slaves."

Breha nodded slowly, "You're right, of course. But we can only do so much before the Senate slaps us with sanctions."

"No surprise there." Fira scoffed, "You can't be surprised by corruption in the senate."

"I'm not. Tragically there's only so much I can do without ordering Alderaan out of the Republic." Breha admitted.

"Would you?" Cody asked, "Leave the Republic?"

Breha's lips pressed into a thin line, "Palpatine has been Chancillor for eleven years. The maximum amount of time a person is allowed to be Chancillor is 8 years. He keeps giving himself more and more power."

"So why remain?" Gray asked.

"Becauae Dooku is a monster, and I don't trust him."

"You don't have any options outside of remain in the Republic and join Dooku?" Fira asked.

Breha paused and considered Fira for a long moment, and then a small smile crossed her lips, "Thank you, again, for allowing us to assist you. Please, if you ever need help against the various slave groups, don't hesitate to call." She gave a shallow bow, and turned away.

As soon as they were alone again, Fira glanced at Cody, "Last chance, love."

Cody was silent for a moment, and then he turned his back on the Alderaanian detachment, "If I don't return with you, Bug will hunt me down and drag me back. So it's better that I remain. For the time being."

Fira grinned at Cody, and Gray slapped him on the shoulder, "Good man," Gray said quietly.

"We're growing on you!"

"Like a fungus." Cody replied, before he turned towards the shuttle, "come on, we should go before the Republic really gets here."

A short walk to the shuttle, and a slightly longer flight to the Liberty, and then they were home free, disappearing into Hyperspace amongst the confusion of the Alderaanian vessels still swarming around Ylesia.

They returned their gear to the armory, and Fira grinned when she saw a new stand had been set up for Cody, though he looked surprised. And then they slipped through the ship, to the sitting quarters, where Bug, Juffo, and Camma were waiting.

"You're back!" Camma shouted in delight, "I made Safety Cookies!" They were decently sized triangle shaped sugar cookies, designed with orange frosting decorations, "Everyone gets one!"

"And I have tea," Bug added, "so yoi three can wind down safely."

Fira took a cookie and a cup of tea, and all but collapsed onto a stool. "I thought we were fucked when the fleet showed up." She admitted.

"You kept your cool, though. I had no idea you were freaked out." Cody pointed out as he hesitantly accepted a cookie from the adamant Camma.

"That's because Fira's the best!" Camma said with a delighted grin, darting around the table to bump Fira's side with her head.

"So it would seem," Cody agreed easily.

Camma let out a delighted noise, and scrambled up onto a stool, to regale her family of what she did while they were off playing heroes.

And the Liberty continued on its path through Hyperspace, heading towards their next destination.

*******

Two weeks later, Senator Bail Organa stood before the Senate, a grim look on his handsome face. His announcement was going to cause chaos in the senate, but...he couldn't bring himself to care.

"The Floor recognizes the Senator from Alderaan,"

Bail directed his platform away from the wall, "Chancillor. Honorable Senators," he began, his voice calm, "I am here to announce that Alderaan, effective immediately, is leaving the Republic."

Absolute silence followed his declaration.

"It is not our intent to join the Separatists, you need not worry about that, and we will defend our territory to the best of our ability. Thank you for your time." He bowed, returned his platform to its starting position, and left the room.

He had a flight to catch. And a missive to write to the Jedi Council.

[spxcemuses]

RULES.

Hello my peoples, I'm Space, and welcome to my semi-selective multimuse blog! My rules are listed below, PLEASE make sure to read them before interacting/following! UPDATED: 2/17/2025 (will change with time; check on them periodically!)

GENERAL RULES:

Age: I am a legal adult (23) and only RP with people whom are 18+ due to (potential) dark themes on my blog & overall maturity. I will block you if you are a minor or if you have no age in your bio/blog info.

"Personal" Blogs: aka regular blogs on Tumblr. I will block regardless if you like or interact with my content (unless you have RP side blogs and explicitly say so). This blog is a RP blog, which is different than a fan blog/fiction blog. I have nothing against you, RP blogs are simply different and likes and such clutter my notifications.

General: This blog is semi-selective, with a lean towards "mutuals" (we both follow each other) and to those I know. We don't have to be mutuals to write together, but I take them as a sort of 'priority'. I have to right to not accept every RP. I may take some time to follow back and/or reach out, especially if you follow first. I also do have a life outside of this blog (shocker I know /lh) and a part-time job, so I will oftentimes be burnt out or have little motivation to be on here. Please know this. It's not you, it's not your blog, you aren't a bother to me (unless I explicitly tell you). Please reblog memes/gif sets/etc. from the source (or where I reblogged it from) instead of me; I don't practice "reblog karma".

