#also they dunk on the police too

[fishybehavior]

So uhhh

"Evil" plasmashipping anyone??

[drdemonprince]

People treat American politics like sports -- and it serves very much the same function as sports. It is a source of constant new content that can be easily analyzed, repackaged, and commented upon by the media class for a profit, distracting the public and manipulating their emotions, often by amplifying fleeting, moment-by-moment shifts that won't actually be consequential.

It also defines the boundaries of American life -- what American culture supposedly is, and what it means to belong to it or to participate meaningfully in it. If you pay too much attention to it, you get to believing that all that matters is who is holding the ball, and you stop forgetting that it's all a game, and that we could all collectively change the rules at any time we wanted.

It's endlessly frustrating to me to see even the people who realize that it's theater get swept up in its ongoing mini-dramas, and take part in endlessly churning content out about it themselves. If you already recognize that the leadership of both parties represent the interests of the ruling class equally, and equally represent police militarization, the national surveillance apparatus, corporate interests, global exploitation, colonialism, and genocide worldwide (and are the source of your own economic and legal oppression, if you're a person living in the country) why would you find a debate between candidates fascinating? Why would you be rooting for one representative of the ruling class to score a dunk on the other on a stage?

I can't think of a worse use of one's time. If you know who your enemies really are, you don't start rooting for one of them simply because you like their plotline better. And if you actually recognize a solidarity between yourself and the people who are constantly having resources extracted from their lands by American companies and who are being killed in Gaza by American-made bombs, then you wouldn't be hoping for the continued existence and prosperity of an America that occasionally does one or two nice things for you to keep you quiet.

If you think that it's the American government that "gives" you the right to get an abortion or to be gay or transgender, then you're always going to be easy to manipulate into compliance. In reality, it is the state that has the power to take your freedom AWAY -- and it does so constantly, with its police-patrolled protest zones, restrictions on healthcare access, prisons, and taxes for bombs.

But if you recognize that no state should have the ability to define how you get to live and who you get to be in the first place, then you'll forever be suspicious of all the little pacifying treats and fleeting distractions that it offers you. You won't feel relieved that at least the person extracting money from your wallet to build Reaper Drones is a woman, this time. And you won't thank her for giving you the abortion pills that are prepared and distributed by workers who live all around you, and who will continue to know how to do that vital work long after the empire is gone.

[demodraws0606]

The way people talk about Tsukasa makes me want to murder people /neg

Somehow just because Tsukasa attracted the attention of the younger fanbase, people just have found themselves allowing to dunk on his fanbase because "how dare these 12 year old misinterpret a character that I don't even personally like".

Because yeah it's almost like young people can identify a darker part of a character but overexagerate it because the part that discerns nuance isn't even fucking developped yet. Or you know maybe it's just fun making angst, maybe they're just venting through Tsukasa ?

And somehow these people making angst are somehow more wrong than the people who just act as though Tsukasa is like the happiest guy ever with the least amount of struggles (because how dare he be happy, the only way a person can be struggling is if they're miserable 24/7).

Like it's wild it's somehow the same thing that happened to Sans, it's as though people don't realize that making a character have less problem than in canon is just as much of a misinterpretation than the opposite, you're not smarter for it.

No genuinely what's wrong with people, every other male oc fans get to do whatever and somehow Tsukasa fans are the ones that only enjoy his character cause he's a "dude".

I'm a Rui fan but it makes 0 sense to me how much of us just get away with more because ig it's more acceptable to make angst of rui ????

Like people say "wow people exagerate Tsukasa's backstory so muchh lol", like ok here are the multiple instances of Tsukasa flashbacks :

-Dazzling Lights

-Tenma mixed event

-Colorfes card

-Vocaloid World Link

Wow, yeah really short and rare Tsukasa flashbacks yeah....

And also people acting as though he was fine being alone at home are just straight up lying, like that is a lie the game literally tells you he's not fine blatantly in Dazzling Lights. And if you somehow needed more proof you can dig through the vocaloid world link, his colorfes card or even fucking side card stories.

There's no reason to talk about Tsukasa fans and how exagerated Tsukasa angst is i'm sorry, you're just being a bully and passive agressive to fans who want to have fun. The only time it's worth while to dunk on them is for ableism which IS a problem with Tsukasa fans.

Obviously I'm not gonna police you into what you should talk about but I just think it's really obnoxious and just kinda has been worsening the toxicity of this already radioactive fandom.

Also don't take anything in this post too personally this is just like a scream into the void about this fandom's behavior around Tsukasa.

I'm talking about this also because I literally saw firsthand how just kinda mean people are to others who just have fun.

[stusbunker]

Spotless: Cambiare

Chapter Thirty Five

Featuring: Dean Winchester/Reader

Other characters: Both bands and crew, Madison, Alice and Max Miller, Cas' brother Jimmy mentioned, Alastair

Word Count: 3241

Warnings, etc: Mutual pining, still unbeta'd, drinking and mild drug use, smoking cigarettes , Kevin is still a shit and we love him for it, fundraiser fluff, first show in Vegas then somebody shows up to ruin Dean's winning streak. SAFE House is a real organization, but all information about them in this fic is fictional, including locations, organizers and fundraiser protocols.

Series Masterlist

The desert sun shined down, even in mid-March, you were grateful for sunglasses as you walked across the parking lot of the furniture store that was hosting the fundraiser. Part of the core principles of SAFE House and organizations like it was its discretion, so nothing that night was taking place near the actual houses where families escaping domestic violence resided. The main office was tucked into a back corner of a row of single story businesses and also a good distance away.

Behind you was the band in ball caps and sunglasses, Bobby and Annie, while Benny, Cesar, Jesse and Chief followed behind. Charlie and the rest of the crew were setting up at the venue for the following nights’ performances. Victor and SPS had other plans for the night before their Vegas debut, but that was understandable. Plus, they sent their support both in person and via social media.

Alice Miller, the Director of Outreach, met you at the registration booth and gave you a bundle of volunteer badges and tickets for the food stands as well as a map of the grounds. 

“We are so grateful for you being here and helping spread the word. We’ve barely been able to get away from the phones since you mentioned the event on the radio this morning. We’re expecting a record breaking year for the carnival.”

Careful to not seem too unsurprised, you downplayed what you expected to be a very busy night. “It’s the least we could do. Now— where did you want the band?”

“Max?” Alice called a younger man over. “Max is my stepson, and he’s in charge of volunteer assignments. While I’ll be around, Max will be able to answer any questions better than I would.”

The guy seemed a little awkward, but he also seemed to at least recognize who he was talking to. “Alright, guys, glad to have you. I have the band assigned two two hour long stints at the Dunk Tank, the Photo Booth, and the Face Painting stand. Your call on if you stick to one station or switch it up. I’ll leave the list with your publicist. Breaks are expected, but please let somebody know when you need one so we can make the swap as seamless as possible. Your team members are welcome to participate, or just stand guard, but please remember we are as low contact as possible with crowd control.”

You had clocked a good chunk of guys you suspected to be plain clothed police officers donning security vests at the next table. You kept your thoughts to yourself on that matter, as long as the families and participants were safe, you were happy.

“Thanks, Max. I gave them the spiel on the ride over. Can we get some group shots with you and the other employees before we get into our stations?”

“Of course, give me ten minutes and we can get everyone together. I’ll give you a walkie, too, just in case. Though we don’t have enough for everyone.”

