#also no discourse okay. i understand if you don't agree with me i don't want to explain more about MY opinion skdjlsdjf

[hg-aneh]

will you ever come back, or is this an indefinite hiatus/straight up dipping?

i don't know

all the i miss yous are making me want to come back but ik i would just be terrified and motionless as soon as i do

Vent-ish Rant downstairs

CW: Pedophilia, Antisemitism, Suicide, Ableism, Harassment, Bullying, all the important words except for murder basically

i want to fix things in private with the people who hurt me so things can be okay and I don't out them for being wieners

but i also want everyone to know who hurt me, yet I'm aware it's not the right choice to make. social media outrage barely leads to anything, specially where minors are concerned

hell,now that i think about it, considering the fact that they genuinely don't believe people older than them are allowed to have feelings, I don't even think talking would be the right move

it's scary, its fucking scary

fuck. the whole thing started with a person mocking the way i spoke about crowley telling me to stop babying him because i was a legal adult and shouldn't be speaking like that

i had just turned 18 and the person was only a year younger than me

like when it's gone to that point and shit is that fucked up, what can one person even do

i remember i laughed about it back then but truth be told, every single little thing I've been told and that I've listened to coming from the people who hurt me has fucking destroyed me as a person

I looked at my older Discord messages, from before this whole mess started. I was so fucking happy and shameless with my joy, now look at my sorry ass

i just.

it's crazy that i have to go around masking in social media of all places because there are people that take such offense to me being cringe that they legitimately turn into high school mean girls

it's crazy that there are people who claim I'm something i am not because they want to make me look bad in the eyes of their little circlejerking friend groups so they can feel like the hero of the story

it's crazy that empathy goes completely out of the window when an account is big, that people don't see human beings as human beings when they're behind a screen

"just log off lol" i am a lonely shut in motherfucker due to my autism (that, surprise surprise, hinders my ability to socialize), you do not understand what you're asking of me, specially while being in this country and at this point in time where I'm actively craving to kick the metaphorical bucket, at daily risk of doing so, and what basically is house arrest for my own safety and well being

(aka, avoiding to physically yeet myself into upcoming traffic or buying something to actually seal the deal)

thus far I've been accused of antisemitism, pedophilia, being too self-centered (which. bro, the reason why i talk about myself is because it's the one thing i can comment on without being scared of some random person coming to tell me "NuH uH" about it out of nowhere or worse, having their feelings hurt because I don't agree with them 100%), proshipper (which, to those people, the word implies wonderful labels such as "incest apologist" "pedophile" (again) "abuse endorser" among other things) ((sidenote, I'm on neither side on that particular discourse. my friends from both sides know this. I would elaborate on my stance if this wasn't already long enough, but it is, so I'm leaving it at an "I don't care, you do you, but please leave me out of it")), being... mean... because i blocked someone...? (this one is just. that's how the second wave of hate started btw. yeah, because i blocked someone. holy fuck), and there's probably a handful of other things I haven't seen yet. fuck it, there's probably someone out there calling me a zoophile because of my catboy au

My friends who I will not name because I don't want the high school mean girls crusade to get to them, have helped me stash out evidence for all of the accusations and bullying.

fuck, they were the ones who let me know about it on the first place, both actions for which i am eternally thankful for because it means I can defend myself properly should the occasion arise (dios no quiera)

I've already had to make a post on Xitter responding to the antisemitism and pedophilia claims, in which, for the latter, i had to reveal extremely personal information for the people who started this to give me respite if only for a while

and. ugh

What I'm trying to get at with all of this is. it's. coming back is scary. i want to but at the same time I don't think I can take this shit anymore

I wish I had people defending me like this when the harassment started because I'm a spineless little bitch who'd rather talk things out and at least be neutral with people than clap back and tell them to stop being stinky

but what's done is done and now i just gotta figure out how to fix my head before i do something stupid

this is not the full story obviously, I'm cutting off certain details as well as more personal depression stuff to not make this bible longer than it already is

fuck

TLDR: I need a hug, idk if I'm coming back, I probably will cuz I can't say no to people, and some teenagers are horrible

[sebadztian]

I have a bit of a random question? Why is green witch arc considered the s*bac*el arc? I don't mind the arc, but I'm just afraid non-manga reading fans are going to heavily ship Ciel & Sieglinde due to their ages. If anything I think it will cause a bigger rift amongst the ship/fandom. I personally found something like the Book of the Atlantic to be more SC coded, so I was just curious if there was something crucial I wasn't understanding?

Hello, anon!

So sorry it took me ages to answer your ask.

Essay below...

Right, I can see why people might see GWA as Cielinde and if they see it that way, that's totally valid. Will it create more discourse in the fandom? I don't know.

However, for me personally, when I first read this arc (that was BEFORE I got into Sebaciel), I actually ended up shipping Sieglinde/Wolf 😔🙃

But why I see GWA as Sebaciel coded is because this is where their relationship takes a big leap forward. I talked about it in this post and this one too.

I can see why you see BoA as more Sebaciel coded, and no, you're not missing anything. And I agree with you. Both arcs are Sebaciel coded (almost the entire manga is SC coded if you want to see it that way), but they're different.

In Book of Atlantic, we see their past, how they learned to be an earl and his butler from a spare and a demon, as shown in Sebas' cinematic record.

In the 'Tango on the Campania' (the musical) Sebastian made it even more clear that at the beginning of their contract, Ciel was just 'any other child' and Seb himself was 'just a demon'.

At the end of his record, we see how Sebas chose to serve Ciel because he's fascinated by his beauty and his foolishness.

In GWA, it was Ciel's turn to choose Sebastian as shown in these panels.

Add those to the posts that I've linked above, I think we can say that this arc plays a very significant role in the development of SC relationship.

The way I see it, BoA is the basic foundation of their relationship, mostly in relation to their past. It was also the first time that Sebas realized that he could lose Ciel.

GWA builds on that and it solidifies their relationship. This is necessary, and even important, to prepare them for the future (The Boyband arc, the Zombie Brother arc, and the rest of the manga).

If what happened in GWA hadn't happened the way they did, Sebas wouldn't have realized how much he cared about Ciel.

In GWA, he almost lost Ciel (again) and this time, it was worse because this time round, he had to depend on others (Sieg & Finny) to save & take care of his master. For once, he was powerless, and more importantly, Ciel has rejected him. Without those events, he wouldn't have realized just how important Ciel is to him and it also takes him down a peg or two and I'm always down for that.

On Ciel's part, without GWA, he wouldn't have been able to face his zombie brother like he did. It was during his... inner turnoil that he realized why he's doing this and it was then that he has chosen Sebas, above his own family, above his trauma, his guilt, and even his brother.

This is an important turning point and a big leap for the both of them, both individually and as a unit. They went through their own individual character development in relation to each other, unlike in BoA where they both developed together as a team.

So, yes, both Book of Atlantic and GWA are Sebaciel coded, but in different ways.

Also, the result of GWA? My most favourite panels in the entire manga...

My point is, there is no right or wrong answer/way in looking at each arc. What I share with you here is just my own way of looking at this arc through Sbcl lens. Some people might look at it differently and they might not even see the significance of GWA in relation to Sebaciel, and that's completely okay.

Thabk you for the ask!

[bassiascoparia]

Quick question regarding one of your reposts.

What makes you think that Annabeth would stop Percy from having his depressive thoughts?

Like yeah, I agree we can't blame her for Percy's mental state/thought process into the poison drowning scenario but she's not really completely washed out of fault?

Percy, who only ever wanted to be a normal guy, who was just desperately trying to protect himself and his girlfriend, was treated as a monster when he did. His gf instead of being happy that he's not dying anymore/dead is more focused on how terrified she was OF him, rather than, idk being happy that they are both okay?

Like, wouldn't that affect someone very badly? Realistically speaking? You try your darnest to keep yourself and someone you love safe only for that someone to essentially condemn you for doing that. When you were literally delirious in pain and dying. And just trying to survive and protect her too.

And in a world where it's either they get killed or others do, what was the logic/wisdom behind asking Percy to never do something like that again?

Idk, tbf, I genuinely do think that Annabeth is too self-absorbed to even notice that Percy might have some issues in this regard in the first place. And even if she does, and he speaks to her about it, she won't know what to do with it because in this entire series, it's always Percy comforting Annabeth— never the other way around.

Or worse yet, would see it as an attack/Percy telling her she did something wrong when Percy was only opening up/telling her how he felt.

Idk, pls let me know if you think otherwise though. I do see that you're pretty into the Percabeth/Annabeth crit side of tumblr sp ig it's a bit intriguing to see you defend Annabeth in that post. (Again, which I agree with but also, huh, this would be an interesting convo)

I think I know which repost that is though I deleted it sometime ago. This is going to be a long answer, so I'm putting it under a read more not to clog your feed up.

MY TUMBLR HISTORY

I'm going to digress here and tell you more about my tumblr history, which is necessary for this post to make sense.

The thing is, I joined Tumblr less than a year ago and I soon got into the anti Percabeth/anti Annabeth Chase discourse without looking at both sides.

Back then, I was pretty naive and barely questioned what I saw at all. I just ate up those sometimes unconvincing (and frankly ridiculous at some points) arguments. I just ate them up and made posts that supported them without really thinking my stance through.

It was only recently that I actually started to question if all the anti Percabeth and anti Annabeth Chase content that I'd been consuming and I found out that hey, not all of it is true!

I thought and called Annabeth abusive which is not the case-I think she's toxic and their relationship is unhealthy at some points, but there's a difference between toxic and abusive.

