#and it makes me kinda sad that people are just deciding to vote for for april (which i get to some extent; i have some characters like that

[chatxkilluaxnoir]

God, I would love that playlist.

Come on, vote and make AMW Leo win for that sweet fic playlist!

(And because AMW and AMW Leo is awesome).

Playlists are great.

I love playlists.

@teainthesnow

[girlcrushart]

I was admittedly disappointed when Chappell decided not to endorse Kamala. And a lot of people are, and they're being vocal and honestly nasty about it. I do think it's of paramount importance that she win, because if the other guy gets in, then a lot of the things Chappell is passionate about (from drag to basic human rights for the LGBTQ+ community) are in serious jeopardy. And, as a Canadian, who can't vote in this election, but who's life will unquestionably be effected by who becomes the next President, I get upset when people don't take the right they've been given seriously. That's where the hate that Chappell has received is confusing and obnoxious, because even tho her motivations are really obvious to me, people really seem to have missed the boat on this one. Right away, people accused her of "both-siding" it, when she said that there are bad people on both sides. That's not both-siding it, you guys. That's when you say there are very fine people on both sides and one side is Nazis. That's not what she was saying. Honestly, there ARE bad people on both sides. People also accused her of doing it because she didn't want to lose fans, or upset her family or whatever... those people are also confused. You really think Chappell has a lot of red-hat-wearing fans? You really think she cares at all about that? She had to clarify today that she is not voting for Trump, and while she didn't say who she was voting for she def kinda implied that she's basically not happy with either choice for some real reasons. Chappell has made it very clear in the past that she is unhappy with her government's position and involvement on what's happening in Gaza and that they are complicit in aiding and supporting a genocide. That's what she means by bad people. Genocide is bad, you guys. She doesn't want to enthusiastically support and endorse people who, while they may fight for things that are important to her that she believes in, are also contributing to something she believes to be inexcusable. And I think she's brave for sticking to that. For me, personally, I'd prefer it if she endorsed Kamala and helped ensure she ends up in charge—that would be best for me. But Chappell has already made it very clear that she's not gonna just do things because other people expect her to because she's a celebrity and there are unwritten rules that need to be followed. She's challenging so many of those rules (and I applaud and love her for it), and in this case, for her personally, she didn't feel like she could officially endorse anyone and she has perfectly reasonable reasons for doing that. I'm sad, I wish she'd do otherwise, but my admiration for her has only increased because she's clearly a deep thinker who does not make decisions lightly and is sticking to her values and beliefs. Today's girlcrushart guardian is Chappell Roan.

[xotaemintol]

i read why you aren't writing for shinee/kibum rn, but why do you still write for jonghyun?? it feels wrong to read about him when it feels like he should be put to rest (in a literal sense) so is there a reason you still do works and requests for him?? ive noticed some other people also decide to write for him still, so this may help me understand that as well

Sorry but this will kinda long to explain 😅 just saying before I start that in no way shape or form is this meant to come off as rude btw🩷

So, to start off; blingers are still extremely active, just like the rest of shawols. Taemints, lockets, MVPs, and flamers, can read fanfics of their bias, they can easily find hc’s for Taemin, Minho, Kibum, or Jinki, but blingers can’t. It’s completely unfair to say that just because he is no longer with us, we shouldn’t still enjoy his content, his music, fanfics, and fanart. Also, I’ve been a shawol for almost two years now and as a taemint/blinger, I want to see people still loving Jonghyun and being able to think of him happily. Talking about him isn’t sad, remembering him isn’t bad, he’s a lot more than just that moment, so writing for him is normal.

Also, I did let people vote to see if anyone would be made uncomfortable by seeing smut written of him and the majority said no, not only did the majority say no but I even got messages from older shawols saying that they’d love to see it. I haven’t posted for SHINee in a while because of my writers block, but I still get asks for him. People want to see it and I like doing it.

And finally, he’s still apart of SHINee. The members themselves constantly acknowledge that SHINee is five, they constantly mention him, from tagging him in their concert posts, talking about him, making jokes about him, and he’s always included in every SHINee event. So, for me and others who also write for him and who are still active blingers it’s just including all the members because at the end of the day, SHINee will be five no matter how long it’s been. Saying that he should be put to rest kinda sounds like you mean that people should just move on and forget him, but it would be a shame to let all of his amazing music fade into nothing. Micheal Jackson still has active fans who listen to his music, draw him, write fan fictions about him, edit him, and make the most downbad tweets about him I’ve ever seen. The fans will be there no matter where the artist goes, and Jonghyun is the same way. No matter if he’s here or not, we as fans will always be here enjoying his music and loving him. Remembering him and enjoying his music isn’t disturbing the rest and the peace he’s getting, it’s just appreciating and love him.

[mossypidder]

If you click the names of the birds below, you will find photos of the actual birds I’m referring to; mostly provided because the second two are morphs

EDIT: So honestly. Contrary to final poll results and my initial lean toward the grosbeak, I think I might just go with the crow. The design’s grown on me and in the last week I’ve collected many bones and observed many local crows and found myself just quietly very drawn to them. Nothing’s set in stone, but. . . It feels more right than the grosbeak- there are still things that draw me to the latter, and I still really love them and might switch in the future, right now I relate more to crows I think.