“Understood.”

You gave him a firm nod and clipped the communicator to your back pocket. He ducked out of the small tent, while you stepped back towards the group you came with, so the line of other volunteers behind you could get signed in. You glanced down the clipboard with the empty blocks of scheduled time at each of the stations. 

Kevin and Dean were on you in an instant.

“Please put me anywhere but the face painting. I can’t draw for shit,” Kevin begged.

“Sam either, don’t do it, Trouble. It will be a mess,” Dean warned.

“Okay, well, Dunk Tank is going to have to be an all or last stint because nobody is going to be able to pose for pictures or do face-painting when they’re soaked to the bone,” you reasoned out loud.

You turned and spoke louder. “Alright, Pam and Annie, let’s have you do the face painting. If nothing else you can just do exaggerated makeup looks.”

“Sounds good to me,” Annie said. While Pam sort of cocked her head and considered if this was the best course of action.

“Lee and Sam are getting the Photobooth first, if you get bored or overwhelmed we’ll swap you guys for the Dunk Tank. But what we really need are hecklers, and I think these two assholes would be best for the job.” You gestured to Dean and Kevin, the two devils over your shoulders.

“You know there are easier ways to see me with my shirt off,” Dean murmured, but didn’t argue with his assignment.

You turned and looked up at him, your reflection shining back at you in his sunglasses, which only made you more defensive. “If I wanted to sell skin, I’d send Sam over there first. But just for that, you’re booked all night. Happy chafing, Dean-o.”

Kevin cackled. “She just pwned you so bad!”

“Shut up, Kevin,” you and Dean said at the same time.

You tried to see if Dean had just been teasing, but your annoyance and curiosity were short lived when Bobby walked up and took the envelope of lanyards out of your grip, and started handing them out.

Somewhere beyond the entrance and registration booths a megaphone sounded, gathering everyone together for the pictures you requested and a quick information session.

The carnival was scheduled from four to nine, hitting the afterschool and afterwork crowds, but still reasonable for a weekday. Even in Vegas, locals had normal schedules most of the time. You took turns with the SAFE House’s media director taking pictures and gesturing people into position. Carefully you had them frame the band, Annie, Alice and the rest of the board in varying shots of size and distance. You should have brought a real camera, but your phone would have to make due for this event. There were over fifty people volunteering in addition to the security team. And every one of them was smiling at you, it was infectious.

It was going to be a good night.

You patrolled the grounds, gathering pictures of the band at their different booths in various poses and levels of embarrassment. Dean was the first one in the water and once he sunk, the crowd went nuts. His line snaked around the Fun House and back towards the Port-o-Potties. 

Kevin had more success heckling Dean than those throwing at his target, but he, too, was drenched before long. It only added to the care-free atmosphere. Even though you knew Dean would have paid a pretty penny to be the one tossing balls in Kevin’s direction himself.

Sam and Lee started off pretty stiff with the Photo Booth, but once a group of preschoolers busted out the feather boas and other accessories, they caved like a house of cards. Neither man could deny kids, especially ones that might have been hurt at some point in their young lives, so they turned up the charm and silliness and had everyone in stitches before they took their dinner break.

Pamela and Annie had the quietest station. It was rather amusing, and a little surreal, that round after round of kids waited in line, picked out their designs, and sat still for the whole process before their parents, guardians, or grandparents recognized Annie Hawkins as the artist behind the butterflies or dragons now at their sides.

Pamela’s entire being screamed rockstar or badass. But as the drummer of the band, she was the least known by name, which never seemed to bother her. No, her confidence was unique in that it was a genuine, god-given, lack of shame. Something you had envied for a long time. So when only a handful of people asked for her picture along with her creations, she didn’t bat an eye. She just winked at the kids as they went about their nights and waved.

By nightfall, the crowd had reached capacity. The sounds of the various rides and games were constant and the bright lights kept the area surveyable. However, the temperature started to drop and the Dunk Tanks themselves weren’t well lit, which equated to Kevin and Dean’s station beginning to lose some of its luster. 

“Okay! Let’s see what you got! Come on folks— this is for a great cause!” Kevin spouted.

“Freezing my nuts off of here! Hey big guy, think you could dunk me?”

You stage whispered, “this is a family event— keep your flirting to your own time!”

“Har-har!” Dean mock laughed.

You took another picture, but your flash really wasn’t the best with the Fun House lights offsetting it. Dean was dunked again and you asked Max over the walkie if you could end the line. It was a little after eight at night and between the cooler night air and the remaining people waiting, they deserved to see the finish line. 

After a few seconds, you got permission to send Benny and Jesse to curtail new customers, “yeah, okay. We’ll start closing up those stations first, ease out of the night.”

You texted Bobby to start warming up the bus before making your way through the crowd to let the rest of the team know to wrap it up. Sam and Lee actually were already closed up, their tent had been packed up and they just sat sipping on flat beer from the one kiosk with a liquor license. Annie and Pamela had turned into more of a selfie and autograph booth then a face painting stand, but no one seemed to mind. 

“We’ve got the all clear, meet at the bus in ten,” you let them know. Casually, you headed back to the Dunk Tanks to ensure the soggy bottom boys weren’t mobbed once they were back on solid ground.

Cesar, brilliant man that he was, showed up with a pair of fleece blankets from the bus just as the final set of balls were handed to Benny and Jesse. You grinned at him in gratitude, but had to film the final dunks for prosperity’s sake. 

“Come on Benny! Let ‘im have it!” you bellowed as the head roadie wound up.

Jesse immediately sent Kevin into the depths, forfeiting the remaining two throws, and letting his husband help the smaller man off the platform and into a blanket.

Benny missed the first two balls, which Dean was not going to let him live it down. “Oh, he’s on the ropes! Look he’s not gonna make it, I should just climb down. That blanket is a-calling to me!”

“Just shut your trap, will ya?” Benny muttered.

“Make me, big boy!”

“Does he always flirt when he’s nervous?” you asked, knowing full well it was being recorded.

“Nah, darlin’. He’s showboating. He only flirts like this to make up for something.”

“Oh yeah? What am I making up for Benny? Cuz your aim is the only thing lacking here!”

With movie magic precision, Benny sank Dean on his last throw. The remaining crowd erupted and you scanned the area before sneaking closer to get Dean’s grumpy face as he crawled out of the tank and down the ladder.

“About time!” He called over his shoulder before Cesar could wrap him up too. Crouched over and shivering, Dean grinned for the camera before you hit the stop button on the video. Everyone laughed and joked while Dean and Kevin tried to dry off. After gathering their hats, phones, wallets, and socks and shoes, everyone left for the parking lot and the bus back to the Strip and the hotel.

You stopped at the entrance, dropped off the walkie talkie and your lanyards with Max’s crew. You made your way across the parking lot to the corner that Bobby had claimed for the bus, turning on your notifications for the first time all night. It was going to be a long night of scrolling and posting, but it was a good kind of busy to be.

The bass pulsed through the amps and across the floor, like an omniscient earthquake. You felt the heat from the stage effects across your skin. Pamela was taking the end of A Reaper’s Offering and taking over for her solo. The lights dimmed along the edge of the stage and everything focused on her. You felt the buzz of an incoming message on your hip from the walkie, but you couldn’t hear a single word.