OOC Communication: I consider OOC/"mun" communication to be extremely important, no matter what we are talking about. I check in to see if threads want to be continued, to plot, or just to gush about our interactions. You don't have to be buddy-buddy with me if you don't wish to, but I'm relatively chill. All I ask is that you be upfront and honest with me about things. My Discord is available to mutuals upon request. I do take time to message back, either because I don't have the "spoons" to do so or I genuinely didn't see your message(s).

Turning Asks Into Threads: When it comes to asks I receive in my inbox, I copy the ask into a new post and @ the person who sent it in. I also (sometimes) put in statement that says: "Thank you for the ask! Please ask me before continuing it into a thread." with each posted ask. This is to not overwhelm myself; I would prefer if you ask me first before continuing it into a thread (especially if we have 3+ ongoing threads). I'm absolutely fine with things turning into threads (and encourage it), but I prefer you ask first regardless.

Reply Speed: My reply speed is slow (varying from a few weeks or months depending on the muse I have for a character). Most of my posts are set in a queue system, ranging from 2-4 a day. Please note that I may not be writing a muse you wish to write with at any point in time. If it has been 3+ weeks since I've responded, please pop into my IMs or Discord to remind me! Just don't hound me consistently or guilt trip, and we should be good!

Tags: I rely heavily on the tag system (or "tags") to navigate through people's RP blogs. I have tags myself to sort out characters, verses, RP memes, etc., and I expect you to have the same. At the very least, tag my username "spxcemuses" so I can find our threads/interactions easier! I track the tag "spxcemuses". May not interact if you do not have tags.

Drama/Callouts: I do not tolerate OOC/IRL bigotry/drama on this blog and will hard-block if situations come up. I am also anti-callout (unless there's solid evidence, and even then I will make my own decisions/judgement). Do not 'warn' me of people unless they are a legitimate threat. Anon hate will not be tolerated; having anonymous is a privilege, not a right. I will turn it off if things persist and I will block the sender(s) of hate.

DNI: In regards to "drama", I have this section for my own safety/comfort. DO NOT INTERACT with me if you go by these aliases:

> Aku/Grim

> Loke/Wards

> Legend

> Arke/Mocha

> Hearty

> Kier

> Rosario/Whitley

> Slurk

> Shiloh/Spork/Patch

> Boogey

> Marrow

> Stols

> Mars

> Skeptic

> Pucca

> Shep

> Curio

> phoenixissims (idk the mun's name but will add it if I find out).

More may be added if necessary. I have not put the URLs of their blogs for good reason. I know it is a lot of names, but I have chosen to block these people on my own volition, even if I do or don't know them, if I have RPed with them in the past or not. I don't have "beef" or "discourse" with anyone here; I have either blocked these people due to legitimate callouts within the RPC, them being problematic to me/others, or simply don't feel comfortable interacting with. I choose whom I interact with. I will not be upset if you interact/associate with these people, but I want to avoid them if possible.

Unfollowing/Blocking: I usually "soft block" (blocking & unblocking) for a myriad of reasons, but you're more than welcome to follow back if I've softblocked and you want to write with me again. I'm okay with you questioning why, too, but I expect you to be kind about it (and respect my decisions overall). If you wish to cut ties with me entirely, hard-blocking (just blocking) would be the best option so I don't bother you and/or think Tumblr had a glitch (cause it's a functioning website /s). I will hard-block if your rules state so or if you're rude/harassing to me.

ROLEPLAYING/INTERACTIONS:

Muse ≠ Mun: I am not my characters/muses; the majority of them are antagonists or villains with bad and/or questionable morals. I do not support or condone their actions in any way IRL. I will not "water them down" for you. If you have a problem with seeing a certain character on your dash, block the main tag of that character (they'll be "muse; [character name]"). I will not be doing "character tw" tags anymore.

"Bullying" Muses: In addition to "hating" on characters, I don't want people bullying/hating them just because they hate them in real-life. I am not the blog for you to project hate upon. It is ok for muses (once in a while) to bully a character (especially if the character deserves it or has a reason to be bullied), but remind yourselves how serious a muse can be towards yours, especially if mine are powerful or are in powerful positions. In short: my muses will not be your punching bags. It's kind of nitpicky for me tbh, but please understand this.

Triggers: There will be potentially triggering topics written on this blog; I am 18+ for that reason. I will tag things accordingly with "trigger tw" or "trigger mention tw". I also have fandom-based tags you may block. The list is HERE.