Rose Breasted/Cutthroat Grosbeak (female)

Similarities (between myself and the bird) - small and chunky - eats mainly seeds, fruits, and nuts - elusive and relatively solitary aside from nesting season - very intricate, unique nest type - monogamous - take care of young for a month after fledging (which is longer than quite a few birds) - dwells mainly in deciduous forests - I honestly think I do look a bit like a grosbeak overall - there is limited information on them (which is obnoxious, but kinda goes with my aesthetic honestly)

Things I Like About Them - very pretty markings, especially on face which makes for fun character design - they were my favorite bird as a child and I would get so excited during the brief period that they would be at our feeder

Differences - females don’t sing as much as males - I am very much a mimic- I echo other people’s words as well as animal noises a lot, mostly without thinking, and grosbeaks do not mimic. The males learn songs from their fathers, but that’s different, and I’m not male anyway.

Black Billed Magpie (cinnamon)

Similarities - eat a lot of fruit and grain - they are skilled mimics - mate for life something I aspire to achieve one day - have only been seen in Michigan ten times in the last hundred years, so it fits the “elusive bird who’s sightings should be documented” narrative - parents allow their young to stay with them as long as needed, sometimes even years - males and females are both very vocal and sing, talk, and chatter quite often - wary of new things and will shy away from bright colors and flashing lights (yes, that includes shiny things) - many widely believed myths spread about them (such as tendencies to thievery, attraction to shiny objects, and hoarding things tho I am guilty of that last one)

Things I Like About Them - Gorgeous wings and tail (though rather plain facial markings which is sad) - they’re just nice, funky little guys and they were one of my favorites when I was younger as well

Differences - not a bird I’d really call chunky lol - they eat meat (mostly bugs) and meat is not my favorite honestly - while some do only stay in groups of two, many others have tribe of up to twelve

Common Crow (cinnamon)

Similarities - will bring people they like random bits of things such leaves, rocks, lost keys, and bones, as gifts - stops for roadkill (though I don’t eat it, I’m just there to steal feathers or check opossum pouches for potential surviving babies) - bones is good, we like bones - also talented at imitating human speech, other animals, and just random noises they find intriguing - mate for life - very family oriented and good at taking care of each other. They’ve even been known to adopt unrelated fledglings - stay in the nest up to forty days after hatching and often remain with a family group for two years, helping their parents look after younger siblings - males and females are very vocal - wants to eat rocks - scavengers - likes fruits, nuts, and seeds - seen as weird or gross by the majority - slow to trust humans, but is very loyal once they do - could be considered chunky - cinnamons tend to have blue or silver eyes

Things I Like About Them - they are just. very good. - wing markings of cinnamons are very interesting, and while I’d like more intricacies to work with for facial markings, they’re still good and simple

Differences - they are very social birds (but most of that social time is spent with their family, which is where most of mine is spent as well, so I’m not sure this is a true difference) - consumes a lot of meat (which, as stated, is not my favorite) - they are very common in Michigan and easy to spot almost anywhere

[spacerangersam]

Tell me more about your BBC Ghosts character roleswap please? (Characters including: Mike, Alison, Kitty, Pat, Captain, Humphrey, the Plague Ghosts, Jemima, Annie)

I will tell you more than you probably ever wanted to know asdfgh

Mike’s much the same as in canon, he just happens to be the one who briefly died and can see the ghosts. I guess in this AU Fanny did it? Or maybe Julian still did - his head can be seen by people, so maybe he appeared to Mike, trying to scare him, and it ended with Mike falling out the window. Julian swears it’s an accident, but the jury is not convinced. 

Unlike Alison, I think he would love it from the get-go and be so excited about all his new ghost friends, even the weird ones that hang around in the basement and never come up. They do help him with the boiler, after all. I mean, my man tried to make a potion just to see them, he would be over the moon with it, and I think the contrast of having him so excited while Alison is still reeling from his death + the realisation that ghosts are real and haunting their house is kind of funny. 

I think he’d be close to Pat, if only because Pat is the unofficial leader of the group and can (usually) make them listen, very nervous around Fanny (he always feels like he’s about to be told off when he’s around her) and morbidly fascinated with Julian. It’s a very ‘I can fix him :)’ dynamic, with the added bonus of everyone around Mike saying ‘yeah, no you can’t’. he does though, through the power of friendship and threatening to give up Julian's TV slots unless he plays nice.