“There she goes!” Dean rumbled somewhere amongst the shadows. The crowd responded then hushed itself just as quickly, awe-inspired.

Charlie has so much more at her disposal in this set up and she used everything she could to empathize the epicness of Pamela’s prowess, each drum was focused by its own color light. Pamela kept Charlie on her toes as she hopped from one to another, sometimes hitting three or four at a time. It was mesmerizing.

Your voice was hoarse already and still you screamed as she ramped it up to the big finale. Even in the wing off stage, you couldn’t hear yourself over the racing beat.

Lee whistled with two fingers in his mouth, shrill and celebratory. And still Pamela rocked on.

Sam slid down his E string, pulsing beneath her. You noticed how the others drifted back into position, four more measures and Kevin joined in. As the notes blended together Pamela pulled back, like a band of horses behind well-worn reins. 

“Lead the way, Pammy!” Dean broke the spell and Pamela thumped into a familiar opening.

They weren’t stopping and slowing down for Vegas. ‘Abandon All Hope’ was left out of the first night’s setlist and the suggestive ‘Twigs and Twine’ swapped in instead. If you had to bet, ‘Brother’s Keeper’ wasn’t going to be featured either. And you were right, instead they played ‘Give Me My Ax’ for Lee to completely annihilate.

Charlie dropped the lights on them as Dean finished ‘Not Mine’ and the crowd did not stop for a full five minutes. You felt like you were tethered to a comet, soaring and burning alongside those brighter than you could ever hope to be.

The encores flew by and SPS joined them on stage, bowing and waving and blowing kisses to the insatiable masses. You knew the venue had photographers in the pit and along the box seats, but you couldn’t wait to get your hands on some fan shots. This was a show banners and websites were made of, raw and glistening.

Everyone descended the stage and flooded the wing you were occupying. The moment Dean’s eyes caught yours, his entire face changed and you both went to each other. Unthinking, two magnets across the mess of stagehands and band members just as he bent down to grab you into a hug, you hesitated, feeling unseen eyes in the upper levels.

You grabbed his elbow and drew him in further into the belly of backstage.

“What’s up?” Dean’s face was worried now.

“Nothing, just didn’t want somebody to see us.”

Dean’s brow pinched and he sighed, but stayed at your side. “How was it? Have fun?!”

You rolled your eyes. “I think I’m as sweaty as you are!”

“Well, I’m gonna hit the dressing room. If you need a shirt, I’ve got extra. Because there’s no way we’re stopping soon. Those high rollers ain’t seen nothing like the Winchesters in a hot minute.”

“Fine! But I’m capping you at 50k for the night, young man. Somebody has got to rein you in, especially since Jimmy isn’t on retainer anymore.”

“Ugh! Well, we’ll see about that.” Dean winked and threw his arm over your shoulder and walked you both to the pandemonium that was the dressing room.

You were very careful while out with the band to stay on the vertical side of inebriation. It was equal parts fear of embarrassing yourself and fear of losing control of one or more of the band. After Dean and Cas’ explosion in Chicago last spring, you rarely mixed substances, especially while somewhere as heavily monitored as Vegas.

A little No Doz and a side of vodka and tonic would carry you most of the night. If nothing got too crazy. Eventually, you’d snag a cigarette, but casino-hopping would have to wait. Dean was on a roll, literally.

Dice in theory was an easy game. The tables with all the Pass and Don’t Pass bet bullshit made Craps hard for you to follow, especially when you were too busy keeping an eye on everyone. Madison and Sam were getting handsy at a Blackjack Table. Pam had found her machine for the night and was racking up a nice total with just penny slots. While taking shots of whiskey in stunning regularity.

Lee and Dean were both rolling dice, but the tables faced the opposite direction and you were almost certain one or both of them were trying to hustle somebody. The house always won, but sometimes people got cocky and they thought these cornfed boys from Nebraska were easy prey. It was fun to watch.

If nerve wracking.

Dean’s eyes danced over his dice, everyone gathered held their breath as the dealer called out the victory. Dean jumped up, punched the air, and crowed with abandon. He was untouchable in his brilliance. It made something inside you shiver. Sometimes you forgot he was real.

“Alright, time to head out!” Dean decided, gathering his chips and heading to the teller line to cash out. You nodded to the rest of the band, with an annoyed eye roll from Pamela, but everyone followed suit. Benny and the Chief had drawn straws for that night’s detail, which meant Jesse and Cesar would have your backs the following night. It still felt weird to be Tiny and Bela-less, but it was also one less thing for you to keep track of.

The crowds outside of Cesar’s Palace were full of tourists as you stepped back out onto the strip. A rush of waiting photographers gravitated to your group the second Sam’s head cleared the exit. Fucking Sasquatch was too easy to spot.

“Guys! Fantastic show tonight!”

“Dean! Dean! Where’s Bela? What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, huh?”

“Pamela! Lee! Are you guys back together? Will we see another Vegas wedding from you two?”

“Sam! Who’s the lucky lady?”

Everyone ignored them the best you could, keeping your heads down and letting Benny hold them off.

“There he is! The coward has returned!” A nasally voice made its way through the chaos and Dean stopped in his tracks. You dropped back and tried to drag him forward, while ignoring the jeers from the other paps. 

“That’s a good girl, follow your mommy. Don’t want to get left behind,” the voice said senselessly.

“Dean?” you said, nerves dialed up to eleven.

Dean shook his head and scanned the crowd until he spotted a cameraless, beady-eyed face. “Benny! Keep that fucker away from us,” Dean yelled as he about-faced and took the group in a different direction. Benny fell back and stepped up to the taller creep, clearly making a point of starting a conversation as the other paps scrambled to keep up with you.

Dean dragged you and Pam by the wrists, keeping you at his sides until he decided you were in the clear outside the next stop. You had no idea who that guy was. After twenty minutes, Benny finally caught up with you guys and something in his eyes told you it wasn’t over.

Tagging:

@deans-spinster-witch

@mrswhozeewhatsis

@cosicas-cuquis

@fics-pics-andotherthings-i-like

@suckitands33

@ladysparkles78

@deans-baby-momma

@stoneyggirl2

@sassy-pelican

@leigh70

@globetrotter28

@winharry

@lastactiontricia

@rockhoochie

@brightlilith

@coldhearted93

@djs8891

@beautiful-places-blog

@n-o-p-e-never

@spxideyver

[athene-owl]

Dream Video Followup

OK, I know I said I was done but, after a sleep and some more thinking about the video, there are a few things I really want to add before I can never talk about this guy or his fanbase ever again.

This is the one thing I'm kicking myself for not pointing out - the Pastebin stuff. So, in the description, Dream has 3 links to Pastebin posts. The first is a statement allegedly from Jamie, the second is a statement allegedly from an anonymous person in one of the burner account screenshots, and the third is for some reason a statement by an employee behind the whole Dream USB armband thing????

OK so I'm gonna go into the third statement first before getting into the other 2 more serious posts - this statement about the baby photo discourse is quite literally a short statement from a random employee of Dream's merch company saying he doesn't believe the allegations because he doesn't think there's enough facts. He doesn't even mention the baby photos which I don't think people even really cared about. I have no idea why this of all things was included but also cannot take any stock in this because this guy 1. Would have no insight into Dream's private behavior and 2. Would financially be VERY inclined to back up Dream. While researching for this I found out there's rumors of Dream's company being unethical or something? I am not getting into that can of worms my god. Here, I'll put the entire quote below to show you how ridiculous this is, yes this is the entire thing.

