#also how the hell do I like... participate in discourse or interact with people

[magickobold]

For the first time in my life I feel... old.

Showing up to Tumblr, unsure of how interacting works, trying to post things on an account with literally 0 followers in the most like, unintrusive way I can... and then going to class and literally jotting down a note about what to post when I get back. Like, is this how people used Facebook back in the day???

[majorbaby]

mashblr is full of the most milquetoast mealy mouthed lgb without the t reporting pornography at the local public library white queers i have ever seen in a fandom

i don't love the use of "queers" here as a noun even with the word "white" in front of it. please don't take my saying that as an excuse to start "queer is/isn't a slur" discourse. racism in the lgbtq+ community is a problem caused by whiteness, not queerness, and using "queer" pejoratively against any group of queer people just inflames tensions. "white gays" isn't any better.

i get why you think i'm the right person to vent to, i've definitely pointed out racism, classism and misogyny as i've seen it. but i don't think what you're saying here is in any way limited to mashblr/mash fandom or fandom in general, and i prefer to respond to and point out specific trends in my critiques. i'm raising my eyebrows at "i have ever seen in a fandom" because i don't see how that's possible unless mash is your first fandom or you've just been really good at filtering and then stopped for some reason when you got into mash.

if you are a brown or black person, i'm sympathetic to how you must feel. it is really hard to be a minority within a minority and seeing fandom held up as a "queer space" or even a "progressive space" is corny as all hell. sure, it is mostly white people i've seen do this and they do rely heavily on the existence explicit gay content as a qualifier, when by that logic the mainstream porn industry is also a bastion of queer progressivism (yikes). it's just a bunch of nerds nerding out and jacking off - disavowing or championing it on the basis of its perceived moral value is annoying.

all communities that exist in a racist, transphobic, sex-negative world are susceptible to the same power dynamics and desire for social capital/validation/acceptance - everything from political parties to high school anime clubs. i tend to avoid group fandom spaces and limit my interaction to one-on-one with people i can trust not to rescind their respect of me as a human being if we happen to disagree on OTPs and sexuality headcanons.

"white opinions fatigue" is a real thing and unfortunately the only cure to that is to check out of fandom from time to time, but at least you have the option of doing that, as compared to the workplace, academia and other spaces you likely have no choice but to participate in. so my advice is to exercise your judgement and free will.

[laylajeffany]

Thank you for looking into it - I think that it's sweet that other people do care enough about AO3 authors they've never met to try and help problem solve. It's honestly just kind without defending someone in a way that just adds to the problem. Content scrapers, deliberately targeted - it's just...why. It's a HOBBY FOR ME, but a personality for other people, I guess.

Here is some absolutely long-winded discourse that NO ONE ASKED FOR coming up regarding what I think could be causing fans to act bat-shit crazy and possibly put a bot on the story of a person who has LITERALLY NEVER EVEN ENGAGED WITH THEM BEFORE (honestly guys I talk to like ten people in this fandom what the fuck).

One of the reasons I literally don't interact in this fandom almost at all/particularly consistently & regularly, outside of my horrible past experience in my last fandom, is how uncomfortable I am with the stan culture (and in this one, because of the incredible tag abuse - I just stay out of it so I don't have to see the bullshit/unrelated nonsense).

And yeah, I'm about to 'back in my day' the hell out of this conversation, but I have been a participant in online fandoms on and off since 2002 and watched things evolve and change to the point where it's not that I don't participate just because I'm older/out of touch with the youths, but because of how interaction of people within fandom has shifted so much that I generally don't find it fun to be a part of anymore. I've seen a lot of 'ship-wars' and plenty of fandom drama, but the toxicity in the modern fandom era feels so much more intense and I think it's for a variety of reasons. Our online fandoms always had fandom elders, but now that fandom is spreading across even more generations, it's likely that we can feel the changes that come with each new one that joins, and as those of us who have been around the block continue to get older, it's an ebb and flow of understanding of current interaction norms/culture and differing boundaries from incoming fans and remembering that maturity takes time. As Gen Alpha enters the chat all we can do is skibbity toilet ohio rizz them I guess. Nah, I work with these kids, they are so fucking cynical and hate disingenuous bullshit so much they are going to be a riot in fandom spaces.

Additionally, I think the increase of multi-platform fandoms has made it more intense as well. Most people I knew who participated in fandom didn't use modern-era 'social media' for fandom until later Twitter and Tumblr, really, like 2010ish era. Before that, you'd have ff.net and your big/main fandom message board that was attached to a specifically run fandom, dedicated sites managed by by BNFs that moderated content. Yes, that also caused some problems, but people weren't spread out across the internet. Sure, there were also AOL chat rooms and MSN spaces of smaller groups, too. But most people in this fandom likely have at least an AO3, Tumblr, twitter, Reddit, Discord, and more I probably don't even know about all just for fandom activity in addition to their personal/school/work accounts and other platforms. People also use these apps on mobile, all day - you're not waiting until it's your turn on the family computer in the basement to get online for an hour or two. It's in your pocket all day long.

I think that multi-platform usage on mobile at an instant have contributed to this incredibly intense stan culture that has morphed from fandom being hobby to fandom being personality. When you perceive something as a threat PERSONALLY, you react, fight-flight-freeze. Fanwars have always existed and persisted, but now we're talking five-generation cohorts and instant, on-demand access to things that provide intense amounts of dopamine. We've created an environment where it's very difficult for fandom to just be a fun hobby for most, and a potentially toxic/dangerous all-consuming part of someone's life for many.

If your fanwork (art, fic, edit, post, etc.,) isn't receiving the engagement that you crave/desire because this isn't just something you're doing for fun, you are doing it because it's a needs-based, dopamine-addicted part of your personality, you may feel personally victimized when someone else's fanwork receives more attention than yours. This could put you into the fight-flight-freeze state and make you act in ways that are completely inappropriate responses to the reality of the situation that just isn't a thing, but it feels like a huge deal to the people who have made fandom their life/personality. People develop parasocial relationships so fucking easily that the line between reality and internet is just gone, not even blurred. And it's not just here, it's not just Wednesday/Wenclair/fanfic. Chappell Roan is going to end up leaving music before we ever get another album I bet because of how out of control stan culture is, unless she's in some god-awful Kesha style contract that forces more out of her. Much as I can't stand her music, Taylor Swift's plane is tracked every time it takes off and the speculation on every fucking move she makes by PEOPLE WHO LIKE HER. I don't know a lot about K-Pop but I know people my own fucking age who have gone to South Korea JUST TO STAND OUTSIDE THE PRIMARY SCHOOL THAT THEIR FAVORITE POP STAR WENT TO. Stan culture is in just about every single space that pertains to any kind of media.

Honestly in this fandom that has absolutely nothing to do with me or my fic - what I find most egregious is the stan culture surrounding Jenna. People are so fucking creepy. Maybe it's because I like her and think she's a good actress, and she's a pretty girl, but I've never been attracted to people younger than me, so I don't get it, but either fucking way the way so many people (in the Wenclair tag as well) talk about her publicly makes me so fucking uncomfortable that I don't engage at all. I feel bad for her as she continues to rise in popularity and people continue to approach her in public and tag her in creepy shit online that she should never have to see, she's not going to be able to enjoy anything without security because people are such goddamn creeps with zero boundaries and intense parasocial relationships.

TL;DR - I don't know who would be targeting people's stories on AO3, but at least maybe this could be why. In the very least, it's why you almost never see or hear from me publicly unless I'm dropping a fic.

Private engagement is a WHOLE other issue due to history of individuals violating my boundaries, ALSO likely related to the above reasoning as people develop parasocial relationships with AO3 authors, too.

Reading laylajeffany's and boojangs' posts I couldn't help but be surprised, because my only knowledge of the whole "kudos bot/AO3 web crawler" mess was that it had been around for three years at least but was a relatively harmless nuisance.

But searching for info on what is happening to them and other authors, I find that for the last year or so there has been another bot and that it is being deliberately targeted at specific fandoms and authors to inflate and unbalance their Kudos counts and make them targets for harassment campaigns using accusations of self-promotion or other bullshit.

Apparently the theory is that it could be related to content scrappers trying to steal fanfics for their own purposes (?). What is the logic behind doing something that forces authors to make their content private and lock their stories, I don't understand. Alternatively, there are people who are just plain assholes and mean-spirited like that, who probably just want to cause harm/stress.

[rivetgoth]

The thing with goth gatekeeping “discourse” is that literally all of it very easily dissipates and the truth becomes abundantly obvious if you actually engage with the community in real life in any meaningful way rather than your entire concept of “goth” coming from like online aesthetic images and like selfies you see in the instagram goth tag or ootd videos from rich kids on tiktok… if you are actually participating IRL in the scene it’s quite obvious very fast it’s about the music because you won’t be able to find a “goth space” that ISN’T centered around the music. Clubs and concerts are the most common avenue for goth socializing but even like, local goth stores… are playing the music over the store speakers, selling band shirts and patches and stickers and buttons, advertising upcoming shows, etc… I just watched a video about a goth cafe that had tables decorated after various major goth album covers like The Cure’s Disintegration and Bauhaus’ Bela Lugosi’s Dead single. It’s kind of unavoidable.

And like, realistically within those spaces nobody is “gatekeeping” baby bats and newcomers from entering, and if some music guy(TM) comes up and tries to do the whole “if you’re a real Sisters of Mercy fan name a song of theirs besides Lucretia My Reflection🥴” literally anyone would agree they’re being a dick lol. And hell, I’ll even go a step further and say that in a LOT of goth spaces, you will meet people who are openly not goth and nobody gives a shit. Tons of goth spaces are also fetish/kink spaces and I’ve known a decent chunk of people that basically exclusively go for that. I’ve met plenty of people who will admit this music isn’t their biggest thing but they just have fun going out dancing, they enjoy going out with friends who like it more than them, etc. Fuck, I have honestly known guys who show up to the club specifically cuz they’re into goth girls and they’re totally accepted cuz they’re chill and know how to act! Nobody is giving anyone shit for being a baby bat or a non-goth or whatever, and the majority of people (especially the artists/DJs/hosts/etc) are just happy to have people coming out and supporting the scene (including financially!).