By then, a lot of damage had already been done and I felt pretty embarrassed at some of my posts which I deleted, though they had been reblogged, so I couldn't fully wipe them off. If you see a post that you don't like from me, please come and check my blog for it because chances are that I've deleted it.

The thing to be said is that I've learnt a valuable lesson on tumblr-that I should look at both sides before rashly posting and that I should really remain neutral and not blindly jump into one side without questioning their points and critically thinking about it.

WHAT DO I THINK ABOUT PERCABETH?

Ok, moving on from that-I'm hesitant to call Percabeth abusive.

I do think that the judo flip and bringing up Rachel to keep him on his toes are abuse, but abusive is a pretty strong word which is why I still don't call it abusive, though I understand why you would.

I still, however, think that it's toxic at many points. Yes, there's a difference between toxic and abusive.

REGARDING YOUR ASK

What makes you think Annabeth would stop Percy from having his depressive thoughts?

Well, canon makes a pretty good argument for this.

See, the thing is-Percy loves Annabeth. He loves her wholly, truly, completely. His love is enormous, gigantic-like the raging sea, like a blazing fire, like a calm, sunny afternoon.........eh, I'm getting poetic here, but he really, really loves her. He loves her like he's nothing loved anything before (not even Sally. I'm sorry, but the books just don't expand on Percy-Sally as much as they devote time to Percy-Annabeth).

When she comes into a room, he lights up instantly and wants to meet her. He loves her and she's not his entire world, but she's the hugest portion of it. She was with him all throughout, she's seen him at his most vulnerable (I think) she's just.........irreplaceable at this point.

Percy loves her and she loves him. They love each other and are happy with each other (because yes, you can still love someone and be toxic with them. And you can have happy moments with someone and still have a toxic relationship with them. These two are entirely possible.)

The thing about toxic relationships is that it's extremely complicated. It's not just black and white-it's varying shades of gray.

You think that toxic relationships are constantly miserable, which can be true for some of them, but a lot of toxic relationships have their happy and angry moments.

That's why people stay in them. If it was constantly bad, they'd say, 'Nope I'm out of here' but since there are plenty of good moments, they think- 'No, we can make this work, this won't happen again, it's not that bad, I can give them a second chance' multiple times.

Your toxic partner can make you anxious, but they can also make you pretty happy. They can make you feel black and white at different times. Annabeth makes Percy feel scared multiple times, but she also makes him feel warm and fuzzy and happy and content, which is entirely fitting for a toxic relationship.

So yes, Annabeth can make Percy stop having depressive thoughts, at least for intervals until he lapses back again (based on what we've seen from the books so far).

Like yeah, I agree we can't blame her for Percy's mental state/thought process into the poison drowning scenario but she's not really completely washed out of fault?

Percy, who only ever wanted to be a normal guy, who was just desperately trying to protect himself and his girlfriend, was treated as a monster when he did.

His gf instead of being happy that he's not dying anymore/dead is more focused on how terrified she was OF him, rather than, idk being happy that they are both okay?

Ok, anon, here is where I am going to become pro Annabeth Chase which is probably going to give you whiplash, so I'm just going to warn you.

Annabeth's reaction was entirely realistic and understandable and there was nothing wrong with it. Yes, that's what I'm saying and I will stick to it (go ahead and debate if you want to, though. I'm open to that).

They were in Tartarus. Literal hell. Their surroundings were horrible, it was grim and there was a huge chance that they would not survive. How could she be happy in those circumstances? Let's keep in mind that a goddess just got horribly tortured in front of her. Really badly tortured.

And her boyfriend is doing it-and he's terrifying her with his look and he's reminding her of Luke, whom she loved so badly, who rebelled against the gods, who was so angry and then he died and Annabeth is just so terrified right now.

Blaming her for not being happy that her boyfriend survived and for crying because of everything that happened is extremely dense and imbecilic.

Of course, the fact that she's angry at Percy for making her feel scared when he was just trying to save both of them and was at his wits' end is questionable on her part. He was just trying to save both of them and did not mean to scare her just like she didn't mean to make him feel suicidal (which, again, is not her fault.)

I would've made her feel grateful but also feel angry and have an internal struggle because of that. Percy saved her, he saved both of them and they got out of Tartarus, so why is she angry at him?

But Luke. He looked like Luke. And he was so angry and he was choking a goddess, he was turning against her, even if the goddess was trying to kill them-he went against the divine gods, just like Luke. And look what happened to Luke. Luke shouldn't have done that. Percy shouldn't have done that. But they both did it for the greater good. And look what happened to Luke. And what will happen to Percy?

You get my drift. Of course, I understand Annabeth's reaction in Tartarus, but the fact that she was angry at him afterwards (out of Tartarus) is questionable and could have been written better.

Like, wouldn't that affect someone very badly? Realistically speaking?

Yes, it would affect them! And it does affect him because he feels horrible and tries to commit suicide. And he never actually thinks about this and it's never brought up again and no one ever talks about it because Rick is a coward.

You try your darndest to keep yourself and someone you love safe only for that someone to essentially condemn you for doing that. When you were literally delirious in pain and dying. And just trying to survive and protect her too.

Annabeth did tie Percy's hand behind his back by asking him to not use his powers again, but she didn't condemn him-rather, he condemned himself.

I want to emphasize that Percy's suicide attempts and horrible feelings were not Annabeth's fault nor would she have wanted him to feel that way. The fact that Percy didn't use his powers again is not fully Annabeth's fault.

We can't blame either of them here. Doing that would take away from the greyness and nuance of the situation. Yes, Annabeth asked Percy not to use his powers, but in the context of the situation, we can't blame her and her reaction. Yes, Percy was foolish to follow her orders and do what he did, but using something that horrible when someone you love asks you not to, when you feel horrible that you made them feel horrible, even though it wasn't Percy's fault and he had to do what he had to do.

Their feelings overpowered them and emotion took control over logic and we can't blame either of them since they're two traumatised teenagers who just got out of a horrible situation and their feelings are all over the place and.......nothing comes of it.

Nothing comes of it because Rick is a terrible writer at this point. He never expanded on this or even gave it any thought at all. They never have a scene in which they talk about or discuss it or reflect on it and nothing is learned from it. Percy's attempts suicide and everything's fine. Annabeth doesn't think about the usefulness and gravity his powers and everything's fine. In COTG and WOTTG, Percy and Annabeth........they don't talk about it at all. Everything is fine.......even when it shouldn't be.

And in a world where it's either they get killed or others do, what was the logic/wisdom behind asking Percy to never do something like that again?

This part........yeah, there's no logic in that.

I would have had Annabeth think about Percy's poison powers and realise that they weren't morally bad-they were morally neutral. They could be used do to bad things, but they could also be used to do good things. The person who uses them is morally good or bad, not the powers themselves.

I would also have her grapple with how she disliked them but how she realised that they were useful as well, because I think that her internal conflict about this would be very interesting to read.

Idk, tbf, I genuinely do think that Annabeth is too self-absorbed to even notice that Percy might have some issues in this regard in the first place.

I'm divided on this sentence. I think that she does love him, but half in a normal way, half in a weird, twisted way. Given the current state of their characterisation, when they're just ignoring everything, I don't think that they'd be able to talk it out-they'd just fight really bad and then go back to a false, toxic 'normal' state.

And even if she does, and he speaks to her about it, she won't know what to do with it because in this entire series, it's always Percy comforting Annabeth— never the other way around.

Or worse yet, would see it as an attack/Percy telling her she did something wrong when Percy was only opening up/telling her how he felt.

I think you're right about these last two ones. They really need communication therapy ASAP.

[hopecorps]

i wanna talk about The Ship War going on right now in the 911 fandom (largely on tiktok and twitter) and i'm not a bnf especially in this fandom (and i wouldn't want to be) but i'm kind of hoping people on both sides are willing to read this post anyway because i cannot be the only one completely turned off by it

i finished writing this so i wanna clarify: this is officially aimed at buddie shippers (i am one of you) because i genuinely want to have meaningful discussion and also i'm not exactly defending tommy here. but! i think if bucktommy shippers were interested in reading, there is stuff in here for you too

i have to split this up into sections which is annoying but i won't be able to make any sense without sections so. sorry

1. pre-tommy buddie shipping

so like a lot of people i knew about 911 and buddie entirely through tumblr osmosis, and there was a general attitude of confidence: buddie WILL become canon. if it doesn't... something something. i don't really know the season 6 finale was hard for a lot of you. and after watching, i do really understand why. but.

from an outside perspective, this fandom attitude was nothing like i'd ever really experienced before. i stopped watching supernatural around season 11, several years before gaycas, when confirmed bisexual dean was genuinely outside the realm of possibility.

i was a tjlc believer. i was an episode 4 conspiracist. i have been delusional about gays on my television screen before. so i was really apprehensive at the way buddie fans were moving. not only was buddie GOING to happen, but if it didn't it would be a failure of the network and the showrunners and the actors and it could have been the greatest love story ever told and shipping was not ENOUGH. it had to be canon in order to matter. shipping anything else was fruitless and offensive. this was what i was seeing. and i was like. well there's no way that's going to happen

and then season 7 started airing and there was this reignited hope

and then 7x4 aired.

