#also i'm sure you realise which bias we share now!!!

[chancheols]

@powerboo Surprise!!!!! Thank you again for being so lovely and allowing me to get to know you through my essay-long asks lol. I wanted to wait until it was closer to the new year to gift you your boys and, I hope you have a phenomenal, joyful and creatively inspired 2025 🩷

Videos used in this set!

Jeonghan

Cheol

Hiphop Unit

[vvivacious101]

Oh God! We need to talk!

I have been insane ever since the RWRB movie came out but I guess you can only stay immersed in a fandom for so long before you start to see its more insidious aspects.

This thought has entered my mind before but I chose not to engage because fandom should ideally be fun and a break from reality. Unfortunately, all of humanity's creations contain humanity's flaws and I can't keep turning a blind eye anymore.

I don't think this post is going to do much but if it makes even one person realise they aren't alone in their experience it would have served its purpose.

So, let's talk about fandom racism.

The only other couple that I ship that is an interracial one is Joe and Nicky from The Old Guard. They are also an interfaith couple so they really had the odds stacked against them from the very beginning. But by the time I came into that fandom, there was a real movement to call out racial bias and ignorance in Joe's portrayal. So I thankfully avoided the racism in that fandom because when I got involved in that fandom there was an active will to counter said racism which also made me very careful regarding how I interacted with that fandom. I was just more informed so I protected myself.

The thing I totally forgot while getting into this fandom is that FirstPrince is also an interracial couple. This fandom is very passive in its racism because you can tell fandom racism exists by how people choose to not interact at all with certain elements that are a part of this ship and never has the insidiousness of racism been more obvious than since the movie came out.

It's obvious that a lot of people just didn't engage with the fact that Alex is biracial. The book actually plays a huge part in it because, for the most part, it doesn't do a good job of portraying Alex as someone who comes from two cultures and speaks two languages (even though I have to say that the only time Alex speaks Spanish where it is presented as such in the book is also one of the most beautiful moments in the book and that fact that it isn't talked about nearly as much kind of proves my point). But with the release of the movie, it's harder to ignore Alex's race.

I mean frankly, it is so obvious in the way this fandom treats the actors portraying these characters that they are being confronted by the interraciality of this couple for the very first time.

It's a lot harder to ignore colour on screen.

I love the fact that the director chose to lean into Alex's roots.

But the true impetus for writing this post comes from a fic I recently read which reminded me of this post that I had seen on Tumblr (you can read it here) and combining that with the above issue meant that I felt like I should speak up if only for my own mental peace.

Now, I am very much of the opinion that if you don't like a fanfic you shouldn't engage with it because fanfic writers don't owe you anything. The mere fact that they choose to share their works of art with the public is kind of a very selfless deed. But, I need to talk about this fic because it really started highlighting the issues that insidiously exist in this fandom (we should probably make a drinking game of how many times I use the word insidious in this post).

Henry running away from Alex at the lakehouse is something that only works if you account for the fact that he is an honest-to-god Prince. His actions in any other scenario are just douchey. Fanfic can get very creative and I'm pretty sure that fanfic writers can come up with alternative ways of making this scenario work even in an AU without him being royalty but it needs to be creative to work.

In the book, this works because Henry is a prince and the one thing that I know about the British Monarchy is that it has a will for self-preservation like no other. So you can sympathise with Henry's position without needing the details. It's also important to realise that the monarchy is not just an institution for Henry it's his family. At some point, he is going to be the son of the reigning monarch abdication or not.

But if you try to spin off an AU in which Henry pulls this stunt except with way more viciousness then you better come prepared to make him GROVEL. It really hurt because apparently people reading this fic were angry with Alex for his understandable vindictiveness something I gleaned from the author's notes on the various chapters and not because I read every comment on the fic so I could be wrong about how people were reacting to the events in the fic but clearly the author believed that the events in the fic would garner hate towards Alex which was literally unbelievable to me. Because predictably it's Alex who takes the first step towards reconciliation and Henry literally does the bare minimum. Reading this fic was so disturbing and disconcerting because I don't think the author even realises that they have set such different standards for Henry and Alex in this fic which made it infinitely worse.

Henry's abandonment of Alex just doesn't work if he isn't burdened by something as powerful as the monarchy and I don't get how that isn't obvious.

The Tumblr post I came across also on a similar note is pretty succinct and I like the point it is making.

But it got me thinking and I realised that Henry's initial rejection of Alex can't be read as Henry rejecting Alex, it has to be read while keeping Alex's lived experience in mind. So no matter what Henry said be it the "get rid of him" version from the book or the "get me out of here" version from the movie, it still can't only be about Alex and Henry it also has to be viewed through the lens of race and class differences that exist between these two. It means that Alex not only has to deal with a person being rude to him he has to deal with the fact that this person is rude to him because of things about him that are a fundamental part of who he is. Of course, that isn't the case here but I don't blame him one bit for jumping to conclusions. Also, in this case, context matters and I like the fact that the movie changed the line because with context Henry's position is much more sympathetic than in the book version of his line (which is incidentally never brought up in the book).

I also like the fact that Henry is the first to contact Alex unlike in the book where Alex gives Henry his number and Henry just decides to use it because it showcases a will to know Alex. Henry makes an effort to give this relationship a chance on his own terms which is something I didn't know I needed. It also means that Alex isn't the only one seen fighting for and wanting this relationship. We have express proof that Henry wants it too with not one but two instances in the movie.

I should probably also tell you that so far I haven't encountered a whole lot of racial bias in fics in this fandom so you are actually pretty safe because I'm pretty sure I have read more than fifty fics in this fandom and not one was insidiously racist. The racism is more observable and notable with how this fandom treats the two actors differently but when I read this one fic and yes so far it is only the one fic that I was tempted to quit in the middle but didn't because by that time it had already become the straw that broke the camel's back and I didn't want to critique something I hadn't read in its entirety.