As for the other 2 statements, I'm just gonna say this - as far as I can tell, there is no evidence these statements are legit. In the prelude to the 'Jamie' statement, Dream tries to address this and explains that 'Jamie' wants privacy and how in private he can verify their identity. If you wanna give him the benefit of the doubt, this makes sense to me personally given my current knowledge on the situation. BUT I won't say I'm inclined the do so esp given his history and the stakes of the situation. It'll be enough for stans and will probs make him look respectful and noble for 'protecting' her but it just flat out is not convincing evidence to me. This statement is not the slam dunk people are treating it as, if it is genuine then I am sorry for Jamie for being dragged into all of this and that's all I'll say. This is speculative but I need to mention it - even if this is Jamie, this is not 100% conclusive. If she's afraid of public backlash, if she's afraid of Dream, if she never wanted this revealed, then I think she would understandably just want to say nothing happened and for people to leave her alone. We don't have a clear way of knowing. Given how much Dream bemoans fake evidence in his video, given how much he lambasts people for not fact-checking, this is a huge issue with his evidence and I am not convinced by this personally. This is also all true for the second statement from the anonymous Discord user too.

A lot of the things Dream seemingly proves don't actually matter. With the photo at the police station, Dream got his team of lawyers to use this single photo to find out the exact station so they could contact them. They seemingly succeeded at this and found absolutely no records of Dream being reported for anything. I get the feeling this is the piece of evidence Dream is proudest of and that is impressing a lot of people. Doesn't it look really convincing and impressive that Dream's lawyers went through all this trouble, sent emails, made calls - all to find no report against him? It is impressive, but it doesn't prove as much as people are acting like it does. If anything, the photo being connected to a real station proves that Amanda did at least go to the police, since this wasn't a stock photo or anything. And while I'm no legal expert and am happy for someone to correct me, you absolutely can go to the police, talk to them about something, but choose not to report it. I don't think its impossible that Amanda went to a police station, consulted them on the situation without dropping names or wanting to file a report, and then left. This evidence proves no one has reported Dream and his records are clear NOT that he did nothing. He offers 2 answers - 1. That she was lying about intending to report him which he then leads into 'why wouldn't she be lying about everything' (lots of issues with this reasoning but whatever) and 2. She told the police her story but it didn't meet the standard of proof AKA it wasn't even seen as worth filing a report on by the police. But there's a third option - she backed out due to one of the countless reasons these crimes go unreported. I'm seeing so many people treat this as conclusive evidence, proudly supporting the idea that a woman not reporting her abuse makes her a liar. As if its unreasonable for a woman to plan to report, go to the police, but then change her mind. Really disgusting ideas are being spread and popularized by this video and men online are eating it up.

He also tells Amanda to check her mailbox - he has identified her, found her address and sent something to her, I'm guessing some sort of legal notice. This makes me incredibly uneasy. All I'll say is this - if I was groomed by someone like Dream, with his resources and stans and success, I wouldn't report it.

Small thing but at 1:14:35 he mentions how people thought he admitted to the moaning audio being him because he called it "essentially unsubstantiated "revenge porn"" - people thought him calling it 'revenge porn' was him admitting to it being real while he insists he meant it was fake but being passed around like it was him. And I just need to say that he really should've just flat out denied it was him, just say 'that audio is not me' and this whole confusion could've been avoided.

At 1:17:42, when Dream is discussing 'false allegations' he specifically mentions that it is a current 'trend' in the Minecraft community but assures the audience it will grow and spread to other communities. Really hate how that's gonna be cited as proof of victims being fake from now on, I really must ask why Dream had to speak beyond his own situation and make wider claims about this shit because I am fucking fed up. I need random internet men to STOP positioning themselves as experts of complex issues of rape culture right now. I also have seen a lot of big Youtuber men take Dream's side in this and support this message and yeah this will make things moving forward a fucking nightmare. I want people to at least consider how hypothetical hidden abusers in an online community would react to Dream's insistence on 'false allegations' being a popular trend OK? Again, women are statistically far, far, far more likely to face sexual violence from men then men are to EVER be falsely accused so please keep this in mind and do not let your guard down because I guarantee this will have wide reaching consequences!!!! Remember how many celebrity men started suing their abuse victims after what that shithead did to Amber Heard? Yeah.

I never watched the DSMP, Dream's content, any of his Minecraft friends' content, nothing, so I have no context for the bits where he talks about those topics. I've seen people saying there's a ton to that whole side of things, a lot of complex and interpersonal drama so I wanted to mention that he does briefly talk about it if you're interested.

Even from an outside, casual perspective as someone who doesn't follow the Dream stuff closely, my friends and I know of some controversies he didn't mention and I just wanted to point that out. I'm not even saying these things are true/damning for Dream BUT these are all well-known things that he really should've addressed in a video that took over a year to make (this is not a comprehensive list, I'm sure there's more because this man is in drama every week). And before you say that he wanted to focus on the 'serious stuff' - he decided to address the speedrunning stuff, an AI video of him sucking his own dick, 10 minutes on Nick Cantu, and interviews with both his mother and an Uber driver he met once where they both wholesomely recount how funny and honorable Dream is. Anyway, here are the points:

His whole image/persona was taken from Cryaotic, a sexual predator

Him apparently supporting Trump

The drama he had with his SMP - he does briefly mention the QSMP thing but even I know there was a lot more to say on this

People in the DSMP being bigots, Dream was in charge of the whole thing and should've explained why he allowed this

Dream making sexual jokes and comments about underage friends of his (there's a whole Youtube compilation of this and it's weird as fuck)

The whole Pride month donation debacle

Dream's own bigotry towards various marginalized groups

His fans mass doxxing of multiple people - the most infamous being of Twitter user @/faerieluv, a black person who had a welfare check called on them by Dream stans for criticising him? Where they live, 'welfare checks' had resulted in black people being murdered by police before, their ADHD medication was questioned - their life was in danger due to his stans and as far as I can tell Dream has never acknowledged this. Unfortunately, it seems they have left Twitter but I don't have an account so its hard to verify. Also, I previously said they were a woman but that's not clear now so I apologize.

[himedanshicult]

the thing w the "from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs" dictum is that it less describes some sort of iron law of governance and more an inherent tension. what is defined as "ability" and what is defined as "need" are ambiguous, and will necessarily be different from society to society, from epoch to epoch. no communist society will have a full, complete idea on what either means or entails, and no communist society will have an airtight consensus on it either. in that sense, the arguments over disability care under communism from both anarchists and MLs are, in a sense, correct. anarchists are right to notice a friction between communism as the flourishing of freedom and personhood and the idea of social obligation still being extent, and MLs are right to notice a friction between communism as the fulfillment of all need and communism as the fulfillment of all liberty and desire. but there is no one answer that would satisfy either argument, because no hypothetical global communist society would be content with just one answer for all eternity.

similarly, how do you abolish the compulsion to work, and for instance, make sure that men are as involved in childcare as women are (as opposed to most men opting out and most women opting in) so as to prevent the functional reintroduction of gender roles? how do you deal with inherently grueling and often disabling work like mining or lumber extraction and the need for some amount of natural resources (obviously nowhere near the amount of today) for building shelter, medical equipment, infrastructure and so on? how do communities decide which areas are fine for resource extraction and which aren't, and in a way that doesnt recreate the problem of sacrifice zones or settler-colonial violence upon indigenous communities? how do you enforce an agreed upon obligation in a society with no police, no prisons, no courts, no legal system, and no bureaucracy (sorry brezhnev, thats gotta go too!) without functionally recreating either of these institutions? i dont know! and i dont think initial revolutionary projects will know either. these are not issues you can fully answer in a 50 page academic paper, let alone a tumblr post dunking on teh tankies or anarkiddies. contradictions wont suddenly disappear in communist societies, like there will be conflicts, disputes and resolutions that not everybody likes, because humans have vastly complicated, highly variable needs and also as social media leftism proves, humans like arguing with each other over inane bullshit. handwaving it with "well people will want to do these things!" or invoking bourgeois pieties around work and social obligation wont solve these issues by themselves

[monkeymindscream]

everybody's favorite blue turtle with issues, Leo

How I feel about this character:

...very, very protective.