2. the birth of bucktommy

so i started watching 911 after 7x4 aired. a lot of people did. i'll be honest i did genuinely think that eddie was out and gay and i was like "oh shit is it finally happening??" and then i realized it was some other guy and spend like 4 straight days tumblr deepdiving into it

like i said i was almost exclusively following buddie shippers so my consensus was like. buck and tommy are cute but it's obviously (TO ME) a steppingstone for buddie. after watching the entire show i do still feel that way.

here's the thing though: shipping isn't about what is going to be canon. i'm a marvel fan. my first fandom was fucking icarly, okay, my track record of shipping non-canon couples that actually end up together starts and ends with nbc sitcoms and even then barely. shipping to me is about character analysis and smooshing barbie dolls together with my friends. shipping to me is putting some guy in a blender and another guy performing frankenstein experiments on them

it doesn't matter to me actually that a ship isn't going to end up together, even if i like them. i'm not saying some bucktommy fans don't overstep certain boundaries (that i'll get into) but a FAIR BIT of them know this. a fair bit of them were buddie shippers and a fair bit of them still are. and there's a reason theyre put off

3. social media discourse

the first real piece of morality discourse came from tiktok. i won't namedrop this creator but if you're on tiktok you know who i'm talking about.

this person started the tiktok talking about something that i genuinely do agree with: fans who love tommy but hated all of buck's ex girlfriends should probably perform some self-reflection on the very real misogyny problem in 911 fandom and fandom in general. this i am 1000% behind. a call-in of sorts: hey guys! check yourselves! it is really easy to fall into misogyny especially with gay shipping. though i will argue that buddie shippers could stand to do the same thing (looking at you, people who write fanfic where ana flores is ableist for no reason)

they went on, however, to say that bucktommy shippers Must only like bucktommy because they are a gay ship, And Also Therefore, these people Must Be gay fetishists, as the only reason you would like bucktommy over buddie is because you just want to see men make out with each other. You People don't like gay shipping in the Correct way that i do, you like to gay ship in a nasty fetish way (only slightly exaggerating). you saw that buck and tommy kissed online and you watched the entire show just to watch men make out with each other which is Bad And Wrong.

aside from the fact that this person also literally started watching the show after 7x4 aired (and like i said so did a lot of people. one would think this is a morally neutral thing to do), this struck a nerve with me. this take (which was repeated ad nauseam by everyone in their circle) is just plainly irresponsible.

it is inappropriate to suggest that someone is like. morally reprehensible for *checking my notes* shipping a canon television couple. is tim minear a gay fetishist for writing the bucktommy kiss? is the average viewer a gay fetishist for going "oh i didn't see that coming! they seem like a nice couple"? is my mom a gay fetishist? are you calling my mom a gay fetishist??

this is an argument that i've seen happen in a billion different ways over the past decade and a half of being in fandom spaces by the way. are women allowed to read gay fanfiction? what about gay porn? what if they get off to it? are they allowed to write it themselves? what if they're not straight? what if they're not women? was casey mcquiston fetishizing gay men when they wrote red white and royal blue? is the romance genre allowed to exist with gay men and straight women in it? do you have to check everyone's gender or sexual identity at the login page for ao3 and tumblr dot com to determine if it is morally okay for them to participate in fandom at all?

and then there was the comparisons between bucktommy and buddie fic stat breakdowns: bucktommy's are writing more smut And That's Bad and buddie fans are writing stories with plot And That's Good.

it. is. irresponsible. it is oversimplifying. it is judgmental and above all else it is irrelevant. people could like bucktommy because they think they're hot or because they think theyre interesting or because buck realized he was bisexual or because they think tommy has potential as a character. it is a ship. creating a dichotomy where one ship is the morally good thing to ship and one ship is the morally bad thing to ship is irresponsible and not in the spirit of fandom.

morality and purity conversations in fandom are like. an entirely different can of worms to talk about and this is going to be long enough already. but bucktommy shippers shot back with the same energy:

if you don't like bucktommy then you are homophobic because tommy is gay

i did see quite a bit of this argument because a number of people that id been following did get into bucktommy and i do still follow and like these people

i covered most of my feelings about this type of argument above but to reiterate: it is possible to like different ships without making it a morality competition. it's disingenuous and annoying.

especially that brief stint where people were saying that the bucktommy shipname was a slur against gay men. you can just not like it. you can just not like it and have it end there. it's an ugly shipname but you don't have to make it a moral issue.

especially because then buddie shippers pulled out the trump card:

4. the tommy problem

because these people just watched the entire show in like four weeks (again, neutral statement, i did the same fucking thing) they remember tommy from hen and chimney begins. and. okay

i'm not about to be taken out of context here. i watched bp's video when it came out, i think what was said was wrong, i'm not about to say that being racist was like. cool or excusable 20 years ago. i think there is a discussion to be had here about this though. there's a reason i'm typing this out carefully:

i want to say firstly that there IS a conversation to be had about the social landscape in 2005 and especially pre-obama america for the purposes of a bunch of 20 years olds who were not alive or fully conscious yet. people told casually racist jokes (casual in that they are told casually without intent for violence, not that they are not violent. all racism is violence) and there were fewer social ramifications for those racist jokes in 2005. that does not make them Magically Not Racist. they were. it was not okay. it was, however, Extremely Common. does that make it okay? no.

i'm saying that largely because it seems to ME that tim or whoever wrote that particular episode wrote that joke to paint a picture of where the characters are in the story. chimney is not under bobby. he is not being treated with respect. he is 15 years in the past (from when the episode aired. whatever) it is different. it wasn't supposed to matter who said it

(it did matter and it does matter that it's tommy who said it by the way. because that's like. the universe of the show)

(though my theory - and i'm just being stupid for a sec indulge me it's 3am - is that tim and ryan both LOVE writing in guys named tommy. seriously i've been rewatching glee and when i watched 911 i noticed this too that there are so many characters that we never even meet named tommy. abby's ex for one. my theory is that tim wanted to bring in some guy named tommy for buck's awakening and he realized he already had one. lol.)

SECONDLY. sorry that was longwinded. secondly, i am a person who believes that people are capable of change. 20 years is a long time to grow. even as an adult. again, this does not excuse racism, but it is important anyway.

this is all theoretical but i want you to walk with me: it is possible for a 20-30 year old closeted gay white man with a homophobic captain pre-obama to pick up and not experience consequences for inappropriate comments and casual racism and even be seeking out a parent-like validation from someone who encourages it AND THEN, after 20 years wherein he realizes he's gay, comes out of the closet, i believe it is POSSIBLE for him to unpack his internalized racism, apologize, and grow as a person

obviously these are fictional characters but it is important to my fucking philosophy of life that people are capable of change and having empathy or understanding that in fictional characters is so fucking baseline.

it is important that we as a society can agree that someone's behavior, ideology, and/or biases can change. that like. that just HAS to be possible.

caveat #1 that does not mean that any people of color who are fans of the show have to like tommy or even forgive him (or even like. hen and chim lmao it's kind of clear to me that at least hen doesn't) and i am not going to tell them to

caveat #2 i also understand that there is no explicit acknowledgment of this on screen (i think this is because tim forgot which i find funny but like i said. it still matters that it's tommy regardless of intent) and because of that there technically is nothing To forgive

ALL OF THAT TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT.

even if we are assuming that tommy has learned nothing and has not changed at all. the leap from "tommy is/was racist" to "shipping bucktommy or finding tommy interesting Makes You Racist" is heinous to me.

sometimes people like characters who are shitty people. some of you like tony stark. sorry

it's ridiculous to me because there are plenty of other reasons to dislike bucktommy that doesn't like. vilify random people on the internet. he's not even framed as a particularly good boyfriend! we don't even know if they're boyfriends, for one thing!

i've been complaining about buddie shippers for this entire time but i literally am one of you and that's what pisses me off. you threw the first blow in the morality competition and you are bigger - and you KNOW you are bigger because you are proud of the fact - and you are winning.

you are right about a lot of it: tommy isn't a good guy. there is an active racism problem in this fandom. there is a misogyny problem in this fandom. but by and large buddie shippers have been in the game longer and have much larger followings and there is nasty shit i'm seeing which brings me to

5. social media discourse 2 electric boogaloo: twitter edition

twitter is a cesspool in the best of times but i have seen some shit in the past two weeks that makes me never want to write fanfiction for this fandom or even interact with most of the fans ever again. and i'm serious

there is a big buddie fanfic writer who is like. beloved. if you read buddie fanfiction you've read their work for sure. they started writing bucktommy and buddietommy fics around april. and people are being so nasty about them on twitter it is actually fucking embarrassing.

AND LIKE. god. fandom etiquette is so simple.

when i first started reading buddie fanfic the first thing i noticed was how many fics are locked. and i was like "i wonder why that is"

just look at these tweets. i have kept the author's handle here uncensored but please be normal do not bother this person. i'm sure their ao3 comments are hell enough already

what the fuck is your people's problem i'm serious

i'm like actually appalled. this is embarrassing. this isn't even the most embarrassing thing i've seen buddie stans do recently and it is NOT uncommon. it is not small accounts. you guys are the majority. these tweets have hundreds of likes.

i don't give a shit what this person was writing. i actually don't care. their fics are locked. they write for free.

to take someone's fic outside ao3 is considered bad fandom etiquette. to talk about an author where they don't have an account is generally considered bad fandom etiquette. to complain about fanfiction openly is bad fandom etiquette. i don't care if this is y'all's first fandom. in what world are you going to take to twitter and openly complain about someone writing fanfiction for a ship you don't like.

if i were them i would delete all of the buddie fics or never write buddie again i'm so serious. this is so ridiculous.

and this is sort of the nail in the coffin for me, seeing this tweet the other day:

this tweet has over a thousand likes

this is a larger fandom issue as of recent with the use of like. mental health terms as insults but it actually fucking disgusts me!

i looked at mark's twitter. it's pretty clear to me that he's a troll/having fun/provoking people on purpose but on TOP of that his tweets get at most 35 likes. i checked and this tweet got 21 likes. and over a thousand likes calling him schizophrenic. 24 replies doubling down. 25 retweets. 47 quote tweets. 62 bookmarks. over a thousand likes.

and buddie shippers are the good guys

it is ridiculous to me that as a fandom buddie shippers have created a space where it is impossible to have a meaningful discussion about fandom misogyny, racism, of homophobia because everyone who disagrees with you is morally opposed to you, and yet it is this side of the fandom with enough traction and support to openly bully and mock these people that you have decided are morally reprehensible.