So, here it is whatever this is. I hope this helps in some way either in validating some people's feelings or alternatively making someone else recognise their own bias.

That's it from me!

[edge-oftheworld]

hey girl i saw your friends of friends post - do you think there's a chance maybe they're just being supportive of Palestine performatively now that everyone is on their ass about not speaking out sooner? i know you said 'they're on 5sos time' but isnt that kind of just excusing their poor effort up until now? it's taken so long for them to do anything supportive, Palestine's literally almost gone

:,(

love u just wanted to see your perspective!

hey anon! thanks for this lovely ask. i can't guess what's in their heads and i'm hesitant to either 1) assume the worst when there can be a million reasons someone doesn't get to something straight away, and I don't usually think well thought-through activism comes out best when it's immediately reactive, or 2) say that there's no possible way this is the case when we don't have evidence for that either. it could be the case!

however from what I've seen the kinds of things people have been on their asses about recently have been other things--like crushing watermelons or cancelling sierra or crystal or 'where is calum is he okay' or critiquing having any association with all time low or being mean about other things i don't really want to bring up on here. Like I guess that might've been there but I've honestly not seen a lot of it; I've been here for about a year now and the 5sos fandom still baffles me--like I realise it's probably just a small minority who are mean and kinda petty, but honestly I've not seen a heap of organised activism within the fandom and it has disappointed me a little--like yeah from their perspective they might be reading the comments on it and feeling the pressure from those, but honestly it's been so mixed up with stuff i can't imagine they want to read that I'm not sure that's the message the fandom is sending at all. I hope for the fandom's sake I'm wrong and it's just the negativity bias speaking.

I do also want to gently possibly push back on the idea that they haven't done anything supportive until now; yes they didn't involve friends of friends (i'm not sure why) or really outright say it (which I've got more opinions on, a mix of positive and negative in terms of why i think they chose to do it that way) but they did release an entire tour movie on youtube for us for free, and tell us to donate to help (in ashton's words) 'the children in gaza' with links in the caption--it's a more aussie style of activism for sure when it's less putting yourself on a platform (even if you already have it) to speak about something to try and get people to act, and more use the resources you have to make a practical difference, without being demanding of people or stressing them out with urgency. to me that was something that meant more than performative statements, but not everyone in the fandom agrees on that. all i'll say to it is 1) it was out of the blue and felt like they had kinda just discussed it and been like 'yeah we need to' the minute the tour movie was ready 2) it was back in december and 3) i think they underestimated how broke their fans are and also overestimated how many people would see the 'humanitarian aid' links below a video in the christmas break. i've rattled on about it, i'll always defend that particular action but everyone knows that, the decision to focus on the children and the downstream aid rather than the genocide itself was an interesting one (bound to appeal to the skeptics and more practical but in some ways a copout), but i'm also putting it here because it surprises me how many fans genuinely have no idea all of this happened because literally no one talked about it. I don't know if it's because we have an idea as a society how activism should be like or people genuinely don't know how to address more serious topics (again, no one seems to be talking about the friends of friends thing they're kicking off now either). brandy's been sharing information etc on palestine and evidence of the genocide since october, and michael wore that jumper thing that I forget the name of in what might have been cultural solidarity or a coincidence back on october 13th i think. again, it's not the same. brandy isn't actually in 5sos. decide what to make of these things for yourself.

i'll also add that in general from what i've seen, 5sos are usually not super swayed by fan pressure and more likely to get pissed off by it and become more unhinged as a result or turn it into a joke later (like with the soon saga). not to say that they don't feel it, I think they do, but are more determined to not let it take away from their authenticity than be led by it iykwim? having said that this is something i relate to a lot due to my neurodivergence so i could be very biased on this. I could be projecting. so i'm not sure!! i'm not sure what goes on in their heads. i'm not sure why this didn't come sooner, we can probably all agree it should've. but i do also want to say that i know it's not ideal but sometimes doing a good thing for less than pure reasons is still a good thing. it's just the timing that's obviously the pressing factor here, people are dying, and it's kinda insensitive to be talking about how disabling things like executive function and anxiety can be in activism--but this is another topic and aspect of it I think that not mentioning can sometimes cause an excess of blame to be placed on people who are doing good things that aren't good enough to fix what bad people are doing, rather than the bad people themselves. I know it's not that simple, I know there are systemic parts of complicity we can't really wash our hands of that easily but my point is things like neurodivergence and anxiety are by definition disabling and activism is not a sphere they don't touch. and i can't go and list headcanoned diagnoses for a band I listen to but I also can't in good conscience ignore that this could likely be a factor.

overall i feel like this is a mess of a post because i don't really know yet where the line is between holding people accountable (what even is enough in activism?) and letting them process the trauma we're watching unfold and turn that into action at their own pace. but i do want to say thank you so so much for engaging with what's been a topic that I don't think we're talking about enough but i do care about too. and if you've read this far down such a long post thank you as well, i really appreciate it!

[godsofhumanity]

Vans I need help. I have another obscure Greek god that I'm slowly developing a hyperfixation over but THERE'S NOT ENOUGH STUFF ABOUT HIM so may I please ask for your headcanon of Phthonos?

