#also I think it helps that all his alleged issues are just stupid ones

[jaeducs]

Hello! I hope you’re doing well <33 I only recently got into sechskies (i know, very late 😭) and the fandom has ofcourse been through a lot. But i came across korean jiwon stans (still yelowkies not solo stans) and omg they really hate sh? Everyone kinda knows that sh is a trainwreck but no international stan hates him that much. Is there perhaps some lore behind this? I didn’t know who to ask so sorry if this question is a bother 🫣

I hope you enjoy being a yellowkies! Most of us are active on twitter. I'm jjaeducs on there. Let me know if theres anything else you wanna know!

Jiwon akgaes are.... Interesting. Honestly it's a bit hard to talk about because they are the biggest part of the fandom. 1Kyne generally are really lovely most of the time even if they don't support Sechskies as a whole , but the akgaes who blur out the other members, petition yg for only Jiwon to comeback, and report posts with other members are the worst. Usually in any other fandom you can ignore akgaes but unfortunately since Jiwon's popularity is much higher than Jekki's at a whole right now it's difficult. Jiwon has had years of being the main cast in variety shows so a lot of his fans aren't fans of Jekki at all. So it's tricky.

I think the reason Sunghoon isn't hated as much internationally is because either as non Korean speaking fans they understand the situation differently. Also with the whole leaving hate comments about the members online thing- there is still plausible deniabilty. I've never seen any proof either way that confirms he did or didn't do a lot of the things he's been accused of. Like he won in several court cases but that doesn't prove he didn't write those messages. (But also the posts "sounding" like him doesn't prove it either.)

I haven't asked any Jiwon akgaes why they hate Sunghoon so much (because I'm afraid of them LOL) but I'm sure there is a part of it that includes Sunghoon "betraying" Jiwon, and bringing down his reputation too.

A lot of international Yellowkies I know who were around during the drama just stick to loving Sechskies and remembering the good old days. I think the general consensus is that Sunghoon is a bit of an idiot and has made mistakes but nobody really hates him. Just frustrated that it all happened when Jekki were becoming popular again.

To me personally hes a bit cringe but so are the other members ajdjciisdk. All the current and ex members have made stupid mistakes in their past, honestly if you stan anyone older than 30 you should expect at least one dui. 💀

[bugflies00]

sorry this is referencing a few month old post/s you made about the dream situation and a question you’d asked about dream stans, you can delete this msg if you want since it’s not as relevant anymore. Again I’m sorry if this is weird or you don’t gaf (that’s fair bc who does lol)

TW for grooming and dream being fucking gross. You can just scroll fast and delete if you don’t want to read or deal with this, I understand that

-

To preface Im about Tommy’s age now, when I was 15-17, used to be a huge dream stan, and I was very vocal about defending him online. —I was extremely parasocial and weird, and looking back on it I really regret how I acted.

So. Idk how much people who weren’t stans of his saw, but dream- as stupid as it sounds- was our friend.

He had bath calls with us, sleep calls with us, he told us in depth about his personal life and his health issues and his trauma and his moods and his habits and just basically everything. Most of his interactions with us was through his discord, and then someone in the fandom would stream his discord calls for people who weren’t there. A running joke was that dream had a parasocial relationship with us. there was absolutely no gap between creator and fan, he followed me more than once, he brought fans onto his discord streams and talked with them and he knew a good amount of us by name. He called us cute and talked about how much we all (as individuals) meant to him,

when drama happened he’d usually either do a space/call or go on his private and vent to us, there were I think two separate times he’d have full panic attacks over drama happening, and we’d have to talk him down. He also would, when responding to callouts or accusations, use arguments that his fans were making.

He did this during almost all his pitfalls, including the grooming allegations, his wording was often taken word for word from tweets by people I was friends with. I dropped him after the initial allegations, but for a while after i still checked in bc i was really hoping he’d be innocent (he wasn’t) and i can confirm he still does this. He also regularly dmed his fans, mostly his black fans, to ask for “help” on being less racist.

I don’t use the word “grooming” lightly, but dream was and is absolutely grooming his audience. Thats why dream stans seem so cult-like these days. The amount of guiltripping, lying, forcing an us vs them mentality, and manipulation I saw this man pull was actually sick. He’d frequently, privately, to us, vent about tommy or quackity, and about how “all his friends hated him” and “we were all he had left” (legit, not joking). He is extremely good at emotional blackmail, he is good at making his fans hate other creators and turn on them, he is very good at utilizing his tears and using wording that he knows will make his mostly teenage fanbase think he’s a good kind person.

He wants to impress on his fans that he really was just a kind person, the only kind person and the only voice of reason. That’s why when the Cantu thing happened, he started posting “messages” of him being so kind to the Uber driver. He needs his fans to think he’s a kind and loving person, and that Tommy and quackity and literally everyone who’s pulled away from him was just a fake friend who couldn’t be trusted. He somehow was always, always the one being fucked over.

I remember when I told my friend about dream (this friend had a completely neutral opinion on him and barely knew the guy beyond his manhunts) and he told me that sounded like grooming.

He gradually isolated his (primarily young, female) fanbase using private accounts, discord calls, Snapchat, and whatever else. He got extremely personal with us far beyond the level any creator should be, he used kindness and flattery (like calling us “mature”. Also legit) to make us feel genuinely loved by him, again, NOT in the way a creator loves their fans. In the way a friend loves their friends, even in the way a partner loves their partner. He lashed out at us and had panic attacks when we did criticize him, he used tactics to make us think he was always right and good, and more than that, make all his detractors seem like terrible people out to get him AND us, he played himself out to be the perpetual victim and used carefully cut clips and emotional manipulation (like how he brought up his ~poor innocent family~ when harassing quackity. Weaponizing trauma like that was something he did ALL THE TIME to us whenever he was criticized.) in order to use us against people he didn’t like, making us take the bullet for him.

He uses his kindness and supposed goodness as a weapon, he used Tommy’s own trauma around doxxing against him when Tommy dared to criticize him (“I supported you when you were getting doxxed, yet you won’t do the same for me?”)

He used trauma to relate to his audience, making us feel like he was the only person who got it.

It’ll sound stupid, but it was genuinely really scarring. The way he made me and my friends feel was so confusing. I often found myself feeling used and violated, but also like I was in debt to him. I dreaded when he’d have fans on call, I dreaded him but also he felt like all I had. The tone of him and the fandom was that “we have to defend him at all costs, they’re out to get him and we’re the last line of support he has”. It was embarrassing, it was stressful, it was horrible. I wasted so much fucking time and energy on him.

it was really traumatic and distressing, especially as a teenager who’d already been at a vulnerable point and used him as an escape originally. I know that sounds melodramatic but I mean it.

He is a groomer through and through. He’s barely getting any new fans, but he’s barely losing any either bc the grasp he has on them is so tight.

Worst of all, if you leave the fandom, you’ll lose your friends and become an enemy. He encourages that behaviour and that mentality. He encourages harassment of his ex-friends, he encourages harassment of anyone who doesn’t like him. He wants you to feel like he’s the only good person, and like he’s the only one who will care about you. And I know at least in my experience that the way I acted when I was a fan of his did genuinely cause me to feel alienated in my social life. I lost friends, I felt like I couldn’t talk to anyone “safely”. That’s how he wants his fans to feel, because at some point he really is all you have.

And that’s why dream stans are still sticking around. It’s at the point where the only way they’ll leave is on their own volition, and the more publicly fucked shit he does, the less hope I have that they’ll do that.

i don’t have much to add but i agree, and several people i know who used to be big dream fans also agreed that there was a heavily insidious ‘us vs them’ atmosphere

[eir-trixa]

WOTTG SPOILERS AFTER THE CUT

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Can you believe Rick is validating me in my Percy-is-the-most-empathic-character take? I have legal basis but boi does it feel nice to have canon confirmation.

Second that book was short af I got the gist of it all while reading for like an hour.

Third, we addressed everyone else’s trauma. Percy’s still the group therapist LMAO 😭😭😭

Fourth, my son is such a good kid yall, this is why I lose five years of my life when someone insults or when he insults himself jfc my child.

Im honestly still processing and I have to reread the ending. Did it address Percy’s issues? Im going to go with “a bit” and call it a night. I mean, I guess it did? Percy got to unload and help Gale and Hecuba. We got an insight to how he’s managing to stay up and fighting and good despite all the shit he’s put into. Honestly the fact that he saw the humanity in Gale and Hecuba, that he saw their pain and grief and thats what made them trust him, that is so good. And the way he related to them. Goodness. And it highlights again how good a person he is, how much he feels and cares. I mean, he cried cause he had to send Mrs O Leary away, I cant with this kid-

I supposed what Im left unsatisfied with is how he still perceives himself as dumb? Baby, you survived San Fran for two months as a homeless kid without memories and pursued by different monsters who cant die. Youre the furthest thing from dumb.

He cant see this of course and while it was slightly addressed(?) by Annabeth telling him to his face that she doesnt give him enough credit, that he’s pretty smart, I dont think thats enough for addressing this particular issue. There was a time in the middle that he almost snapped because he thought Annabeth probably thinks him too dumb to know what to do next. Which I understand is frustrating to him. But to be fair this book made him look at Annabeth for a solution a lot. Theres also little comments about how when he cant think of anything - which is every 60 seconds apparently according to him- he looks at Annabeth. This doesnt help the co dependent allegations LMAO. Idk, I will die on the Hill that Percy is one of the smartest people in the series, not just emotionally but also in strategy. And theres, of course, nothing wrong with looking at the genius strategist for answers. Ive mixed feelings because definitely this is more of a Percy-insecurity issue than an Annabeth-being-bossy issue. But okay. One more book, heres to hoping we get more heart to heart on that front because Im 999998% sure she doesnt mean to make him feel stupid, Percy’s just got a lot of demons to fight but this in particular they need to figure out together. Still, its obvious how much they care for each other still. If only Dave and Hana did not piss me off at the start Id probably be a little more lenient about this.