Alison is still the one with Button ties and she’s very weary of the ghosts to begin with - they did kill Mike, and no matter what he insisted she knows one of them did it, and she doesn’t like not being able to see them - but eventually comes around to them. She still thinks it’s weird and doesn’t get why Mike’s so pumped but sure, whatever keeps him happy. While she can’t communicate with all the ghosts, she can with Kitty (prior to Kitty’s death, she was fogging up the windows with her breathe and writing/drawings on it) and the two still manage to have a sister-ish dynamic, and Fanny who, armed with Julian’s powers, can bother her on google docs/send her emails (mostly to ask if she’s registered to vote)

Pat is a Home Guard captain during WW2, who moved out of Yorkshire during the war to escape the bombing. He wasn’t fit enough to fight (and probably wouldn’t have wanted to even if he was), so joined the Home Guard, stationed at Button Manor. No one in the village had ever fought in a war and his position as a scoutmaster made him the closest thing to a captain around, so he was handed the role. For my own peace of mind, he found out about Carol and Morris before he died through letters they’d been exchanging, but he never actually confronted her about it. At least because he refused to admit it, and then because he didn’t want to upset an already fairly traumatised Daley with tensions at home. But, he did decide that if Carol was going to go behind his back with other men, fuck it, so was he. I just think Pat deserves a chance to have some fun of his own, though he near got serious with anyone. [despite only flirting around in the safety of the manor though, Duke misses all of this and is still shocked when Pat mentions liking men]

Regardless, his story ends vaguely as it did in canon - he was shot by Keith, just by an adult Keith and with a bullet rather than an arrow. I kinda think it would be sweet/sad if the other guards, both to give Pat’s death a bit more dignity and to make sure Keith didn’t get blamed for the accidental death, made up a whole lie about Pat dying in a stand-off with an enemy spy where he definitely fatally injured the spy, just don’t ask where that guy is, it doesn’t matter. I think Pat would be torn between appreciating the gesture and being a bit miffed because Keith killed him and got away with it.

He tries to be optimistic and cheerful, but at the same time, he’s more jaded than canon Pat (he did live through 2 wars, after all), a bit more bitchy from the get-go, and indulges a bit more in some gallows humour. 

Captain, or the Duke of Surrey / Kently (Surrey is where the real Manor used for ghosts is, but Kently is the made-up town I tend to use) aka just ‘Duke’, is the regency poet, a man who came from a long line of army captains and generals who never made it into the army himself. He wanted to, but was a sickly kid, constantly bedridden because of this and that. To entertain himself while ill, he got into poetry and soon began writing it himself. 

He met Havers at a party, and for the two months Havers stayed in the village, the two got very close. But then Havers was sent off to the front lines and Duke stayed at home, getting sicker and sicker while writing more and more. Eventually, like in canon, Duke snuck into Button Manor to see Havers one last time (though he didn’t nick a Captain’s uniform, being way too sick and delirious to even think of something like that) and died of consumption (aka tuberculous) in the middle of the ballroom, holding Havers’ hand.

Post-death, and unbeknownst to Duke, Havers found some of the poems Duke wrote about him, and after changing the pronouns to protect Duke’s legacy, got them published. Duke was never Byron levels of well-known, but he still became a well-respected writer and is very touched by the gesture once he learns of it. [he also has one poem he wrote for havers he likes to repeat, and over time, the line about brown eyes changes to being about blue yes...]

Like canon Captain, Duke is still quite distant and militaristic at first (habits learned off his father, and not helped by Duke being isolated for most of his childhood) but does have a deep love of poetry. He doesn’t have personal beef with Byron though, and has no idea why Thomas does. Duke is also a lot more lethargic than Captain in canon, the effects of his illness lingering on, and walks with a cane (Haver’s cane) to keep himself steady.

Also, in a very dad move, after Kitty dies he asks her all about the modern technology in her home, and that doesn’t stop even as more modern ghosts show up. As the decades go on she has even less clue what’s what, but that doesn’t stop her from making up answers.

Humphrey’s from the Stuart era, an unmarried Lord, and there kind of two ways my mind goes with his story. One is the straightforward way that mirrors his canon death, like in this fic, where Sophie is accused of witchcraft so Humphrey takes the blame and hangs in her place.

Or there’s my slightly more convoluted backstory where Sophie is married off to a different lord, and even more unhappy with the arrangement, and while hiding away from her husband, Humphrey. The two strike up a friendship - they’re not married so Sophie doesn’t resent him for her situation and is willing to talk to him - bordering on something more, but Sophie’s husband catches wind. Either, it follows the previous options where he accuses Sophie of witchcraft and Humphrey takes the blame, or he just straight-up accuses Humphrey. In the latter, I like to imagine Sophie tried to stop her husband but was locked up in their manor. She managed to escape and arrive on Button grounds just in time for Humphrey to be hanged. She can’t save him, but she can take revenge, so accuses her husband not of witchcraft, but of plotting against the king, forging letters proving so. Maybe she even tries to claim that Humphrey knew this and that’s why her husband hanged him, so Humphrey still goes down in history as being a part of something he wasn’t. 

In death, he still has the noose around his neck and though he can loosen it a bit, he still gets breathless very quickly.