YOU ARE GOING TO MAKE ME GET BRAIN ROT!!!1!!1

okkk so Phthonos is a very very very "rare" god.. not much is known about him.

he may be a son of Aphrodite.. or he could be the same god as Zelos (or Zelus) who was a son of Pallas & Styx.. in which case, his siblings include Nike, Kratos, and Bia.

but personally... i don't think the latter parentage theory makes sense- Nike, Kratos, and Bia personify forces that seem to come hand-in-hand with war.. victory, power, and force. this makes sense given that Pallas was probably the titan of warcraft...

but Phthonos.. or Zelos.. is the god of envy and jealousy, especially related to romance and love.. so.. he doesn't exactly fit the pattern with Nike, Kratos, and Bia.

so i think that Phthonos and Zelos should be two different gods.. though they may be very similar.

as one of Aphrodite's sons, you can bet he's mischievous AND nosey,, and so he probably gets on everyone's nerves.

i can imagine that, being the god of jealousy, he loovessss to stir up trouble between people,, particularly lovers. i think he's always skulking around Olympus and keeping an ear out for potential trouble.

when i was reading up about him, i came across two particular stories that feature Phthonos; the first involving Apollo (because of course it does).

in this myth,, Phthonos tries to rile Apollo up by saying that quantity is better than quantity.. but, naturally, Apollo argues the opposite and spurns Phthonos' greed/jealousy.

because of this,, i can imagine that Phthonos has it out for Apollo especially.. and poor Apollo is a prime target for Phthonos' antics because he has such a long and tragic romantic record.. it's easy for Phthonos to mess around with Apollo and make him jealous or doubt himself.

saying this, i'm realising that Apollo seems to have a really, really bad time anytime he's with a son of Aphrodite.. first Eros, now Phthonos... it's tough :((

now, the second myth with Phthonos is very interesting indeed; in this version of Dionysus' birth, Phthonos is jealous of Dionysus (yes, even though he's just a little baby still unborn!!), and so he intentionally makes a loud noise to rile up Athena, and convince Hera that Semele may be the next Queen of Olympus.

Hera is, as we all know, a decently jealous goddess... and that's understandable-- she's always finding herself having to compete with fellow goddesses and even mere mortals..

but!! even though in this myth, Phthonos is kind of alerting Hera for his own sake,, i really really like the idea that Hera is probably one of the few gods out there whom Phthonos actually respects.

i mean.. no one could understand her deep envy more than the embodiment of envy himself.

even though he likes to mess around with most gods, i think Phthonos actually acts pretty genuine with Hera.. not just because she's the Queen and she could kick his ass if she wanted to,, but i like the idea that they have some sort of common ground.

i'm not sure if i'd call them "friends".. but i think they would share gossip with each other, and enjoy creating conniving, wicked plans together... she'd be one of the few who actually tolerate Phthonos.

besides Hera, i can see Phthonos also participating in the Erotes' antics. he may not be a regular member of the retinue, but he is still their brother, and i think envy + jealousy in romantic relationships is commonplace-enough to earn Phthonos a claim to the Erotes' little clique.

of course, since i think Phthonos would be quite the gossiper and antagoniser, it's only natural that he should be friends with Hermes... Apollo and Dionysus despise this relationship greatly, but alas, Hermes does as Hermes wants.

[anarmorofwords]

I kinda wanna write a better version of tlh where Tatiana is still insane but there's no Belial bc that makes zero sense to me

In this version there would be:

Kamanna done correctly with actual genderqueer rep and not toxic relationships

Barbra and Oliver bc fight me she didn't die

Genie and Filomena bc I love them and all the lightwoods are queer

The gracelet doesn't even happen bc I refuse to write that

Grace is pretty much still the same but she breaks off their(hers and james') relationship bc she notices that he loves Cordelia

No bad James. He's not a shitty person to Alastair, and he doesn't treat Cordelia like a sex object

Anna puts a stop to Kellington and Matthew's relationship before it gets serious. She also tries to get him to stop drinking all the time

Alastair apologizes around seeing them again for the first time. The merry thieves are a little reluctant because of some of the things he did but they don't actively try to keep him away from events that they're at

Matthew notices how Alastair looks at Thomas and locks them in the sanctuary with Genie and Cordelia's help

Grace gets badly injured due to a mistake in necromancy and Christopher helps her treat it without letting people know

Lucie meets Jesse, and falls in love ofc, so in order to bring him back successfully she asks Malcolm to train her in using her magic

Matthew opens up to his mom about the incident. She doesn't blame him at all and instead apologizes for often putting her work before him

Matthew finds out about Charles and Alastair because he found Alastairxs break up letter to Charles

Matthew, the mother hen he is, decided to attempt to murder his older brother, only being stopped by James who had been there at the right time

Kamala ends things with Charles and tells Anna that she still loves them and hopes that she will give her another chance

Anna told her that they needed time to think, and that she is worried how Kamala's reputation will be affected if anyone besides their friends and Anna's family finds out

Kamala respects her decision and doesn't contact her until Anna's ready to talk about things

The merry thieves don't ignore Christopher and they actively listen and help him

The merry thieves also aren't terrible to Grace bc they realize she's been isolated alone with Tatiana and 1) she might not understand what's saying/doing is wrong or 2) that sometimes she's trying to push them away so her abilities don't accidentally make them do something

Good tid parents

James and Alastair being respectful to each other despite personal differences

Matthew, Alastair, Kamala, Christopher, and Grace being besties, or as I call them, the neglected squad

No fetishizing mlm/wlw

Domestic cuddles and taking care of the other one when they're sick

Jesse/Lucie/Matthew pairing bc I love them and I refuse to pick between lucie/matthew and lucie/jesse

Christopher teaching Grace the elements(at the time) on the periodic table

Tatiana dies at the end yay

It's very unpolished and I'm open to b hearing any feedback and/or suggestions that anyone may have

The idea came to me and I decided it would be best if I told someone before I forgot

hi, I'm sorry it took so long,but I wanted to properly answer this and I keep having either internet connection issues or little time