6. in conclusion i'm sorry i know no one read this

fandom in general post-covid has become less of a community based in sharing creativity and the love of something (and i know this intimately as a kpop stan lol). online spaces in general have become something i don't recognize or want to participate in. which sucks. i've been here for a long time.

i know there's not really any way for that group of like 5 or so tiktokers that complain about tommy ad nauseam to see this or even take it seriously. i know there's not any way for those people on twitter to magically understand fandom etiquette or just block the people they don't want to see.

everyone would be happier if they just. blocked and moved on. i know i would. and i have! in a lot of cases. there's a reason i blocked out the names on those tweets (note: i blocked mark's twitter handle. the person who screenshotted it so he wouldn't be notified and then called them schizophrenic did not. because they do not care) because it's not about THEM it's about the whole fucking thing.

and a lot of these people want to be mad. it's why they're so hung up on tommy. like i'm sorry if any bucktommy fan is still reading this but GOD TOMMY HAS BEEN ON SCREEN FOR LIKE TEN MINUTES TOTAL IN THE ENTIRE SHOW. HE DOESN'T EVEN MATTER. JUST ADMIT THIS IS ABOUT A SHIP WAR. IT ISN'T ABOUT HOW GOOD OF A PERSON YOU ARE OR ANYONE IS. IT'S JUST A SHIP WAR. and they want to be miserable. they want to sit in their little echochamber of morally upright big name fans and they want to provoke bucktommy fans into saying something shitty and they love it because they don't really fucking care about the show.

you know how i know? because tommy is the least important part of chimney begins. that is in the best 3 episodes of this entire television show and none of y'all have anything to say about it. because you're just as obsessed with tommy as they are.

[floatingshark]

This has been in my head for like weeks and it's what makes me struggle to actually finish arcane LMFAO. For context ive been mostly interacting with arcane stuff on tiktok and ive seen some stuff and opinions that doesn't sit well with me.

also on another note i havent fully finished arcane, i stopped at s2 ep6 so ep7 to 9 i have no prior knowledge apart from spoilers i got bc of arcane edits.

and on one last note, if you disagree or agree with me in this you're free to express it. just be civil. we can all be adults and we know how to understand so just mind your words bc people on tiktok state their opinion so aggressively, it is not needed. we dont need that energy here.

okay so with that out of the way, like i said ive seen a lot of tiktoks lately and i want to kind of speak my mind (technically rant) about some of the discourse regarding characters and whatnot. This is going to be long.

also, spoilers.

so first up is caitlyn. How do i start?

Caitlyn:

I do love caitlyn... in season 1.

in s2 not so much but hear me out. a lot of people have been debating on her actions and how half the fandom hate her, half love her (some a little,,, off putting but ill get into that later) and here's my unneeded take. I don't think its valid. like her actions in s2 are so morally wrong it blows my mind.

first of all, Im not going to say that its ooc of her because that doesnt make sense to say. this cant be ooc (in my perspective) because we have never seen caitlyn angry to the point of doing this. this is our (or my) first time seeing her go through grief this bad that it has her making decisions we dont particularly agree with or is objectively right to do. we cant say that this is "out of character" because we had'nt had prior idea or knowledge to how she'd cope with her mother's passing.

second off, like i said i dont think its valid. yes, i understand her actions are a result of her mothers untimely passing but we can't keep saying that it was right of her to do what she did.

we can empathize and we can understand that what she's doing is because she's had enough of jinx putting the people of piltover in danger because obviously she cares about these people, and it put her over the edge the day that her mother died because of jinx. but it doesnt mean that her actions were right objectively (i say objectively because we all have different moral compasses).

lets get into what she did

her actions consist of:

-gassing the undercity (even after watching an entire documentary/history lesson about how her mother built the ventilation systems to keep the grey out of the undercity)

i dont want to hear people saying that it never showed people dying, it was only used on the gangs, the goons, and jinx. people, we dont need to see people dying to know that the grey has been a problem zaunites have had to deal with for years until cassandra (cait's mom) built those vents.

yes, you can say that they didnt show people dying, doesn't mean that using it wont have consequences if anyone that was innocent does get affected. gas spreads, it moves, it can and it will affect anyone in the vicinity or anyone that comes across it. how do you know that it didnt affect anyone?

even in a moral lens, isnt it just wrong to use the grey ( which in the real world might be equal to something like tear gas. theory tho, going off of tear gas effects) to "clear out" the streets of the undercity where homeless people litter the streets, where children, old people, and people with disabilities roam freely?

-the scene where she insisted she wont miss her shot at jinx

for this one, i think she said this because she was obviously frustrated. she believed in her abilities and she had jinx right in front of her and obviously she wasn't thinking straight.

but people, i cant defend her when i saw her miss her shot just a minute prior. she can think that about herself, that she can shoot past isha and hit jinx in the head, i cant. like i said she missed, it is absolutely not a guarantee to her that they wont move once she pulls the trigger, which is exactly why she hit jinx in the finger instead, and almost killed vi before too.

like its more understandable for me that that statement would come from her, than if it came from someone that was watching the show.

with that, i think i covered mainly my thing with caitlyn. i do empathize, and i do think that for someone thats grieving and angry, her actions can be understandable in that perspective. i do not however, think her actions are justified, especially bc its borderline fascist (if not already). she's a dictator in simpler terms and its just so wrong no matter how i look at it.

i mentioned earlier as well that there were caitlyn supporters that were off putting, but honestly even caitlyn haters can be the same so really its not just a one sided thing going on. the least we can do with this topic, especially because its not black and white, is be civil and just talk about it properly we dont need aggression.

Jayce:

I love jayce, i truly do. well, for the most part.

this rant simply started bc i saw people saying he's privileged, he's egotistical etc, etc.

here is my take.

some people (might just be one actually) see jayce as a minority, or an immigrant and believe that that erases his privilage. but let's talk about it.

no matter if jayce is a minority, or an immigrant, it does not erase that he is from a known house (even if its small) and lives in piltover. he is in the academy, a known scientist and inventor, and he's part of the council. where is the privilege? right there.

he has privilege, why are we erasing that? he has the privilege to live in piltover, to study and learn, to meet with the highest of the highs that control and lead their entire nation, to be known as a great inventor and scientist who, through hextech, has improved the lives of many, who bears a name that is recognizable as a house, and even if he is not equal in wealth with salo or mel, is still equal in status because he now stands amongst them in the same rank and has mel beside him to get the other counselors on board with his plans or ideas.

he has privilege, we cant erase that just because he's an immigrant, because objectively he's living a life better than anyone in the undercity does. hell, viktor has privilege because he's living in piltover now, he no longer lives in the undercity where people struggle, get hunted down, and killed.

thats mostly what i wanted to talk about, i cant say if he is egotistical because i cant remember him being one? arrogant in a way, maybe. but egotistical im not so sure.

with that note.. thats all the word vomiting i can do. but mainly my main gripe is how s2 loses what i loved with the s1 storyline and its the oppression that piltover has on the undercity. it could have been even better if they had handled it properly but i guess it just gets erased like that..

anyways, like i said im up for discussion. you're free to dicuss, to correct, to agree because i can admit i might be forgetting about certain scenes or diaogue or whatnot and its good to be educated and to learn from other people as well.

so, idk, dont take this too personally. at the end of the day it is a show, with important storylines, but still just a show nevertheless. we dont need to be so personal and so aggressive with debates, we can have it like adults, and we can have opinions and thats okay.

thanks for listening lmao

[genderqueerdykes]

Aight I’m gonna say it: I hate the divide in trans spaces. I hate trans infighting. The discourse is fucking ridiculous. I’m a non binary person who’s commonly mistaken as a trans woman by trans people and transphobes alike despite the fact I was not born Amab. Shit like “theyfab” makes me roll my eyes. The constant dismissal of intersex and people of colour and disabled people’s thoughts and experiences is horrendous. Trans women don’t hold power over transmascs, but you have to be delusional to pretend trans men at large are treated like cis men are and hold the same power. I’m baffled some people sincerely believe that skyler, the 14 years old black they/he with purple hair is treated the same and holds the same power over fellow trans people as any upper-middle class white guy. Be so fr. We need to stay together instead of playing oppression olympics.

agreed, holy shit. for the future, i'm psychotic, i have schizophrenia & experience delusions and just wanted to explain that 'delusional' is not a good word to use in this scenario as it can come across as demonizing psychotic people, but i understand what you meant & i can tell that you mean no harm. just wanted to point that out for the future! :) however, i get the message that you're saying, and that's way more important!

agreed. this infighting is dumb, petty, and pointless. all it does is waste time and give conservatives and terfs what they want.