I like to think I'm pretty reasonable when it comes to how other people interact with my favorite characters. If they don't like them for whatever reason, that's fine, everyone has different tastes. If they have a different interpretation of the character, that's also fine. If it really bothers me, I'll go bitch to a sympathetic friend in private, and then move on with my life. If they put that character into Situations that aren't to my tastes, that's - again - also fine! It's not like they can hurt them, they're not real. If it bothers me to an intolerable degree, the back button exists for a reason! And again, going to bitch in private cures a lot!

Leo is - in more ways than one - an outlier in regards to the characters I usually fall in love with. I still haven't broken my streak of not bothering innocent people who are just enjoying interpreting a fictional character in ways that are fun or compelling for them (nor do I ever intend to), but a little bit ago I saw someone say "I don't like Rise!Leo >:(" and I gave an involuntary little gasp of pure offense. And then blocked them.

Not the pettiest reason I've blocked someone (I'll block people just because they harmlessly post in a tag about something I don't care about too often, it's never personal), but it was definitely the most... emotionally charged reason I've blocked someone in a while. The individual this person dislikes is fictional, but the offense I felt on his behalf was very very real. XD

So yeah I like him a lot.

All the people I ship romantically with this character:

Krang One (after Leo's an adult - I'm too tired to have to deal with people lobbing bad-faith attempts to police me in my inbox, thank you). I'm a proud slut for Enemies to Lovers (and then to sweeten the pot they basically end up as each other's archenemy by the end of the movie), and the compare/contrast ratio for how they're similar to how they're different from each other is just [MWAH] fuckin perfect. There's an immaculate dynamic here just waiting, you just have to dig a little.

My non-romantic OTP for this character:

His brothers and April (as if there could possibly be any other answer for this question).

My unpopular opinion about this character:

So I know that this is going to come across as very biased considering my answer to the first question, but nonetheless: This turtle deserves a fucking break. And I don't mean in terms of all the trauma he gets put through (trauma is basically how fans show love, no one knows this better than I, by all means continue); I mean that the fandom is just really mean to him. He gets dunked on constantly.

If a post centers around Leo and doesn't involve something angsty, there's a 90% chance it involves Leo being used as the butt of a joke. And it's extremely common within that 90% for the post to involve him making an ultimately harmless joke himself (or in some cases, just acting like a bit of an airhead), and for one or more of his brothers to physically assault him for it in some way. And having them react this way is played entirely for comedy.

(In retrospect, I'm starting to wonder if this is the reason why I'm so protective of Leo.)

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon:

More of what I wish hadn't happened: I wish they hadn't dropped the line at the end of season 2 about Leo being the leader now. I know it was because Nickelodeon was insisting that Rise uphold the status quo and have Leo become leader at some point (or at least that's my understanding of the situation), but I hate what that single line does to Splinter's character. And later Raph's. And what it turns the whole situation of the movie into. It's too long a rant for this post, but the short of it is that it turns Leo being a little dilweed (which was the intent) into the poor guy trying to cope the best he can (which is Depressing).

I reiterate, I'm very protective of this fictional turtle.

[whenthechickencry]

Umineko EP4. Replay Part 4

This must have hurt Maria a lot even if Ange didn't mean anything bad by it... kids are really cruel to things they can't understand often.

I am pretty sure cage made of flesh is explicit wording used by Beatrice before too!

This is Ange at her most raw so far, she doesn't want to live. She doesn't want to keep going. She has no one on her side,,,,

And now we go back to Maria having her own breakdown over Ange's word to remind us that Maria truly is miserable. Having a 9? 8 at this point maybe? year old describe living as holding out is so heartbreaking....

It is interesting to see the contrast in how Maria and Ange do with magic when they are faced with a bad situation - Ange starts denying it entirely and Maria instead leans harder into it ie believing the Good and the Bad Mama thing. I don't think there's a right or wrong answer as to which is better, though, both are harmful to both in certain ways.

Maria brings up how NOT LONELY she is so you know she really ISN'T LONELY did you know Maria is NOT LONELY.

Maria is fucked up but then when the police WAS contacted. It just caused Maria's situation to escalate... obviously, I am not saying the good thing to do was ignore this obviously neglected child. Still, sadly that's the fucked up reality of how it is in real life for a lot of children who finally have their abuse reported.

Tearing up again.... this episode certainly takes the cake in that regard....

And yet, no one really helped Maria.... I don't know exactly the situation with abused children in Japan but I always imagined Rosa used her connections and money in order to keep Maria with her.

If you think about how Maria is very likely autistic, this is all the more horrifying, not that it would be good either way, but having someone be punished and be considered their way of being just for the way they were born is just too harsh.

The smile with which she says this is so fucking horrifying.

Beatrice is under the belief that Rosa made the toy, too.... it's funny, if she knew she could probably get it replaced for her....

Even at her lowest, she is still trying to not hurt the Rosa in her brain, haha....

You can judge Sayo for teaching Maria 'bad coping mechanism' and while, yes, it's probably not ideal for a child to have such thoughts, all her positive coping mechanisms were removed forcefully from her, so what option did Maria really have....

She does end up rethreading to that "naive belief" once the harsh truth of her parents murder is presented to her and she wants an alternate truth....

Yeah like getting dunked by a group of ~10 year olds anyways what Amakusa is saying is extremely important and true otherwise, and Ange really wants to be at that point where she can be happy with/satisfy herself, even with all her faults and trauma.

Ange's coming to important realizations about magic and how she has hurt others, something Battler will realize soon enough too... though I think her general view is not really correct, it's not that Maria was truly self-actualized in her life, it's that she constantly lied to herself about being like that. But she needed someone to understand and help her as she is not someone that would try to change her or remove her coping mechanisms bc they are strange.

Some people feel that Ange is too self-actualized for her to go back as she did in ep8, but like, I don't agree. First of all the temptation to deny her parents the murderers is strong and second even here she is still trying to find ways for her to be the fault for an incident that happened when she was 6. She still desperately wishes for control for her life and is still probably considering killing herself on Rokkenjima.

This is, ironically after talks about hating Beatrice, the sort of understanding Sayo always wished for. For someone to not only be able to respect her and her interests but also understand the deeper pain that lead to it.

"And while still unfulfilled, she met with death," Sadly describes most of the Umineko cast and that's always hard for me to think about for me...