Things I personally won't RP: bestiality/zoophilia, pedophilia, incest, "selfcest", childbirth (may do pregnancy threads but not act of childbirth itself), [TBA].

"Mains"/"Exclusives": I don't do mains or exclusives. I do have a few people I gravitate towards/want to write with more, yes, but I feel that singling people out feels clique-y to me. May do "affiliates" in the future, heavy maybe.

Writing: With my writing, I write 1-3 (wordy) paragraphs in third person tense, but can go longer if motivation calls for it. You absolutely don't have to "match length", but do not give me one-liners or just dialog if I've written more; it's simply not fair. I will likely drop a thread immediately if this happens (unless it's short from the start).

Post/Thread Formatting: I use X-Kit Rewritten to 'trim' my threads. I no longer use the "Legacy" editor for threads (unless they're super old but even then, I would have trouble using it). I turn all asks I receive into new posts and continue asks that I've sent to others into new posts. I italicize my writing and bold quotations/certain words; if you do not wish for formatting, please tell me and I can make an exception.

Interactions: This blog is crossover friendly (within circumstances), AU friendly, duplicate friendly, and OC friendly! I don't RP in Tumblr IMs nor with personal blogs. My ask box is always open, so feel free to send things in! I prefer to break the ice with ask/RP memes, but anything can be doable!

Dropping Threads: If you at any time want to drop a thread, feel free to but IM/message me first so I can remove it from RPThreadTracker and plan new interactions. I will likely extend the same courtesy to you.

Plotting/Winging It: When it comes to RPs, I usually like to have light plotting/a general sense on where a thread will go; I don’t really “wing” things too often unless they're short interactions. I will use RP/ask memes as a general "ice breakers" unless you don't do that.

Relationships (general): Do not assume our muses have a relationship in your canon/etc. (unless they've interacted in canon). If you want pre-established relationships, please talk to me about it first. This is especially for OCs that are written in that universe/show, or self-inserts. My interpretation of a character may not align with how you see them.

Romantic Relationships/"Shipping": I am indeed "multiship", but I am going to be selective with it. It is not a priority for this blog. I would prefer to have several threads explore muses' chemistry rather than insta-shipping. Some muses may not be applicable for romantic shipping either. I am multi-verse multiship, which means if I ship with "Partner A" and "Partner B", they take place in separate verses (unless A/B are ok with being in the same verse otherwise.) Do NOT use me purely for shipping material/force ships with me. I do not ship: incest, adult/minor ships, or with duplicates of the same muse ("self-cest").

Smut/NSFW: I have a sideblog that is very selective and low-activity; I write spicy stuff there. I expect our muses to have interacted at least once before writing NSFW content (unless it's one-night stands). I don't write smut with underaged characters (even if they're aged up) or muns. If I find out you lied about your age to write smut with me, I'll hardblock you on both blogs; never interact again. [UPDATE 7/11/2024]: I will seldom write on it; it's not that I'm adverse to NSFW stuff, I just don't feel up for those kinds of threads a lot of the time.

If you have read the rules & acknowledge them, please like this post here so I know!

[kkoct-ik]

hi hi hi hi hi i am genuinely really interested in what you have to say about the rise of self-diagnosis among young people and would really love to hear your thoughts, it can be a private reply to this or even dm me if you don't want it in a PostTM i am genuinely so interested to hear what you have to say <3

it is far too late at night for someone to invoke my autism but ok . ok

(the post being referenced)

im prefacing by saying im speaking as a guy with a sociology special interest (im obsessed w how social groups work and develop) and as someone whos been in mental illness communities since he was far far too young. ive been through subcultures built around competitive suffering like a baby through a machine car wash and that has left its mark.

certain friends of mine will know that i am currently obsessed with how mental health communities have formed in the past few years. absolute explosions of mental disorder centric communities, hashtags, whatever.

what has really completely enamoured me though is that these communities... are not built around competitive suffering. in fact they're barely about mental disorders at all. there's been an explosion of mental illness subcultures where people bond over totally normal human experiences, because they mistakenly think its something particularly neurodiverse.

the current climate of the internet is one where misinformation and oversimplification is rampant. and from that, these social groups exist, based around these simplified models of mental disorders. it's absolutely no wonder why it's so common to see people 'disorder hoard'.

for starters, its easier now more than ever to be told something you experience is a symptom, and a sign you have a specific condition.

for seconds, once you've considered having a condition and meet people who have been misinformed similarly— bonding only over your shared condition— it's very hard to socialise outside that. very quickly this condition can be all you know about yourself. i know this step personally, as something i'm familiar with from competitive suffering subcultures.