DON'T BE SHY, WRITE THIS 👀

In all seriousness tho... THIS IS ABSOLUTE PERFECTION?!? I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE TO START I AM UTTERLY IN LOVE WITH THIS IDEA, I NEED IT

Look, I've been on the verge of rewriting ChoI, and I keep saying I want someone to write a TLH that will live up to its potential, but I've never actually came up with a proper idea for it, and you?!! YOUR BRAIN DARLING THIS IS GENIUS

ok hold up I'll just react to each and every single one so

yes please?!? I mean it started off so sweet in EEV?! Also actually genderqueer Anna and not dancing around the subject like CC is doing now?! That's what they deserve, and that's what we all deserve too

yesss please. also just,,,, Barbara, the feminine, not-wanting-to-fight-which-doesnt-make-her-less-badass queen that she is, getting the page space and appreciation she deserves

that's actually brilliant?!? it would be so great, just imagine the new girl arrives for her travel year and Genie is completely awestruck. I'm so invested in Joshwood it's difficult to imagine not having them, but this is actually the only valid alternative?!

ok that's fine. I think it could still happen and be done well, but tbh for now... the gracelet doesn't seem to have done anything relevant to the plot itself? I mean yeah it messed up James's life and Jordelia, but what did it give Belial? Tatiana? nothing. It makes no sense atm.

could be! maybe she's still encouraged by Tatiana to befriend/seduce him, but without the gracelet it doesn't work out? or maybe James somehow manages to realize that she's in danger and he actually like,,,, kidnaps her? idk idk

yes. YES. just,,,,z James is a sweet compassionate literature nerd who accidentally makes a good leader and he actually cares about people, and not just judges them from his high horse; he does still have hero syndrome, but he's kind and respectful and overall a good character

ANNA INTERVENES ABOUT KELLINGTON PLZ. PEOPLE ACTUALLY NOTICE MATTHEW'S STRUGGLES. JAMES DOES, TOO, BECAUSE THERE'S NO GRACELET.

ok yes, so what about: basically TMT don't harass Alastair and accept his apology, and realize they were also being stupid and mean at times at the Academy (especially Math). Matthew doesn't want to accept Alastair's apology, because of The Sin, but his behaviour alerts the rest of TMT and they inquire what's wrong and he tells them about the sin and that's how he later tells his parents (because his friends encourage him) and as you say, she just hugs him and reassures him it's not his fault; so after that Matthew slowly begins to heal and accepts it wasn't Alastair's fault, and also since they've kind of adopted/started including Alastair in things, he can't help but notice he's actually changed and he even starts to grow fond of him

then like you said, Matthew notices Thomas likes Alastair PLEASE HE SO WOULD. I'm not sure about the Sanctuary, if it actually happens (I'll get to why later on), but him and Lucie get really invested in the matchmaking schemes, they include Genie/Kamala because these two are friends with Alastair (both? Or at this point only Kamala?) but they also share some Moments during their scheming/talking about love 👀 (yes I'm a Fairdale shipper, I think it's time to expose myself lol)

Which leads me to (sorry I'm going off order rn) YES YES YES LUCIE AND MATH PLEASE. A FELLOW SHIPPER, HELLO, NICE TO MEET YOU. But since we're actually fixing him then we can give Jesse a personality and I'm totally down for poly Math/Lucie/Jesse

Lucie seeking Malcolm's help in secret, morally gray heroine style?!? no, it's probably not legal. but also has there ever been a Shadowhunter like her? If the Law doesn't expect such situations, it can't really forbid them...

Plz Matthew ready to strangle the carrot when he learns about their relationship, YES. sure, maybe he's still not the biggest fan of Alastair, but he's seen how much the boy's been through and starts to develop an attachment to him, and besides, NO ONE DESERVES TO BE GROOMED AND TREATED LIKE THAT. He's SO MAD at Charles, and he confronts him about it - remembering Kellington as he does, and it makes him sick to think his brother would do the same thing to someone. Maybe he gets very emotional over this and later finally tells his friends about Kellington? Maybe they didn't know before, only Anna did? So when they all realize what was happening then they comfort him etc? Or maybe it's just Alastair that learns now, and the others knew before, and they share a bonding moment over that?

Injured Grace seeking Kit's help is a genius idea I didn't know I needed

Kamanna giving each other time and space and deciding they need to question their relationship and figure out if it actually makes sense would be great. Anna realising she's very privileged and Kamala doesn't have those same opportunities, and also in general realising coming out should never be pressured or forced. Just,,,, Anna being self-aware and respectful towards Kamala. Well-written Anna. Plz. Also Kamanna is actually developed and not just "in love" because,,,,, they're attracted to each other? Maybe even remaining friends while Anna makes up their mind?

yeah just TMT being more compassionate and less judgy because they're not written by Judith so her bias isn't projected onto them

It's not a want, it's a need. They adopt Alastair and Grace eventually. Like, maybe not literally - although, Grace? - but you know what I mean.

I think they all should just have various friendship dynamics and switch between them, because people need more than one friend group

no fetishizing, no watching your brother make out with his lover, yessss

yes domestic cuddles, affection, taking care of wounds, all those things. plz.