That said it also kinda undoes the weirdness of the ultra extreme trad goth purist gatekeepers who honestly also come across as chronically online— I’m talking the guys on Reddit who sit around circlejerking about nothing but oldskool goth which basically amounts to reposting the same damn Bauhaus song 50 times and squabbling about whether or not “Disintegration is actually goth” because it’s “after the Cure stopped being post-punk.” Like the guys who genuinely seem to believe that goth music should be capped at like 1985 at the very damn latest and/or if it doesn’t sound exactly like goth post-punk from 1981 it’s not real goth music, “darkwave is inspired by goth but it’s not real goth music,” insisting that there is a clear divide between genres and subcultures and no industrial band will ever be goth and vise versa etc etc. These people also play stupid a lot of the time and push the “goth is a music subculture” to the furthest extreme of “nothing else is ‘actually goth,’ there is no goth ‘culture’ or ‘lifestyle,’ those things are just incidental and it’s exclusively about the music [which is 5 bands from the late 70s] 🙄.” It’s extremely detached from reality and is also behavior that can be easily dispelled and ignored if you just fucking go outside and interact with your local goth scene in good faith.

It’s a community lol it’s really not that complicated. It’s a music-based community. Goth events will have music spanning many genres and that doesn’t mean that fucking Dead or Alive or KMFDM are trad goth classics but it also means that they serve a place within the goth community because of the overlap that has existed historically. Goth nights always include darkwave, dark electronic, dark synthpop, new romantic, gothic metal, EBM, etc, alongside the classic post-punk music… There are key fixtures to the style and fashion that you’ll undoubtedly see, and this will vary by local goth scene too! There’s often a heavy emphasis or overlap with the local kink/fetish scene including in the way people dress. There is a lot of overlap with magic practitioners and witches and paganism and divination. But it’s about about the music that’s bringing people together… It is genuinely an issue that can 100% be solved by going outside and engaging authentically with your local scene with an open mind and heart 😭

[mariaiscrafting]

i saw you talk about “blocking etiquette” in one of your posts and i was wondering if you could briefly explain that? my blog is a baby (i joined in march) so i really don’t know any of the unspoken social rules haha. i feel i should know this before i say anything ever thats dream critical lmao

also saw you have a ton of asks so feel free to answer or not there’s no obligation ! take care of urself it seems like a lot to handle rn

I'd like to preface this by disclaiming that I've been on Tumblr since 2014, so I think I have a good sense of blocking etiquette as it's evolved with Tumblr culture, but I might still be presumptuous/wrong about some things.

Anyways. So, on Tumblr, there's generally always been a "block first, ask questions later" mentality. No matter the fandom, people kinda just unfollow or block people at will because Tumblr's algorithm is so shit at recommending things for people that unfollowing/blocking are really the primary ways to tailor what you don't want to see. So, if you frequent a search term/tag search, like "dream smp," you'd likely block someone who posts things frequently to that tag, but whose content you dislike. Blocking is, obviously, still used as a means to stop interacting with just plain assholes, as it is on every social media site. But more times than not, Tumblr users block blogs for neutral reasons related to how they want to tailor their social media experience, rather than a personal vendetta against someone.

Frankly, from my perspective, this was the main use of block lists back in the day. They weren't so much ways to truly hate on anyone's blog since anyone deemed a true asshole would likely spur a reporting campaign against them, rather than an addition to a blocklist. No, Tumblr blocklists were almost always so people who frequented certain tags simply... didn't have to put up with some people. If there was a wave of problematic shippers inundating a fandom/character tag, of TERFs inundating trans/feminism tags, or something similar, they would likely be put on a blocklist simply because Tumblr users wanted a comprehensive list of people they might come across, but didn't want to have to see posts from. Along a similar vein, a lot of mcytblr blogs advocate simply blocking people who post imagines in the main mcyt/dream smp tags, rather than harrassing each and every one of them into fixing their tag habits. Like, they're just annoying, really, and this social media site is so big that just blocking the ones who frequent the tag is so much easier than anything else.

One notable difference about Tumblr blocking as compared to Twitter blocking is the malintent behind Twitter blocking. Twitter fandom subtwts will advocate for blocking someone particularly if they're being cancelled/a Twitter user simply dislikes them enough. In addition, I've seen more than one Twitter user unironically say that they block people who unfollow them, as if following/unfollowing them were a personal affront, and blocking people were some component of this social game that reeks of cliqueness and high school levels of maturity.

That isn't to say that Tumblr blocking etiquette doesn't have pitfalls, because it has many. The main one I've noticed is that, especially in smaller fandom spaces, someone who's considered problematic might be enmassed blocked by lots of users in that fandom, and effectively be shut out of that fandom. If they're put onto a blocklist, a problematic post is circulated enough, or they're blocked by enough "big blogs" in the fandom, these users can be kept from reblogging, liking, or sending asks to a large part of the fandom they participate in. Vague posting doesn't really get you anywhere on Tumblr because of how insular each blog is, as opposed to Twitter, where screenshotting someone's profile who's blocked you and/or complaining very obviously about someone blocking you without naming them is commonplace and can be easily spread throughout a subtwt. This means Tumblr blogs who were mass blocked end up reaching much less members of their fandom, cannot really stand up for themselves in the face of mass blocking unless they're infamous enough for people to recognize their name, or participate in the discourse that promoted their blocking in the first place. While I haven't really experienced this, all of this is taken from what I've observed mutuals and recognizable blogs going through over the years.

Another note is that this website is kinda fucked, coding-wise. We all know this. This means that there are a million holes in the blocking system that make it even more annoying to navigate when people have blocked you, and that ends up getting more people blocked than maybe should be.

First of all, those imagine blogs aren't just posting in the main tags for shits and giggles, or to be cumbersome and clutter the main tags. They're doing it because Tumblr is dying, and even in a fandom as big as mcytblr, it's almost impossible to boost/promote your original content. The Tumblr algorithm sucks at spreading awareness about popular posts, more and more Twitter refugees means less and less people who fucking reblog > liking posts, and basically the only way posts can blow up anymore is by being found through a tag that is trending or frequently browsed through the "most recent" setting. This includes dream smp and many smp character names, so obviously imagine blogs are going to take advantage of this and maintag. It's the reason mcytblr constantly tags "m*necraft" despite being told off, time and time again, for doing so by mineblr. And it's the reason I've likely been blocked by many people- because I had to make the decision between spreading awareness of a post that took a lot of effort and that I thought was important enough to main tag despite being critical/negative, or keeping mcytblr happy by not cluttering their bias's tag with a crit post. Sure, some of mcytblr likely blocked me because they thought I was annoying/disagree with me, and that's fine. But I'm sure many blocked me for the same reason I block imagine blogs and mineblr blocks dream smp stans- because they wanted to peruse their fave's tags, and they simply blocked a random blog that posted something they didn't like, without really thinking much of it.

Second of all, side blogs kinda fuck up how blocking works. It's annoying as hell to see a post you really like in the main tag/search, only to find that the person blocked you upon trying to reblog. Because of sideblogs, people will oftentimes block a sideblog because it's that user's fandom blog, without blocking their main, so the user is left kinda seeing their stuff time and time again, without being able to interact with it.

Speaking of how fucky the code is because of the blogging system, reblogs make it even worse. Most social media sites simply make it so a blocked user cannot see another user's profile, posts and all. But Tumblr not only allows this, it kinda fucks up the search function by sometimes allowing people you've blocked/who've blocked you to show up in main tag searches, it didn't take into account the fact that you can still see an OP's post when someone else reblogs it, and Tumblr didn't think to just fucking fix all these holes and just wholly omit someone's posts if they've blocked you, or you've blocked them. So, despite blocking people, you can still be logged in and see all their shit, and they can see yours. It's kind of annoying as fuck.

[sabbywrites]

Let’s talk.

This is a long post that also happens to be long overdue. Also posted as a thread to my twitter (tl;dr at end). 

Hi everyone. It’s been a while. I’ve been debating for a little bit on how to write this, going back and forth between feeling scared and feeling determined to say what I want to say. I’m finally at a point where I can confidently say: let’s talk.

First, I want to say this: I’m sorry. I haven’t been very consistent these past two years, with both my writing and with keeping in touch with everyone I’ve met online. If you’re reading this and I haven’t spoken to you in a while, know this: I will be getting in touch with you soon. I haven’t forgotten the amazing people I call friends.

If you folks will have me, I’d love to catch up with everyone I haven’t talked to during my absence. I want to make one thing very, very clear— me being gone was never about me not wanting to talk to the people on here or participate in this community. The thing I regret the most about being gone is leaving people in the dark. If my absence has in any way, shape, or form hurt you, I cannot begin to apologize enough from the bottom of my heart. That was never my intention, although intentions don’t fix the hurt caused.

I want to discuss the reason for my absence, so please bear in mind that I’m not trying to excuse being gone— just explain why.

Some of you may know that I have three diagnosed mental conditions that have mostly been manageable through medication and therapy. When I first started writing online, I was halfway through undergrad and I wanted a place where I could put my writing so people might enjoy it. I found that pretty quickly on Ao3. As I worked on getting my writing degree, I would spend hours and hours working on what became ASID. I was thrilled beyond belief when ASID drew in readers who left wonderful comments.

I have a huge amount of love in my heart for everyone who has ever read any of my works, and I wouldn’t change anything about that. Ever. But as I graduated from college, I started noticing that my mental health was on a sharp decline that it hadn’t been on since high school. I tried to keep it at bay for a while, because I was sure I would bounce back.

I did not.

I began to take small breaks as I jumped into graduate school. I feel very purposeless without school in the background of my life; I’d gotten a degree that a lot of people in my life implied was useless, and with every break I took I felt more and more like an imposter. What’s a writer who doesn’t write? Had I gotten my degree for nothing? I trudged on through grad school and received my Masters in May. It still didn’t feel right. I felt like a failure.