Annabeth’s fatal flaw also makes a comeback, we love to see it.

And Sally Estelle Jackson. Now we have to find out wth is Percy’s middle name cause if Sally has one odds are she gave her son too. Trust me. Im Filipino. Iykyk.

Lastly, while I will forever and ever and ever support the trio from pjotv (theyre perfect and have done nothing wrong ever) I can see Rick’s injecting their personalities into the books. Im not sure if he does this on purpose or just subconsciously LMAO. Some of Grover’s dialogue is definitely inspired by Aryan. Percy being Lanky? Walker through and through, especially with his growth spurt lmao, and Annabeth’s confidence? All Leah. I can see what Rick’s trying to do. Ive no opinion on this, just pointing it out. I do love love love the live action. Just. I can see you Rick. You aint slick.

So there. I probably would need to reread the book properly at some point.

[ferg0s]

omg??? Chigiri with someone from pink lock thats also fast like him + more stamina???

Like girly was a track star or something

You started off doing track, and you were fucking good at it. 100 meter? Light work, no reaction. Same with 200 and 400. Your spirit was your weapon.

If it wasn’t for the high school girls soccer coach and his forgetfulness, you probably would be here. He had forgotten something in his car, forcing him to walk by the track field to the parking lot - and that’s when he saw you. He needed runners. He knew their untapped potential.

After quite finally cornering you in the hallways, you found yourself signing up for tryouts.

You were so glad you did. It changed the trajectory of your life.

But it seemed to be crumbling down at bluelock - competition was tough and so was the fabric of the uniform you had to wear. Your skills were still a little rough due to the fast that you had a late start to your soccer career.

Chigiri was your bluelock partner. At first you thought maybe it was one of the girls in your program, but the fact that he had on a spandex suit threw you off. You soon learned that Chigiri was a guy.

That seemed to be everyone’s misconception. And the frumpy uniform didn’t help. It was like the two of you switched genders. People assumed you were a guy while they tried to hit on him thinking he was a girl.

It seemed to be an issue for the both of you because while Chigiri was trying to fight the femboy allegations, you were trying to fight for the attention of the bluelock guys - hoping they’d hit on you too.

“You wanna switch or something-“ you scoff as tie your shoes on the practice field. He rolls his eyes. “Please, you don’t want to be near those guys-“ “and who told you that?” “I am. I’ve been around those guys and that’s the last thing you need-“ “you’re no fun.” “Just trying to protect you from those animals-“ he scoffed.

Due to his injury, he didn’t really sprint during practice - and you hadn’t found someone who would match your speed, so you held back too. In a way none of you knew what the other was capable of.

Until one day when the ball was about to go out of bounds, which would mess up the flow state you were in - you found yourself sprinting to the ball, getting a hold of it in the last minute. Chigiri was impressed to say the least. ‘That must be why Ego paired us up,’ he thought.

“You’re fast-“ he said as you jogged back to him with the ball. “Oh thank you-“ you smile. “You haven’t ran like that before-“ he asked, wondering if it was like a fluke situation. “Oh - I don’t like go full in during practice-“

Maybe it was the wording, but it irked him. Go all out? What was that suppsoed to mean? Maybe he was on his high horse cuz technically he was one of the fastest people at bluelock, but he felt like he needed to prove a point.

And he tired.

And failed.

The two of you abandoned practice all together, opting to see who beat the other in a simple race across the field.

It was you.

“I wasn’t trying anyways-“ he huffed.

So you tried again the next day. Again, he lost.

“Okay- it’s for real now-“

Again. And again. Until he used his trump card. “I have an injury anyways - I don’t like to outdo it on some stupid race-“ he grumbled.

The humiliation continued when you finally got out of the frumpy uniform. The sleek spandex made you more agile, much to his dismay.

But hey- at least now people thought the both of you were girls!

[cyberdragoninfinity]

giving you dennis for the ask meme if you havent gotten him already. gotta get that daily dose of poodle

:) thank you tam i would love to talk about him.

Why I like them/why I don’t: god. Guy Who Burrowed Into My Brain So Fucking Bad. Help Me. i love this jackass. he's a fucking LOSER!!! HE SUCKS!!! i LOVE that dennis is a spineless pathetic liar and massive coward and an unhinged asshole more times than once!! type of guy who's just masks all the way down and i KNOW his identity issues are fucking lethal back there. his dub voice is an absolutely top 10 favorite for me!! he is one of the BIGGEST war criminals in yugioh to the point that he had to spend his duel links event apologizing to the rest of the cast!!! HE KILLED HIMSELF IN FRONT OF A CRUISE SHIP FULL OF PEOPLE. AND HE TALKS LIKE THAT. AND ACTS LIKE THAT. HIS GUILT IS GOING TO EAT HIM ALIVE. REBLOG TO MAKE IT EAT HIM FASTER.

also if we're always talkin about like. jesse and yugi and joey's dock duel as yugioh's gayest moments and characters we need dennis on that list right fucking now. borderline canon gay character to me he is so deliberately gay coded to like. 1930s Hayes Code Movie Degrees. fucking insane. slash pos.

What I like about their appearance: it is so fucking stupid. <3 the like??!?! jacket + vest combo in polymerization colors??!? his little purple bow that's matchies with yuri for some reason???? HIS STUPIDASS HAIR THAT LOOKS LIKE EASTER FAKE CRINKLE GRASS?? RIDICULOUS CHARACTER DESIGN. SLASH POS. CARROT BIT ME.... AGAIN.

Do I prefer their dub names or original names? cannot believe he came like that (named dennis.) i think i like 'macfield' a smidge more than mcfield though. dawg why you got two always sunny characters in your name.

OTP: siiiiiiiighssss through my teeth. i will not. be beating the Losing the Yaoi War allegations. dennis/yuri truthism blowing my entire brain up this summer and fall and Now. as if it's my fault dennis's duel links lines for yuri Sound Like That. i know they had a little gay thing only the way toxic codependent middle schoolers can have. yuri's convo with dennis in DL might make me insane. sorry in advance.

NOTP: obviously i cant make people Not ship something but whenever i see dennis shipped with a girl im just a little bit like. are you sure about that. are we sure. 🌈

OT3: i actually dont think i really have a 3+ ship for dennis. born 2 be monogamous i guess. i dont think he could handle having multiple partners i feel like he'd date them separately and be too skittish to break up with one of them and then it blows up in his face. lol

Favourite card they use: ive grown very fond of Performage Trapeze Magician after using it in DL for months now.... Flame Eater is also Really sillycute

i also. do like chaos ancient gear giant and its big fucked up dog pauldrons. dennis and his hunting hounds…okaaaayyyy

Favourite moment they were in: GODDDD IT'S SO FUCKING HARD TO PICK JUST ONE. I NEED TO MAKE A DENNIS DUB COMPILATION SO BAD. EVERY TIME HE'S ON SCREEN IS A TREAT FOR ME i think i have to go with his duel with gong in synchro. i love his dynamic with gong i wish we got more of it.

Least favourite moment: i Like the dennis/yuya duel (it's like. one of the few things i actually like about that 8 episode final stretch from hell) but i gotta say i dont know how great i feel about having dennis become the dueltaining teacher to all these kids who got war displaced effectively due to. uh. his actions. yugioh i dont know about that one.

Something I associate with them:

i dont want to talk about it.

[bisluthq]

So I'm a cynical bitch who wouldn't be surprised by anyone in Hollywood being abusive in some form, no matter their gender, sexuality, race, etc etc etc. but this is the first time I'm doing some sort of double take because Ive been following Justin for like 7 years and he's done so much about toxic masculinity and talked about his own body image issues, etc. I think you nailed it that Blake and Ryan tried to label him abusive was a mistake because they went for the jugular and now hes fighting back.

But also.... And sorry if it's been said,I've been offline for a week.... This is giving me deja vu of joever and Taylor getting dinner and then her friends unfollowing Joe lol. And at the time so many people thought big shit must have gone down and Joe must-have cheated for his bro buddy Ryan to unfollow....just to find out Taylor was cheating in some capacity on him with Matty and Joe didn't actually "do" anything (which is why they broke up lmao). And casual listeners were SO MAD to learn Joe did nothing wrong (simplifying this all of course) and thehaters were even more pissed that someone as powerful as Taylor did him dirty even without saying anything, but just by the mass unfollowing..... And Blake and Ryan's proximity to Taylor and her getting a lot more hate since the release of TTPD and being everywhere online.... Idk I have a lot of thoughts in the air and can't find coherence lmao but I feel like Blake is losing any credibility that he was an abusive partner, I can't believe this was used to launch her fucking shampoo line, why the fuck would Justin hire the same people as Johnny Depp when there are other capable teams who can handle a crisis like this?!?!

Conclusion: they are all incredibly stupid for how they're handling literally everything about this lmao and I hope no one was actually traumatized on this set

Agree but idk if there is anyone more capable to handle this crisis though dude. All crisis PR teams work with terrible fucking people (Justin doesn’t seem that bad but he was up against a very powerful attacker so idk that he should’ve been trying to wing it or that a regular publicist can do a good enough job). It wouldn’t matter which crisis PR firm he hired, they’d all have worked on something nasty in the past. And fwiw his team is doing a HELL of a good job “clearing his name” so 🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️ I’m not sure I can blame him for that. He didn’t hire Johnny for his next project, which would’ve been really hypocritical - he hired the women led team that helped to protect Johnny’s reputation. Their job helping Justin is easier lol than it was helping Johnny but they managed the latter so they can def manage the former.

idk man I think Blake and Ryan underestimated Justin and I do think he’s entitled to fight back on this. Especially since we know he TRIED to take the high road and ignore it and praised Blake repeatedly and even said she should take charge of the sequel only for the Reynolds side to straight up drop the (totally unsubstantiated and very vague) abuse allegations. Like I think once those articles dropped, Justin was like “fuck these people” and is determined af to fight back. So far he and his team are doing a great job of that and have the Reynolds side on the back foot and posting about DV all of a sudden (which is kinda too little too late but yeah).