evaluation? i'm not sure what to make of it. that's probably why im so intrigued. im glad it's not competitive suffering. yeah, teenagers are having their self perception and social skills whacked, but at least it isn't worse.

i consider calling these communities anti-recovery, but when the communities are only about ailment on a surface level? i'm not sure. it genuinely depends case by case, on what behaviour goes unchecked, what attitudes are internalised, and so on. no sweeping judgements here.

there are multitudes of reasons why press about mental illness is on the rise. genuinely worsening life conditions. more accessible information about potential problems one can face. but i think this niche is something that's overlooked, and it's one quite personal to me.

no conclusion really. i'm just really autistic about certain specific online subcultures. thanks for asking lol

[barbatos-sama]

saw this absolutely baffling reply on an unassuming fabric post so i went to investigate the blog and it took me down an hour long rabbit hole and i have to share my findings.

content warning: real naked penises

he makes weird comments on naked men pics like constantly through the whole day and they're either really simple or like whole frankly poetic at times diatribes about the men and how he feels about their bodies and i've just been looking through his blog for a long time now and im compiling information about this man. half of his posts are very complimentary of the men but the other half are really judgemental if they don't fit his particular type of men: that being hairy muscular men with big uncircumsized weiners (at least 7 1/2 inches he has stated himself) and he HATES tattoos and every man with a tattoo gets a bad review from this guy and he also doesn't like long hair only body hair. he Might be weird about jewish people im unsure as of now. he loves pubes and armpits as well. so far we have gathered about this man is that he went to law school so is presumedly a lawyer, he has a husband which was very surprising, he used to live in my exact fucking city apparently which made this feel a lot more real to me, and now he lives in florida. he's been to europe and is always talking abt how big everyone's cocks there are and now that i think about it he probably loves how many ppl there are uncut. he usually types with proper capitalization but sometimes he misspells shit like saying ass hole with a space in there or putting random apostrophes in there. he is a democrat thankfully at least and he said that he disapproves of trump trying to throw out the immigrants cause they have such big hairy cocks

also i have to emphasize the fact that he posts Constantly like hundreds of posts in a day he posted like 50 times on december 6th im still not past december 6th so im sitting here like is he retired or some shit where does he even have the time to do this and does his husband know. i can tell he's not a bot and he is a real person obsessively posting and judging other men's bodies. some of the pics are ai generated but he doesn't seem to care and still talks abt them like they're real people, one of the two black guys i saw on his blog was an ai generated sexy santa claus

ALSO we're very concerned and think this guy needs therapy because he said he knew how big his own fathers cock and balls were and also said that he wished a specific attractive man was his kindergarten teacher. so i'm like what's going on there dude

anyway i spent so long scrolling through his blog that tumblr like Broke and kept scrolling by itself so i had to stop. this guys blog was like a rabbit hole for me and i think part of why it was so funny was because he kept just saying more and more unhinged shit and i don't feel bad for making fun of him (or at least turning him into a spectacle) because he's so mean to some of the guys just bc they have tattoos or their dicks are small to him so to me he's a mean little bitch but everything he says is so fucking baffling to me that i couldn't stop reading

[luukeskywalker]

20 questions writer meme.

THANKYOUUU @crimsonrainseekingflower FOR TAGGING ME!! <33

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

92!?!?!?!?!?!!?!?!??! WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN?!?!?!?!!?

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

409,439 i feel a little lightheaded tbh

3. What fandoms do you write for?

erm a lot of them LMFAO but my main fandoms are star wars, mxtx novels, one piece, and then supernatural once in a while

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

The Pros and Cons of Keeping Wei Wuxian's Spirit Hostage - hua cheng keeping wwx's spirit safe during the time he was dead, 12k words, 4.5k kudos (this is insane)

there's a STALKER in the CLOUD RECESSES??? - hualian adopts wei wuxian and raises him, he goes to cloud recesses and causes trouble :3c, 5.7k words, 2.7k kudos (this is also insane to me)

sun beneath the sea - merman wangxian au i wrote for the mdzs reverse bang! 19.2k words, 1k kudos (this is slightly less insane)

Jin Ling and the No Good Very Bad Terrible Year of Cloud Recesses Bullshit - my first mdzs fic! 2.9k words, 912 kudos (thank you?!?!?!)

a kiss with a helmet is better than none - omg the first non mdzs fic on this list LOL, this was a short dinluke fic i wrote when i first got really back into star wars. 1.1k words, 911 kudos (LOVE U GUYS!!!)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

i do usually within the first two days! after that i tend to either get too busy and feel bad responding to comments super late or i just plain forget ;A; but i read every comment and they mean the absolute world to me!! i'm trying to get better at responding but it really isn't my strong suit.....