B-battler? Okay, I gues... I am not sure George will appreciate that statement but I am sure Shannon appreciates the hint that maybe you didn't forget her after all (crushed hope on the end of this chapter)

Eeugh, I mean, Jessica didn't mean anything by it but it's kind of a cruel thing to say with full context....

Oh, I forgot about this, I guess Sayo just did her Krauss act in front of Maria...

Was it Sayo? They did solve it on like 30 mins when they really tried.... Also the hammy and crazy version of Kinzo is kind of entertaining lol.

The irony of all of this coming out of Nanjo's mouth when he's currently being both bribed to hide the death of his Dear Friend and being bribed to assist in a murder is funny.

Damn uh, yeah uh, yeah sure.

Rosa can't even be assed to prop Maria up in any way haha.....

Maybe I am biased but I think this is 100% more Sayo's view than anything Kinzo ever remotely thought, the "hoping for a magical miracle" combined with the test that are done later being about love....

Aka DO NOT DISMISS EVERYTHING VIRGILIA SAID PLEASE

This is so fucking funny to me? Uwaaaaaaah.

Immediately setting up both Beato and Gaaps' relationship and Beatrice's relationship with Beato, damn!

[ayyponine]

sometimes u just realise there are things you are getting too old for  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

went to a free lil festival the other day w a colleague, her bf, his lil brother and one of his friends and. can i just say. i was like ten years older than everyone else there and by god did i feel it

the boys were playing football in the streets then climbed some random scaffolding and i was the only one going oooooo be careful now oh god do not fall off

on our way to the park the bf offered me a cigarette (very kind) by going "rookt u?" aka addressing me w the formal you i mean thats very polite and well mannered of him but also i never felt more old lady chaperoning in my life it almost knocked me back

once there the two younger boys snapped a pic of a woman in a mobility scooter and were sending it back n forth over social media and i was sooo fucking. floored to even be a witness to this i didnt even know how to react aside frm looking at them like >:/???????????

we had planned on going to a concert but they were only interested in the DJ after party thing which only lasted like. an hour. nvm the lineup of the prev 3 hrs they just wanted to go fr that tail end

once there barely 15 mins in me and the colleague were sent out again to go get booze. we went to the store and she didnt have enough on her card. i offered to pay w cash but she refused and instead got on the phone w her bf until he transsferred enough to get it. then i almost smuggled in our bottles of 1. booze and 2. soda but backpedaled when she mentioned getting caught could mean getting fined and i, an entire 30 yr old, didnt much care abt getting on my record a mention of smuggling alcohol into a park to give to idek how old the lil brother and his friend were their behaviour sure suggested they were under 18. like im not doing that.

to smuggle shit in easier my colleague dumped out some of the coke and most of the vodka to mix em up and only carry in one bottle and all i could think was omg... you just paid like 20 euros fr that liquor and now youre pouring it out in this planter and leaving the bottle w it what a shame what a waste you couldve at least offered me some before dunking it straight out damn

once we were back in and ready to hear the final like. again mb 15 minutes of this DJ act all i could do was stand tall and shield their drinking frm a big ole conspicuous cola bottle they were passing oaround from the eyes of any police possibly lurking. did i mention they also had a set of vapes youre not allowed to have in this country. with like lil lights on em

also the lil brother got bumped into by a woman in her mb late fifties who was like omggg sorryyyyyy so obv i turned around and talked to her fr a sec like its ok. are you ok and when she was like im finnneee just had a lil too much to drink (do you have friends here to look after you and make sure you get home safe) yea and its alright im bikinggg (that can be dangerous too pls be careful) okk (ok enjoy yr night)

anyway the evening was over after that and they walked back home and all i could think was well i loved spending some time w my colleague either way but also. i came down an hour early. she and i walked the dog before we went to the thing. could any of those guys not have idk. gone to buy booze beforehand if thats what they wanted. or better yet pregamed before we went on the five min walk to the event from their house. did they really HAVE to have alcohol in their hands during the ONE SINGLE HOUR they spent there. and why the hell were we the ones to go and get it for them christ

me just standing there the entire time thinking wow this is so camille when she goes to the party w amma and her friends and is a witness to all their high school drama. this is so cross hands prefight bathroom core when gary knows his friends are tired of him and hes trying to invite himself into this group of youngsters who ARE having a good time

like god bless them fr inviting me along. next time let me meet up w another 30 yr old so we can actually attend the music and enjoy the vibes damn i truly am too old for this. why did i low key wish i instead was w the friend group of 50+ers havin a drink too many and dancing and singing along to the act hello

[noxiatoxia]

Can we fucking stop this. I thought we went over this during the Russia/Ukraine shit that civilians are not their government? I'm sorry, but in no world is wishing for the death of random people who just happen to also be israeli/living in israel going to aid your cause. On a humane level it is appaling, on a logical level you are turning people away from the cause you claim to support because nobody in their right mind wants to agree with someone advocating the deaths of innocent people because their government sucks. (Remember all those teens in Israel who got sent to jail because they refused to join the IDF? They should die too, huh? Or are they "one of the good ones"? be fucking real.)

In general, the amount of rising antisemitism worries me. The pro-palestine movement should first and foremost be about HELPING Palestinians and bolstering their voices and helping to end the needless murder of their people. It should NOT be about "owning le zionists" or whatever. That isn't the point. You are wasting your breath to spew hate towards a group of people that, frankly, I feel 80% of people haven't even done research in and are just following the herd. You could be using that time and energy to HELPING the people who are literally fucking dying. You are choosing to "dunk on the haters" rather than help people DYING. And logistically speaking, if you really care about Palestine, don't you want as MANY people on your side as possible? So more people can be vocal, more people can donate? So why potentially scare people away with these claims of "kill all zionists" or whatever. You do realize people looking in from the outside who see this will be turned AWAY from the cause because they're gonna associate it with people calling for the murder of others, right?

Before I get "so you hate waffles"'d let me make it exceedingly clear for anybody lacking reading comprehension: I support Palestine. If I didn't, I wouldn't make this post. BECAUSE I support ending this needless death, I want people to STOP ENDORSING DEATH TO THE "OTHER SIDE". It accomplishes nothing, scares people off from lending support, and at the end of the day no matter what you claim wishing people you percieve as evil to die never enacts any real change. You are just feeding your base desire for violence. Feeling angry is normal. Having opinions/voicing dislike or doubt of a groups' principles is healthy. Actively typing out a post about wanting xyz to go die is not.

I think this is why antisemitism is spiraling out of control lately. Because we are so lax on speaking awfully on concepts that are (for good or bad depending who you ask) tied heavily to Judaism. Listen: I don't care if you hate zionists or israelis or whatever. I'm not here to police your thoughts or opinions or feelings. But can you please just keep it to yourself and focus on actually HELPING Palestinian people? That's all I ask. Please.

[papirouge]

Candace owens spent *years* accepting and working under a zionist (Shapiro), attacking everyone and everything, but only NOW she spoke against his support for Israel and wants sympathy from everyone because she got fired

The only reason I think is because recently Andrew T has been supportive of her a lot so she would probably jump on his bandwagon soon for money. Which makes no sense since her husband is supposedly a millionaire, she doesn’t like working mothers in general and believes in a trad family unit but will not stop working outside of the house despite having young kids. Does her husband not work? Are her kids being raised by nannies? She makes no sense

I watched her interview in the Breakfast Club and I couldn't help but shake my head thinking "there's no way this woman would've gone there if she didn't fall from White conservatives good graces". The BC is a popular radio show among the Black American community so this move screamed "pls Black people, take me (back) 🥺👉🏾👈🏾". Candace is not stupid - she knew what she was doing.