Every time I logged on to talk to friends or check my comments, a voice in the back of my head kept popping up. I was getting older and less motivated. Life outside of undergrad hit me all at once. Nothing I wrote felt good enough to post. The amount of debt I was in already made me ill, and I went through four years of schooling just to feel like the degree I earned was for nothing.

There’s a weird misconception that artists have to be suffering to make good art. We have to be low to do our best. And I was low, lower than I had been since the absolute worst days of my life, and I still couldn’t produce anything. The pain wasn’t enough to jump-start me. What worth did I have, then? What worth does someone who has put their heart into their writing have if they can’t write anymore?

I mistakenly felt like I was an imposter among genuine people, like the friends I had made and the writers I admired were on the other side of a window, in a place I couldn’t get into. When the pandemic rolled around, things had already been teetering on the edge. I won’t sit here and pretend that I got hit any worse than anyone else during 2020— I had a roof over my head and a place to go during my state’s lockdown. But there was ample time, and yet I still wasn’t writing. I couldn’t even do that right. I had to rawdog my mental illness for a stretch, live in a town where the worst trauma of my life had happened to me, and feel like a total, complete, garbage failure every single day. Logging in was more and more of a reminder that I was dead weight.

Financially, I wasn’t doing much better. In the past year or so, I’ve had to provide for myself living on my own on an nonprofits’s pay (not much), as well as occasionally provide for my uncle. I’d thought that by my mid-twenties my life would be different; that I’d be better. In the last few months, it’s become clear that I require surgery for something that may not yet be able to be covered by my insurance; my options now are to wait for it to progress and get worse for coverage or pay out of pocket for the surgery sooner. It’s likely I will need a second one afterwards to completely correct my issues.

For a while, that just made the idea of writing again feel selfish. Why spend time interacting with the community when I should be working to make money because I wasn’t eligible for the stimulus? Why sit down and write something that I would probably just scrap anyway? There’s a lot of other more personal things that happened during my absence that I won’t delve into, including the passing of our family dog. I’m sorry if this seems vague as well, or if it appears that I’m just trying to make excuses— I’m not. Ever since I was younger, I’ve always kind of receded in on myself any time I feel anxious or like a phony. I know it’s not a good habit.

So that’s why I’m here right now, writing this. If I could go back and tell myself that those things I thought about myself weren’t true— that I deserve to have fun in this community and I deserve to talk to the people I care about— I would. But unfortunately, I can’t do that. All I can do is move forward.

I’m not going to sit here and promise that things will be the way that they were back when I first started; not right away, at least. But as of lately I’ve been letting myself peek at my Tumblr dash every so often or log into my Ao3 to see my comments. Those things used to scare me— and they still kind of do right now— but I can’t let them anymore. Joining this community is one of the best things I have ever done. I mean that. The people I’ve met, the comments I’ve received, hell even the discourse I’ve jumped in on— I wouldn’t trade any of it. Things might be overwhelming for a little bit as I adjust to being back after so long, but I want to be here. I want to let myself be happy again.

If you’ve read this far— thank you. Thank you so much for your love and for your patience. Like I said before, I cannot stress enough that my absence was because of myself alone and had nothing to do with my amazing friends on here or the community. If I haven’t messaged you in a long time— again, I apologize. I really, really did drop off. But the only way I can be better at being consistent with the people I care about is by holding myself accountable, not shrinking away.

It may take me a few days to really sort through all of my unread messages and comments and asks and give them the attention they deserve. But I promise, I’ll reach out to everyone whenever I’ve taken the time to do so. Thank you all for being there even when I am not.

Tl;dr—Mentally and financially, I’ve been struggling a lot this past year. I fell back into bad habits of receding into myself and leaving people in the dark, and I really wish I hadn’t. I’d love to be a more active part of this community again. I love all of you so, so much. 

[blackswaneuroparedux]

Anonymous asked: I love your blog it’s definitely one of the most smartest and cultured ones around. Since you are a super chilled out military vet (flying combat helicopters, how cool is that?!) and also a very thoughtful and devout Christian (I think you talked about being an Anglican) I know this is a cheeky question but I’ll ask it anyway. Would you rather live in a military dictatorship or a theocratic dictatorship?

Now this is an interesting question you play at 2am and the wine is dangerously low.

I have to correct you on a couple of things. Yes, it was ‘cool’ to fly combat helicopters especially in a battlefield setting but it was just a job, like any other. And it’s never about the pilot it’s about the rest of the team behind you, especially your ground crew who make sure you go up and come back in one piece. As for being super chilled you clearly have never seen how sweaty one gets flying in high stress situations. Oh and the stink! A skunk wouldn’t last 5 minutes in my cockpit.

As for my Christian beliefs, I’ll settle for being a believing one. My faith, such as it is, is about living - and failing - by grace day by day than being fervently devout. Faith is a struggle to not rely upon one’s own strength but on divine mercy and grace.

Anyway....

Would I rather live in a military dictatorship or a theocratic dictatorship?

History has shown there's not a lot of difference between the two...

No, wait. On second thoughts maybe I would rather live in a military dictatorship as the lesser evil.

As an ex-officer in her HM armed forces, I know things will be run pretty efficiently with no dilly-dallying. So there’s that.

I suppose even if one does say it’s preferable to live under military rule rather than a theocratic one there is still the question of what kind of military rule? Every nation that has been under military rule came to power and sustained their hold under different dynamics. And of course it also depends on how mature civil society and the rule of law as well as the democratic culture really was in the first place. A lot is tied up with the brutal nature of the personality of the regime leader too. There are simply too many variables.

So one is forced to generalise. So l can’t get too serious in answering this question.

Rather than focus on the negative side let’s look on the bright side.

Just off the top of my head I can think of these reasons why I would choose to ‘live’ under military rule than a theocratic one. There are in no real order:

Beds will be made properly subject to inspection.

Families will be run like military units with the man at the head of the table.

Family meals will be taken at set times.

Public civility will make a return (e.g. no public spitting, drunken, or loutish behaviour).

Freedom of speech will more likely be censored than abolished (better than nothing I suppose)

Elections would be rigged rather than banned (but who really votes anyway these days?)


They will most likely make the trains run on time (unless you’re British or Italian).

Military leaders often enjoy genuine popularity - albeit after eliminating plausible rivals - that is based on “performance legitimacy,” a perceived competence at securing prosperity and defending the nation against external or internal threats. The new autocrats of today are more surgical: they aim only to convince citizens of their competence to govern.

Maintaining power, for military dictators and their court, is less a matter of terrorising and persecuting victims than of manipulating beliefs about the world. But of course they can do both if backed into a corner to survive.

State propaganda aims not to re-engineer human souls but to boost the military regime leader’s ratings.

The military tend to stay out of personal lives. They have a political police but not necessarily a moral police.

Economic growth is more likely to be stable than under a theocratic state.

Military dictatorships are more likely to build vast bureaucracies to run the state - more jobs for everyone

The military put on great events. Their parades are more colourful and spectacular.

Having a sense of humour is more likely to get you imprisoned than executed for telling an anti-regime joke. It’s no joke to say that people develop a more refinery subversive sense of humour when oppressed. Take for example a famous comedian in Myanmar, Zarganar, for whom comedy is a shield and a weapon. During the time of the military dictatorship (1962-2010) he would make jokes like, “The American says, 'We have a one-legged guy who climbed Mount Everest.' The Brit says, 'We recently had a guy with no arms who swam the Atlantic Ocean. But the Burmese guy says, 'That's nothing! We had a leader who ruled for 18 years without a brain!" It was for jokes like this that Zarganar received a prison sentence in 2008 - for up to 59 years.

Military dictatorships don’t last long. They are more unstable. They tend to fall from the weight of their own contradictions.

One of the problems of living in a theocracy is how absolutist it would be in looking at life in terms of clear cut black and white according to those who rule over you. I strongly suspect in a theocratic state the morality secret police will be all over you looking for any social or moral infraction. In a Christian Theocracy, you'll never be Christian enough - the same would be for states that were Islamic, Judaic or Hindu etc. There's always going to be some pious asshole there with another version of Christianity that is more Christian than you and you're going to lose the freedom to make your own choices.

Under theocracies, unlike other authoritarian regimes, the rulers are the moral authorities that legitimises and fuels their political legitimacy to govern. It assumes its own moral correctness married to its political destiny to rule over others. As C.S Lewis memorably puts it, “Theocracy is the worst of all governments. If we must have a tyrant, a robber baron is far better than an inquisitor. The baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity at some point be sated; and since he dimly knows he is doing wrong he may possibly repent. But the inquisitor who mistakes his own cruelty and lust of power and fear for the voice of Heaven will torment us infinitely because he torments us with the approval of his own conscience and his better impulses appear to him as temptations.”

Finally, I’ll go with the military dictatorship with the hope that there might be some way of bringing the system down with a bit of logic and rationality. Hell knows that wouldn't be possible in a theocratic system!

I agree with Margaret Atwood when she said, “If you disagree with your government, that's political. If you disagree with your government that is approaching theocracy, then you're evil.” There’s more wriggle room with fighting against a military dictatorship because it’s usually against an asshole tyrant - or a ruling oligarchy of a military junta - and not a pernicious idea soaked in theological bullshit or an entire ideology divinely santificated by God himself.

A more interesting question is not to ask is why many people are so readily drawn to be ruled under a military rule or a theocratic one and especially a benevolent dictatorship (like Lee Kwan Yew in Singapore or Paul Kagame in Rwanda) but why increasingly more people in the Western world look to authoritarian figures to rule and shape their lives?

Why do Silicon Valley titans like Peter Thiel and others like him think fondly of ditching democracy in the name of some utopian hyper-capitalist vision of ‘freedom’?

I hear murmurs of the same talk when I interact with corporate colleagues and high net worth individuals I hear it around dinner tables about how democracy is bad for business and profit. Often it’s accompanied by praise for China's ability to "get things done." I just roll my eyes and smile politely. 

I think - outside of the legitimate concern of the decay of civil discourse, the corruption of politicians, and corrosiveness of crony capitalism - it’s because democratic politics is hard. Damn hard.