6. What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

this is a tie imo between the precipice from my skywalker palindrome series (i prommy i will upload another installment.....eventually), and Star Light, Star Bright (which is about apollo dreaming of clay while he's in the hospital for the courtroom bombing)

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

in my personal opinion it's gotta be No One Lives Forever, my deancas big bang - it was a labor of love, and also how much i wish certain plot lines could have been wrapped up more properly!

8. Do you get hate on fics?

occasionally i get a comment telling me they didn't expect my fics to be full of "gay shit" but i think those comments are mostly funny, like, bestie this is the gay shit fanfic website. but once in a while people will bookmark my fics with fairly negative comments/judgements and that's just like.......why make that public????

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

hehe. i love writing smut. idk what "kind" this would be but i tend to gravitate towards silly weird sweet kinda kinky sex???

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

i do write crossovers! i haven't in a while (unless you count mxtx novel crossovers which only half count imo LOL) but i think the craziest one i've ever posted is the star wars/animorphs one that is unfinished and will probably remain unfinished for a long time ;~;

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

i know i've definitely had elements of my fics show up in other people's work before but it's not something i keep track of these days, i don't have a lot of time to read fic ^^;; however a few months ago i did find some podcasters had read my fic aloud and commented on it and put it up on the free tier of their patreon??? they said really nice things about it which was a shocker but i feel my insides curdling whenever someone reads my ao3 username out loud HAHAHA

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

i have had them translated a few times! i think pros and cons has a translation or two floating around, and i thiiink? some fics from skywalker palindrome have been translated? i know someone asked and it took me a few days to reply to tell them yes (again, terrible at replying, that's my bad)

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

not exactly a singular fic but i love co-writing series together with my bestie!!!

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

AAUUUGH YOU CAN'T ASK ME THAT. I CAN'T ANSWER. but i did one time listen to wangxian.mp3 about fifty times in one day, recently

15. What's a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

so many.

if i HAD to pick one, i guess i'd say....the straight up 10k of twilight au moshang i have hiding in my google docs. maybe i will just post what i have and leave it at that one day because that was a lot of work to never share it LMFAO

16. What are your writing strengths?

dialogue, visual description, characterization

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

FINISHING THE DAMN THING. both in terms of actually sticking to a fic long enough to finish it, and also the concept of endings as a whole.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

i don't think i've personally done it, but if i needed to i'd like to make sure it's accurate, readable, and translatable for someone who doesn't read the language.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

i actually can get a link to it if fanfic dot net is still working!! (spoiler alert: it is...for now!)

anyways, the first fic i wrote/published was for the lost boys. it hardly counts as a fic bc it's more like a meme that was going around at the time on ff.net, which was a "you've seen [x media] way too many times if...!" list of in-jokes. here it is. and if you want to look at some of my other extremely old stuff i wrote over ten years ago, be my guest i guess! fair warning a lot of it is not great!

20. Favorite fic you've written?

i know this is cheating but i have to say i think my favorite fic i've worked on is the skywalker palindrome as a whole. it's a series of fics but they work together to tell a story that remains an open-ended tragedy. we know where anakin ends up. luke knows who anakin becomes. and it seems like nothing luke can do will turn anakin away from that path. this is the rare situation where i actually have a very clear idea of how it all ends, and i just need to write my way there - which is going to take quite a while QAQ

tag time!!! @deusexvalerate GET TAGGED!!!!!

[hxhhasmysoul]

Different anon.

But I found this statement of your in your other post interesting:

“it's long, it's not perfect and replies to very particular statements made by someone i'm actually friends with rn, but it's pretty exhaustive.”

I would have never thought that you two would become friends. I personally won’t have spent a time of day with people like them, since they seem illiterate when it come to consuming media they claimed to love.

writing out all my thoughts using that post as a jumping off point will forever haunt me.

sometimes it turns out that when you talk to people directly you can find out you can communicate fine even if you come from different places.

sometimes people are just too quick in writing stuff out in a rush of emotion and they aren't really good at writing. it's happened to me a lot when i just write out my adhd and it's really nonsense but i'm feeling bad and i post it.

but most importantly i was right about them in the first few paragraphs of what i wrote there. they aren't malicious in their criticism. they aren't a clout chaser, unlike most people who say things like the previous anon, the cookie cutter stuff about the female characters in jjk and how gege is a misogynist. you can kinda sense it in the flavour of emotion in how these statements are made.