[hello-nichya-here]

What are your thoughts on MJ's daughter supporting Israel and trying to distance herself from her dad? Girl won't even defend him

Jesus fucking Christ, are you guys coordinating these asks? This is the third time one of you asked me it, I'm legit impressed.

Let's get the easy, and horrible part out of the way first: nobody on the fucking planet has any excuse to support Israel. You can hate Hamas and the goverments of countries like Iran without excusing the literal genocide of civilians in Palestine, because yes, that's what Israel is doing right now.

Paris Jackson (and everyone else, famous or not, that is still pretending Israel isn't commiting all kinds of crimes against humanity right now) should have known better and needs to get her shit together.

Now, onto the messy part:

Although Paris has recently said "it's not her role/place" to defend her dad, lets not forget the other things she said on that same controversial statement:

1 - She fully believes her father is innocent and called the "documentary" Leaving Neverland pure lies.

2 - She believes that everything that could be said about her father's innocence has been said already and she'd have nothing new to add to the conversation.

3 - Her cousin Taj has become basically the leader of the family's campain to clear Michael's name and has been doing an amazing job.

4 - She's not as patient as her father was to deal with that kind of stuff and she has been focusing more on trying to recover from her mental health issues.

That last one is important, specially when we remember that Paris has claimed to have been sexually abused in school (which left her with PTSD), and that she has struggled with addiction, paranoia and a freaking suicide attempt.

It would not be surprising to me if having to listen to allegations of childhood sexual abuse is extremelly triggering for her - especially since the person being accused of being the abuser is her late father, who was murdered by his doctor when she was just 10-years-old, and she was treated like a stupid child in denial everytime she tried to point out the things being said about him were not true.

Considering she has continued to praise her father over the years, both with small things like posting a family picture on Father's day this year and big things like saying he was a super accepting man that was totally cool with her not being straight, and DID defend him publically every now and then, like, once again, calling "Leaving Neverland" pure lies when it came out, I'd say she's not really trying to distance herself from her dad or imply she's starting to think he might have been guilty. I think she just genuinely cannot fucking stand having to act as his lawyer only to have every word she says ignored, no matter how much evidence she offers to back it up.

(And before anyone brings up the fact that Taj was also a victim of sexual abuse in his childhood and has is still speaking out in support of his uncle, including of how he helped him deal with his trauma, keep in mind that people cope differently and heal at different paces).

Do I think she could have phrased some things better? Yes.

If either of my parents were accused of something horrible and a bunch of people kept insisting they were guilty despite all evidence poiting to the contrary, would I interact with said celebrities? No, and it is extremelly disappointing whenever Paris does that...

... But then again, Michael was at war with his record label, Sony, for years and was convinced they were not only sabotaging his career but also trying to murder him, yet he still was ready to go on a final tour that was going to make them A LOT of money. Like father, like daughter.

Honestly, I would not blame the entire Jackson family if they just made one last big documentary to try and clear Michael's name, then, regardless of how it was taken, packed all their shit and moved to a remote island, far away from the spotlight and never spoke to any journalist or had any social media presence again. They've been getting screwed over and surrounded by awful people in the industry, the media, and amongst other celebrities since the goddamn sixties, it's a miracle anyone of them is still trying to "play the game" or explain themselves.

[lord-squiggletits]

Also speaking of absurd plots in Barber's writing, shout out to that time he wrote a scene of Optimus and the US President talking. And the US president who's a black woman and her father was a civil right's activist has nothing to say about the fact that a police officer in her country getting killed by Jazz was a big reason ppl don't trust the Autobots? Like, a major diplomatic incident b/t humans and Autobots just never gets discussed? Optimus never goes "so heyyy the reason my soldier killed a police officer is because he was about to kill injured and surrendering Autobots, can I get a pardon for that? Or maybe some kind of editorial where we get to clear the air and show both sides of that incident? In the spirit of transparency and fairness not only to your people but also mine?"

Like.

The black female president whose father was a civil rights activist has nothing to say about an incident of a police officer about to fire on surrendering suspects, and then the media treats his attempted killing as him being the noble police officer just doing his duty who was completely in the right to shoot??? Why was this major diplomatic incident not part of some major convention between humans and Autobots? Why did Jazz/Optimus never get to share their side of this incident on an official political or diplomatic channel? Why did Barber write one of his politician characters as being left-leaning and clearly in-tune with social justice issues, having nothing to say about a police officer from her country (a country infamous for police brutality and racial inequality, which she would know personally because she's a black woman) being the subject of an interplanetary dispute causing tension between Earth and the alien civilization trying to help them not get colonized by Decepticons?

Instead the purpose of that scene was like... I don't even remember, it was basically the US pres going "my father was a civil rights activist" and Optimus is like "hm I guess I'll leave Jazz out to dry for the sake of diplomatic relations." I don't understand why the only possible outcome of the story was for Optimus to just abandon Jazz when, as Jazz' commanding officer and a representative of Cybertron, he would've been within his rights (and indeed, may have had such meetings during the war) to demand some sort of trial to clear Jazz' name? Like, the fact that Optimus had this diplomatic power but didn't even try to use it, and the US President had a character background to make her sympathetic and she didn't bring up a trial either, just feels like a massive plot hole.

It's just so fucking bad because not only does the treatment of that incident not make sense logic wise (an international/interplanetary? incident of that magnitude is DEFINITELY something that would be discussed between the leaders of the two nations in question), it also kind of makes Barber's attempts to put progressive politics in the comics look really stupid? Like. Shouldn't a black female president whose father was a civil rights activist go "Ah yes, unfortunately I'm very familiar with pro-police propaganda and the way police are often potrayed as people who can do no wrong. We should talk more about this incident of your soldier killing a police officer, maybe have some sort of trial to determine wrongsoing. Because the fair thing to do is to give alleged victims an attempt to speak and not just assume the police are in the right." Like the US President isn't supposed to be a super important character in the plot or anything, but I just think it's really fucking weird to add this US Civil Rights Era background to one of your characters and then have her not react sympathetically at all to an incident of attempted police brutality.

It really seemed like that whole plot of Optimus deciding that public image is more important than saving Jazz feel super forced and stupid, not to mention it portrayed a minority character with activist backgrounds as being apathetic to an issue she should have a lot of stake in.

...

Also have I mentioned that the incident I'm referring to of Jazz killing a police officer was an event specifically orchestrated by Megatron? Who seeded mind-controlling, paranoia-inducing guns among Earth's populace with the specific goal of poisoning Autobot-human relations? And Megatron literally did an evil monologue about this plan in front of Spike and another Skywatch operative, and Spike is still part of the military in the present day, meaning that he would've known that Jazz killing a police officer was just part of a plan by Megatron BECAUSE HE WAS LITERALLY RIGHT THERE WHEN MEGATRON EXPLAINED IT AND IMMEDIATELY RAN TO TRY AND STOP THE INCIDENT FROM OCCURRING???

[formula-1-otp]

Safety Net

Summary: A misunderstanding causes a conflict between Yuki and Liam, Charles notices Liam’s panic, Logan and Charles to the rescue!

A/N : Hello everyone! I hope you enjoy this also from a tumblr prompt from @saraswritingtipps

"¡ promise i'll keep you safe, no matter what."

I hope you guys enjoy feel free to comment requests!!

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Williams had had a great race. Logan finally felt like he was proving what he could do. Logan saw Alex to his left as he exited the car ready to congratulate the younger man. He accepted the celebrations before going over to the team to see how everyone else placed and debriefed. Logan peeked out of the garage to see the other drivers all chatting out front. It wasn't uncommon for the drivers to meet after a race but outside Williams was odd.

Liam stepped out of the car, definitely not the finish he wanted but he would take any experience in the car he could get. Heidi saw the team looking at the data sheets trying to find where it all went wrong, qualifying 5th fastest but finishing almost last was not normal, but Liam wasn’t sure what happened he just couldn’t find the pace he needed to keep up. He was quickly escorted out of the garage and to the media pen where he answered what felt like millions of questions.

“So Liam how do you think this will affect the team for next week’s race?” Liam couldn’t help but take a few seconds to find a good answer. Heidi had been media trained but nowhere near the ability of a full-time driver.

“As long as we keep our heads up and learn from our mistakes I think we’ll have no issue for next week,” he managed to give a fake smile, he wasn’t sure if he would be driving next week, Daniel was supposed to be off for a couple more weeks but he couldn’t help but overhear talk that Zane may take over for the few Liam was trying so hard to prove he deserved to be there. He wanted a full-time seat for next year but with today’s performance, he wasn’t sure that would happen.

“Liam, do you have anything to comment about the allegations online?” Liam gave a blank stare he hadn’t heard of any allegations, at least his PR manager hadn’t said anything.

“I don’t know about any allegations-“

“So no comment on you defacing Yuki’s car?” The interviewer asked again before Liam could even get a word in his PR manager was beside him warding off the media and dragging him back to the garages.

“What were they talking about?” Liam had to ask, if this was about him he needed to know.

“We’ll discuss it after just go back to the garage for a debrief and I’ll meet you there.” Liam gave a small huff as he slowly made it back to the RB garage.