Moreover democratic politics does not have a "right" answer. There never is.

In our Western societies it is the playing field (or market place?) where our values compete. Surely, you say, there is a right way to get the job done: to fill in the potholes, build the roads, keep our streets safe, get our kids to learn reading and math. Ah, but look how quickly those issues get contentious.

Whose potholes should get filled first? Do we try to keep our streets safe through community policing or long prison sentences? Should teachers be given merit pay, are small classrooms better, or should we lengthen the school day? These issues engender deep political fights, all - even in the few debates where research provides clear, technocratic answers. That is because the area of politics is an area for values disputes, not technical solutions.

One person's "right" is not another's because people prioritise different values: equity versus excellence, efficiency versus voice and participation, security versus social justice, short-term versus long-term gains.

Democratic politics allows many ideas of "right" to flourish. It is less efficient than dictatorship. It also makes fewer tremendous mistakes.

The longing for a leader who knows what is in her people's best interests, who rules with care and guides the nation on a wise path, was Plato's idea of a philosopher-king. It's a tempting picture, but it's asking the wrong question.

In political history, philosophers moved from a preference for such benevolent dictators to the ugly realities of democracy when they switched the question from "who could best rule?" to "what system prevents the worst rule?"

But clearly democracy is buckling under pressure in our torrid times. Populism - the logical end consequence of a purer democracy - is chipping away at the edifice of democratic norms and conventions. Increasingly inward looking nativism and nationalism fuel passions beyond the control of reason.

Perhaps it is time we went back to the tried and tested example of a monarchy, a constitutional one that is. 

A revitalised monarchy in Britain needs a Head of State that can provide a personal identity to an impersonal State, and a collective sense of itself. A Head of State who does not owe his or her position to either patronage or a vote can more properly represent all the people. Consider that a President who has been elected, often by a minority of a minority of the electorate, cannot adequately speak for the people who did not vote for him or her. It is even worse if the President has been appointed, because then he owes his position to a small clique.So, the accident of birth is the best means of appointing a Head of State. Someone who has no party political axe to grind, or special favours to repay to a vested interest. Someone whose allegiance is to the people. Not just allegiance to the people who voted for him or his political party, but allegiance to all the people of the country equally. Far from being "incompatible" with democracy, a Monarchy can thereby enhance the government of the land.

The Monarch is a national icon. An icon which cannot be replaced adequately by any other politician or personality. This is because the British Monarchy embodies British history and identity in all its aspects, both good and bad.

When you see the Queen you not only see history since 1952, when she took the throne, but you see a person who provides a living sense of historical continuity with the past. Someone who embodies in her person a history which extends back through time, back through the Victorian era, back into the Stuart era and beyond. You see the national history of all parts of our islands, together, going right back in time.

As Edmund Burke, Roger Scruton and Michael Oakeshott would say, the monarchy is a living continuity between the past, the present and the future.

With its traditions, its history, its ceremonial, and with its standing and respect throughout the world, the British Monarchy represents a unique national treasure, without which the United Kingdom would be sorely impoverished.

If you value national distinctiveness, you should be a Monarchist.

If you are anti-globalist you should be a Monarchist because Monarchies represent the different national traditions and distinctions among the nations.

The desire to secure, strengthen and promote your own distinct national icons, whether your Monarch, or your own unique national identity, should be your concern, whether you live here in St Andrews, or whether you live in St Petersburg, or whether you live in St Paulo.

As the global financial system rushes us all towards a world intended to eradicate all local and national distinctions, the Monarchy stands out as different, distinct and valuable. Constitutionally, practically, spiritually and symbolically the Monarchy is a national treasure, the continued erosion of which would change the character of Britain, and not in a good way!

I’m speaking as a High Tory now, sorry.  And so of course I only see it working for the United Kingdom....and the Commonwealth (slip that discreetly in there for you India, Australia, Canada, and Africa).

Still, if you want egalitarianism then look at Norway and the Netherlands - both highly "egalitarian" societies, and both monarchies.

Everyone else will just have to jolly well do without or ask us politely to come back (I’m looking at you my dear American colonial cousins, all will be forgiven).

The best of all worlds? Time will tell.

At your service, Ma’am....

Thanks for your question.

[lvnatiq]

Surrealtà | Nicky Valentino x Assassin!OC

A/N: Hello, my fellow Valentinhoes! I already mentioned this series that will be approximately 10 chapters long (if not more). I tried to keep the prologue short trying my best to not bore you. The dialogues between the characters are modified according to this story and yes, there will be a lot of new characters alongside the original ones. With that being said if you have any questions or suggestions, let me know :)! 

Enjoy, toots.

Warnings: Violence, mentions of death, usage of inappropriate language.

Prologue: Inferno

“Do you ever doubt your actions? I mean, you know the uproar about them being ethically wrong.”

Andrea's words revealed her agitated behavior. Her sincere concern for her friend was boggling her mind with more questions.

“Why would I doubt my actions when there are enough people already doing that.”

Heaven lifted her glass to her lips and stopped moments before taking a sip.

“I never give people anything more or less than what they’ve done.”

The sour taste of alcohol lingers on her tongue while it makes its way into her system causing her body to warm up.

“If they kill, I kill. Easy as that.”

“You know what’s going to happen when they get you behind bars, right ?” said Andrea. Fully aware of the fact that her attempts at getting her to tap out were not affecting Heaven at all.

“I don’t."

Heaven said as she turned her head towards the anxious eyes that were studying her. Her smirk becomes more prominent as she sets her booze down on the glass table.

“Because It’s not going to happen."

Upon hearing her words Andrea couldn't manage to hide her astonishment.

“How can you be so sure ?”

“I’m not but do I have any other options? I am not someone that you would want to see panicking.”

Heaven said as she continued to play with the rim of her glass. She proceeded as she eyed her reflection on the glass table.

“I might appear dangerous when I let my anger take over, but panic?” she scoffed as she pushed her long locks away from her face.

“I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy.”

“Why?” Andrea said, engaging herself with the conversation more and more. Afterall there were no limits to her curiosity.

“I lose control.”

Says Heaven as she collects the documents scattered over the table and then stands up from her stool. She lowers herself at Andrea's eye level as she proceeds with her speech.

“...and If I lose control, my love...”

Andrea drops her gaze as she couldn't bring herself to look straight into her eyes. Heaven whispers her last words, unaware of the fact that this statement will be the foreshadowing of what was about to come.

“All hell will break loose.”

With that, the curiosity killed the cat.

January 1st, 2020

The cold breeze of New York combed her long locks as she stared at her watch. Her pupils dilating as her eyes followed the second hand, continuing to count the seconds.

"Thirty more to go. Then it's time for the Fiesta."

Pushing back the hem of her coat, she pulled out a brand new Glock 19 and a suppressor. Her hands started to wander around the gun as she let the feeling of absolute power captivate her senses. After rolling the silencer onto the muzzle of the Glock, she placed her gun back at its previous position.

The silencer, her infamous nickname.

Nobody knew her true identity nor her background. At this point in her life, others weren't the only ones to do so. Her memory was as unreliable as her trigger. Her past, present, and future remained unknown to her. In her opinion, keeping her past locked in the forbidden spaces of her mind it's for the better.

"Henry Harding, age 46, a prick who traded the life of his wife for the comfort of his stacks."

She reminded herself as her steps quickened. The darkness of the night emerged as the light of the day shuttered under its vigor. Her breathing became apparent, evaporating in front of her eyes.

"His right hand, Richard Kindell, a coward who sold his soul to the same devil that killed his son. Porca miseria! What type of leverage does that son of a bitch has over Richard that keeps him loyal no matter the cause?"

She cursed under her breath as she took a sharp turn. Upon seeing the large crowd in front of the theatre she decided to examine the atmosphere surrounding her. Women in elegant dresses were accompanied by men in suits. Their sweet conversations concerning their excitement about the movie, pervading the air with love. Utterly oblivious of the fact that they were soon to be bystanders of a tragic ending.

"Tragic but a well-deserved ending."

Her plan was too simple for her liking. She made Richard get the same gun that she had attached to her thigh, two weeks before she sent the suspicious mail to Henry. The mail that contained information exclusively known by the two of them regarding Richard's son's death. She was simply using their trust issues as an advantage.

"25 meters till the warfare."

As she moves closer, the ticket booth becomes more visible and her eyes meet the man of the moment, Murray.

"Smile, Heaven. You don't want to disappoint your audience."

She said as she put her killer smile on, turning heads as she walked by. Her charming nature and her mysterious aura always captured people's attention. Even so, she couldn't care less.

Her hair flowing in harmony with the wind, her steps overflowed with confidence, and her eyes gleamed with the fact that she could finally put an end to what the judiciary system defined as a dilemma. It's time for Maria's long-awaited vendetta.

"Hello, Murphy. How's the night treating you?"

Murphy gave her a heartwarming smile, accompanied by sincere laughter.

"So far so good. What about you my dear?"

"Lovely, I'd say. New York has its charm, you know."

She said as her hand reached her pocket, searching for the ticket.

"Seems so."

Murray said as his eyes carefully scanned Heaven's. Sensing his unusual behavior, Heaven glued her eyes back onto his as she took a step further.

"How do you figure?"

She asked as she gave him a smirk. A smirk that often got people's breath hitch, hands sweat and their heartbeats accelerated.

"Your eyes."

Said Murray letting his body language do the favors, he pointed at her eyes.

"They tell a lot."

He said as he positioned himself back behind the booth. Murray was a part of her plan even though he didn't know much about it. She didn't lie to him but she also didn't tell him things that were none of his business. Such as her soon to be attempted murder.

"I suppose."

She said as she lifted her wrist casually to check the time.

"Aces. Perfect timing."

She dipped her hand back again into the pocket of her coat. Unable to feel any sort of texture regarding the existence of the ticket, she slid her other hand into her other pocket.

"Nothing."

"Your ticket, my dear?"

Without disrupting her composure, she thought of a quick backup plan.

"I need him to participate, I lost my ticket. How is this even possible?"