Gracetopher bonding over science yes

obviously. or maybe she's imprisoned?!

ok, now for some more notes/my ideas etc., if you don't mind:

I actually think Belial could still be featured? After all, I don't think Tatiana could do much on her own, and since she seeks help from demons, it makes sense to include a Greater Demon as well. But Belial would have to be a stronger villain, written better; I'll think more about this

if that was the case, the serial killer plot could still happen, but be done better. and it would allow for a scenario I talked about with @littlx-songbxrd to happen, where it's Alastair who's falsely accused of murder. It creates a great opportunity to explore some things, because we know Alastair is much more likely to be seriously suspected, considering all the prejudices and bad rep his family has and all that

...what do you say to well-written Jordelia? 👀 Cordelia hasn't been obsessively in love with James since childhood, she only had a crush then. And now that they meet again, she's fond of him but not in love, not straight away. They're both grown up, and different people, but as they spend more and more time together, they fall in love. What if Cordelia gets to flirt with some other boys first? What then. What if she ends up choosing James, instead of going for the only boy she's ever had feelings for and idealized since childhood. What if we even make it friends-to-lovers and have James be a little jealous at some point?! but not in a possessive awful way, just "oh damn oh no"

Now I won't know peace until this exists BUT THANK YOU

[fashournalist]

Cookies Review: Deta Bites

Craving for cookies that taste great without spending a lot? Search no more—Deta Bites cookies are what you're looking for.

This Father's Day, we decided to try out their cookie sampler as our dessert. Their cookies have four different flavors: Smores, Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal Chocolate Chip, and Brookies. I will include the price list here so you can have an idea of how much you'll spend when you order from their shop.

This is the actual photo of what we received: cookies in a box tied with a golden ribbon. It's a great gift you can give to your loved ones without spending a lot :) The seller, Ms Jessa, is also very accommodating, so if you have any questions, just let her know.

Now I won't prolong this any longer—let's review each cookie! I'm including photos from their website, detabites.wordpress.com (posted with permission).

The chocolate chip cookies had a firm texture but were actually soft on the inside. Perfect with a cup of coffee, the semi-sweet and dark chocolate chips melt in your mouth.

The size is a little smaller than the palm, but it's good for its price. For only 69 pesos (6 pcs) or 135 pesos (12 pcs), this is the most affordable cookie they have, and it's my favorite of the four. It's not too sweet; it's just right.

Next: the S'mores cookies! This was my Dad's least favorite of the four. But if you're a fan of chewy cookies, this one's for you. Basically, it's the same flavor as the chocolate chip one but it has a melted marshmallow on top. Other S'mores cookies have smaller marshmallows mixed with the dough, but this one works fine, too. The size is similar to their chocolate chip cookie's size. Get six of them for only 80 pesos or 12 pieces for twice the price.

To be honest, I think their oatmeal cookies were not outstanding, but since I love oatmeal cookies, I still liked these. They were my least favorite of the four flavors, but Dad liked them. This was actually his second favorite flavor! And what topped his list is the next cookie we'll review.

Finally, the Brookies! Brownies and cookies in one? Who can say no to this? It is firm but soft on the inside, and like its description, it's a fudgy moist brownie that will leave you wanting for more with every bite. It's also the biggest cookie they have because every brookie is palm-sized. Grab seven pieces of these for 140 pesos!

These were Dad's favorites because of its rich taste; and it's my second favorite after the plain chocolate chip cookie. (We have to admit though that we really have bias for dark chocolate and while this isn't dark choco, its taste resembled it)

So here's my review of Deta Bites cookies : ) What do you think? Which flavor are you most excited to try? I think it's definitely worth the price and would delight you with every bite.

Thank you for the warm, delicious cookies, Ms Jessa and for making our Father's Day celebration literally sweeter ☺️

Also had these for snacks the following day during work :D

If you're craving for cookies that satisfy and that are not too sweet—just right—then you know where to order :) Follow them on Instagram and Facebook @Detabites for the latest updates and promos, like the sampler we just had! We tasted all four flavors for only 185 pesos! :)

*Prices are subject to change without prior notice.

PS. This is just the first review I'm releasing; the next one I'll review is Allegro's Cheesecake Sampler (12 flavors!) which is what we had for Mother's Day, so stay tuned two weeks from now 😉

I'm a foodie and even though I follow a strict budget (I track down every single expense down to the last peso haha), I make sure to save a bit for small rewards like this one, once in a while :) As they say, it's not bad to treat yourself sometimes, as long as you don't overspend hehe.

I realised, since I've been exploring different food products through the years, might as well share my thoughts with the world (like I did with my food reviews in 2013 haha).

I also want to help SMEs even just in a small way by writing about their amazing products, which are sometimes even better than the products of big, international names. Might also review known brands but mostly, I look forward to trying more food from small and medium businesses :)

For now, I will have a trip down memory lane (like I always do haha but this time, it's about food) and review the ones we've tried before. Might also review samgyup places though they're not exactly SMEs. Let's see where this goes :) I'm excited!

PPS. Do you want me to try your cookies or other products? Email me at mseclavea@up.edu.ph with the subject "Blog Feature" followed by your product name : )

[divagonzo]

Hi, I'm wondering how to learn to not be so possessive over possible ace characters? Take Charlie, I'm so happy that word of god supports an ace view of Charlie, that he never married and are more interested in dragons than women. But he's shipped with self-inserts and other book character, sometime he's written as someone who sleeps with everything that moves, and it makes me want to scream. I realise that this sounds stupid, but I don't know how to not act so possessive and irrational over him

Evenin’ Nonnie. Grab a beverage from the fridge and we’ll natter a spell.

I’m tagging @weasleyismyking540 because she made an excellent point while we were talking last week (and I know she’ll want to add more onto this discussion.)

First of all, I’m the same way about Charlie. Having (even if he’s barely in the series) as any kind of aro/ace (or spectrum) of such is wonderful. It’s incredible. There is so little ace representation that we take what we can get. I’m sure our lovely compatriots the Aromantics appreciate such, too.

Having said all of that,…

More under a cut since this got long and slightly complicated.

There are some schools of thought (which is where you can look further if you so want. YMMV.) that Charlie dating someone and realizing “ain’t nothing happening” or “Whelp this isn’t what it’s all cracked up to be” or “Why can’t they be like Dragons? At least you know they want to kill you and it is not personal” was how he realized that he just wasn’t into that sort of thing.