I just realised there are a lot of people in this au who can’t run for shit: Captain can’t because of his illness, Humphrey can’t because of the hanging, I imagine Mary wouldn’t have great lungs from asphyxiation, Pat has asthma, and Fanny has some proper heels slowing her down. This is the AU where nobody runs, they all do a slow jog at most asdfgh

He also, understandably, has quite a sore neck, and like how in canon Pat massages Julian’s finger after use (possibly the weirdest sentence I’ve written for this au, but that is a thing that happens in canon) he does the same for Humphrey with his neck. 

He’s obviously not in pieces like in canon so gets involved with the gang more, but he still drifts off on his own sometimes to sit by the lake where he first met Sophie and just mope. Thomas also likes to mope around and in the lake though, so sometimes they just sit there awkwardly, moping together

The Plague Ghosts are Puritans who weren’t all that hung up on being pure and died of some illness that Mick brought to the town - pneumonia maybe. They still hang out in the basement and are basically the same except I guess they look a little less horrifying. 

Jemima is another Puritan-era ghost who maybe died a bit before or a bit after the plagues, but still from pneumonia. She spends a bit more time upstairs with the other ghosts and bonds with them, encouraged to do so by MIke. He is very scared of the creepy child who hangs around in his pantry, but that’s still a child and she should probably not spend all of her time in the pantry. He eventually gets used to her ominously appearing around corners and singing at random hours in the night, especially after he introduces her to some more modern music - it’s a bit less bone-chilling when the ghost girl is signing Reach for the Stars by Club 7

Annie’s era is switched with the plagues so she’d from the () ages, but she doesn’t die of the plague. She somehow avoided that, despite pretty much everyone else in the village dying from it, but like in canon, kicks it choking on bread. She’s a bit miffed, but kind of glad she died from that rather than the plague. 

In order to meet Mary, she has to stay around for much longer and therefore has a bit more history with the other ghosts (ie, she bullied most of them for longer), and is quite protective over Kitty / develops a close friendship with the Captain. She still made fun of him, of course, but they were judgey and mean together, you know? Kind of like Fanny and Cap. And if Annie does stay around unlike canon, or stayed for a little longer after meeting Mary at least, I think her and Fanny could kick it together. Maybe all three of them could, just a weird little trio of women who will insult you to your face.

Before that though, when Mary first shows up, Annie is just fascinated by her. Mary’s a modern woman, she talks about strange machines and devices and people, (some sort of device), she knows how to shoot an arrow and how to read and write, she can manage her finances on her own - Annie thinks she’s a marvel. She doesn’t understand how Mary doesn’t see that and is still so anxious and quiet, and pools all her effort into helping Mary be more confident. 

i hope you wanted a lot because a lot was what you got asdfh

[storm-ec]

I have to tell you, I started following Blind Channel just after Eurovision, and it opened up my world. I really love them and i keep supporting Finland. That's why I supported Käärijä last year. I wanted him to win, I voted for him, something difficult as I count as 'rest of the world.' After that, I kept being a fan, listening to his songs daily, and stuff like that. Also, I followed Joost for him. But now, it feels so sad and disappointing. I won't 'cancel him' for what happened yesterday, but I'll probably stop supporting him for a while. Let's be honest, people. It's not the first time he's done something questionable. I understood that he was friends with N0A because they met at the contest, and probably Kä didn't know a thing about the conflict. But today, everyone knows about it. We're not talking about political stuff; we're talking about lives, people being killed and suffering for the power and money of a criminal government and population.

I know not all Jews are Zionists, and there are brave people, including Jews, against the war and genocide. He has to know there's a war, he knows there are people suffering, and he doesn't give a damn about it. Maybe he kinda 'apologized,' but what he wrote was about being caught, not for treating that woman (Zionist supporter) friendly when the others didn't even approach her.

Also, an important point is that I already saw cases like this, all important, EC with the derogatory 'Skimo' word and Joost with the song made with Russian musicians, but those issues were explained, there were apologies, and people involved were educated by themselves, it was necessary to studied and made official statements.

Today Joost held a piece of paper with 'Käärijä should have won,' but then Kä made a TikTok with a genocidal supporter? With the same woman that Joost confronted at the press conference? But above all, with the woman that will join the military when ESC ends? It just makes me think if Kä really listens to people or just cares about music because he's Joost's friend but he doesn't know Jo's against the Zionist and the Israeli representation in the competition? Jo's being pushed by the ESC and Israeli media for his comments, and Kä's actions could affect him too ..but back to what really matters.

I think this whole situation won't be fixed with an improvised 'No war' because being neutral might sound right, might sound cool, but it isn't. Saying this empty stuff is like saying, 'I don't care, I don't know why you're fighting, just stop it because we cant partying' And that's bad, people. That's pretty bad. It's not just ignorance but indifference.

I really hope that Kä could (finally) educate himself because that's not our job as fans, and he could understand that being famous also brings responsibilities. I really hope I could like him and support him as before someday, but for now, I prefer to keep my distance. I won't influence you all by writing 'don't support him' or 'let's forgive him,' that's something that each one has to decide.