She thought as she closed her eyes shut. Letting out a deep breath, she opened her eyes only to reveal her teary vision. She strongly held on the cuffs of her coat making her knuckles turn white as she lowered her gaze to the floor. Even the most successful artist would be envious of her skilled performance.

"Murray, my ticket is missing."

Murray studied her reaction as he gave her an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry my dear. I don't think that we have any other tickets left for the night."

Upon hearing his words she raised her gaze to meet his, giving him a look that will scar him for the rest of his life.

"Murray, You know that I can't miss this. Tonight was my main reason for coming to New York. I'm desperate for your help."

She said slowly pushing her coat back to display the outline of the gun beneath her dress. Her innocent demeanor was falsified by her reveal. Murray gave her an empty look, seemingly unaffected by her threat. He stopped for a second before turning to her with a smile.

"I got you, Heaven."

He said as he reached under the desk revealing a golden ticket. He slowly extended his hand as hers followed. Then, he retracted it. Unaware of the dangerous game he was playing with Heaven's patience.

"One last thing, Heaven."

He indicated to her to come closer as he leaned in. Not wanting to waste any more of her precious time Heaven obliged.

"It's time for you to prioritize yourself. For the sake of your good."

He said as he gave her the ticket and pushed the gate open for her.

"Have fun, my dear."

Heaven, unimpressed by his discourse, stepped inside. Hearing the gate close behind her. The heavy smell of tobacco dominated the large area blinded by the lights of the enormous chandelier and golden decorations that reminded her of the Palace of Versailles. A palace that was full of people with extravagant attires laughing and cheering, adorning their social interactions with excessive reactions. Baffled by the unanticipated environment Heaven took a few steps back, letting her back hit the wall.

The wall, located exactly where the gate should be. As her confusion gets the best of her, at her right she notices a man reading a newspaper. She walks close enough to see the contents of the front page. Only to realize that the front page was listing absurdly familiar names of the several presidents. Names that surely belonged to the 20'ies. Heaven gently closed her eyes then she leaned her forehead against the palm of her hand.

"Where the hell am I?" she muttered as her own words, followed by her deep voice, echoed inside of her head. She gave one last glance at the velvet wall where the entrance gate should've been.

"Abandon hope, all ye who enter here."

Vocabulary: 

Second hand: the hand on some watches and clocks that moves quickly, showing the seconds.

Fiesta: an event marked by festivities or celebration.

Porca miseria: in this case used as “Bloody hell”.

Vendetta: a blood feud in which the family of a murdered person seeks vengeance on the murderer or the murderer's family.

"Abandon hope, all ye who enter here.": A message warning one about a hopeless situation from which there is no return. The Italian version of this phrase appears in Dante's Divine Comedy as the inscription on the entrance to Hell. The phrase is most often used humorously.

[opalai-pixel-witch]

War with kittens looks so cute! X3

“I’m glad you liked them!! Yeah, I’m not sure what compelled me to make that one :P Death is to you what Bjørn is to me, it would seem |D”

Yes! ♥ All funny character has a place in my heart :3 ♥ And Death is there along with Folgore from Zatch Bell, the Belchers from Bob´s Burgers, Megamind and Mad from Rabbids Invasión :D

Although he takes up a lot of space actually, PP is the fandom for which I’m creating now ^^

When HH came out, I didn’t expect him to appear “physically”, I expected a mention at least, he was named at the beginning and the end of the game, and that made me happy! X3

After I discover he appeared in Bjorn´s house and I went crazy XD I liked seeing him in his new desing and interacting with Pesto, I like when the characters interacting witk each others

If they make HH or Death 4 Life comics I want see that ^^

“That’s an interesting concept! A heroic antagonist Milky sounds super cool :o Honestly I’m really curious about what Milky’s deal is and I hope we’ll get more info on him in the next game!! And it would be cool if he discovered how the system in Hell really worked and maybe realized that the horsemen really aren’t inherently evil and are just trying to do their jobs (except maybe Famine, his intentions are…debatable >_>)”

I would like to see the rest of Milky´s team for do more things, we have only seen Red Eye (but he´s dead now). I know there´s a girl but I can only guees what she looks like from her voice XD

I came up with this story about the horsemen working in the human world and they bump into people like Milky who want to get rid of them, people who have weapons or objets capable of stopping the paranormal

Milky and his team already know isn´t so easy killing the horsemen like they expect, so now they want to capture and invetigate them, see what they are made of and discover something that can destroy them

So far they have discovered is the holy water burn them and in large quantities, weakens them; sacred objets like gold chains can be used to hold them; and the sacred gold bullets and their own weapons, such as Death´s scythe or War´s guns, can significantly hurt them

“Big fandoms seem to be a blessing and a curse, it would seem o.o I’m more worried about the type of content that might come up if it became more popular, I don’t wanna find any fetishy NSFW fanfiction about it >A> But I’m really happy to hear that you like what I do! To be honest there are times where I feel like I don’t really fit in well with the fandom (like I don’t “belawng” if you will :P) so I’m glad that that’s probably not the case! I enjoy seeing what you make too, as well as talking and sharing headcannons and stuff with you ^_^”

I like to  have met you and share these things with you; in fact, if it weren´t for you, I wouldn´t be in this fandom ;)

I´ve been to big fandoms and I don´t make content for them cuz there´s nothing original I can create and, also, post anything in these fandoms is like a suicide :/

In fact I have separated from some ones and I don´t regre it, I like more to make content for a friendly fandom where what is most seen is the importance of the characters in the history and the excitement of meeting new characters ^^

--------

Thank you!! I’m happy to hear you liked that one ^__^ Kittens seem to make everything cuter…even if I’m not so good at drawing them ;;=o=;;

Ah, I see o: I’m not sure if there’s a theme with any of my favorites—the closest connection I could think of would be pure-of-heart characters, like Bjørn and Gonta Gokuhara from Danganronpa V3?? But after them there’s hardly any connection with any of my faves, such as the tough-as-nails Mondo Owada or the vulgar Miu Iruma >_> Then again, I’ve always been disorganized with everything |D

Yeah, I remember the first time I finished the main story and I was super excited to see that there was more I could do after the credits! I was surprised to see Death in Bjørn’s house and watching him and Pesto interact was a lot of fun ^o^ PP’s games are full of surprises it would seem, you have no idea how excited I got when I heard my son’s singing voice ;u;

I agree, that would be amazing! I dunno how likely it’ll be for us to see Bjørn again in the comics (or in any other things after Helheim Hassle) but it would be wonderful to see him in them ;;o;; Of course, I’ll be happy with anything they make! It’s already super cool to see the horsemen up to more stuff, and in that one comic they show in the MS anniversary edition where a demon is giving a tour of Hell I was really happy to see Pesto again ^_^

Oooh, do you think that Red-Eye is one of those two dead guys in the background of War’s introduction? :o Makes me wonder just how far back the creators have been planning…and that’s a really interesting take on what they could be doing! When I think about Milky and his team I think about the show Truth Seekers—I dunno if you’ve seen or heard of that, but basically there’s a guy who investigates the paranormal in his spare time and he’s somehow recruited a few people into his investigations, and eventually they uncover a cult putting some shady nanotech in peoples’ brains. It’s really good in my opinion, but anyhow I like looking at that kind of thing and Milky makes me think of that o.o

Well in that case, I’m glad that I could pique your interest! >u> I admittedly have trouble with feeling like I “belawng” anywhere and keep getting paranoid that I’m just intruding in whatever fandom I join, which makes my hesitation towards making new stuff and trying new things even more of a pain =A=

Honestly I tend to have more fun participating in smaller fandoms because it feels like…there’s more heart put into them, if that makes any sense??? I’m not entirely sure how to word it :P I have yet to run into any crazy fandom discourse so far (knock on wood), but I understand that that’s also a danger when it comes to bigger fandoms ;;o_o;; Regardless, however, I love the PP fandom and I’m really happy to have found a friend to talk to about it!!

[macklives]

i dont technically hardcore ship kids buuuut i will say “fuck thats hecking cute” to any and all pairings and join in on the fun wholesome content. for example, if you give me fanart, give me fics, give me headcanons, then im already sold on how adorable that specific pairing will be bc theres now some quality content to explore. as long as its not toxic, disgusting or impractical.

god okay, get motherfucking ready guys.

now, i may rant a bit on the matter to further explain my point of view on shipping in this comic and how i will go around it lol. sorry for the long note. there’s a tldr at the end.

honestly, idc who gets together, bc i just want the kids to be happy and if the pairing is happy together, thats all that matters to me. i just dont like taking shipping to the extreme, yknow. (which means having nsfw stuff for kids and flipping out if one ship is canon when another really should be. similar to many other fandoms who have those problems and i just.. dont get why?) anyways, thats not to say i will freak out if a cute pairing of mine becomes canon and especially if the rep is nice. and honestly? ill probably freak out for any canon ship as long as its healthy and theyre both happy - as ive mentioned. keep in mind im still a fan lmao, i will prob participate in the recurring ship talk and discourse bc ugh it can be so fucking cute.

anyways, regarding what we have now, i honestly like all pairings atm (obviously between the kids only and not some cursed ones ive heard about which i refuse to get into). all their interactions are so unique and cute and quite adorable. davejade is wholesome. johnrose is valid. i also like jaderose, daverose and johndave. which technically is almost every possible pairing lmfao. sometimes my opinion can vary, sometimes things could happen to make my view on that specific pairing to change. and sometimes new people come into the picture which allows me to explore more potential candidates that i think would be better for that characters rather than just having a ship to progress the plot further. if that makes sense. it always depends, doesnt it? (so keep in mind you can ask me if i ever have changed my opinion on a specific ship, character, ect in the future)

and of course, there’s a big difference between who i think are going to get together and who i wouldnt mind getting together despite canonical evidence that it wont happen. which i wont get into unless yall want me to talk about in depth who likes who and how it will probably impact the relationships of the characters vs how it should be.. well, not “fixed”, but what could be another alternative if a specific relationship seems to have its downfalls. 