When Charlemagne asked her about the White Lives Matter tee stunt she simply said "I wore this tee because White Lives Matter 🤷🏾‍♀️" AS IF THAT WAS NOT EXACTLY WHAT BLACK PEOPLE SAID ABOUT BLACK LIVES MATTER AND YET IT DIDN'T STOP THOSE WHITE CONSERVATIVES CANDACE HAS BEEN SHILLING FOR YEARS TO BITCH ON THAT STATEMENT ?? She hides behind the "BLM is a money laundering scheme and there's no way Black people would be supported by mainstream medias and big corporation like that" as if it was a rational explanation to why White conservatives freaked out at Black people simply saying their life mattered.

I absolutely do not buy her narrative that the criticism of BLM came from a place of benevolence or genuine concern for the Black community. They didn't behave this way because the movement was money laundering scheme that would eventually be tokenized - FROM THE START White conservatives got mad at BLM for simply centering Black lives, and *this* was enough for them to call it an "anti White" statement. Besides, if their criticism of BLM was truly about protecting Black lives from gross corporate tokenization, Conservatives wouldn't be so hellbent to prove those dead Black people actually deserved it. I will never understand the brainrot of thinking the purpose of the police was to kill - even bad people. I know the USA is shitty country but in civilized country the police is supposed to catch and then drag people before the justice. When it kills an offender it's considered as a FAILURE. Killing ≠ justice. But USAmericans are way too barbaric and violent to grasp that. (and that's also why so also why American "Christian" wrongfully link death penalty to justice when Christianity condemns murder and asserts repentance as the real tool of God given righteousness)

So Candace can keep it with her BS excuses. I'm mad that neither of the host clocked her hypocrisy off but it's not like Charlemagne or Jessy Hilarious were the most qualified people, in terms of challenging guests intellectually....

And yeah, Candace is the typical "do as I say, not as I do" because she keeps dunking on feminism while she's basically the man in her marriage. She's the one constantly on the spotlight. Her husband did a YouTube interview lately and its title is "being Candace Owens husband" 💀 and in the thumbnail Candace face took the entire place front & center...and her husband's is like at the bottom corner lmao nobody knows dude by his name!! they need to drag Candace name to bring clicks!! isn't that embarrassing? lol

Candace went from being a leftist SJW to a rightoid SJW. She really didn't progress on that aspect. There's nothing less traditional than being a activist as a woman. Just because she's not a feminist doesn't mean she, by her status, does not go against traditional gender roles. And that's something many conservatives fail to understand. If it was about keeping gender roles, they wouldn't be so eager to elevate women to mouthpiece status (notably to bash feminism). Tradition is all about letting women embrace their softness, nurture and create - not jumping in the wolf arena to blurp political propaganda on social media 24/7. Politics is one of the most male oriented profession field. You can't be a politician/political commentator without having a very dominant male energy. So Candace being critical of feminism comes off as an absolute joke, because feminism (that enabled women to break gender norms) is what made her happen - whether she like it or not.

If she truly stuck to her word, she would've put down the cape & retired after her marriage. She had 2 kids but homegirl is still running left and right to host talk shows, crowdfund money, attend political meetings, etc. WHEN IS SHE AT HOME. HER KIDS NEED HER.

Isn't her husband milllionnaire? Why doesn't he provide?? Why doesn't she soften up her act, FINALLY embrace her traditional soft feminity and stop being a political warrior?? ...Sorry but her storytelling ain't mathing - at All.

And I'm absolutely not surprised to see Andrew Tate defend her. She made this very partisan interview of him (that's why any person saying she's lOgiCal and unbiased is an idiot) and I guess he feels like he owes her. Having such a proeminent female figure defend him is definitely an asset he's going to capitalize off as much as he can. She did the same with Kanye until he shoved her under the bus and made his techouva to the Jewish community ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯ this woman never learns....

And that's what tell me, from one Black woman to another, Candace never managed to deconstruct her male identification - which is particularly strong with Black women. We are rised to defend and worship Black men, because of slavery, racism, etc. (that's why I'm glad I grew up surrounded by women bc I got sparred from having to look up for males lol)

[isopod-girl-antenna]

Hi!

I was wondering if you could delete that reblog you made on your Sappho post. Not because I think that trans women should not interact with Sappho or women or lesbians (obviously, they should because they are women) or that lesbians banging the occasional dude is harming the lesbian community or anything like that.

I just think it's inappropriate to bring men up in posts that do not warrant it in any way. A lot of cis and trans lesbians come to realize their sexuality through Sappho, regardless of whether or not she might have fit the label (that is a whole ass argument that I nor any sapphic person wants to get into), and interact with her mostly because it is one of the few places where sapphic women can all come together and talk about their love for women and not care about men for just a little while.

Idk while I do not think we should gatekeep anyone from any label, bringing up men to a group who, for the most part, rather have nothing to do with men romantically and/or sexually is unwarranted. And if you did it to 'dunk' on cis lesbians because you think most of them are terfs, well that is an overgeneralization that does more harm than good. Look at the notes and reblogs on your post and see that everyone was kind of chill.

I am not here to police you or to argue in bad faith. Please feel free to just ignore this ask. I am not trying to start a whole argument, I understand that there must have been something that warranted the initial reblog, but I would want you to consider why someone may be uncomfortable with the post.

Thank you!

First off, my bad, I didn't see I got this and am replying late.

Second off, I made that reply because too many terfs and exclusionaries were reblogging it. Despite being trans, I am also nonbinary in that I am a woman, but I am still a man as well. I also know a lot of trans men who are lesbians and their presence is important too. I don't think me saying, "Hey, the person who wrote this is the person you are fear mongering against" is dunking on cis women, if anything dunking on those who don't respect my identity but I don't care to dunk on them, I made that reply so that they don't want to reblog that post. And for all the others of us who do relate to Sappho's work and feel excluded, that I can make this post and others like me can enjoy it.

And I don't mean to argue, just trying to help you understand my point as well. My existence might make others uncomfortable, but I am going to keep existing. Sorry if this is worded poorly.

[dribs-and-drabbles]

Get To Know Your BL Mutuals

Tagged by @respectthepetty (my tumblr colour-lover <- interpret that however you wish)

Simple, answer the questions. @ some people. Include the tag 'g2ky BL mutuals 2022' on your post so we can find everyone's answers!

What has been the BL that took you by surprise this year?

I find it really difficult to remember my expectations before a show to have an immediate answer to this but maybe Vice Versa...? I think I knew it would be interesting with the alternative universe setting, and even though the show didn't explore that enough I was overjoyed with the design of the show. The details, the colours, Fuse's t-shirts... I was also pleasantly surprised by the improvement in Jimmy's acting since playing Wai in Bad Buddy.

What has been the BL that you felt a bit disappointed with this year?

The only DNF I've had this year was Coffee Melody - so I guess that was disappointing - but of the ones I did actually finish I think the two Star and Sky shows...and Cutie Pie to some extent. With Star in My Mind, I had been so excited to see Joong again but the story (and Dunk's acting) didn't live up to my expectations. For Sky in Your Heart, I was hoping for a Tale of a Thousand Stars quality show but both Mek's acting and the production fell short. Cutie Pie started SO GOOD - I adored the design and was so excited about Zee (and Poppy!) - but the story was so slow and contrived I ended up so frustrated at the missed potential.