Unfortunately, news spread fast in the paddock and it wasn’t long before the young kiwi was being surrounded by other drivers and staff all questioning him. Liam was trying to come up with an answer but before he could Yuki walked straight through the crowd to the Kiwi before giving him a quick hard slap across his cheek.

“I thought we were friends! But you wanted to get in the good books so badly you had to destroy my car!” Yuki was yelling and Liam was just frozen in fear. He didn’t know what was going on but whatever it was it wasn’t good.

“Liam why would you do that?” He turned to see Max staring at him, he couldn’t read the expression of the Dutchman. Liam could feel his breathing picking up he was starting to feel claustrophobic with the amount of people surrounding him all screaming for answers but no one would give him time to explain or get a word in edge-wise.

Charles wasn’t stupid he could see the panicked look on the young Kiwi. He wanted answers as much as everyone else after watching the video but he knew that sending the young kiwi into a panic attack wasn’t going to help. Charles quickly turned to the Williams garage, he found the American who was already staring at the group outside.

“Logan, we need to get Liam out of here,” Charles didn’t give time to explain and he was grateful Logan didn’t ask too many questions before running through the group to get to the middle.

Liam couldn’t hear much his hearing was coming in and out just like his vision he was aware someone was touching him before he could even process who it was he was flinging himself backwards just to get away from the commotion and silence his brain for a second.

Logan wasn’t sure what was going on, he could only imagine how Liam felt, the American was having a hard time understanding anything all he could see was his boyfriend in distress.

“What’s going on?” Logan asked but no one would listen, all too busy talking over each other to understand anything. Logan stood in front of Liam trying to shield the kiwi from the outside world.

“Liam? Liam, can you hear me?” Logan could see how the words weren’t registering. Logan could see the shakiness of his stance and how laboured his breathing was. It wasn’t until Logan went to put his arm on Liam that Logan understood the severity of the situation. The second Logan’s hand made contact with the kiwi the other boy was flying backwards into the people surrounding him.

Charles couldn’t watch anymore he knew Yuki had a right to be mad, but they should hear the full story before assuming. Charles pushed his way into the middle of the circle.

“If you are not directly related to the incident can you please leave!” Charles tried to be polite but also had to get his point across luckily most of the group had wandered off. Yuki and his crew were now just standing in front of Charles with Logan and Liam behind, Pierre was not far behind but that didn’t surprise Charles.

“I know you’re mad Yuki-“ Charles went to continue unfortunately Yuki cut him off.

“Mad! Mad doesn’t even begin. I want an explanation! I have to go to debrief but I’ll be back,” Logan rolled his eyes luckily the Japanese man couldn’t see. Logan still also not knowing what they were talking about his only concern was his boyfriend.

Yuki and Pierre stormed off and Charles let out the breath he didn’t know he was holding. Heidi finally got a chance to turn to the two behind him.

“Thank you, Charles,” Logan gave the Monegasque a small smile.

“Here I’ll hear you get him into your driver's room,” Charles carefully went to the side of Liam.

“Liam, Charles and I are gonna help you back to my driver's room is that okay?” Logan made sure to make eye contact before getting a small nod out of Liam. Logan could see the tears in his eyes and had to stop himself from punching out half the grid. He knew violence wouldn’t solve anything but he hated seeing Liam like this, honestly, it was usually the other way around, Liam would drop everything to help Logan through his race weekends and console him after he crashed out or had a bad finish. Logan couldn’t say it was often the tables turned. The two men finally got Liam situated in Logan’s driver's room. Logan barely sat down before Liam was clinging to him.

“Hey baby, can you breathe with me?” Logan could still hear the laboured breathing so he began to take big deep breaths. It wasn’t long before Liam’s breathing finally calmed down unfortunately the tears had started.

“I don’t know what I did,” Liam sputtered out before more tears began to fall. He didn’t, all he knows is that he failed his team in the race and now the grid was mad at him.

“I don’t know either baby, it’s okay we’ll worry about it later,” Logan just consoled the kiwi.

Logan looked to Charles who was sitting on Liam’s other side. He and Charles weren’t friends but he was glad the older man could see the problem and notice there was an issue. Liam fell asleep against Logan’s side, the panic attack he had had wiped out most of his energy.

“Do you know what this is all about?” Logan asked quietly he didn’t want to wake the kiwi but he wanted to know. Liam and Yuki were friends and to see Yuki ready to tear him to shreds hurt Logan’s heart.

“There’s a video circling, I’ll show you,”

Charles pulls out his phone, Logan can’t believe his eyes. Liam ran around the side of the car, scratching the doors, spray painting the side and so much more. Logan didn’t understand, he had been with Liam almost all weekend apart from media and race time.

“Wait can you pause it and rewind a bit?” Logan was inspecting the video, something looked off nothing big but something small. As he zoomed in on the video he saw a small outline in some parts of Liam.

“What do you see Logan?” Charles was confused he had watched the video but he hadn’t inspected it like Logan currently was.

“It’s fake…. See that, you can see he was placed on top,” Logan pointed out to Charles. The Monegasque just stared, he knew fake articles were normal but fake videos were new.

“We have to show everyone,” Logan said, he knew until the grid had this issue sorted everyone would be picking sides unfortunately he couldn’t blame anyone for picking Yuki, from the blind eye the video looks real it’s not till you deconstruct it that it starts to come to flourish.

Logan ran his fingers through Liam’s blonde hair. He couldn’t help it having the blonde in his lap made him a bit more affectionate.

Liam’s small nap had done nothing to help his anxiety or the exhaustion from racing and having a panic attack. The kiwi opened his eyes to see Logan smiling at him, he then saw that Charles was also smiling.

“Hey, did you have a good nap?” Logan asked quietly not wanting to startle the boy.

“I guess,” Liam rubbed his eyes and slowly sat up. At this point, he just wanted to sleep for eternity.

“Do you want to see what everyone freaking out about?” Logan asked he made sure to once again make eye contact with the Kiwi, he knew Liam had to know this was his choice.

“Sure,” Liam looked over to Charles's phone as the Monegasque played the video. It wasn’t even 30 seconds in before Liam’s eyes were watering again. He couldn’t believe was he was watching. He didn’t remember doing this? And to Yuki he would never intentionally hurt Yuki.

The tears were coming again and Liam couldn’t stop them. He had tried hard to hold them back but he just couldn’t.

“It’s okay, the video is fake,” Charles added with a smile to Liam’s shocked face. The Kiwi couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“You didn’t do anything,” Logan was next rubbing the kiwi's back. Liam was processing, he didn’t do anything, it was all a big misunderstanding.

The three sat in Logan's room for another few minutes. Logan could see how tired his boyfriend was and he would be lying if he said he wasn't also exhausted.

“Shall we go clear your name?” Logan stood with Charles holding out his hand for the kiwi.

Liam smiled as he stood taking Logan's hand, the three made their way back out to the paddock where a group was still gathered. As the three came out of the Williams garage Liam could feel the daggers being stared into him. He stood a little close to Charles pulling Logan closer on his other side.

“I have proof the video is fake!” Logan said to the group immediately.

The group just stared as Logan starting with Yuki and Pierre went around the circle showing everyone that the video was edited. Logan could see the hurt on Yuki’s face, he wouldn't say he was happy but he was glad the Japanese man finally understood.

“I am so sorry Liam,” Logan wouldn't let Yuki get too close not wanting to send the kiwi into another panic. The group apologized and Liam just waved them off. Once the group had dispersed the three men stared at each other for a few seconds before Charles spoke first.

“I do have to get back to the garage but you guys have a good night!” Charles smiled at the two before heading down to the bright red garage.

The two remaining boys ended up going back to the hotel, enjoying some room service dinner before cuddling up in their bed. Logan could see a slight shake in Liam. The American smiled and pulled the other boy to his chest.

“Thank you, Logan,”

“I made a promise I'll keep you safe, no matter what, and I intend to keep it.”

[discocandles]

Danger verse characters and their favorite super bowl show.

Firstly, our titular bitchular himself, Henry Hart:

Henry would say Bruno mars, but couldn't tell you anything about the performance other than "it's cool". He could be talking about the Coldplay show which both Beyoncé and Bruno mars were in, but he could also just really like the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

(Note: credit for titular bitchular goes to Athena P. Thanks for the notable quotable queen)

Next up, and needing financial compensation for This bullshit, Charlotte Page:

Charlotte's favorite performance is Prince, and she shouldn't have to explain herself on that, as it is one of of not the best halftime show ever. Beyoncé is a close second, as it is one of the only other ones she believes comes close.

Third, our lovable buckethead, Jasper Dunlop:

Jasper knows most all of the halftime shows, and it's a tie between Lady Gaga and Madonna for him, which somehow surprised some people thinking he'd say Katy Perry). He responds to those allegations with "fair, but she didn't impress me. Madonna and Lady Gaga impressed me. In both spectacle and singing."

Up next, Wait are you causing daddy issues? You're not even a father, Ray Manchester:

So I was thinking *NSYNC and Aerosmith, but then I remembered, and the answer is obvious. Ray's favorite halftime is Janet Jackson, and it's not just for the controversial part, surprisingly. But it does help it be the favorite. It definitely helps.

(Note: listen if you have no clue what I'm talking about, that's fair. The performer had a wardrobe malfunction and the nfl basically tore down her career after. Look it up.)

Next, sorry, you did fuckin what now?, Schwoz:

So unlike canon, I will be kind-ish to schwoz, and say his favorite is The blues brothers(and he likes the movie too), and he likes the aged rockers era. Source: schwoz's outfit in the bttf ripoff.