however, i doubt there’s going to be any “endgame” ships bc homestuck is more prone to story telling than romance. it’s a webcomic for plot and probable character growth rather than making people’s ships come true. meaning shipping is a concept that andrew will give you, and he will give you all types of interaction so you’re free to ship what you want. however, he’ll leave it open without giving us an ultimate pairing. which is where i think this comic will go. i may be wrong. but it seems the most likely situation.

so shipping is all fun and games but things happen, not everything becomes canon and even if i have theories on future relationships, i will only analyze what we were given and not necessarily based on non-canonical evidence. so as much as i like crackships (and boy do i have fun in crackships, lets be real), because this is a liveblog, i wont be able to get into depth with false claims on a ship if there’s literally nothing to go on. however, pls expect joke ships to happen. if i say cake #42 wants to be with john’s fake arms, so be it. that was a fun time on the discord, man. i love joking around but then again, they are just jokes. im not actually shipping them. its similar to how i view dave and AT. they got married duh. yet thats a joke. something i will bring up again, but that never means im serious about it. (besides imp soap opera. thats becoming massively real now, isnt it. a liveblog inside joke that got way out of hand and is now canon.)

anyways, romance is a nice bonus treat for everyone as they read a webcomic which is not centered around it. and of course ill analyse the possibilities of what we could get and how characters will go through it based on their personalities and past experiences, but i dont think itll become a main part of homestuck as of now. perhaps something.. could happen in the future? and ill keep my hopes of some pairings getting together. but, overall, i will be happy with whatever we get and i refuse to bitch about how some ship is better than the other and be mad at homestuck in its entirety. because andy here is not trying to portray a romcom, he’s making an actual story.

wow, i kind of went off a little on what you were trying to ask in the first place, but i feel this was a nice place to get that out there and explain how ill perceive shipping in homestuck. all so i wont have to explain this for the future when characters potentially start getting together. which is to say, ill enjoy shipping characters on my hs experience, hell, ill even participate in it, but they are 13 and i have my limits.

cool. i feel like i just wrote a philosophy book.

tldr; shipping is a nice gateway in a fandom, i like pretty much anything as long as its not toxic and theyre happy together. expect character/relationship analyses in the future. 

[amorecleverdevil]

@shiftingsupport​: 1 and 13?    ↪︎ ask the mun about writing. [ 𝔄𝔠𝔠𝔢𝔭𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔤 ]

         𝔬𝔲𝔱 𝔬𝔣 𝔥𝔢𝔩𝔩. Oh hell yeh! Question time! I threw your answers down below a lil read more because I’m what the kids like to call?? A rambler.

1). What does your writing process look like?

A mess?? Lmao nah;;; So, honestly it depends on what I’m writing, how long I’m going to be continuing the story revolving around it, and what my current mood is. In general, I am a person who has a hard time sticking to one particular style or approach because I just get bored of it a lot. I find it a lot of fun to come at writing in many different ways and I’ve found that it’s helped me really explore what I do and don’t like for each genre or character that I attempt to tackle.

That being said, though, I tend to have at least a couple consistencies. Basically, when I’m writing replies, the most important questions I ask myself tend to be;

What is my character’s reaction to what just happened?

What have I written that actively engages the other writer and/or their character?

Have I actually described the scene or merely provided dialogue?

Will this thread carry for at least two more replies and, if not, should I end it or can I add something to make it keep going?

I’ll go ahead and give you some examples using writing that I’ve previously written to paint what I mean with each of them. For the first point, that’s the one that most people I’ve seen tend to have the best grip on, obviously. People who do roleplay tend to really know their own characters and can write them really compellingly. Most of the time, this part of the writing comes from the other player setting up a question or scenario and my character basically engaging with it. Typically, reactions tend to be the first thing I’ll actually be the first thing I put into a reply and I think that they are really important to keeping a fluid transition from one character to the next. 

In the above example, you can kinda see what I’m talking about. Basically, Izzy made Gwen say something and Billy here gave a very basic response to it. Most of the time, I find dialogue or verbal responses are the best because usually the other character should pick up on them, but I like mixing in physical reactions and more internal monologues alongside those verbal responses. Sometimes, if two characters are in tune enough with each other, it actually can be really rad to get away with only physical reactions and internal dialogues, but that often requires a certain connection and history between characters to make accurate conclusions about what might be going through their head. Here is a great example between one of my mains and Nay from my old blog.

Basically, Nay notices that Oswald is probably getting emotional over the fact they’re standing in front of this grave and looks down to get a better idea of who Oswald is getting so upset over. Oswald then follows his line of sight to the headstones, themselves. It’s a more sad scene, so not only is the lack of actual verbal responses very fun to play with, it’s also much more appropriate for the tone of the thread. This is something I love to try and play with a lot, but I avoid doing it as much with people who I have not already threaded with a few times.

After that, I then have to try to actively engage the other writer or create an opportunity for them to add to the thread as well. Especially when writing with someone new or for whom you may not have an immediate chemistry with, it becomes very important to throw them a bone, so I usually will do this as a follow up. I personally don’t love using questions to carry a thread, but it can be a good way to give an explicit indication of how the other person can contribute to it and it can be a lot more comfortable for people who are new to interacting with me and may be hesitant to just throw new ideas at me without having an extensive conversation about it. Here is an example where Naomasa responded to a question that Oboro poses and interacts with a nonverbal. 

These first two bullets are what I usually consider the meat of the reply, so the most work is put into them. Everything else is filler and tends to be what actually makes the replies prettier and more interesting. In many cases, adding the last two can even happen naturally when you are trying to come up with ways to do the former, but it’s still something I keep in mind to look out for when I’m writing. Of the four points, I think that the one I probably struggle with the most is the one that revolves around describing the scene and I think that has been what’s kept me from reaching that multi-para/novella goal that I really wanna be able to do when writing threads, but I’ve been putting in more work to try and get on top of that one. 

The final point is basically just thinking about what I can add to try and keep a thread engaging. This is when I really tend to bring in that plot and start advancing it. Introducing a conflict or a new activity in the scene that might not have otherwise been relevant before now can really revive a thread and I tend to do that a lot if I feel like a thread is dying out too quickly. Sometimes it takes, sometimes it doesn’t but it’s basically just my way of jumpstarting an interaction I feel like didn’t have enough substance to get off the ground in the first place. The example for this one is between Naomasa and Jasper - Yes, I know it’s the same person, again, but it’s because Fabgen is ridiculously good at doing the whole “yes and” thing and really we should all just take some time to appreciate them - in which the two of them are both responding to a crisis of some kind. I had felt the nature of the thread hadn’t given them a concrete way to continue to interact with each other, so I made up a random conflict that they both could work! In this case, it was some random kid running into danger.

After ALL of that, basically the last thing I tend to do for a thread is proofread and format. In a perfect world, I’d actually do the whole proofreading thing more often, but lmao nah. Basically, tldr, my writing process when doing threads is:

1). Respond to what the other person says. 2). Give them something to respond to. 3). Introduce a new plot point as necessary. 4). Fill in scene details and revise as necessary.

If you read back on my old threads, you’ll probably notice most of them follow this linear outline. Sometimes I’ll switch a couple things around, but 95% of the time you can literally cut my replies pretty into these parts without too much trouble. Also yall should go check out the people in these example threads because they’re all very talented and worth interacting with!! 

13). What do you look for in an RP partner?

Hmm.... An excellent question let’s see...

Typically, these are things that make or break rp relationships:

Have concise rules/ooc pages that includes information such as their name, their pronouns, their age and their triggers. For certain fandoms, I also tend to look for stances on certain major discourse points.

Have the ability to para or multi-para threads and 3rd person POV. We don’t have to always do this, but I do really prefer this kind of RP.

Have the ability to participate in joke/crack posting

Read my character info or at least my rules before interacting with me. I know they are long and tedious and that I tend to ramble, but there are some important things in there that may vastly differ from many other people in the RPC and it’s important to me that everyone takes those things into account when engaging with me.

Have discord for OOC conversations and extended plotting or, at the very least, be comfortable chatting regularly via IM.

Follow me. It’s not necessary to interact with me and I 100% will interact with people who are not mutuals, but I typically tend to assume others around me are mutuals only regardless of whether or not they actually are and it’ll often put most of the responsibility on the other person to come interact with me if they want to thread.

I tend to main with people who will have OOC conversations with me about our characters and who are willing to adapt to fit into the settings / verses which I have already created for my characters. I am always seeking out familial relationships of ANY kind and will usually be quick to main people who do these kinds of threads with me. I do have ships for many of my characters that I tend to indulge in, but my mains tend to be people who actually get me to start shipping something because the characters just ended up vibing so well. I actually really love shipping my bi male characters with women, but there just really aren’t enough ladies in any of the RPCs to have lasting ships ;;y;;, so if we are able to get one going, I’d probably consider maining with ya’ll

I tend to like people who like continuous threads and verse building. I tend to like people who don’t mind having a million unfinished threads. I tend to gravitate to people who do formatting and icons, but I do not require it. I tend to shy away from people who are too self-concious about doubles or who tend to prefer being exclusive. 

Overall, I’m open to at least trying to rp with everyone! And I’ve definitely formed lasting friendships with people who did not meet many of this criteria, but in terms of what I look for this is probably a pretty good list.