this person's, my new tumblr friend's, posts show a deep emotional connection to the text even if they read the text in a biased way and misinterpreted it.

the previous anon's statement shows this gotcha glee, this smugness of winning the internets. but absolutely no connection to the text. it's thoughtlessly repeating the supposedly morally winning theoretically conversation ending statement someone else came up with who knows how long ago. if you're already smelling the rightwing "check mate libs", you're right because this is what it is.

that's why i called their attitude "performative internet leftism". this is how i call it, i've seen "rainbow puritanism" for the more queer laced versions of this, i'm sure there are other names too. it happens when people, who haven't interrogated where their mindsets and value systems come from, engage in shallow leftism without actually doing the work of trying to understand leftist concepts and their implications. and because they were often socialised in very conservative and/or religiously fundamentalist societies they really need the world to divide into good and bad, and everything they engage with has to have a moral value and is also something that they think reflects on them and is a proof as to what kind of person they are.

that's why they can apply things like a feminist lens in a zero sum way. things like feminist theory, race theory, queer theory, gender theory and many other left leaning critical frameworks are tools for analysis and not judgement. they come from the academia and they are to help to understand systems and patterns. but "performative internet leftism" is about positioning yourself as a good person, as a person who's critical aka someone who will think long and hard enough to get to the problematic. and once they find the problematic and establish the moral value of something they can win the internets.

it's also extremely inflexible, that's why that anon completely ignored my reply to their first ask and proceeded to aggressive gender gege while straw manning some opinions.

that's also why the person, whose post i disagreed with yesterday, replied to my disagreement by saying they didn't finish reading what i wrote and calling themself "normal" and contrasting themself that way from me. because that poster established that they are "normal" and i'm not, they felt that it's okay to completely disregard everything i wrote. normal/abnormal or more often normal/degenerate is a very obvious far right way of dividing people and opinions. that person deemed themself a feminist and a leftist and yet they defaulted to a far right dogwhistle but in their mind they might have felt that they won the internets.

that reply of mine, a poorly phrased and emotional reply btw, is actually what prompted that anon.

so i likely wouldn't manage to be friends with anon or the normal poster, because i'm human, how i fail at leftism is that i'm bitter, and i couldn't not look down on them after what i've seen from them.

[cryptosexologist]

this is no place of honor. nothing good is buried here. like, look at those tags, jesus fucking christ icansayithewasalsojewish there they are, i'm at fucking PEAK 2:11 in the morning brain and i got hooked on the discourse rod like two hours ago at this point? i've been rewriting the same sentence over and over again trying to come up with a way to insult most of the people on this site while excluding all the people i'd feel legit fucking terrible making feel bad (which. includes forseeably anybody reading this unless the grace of god does- AAAAAAAUGHGHGHGGG JUST PUBLISH THE FUCKING THING

yooo this post literally begins "as a trans woman" and is about "discourse", uncool fetish shit, and like. idfk if theres even word for that other thing. People That Are Not Trans Women Keep Your Mouths Shut On This. Maybe Nobody Should Reply At All Actually? i've reached paranoid moralizing stink-beast levels that i don't even really know what to logically do with like i SHOULD post something and this is like my fifth time trying but also it feels deeply unwholesome to either reject or welcome outside input.

being a a trans woman, (which is. fucking relevant because YES THIS SHIT GETS TUMLBRFIED ALONG DEMOGRAPHIC LINESSSSS I'M REWRITING A FOLLOW UP THAT MORE DIRECLTY MADE CLEAR IT WAS ABOUT TRANSMISOGYNISTIC REACTIONS TO THINGS-RANGING-FROM-COMPLETELY-INNOCUOUS-TO-FRINGE-CASE-PERVERT-SHIT-I.-JFC-I-CANT-EXPLAIN-IT-MORE-AGAIN-I'LL-COLLAPSE) one who is NOT immune to internet horny in all its forms ranging from innocuous to.... Less [private information/"backstory" expunged tldr the internet can fuck you up especially if you grow to view it as a place of refuge] and is ALSO extremely adamant that Hey I Think That People Should Face Repercussions For Publicly Saucing Up On "Gross" (don't. make me spell out the exact points at which i think the enjoyment of a particular subject can be morally justifiable we'd be here all week and we'd kill ourselves before the talk was done) Shit but ALSO also the moral phucking filosopher in me can't shake off the feeling that Even Kink Shaming For Legit "Dangerous" Shit (in. interpersonal and cultural normalization ways not "shoot your boyfriend in the pancreas" ways) Still Fucking Counts As Sexual Harassment*** and. ghahghhhh.