Stay safe and think about lives, about people in Palestine being attacked without reason and the people who are gone for ambition

[fandomanimatic-tournament]

Fandom song animatic tournament: Bracket 2 Side B Round 2

The Moon Will Sing - The Crane Wives

"The moon will sing a song for me I loved you like the sun Bore the shadows that you made With no light of my own I shine only with the light you gave me"

There! Right there! (Is [blank] Gay or European?) - Legally Blonde the Musical

"Gay or European? It's hard to guarantee Is he gay or European? Well, hey, don't look at me! You see, they bring their boys up different In those charming foreign ports They play peculiar sports In shiny shirts and tiny shorts"

Remember that we're voting on how Iconic they are for ANIMATICS, not for the song itself. In order to make things fair, the tone and mood of the song should not affect how iconic it is (for example, a serious song should not be considered more iconic than a joke song just because it's serious)

Propaganda and animatic links of the songs under the cut:

The Moon Will Sing - The Crane Wives

Propaganda:

No Propaganda Submitted

Animatics with the song:

ROTTMNT

The Owl House

Unus Annus Ikea AU

The Owl House

Rainworld

There! Right there! (Is [blank] Gay or European?) - Legally Blonde the Musical

Propaganda:

I promise you that any anime (or other show but I swear it is mainly animes) with two or more male characters will have an animatic for this song. It just will, of is the natural part of the process of a fandom becoming popular. People know this song even if they think they don't know this song. It is so catchy it eats you from the inside out.

It's legally blonde and a musical which is prine queer culture. Fandom is queer culture. Plus it's a banger song with a lot of fun animatics. A lot of other "fandom" songs are kinda really sad (Two Birds cough cough) and this one is just silly goofy. It's also just the right decision.

There were SO MANY of these back in the day like i swear no m/m fandom ship was immune. Extra points if the character was actually european

look, it's a classic. try and find a fandom without an animatic to gay or european. you could find one for nearly any fandom for multiple characters even. the "i thought you said...best friend" set of lines is used in incorrect quote posts to this day. it's iconic, it's a classic, we all know and love it

Every piece of media has at least one (1) character who is very gay (usually for another) and this song shows that through desperate self denial but they get there eventually. Even now I see new animatics with this song I love so dearly, demonstrating the power of this song and icon Elle Woods. You search up “is __ gay or European” on YouTube and videos from years past and mere moments ago will cover your page.

Animatics with the song:

Demon Slayer Giyuu

Room of Swords

Ace Attorney Miles Edgeworth

Revolutionary Girl Utena

OMORI

Genshin Impact Pantalone

Please be cautious and read the title, description and warning cards on the animatic videos if you decide to watch them. If you've got specific triggers I'd recommend even more caution when watching animatics of fandoms you don't know, since sometimes canon-typical themes don't get warnings.

[icejinlov3r]

Here is a new promotion art for “Dungeons and Dragon Balls” because today is actually the day I started this story a year ago!

(Be warned, I start a rambling a bit below here lol)

I can’t believe it’s actually been a year since I wrote this incredible story. Out of all the fan fiction I’ve written over time, this is the one I want to share with as many people as possible! I’m just so happy with the plot, the characterization, the action scenes, the drama, comedy, and romance - everything!

I’ve actually gone back and reread every chapter at least once (I made a lot of grammar mistakes - I’ll edit the entire thing eventually). I even reread all the comments that readers left. It was just a such a fun time, and I’m kinda sad this story is over.

I’ve contemplated with the idea of a sequel SEVERAL times since then. And while I have plenty of interesting ideas, I’m not certain that’ll happen for a few reasons. One, my motivation feels different then it did back then. It seems more easy for me to burnout on my longer stories if I’m not careful, and remembering how long the first book was, I don’t know if I’d want to make a sequel with that kind of length. Second, I also just don’t want to ruin a good thing; the story ended pretty well where it did, and I don’t want to somehow ruin it with a follow up that doesn’t live up to the first.

I’m not saying I’ll never do a sequel. But as of right now, it’s not likely either. We’ll see. I’ve also thought about trying to adapt the whole fanfic into a comic series - but while I like most of my art, I don’t think I’m THAT good for something like that.

But anyway, sorry, I’m rambling - overall, I wanna thank everyone who’s read, voted, and commented on this fanfic! It overfilled me with joy back then, and it still does now! I’m not sure for certain what I’ll do in the future, if I’ll do anything, but the moment I decide to I’ll let you guys know!

[finelinens1994]

i'm probably not gonna answer any asks about this because i just kinda wanna fire off this thought without delving into a whole conversation, but i just need to say that seeing people immediately respond to criticism of democrats with "we know things are bad but we have no other options" is frustrating. i felt that way too but i didn't like the helplessness that gave me, so i decided to try and learn more about other ways in which people have tried to bring about change apart from participation in elections. i've read a lot about direct action and voter abstention, i've read a lot from establishment liberals and anarchists, i've tried to broaden my horizons overall. has it brought me to a satisfying conclusion of how i should act? no, but it has given me a much more fleshed out perspective and i feel less hopeless. the main thing that was reiterated by nearly all of the people i read is that you shouldn't trust politicians as far as you can throw them, so you need to dedicate significantly more time and thought to work like mutual aid and community organizing. and when it comes to elections, we all should hopefully feel some responsibility to participate at the local level because your impact can truly be felt there and can be leveraged outside of election years. but at the end of the day... vote, don't vote, do whatever you like. maybe your vote makes a difference where you live, maybe it doesn't. but if you feel anything at all about the state of our world, any level of sadness or anger, just try to live your day-to-day life in a way which reflects your politics. i think that will always be one of our best options regardless