[starhlord]

so i finally saw the rise of skywalker and my thoughts are below the cut

i’m gonna start off by saying i have never participated in the discourse over whether r*ylo should be a thing because i’m pretty ambivalent toward it-- as in don’t care if they fall in love or if they hate each other forever. as long as it’s a good and believable story-line. i can see why people ship it and i can see why people hate it. (honestly the only star wars couple i ship is finnpoe, but not like hardcore). 

that said. that ending with ben and rey felt kinda tacked on and corny and not in a good way. people in the theater with me legit laughed at the kiss. i felt a mild case of second-hand embarrassment because i love star wars and that seen felt cringe-worthy. not because ben and rey don’t have chemistry, they do. but they didn’t develop the right chemistry in the story that would lead to a kiss. honestly, it would have been great if they built up more romantic feelings between the two over the previous movies (or hell from the beginning of this one) but they didn’t. they could have left out the kiss and made their force-bond the focus without the romance thrown on top (that probably would have been a more meaningful portrayal tbh). but they didn’t. so instead i’m left with a feeling of uhhh okay i guess?

i’m also upset with how they ended ben’s character. i enjoyed the fact that he made the sacrifice to save rey. that was right, but it still felt a bit hollow. maybe because i wanted to see him interact more with leia or maybe i wanted to feel like he did the right thing for more than just rey. i didn’t get to see him fight for the resistance or what his mother stood for. just rey. and i know rey was a representation of what leia stood for but come on they ruined that too by making it a romantic gesture instead of ben’s character redemption. i’m not even a huge kylo/ben fan but even i can say he deserved more. as a skywalker, he deserved better.

as for the rest of the film and characters i’m also a bit disappointed. everything was just too predictable. nothing new happened. everything felt just a bit too easy. i enjoyed the cameos and callbacks (i expect nothing less from the final chapter of an era) but the plot and action just fell through. it wasn’t bad. but it was also not great. and i wanted great. 

i did love finn and poe and the gang. i love the camaraderie and the feelings between them. i love love love that hug between rey, finn, and poe at the end. that made me feel what i wanted to throughout the whole move. i love that chewy got his medal and that the message was that you’re not alone, never alone. i also love that rey went back and buried luke and leia’s lightsabers together. it seemed fitting, that. that final shot of rey and bb-8 with the two suns framing them was also perfect and was the only thing that made me feel that empty oh my god it’s over feeling (the same feeling i had when i saw the last hobbit movie and listened to the end credits song--brb i’m crying now). 

[bananonbinary]

I can very much understand why some davejade shippers might be entitled because dave was initially played as the typical cool guy so due to heteronormativity you expect him to 1) have at least one girl into him, and 2) get the girl he wants in the end, and their interactions had chemistry enough to fuel the flames. Davekat fans being entitled weirds me out more because both characters were initially very no homo and explicitly into girls (1/?)

so most people who shipped davekat did it as blackrom, often even leering into icky yaoi stereotypes and such. Dave and Karkat being soft and caring characters and having a healthy relationship was the big unexpected development of these characters so I have no idea how people got so entitled about it so fast. It’s probably a consequence of everyone trying to play hs as this apex of queer rep, which it honestly is not (2/?)             

and there’s also some defensiveness because a canon loving m/m pair like davekat is hard to find and people feel shoving jade there without showing the development was a cheap way of saying “haha yeah they love each other but of course there’s still a girl in the middle”. It’s the kind of problem you ran into when you have only one polyam relationship and only one m/m relationship, it’s gonna have a few flaws rep wise no matter what (3/?)             

  And to be clear I’m not trying to defend any ship or shipper with this, ship discourse is mostly annoying as hell, I’m just mumbling on what I think is going on, even because I suspect this whole thing was improvised because of the difference between when act 7 storyboards were made and when the last upd8s were made. Act 7 shows no indication of davekat at all and the picnic scene even implies the two being still hatefriends/rivals for Jade’s attention (5/?) 

so I think the original plan for the ending was Dave x Jade x Karkat as an het love triangle (gosh it sounds so bad) but Hussie shifted into Davekat/gay singularity mode as he finished writing the act, but by then the animation for act 7 was already under way, because animation takes way more time than panels and writing. So Hussie said screw it and got the three together. I just wish they said the word polyam at least, being vague about feels like baiting a bit. (6/6 i think i lost count sorry)            

here’s the thing: this is a fine argument for being uncomfortable with it. “i dont feel there was buildup and it felt gimmiky and like they didn’t really want to make it polyam”

sure.

but i was huge into davekat circles back in the day, and that’s NOT what most of the arguing is. It’s a huge clusterfuck of biphobic rhetoric, “smol soft boys would never like a GIRL EWWWW” fetishization, and dangerous misconceptions  about poly relationships. people aren’t mad that this relationship felt rushed or badly written, they’re mad that

a) a boy/girl/boy triad made up of explicitly bi characters (and all three characters have literally never been even implied to be gay, hell the guys got together in GO fighting over a girl) isn’t “gay enough” which is biphobic as all hell

b) that a triad is somehow more normative than a couple because the fictional world ONE of the participants is from had severely regulated relationships that aren’t really poly in spirit anyway because each person still has a strictly defined number of partners, which is just about as dumb as when people said alternia is bi-normative and therefor any bi trolls were regressive as if we dont live in a real world where these things have consequences,

c) they’re literally just Big Mad because of some dumb ship war between jadedave and davekat and didnt want to have to shake hands, and

c) the big one, that poly relationships as a concept are damaging if you have self-esteem issues like dave and karkat has, which is………Do Not Do That Pls. you could tell me jade would upset dave somehow. you could tell me karkat’s anger issues are bad for the other two. you could even tell me that karkat and jade’s personalities combined would somehow trigger daves ptsd or w/e. but don’t tell me that a poly relationship would with ANY other character would be :/ problematic actually ://///// just because you think poly people and relationships have to fit a specific stereotype. (fun fact: if u have insecurities about your partners loving you, then as a group you can like...work through that you don’t need to say poly relationships as a concept are Unhealthy for Most People)

once again, if the arguments were actually about like, the people involved or the writing or w/e, i wouldn’t care, but i remember when the credits went up and i made a silly post about how i thought davekat was included in davejadekat and like,,,,,the OUTRAGE. the fucking SHEER HATRED i suddenly received from all those people. i still find people today who obviously blocked me from that one post.

and i remember when act 7 dropped, there was fucking pandemonium. it wasn’t just people feeling like they weren’t represented, i remember Someone Who Shall Not Be Named (one of the people who blocked me lmao) getting absolutely hammered and crytyping all day just because there wasnt an explicit kiss and they werent even the worst of it. that was when i really started re-evaluating how fucking damaging it is to put literally all your stock in a ship playing out in an extremely specific way.

fast forward to like 20 minutes ago, when i saw several posts in a row resurfacing all this shitty rhetoric back in my face like its 2010 and we still are afraid of people dating more than one person. like, explicitly saying they thought a poly relationship was bad for the characters and was actually less woke than two gay boys and all that bullshit.

i don’t fuckin care about the ships. im actually pretty lukewarm about this one. but FOR THE LOVE OF GOD STOP BEING BIPHOBIC AND POLYPHOBIC WHEN DISCUSSING THEM. A CANON TRIAD WILL NEVER EVER FUCKING BE NORMATIVE OR REGRESSIVE OR INHERENTLY ABUSIVE OR WHATEVER OTHER BULLSHIT YOU’RE THINKING. (and characters who are canonically attracted to multiple genders ending up in relationships with characters of different genders will ALSO never be fucknig normative you absolute biphobic shitheads)

[androgynousblackbox]

I'm probably not going to make a lot of friends with this, but I don't think minors should be involved in ship discourse at all. Especially not when talking about adult/minor ships. I dunno. It just seems like, whether they be pro or anti, there's too much opportunity for things to turn toxic or predatory real fast when minors are involved in discourse on adult/minor ships.

I absolutely, definitely, think there are some discourses that minors have no business at all including themselves in and not because of the risk of turning it into something predatory (although that is a thing*), but because the discourse, whichever side they are on, has nothing to do with them. One time I had a 12 years old trying to “remind me” that the relationship of Killing Stalking is unhealthy. KS is for 18+. You are never going to find a site where that thing is published where somewhere you are not reminded that is for 18+. What the hell is a 12 kid not only reading that, but trying to lecture adults about it. I am still not over that.*I would argue that minors existing on the internet already puts them on the risk of getting into predator’s hands. Let’s not pretend as if outside the discourse that is not a thing anymore. That is why is so important to educate them on properly ways to be online; not give any personal information, never share your adress, that kind of stuff. Also educate them on how to detect predatory behaviour and to search for red flags, how to block and avoid those kind of people once found out.Having said that… I don’t agree that shipping discourse is one of those issues minor cannot interfere, no matter the ages we are talking about on the fictional shipping. Minors still participate on fandom. They are still making their own content and interacting with other fans. Are they supose to just… not do that? I understand completely the need to have Adult Fandom separated and well tagged, but shipping is not inherently a sexual thing and, you know, I feel that if I am feeling constantly attacked for my enjoyment in fandom at the very least I deserve a chance to defend myself. That is the most humane response when constantly told you are a pedophile and that feels specially shitty when you are minor yourself that is on the ship because that adult character is so hot, like how the fuck is that supose to even work.But, in general, minors and adults, we could do with less discourse. Between the option of just blocking one more anti/shipper to enjoy that fanfic or create that fanart or read that comic, and participate on a battle of who can irritate more the other, I do think it’s wiser the blocking. Nobody has to participate on this nonsense, but it’s unfair too expect people to not react to what is happening around them.

[wet-raccoon]

This is personal and if you’re a fake woke Voltron fan do NOT fucking interact but I’ve always seen Keith as more asian and Shiro and as an actual gaysian I’ve never really related to Shiro as much as Keith especially because besides his name there is nothing to indicate the fact that Shiro is asian.

His storyline is bland. His personality is bland and this last season he was rude and cold of the rest of his team (esp Allura who is the epitome of a comfort character for a lot of people since she is an actual dark skinned black princess voiced by an actual Black VA).

Plus also the fact that Keith himself is voiced by an actual Asian man as opposed to Shiro being voiced by a white dude, means that interms of actuality and materialism Keith is better rep since his existence means an actual asian man has a job as a VA (voice acting is often more racist than standard Hollywood casting).

So yeah it does hurt quite a bit when me and other asian fans HC Keith as asian and then an irrelevant Voltron BNF blogger goes “okay but you do know that the creators think of him as white from this one fuckass leak that has no proof and is 90% about klance and how it should have been canon”. Like why do you guys want him to be white so bad??? Even the fucking CREATORS knew to not say that Keith is white once they saw how much he resonated with asian kids so why the fuck can’t you???

Also VERY transparent that all of this ‘Keith is actually white’ discourse gained traction after a bunch of white people were called out for kinning Keith (despite reblogging and participating in fan work that depicted asian Keith) and Called our for HC him and Shiro as blood brothers just cuz they were both asian.