at least if i didn't have a moral backbone i could hang out with those smug pretentious fictional bullshit loving DOUCHEBAGS but no i guess i'd chose "foolhardy and can-have-their-sense-of-Innate-Morality-swayed-into-fascistic-tendencies yet barring those incidencees are still fundamentally deep down good" to "i have pleasured myself with uranium-27 every evening for the past three years and its everyone elses problem, radiation is a puritanical myth" (or for that matter "foolhardy and easily swayed into fascistic tendencies and pretending to be good but its mostly people getting mad at trans women for calling themselves dogs or being furries". i do not intend to equivocate The Bad Thing Thats Transmisogynist with my own fucking sad little adoptive poop house filled with people failing to actually make any progress in extricating 'that stuugh' from the contexts where its fucking dangerous but like hey we're trying and i guess thats better than worshipping the the fucking stuff)

*** just bc i call it that doesn't mean arguments can't be made as to why its necessary or for the public good bla bla bla i'm not strictly arguing against it its just. even entertaining that it might be a lesser of two evils opens up so many fucking unsanswerable questions and my feelings-of-personal-shame-and-guilt engines just start kicking in bc this shit can't even be framed as "rationally" or "concisely" as a fucking trolley problem i'm moral relativisming my way into absolutism somehow i pray for hell to be real so that the duty of judgement can be left to hands other than my own for I Too am imperfect (albeit not in a way that gets off to children, LOL, get fucked i do still have the moral highground, like not over YOU necessarily but over those *other* dipshits that neither of *us* like)

[waxworkdaughter]

@randomfoggytiger replied: @waxworkdaughter Was thinking on your post and came back because I'm doubly curious: do you think Scully's bent as described above is due to the lazy writing as the show went on, or more... how do you say, CC wanting to be smart and sounding vastly unintelligent? I noticed in the Revival he wrote most of the scripts as if he had something to prove (I mean, after IWTB I can see why...) but there was so much negligent nonsense that, somehow, those few episodes were leagues worse than the 90s-early 00s (and with looser deadlines, apparently. Or hypothetically.) I might not concur with your final conclusion, but your observation does speak to an issue I think we can both agree on: garbage quality control. So! In short. XDDD What would you say is the root cause-- is it part of the roots' system, or did it get grafted in later? o.o

So I wanted to clarify that what I meant by 'conspiratorial' is actually kind of what you said "They reject basic facts because those facts are too rational for them." I don't mean the part of conspiracy theory where the person has started blaming (((someone))) for why "no one knows XYZ" or "here's what's really going on" but the start of it, linking disparate, half reasonable-half fantastical dots that don't really link and stating it as 'absolutely why such and such is happening." Her "rational" explanations are correct for our reality In Real Life. Sort of.

However, due to the structure of the show, where they decided early on that "Mulder is always right" (ish) and that the dangers of the conspiracy and the monsters had to be substantive and visible to the audience and the characters, the real world explanations are observably and basically incorrect. Her theories for the 'earthly' explanation using the basic facts of our world only feel rational for a certain amount of time, until the number of repeated, personal experiences she had and experiences that Mulder had (which, while the writing states "she trusts him more than anything, with her life, she trusts his judgement" her plot related actions show that she would have to completely distrust his judgement to dismiss all of it) begins to make her arguments seem irrational and half baked. Instead of using her scientist's mind to accept the improbable that is backed with consistent experience in waking life, at least around the syndicate/the greys/the hybrids/the oil virus/her abduction experience and others, plus a number of the mutants, she leaps past the 'basic facts' of their X-files reality to use conjecture and barely related pseudo science to come up with a more 'plausible' answer. It becomes "of course it's not [paranormal phenomenon that's not true irl but was just seen on screen] it's [also wild pseudo science of half understood concepts linked in ways they aren't meant to be linked, written by someone on a deadline who grabbed enough buzzwords to get through the episode]" and, it's scifi, it's technobable, it doesn't have to make sense or be 'real' science! but you cant then frame the character saying the equally bizarre things that are denying the reality the audience can see as, 'the rational reasonable one speaking for real world science" without that framing tarnishing, and quickly, in the audience's eyes.

In some ways it falls back into the old trope of the nag-wife tbh. Which is very unfair to how Scully was originally conceptualized, and the immense gentleness and empathy and curiosity that was part of her character at first.