[cc-tinslebee]

not sure if this is controversial but

Mal as a character, upon my rewatch, makes me sick to my stomach from Descendants 2 onward

Ever since Descendants 2 came out, I’ve always been a Mal defender, it always pained me watching how much she was struggling, how much she tried to erase her identity to fit in as Ben’s girlfriend, in the beginning of the movie

And I always thought Ben was in the wrong — don’t get me wrong, he was totally warranted in being upset about her attempting to spell him. But I always thought everyone was overreacting to her use of magic and brushing off the overwhelming stress and anxiety she was going through

I’ll still defend D2 Mal with my life, because all I can see is an overwhelmed teen who had no actual idea that her first love would decide the rest of her life for her

I finally watched Descendants 3 after years because of the Descendants resurgence

I never understood the Mal hate in the fandom, but now I kinda see where it’s coming from. It really was a “Katniss and other victors vote to put Capitol kids in a hunger games” scenario but Mal for some reason genuinely believed that closing the barrier permanently was for the greater good. You’ve watched, for your entire life, kids lie and cheat and maim for their lives, watched them — your own friends — be abused by their parents and the environment around them, and you… want to condemn all those kids to a lifetime of that? For an environment that you didn’t feel like you belonged in a few months before?

one of the weirdest character pivots Disney’s had to offer

Obviously a franchise made for kids by Disney about fairy tales cannot have a conversation about relationships not lasting and how you can love people even if the relationship isn’t permanent

But it makes me sad, with the perspective I have now in life.

Mal shouldn’t be queen of Auradon.

She should have been allowed to be in love with Ben without the presence of their relationship signing their marriage certificate and the course of the rest of their lives. She was a child who had never been in a relationship and it was the first time she had felt gentle love and appreciation! Kudos to high school sweethearts who can work through issues and stay together all their lives but I believe Mal and Ben shouldn’t have had that pressure on their relationship

She shouldn’t be queen because even though she’s displayed that she’s a great leader of her own crew, D3 showed how dangerous Auradon royalty’s fast-acting decrees can be without proper consideration — something that Ben and Mal really don’t do throughout the series. Ben has a kind heart and royal training to think things through and consider what’s best for all his subjects, granted, but if Mal’s political decisions are as quick to happen as Ben’s have historically, it could be genuinely harmful

This franchise is for kids and it’s literally not that deep, but this is all from an adult life persepctive and Mal just makes me very very sad so please feel free to ignore this stream of consciousness (or please be polite if you feel inclined to tell me I’m wrong, I’m receptive to feedback, I just also have a lot of feelings)

[venus-is-thinking]

Disventure Camp All Stars Power Ranking (Round 14 - Venus)

Recap: Gabby's Elimination (1/8 pts)

(Total: 9/17 points acquired)

"Anyways, here's my best shot! I fully expect this to be my worst week this season! 1: Gabby"

photos taken seconds before disaster

Okay, in my defense, there was no vote out! I actually initially had Gabby and Grett at 4 and 5 instead of 1 and 2, but I moved them to the top after writing out my logic because I thought it was so impossible for them to be voted out at the current moment. But, surprise, no vote out! So now I lose. Very sad.

(I am losing so hard to @accirax please save me)

The good news is, it only goes up from here! 1/8 is the absolute worst I can do this season from this point on! It's only going up from here, baby!

In all seriousness, I do feel a lot better about power rankings moving forwards, because we actually have plot threads that can lead to eliminations. My guess is that the devs kinda fucked up and left themselves without good grounds for an elimination, so they bought themselves time with the weird twist. Oh well.

Into the rankings!

1: Grett

Haha... surely nothing will... go wrong...

Okay but seriously, if they double elim Grett and Gabby back to back, with Gabby's being kinda BS (and likely being part of why people would eliminate Grett), I'm gonna be, like, mad-mad. Besides, it'd be EXTREMELY fucked up to have Grett finally realize she has a friend in Gabby, have Gabby get eliminated just because, have her say she's finally feeling like herself again in the trailer, and then eliminate her immediately, probably as a stray fire because she's kind of between alliances and has no allies. Like... please don't.

I am choosing to believe that Gabby and Yul were eliminated back to back so that Grett can learn to play entirely for herself and start healing! Be yourself! Maybe be a little villainous again, for fun! Become the finalist we all know you can be!

(Please. I am begging.)

2: Riya

I think Riya's cooking SOMETHING up that goes beyond this episode.

Namely, her alliance with Ally. I think that this episode is where we're going to see that have some plot relevance. I don't really see how that backfires on Riya immediately, unless the plot is just going in the direction of "Ally says no and Riya pays the price for scheming." That's pretty boring, though, and it doesn't leave you many options other than a total decimation of the remaining villains.