Behold, our iconic queen: Piper Hart

Beyoncé, easy. No one may speak to her when Beyoncé's performance at the super dome is playing. And I'd be remiss not to mention that Piper was foaming at the mouth over Rihanna's performance. But it doesn't beat Beyoncé.

Disclaimer: I've watched 5 episodes of danger force max. I love the four kids' vibes but can't find the episodes anywhere. So with that said,Its time to go into unknown territory:

Wow this girl's more scrambled than my scrambled fucking eggs, Mika Macklin:

Shakira & J. Lo. I feel like Mika's really likes Spanish music(I dunno she just gives me that vibe), and the vibes of the shakira & j lo show is just a bunch of fun and I think that's what draws her to it.

Ah yes the boy, Bose o'Brian. I have no other way to describe him:

Listen, Left Shark who forgot their choreography resonates with Bose. Also the amount of brightly colored spectacle and "I forgot Katy Perry did that in the show." seems very Bose to me.

Up next, the one I feel like I know the least about, Miles Macklin:

so miles feels like he'd take the easiest answer that takes little to no explanation. So I think it'd be the hip-hop medley with dr. Dre & co, bc all you really need to know is that it was about damn time.

Wait, this isn't my snarky lesbian bff? Fr?, Chapa de Silva:

I was tempted to say that Chapa doesn't care about super bowl halftimes, but that's quitter talk. Her favorite is Bruce Springsteen, and she will sometimes quote it when fighting or after a fight and no one knows why bolt is talking about guacamole. but if it's 3am and she wants to watch something stupid, Chapa would watch the Indiana Jones show(yes that exists and it's as bad as you think it is).

[pleasantspark]

Emily anon here who’s black with a medium skin tone, just say your colorist and more on. I know black people can have any skin tone but lighting up a characters skin tone is still wrong. There’s nothing wrong with race coding non human characters take Steven universe for example even your favorite thing DBZ, many fans see Piccolo as Black.

Regardless other people have agreed it's pointless to assign them race codes. I'm not colorist just because I refused to assign code. Your issue is assigning intent when it's not there. Emily is Heavenborn. Race would work if she were a Sinner / Winner.

Bringing up Steven Universe and DBZ as examples are NOT helping your case, you are bringing up shows with ACTUAL rep.

Speaking of Piccolo.

This is his human design.

I don't understand why you decided to come back to accuse me of being colorist for no reason. You were racist too, it was uncalled for so move on and stop assigning intent to what I do. Seriously all your asks were complaining about this shit and nothing else. Literally two people have sided with me, saying it's stupid.

Did you go into other people's Askboxes regarding Emily's code being removed as "cultural erasure"? because theres atleast ONE OTHER person who said she isn't coded black in their rewrite, why are you targeting me?

Also, let me paste an ask I got:

Don't pay attention to the anon who talks about "erasing the code", I don't think people understand that when you talk about rewriting, you can change things from 0. For example: Vivzie herself put Alastor as a human, American, cannibal, furry, creole, voodoo stuff, and with a red palette. Alastor is an epithet of Zeus, or a daimon accompanying the Erinas, which translates as "avenging spirit". He IS the god of evil deeds: specifically, he is related to family bloodshed. With this in mind, Alastor should be Greek and all his symbology should be Greek. And following the anon's logic, we should point out that Vivzie is erasing the "Greek code". Now seriously, as someone who is not American, I must tell you that "codes" may have a "deep" meaning for you, but on the outside .... it is simply racism and stereotypes. Inspiration is not a "code", and if you are always looking for things for that "code" then half the racist is you (anon) since you must first base it on something superficial to be looking for it. However, and back to the point, Pleas you are doing well. And you are absolutely right in saying that angels don't have that race thing: 1)The true form of angels is how they believe they should be the perfect form. 2)Not every species needs to have the human conflicts. There may be a closeness or there may not be at all. 3) It's your story. If the anon is offended, well, they can also do their own rewrite of how things should be. And I think a final point would be that the joke of rewriting is just that, rewriting. It's not going to do like the original product and that's half the point. In the Hispanic community of a youtuber there was a contest for a second season of High Guardian Spice (we didn't like it, but for the laughs the contest was made) where the rules were not to change neither the races, nor the Lgbt+ elements and so on. Even the author of HGS liked the tweets of the contest (unfortunately due to a situation it was deleted). Here if I believe you that the complaint is valid "to be deleting something" because it has very specific rules. But what Pleas does, well, anon, that's already wanting to impose something because you think it is so, when the reality is different. Anyway, as they say around here "Live and let live".

Anyways, the counsil has decided and we ruled in "Two rights don't make a wrong"

Therefore because you tried to beat racism with racism and assigned an intent that wasn't there everyone has to be punished and anon asks will be revoked. If I ever do readd anon, I don't want you to continue complaining, nor spread false allegations.

It was a rewrite I did, and I find it absolutely pathetic you're still trying to go with "colorism" and "racism" assigning intent when it's not there is fucking stupid.

Also, maybe I would understand that Sera and Emily WERE fucking Black Coded if they were MORE black coded, you gave examples of BETTER BLACK CODES. So, nice try anon.

Thanks for being racist in your last two asks. That's what I needed. Hazfucker Hotel bastards wanna assign intents so bad when I explained that rewriting Hazbin means I had to fucking ALSO fix the Biblically Inaccurate shit assigned to it,

Mfers when they realize Angels aren't black.

Also here's Adam, Anon you gonna complain he's not tan enough? Fuck out of here.

[anthonysstupiddailyblog]

Anthony’s Stupid Daily Blog (762): Thu 18th Apr 2024 

I got started on the next Philip K Dick novel Vulcan's Hammer. This book was written by Dick in the early fifties but not published until 1960. It's set in a world where mankind had forfeited all it's decision making to AI computers. The computers are maintained by a group called The Unity who are threatened by the uprising union named The Healers who seek to return to a life where they could take risks. I assumed that it was called Vulcan's Hammer because there was some sort of Thor-esque God in the story who wields a giant hammer but it turns out it's because there's a computer that defends itself by sending out an army of small hammers with laser beams on the heads...wasn't expecting that. To be honest I'm glad to see that Dick was not above using slightly surreal and dare I say goofy imagery in his novels because although I've enjoyed the works I've read of his already it would be a drag if all the books and short stories of his were done with complete seriousness because it's good to get a good laugh from a book every now and again.

Checked out last night's AEW Dynamite hich featured the final confrontation and a pull apart brawl between Swerve Strickland and Samoa Joe. I really hope Swerve ends up winning the belt. I know AEW has come under a lot of scrutiny over the last two years or so and some of it is deserved but one of the best things they've done in the face of all the negativity is rocket Swerve to the moon. I'll give credit where credit is due they allowed Swerve to do his thing, little by little he got himself over with the fans and he is currently the most over guy in AEW and I've always said the most over guy in the company should always be the world champion. We also got to see Chris Jericho's latest reinvention which he calls The Learning Tree where he touts himself as mentor to all the young erformers in the company and offers his help to them and if they refuse he gets angry and tries to force it on them. I didn't even realise until Maffew from Botchamania pointed it out but this new character is meant to be a knock on CM Punk. I'm hoping Jericho can find a way to make this character work like he's done with most of his previous aliases because in-ring wise he's been somewhat of a disappointment plus there have been allegations made about his backstage behaviour so he really needs to do something wonderful to assuage people's perception of him. 

I also tuned into tonight's Hollyoaks. This episode culminated at least the implication that evil JJ raped his sister Frankie. I've been quite outspoken about what a terrible character Warren has become and how happy I am he's being written out. Having said that...if he wanted to fuck JJ up on his way out of the village that wouldn't be the worst thing. As good as the actors who play Frankie and JJ are I dont think I can watch these two anymore as this storyline is too gross. I'm glad they're doing the storyline as it's important to bring attention to real issues but at the same time it's making me feel sick. I also discovered that the whole Patrick appearing to Dilly storyline is already over and it was basically just a one off hallucination caused by a head injury. Aw man. I was hoping she was going to be revealed to be schizophrenic and we were going to get a Dilly & Patrick vs Sienna and Maxine story. Which would have been WAY better. So she's not out for revenge on Sienna anymore? That big build up for Patrick's return was all for that one cameo appearance in the school and then she immediately got fixed? That's like the Ghostface killer failing to kill Drew Barrymore at the start of Scream and then the rest of the film is just the kids at school and the killer never re-appears

[dojae-huh]

https://twitter.com/valentyongf_/status/1545332717075984384

So today taeyong opened up a lot more than usual, which is a good thing in the long run as this makes him more human and also makes him seem more like us. 

He talked about the pressure he was feeling during nct's debut (now all the videos of him crying abt the scandal and in general make so much sense) 

It also shows how him saying doyoung is very important for his sanity as he takes on the leader duties with him Or how he talked abt do protecting him from everything. 

A teacher or a manager basically telling an individual that they're the reason and the issue of the problem is very Korean thing. (In jonghyuns suicide note he talked abt his "therapist" telling him he was the cause of his own mental health issues, this should show u how Koreans react to things) 

Taeyong was told he would be the reason for the failure of not just himself but also the 15 boys that were in the plan of NCT. This must have crashed his mental health and wellness. This also made him very distant to the members although he was the leader of all the units and he was supposed to be there to help them all but he kept thinking he was the reason things weren't going well for them all and he hated feeling like the one pulling the team down. 

It seems like the scandal being resolved and him being in a better place mentally has helped him see things like they really are. He now understands that everyone has their own career and he won't put a shadow on anyone's career in NCT and now he doesn't take the complaints as directed at him but basic complaints of the members. This made him open up to the members and willing to listen to all the boys problems. 

This whole bubble thread of bubble msgs were so heart felt and I hope this means that we will have happy and healthy taeyong from now on. 