"theyfab" is one of the most embarrassing things i've seen come out of online discourse. like i don't know how anyone says that and doesn't feel like the most embarrassing person on planet earth. like if you use that term, how do you not feel like an absolute loser for saying that knowing the entire reason you misgendered another person was for haha funnie internet points? i don't like calling things cringe, but if i had to assign that word to anything, it would be "theyfab". literally one of the most embarrassing things i've ever heard in my life. THAT is "cringe". like you should genuinely be embarrassed if you think that calling another person that is okay. you should genuinely be embarrassed of proudly misgendering another person for likes on a post.

i swear people are acting like toddlers and they second they're near an AFAB person they're like "omg don't give me your GIRL COOTIES!!!" how do you think you're cool when you're saying shit like this? how do you wake up in the morning and think you're cool and right and smart when you're literally just terrified of an AGAB?

also since when was misgendering people cool? like i'm sorry, did i fall asleep for too long and wake up to a completely new society? why do you get your head ripped off if you accidentally they/them a she/her trans woman, but people literally post tiktoks and instagram reels bragging about how they misgender trans men and AFAB nonbinary people and they get thousands of likes and comments? what a dogshit double standard!

people love to proudly discredit AFAB people due to their rampant misogyny. like can we just call a spade a spade here? hating on AFAB people is very painfully, blatantly misogynistic. people are being mean as hell specifically because of that "F"- that's why the word "whiny" comes up so much. we know what you're doing. we know that you see all AFAB trans people as "weird cis women". we know. your verbiage says it all. we get it that you don't think that AFAB people can be trans. we get it that you think AFAB people are annoying for drawing a breath and daring to speak. please work on your misogyny. it's through the fucking roof

I’m baffled some people sincerely believe that skyler, the 14 years old black they/he with purple hair is treated the same and holds the same power over fellow trans people as any upper-middle class white guy. Be so fr. We need to stay together instead of playing oppression olympics.

you're right and you should say it. people NEVER care about or consider that there are trans boys, mascs and men of color. nobody gives a fuck about how transmascs and men of color struggle. nobody gives a shit or listens when transmascs of color talk about the extreme violence and isolation we face. like do you seriously think a black trans boy has the exact same amount of power and privilege as an abled cishet white man in a position of power? really? come on, now. NOBODY gives a fuck about the trans men, boys and mascs of color. nobody gives a shit that this affects men of color, and that's just fucked.

and agreed. let's stop this oppression olympics thing once and for all. that's what we're doing at this stage and it's fucking embarrassing. queer identities are not legitimized by how oppressed they are. we are ALL oppressed. every single one of us. but our identities themselves are not about oppression. our identities are about ourselves, our lives, our passions, our bodies, and who we do or don't love. they're about ourselves. we have to stop depersonalizing the queer experience. we're taking the individuals out of it and turning it into "whoever's the most oppressed gets to talk the entire time and everyone else needs to shut the hell up." this is ridiculous. it's time to stop.

live your life. love your queer siblings. they have your back, you gotta have theirs.

[roo-bastmoon]

Thoughts on 3D

So Jungkook's collab with Jack Harlow is out. It is catchy; it will go viral. I have purchased it; I will add it to my new releases playlists--same as I do for all our boys.

But while the dancing was cool and JK's parts are okay (I'm not thrilled that the word "girl" is used literally 20 times, but I get what the western music industry is), I was--I need to be honest here--really taken aback and unhappy with how misogynistic Jack Harlow's rap lyrics were. As far as I'm concerned, he's absolutely unnecessary, and I'll be supporting the alternate version with a lot more enthusiasm.

A deeper look at the lyrics and more of my thoughts are under the cut if you're interested (but by clicking, you're agreeing to keep it respectful in the comments or you'll get banned.)

All my ABG's get cute for me I had one girl (One girl), too boring Two girls (Two girls), that was cool for me Three girls, damn, dude's horny Four girls, okay now you whorin' (Hey, hey, hey) Hey, I'm loose I done put these shrooms to good use

Setting young women up in a line and talking about how sleeping with just one is too boring but sleeping with four is whorish? Yeah, miss me with it.

Then there's this:

You won't regret me (You won't regret me) Champagne confetti (Champagne confetti) I wanna see it In motion In 3D (Show it to me, girl, now, why?)

I was given to understand that "ABG" stands for "Asian Baby Girl" and refers to an Asian party girl who likes clubbing, wearing excessive makeup and tattoos, and revealing clothes, etc.

I also learned from Urban Dictionary—which can be an unreliable site with outdated or incorrect information—that "champagne" has referred to underage girls in the past and "confetti" or nowadays “champagne confetti” refers to orgasm, or sometimes when a group of men or women surround someone, masturbate, and then ejaculate on them.

Not even going to get into the shrooms thing. I'm not in a hyper conservative country with harsh punishments for those type of drugs so... I was a bit taken aback about a song about being fucked right, and now there's lyrics about what amounts to harem girls.

*sigh* Do you know how much I hope I'm reading into things incorrectly? Please correct me if I'm misunderstanding the innuendo, but this is what urban dictionary says. I'm 44 and live in a cave. Maybe I'm wrong.

But in any case, the vibe of Jack's parts in the video was not coming off respectful.

I don't care how many other rap songs objectify and insult women--I won't get behind any content that does. And don't even try to gaslight me or other ARMY into saying we should like this because it's comparatively worse in other rap songs. Don't try to suppress any discourse about it, either--let women discuss how they feel about how they are represented. Don't police women. Don't silence women.

BTS' rap music got so much better once they incorporated feminist feedback, so I'm used to a higher standard and I won't be lowering those standards for anyone. I have no hang ups about sex, but please miss. me. with. misogynistic. bullshit.

Then again, it seems some of the rap hyungs were on board with this.

So I guess industry pros have a different take on stuff like this!

*shrug*

Okay, we have established that I really don't like Jack Harlow's contributions to this song. Which means I'll support the alternative. Thank goodness they had the foresight to provide an alternative!

Now I can work for JK's charts in a way that doesn't aggravate my conscience. All good. Enough said on 3D.

Personally? I really hope JJK1 showcases JK's range of genres, but also has a range of topics besides pursuing girls or being cool.

I just can't vibe with a fuckboy persona; I never liked Justin Bieber or Justin Timberlake for that very reason, even if some of their songs sound fine. Now, if Jungkook really admires their style and wants to pursue it, I'm not going to rag on him for it. Of course not. It's his choice and I can respect people's choices without making the same choices myself.

I will always try to support our members as far as I can, even if not everything is my cup of tea.

But I can't help hoping for something personal and authentic and substantive, when it's just Jungkook coming to us without a collab. (And with Scooter at the helm for an all-English EP, I guess I'm not holding my breath. But maybe this is all part of the learning and growing process. Time will tell.)

Please know that I don't expect other people to suit me and my tastes, but neither will I enthusiastically support content with my time and money when they don't suit me at all or actually really turn me off, ya feel me? It's a real and respectful relationship I have with BTS and their music; not performative. I don't follow along quietly out of obligation, but rather a sincere joy to participate.

I love Jungkook deeply. He's a sweet and intelligent and kind-hearted young man. Amazingly talented and humble. Sincere, open to being vulnerable, protective of those whom he loves. He donates to kid's hospitals, for goodness sake. Jeon Jungkook is a good egg.

I guess I'm just sort of feeling a bit whelmed by the type of music that is in vogue these days. JK worked hard, he did well on his parts. I just am hoping his album showcases some of the emotional depth and meaningful thoughts I have seen from him in the past, if I'm being purely honest. *shrug*

Those are my less-than-two cents. Of course, you may have a vastly different perspective and I appreciate that. Just please keep it respectful of all members and each other in the comments here. It's been a long day and I desperately need some real rest now. I'm trusting I can post this and not come back to a warzone.

I've got a Friday Thirst post in the queue for you guys, and then I'll be taking a bit of a break from social media for a few days to work on work deadlines. Please keep voting for Jimin and of course stream and buy for Jungkook and other new releases.

Sending you all so much love!

~Roo

[paperstorm]

What do you think Jonah should call them then 👀👀 are you team names

Oh boy we love the smell of discourse first thing in the morning. Okay here is the entirety of my thoughts on the situation, which I'm sure people have been awaiting with baited breath (🙄 half the time I'm not even interested in my thoughts)

People can and should headcanon whatever they want and there is truly no need to get upset if someone headcanons something different than you none of this is that serious

Headcanons do not equal canon. You can headcanon that Tommy never had cancer if you want to but it isn’t fair to demand other people acquiesce to your way of thinking, right? I think the show was very clear about telling us that Jonah is not going to call them Dad. That was the entire point of Papa-Bro – the writers went out of their way to make it clear that 5 months in they still haven’t figured it out but they’re trying a moniker that a) is clearly a jokey one that isn’t going to stick and b) very intentionally does not include the word Dad. I am actually not personally opposed to the idea of Jonah calling them something other than their legal first names, I get why that feels a bit formal, but the show purposely made it clear that it's not gonna be Dad. Again, headcanon whatever you want. I totally understand why it can be frustrating when non-canon things are sort of insisted upon as if we all must adopt the same headcanons but ultimately this is all fictional and for every fic that writes this in a way you don't like there will be others more to your taste

I feel like TK would want to do everything he could to keep Enzo and Gwyn alive and a part of Jonah. This is the man who in 3x08 sat there crying and heartbroken about the idea that Jonah would never get to know his mom, I just can’t wrap my head around that same person then wanting to take the place of Jonah’s biological parents when he loves his mom and stepfather and values their continued place in Jonah’s life. I know that Jonah hypothetically calling TK ‘Dad’ doesn’t automatically equate to TK completely erasing his biological parents, which I hope we can all agree he would never do, but it feels, to me personally!, adjacent enough that I just don’t really vibe with it. But there’s no one single right way to be a family. My thoughts on this aren’t objectively correct, they’re just my thoughts. People can and do think my thoughts are stupid, which is fine.

As I said I am not opposed to Jonah calling them something but I honestly don’t know what! I don’t hate him sticking with their names, since that’s what he already calls them. I also don’t hate him calling them something else, some kind of nickname that feels less formal. But as to what that should be, I have no thoughts 😭 I am so glad it wasn’t my job to come up with those nicknames because I can’t think of anything better than Papa-Bro. I think ultimately I default to their names just literally because I can't come up with anything better.