For those who write him having relationships with Self-Inserts (looking at the online game and not tagging such since they are having their fun and it doesn’t impact me in the least especially with a black-tag list) and finding their own Weasley for their own Self-Inert? It’s their bit of fun. Their fun doesn’t impact you in the least, especially when some of it might be how he comes to really realize how Ace/Aro he is. It doesn’t impact me, either. (Or he could be Lithoromantic/sexual in that it sounds good in theory but in practice? Absolute pants. (With the one who wasn’t a guy I had such feelings for *aka UST and Pining* mine was Lithoromantic in that I’d never act on it because the consequences would have been destructive AF to so many. Then I got my s* sorted and figured out and things are swimmingly now.)

They aren’t harming us Aces, even if it feels like our particular orientation gets shoved aside the instant that the situation is shown where he might consider hanging out with (a girl, guy, Black Lake Squid - whomever) and maybe have some kind of relationship.  Admittedly, there is a bias especially when Ace still gets plenty of crap from The Community along with considerable gatekeeping and being told repeatedly that Aces aren’t oppressed.

The ones who make him out to be a Lothario? That’s probably a bit of wishful thinking and wish fulfillment, in that Charlie would be into them that way even if it’s canon that he’s more into his dragons than anyone else (guy or girl or whomever.) Heck, I’ve read my share and laugh a bit since Charlie is barely there and any more than a leg lamp or cardboard cut out. He’s almost an OC when it comes to mentions in the entire storyline.

(And yes, I wrote him doing such adult things but I also intentionally wrote him as Aro/Ace and while I don’t think my gift recipient liked their gift, I’m quite proud of writing something that intricate, complicated emotionally and mentally and have it applicable.) (No I won’t mention where it’s published since it’s so not Ace safe in the least.)

So, my suggestion on preventing violence and having an aneurysm about Charlie and his Aro/Ace orientation is black tagging some tags and then pointedly ignoring it, focusing on those stories that are written where he is Ace. Curating the media you take in will help considerably. But considering those possibilities, given the year/era (the late 80s when Asexual wasn’t talked about ever ‘cept in psychology and psychiatry and even then it was “something is wrong with her” and “she’s broken, I tell you” or “Prude” “Cold Fish” “Frigid” the only way you could consider and find out that you’re just not into dating and more) took…. dating and maybe more to figure it out.  People rarely were referred to a counselor because they weren’t dating by 15, or even 20. Maybe 30 and then you’re personally wondering but that’s more personal knowledge and understanding.

The upside now is that being Ace is widely spoken about more and people are comfortable knowing this aspect about themselves and wondering why they never felt that way about persons ABC XYZ. It’s easier to find like-minded people now.  It’s easier to find answers, materials, and knowledge now.

It wasn’t the case in the late 80s and early 90s.

So like so many little girls all buying the same Barbie and telling their own stories and having fun with Charlie…. it’s all good. Really. You keep writing/arting/creating things about him being Ace and I sure will read it.

[sometimesrosy]

I was rewatching season 3 the other day and I must've skipped the first time but I'm just now realising that Pike wasn't THAT bad. I mean, he killed fan favs and ordered that massacre but this is a guy that has been fighting for his life since day one, being against an army right next to their borders is pretty reasonable actually (in fact, my country sank ships for this very same reason) 1

I mean, he was elected! I can’t blame him for not trusting Lexa’s word, I STILL can’t believe Clarke did! God, I can’t believe I’m actually siding with Pike now. This hiatus is seriously messing with my head! 2

Yeah. I never thought Pike was that evil. He was WRONG, he wasn’t evil. The hiatus isn’t messing with your head, it’s allowing you to see the story without the bias you held from your emotional investment in… i’m guessing, Clarke’s POV. But there were other personal perspective that were invested in turning Pike into an unredeemable bad guy. IDK. I always wanted him to recognize the error of his ways and redeem himself. Don’t know if he woulda but he never got the chance.

His people were HUNTED across the eastern seaboard by Azgeda. They started out with 300 people and they ended up with about 30 I think. They were all killed by Azgeda. 

But when he considered Azgeda the enemy, people thought he was irrational and bigoted. He might have been bigoted, but he was not irrational at all. Azgeda WERE their enemies and they HAD been hunting them. They didn’t attack innocent Azgeda. The Azgeda attacked and killed innocent farm station including children playing in the snow. 

People bent over backwards trying to ignore that. They said Pike was lying and that farm station CANNIBALIZED their own people. Do you remember that? They said, with no evidence, and against canon, that Pike was such an evil dude that he ate his own people and then blamed it on the innocent Azgeda. Remember? Even when we have canon evidence of Azgeda attacking them unprovoked and riding into Polis with a huge army, they wanted to say that the canon narrative was a lie and their imaginary cupcake grounders were the good guys. Dudes my guys. Azgeda was trying to wipe Farm station out and Pike led a defense against them to keep them alive. From Farm station’s pov, Pike was a hero. 

Oh and Bellarkers were no better. They tried to say that Pike was demonized and it was the writers fault for telling the Farm Station attack through exposition instead of showing it happening. They thought that it was bad writing not to tell the story of characters we’d never met with their limited screen time. That they *missed* it because… well idk, I guess they weren’t paying attention when they told the story of how Monty’s dad died. I heard it, and I’m betting you heard it in your rewatch. It didn’t matter to them? Oh wait. It didn’t feed their headcanons, so they IGNORED it. And then said the writers didn’t convey it. Oh dudes my guys. That’s not bad writers, that’s a bad audience. Take responsibility for not paying attention to canon. This is what I’m talking about when I say to stick to the text and don’t let your emotions about things or your personal biases tint your interpretation. CHECK your bias. Double check the canon. 