What has been your favourite BL this year?

God, it's so hard for anything to top the chokehold Bad Buddy has on me BUT if I move that one aside, there have been others that I have I loved and each for a different reason...and since these reasons make them equally fantastic I'm going to list them all: The Eclipse (the story, the acting, the symbolism); Kinnporsche (for how batshit crazy it was...and for PeteVegas); Semantic Error (just them, the enemies to lovers dynamic, the grumpy/sunshine pairing, the colours!); Vice Versa (for all the reasons I mentioned above); and Love Mechanics (just VeeMark's chemistry).

Favourite BL couples (not just of 2022)?

Okay, I originally listed 14 and realised that was too many, so I've narrowed it down by half: PatPran (of course); VeeMark (the chemistry, the angst; the disasters that they are); AkkAyan (communication kings); MingKit (from 2moons2 - where my love for Joong began); AePete (the softness!); Jack and ZhaoZi (the domestic mercenary and the joyfully innocent police officer); and RamKing (we've been robbed of their continuation. ROBBED!). Oh and them:

If you had to suggest a BL for someone what would it be?

For a non-bl watcher: Semantic Error or Old Fashion Cupcake (because they have the least tropes or product placements that I feel you'd also have to explain to a newbie bl watcher). For a bl watcher: Not Me (for the art, bodies, dance and Gun)

What's your non-BL favourite for this year?

I guess I could say Not Me for this, since it stands slightly outside of the bl genre, but I think the only actual non-bl show I watched this year was The Gifted and The Gifted Graduation (although I haven't finished the latter yet)...

So who wants to go next? Tag as many or as few people as you want.

@jemmo @sunsetandthemoon @mrdumpling @seeking-moonscapes @casualavocados @grapejuicegay @elnotwoods @thiansong @telomeke-bbs

[boilingheart]

i know its not quite the same scenario as navy seal, but ive highkey avoided ever talking about or publicly enjoying poly pirates content for the same kind of reason, but instead bc it involves shipping jay and chip.

like. yes, i know many people (including the jerboys) interpret them as having a more sibling-esque bond. I fully acknowledge it and I can even agree w it!* but i hate how it has been made that any other interpretation is not only wrong but also bad.

idk man like. i just hate how it feels like enjoying any dynamic of poly-pirates outside of fnc is wrong-- bc at that point, what is the point?

*i personally tend to see the two as very close, but the specifics of whether that closeness is platonic/familial or romantic depends on interpretation (whether of the individual, author, etc). they're two people who've found connection and safety in each other and also enjoy ribbing the other for jokes- what specific type of connection that is can vary for me, yknow? the type isnt the Core of their dynamic to me

(sorry the asterisk part got so long i just want to properly explain myself and dump a bit fjkdsjf)

Oh yeah, I'm 1000% with you on this. I mentioned navyseal cause that's my personal guilty pleasure that I am highkey obsessed with but had to keep it on the downlow after twitter decided it was just as bad as inc*st apparently (as someone who is very very deeply uncomfortable and revolted by that type of stuff in genuine, that shit pissed me off!!!), but this absolutely applies to Chip and Jay and polypirates as a whole. Hell, when I first started the show and didn't really have much fandom influence in my first 30 something episodes I was actually way more of a poly enjoyer

Anyways, as a whole I do sincerely think Chip and Jay work better as a platonic bond, I like this interpretation of their relationship better than romantic, but that doesn't necessarily make the ship bad or wrong you know? Literally ditto to everything you said in your asterisk I couldn't word it better myself.

Like bruh it really felt like these characters are stuck being bitchless fr LOL that whole twitter debacle made it feel like the only CORRECT ships were fnc and pistolwhip (as if fnc doesn't Also have some of the same dynamics listed in navyseal and chip/jay!! (although im certainly keeping my mouth shut further on that since people have started gunning to convince people fnc is a Bad Boring Ship, Actually, and it's better platonic (unrelated to the wlw vs mlm take that just happened there, big disclaimer (I spend too much time on twitter can u tell... there's so many shipwars there for no reason...))) anyways yeah there was just too many people trying to police these ships and instead of just being NORMAL and saying "oh X isn't my cup of tea I enjoy a familial/platonic bond between them instead" they start bending over backwards to prove that ACTUALLY it's PROBLEMATIC, SEE? And sourcing the boys' opinions on it doesn't Wholly matter to ships (unless it's in regards to boundaries, in which it Absolutely Matters) cause Bizly regularly dunks on fnc and that hasn't changed anything

This got very long winded sorry LOL I've been holding onto this irritation for a while now, it's one of the reasons why I'm trying to move away from twitter and come back to tumblr tbh. It is simply fandom culture to ship, and while I love fnc to absolute death as my main ship here, it's nice to explore some variety yk? navyseal has CRAZY potential cause of their parallels and their journey of self discovery and how much they deeply care for each other, polypirates is just a lot of fun altogether cause of all their personalities and that shared strong bond, then you have swordfish, fish² and chips, caspian/chip, marshall john/gillion, like, multishipping is FUN dude. Unless it's GENUINELY problematic or Actual Proshipping like twitter Claimed, I don't see the big idea. There is such thing as "Don't like, don't read". There is such thing as muting/blocking words and curating your own experience. You don't have to put down others because their enjoyment of something clashes with your personal interpretation of it. It's fandom bro!!!

[soaringpigeonshovel]

Feeling kinda conflicted because i wrote Fugaku and Mikoto* as roughly positive characters from the angle of a) the uchiha didn't deserve to get massacred and b) this story is, on one level, about saving the uchiha and therefore the uchiha should feature and c) because their actual problems (ie: fugaku's a* parenting and to a lesser degree mikoto too) haven't actually happened yet because, well, itachi is about two years old.

So i can't really address the parenting thing. It's weird. And it's not like I'm struggling with the nuance of 'member of an oppressed group but also is a bit shit' thing (trust me lol) it's just... odd not really being able to present the flaw side due to chronological restrictions. The cop angle is played up partly to compensate (and mostly because dunking on the police is always funny) but still. I'm probably overthinking these bit players but mentally I'm pointing a watergun at this damn pair and yelling "do not feel flat do not feel one-dimensional do not misrepresent what I'm trying to say here"

(*actually upon further thought I'm on the fence with mikoto. she wasn't really presented as supportive of itachi during confrontations but on the other hand. as a woman written by kishimoto. and as a woman married to an important clan head who's also a dick. there's an case to be made in her defence, i think?)

[pleuvoire]

saw a post saying it's "incredibly thin-skinned" of americans to think that dunking on school shootings in the us isn't a funny clapback. the rationale being provided was that many americans will treat the unfathomable violence the us creates in the global south as a joke (agreed, it's horrible) so it's like oh you can dish it out but you can't take it, or something. i don't really buy that, i mean sure i won't police how oppressed people joke about their oppressors, but i also think it's a real stretch to call it "incredibly thin-skinned" to be offended at people joking about real life kids being killed + if you think that you've spent too long in deeply cynical internet rabbit holes imo. and personally when i've seen people using american school shootings as a clapback it's overwhelmingly british people and the occasional canadian responding to a joke about food so like, go british champions of the global south i guess