[bbuzz28]

Thoughts on Fiddauthor?

I have many thoughts about those two nerds, actually.

(read more under the cut -- I won't be tagging it as the ship as I don't believe in putting ship 'discourse' in ship tags, even with the best of intentions. Remember: if you don't agree that is totally okay but complain to your momma and not to me about it, baby-this is my blog.)

I categorize my thoughts as mostly positive! I think some of the best GF art in the fandom usually coincides with this ship-and I get it! I am sold that canonically these two are something, and I love that for them and their superfans alike.

Fiddleford and Ford are both nerdy science wackadoodles (affectionate), who match each other's freak on a level known by very few. I imagine being in the same room as them to be both invigorating and exhausting (in the very best way). They are each other's person to be excited about something with, but also the only other person to be able to understand them. Yes, Ford has his brother who knows him better than most from literally sharing a womb-but it's different. Their bond is just different. I cannot begin to explain how that is so rare- "to be known is to be loved" and all that jazz. I just know they go from talking about music preferences to differential equations to if jellybeans should actually count as part of the food pyramid (it shouldn't; but try telling the man who consumes primarily fiber supplements, coffee and pure sugar that. At least Fiddleford had him eating protein with his beans.).

I like to think post-canon in the show timeline, they are able to heal together and rebuild their relationship; be that platonic or romantic. ((I arguably lean more heavily towards platonic as I headcanon Ford to be somewhere in the ace-spectrum, but I can see other avenues easily and don't disagree with it at all.))

I want soft things for them both more than anything.

They have had a hellish thirty+ years and have for the most part been alone for most of it. They should get to be with the people they love and with each other until the Axolotl takes them both.

However, the rub is that I...I get really sad if I think about them too much.

Especially in the pre-canon/building the portal timeframe. Here's the thing; if Fiddleford was secretly in love with Ford and left his WIFE and SMALL CHILD (yeah, we can all make Emma-May a badass who doesn't need a man in our preferred ship rewrites, but that's STILL what happened and that was SHITTY FIDDLEFORD-NO MATTER HOW YOU SLICE IT) as soon as Ford called as if he has been waiting since they graduated college together, only for Ford to choose his vision (or geometry- it's not my bag but whatever your hc, idc) over him, someone who Ford once described as the only person he could trust...that is gut-wrenching on so many levels.

This is not to make Ford the bad guy by any means, he's not. I truly think his sole focus during this time period (while genuinely being happy to have his companion, a person he obviously cared deeply about, with him again) was never going to be anything but making his "Grand Unified Theory of Weirdness" a reality. He makes that clear from their first adventure together:

"I discussed my dreams of proving my theory. I could finally leave Gravity Falls, return home to the East Coast, & publish my findings to the world. I'd be the toast of the scientific community, rubbing elbows with presidents and prizewinners, debating politics with Reagan, and discussing turtleneck fashion tips with Carl Sagan. Imagine the look on the dean of West Coast Tech's face when he saw that the student he refused was now the next Einstein! Imagine how proud my family and hometown would be: the "Freak" would return a hero! F seemed puzzled by the scope of my plans." -Journal 3, "Day One" evening camp fireside conversation

This single-mindedness of being the "hero", or "winning" is a contributor as to why he couldn't see through Bill's manipulations (along with more nuanced reasons that better people than me have discussed), why he ignored and eventually rejected Fiddleford's warnings, and ultimately why he lost his footing in this reality aside from ya know, Stan pushing him into the portal, but this isn't about him.

I personally have a *thing* about being 'chosen' when considering romantic ships in my brain-in that they should be choosing each other. That's it. Yeah, you can argue or disagree but at the end of the day choosing each other is the goal-and....neither of them did when it mattered. Fiddleford in his selfishness grief turned to forgetting everything entirely, and Ford chose fighting an eldritch being of unknown power alone-because he thought that was the only way. They lost the bond that brought them together. They stopped understanding each other.

Ironically, I am able to easily set aside canon for my favorite ship entirely...but not for these two. Idk why-definitely an emotional response skill issue on my part, and I own that!

So, those are my thoughts ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. Yes, I will share pretty fan art (truly-there are some amazing artists out there that specialize in depicting them) but I shy away from reading fics or unpacking them too much to keep myself feeling as good as I do about them.

TLDR: Essentially, I love them- but they hurt my heart so completely if I think about them too long.

(Also, there are several...hateful shippers that go around and hate on other ships involving these two and it's just...exhausting. I block and move on for the most part, but truly that is an overall detractor because it's hard to appreciate someone's art/pov about the ship when they're being so awful otherwise.)

[clownshifting]

close your eyes don't look if you don't like discourse or me talking about it. i said, "mind your own business," and that is what I'll do after this last post about it because calm waters are needed. but... i think just poking the bear works.

mind the tags.

and you know this is a little crazy.

The problem with self-identified p-shifters isn't that they're making claims that they can physically shapeshift or that they have physical nonhuman aspects.

You yourself said that this is a problem, and have reblogged posts that claim as such.

https://www.tumblr.com/who-is-page/739626111197118464/how-are-endels-okay-but-physical-shifters-arent

Telling a group of dysphoric individuals that they CAN be their true selves in an otherwise completely impossible way if they just try hard enough, and that any issue to do so is because of a personal failing (you didn't want it enough, you didn't try hard enough, etc.) is just kind of a shitty thing to do. It's also potentially dangerous.

Please show me a post where a p-shifter does that, especially recently where a shifter is trying to actively make someone believe they can shapeshift in the manner that you are speaking about. Otherwise, this is untrue.

The above idea has most notably been used to manipulate, scam, con, and hurt people by folks who have self-labeled as p-shifters. This is why so many folks are leery of the term "p-shifter." This doesn't mean that people who identify as p-shifters are inherently going to do any of that, but it can come across a lot of the time as though modern self-identified p-shifters are just handwaving that history--at least, that's how it appears to me, but maybe it's just me.

Page, you have said multiple times that you wholeheartedly believe most p-shifters are sanist and are also using others to scam and that you believe the term shouldn't be used at all, which makes it seem like you don't care about changing said history but erasing it completely by letting the terminology "die". Also give me like one instance of a "modern shifter" handwaving this. I've addressed it multiple times and so has Harloqui and many others.

https://www.tumblr.com/who-is-page/779739036705308672/httpswwwtumblrcoma-dragons-journal7796790673

https://www.tumblr.com/who-is-page/740862355815219200/this-is-a-really-well-intentioned-post-but-th

I also need to know where your proof for the claim that "endels" as a group have said that p-shifters are bad, or is it just one single dog speaking for endels (bc they coined the term) and therefore leading to other endels to agree because of the light that is inherently biased?

The ways that p-shifters talk about their experiences in capital R reality (without getting into the weeds of "is it true/it is real/are they just lying") are extremely triggering to delusional nonhumans, which is something that endels have talked more at length about; see babydog's post here.

There are so many things to say. Babydog, one of the coiners for endel, is who I'm talking about. A singular endelic dog. That's it. This is the same post I linked but goes in depth with another reblog of theirs. Fr fr, There is only one psychotic person they know outside of their immediate friend group and I don't understand why. Please show people who don't agree with you but I sure am platforming those who don't by engaging and touching the cow shit.

On a totally unrelated note, here's a "mind your own business" post I made, totally has nothing to do with anything.

#So. I'm trying not to be biased about this. But I genuinely have had zero positive experiences with this community.

But you're not. You didn't read anything new shifters had to say, shifters after 2019/2020. All of your responses to this anon had included sources from 2020 and before and nothing else has been added that addresses the amount of shifters who are fundamentally different from 2017 shifters on this platform. You're biased because you have only been around shifters who are already in spots in which they manipulate, which you were probably looking for. You didn't expand on the culture bit and how shapeshifting is tied to our cultural roots nor did you get the part where there are in depth connections between different types of identifications in shifter spaces because you just aren't actually caring enough to do research about a group that has, for the better, changed in the past 7 years.

Hell, there was even a call out post for someone acting extremely cult-like! And guess what? You're circles are biased against shifters and the like, which leads you to never look at anything neutrally before entering it. When I was reading this post, I sensed bits of confusion or a change in your stance due to the recent discourse but also being able to say that others should "take your response with a grain of salt," which proves that you at least have the ability to humble yourself. Which made me see this anon answer in a different light, it wasn't negative, but it was inherently accusatory without showcasing the doubled side of p-shifters. You went immediately for the bad side without addressing the good shifters and the shifters who aren't scammers because you're short-lived experiences lead you to believe that all of them, or a hug portion, are the same.

That is biased, using your experiences without claiming an opinion, without claiming that you're speaking from a specific experience (it's hidden in the tags) and not having links that contradict or at least have two opposing sides in a conversation is creating a biased outlook on your answer - so no - you aren't trying.

Especially when you're still malding over people saying that you have partial sway over what identity is often critiqued that new discourse - because you do - and it's seen when you talk about it and get friends to rally with you about it. I should know because I had to experience it first hand from you in a public alterhuman server where I was literally the center of attention for vagueposting without name-dropping.. in a vent channel. You, the staff, and multiple people spent hours on end - days - talking about the topic and saying that you were glad I left the server because I was… "vagueposting" and hurting people's feelings. Dovewithscales literally compared it to almost being shot at a community gathering.

I don't know what to tell you but I know that I set my bias aside to see you in a light that's different each time, and genuinely, I can't say I'm impressed just yet.