Pike was absolutely against the grounders. And he was painting them all with the same brush even though we knew that they were not all the same. This is bias and bigotry, but he was not an irrational man and he was convinced that the grounders would use that army to kill the arkers. Which… let’s be honest, isa fair assumption. It’s all Pike knew, and it is honestly all WE know as the audience member. Sure we know that Lxa had decided to make Arkadia the 13th Clan, but we ALSO know that Lxa goes back on her alliances, her promises, and also kills her own people when it suits her strategy. We’ve SEEN this. There is canon, narrative evidence of Lxa doing this MULTIPLE times, to sky people and to grounders. 

Or another way you can look at it. Remember when Lxa met Clarke and she immediately blamed her for killing her 300 warriors at the ring of fire? Yeah. That was a direct result of Lxa sending in her armies to kill a bunch of kids and what happened when they turned out to be stronger than expected. It was LXA’s fault, but the grounders tend to blame the victims when the victims say no more and fight back.

Pike’s actions are ALMOST comparable to Clarke’s at the ring of fire. They had INDEED just been killed again in MW, by grounders, by the coalition members and had no reason to trust them, no matter what they promised. They felt that Kane’s brand was like a cattle brand. Pikes knowledge of grounders was savage and cruel. They retaliated to what they saw as a continuing war. There was a lot else going on that Pike didn’t understand, but to him, it was just as much a war as it was when Raven blew up the bridge. That was a preemptive move. His attack on the peace keeping army was preemptive. And we do have to remember that this peace keeping army was NOT civilians. They were fully armed and dangerous and, in canon, not defenseless. They had a watch and archers, and Pike’s superior strategy and technology took away their first and second level of defense. It was not killing sleeping innocents. They killed an unprepared army. Killing the wounded would probably count as a war crime, though.

We saw the internal grounder politics with Clarke. Who believed Lxa would not turn on the Sky People, even though Lxa had ALREADY broken her honor and betrayed the sky people. And the tough part for me to get over is that Lxa did, AGAIN, turn on the sky people and put a kill order on the whole people. She said she would follow blood must not have blood, but the first challenge to that and she folded. Back to another attempted genocide of the sky people. 

Pike did not need to be so bigoted. He could have recognized that not all grounders were the same. He didn’t. He also pushed his definition of “enemy” from Azgeda, to all grounders, to allies, to sky people who opposed him, to… who was next? He was killing his own people by the time Bellamy put a stop to it. Because this is how this mindset works. This mindset that Lxa shared. Blood must have blood. Do what you have to to save your people. The ends justify the means. Vengeance. Fury. War. I find the greatest parallel in season 3 between Lxa and Pike. But it’s interesting how many people lionized Lxa and demonized Pike. They were very similar. I think.

He was an antagonist with as much justification as any of the antagonists on our show, some of whom are seen as heroes, not just by their own people but by the entire audience. 

[everythinghskin-blog]

Hello! If it's not too difficult, could I maybe get some positivity and a comforting/upbeat playlist for a Kankri Vantas? I'm just really emotionally drained right now, due to a lot of family judgement. It just feels like I can't do anything natural to me anymore without frustrating them; I'm not sure what to do anymore. For a playlist, Enya, Cyndi Lauper, and Aqua are good artists; but I love a lot of 80s dance artist/bands too. Some older rock would be nice as well though; if you can find any.

Hey there!

First of all I’d like to apologise for how look it took for me to get to this. I hope it still helps even with its lateness!

Now, the biggest thing you need to remember with family is that it’s easy for them to take you for granted. You’re always there with them, you’ve always been there with them, and as a result, it’s often all too easy to not appreciate someone within your family and to find common things they do frustrating. I think a good example for this would be my maladaptive daydreaming; to the people who don’t know me irl, my expressive imagination is beautiful because of the book-like daydreams I come up with, which allows me to make wholly inventive aus! To my family, it’s a pain in the ass, because all they see is the pacing back and forth along the halls, or the odd giggling I do when I get to a funny scene in the daydream. Familial judgement isn’t something you should ever, ever give credit to. By being your family, they are negatively biased towards you, typically because they either don’t get to see all the wonderful things you do, or because they see you so often that only the negative things seem to stick out anymore. Living with anyone for any period of time can cause these issues; it’s just made worse by family, because (with or without knowing it) they can be utterly entitled assholes. 

It’s also, I think, important to point out that sometimes families can be harsher on other family members than they are on other people. Families think they know you better, know how you should act rather than accepting how you do act, or become wrapped up in appearances and thus may judge you more for things. It’s all bias, Kankri, I promise. What they say has no impact on who you are or what you do; they’re just strong opinions on things that don’t matte. 

As for it being what’s natural to you that’s frustrating them, I would argue, “so what?” If it’s natural to you, then you should do it, regardless of whether or not it frustrates them - because I can definitely assure you that they likely have similar habits, whether you see them or not. We all do. It’s a wholly natural thing, and again, one that’s too easy to criticise other people for, particularly if you’re blind do how you may do similar things (which family usually are!). Family are your biggest critiques, Kankri, but they’re also your biggest liars. They can make little things seem so, so much worse than they actually are, because family feel like they can impress ideals or desires on you. So honestly, to their frustration, just show nonchalance. If they are frustrated by it, then that is their issue, not yours. You are perfect as you are, Kankri, regardless of the natural habits you have that may frustrate them. 

As for being emotionally drained, please take some time to yourself if you need to. Set up things that might help. Get in calls with friends, watch movies you enjoy, play games that bring you comfort, talk online about things you utterly adore - anything that my counteract the tiredness of being emotionally drained. Even little things can help, and they really can combat against things you are dealing with from your family, too (after all, it’s a lot easier to ignore family judgement when you realise they don’t fully matter, and you have something or someone exciting to look forward to that same day). If you need to, vent to someone - either a friend or an uninvolved party you might trust (there are many help blogs which are good for this!) - and get all of it out. That’s one of the biggest emotionally drained releases you can get, besides things like crying (which, as backwards as it sounds, can relieve a huge amount of pressure from your shoulders - that’s what it’s designed for, after all!)