I think it's a combination of the worldbuilding for the show (the monsters and aliens are real, and we should see them to prove mulder isn't a pathetic paranoiac) and the formula of "skeptic vs believer" plus the impulse to show that Scully is intelligent and grounded in our reality, to function as the 'voice of the audience' kind of character clashing in an unexpected way that makes her seem to be in denial of her own reality. You can come up with characterization based reasons for this, definitely, but it does seem to be basically a function of preserving the plot function ahead of everything. Even a basic understanding of occam's razor and a willingness to move the character arcs along could have tempered this, because sometimes the simplest answer in the X Files reality is that it was aliens or a mutant, and having her deny these basic facts in order to preserve the real-world-audience/skeptic voice ironically makes her begin to seem irrational and unscientific by the given values of the warped X-Files reality.

And also yes, the desire from CC (and others, but him especially) to sound really smart and broadly educated without really understanding a lot of the scientific concepts, or the theology, or the philosophy of science he's talking about. It makes her 'research and science' based conjectures sound more out-there and bizarre than they are intended to be (though from an in character point of view, tbh i do find this endearing). It also makes me wonder if there was an accidental or intentional conflation that happened between the regular-colloquial concept of being rational/reasonable (clear thinking and grounded in reality, educated reasoning) and the philosophical-epistemological rationalism (believing in systems of reasoning and that innate knowledge of what 'feels true' via previously established logic is what is true, sometimes even superseding experiential and physical evidence). Which is something interesting you can work with in watsonian characterization, too. Or ignore it completely, which is also fair lol.

But basically I think it comes from the fact that by s4 they were a big hit, and CC knew it and the network knew it and the personal relationship between M & S and the work banter formula got put into a holding pattern for a few seasons because that's what the people at the top of the food chain thought had made them a hit. It's just that we as a fandom tend to talk about the personal relationship side more... I personally find them more linked tbh. And then for a little while there, there was a lot of turnover in who was writing scripts. And it also seemed like in the last 3-4 seasons of the show CC was more and more entrenched in his own ego and his battle of wills with other writers, DD, and fans about how much the character arcs, Mulder's especially for some reason but of course this effected Scully too bc they're not separable characters, should be allowed to grow and change, and he kept hitting the reset button on their personal and professional positions.

everyone in the writer's room working on Scully past about season 4 had a really weird idea of what "logic" meant. and "science." and "rational." It's not even a colloquial vs epistemological issue it's this weird belief that scientific thinking = prescribed and traditionalist, instead of exploratory and evidence based and subject to change.

I've talked about this before but it gets so frustrating, because Early Scully has a very different and more open viewpoint. Her goal is to vet and find evidence and won't vouch for anything short of that as verifiable fact, but she does also judge by the evidence of her eyes and ears and Mulder's eyes and ears and says 'obviously something is going on here that's beyond the norm, we just can't define or swear to it what' and reels off theories that have some basis (...ish) in established scientific canon to give them more directions to investigate. It read as alternately a sincere effort play her part and work out what was happening, or as a running joke as part of a partnership, knowingly reeling off some largely absurd theory based on obscure research because they don't have anything more concrete to work on and the meeting Mulder's eye with a tiny shrug.

Later Scully has been trapped in the cultural box of """scientific""" and """skeptical""" so completely that her scientific theorizing -- aside from in the rare episodes that focus on her on her own and free her to play both the skeptic and the believer roles -- ends up feeling like she's re-imagining reality to fit her preconceptions of what "should" be happening, instead of trying to come up with some testable theory for what is happening. Because it's a show where the aliens and psychic powers and cryptids and mutants are visible, literally extant, and doing things in front of them more and more definitely as time goes on. Both the audience and the characters see the things at least to some extent in more cases than not.

This means that Scully's "rational explanations" end up feeling more like reality-denying conspiracy theories, even more so than Mulder's wild guesses, which are also usually wrong at first pass but as they work within the TXF reality that the audience can observe, they feel more accurate. With the later tone and framing ends up feeling like her role is to obstruct and poke holes, even ridicule in some instances. The banter and the "opposites" became more important than the collaboration, and being "scientific" was replaced by the irrationality of clinging to commonsense over experience.

I mean, I choose to ignore it entirely most of the time but can see where some of that kind of 'mean sarcastic scully' fanon comes from, and I think it's really unfortunate. it's not about how Scully's personality is framed or who she's meant to be as a person, it seems to come from basic misunderstanding in the largely turned-over writer's room about how scientific reasoning works and how their partnership felt so equal and well matched at first. And it's understandable that that kind of underpinning would get compromised in the absolutely brutal pace of writing for a 22+ episode season. It's just a shame that this doesn't really course correct until the last couple of seasons where there are so many other issues with the main plot that it gets lost in the shuffle. Thus, Mean Scully is essentially cemented in certain parts of pop culture and fanon perception.