Also like something for another time but I do believe that the real reason why Shiro is so popular is solely because he’s hot and he’s attractive to straight women like you guys do not give a shit about the rep he bring as a gay asian man. This is especially obvious when he was revealed as gay as a lot of the straight Shiro shippers literally went on a rant about how his gayness ruined their ship. This is especially revealing when u find out that most of the straight Shiro shippers who get angry at people saying Shiros gayness is canon in show are always either not asian themselves or straight up white like why are u so entitled to his body it’s ugly as hell.

Anyways this is just a rant and I’ve been feeling this type of way ever since I joined to fandom but now that s8 happened and they killed Allura I realized that all my suffering was for nothing so might as well get this off my chest

[colinandezra-blog]

Ezra talks falling in love and no longer being isolated in existence.

Everything starts with this Ezra interview for Wonderland Magazine.

The Wonderland interviewer noticed some romantic and poetic tone in Ezra’s discourse about falling in love, in an intense personal powerful connection with someone else and hinting he is ‘no longer isolated in existence’.

Ezra also mentions Nick Cave on the interview. Coincidentally Nick Cave is a singer known to participate in Colin Farrell’s films soundtracks. He was the singer in True Detective’s finale (a soundtrack that Colin himself helped curated) and Colin even sings Nick Cave in his masterpiece work in The Lobster. Nick Cave is one of Colin Farrell’s all time faves and some sort of ‘collaborator’ in many of his projects. Such a huge coincidence that he is also Ezra Miller’s current obsession. 

Ezra mentions Arthur Rimbaud, another poet that Colin Farrell mentions and reads all the time, Colin even uses Rimbaud poetry and entire persona as an inspiration for his characters.  

Surely this is not the first time Ezra has coincidentally shared the same interests with Colin. Here is a pic of Ezra walking around with a book by Colin’s idol, Leonard Cohen’s homosexual themed book Beautiful Losers two weeks after the Fantastic Beasts promo session with Colin. As you all may know, Colin is an avid reader and into deep literature and poetry. This is what Ezra said:

“The thing about Colin that I feel compelled to talk about is his intelligence because it’s really, really staggering. I’m deeply impressed by that man’s brain. When we do interviews together, I usually stay quiet and try to look pretty.” - Ezra Miller

The fact Ezra is caring Colin’s biggest idol Leonard Cohen book just after meeting him, might again be coincidental but knowing how Colin himself said he loves to talk about literature and bonds with fellow actors through books is probably a sign that he and Ezra are close. A few years ago Colin did a film with Sir. Anthony Hopkins, he said that they bonded so well that they used to call each other in the middle of the night to talk about literature and they had this little book club. Maybe that happened between Colin and Ezra as well.

Back to Beautiful Losers, that is a book that Colin has mentioned in the past. The thematic of the book is highly sexual and homosexual, it describes the relationship between the male characters I. and F. they are best friends, mystically connected, I. is younger and F. is and older man with an intellectual and spiritual force that will help I. to escape, they have a pupil and teacher kind of dynamics. Not to be a Gredence-Colezra crazy person, but that sounds extremmelly familiar.

To give a little context about his entire Leonard Cohen obsession, his ex-girlfriend Emma Forrest wrote on her book (inspired on her troubled and passionate love affair with Colin) that he once flew her from LA to Rome just to take her to a Leonard Cohen concert for a romantic night and that he gushed about how Cohen all the time. On his film Crazy Heart, Colin’s songs are molded on Leonard Cohen. He also got Leonard Cohen to sing the iconic ‘Nevermind’ for the opening of True Detective. And then you have Ezra, with Leonard Cohen’s book. That’s an iconic artist for sure, but it is quite interesting to see how Ezra and Colin have the same taste in music and in literature.

  LONDON TO NYC, A VERY COINCIDENTAL COLEZRA TIMELINE:

COLIN + EZRA both in London, from September until the October 18th 2017: 

London, October 12th. Colin at the Gala Screening and UK premiere of The Killing of the Secret Dear in London. 

London, October 13th. Ezra performs in London at The Old Blue Last with SonsOAIF.

London, October 14th. Colin at Graham Norton Show to promo TKOTSD.

London, October 14th. It’s saturday and Colin gets some fry chicken after TKOTSD press junket, the pix is published on the 15th. 

London, October 15th. Ezra has a sunday roast with SonsOAIF. ‘Roasting in our Sunday best. We love you London.’

London, October 18th. Ezra performed with SonsOAIF in London and that reduces the time window for the Wonderland interview and place him on the exact same time Colin was in NYC. Ezra actually got a LON-NY plane on the coincidentally on same day as Colin.

COLIN + EZRA both in New York, October 20th to 23rd 2017: 

New York, October 20th: Ezra was in NYC and the Wonderland interview above happened via phone and the interviewer says ‘Today he’s calling me from New York before he heads to Shanghai.’ The cast of JL arrived in China on October 25th 2017.

New York, October 20th: Colin was spotted by a fan in New York  at Ground Central Coffee Company.

New York, October 21st. Colin at The Killing of the Secret Dear Official Academy screening in New York.

Colin was really promo TKOTSD so he had an excuse to be in London and then NY, Ezra lives in London for FBAWTFT2 but it is quite cute the fact he went to NY on the same day Colin went there for no specific reason. I mean he could have totally taken a plane to China from London. Coincidental schedule in Hollywood is something so rare and this coincidence is kinda cute, especially cause Colezra is adorably cute.

Colin is a person who gets easily obsessed with his adoration for some people. Knowing his history and past relationships (romantic and platonic) one can see a certain pattern. Having read Emma’s book on his personality, the secret nature of his platonic relationship with Elizabeth Taylor, his intense and dramatic ‘marriage’ with musician Amelia Warner, his much publicized affair with once wild Angelina (they made a tattoo together when they met), his love for the ‘outcasts’ and ‘eccentric’ artists and how he describes the perfect love as someone who is a singer and artist, he likes people who live out loud and have a touch for the dramatic, to the wild. 

With his friends Colin is a gentle and loyal soul, he has a tiny group of trusted friends that often includes only a couple of directors and a few selected actors like Sam Rockwell, Samantha Morton, Sally Hawkins and Wes Bentley. He is very secretive about his real friends and rarely is seen with them, another factor that points out that Ezra could be close to him. Not every co-star gets to be his pal, he is nice and kind with his co-stars but to bring people into his life, he is selective. He also loves to hang out with musicians, U2 being his friends for years and years. 

There is also his new protective side that loves to take young actors as pupils, Barry Keoghan being a classic example of that. But a quick examination of Colin’s protective and goofy interaction with Barry who is the same age as Ezra, we can see that he treats him completely differently from Ezra. Maybe because Ezra is well, Ezra! All that lead to a certain type of relationship that I certainly see Ezra fitting into his ideal type of people. When Colin said on Cinema Con ‘Where is Ezra?” this is not a very Colin-esque attitude, he really is not that affectionate with most of his former co-stars. It lead us to believe he and Ezra are in touch cause he already knew Ezra was at Cinema Con. 

Colin also has an openly gay brother (who is an activist) and is himself a vocal supporter of LGTBQ, he is very comfortable around gay people because of his close bond with his brother Eamon and Steven, Eamon’s husband. When people say Colin treats Ezra with so much affection and respect his nature, it’s cause Colin is very open minded and queer people are part of his life. 

Colin has played three queer roles in his career, Alexander, Home at the End of The World, The Lobster and a few homoerotic toned roles like on Phone Booth (the deleted scene between him and Jared Leto), True Detective (his dynamics with the closeted role of Taylor Kitsch), Tigerland (with Matt Davis) and of course, Fantastic with Ezra. He also is very keen of understanding the psychological side of his roles and speaks openly about homoeroticism on film. Therefore, Colin is quite open minded and at ease with queer conversation both in his work and on his personal life. He has also had his share of (speculated or unproven) rumours about his bisexuality and a long lasting myth ‘open-secret’ about having being in a relationship with a famous male co-star.

I think it could have been a surprise to Ezra to have met someone of Colin’s status who is genuinely comfortable with him. Ezra is quite young and has this amazing energy and is in a position that very few, if any, actor have been in the past. I think he got quite stunned and enamoured (in a platonic or even romantic) way with a charming, handsome, intelligent, experienced, open minded and touchy Colin. Of course that is visible on their interactions. I don’t know what happens in Ezra or Colin’s life, but I do believe they got close. The intellectual and psychological bond between them is crazy coincidental, too coincidental. And again, Colin loves musicians, Colin loves passionate eccentric people, Colin loves poetical souls, he usually gets obsessed about the tiny bit complicated ones as well.  

I hope that Colin and Ezra meet sometimes since Ezra is a total fan boy about Colin and those encounters would fit his description of finding a connection with someone you admire. This is less about shipping them romantically, and more about wanting a genuine connection between these two amazing men. I think Colin, having lots of ups and downs in his life could find beneficial to be around such a bright generous soul as Ezra and Ezra could use some poetic Irish calmness and also advice on two to navigate Hollywood safely, I think he is too pure and things are happening too fast for him. Colin have lived through haven and hell on his share of the histeria, he could be a helpful mentor to sweet Ezra. 

As Ezra said in the interview, is about finding another creative soul, to recognize yourself in another person, and no longer feeling isolated. Having been a Colin fan for years and years, I can tell that is so rare to come across with someone that is not only extremely talented, beautiful and kind, but also who shares so many of Colin’s own tastes and tendencies. For people who only ‘ship’ them their connection might seem only a fan fantasy due to the immense popularity if the film these two actors made together, but philosophically speaking I feel this secret friendship between Colin and Ezra is quite plausible. As I said, Colin doesn’t publicizes his true relationships (he legit was friends with Liz Taylor for years and years and nobody knew until she passed away), therefore I wouldn’t expect it to be any different with Ezra. 

This is just a personal essay done out of curiosity of the coincidences of the timeline and tastes between Colin and Ezra and obviously the electric chemistry they share on and off camera.