I think it's time for Riya to get some payoff! I feel like most of the stuff she's done this season (other than be part of the villains alliance as a second in command to Alec) hasn't gone very far, so I'm excited for her to start having seeds she planted bear fruit.

3: Jake

For the record, I do think Jake is becoming mortal. He's been making enough forward progress that his arc could feel satisfying if it got cut off here. He and Aiden are fully on good terms, and he's pushing Connor to take initiative in figuring things out in his relationship with Riya. That's a sign of major growth.

The major unresolved thread he currently has is with Ally. Given that I think this episode will show Ally flipping on the other heroes, I think Jake could be in danger if she decides she wants to get rid of Jake. It could be some kind of message to Jake about understanding that even if he changes, his past actions have consequences.

Except, I don't super feel like that's the message they're trying to send with Jake? I feel like Jake is going to come out of this decently triumphant, showing that if you really give it your all to change, you'll be rewarded. I'm obviously biased as someone who believes Jake is going to win this season, but I do believe that for a concrete reason.

Either way, I think Jake is still one of the unlikelier boots this episode. The only real reason I can think of to kick him specifically is to make Ally happy, but I feel like if Ally flips, she'd be open to voting any of the other heroes. Even if she has a greater personal distaste for Jake, she literally told us last episode that she doesn't feel like she has particular allegiance to any of the heroes. So, Jake might continue on his winner trajectory, even if Ally flips.

4: Ally

I think Ally getting booted is a definite possibility. Every once in a while, alliances will decide to just cancel a perceived swing voter and move forward on their own.

However, the biggest issue with this is that I don't think anyone in the heroes' alliance currently expects Ally to flip. I don't really get why they'd target her when it seems like they think they have the majority.

The main way I see Ally getting booted is if she makes it REALLY obvious she intends to flip, but Grett "flips" too, making it Ally/Alec/Riya vs. Jake/Aiden/Connor/Grett. Still, I don't know that you target Ally in that situation as opposed to Alec or Riya. Presumably, at least one of the two should be not-immune.

I don't really see Ally going down here, though, because I feel like she's kicking off a new part of her arc. She's been obsessed with how people see her, to the extent that she's been sticking with the "heroes" alliance just so she can have the title of "hero" rub off on her. If she's finally starting to do things for herself instead, like she said last episode, that may mean she's playing to win, including by siding with the villains so that she's higher in the pecking order of her own alliance. Especially considering no one should WANT to take Alec to the end with them, Ally would hypothetically be Riya's late game #1, which is a major shift for her.

So, basically, I don't really think Ally is going home. She's just got too much potential left to explore.

5: Alec

For the record, I'm still a major "Alec has more episodes left in him" truther. I don't think he's going to get eliminated here. I just really think it's gonna be one of the last two people on the list. Pray for me.

But, y'know, all the usual stuff. Alec is a major threat strategically and in challenges, his alliance is in the decided minority at this point, a lot of people would be willing to vote for him, etc. etc.

I don't personally see a lot of reason to boot him this episode specifically (he wasn't especially featured in the trailer and he was kinda quiet last episode too), and I think Alec has been a major enough player this season that they kinda HAVE to give him a proper elimination rather than the players going "oh guess it's time to get rid of Alec." That's just me, though.

6: Aiden

I've BEEN putting Aiden towards the bottom of my power rankings for a while, and I don't intend to stop now. He's still, in my opinion, the more expendable counterpart to Jake this season, and as the numbers thin out, the likelihood we keep both of them for much longer feels low.

Aiden has already been a finalist. He's had a lot less of a character arc, considering he already got so much focus in Season 2. He's the last cyan left; not sure if that's good or bad for him, but it does mean that a lot of the relationships he had prior to Jake this season have been eliminated. It would make enough sense to get rid of him here, and I think it'd feel justified enough.

Riya has been beefing with him all season, which is enough to make him some level of target to her. He's also close enough to Jake that, if Jake wins immunity or something, I could see him being Ally's top pick, too.

It just makes sense as an option to me, so here we are.

7: Connor

I don't know about everyone else, but Connor's speech at the end of last episode was raising MAJOR death flags for me and Accirax. Connor is finally getting that focus I've been waiting for. That means he's mortal!

Connor is still dealing with the consequences of having been the villains' target for a pretty long time. If Ally's flipping means that the villains get to take their shot at whichever hero, it would stand to reason that they'd pick the guy they've been picking for every vote since he reentered the game.

Plus, if Connor gets more focus this episode, I could see him going out here. It's possible he's got more character to arc, but I think a satisfying case could be made for him leaving the game because Riya targeted him and accepting that if he's not comfortable with Riya being someone who acts like a villain to the cameras, no matter how nice she is offscreen, that it might be best to get some space. After all, he joined the game to get her to "come crawling back" or whatever it is Jake said last episode. Maybe that means it's best if he taps out of the game and does some serious soul searching before talking to Riya again (possibly in the losers' motel episode).