It seems like we also have taeyong back as the leader of NCT as a whole, even during NCT 2020 taeyong didnt show the same leadership he did before

Link

I'm posting this out of order in case anyone else wants to write on the topic.

For the new fans. Taeyong had been followed by rumours of him being a bully in school since debut, antis continued to bring the allegations up anytime they wanted to bash on him and the group, some called for him to be kicked out of NCT. The issue was finally resolved only in Spring of 2021. 127 took several years to gain momentum and achieved popularity in Korea only with Kick It. NCT was always compared to their more successful and known sunbaes - EXO, which added to the pressure. A debut of a group is very costly, a return is expected in a few years. If a group or an artist doesn't make it quickly, it is dropped. (not SM's tactic, but most small company groups disband within a year or two).

Johnny was a trainee for 8 years, Mark and Haechan sacrificed their childhood, Yuta came from Japan, WinWin from China, Taeil was accepted to a prestigious Uni but decided to become an idol, Doyoung left school - you can imagine how Tae was afraid to be the reason for their dreams crushing.

A leader takes the blame for the whole group. In Korean corporative world a boss can be stupid and useless, abuse the power, but if he is not a powerful well-connected politician, he can easily become the scapegoat and would be the one to bow before the media and/or resign to clear the name and preserve the face of the company.

Taeyong told that managers communicated with him, and members asked him to pass any favours. That's the pecking order. Tae stood between the management and the members. Even with Doyoung being a co-leader it didn't change, especially with temporal staff/come and go managers.

I might be wrong, but 127 neos' reaction to fans' song choices, and neos own choices, let me think that:

They like Kick It so much because it was a real hit in SK (and in SEA), a song that finally made them popular. NeoZone sold well because of the work during the previous albums (reflected in lots of preorders), but it's hard to see from within the group.

Neos think their fans like simple slow public friendly songs (songs that will attracts new fans) and are surprised when songs like Limitless become number 1. Except for Touch (and some neos don't remember it was a title song even), all A-track songs are "noise-music".

[ghcstvalleychief]

My issue with the way the fandom treats Apo is that I see a lot of ableism. People like to bring up homophobia and the constant questions of his sexuality as well as colorism and racism within the industry, which is valid because he’s been vocal about it but, I see a hell of a lot of ableist thinking when it comes to him. I’m ADHD and autistic and I see a lot of neurodivergent traits in Apo, definitely ADHD vibes to me personally. I see people commenting on his body language and habits but really most of the time he’s just stimming. Which he does A LOT and in many different ways. He’s blunt without being unkind, very stubborn when he’s made up his mind, he’s boisterous and loud, he meditates to center himself and battle anxiety, he’s constantly poking and touching everyone around bc that’s how he shows affection, he loves vivid colors and wears whatever he’s most comfortable in ex: His (and Porsche’s) habit of rolling his sleeves up and adding to that his picky eating screams sensory issues to me. But the audience reacts to him in a very “manic pixie dream girl” way and reduces it all to “quirkiness” and “awww how cute” and it just rubs me the wrong way.

The problem is that when people see that as childlike it then automatically translates into immaturity and naïveté. The fans infantilize him constantly and the tone can be both positive and negative but in the end it accomplishes the same thing: taking away his agency and therefor putting into question every single choice he makes. He’s been very open about the abuse he’s suffered in the industry and it’s obvious he’s been taken advantage of in the past and discriminated against due to the way he naturally presents himself. So it’s super disheartening to see people talk about him like he’s completely naive to the world around him when I see the opposite. He has made a clear and public choice to not mask things people have a problem with and he’s surrounded himself with a support system in people like Mile.

I think that’s why the Pond allegations really piss me off. Apo knows his shit in the industry and it’s been talked about by the people who work with him. You literally see cast members asking him for acting advice or behind the scenes crew asking him his opinions on things because his knowledge and experience is valuable. From what I remember he also helped to get KP running with BOC - even though this fandom gives all of that credit to Mile - and is a huge reason the Thai film is even being made. Instead people had to run with the “sleeping with the boss” schtick which again, disregards all of his accomplishments and puts him into a box of only being successful because he’s cute and pretty.

He knows who he is and he knows what he wants and he’s going to be himself the whole way. The fans seem to be unable to see that and in my own experience with this, I can say, it really frickin hurts when your proven capability gets questioned at literally every turn just because people are ignorant and ableist.

I’ve had these conversation in private to friends who agreed with this take but since you’re someone who seems able to listen and give good feedback, I’m curious as to what your thoughts are. If you feel this is stupid or you think it might cause you more problems, then please feel free to ignore me.

(Reading this just made me realize that I may not have undiagnosed ADHD at all, and it actually may be autism. Huh, now THAT'S a revelation but I digress..)

I completely agree! People don't realize that the infantilization of Apo is quite harmful. You think of him as your cute little uwu baby and that's a good thing, right? However, with that comes a completely different can of worms. No one takes children and young people seriously. No one sees children and/or young people as human beings so they essentially don't exist as individuals. So if people don't see you as a mature adult with your own mind and agency, it makes it easier for them to disregard, ignore, and discredit your opinions when they disagree with your perspectives. That's the problem that results from all of this.

For the longest time, I found it odd because you have people in this fandom who consider Apo to be a child when he's older than certain groups of this fandom. He's older than some of his cast mates, but he gets treated as if he's younger than cast mates who are chronologically younger than him. Honestly, you may be onto something when you say this viewpoint of Apo could stem from some form of ableism among other things.

They want Apo to fall in line. They want to put him in this box, but they're going to suffer from disappointment once they realize that he's his own person and he's not going to do what they want him to do. He's going to do what's best for him, and that's his right. You may not agree with it, and that's fine. You can still support and like someone without agreeing with all of their choices. But their willingness to see Apo as an immature airhead further discredits his own expertise in the film industry as if he doesn't know a thing or two about all of this. Implying that he's involved with that man tells me that these people aren't really fans of Apo if they believe he would need to do something like that to get ahead. Which is absolutely disgusting, by the way.

[aprilsrant]

Start Over | Oliver Wood x Slytherin!Fem!Reader.

SUMMARY: (Y/N) has anger issues and a bad reputation that follows. Oliver seems to be the only one who hasn’t been on the receiving end of her outbursts and there might be a hidden reason for it.

WORD COUNT: 2,3k.

WARNINGS: Marcus Flint being an idiot and a missoginy brat, it’s kind of angsty towards the end. Maybe a curse word or two. There is a fight and a duel too. (If I miss any, let me know!)

REQUEST: can’t find it, but yes, this was requested.

A/N: This took me so long and I’m so sorry, but for some reason I couldn’t get this finished. Hope you enjoy it! Like, reblog or leave comment if you like, feedback is always appreciated!!

Also, I made the reader have a holly wand because details are important sometimes.

English is not my first language, there could be mistakes!

Gif is not mine!!

MASTERLIST.

For whatever stupid, possibly misogynist, reason, Marcus Flint never allowed girls to tryout for the Slytherin Quidditch Team, not even when he, and everyone else present, knew of their talent and how much it would benefit them. Now more than ever, with that Harry Potter kid catching every single Snitch flying round him, Flint’s team needed new members. And members that actually knew how to play and not those who would pay their way in. 

Once again, (Y/N) was waiting in the stands for the Slytherin Captain and the whole group attempting to grab themselves a spot. Arriving before them gave her an “advantage” and that was not being completely disregarded the minute Flint saw her in the midst of the line up following him like some kind of lost puppys. 

With nothing else to do than just stand round the edge of the Quidditch Pitch, (Y/N) looked up and watched as a few Gryffindors threw the Quaffle towards one of the three hoops. She didn’t even know why people kept trying out to be a Chaser in Wood’s team when the current three were the best they had. And they were all women. Who would have thought that girls could play that well, right? 

(Y/N) didn’t know why she continued to insist when she was aware that Flint would never let her be on the team. Maybe because it was her last year, or because she had a tiny spark of hope inside of her that something, pretty much a miracle, would happen and the boy’d change his mind, finally acknowledging that (Y/N) was better than the two Slytherin beaters together. 

“What are you doing here, (Y/L/N)?,” the voice of the Slytherin Captain brought her back from the train of thoughts. Glancing towards the Pitch, she realised that it was empty, the only Gryffindor there was Oliver Wood, seating in the opposite set of stands with a notebook and a pencil in his hand. Upon seeing Flint and the trail of Slytherins behind him, he rolled his eyes and quickly left his spot, steps faltering after hearing Marcus’s irritated tone. “I told you, multiple times may I remind you, that I don’t want girls in my team, and especially not those who want to be beaters.”

This was something she saw coming, of course, and she’d tried to assume it for the last couple of days every time the image of being rejected, again, would pop into her head, replaying the times were she had actually been rejected as if her own mind was trying to torture her.

She had also seen the other part coming, and she had tried to stop it. But in her defense, when Professor Snape interrogated her an hour later, Marcus Flint kind of deserved it. 

“Why not, Flint? I’ve been trying to get in the team ever since you became Captain and decided I wasn’t good enough after our fourth year,” (Y/N) had said, voice raising after more words left her mouth. With her broomstick in hand, she stepped down the stands and marched towards him. 

“You said it yourself, (Y/N), you weren’t, and still aren’t, good enough,” Marcus responded while shrugging his shoulders arrogantly and walking past her. 

“I was good enough, you prick, I was better than just good enough and you fucking know it.” All of the group that had gathered to try out turned their heads in her direction when she started to scream, whispers and shared glances expectant of the outcome of the argument. Pushing a third year in front of her out of her way, she kept walking, stopping only after she was face to face with Marcus. “And how can you be so sure I’m not adequate? You haven’t even let me fly around the Pitch for the last two years.”