[seventeenlovesthree]

Been reading the latest argument that you posted and I was wondering, what is your genuine opinion on Yamato outside of ships? You rarely talk about him (and you rarely talk about Mimi I noticed) not gonna lie those two are my faves (mostly because I love Gabumon and lilymon so I like their kids too) so what's your genuine opinion? Do You like them because you have to like them or do you dislike them because they get in the way of your ships(mostly Mimi x Koushiro but also Taito always gets better moments than Taikou in my opinion) so I was wondering what you actually think of them as individual characters?

Okay, first off, I am sensing a bit of hostility and passive aggressiveness in this ask - and I understand where this is coming from, I am actually not surprised at this and assume it was just a matter of time until it would come after the recent exchanges. Some friends of mine had their issues with certain fans of certain ships going after fans of other ships. Which, in my opinion, is not how fandom discourse should go, but I will just try my best to answer this diplomatically.

So I'll put up a disclaimer first: Just because I personally don't share the same favourite characters (and ships) doesn't mean that you're not allowed to like them! My order, from most to least favourite, goes like this and if it's not the same for you - that is fine!

Koushirou - 2. Taichi - 3. Sora - 4. Jyou / Hikari - 5. Takeru / Mimi - 6. Yamato

In regards to Yamato: A few weeks ago, I was already asked how I felt about him and I did answer. It's true that, among the original 8 Chosen Children, he is my least favourite and he - or rather his portrayal - does grind my gears at times, but that doesn't mean that I'd write him out of the story or anything like that - he has his purpose, he is an important part of the group, I adore the Yamataikou friendship trio (and, in theory, the Yamataikoura friend group we should have gotten more thoroughly) and Jyoumato is actually one of my favourite Digimon Adventure relationships (platonic and romantic) overall due to their dynamics, impact and how they play off of each other. Since my reasonings may sound emotionally loaded, I can understand if you don't agree with the post I linked above - and like I said, that's perfectly fine if you view him differently than I do.

In terms of shipping, it's a very personal topic that may cause us to react more emotionally than we need to at times and, just like with the characters themselves, we all have our biases and preferences too. For example, I am not the biggest fan of Mi-/mato (and Kou-/mi, as you have mentioned as well), because I personally do not consider them to be romantically compatible - but please don't let that stop you from liking them! Like I pointed out in my analysis, I can understand where people see the potential after all.

It's also not true that I never talk about either Yamato or Mimi - I have just recently conducted a fully fleshed-out fashion analysis about Yamato and Mimi's is still in the works as well (also, all my analysis posts can be found here). Mimi may also be lower on my favourites list overall, but I still would never want to miss her, because, again, she is one of eight puzzle pieces you simply cannot think away - especially if you consider her impact on Sora and Jyou and their respective character arcs and development in both Adventure and Tri! That also goes for a purely platonic angle once again (even if I like them as ships as well). In general, I have my very own ideas on who has the most impact on whom.

I just found it sad that you felt the need to underline that "Taito always gets better moments than Taikou in my opinion" - considering you came to a person who loves Taikou/Taishirou as their OTP. It felt condescending to me. But if that's your opinion, me listing all their, in MY opinion, wonderful and meaningful moments together may not convince you otherwise. Still, if you're interested in my analysis posts about Taishirou, I would like to recommend those to you: [General] [02] [Kizuna first impression] [Kizuna complete] [OG vs Reboot Comparison] [Fights and Forgiveness] [Family Angle I, II, III] [Male/Female characters shipping ratio] [Koushirou’s Dark Cave] [Stageplay I, II, III, IV] [Why I love them so much] [Connected through worlds] [Ship Analysis] [Taikouvember - Loyalty] [Visual Parallels] [Pecking Order] [Why I love them - once more] [Literal and Figurative 02 Dads] [Friendship]

In the end, it also doesn't matter who likes what and whom as long as we don't spread hate.

[sweetmage]

Okay LAST last thing while I'm on the topic because these other instances have been festering in my brain and I need to get them out, but this same thing happened to me when I posted about why I personally like the tower ending and found it hopeful despite it's bleakness and talked about some of the aspects and implications I feel are often overlooked but that I liked and HOOOO boy, the response to that. The comments, the anons... yeah, I still love and adore the tower ending and it has had a lasting positive impact on my mental health in its message and the note it ends on but I'll be damned if I ever post about the specifics of why I like it again lol.

This also happened when I made a post discussing my personal intepretation/headcanon of Panam having BPD and how that was comforting and interesting to me and how I could see a lot of myself in her. Had someone reblog with a tirade about how they have BPD but they hate Panam so they don't agree with my opinion and think I'm wrong because they don't personally relate to her... Great! Why are you taking my personal intepretation and experiences as a personal attack on you and your opinion? Lmao

Not to mention every time I posted something positive or an analysis on Anders, Sebastian (DA2), or Gale (BG3) people could not resist telling me how much they hate those characters and hate people who like them, and want to kill them, like come on man...

God forbid I post how I loved Veilguard and its my favorite game in the series. My years long Dragon Age special interest ended because of the way the fandom reacted to that game and had a field day putting hate in the main tags and making people who liked it their personal punching bags.

It's just so frustrating. My following on this account is much bigger than I ever wanted it to be and I'm honestly suffering for it because I can't even have a fun and comforting little time anymore without anything I say being fodder for discourse or permission to be a hater or a personal affront to the apparent main character of the universe's holy opinion.

Not to mention all the racism I have and still receive for bringing up genuine issues like Larian and the BG3 fandom's anti-blackness and mishandling of the topics of abuse. God forbid someone say "hey, can you maybe stand up for the actual marginalized people who are affected and maybe put even an ounce of the effort into that that you put into defending your fictional blorbo?"

It's like people are allergic to kindness and tolerance and understanding. People are so self-centered that they cannot even handle not being the sole arbiter of correct opinions and moral authority for even a second. Just block people, man. Block tags and character names and critical posts. Just keep it to yourself if you can't have an open mind to others. If you're so sensitive about your opinion on fictional media that you're prone to meltdown if you see something you don't personally agree with then please genuinely seek professional assistance and take some time away from the internet. No one needs or deserves to be that angry all the time. No one should take pleasure in beating down people who just wanna relax and have fun and take comfort from something in a world that is on fire.

You're attacking and insulting real people over fictional headcanons and innocent opinions man. How is this normal?

Man... 😔

[gengar-pixel-2]

(sorry i need someone to yap with abt tfa HAHA) I may not like the majority of ships with tfa Bee because they're kinda ass and borderline or straight up abusive, but I do not understand people who are ready to fight you with foam at the mouth claiming Bumblebee is a minor/minor-coded and should not be shipped with anyone 😭

Firstly, the mf is old enough to enroll for military school? I know the age and specifics of this are different in each country but on average you need to be 16+ to enroll and 18+ to be eligible for draft or be assigned on a possibly dangerous job (and work on space bridges is kinda IS). Not to mention we're talking about whole ass alien robots. Secondly, Bee is acting no differently than guys i saw back in university. Literally every third dude in there was pulling shit similar to him or even worse lmaoo 😭

NO YOU'RE GOOD!! TFA is my favorite ever so I am more than willing to yap about it on my blog.

okay heads up. If you guys are gonna start discourse, don't. I don't allow that on my blog. You can, and will be blocked. Good? Good. okay anyway.

So transformers is the first fandom I actively ship for. I'm not usually a shipper but this fandom seems to be the exception. Hell, I've even made two ship names of my own. ("Breakout" as an alternate for kobd, and "Neurocide" for froid x sunder.) here's my take on this.

No, bumblebee is NOT a teenager/a child. Young, yes, but not a child. He's an immature young adult, around the same age as bulkhead clearly. Being immature and silly and kinda childish and irresponsible in someways doesn't equal kid character. No one seems to get this.

The cast never treats him like a child or refer to him being one. They call out his childish behavior for someone his age, but never treat him/refer to him as an actual child. Ratchet calls him "kid," but ratchet is the oldest in the group and kid is a nickname that can be used on anyone and he refers to them all as young bots, so don't bring that up. As for his "Human form" in human error...

The human forms of each character is how soundwave, a character who doesn't know them well, perceives them. Not to mention bulkheads shock upon how bumblebee got turned into a kid should be the biggest thing. (This is also why prowl's form is just his projection. regardless of how I feel on these designs, I'm at least aware of why they look the way they do.) Also, OP with the military school point. They said it better than I could.

I don't take issue personally whenever in someones own headcanon that he is a teen. As usually it's a nonshipping context. I don't think he is, and he isn't, but like? that's someone own headcanon, it's harmless and I don't care. Do what you want forever, so long as it's not hurting anyone. Also, here comes the shipping part!

As for most bumblebee ships (which as I said above, most I've seen do NOT headcanon him as a teen) I don't personally ship him with anyone. I just don't. And I do agree, some content I have seen has made me raise an eyebrow because of what OP said above. However, most bumblebee shippers are harmless imo and that content I raise a brow at is in the minority of what I've seen. I think most are just doing their own thing. I don't have strong feelings on this, unless their bee is stated to be a teen. Then, we gotta talk.. But most bumblebee x blank stuff I've seen is just.. normal shipping stuff. Not my thing really but yeah, go for it. Once again, as long as it isn't problematic or hurting anyone, why not? I may not see it, but it brings you joy and that's cool.

With the bumblebee ship rant over, I will now drop my personal ships in a list to finish this off since If I don't, I'll forget, and shipping is hardly discussed on my blog.