In the end, Kankri, just remember there are people who love you without these frustrations. Family will always make a big deal out of things that don’t matter. Try to ignore them when you can, and when you can’t, find the people who matter most to you outside of your family, and spend time focusing on them for a while. Make your family, and their judgement, utterly unimportant in your mind in place for people you know don’t care about these natural things you do.

I hope this helps. If not, you’re always free to send more in and ask for additional positivity/advice. 

And now, onto the playlist:

True Colours - Cyndi Lauper

Beautiful Day - U2

Save A Prayer - Duran Duran

True - Spandau Ballet

Highly Strung (12″ mix) - Spandau Ballet

Skin Deep - The Stranglers

Do Boys Fall In Love - Robin Gibb

Believer - Imagine Dragons

Please tell me if you want anything changed! Admittedly this was a rather hard one to find for, and the last song was picked more for the empowering vibe it had. I wanted to share that with you outside of what you specified in the request. I hope this helps!

- Mod DoomedDirk

[lenalvthor]

so im kinda new to the supergirl fandom and i'm all that wlw, so i was wondering if you can convince me to ship supercorp bc i kinda dont atm and i really want to

ok so first of all, i have shipped wlw ships before but sanvers + supercorp are the first ones that i’ve shipped since realising i was bisexual so i feel like i’m looking at them through difference eyes now 

and also, there are always circumstances where you totally want to ship a ship but you just can’t, it just doesn’t appeal so if supercorp ends up not being your cup of tea, my pal that is totally okay 

but i ship them to the end of the earth and beyond to krypton, daxam and earth-1, 2, 3 etc so i will do my best to convince you 

their dynamic and relationship is just so interesting - 

in the first two episodes, kara is still trying to figure out her new place at catco and what i like it that they introduced lena as sort of a replacement for cat (strong, powerful, independent and influential female business figure in national city who is kara’s friend and supergirl’s ally, in which supergirl is more confident and outspoken around while kara has a shyer approach) but still with a very different relationship than cat x kara, and we see cat reveals that she always knew kara should be a reporter but before that scene, lena is the first person who gives kara the idea that she could be a reporter - 

kara - “oh, i’m not a reporter”

lena - “you could’ve fooled me.” 

^ i mean the way they look at each other here is from their very first episode together and from those few scenes you immediately get a really really good story starting 

which immediately hooks us into understanding that lena is going to have a role in kara’s development as a character and it’s inevitable that lena and supergirl will have a complex relationship given the expectations they both have after lex & superman’s rivalry 

i love love love that they both share that desperate need to establish themselves as someone separate from their families, that they share that connection and that they are drawn to each other despite lex and clark’s history. 

(and so here blossoms the beginning of their beautiful friendship) 

the thing is, kara is an oblivious puppy so i would totally get it if kara doesn’t have a clue but i am so sure lena has feelings for kara because seriously, she tells her receptionist that kara is to be let in straight away wherever possible??? she smiles like kara hung the freakin sun every time she sees her???? first name basis almost immediately??? she beams and nervously plays with her hands and flirts and they make ridiculously long heart eyes at each other every time they’re in the room together???? despite differing views on things in the beginning, kara doesn’t let her own bias make lena out to be a bad guy in her article, they sit down and have civilised conversations about their different views, they both try and help the other understand, it’s just such a wonderful relationship, platonic or romantic however you look at it because it’s so mature and civilised and the perfect example of women learning from each other and supporting each other and finding ways to overcome adversity from their lives and their past in the least likely of other women around them

there’s just so much trust there as well like, lena’s probably had so much spite thrown at her by reporters and journalists and just people in general and kara is one of the first people to immediately set that aside in both their interactions and in her writing, and you can see lena’s vulnerability in her trust in kara: “i know you’ll be there for me when the time comes”, “it would mean a lot to me if you were [at my party]”, and when kara is so so damn sure that lena wouldn’t be involved in cadmus, it’s so vital that kara has that trust in lena and that she makes that speech as supergirl “be your own hero” because lena would not have been expecting supergirl to trust her given the situation (which is also why i’m so desperate for a post 2x08 supergirl/kara + lena convo about what happeneD)

and i mean “you’re literally my only friend in national city” ok fuck me up alright and then there’s just the fact that even though kara can’t tell lena all this, the amount that kara resonates with lena’s story - adopted at a young age, trying to make a name aside from your family, trying to figure out who you are amidst a crumbled childhood, learning your parents aren’t at all who you thought they were + probably so much more, kara connects with lena both as kara and supergirl and that is so important for her because she has a relationship as both even though lena doesn’t know her secret and that is so rare, cat was the only person with which she had a similar relationship 

also just the way they look at each other, the heat in some looks between supergirl and lena and just the heart eyes and warmth and crackling happiness between the gazes with kara and lena, it’s unreal: 

(original gifset for above gifs) 

i mean but look at those two they’re so awkward and smiley around each other 

(original gifset)

LENA @ KARA I MEAN COME ON ARE YOU KIDDING ME

(original gifset)

i honestly think this one will kill me for the rest of my life like the heart eyes are absolutely unreal i will never be over this (original gif) 

here are also some supercorp gifsets that kind of for me have me going how tf is this supposed to be a platonic relationship if these two are looking at each other like this (x) (x) (x) (x) 

buuut what you ship and what your heart + head gets you to ship is your choice entirely!! hope this was informative and did well in converting you though hehe