Ignoring her, Flint commanded the two boys carrying the box full of equipment to leave it on the floor and start to warm up. 

“Can you… Can you, please, let me try this one time?,” (Y/N) whispered, burying her pride and dignity in the same coffin after the word please escaped from her mouth. 

“Now you’re begging, you are pathetic, (Y/L/N), and they say you’re supposed to be dangerous” the boy exclaimed, clearly enjoying seeing her so desperate. He walked towards her, his taller figure towering over the girl. “Let me tell you something. Both of us were on the team, right now one is the Captain and the other one… Well, I’m pretty sure you know your exact position in this whole thing. And that’s why you are not in my place, because you are not good enough.”

Her teeth, jaw and fists clenched at the same time, the rest of her body shaking slightly, lighting up on fire with every sentence Marcus sneered at her. 

From a young age she had people question her, her interests and her decisions, even her place in the House of ambition, many believing the girl to be “too soft” at first. That had changed after the start of her second year. If they wanted her to be violent, rash and reckless, that’s what they got. Now, every time her name was mentioned around Hogwarts, whispers and rumours would be shortly behind. Most of the things people said about her were incorrect, not even close to the truth, but she accepted them anyways. She took each one of the rumours and turned them into her truth.

For some (Y/N) (Y/L/N) was on the right path to become a Dark Witch, a pureblood longing to take on Lord Voldemort’s place and rule over the Wizarding World, torturing muggleborns and blood traitors. To others, she was the Devil’s offspring in the flesh, waiting for the right moment to raise the forces of hell upon Hogwarts. And they were the ones speaking of her mental state while coming up with ridiculous theories. Nonetheless, she had to admit it was a new kind of entertainment seeing the first years getting warned about her, bombarding them with false information and stupid allegations. But the laughs she would have from it on her own company didn’t erase the loneliness and the solemn feeling of having no one. 

Like the symbol of her house, (Y/N) was a creature of instinct. And like what people murmured about her, (Y/N) was also a creature of violence.

As only one can imagine, no one was shocked from the response Marcus Flint got. Not in words, or insults, which were regular, but in the form of a fist connecting with his cheek (although she had intended to hit the nose). 

One would think anger makes people a better fighter, all that pent up rage coming from nowhere and lashing out against your opponent it’s more damaging to you than the person you are fighting. Now, this was not (Y/N)’s first fist fight but that didn’t mean she knew what she was doing. Every time she had punched someone it had happened in the midst of uncontrollable wrath growing, attaching itself to the girl’s body, controlling her limbs, numbing her mind.

For a moment she closes her eyes, one thought in her mind, vanishing as quickly as it appeared, — I did it. Again —. When (Y/N) opens them, she notices the change of scenario, or positions. She is no longer standing on her feet, she is several metres away from her housemate, the back of her body on the receiving end of the harsh floor; the loud beating of her heart thundering in her ears, almost giving her a headache, swallowing the spell Flint had used on her. 

After rising from the grass, (Y/N) marches towards him, holly wand in her hand shooting hexes, barely missing its target. She’s about to whisper the Stunning Spell when someone from behind grabs her wrist, holding her back from trying to curse Marcus, whose responses are getting slower and scarcely protecting him. An arm sneaks around (Y/N)’s figure, distancing her from the Slytherin Quidditch Captain. 

Her elbow moves almost instinctively and hits the person behind her in the stomach, the arm around her waist retreating fast enough for (Y/N) to cast a protection charm and petrify Marcus Flint. 

Turning around, she sees none other than Oliver Wood, bending over his stomach with a hand clenching his right knee and gasping for air.

“What the bloody hell was that, Wood?”

“I was trying to help you!,” he manages to say while looking up at her.

“Help me? You were trying to stop me, you twat.”

“Exactly!,” Oliver shouts, making her move backwards, “Do you want to get yourself expelled, (Y/L/N)? Because if that’s what you want, you are doing an excellent job.”

She should have hexed him right there, no one else was on the Quidditch Pitch with them, except the handful of Slytherins and those weren’t the snitching types, but she didn't, surprising herself and everyone else watching them.

||| 

Later that night, after finishing the horrendous detention Snape had put her in —reorganizing his entire cabinet claimed by suspicious ingredients and potions with terrible smells, making the small space smell like rotten eggs and the Gryffindor Quidditch robes after a rough match—, looking at the moon and the landscape surrounding Hogwarts from the Astronomy Tower, she thought about the reasons to why she hadn’t raised her wand, or fist, to face Oliver. 

He wasn’t special. Yes, he was a great wizard, with problems in Potions and History of Magic, still quite good at Defensive spells but not that good to beat her if she was fully focused, he would be easy to defeat especially after Quidditch tryouts. So, why? Why did she just walk away?

“I knew I could find you here.”

(Y/N) turned around, quickly taking hold of her holly wand and raising it towards the tower’s entrance. The thundering in her chest calming, her breathing going back to its normal pace when she realised it wasn’t Sirius Black, the murderer that had escaped Azkaban and was said to have roamed through the castle. 

“What are you doing here, Oliver?”, she addressed him once the moonlight illuminated his tall figure.

“I wanted to apologise,” the boy admitted, his voice faltered just like his approach, as if he was trying to make peace with a beast; as if he was telling a snake that his feet would not come close to its head, “for what I said earlier. It wasn’t fair because I know how you…”

“How I what? How I tend to react when I’m angry?,” (Y/N) interrupted, the hand holding her wand still facing Oliver, “don’t try to act like you know me.”

“But I used to,” he murmured.

Neither of them said anything, both of their minds desperately trying to find the right words, one to plead for forgiveness once again and the other to accept it if the plea ever escaped his mouth.

The distant sound of creatures soaring through the night sky and the flip of their wings was all they heard for minutes, minutes that had felt like hours; she would dare to say days if the sky wasn’t still dark, filled with bright stars circling a full moon. 

“Why don’t we get to know each other all over again? We can start over, please.”

There it was.

And then it came.

“That’s such a great idea, Oliver!,” (Y/N) answered with a big smile on her face, the quick change of demeanour unsettling Oliver. They hadn’t talked in years but he was still amazed at how much he remembered of her, and how this didn’t mean any good. “We can get to know each other like all those years ago and then, you can abandon me like all those years ago”. The grin on her lips transforming into a scowl right after she pronounced the last part of her sentence.

“Why are you even here, Wood? You felt guilty and now you’re trying to make it go away? Or is it charity?,” the Slytherin kept ranting,” or better yet, someone challenged you to do this? I’m putting all my money on the Weasley Twins. 

“N-No, no, it’s nothing like that,” Oliver explained while moving his hands and walking the final steps leading him to (Y/N),“ I just- I never- I, I never wanted this, I never expected it but everyone was talking about you and-and they were saying horrible things and…”

“And you believed them,” (Y/N) stated, turning around to stop facing him and his hurt expression,” I don’t blame you for doing it. It’s quite funny if you think about it.”

“What’s quite funny?,” his gaze still on her when he asked.

“Most of the things you and the rest of the school heard were invented by me, so people would just stop bothering me,” she pretended to confess only to the stars, for if she didn’t, she would never admit it to him,” you can say I planned my entire doom. And it’s quite funny because, in the end, you still believed me.”

“You could have told me, (Y/N). Why didn’t you?”

“You believed the rumours, I’m sure not the craziest ones though, but that tells me that you thought I was capable of actually doing all the terrible things I said about myself.”

“I’m sorry, I am, (Y/N), truly.”

“Sorry doesn’t mend it,” she murmured, now forcing herself to look him in the eyes and act as if the pain never happened; as if she hadn’t missed his company and his random, permanently out of place Quidditch facts.

“I know, but it’s everything I have right now and I hope you can forgive me one day.”

“I have already forgiven you, Oliver, but I was too proud to reach you.”

“Typical you, (Y/N). I should have expected it.”

A small smile formed in her lips and for a moment she forgot their broken friendship, the reputation that had become her shadow and the future awaiting after Hogwarts. It was only them, (Y/N) and Oliver, with the moon glowing down on their faces and the feeling of being eleven year olds settling over their minds.

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[mcmusing]

X-Men Days of Failed Prequels

After so many mentions along with anti tags, the time has come for me to detail the depths of my disdain for the cinematic version of x-men days of future past. The sequel of stupid fandom loves. This is going to earn me so many cool points. Though considering I’m the one chick who finds Ian McKellen’s Magneto laughably one-dimensional, popularity obviously isn’t at the top of my priorities list. I’m also not trying to trash anyone who genuinely enjoys the film, however baffling I find that reaction. This is simply modern life in terms of media. If you can’t enjoy it on its own merit, take satisfaction in sending it through the shredder.

Those who think I take these films too seriously, first, I have a connection with FC whether I like it or not. Second, you’re protesting too much. If you really just see these as basic popcorn flicks and vehicles for slash-tacular fantasties, you wouldn’t make an effort to get me to shut up. I know because I’ve read critiques of fandoms I really enjoy and never responded. Unless someone’s trashing the Lion King then it’s on.

After the breath of fresh air ushered in by FC, the tone of this movie is bogged down with despair and misery only the stupid phoenix movie could surpass. This is also from where the bulk of the alleged sexism outcries stem. Sexism. In the X-Men. A group of outsiders from all walks of life made family, linked together by their mutual goal of defending a world that fears and hates them. A well-oiled machine of powerful men AND women who work and play off each so effectively. Yes, a positive of X-Men is the tackling of relatable real-world issues. Sexism can be a valid topic if handled objectively. However, the mindset has no place within the X-Men team itself. Seriously, these writers want us to believe that in a time of tremendous civic upheaval- presidents and movement leaders being assassinated, mass rioting and protests, churches being burned down, these vigorously trained warriors are wasting time on boys vs. girls contests.