Swinlock (Swindle X Lockdown) Optlita, (Optimus X Elita) KOBD or as I call them "Breakout" (Breakdown X Knockout) Ratchcee (Ratchet TFA x Arcee TFA) Wave-wave (Soundwave X Shockwave) Skyfire (Skyfire X Starscream) Megamags (TFA Ultra magnus X TFA megatron. Bitter exes.) In certain contexts/fan works, Sunder X Froid, or as I call them "Neurocide." And Strika X Lugnut! (TFA. also they don't have a name it seems? Frunder is also an ass name, I'm sorry..) And much like with "KOBD" or Optlita, most canon ships I really enjoy!

[orion4ever]

hey dude, i know you mean well for the ol community, and i think you're really cool and have been following you for a while, but i really don't think all this shitting on rose is justified. spreading callout posts by taking shitty things people have said out of context, especially queer poc, is a real tactic used by terfs to spread discourse and isolate queer people from communities, and it's worked so well that queer people have started doing the same to their own with really good intentions, but the overall effect is nonsense discourse and the spread of hatred. kab herself has publicly said that she and rose have a good relationship and that she thinks most of rose's impact on the games and community has been really helpful for checking her own biases. the screenshots and shitty things you've read about her are not the full story, and yes, i do agree that rose handled certain things really really shittily and i am not excusing that at all, but rose isn't a bad person at all, what the callouts show is out of context and does not show rose accurately as a person, and the degree of hatred for a group of people honestly trying to create a safe space for queer people is wildly disproportional. i really hope this doesn't come off as any way accusatory, because it really isn't, and i really look up to you as a creator. i just want you to be aware that this is something that has been settled by the people involved, and continuing discourse and wanting rose fired goes directly against kab's own wishes and is based on misinformation. thanks for reading this far. please have a wonderful day

I respect you and I appreciate that you reached out respectfully with this.

I do not repost these call out post to be malicious or start a hate campaign like some people have been accusing others of.

I do not encourage witch-hunting or harassment of Rose or Kab ; As they are people and make mistakes , even if the mistakes are extremely shitty and I understand that those screenshots were a private conversation but frankly , I think some of the stuff Rose said was extremely odd and vulgar , context or without.

I am not in the official OL server so maybe your right about them not being as bad but even if that was the case they should still be let go of the role as sensitivity reader because they’re views aren’t open minded and its ironic that they are supposed to help prevent bias and keep the game inclusive when they’ve shown a weird rhetoric and the paper bag comment actually made my jaw drop.

OL has been one of the most comforting things to me , I was in a really dark place when I started a new save file and fell in love with all the characters and the game so believe me when I tell you I would never want to attack the very person who created and brought me that comfort. It physically exhausted me and upset me yesterday when it all came to light , considering it has been a huge hyperfixation and boosted my self esteem.

I don’t care if GB is okay with their friends talking an insane amount of crap behind their backs. It's not my business, I just think that they need better friends.

Even with this in mind, I can’t continue my support for Kab if they decide to keep Rose on the development team, not purely just because of what they said in private but how they treated my friend. The both of them are insinuating that they’re a “liar” or that they “overreacted” when they just wanted to express a grievance. And a surprisingly large number of people are harassing them and accusing them of starting a “racist campaign” towards Rose when they are a trans minority as well. If the fandom is so quick to villainize my friend for simply speaking out then frankly I don’t want to be a part of this fandom.

I hope you also have a good day.

[lilisouless]

Okay lets go

A reminder, this is just for fun and content, an exploration, something that doesn't matter. I don't want anyone to go and take screenshots and sending them to twitter going "this person doesn't agree with the canon couples!" "Lilisouless? more like lilibrainless!" and using my dear layer against me. This is purely experimental and if i catch any of you use this for real discourse i swear-!

Also i am sorry but i can't find the friends tiktok, there´s a similar one but i think it´s not the same. If someone gets it, let me know.

Okay, so lets see ships alternatives for the crows if they weren't with their canon LI

This wasn't exactly personal taste (you´ll understand when you read it) if it was personal taste and my multiship likeness it would be Nina/Inej, Kaz/Matthias, Wylan/Kuwei and Jesper with a self insert named Lulu. And obviously each partner options are on the case they don't have romantic feelings for their canon partner.

I did this thinking on story alternatives. Spoiler: there´s only one crow x crow pairing and most of them are crack ships. Now let´s star:

Nina, i name her first because this may be dissapointing: I think it should still be Hanne, technically cheating but i can take her old friend Nestor as a dead lover and Hanne as the eventual endgame. The difference being she actually encounters Hanne at the Ice Court then the Nik Duology happens.

Matthias: Saying Kaz is tempting, but i will actually say: Alys. She is is about the crows age after all. My reasoning was that she still has a personality extroverted enought to provide a fun constrast, matches Matthias´s gentlemany manners, i could see her being like "hey, you sound like one of the kidnappers, the one that rubbed my feet" and having a small lived romance., or he may as well even get to live here.

Wylan: Kuwei honestly, i see Wylan being nice to him until they sort of start being annoying to each other, then developing a frienship eventually when they bond over being lonely and the loss of their fathers (metaphorically with Wylan)

The next ones are on cancellable land, just remember this is purely an experiment.

Inej: if you are wondering why i didn't write Nina despite being a very Ninej enthusiast, well the think is that they´d be too perfect, beautiful but if i want the slowburn and something to build a main couple energry, i think Jesper would be a better fit. In canon, Inej was Jesper´s person before Wylan came, as much as he was besties with Bollinger and close to Kaz, she always was his best friend. Jesper also always respected her. Now their individual struggles could give a decent subplot, Jesper not feeling he is good enought to her so he wouldn't bother to pursuing but still supporting her, Inej being the only person who tries to understand him, to me they are better with someone inside the group that with an outsider.

Kaz: So Kaz is the one i decided won't be in a wholesome romantic storyline, that can only happen with Inej. No, i am not saying Imogen, she is fine as an ex, and i think (no joking i mean it) Matthias is not a bad option honestly, like helnik´s hostility without the fluff. But the actual proposal i have is this: Saskia. Or whatever her real name could be. You see, lets say she is another member of the crew, a spy for Rollins, maybe Kaz knows, maybe he doesn't, she may regret whagt happened to Jordie but doesn't know how to confess, maybe she didn't even know what she was doing since she was a child and wants revenge for whatever Kaz did to her, the posibilities are a lot enought to go crazy with the possible dynamic. Would probably not have a happy ending but would make an interesting story.

I would like to hear what alternatives people would give instead. Pure fanfic and au talk here, wheter if i agree or disagree.

[sapphoshands]

I’d be curious about your Agatha thoughts (gives you a corn chip) because I too have feelingsTM about the “discourse” but I just wanted to say thanks for being a fun person to follow who has also been consumed by AAA brainrot but in a FUN way…like can we just enjoy fun things? Oy.

ONE CORN CHIP, you have poked the bear successfully (and thank you for saying nice things; i am glad my breakdown is enjoyable all around hahaha)

okay a couple people have actually poked me about this soooo. snark activated. rant unlocked. disclaimer, i have mostly been avoiding the tags so i'm sure this has been litigated elsewhere, but a few things annoying ME:

people saying the show last night is the wrong kind of queer. because. look. we are all just queer, okay. the show is queer. the show is SO MANY kinds of queer!

also did we accidentally erase the first five episodes because i don't know what show you [generic you] were watching but there has been intense lesbian activity on my screen since 'agnes' first sat down on her couch.

i also will be v sad if agatha and rio don't get at least one smooch, but we have three eps left? a third of the show? so i'm not exactly throwing a fit yet!

even if they don't smooch, their relationship has been such a joy to watch on screen and is so intense and involved and complex and fully-realised. like, we might not get a kiss, because i sure don't think we're heading for a happy ending, but... it's not like a kiss is what legitimises the whole thing, you know? IT'S THERE.

agreed that it's unfortunate we had a short ep last week and a long one this week, but i don't understand people who are saying we were short-changed last week specifically in agatha's trial. because. it is agatha's show. this whoooole thing. it is about agatha. all of it. all along. and it's not like a) she doesn't get the spotlight in everyone else's trial, or b) we didn't get enough character development for many many fanfics.

plus we got a long ep this week specifically so we could get more agnes and more agatha. i'm surprised they got away with putting so much agnes in the ep but oh my god i loved every second of it. kathryn hahn the manspreader dykespreader that you are.

fan hat off, notes hat on, i don't know what i would've cut out of the billy section. maybe a couple minutes of hospital time? couple minutes of bohner? not a lot of fat there! lots of stuff that's almost certainly going to have meaning to agatha's story!

some people will say cut the boring boyfriend but look. look. i am genuinely emotional about the interrelational queerness in this show now. i think this is a spectacular example of how stories that are overdone in pop culture generally can get a whole new life and vibe when they are seen through a diverse lens. this commentary on witchiness, queerness, otherness, coven as found family... it's saying some things, and it's not beating us over the head with them. we needed the queer billy backstory to make those work. plus, we're unlocking all new agatha feelings through billy and so the show has to give us some billy so we know why agatha has those feelings!

maybe i sound like too much of an apologist, and let's be real, i'm certainly not going to be rewatching the first two-thirds of that ep anywhere near as much as the entire rest of the season (so far). i'm not telling anyone they had to love it. i will also say, i've seen some reviewers talking about how this was the best ep so far and i REALLY side-eye that (and now i trust them much less). but i enjoyed the ep, way, way more than i expected. i almost kind of give a shit about billy now, and i absolutely give a shit about agatha's feelings about billy.

that said, it's not an attack to not have rio in the ep (when jac schaeffer has literally said they were rationing her). and neither rio nor billy are the most important parts of agatha's story. but they're both building towards it, in my opinion. we haven't lost anything by getting a little billy; we've immensely deepened the world of the show and agatha's character.

so there is one corn chip worth of thoughts! and now, back to writing fic.