To paraphrase James McAvoy, why did they bring the grandparents in?! The FC cast had infinitely better characterization from their initial scenes alone than the original cast had across an entire trilogy. It’s no question why this was done, though. After recovering from the major surgery of having his ego enlarged monumentally, Singer darkened the doorway of this series yet again. He couldn’t act fast enough to unceremoniously dispose of most of the FC players. No, he has to roll out the red carpet for his cast to return.

Let’s see, who’s here. Shawn Ashmore- or is it Aaron?- eh, I don’t care. Halle Barry- lady, if only your acting ability improved at the same rate you cut your hair. Ellen Page- sit down, kid, Hugh Jackman’s agent is on Stan Lee’s bowling team. King Patrick Stewart and- oh, no, no, no, no, no! Why did you have to bring your expired ham courtier? Sir Ian McKellen is back and wrinklier than ever. Even confined to a wheelchair and without telepathy, I always bet on Professor Patrick being able to take down this remarkably unintimidating dude. Took long enough for this war he kept preaching about. When we first meet them in the 2000 movie, Magneto is old and raggedy and mutant extinction has yet to occur. Even when they had valid reasons for wiping the mutants out, all the government did was weaponize the cure to subdue their powers. The US wants to be all stingy about helping their law-abiding citizens, but these suckers built an elaborate plastic prison for this Jewish refugee turned terrorist. It would have saved so many tax dollars to simply put Magneto to death. So, what is this senile sack of geriatrics always wailing about? Don’t be putting him in the same movie as Michael Fassbender. Even if they don’t share a single scene together, you don’t juxtapose a wet match next to an active volcano. Sure, both Magnetos were completely useless in the movie, but only Michael deserved better.

So, Mystique, who was totally Charles’ kid sister the entire time, is the reason the world goes to crap. Apparently, Prof X’s protectiveness and efforts to instill values in that scaley orphan ‘drove’ her away, eh? Then, Magneto put her on a dark path. Essentially, Mystique is a misunderstood victim turned into the doomsday device all because of the duel between two penises. I guess free will is medically impossible for creepy scale people. In trying to showcase some sort of empowerment, Singer and company wound up degrading Mystique and everyone around her in the process.

While Mystique was an important part of the original dofp, the film version goes way overboard in elevating her to dead center. I’ll admit that I was a Jennifer Lawrence fan during this time also, thanks to FC and the Hunger Games. I used to only feel indifference towards Mystique, but Jenni Law bringing so much humanity to the role really made me want to see more Raven… why can’t I have nice things?

Since Singer loathes character development (seriously, check out the deleted scenes from the earlier X-movies. Fleshing out characters always winds up on the cutting room floor), we’re reunited with the FC cast ten years after the tragedy that was Cuba. Ooookay, that was supremely unsatisfying but maybe we’ll see what happened during the interim. Maybe we’ll see how solidified Erik and Charles’ individual teams are by now. Yeah, dream on. Charles spiraled into a devastating depression from, once again, losing everything he ever cared about after trying to rebuild himself post-paralysis. As for Erik, the worldly, self-taught nazi hunter and holocaust survivor who gained a sizable power increase under Charles’ instruction, couldn’t stop a single bullet from taking out the president. That’s not even the worst of it. Someway, somehow he was not only caught in a suspicious position, this dude got locked up by plain Jane homo sapiens for ten years. So, he’s been in a plastic prison twice? The US is dead set against killing this moron yet *Charles* is the one leading a life of privilege?! At least what happened to Charles is mostly believable. What happened to Erik required so much effort to show the least amount of effort.

So, who is out there being a mutant freedom fighter? Freakin Raven. My suspension of disbelief still suffers strokes from this. They seriously want people to buy that this sheltered rich girl with a fixation on her appearance, trained with Erik for six months and just like that, she’s a one-girl revolution. While Erik himself got captured like a pathetic punk. So, Raven has been going around the globe to rescue mutants from being experimented on, but she couldn’t raise a single pinky finger to free Erik before he suffered the same fate? This isn’t me siding with Erik but with logic. Even worse, the blue brat is on an idiotic quest to avenge her genocidal friends that were, appropriately, killed. But she refuses to even disguise herself once in a while to secretly check in on her own brother. Is the audience seriously supposed to be sympathetic here? Why don’t we throw a memorial for the Pearl Harbor and 9/11 bombers while we’re at it?

 I’m not comic purist. In fact, something I really like about FC is that it’s similar to my own writing style. With so many different universes of superhero lore, I take whatever characters and aspects I like from different mediums to create something new. That really is the same thing FC did. However, the changes they made to Erik and Charles are mind-blowingly insulting. Dofp painted this iconic duo of different views but similar drive and ambition for mutantkind as pitiful failures. They suffered character assassination solely so that Raven could usurp their legacies and be made a false idol to worship. They filled the whole mary sue checklist for this girl. She’s considered the most important player for the future world, she’s the only one actively involved in the mutant plight, all the men are either in love with her or desperate for her to be in their lives again, the audience is expected to side with her without question, she is NEVER once held accountable for her actions (like her abandonment of her critically injured brother) but she receives all the credit and praise once the crisis is averted. None of that is female empowerment, you creatively bankrupt SOBs!

Hey, feminists, unsure adolescent girls out there searching for a relatable character to look up to, stop. Stop falling for this. Singer and Kinberg care about you as much as Disney cares about gays. Just a spoonful of pandering will make the bitter medicine that is these movies go down. I swear, x-misogyny and x-misandry abounds. Raven is an infantilized caricature so common in female characters now. They work for nothing, are handed everything, never go through genuine growth, and they crush so many men under their boots in the process. Kitty was played up as the time traveler for dofp, but she became a sentient machine for Logan to travel through instead. Rogue used to fill the slot that Raven is in now, but her daggon crap mom did her dirtier than Joan Crawford did Christine and stole it. Rogue was still supposed to have a significant part. She was meant to take over for Kitty as Logan’s sentiment time machine… girl power!

Men, with the exception of Peter, don’t fare any better. Charles’ mental health issues, pain, and nurturing desire for a family are treated as if he’s being weak, selfish, and the victimizer even though he’s the one going through the most struggle and abuse. Erik became a cruel, cold-hearted, shameless, nonsensical megalomanic before his descension into straight-up cowardice. Every time he wasn’t on screen, I forgot he was even in this movie. Charles doesn’t care about him in the slightest- and he shouldn’t- compared to his desire to heal his relationship with Raven. Erik cares about literally nothing but forcing his own agenda, killing his so-called ‘brethren’ if they dare hinder that goal. Hank is perpetually emotionally stunted and wimpy. His entire characterization amounts to nerdy science guy. There is not a single trace of Kelsey Grammer’s intellectual, well-read, majestically spoken, courageous, politically ambitious, mutant defending Hank McCoy. James Marsden makes his first re-appearance in the franchise in years and all he’s there for is to be the oblivious, mistreated boyfriend while Logan and Jean make bedroom eyes at each other.

Yeah, about that end scene with all the original cast members back together all happy like. With the exceptions of Rogue and Prof X, I don’t give a flying fart! Those played out MFs invaded the FC cast’s film and for what? Yeah, maybe they averted the apocalypse but they don’t know that! This is a completely alternate timeline. The former X-Men are very, very dead and none the wiser. Oh, Singer, thank you, thank you so much. Erik and Charles’ non-existent friendship, the unbelievably unnecessary estrangement between Raven and Charles, the waste of Michael Fassbender’s talents to the extent that he himself cringes at his own performance were such worthwhile sacrifices so that your outdated cast could have their precious sendoff.

Here’s another bit of controversy. You know that famous scene of baby James Charles meeting and conversing with King Patrick Prof X? How well it’s staged, how emotionally driven, how superbly well-acted it is? I still stand in awe of how these two could take totally different approaches in their performances of Charles Xavier and both walk away as the definitive live action version of the brilliant mutant mentor. That being said, the “It’s the greatest gift we have. To bear their pain without breaking. And it comes from the most human part of us” part- geez, I could barely type that out without tearing up. As poignant as that moment is, it’s honestly a very unhealthy message.

Yes, real men maintain a steadfast shield of stoic strength in order to protect those they love, never prioritizing their own needs above the ones for which they care. It’s a beautiful sentiment but in this situation, it is such an enormous burden placed on a young Charles’ shoulders. Even real men need help from time to time. Yes, Hank stayed with Charles- basically as his physician and home manager. But Charles lost his deepest, most intimate connections. The love and support of his sweet sister and the safety and camaraderie all too short-lived from his older brother figure. Surrounded by so many students in the future, when it comes down to it, Charles is completely alone. He’s forced into the role of emotionless, all-knowing saintly sage under the harsh mandate of absolute perfection. The tiniest slip or flaw, regardless of his intentions or attempts to rectify, takes everything from him and replaces it with scorn and contempt. He is a beacon for what he himself is never given; forgiveness and empathy.

This really cuts me at the quick because I think the Erik and Raven apologists are so rampant because most of fandom have no idea of what it’s like to be the group’s designated Charles Xavier. Everyone else is allowed to give into their emotions, fly off the handle, make all the demands, break all the rules, and receive the simplest redemption for it. Charles has to be the moral core because no one else in his life can begin to grasp that level of selflessness and reliability. Shouting, destroying, physical assault, reckless behavior- easy peasy. To be the one on the receiving end of unrelenting misery and coming out of it with unwavering refusal to continue the vicious cycle- that’s true strength.

Wow, writing is a good calorie killer. I haven’t had more than a handful of chips since last night. Meh, I guess I’ll go rectify that.