I could see Connor going farther, but at the same time, I don't really think they'd want to make him a finalist (or at least a winner) considering he was eliminated. Sure, Survivor did it in Edge of Extinction, but that wasn't scripted, and the audience wasn't very happy about it. If the writers had the option not to let the fifth boot win the season or get super far, I think it's the more satisfying option.

[turboacek-blog]

The Flash: The thing with Caitlin's “Death”…

In season 9 episode 2 reveals that Caitlin Snow is dead

Khionne/Snow has the physical body of her but no memories knowledge etc of Caitlin or even Frost as she didn’t know anybody and had no ice powers or medical knowledge

Meaning Caitlin is effectively dead

The thing is partly due to the nature of the episode of trying to bring her back they didn't grieve this character of 9+ years

And part of it, besides the writing and that the actress wasn't leaving or anything like that

Is that I think the technicality is that this is just Caitlin 2.0/3.0

As they say, this is basically what her father wanted in his initial experiment to make a Caitlin 2.0 but he ended up with basically two daughters (Caitlin and Frost) instead

So in a way, Caitlin is Khionne just without the memories, and such as her body is still there

Which brings up the question of if someone loses their memories are they still them? As in if you lose your memories but you don’t know your parent's siblings' friends' skills likes dislikes etc and you don’t get them back are you still you?

As before they made the split Caitlin and Frost were kind of like new Caitlin

And when Frost was in control for a while it was treated as Caitlin before they got more understanding of the two different personalities

But again I think the problem is how the characters reacted

Caitlin can be killed unceremoniously that's not the main problem (still a problem)

But the characters reacting the way they did was weird, like when it was time to vote a majority picked Frost over Caitlin when this should have been a Caitlin death episode

And when they decided to keep Khionne it’s not like they finally grieved Caitlin they went partying

Again they wrote it in a way that it’s less Caitlin is dying and more this Caitlin 2.0 but it just never felt right to me (and from what I see online others as well)

And when you add Hartley’s and Red Deaths' plot it never felt real

Granted it’s episode 2 they can make this feel right as the story goes on

Like people are already theorizing they’ll bring Caitlin back somehow which is why they didn’t treat it as a permanent goodbye as she might come back

And I think narratively there is something here

Over the whole show, Caitlin has been this tragic character, dead fiancé twice, evil boyfriend, jerk boyfriends, dad died, twin sister died, never really found love, etc she was hurting the whole show then finally found love in her “new” sister but when her sister dies she spirals

So when this character essentially decides to kill herself to bring back someone she loves or in this case to give a new one a chance to be happy it’s a sad happy ending as the tragic character can finally rest and this new character can have joy that she couldn’t

The thing is the characters didn’t see Caitlin as a tragic character

Chester and Allegra are newer and didn’t experience most of it and were closer to Frost in all honesty

Similar with Cecile

Iris despite stuff like Caitlin being her maid of honor weren’t like best friends

But Barry (and Joe) knew her story and they didn’t really see her as a tragic character if anything outside of the recent death of Frost they kinda saw her story as normal stuff for the most part still sad but it’s not like they saw Caitlin as this character that was struggling or stuff like that the whole show

This is where I think the disconnect is, it seems the audience cared and reacted more appropriately than the characters as we’ve known her for 9 seasons, whereas Chester Allegra Cecile Mark didn’t and Iris and she wasn’t the closest to, and so on

They treated her as if she was on the same level as Allegra for example but to us, she’s basically on the same level as Barry and Iris

I understand that Caitlin isn’t dead the same way Frost died as Caitlin technically transformed into Khionne but when they constantly use the word dead and the machine hurt Khionne it’s hard to see it differently

They can “fix” it with a funeral or memorial or something but yeah just felt odd to think Caitlin’s dead and when they were trying to bring her back most wanted her sister more and when neither happens they didn’t take time to grieve her properly and even went partying afterward

I don't know I'm just confused and my thoughts are incoherent right now

[miss-bluerose]

TDI23 Season 2 ep 7 and 8 thoughts and theories. Spoilers ahead.

Ep 7: Put in teams by Chris, gather ingredients from a barge floating on the lake, choose a remote that could help you and/or hinder your opponents and bake a cake for the judges that looks like Chris. Fun episode and I enjoyed most of the references to movies and TV shows throughout the episode. Owen as the guest judge was great. That chicken cracking its eyes was hilarious.

- Cornucopia Bloodbath from The Hunger Games

- This is Sparta! from 300

- That escalated quickly from Anchorman

- Paint me like one of your French girls from Titanic

- Seductively shaping clay from Ghost

Ep 8: Carry a giant coin up a mountain, put it in a slot, enter the play area and gather the most points to win. The fish delivery lady was funny. This ep had its issues but I liked most of the references.

- Immitating the twins from The Shining

- Courtney

- Duncan

- Scary Girl and her jackhammer

- The Canadian Goose from last season

- Izzy

Owen:

He looks the exact same and thought that Cake Chef was the real Chef and had died 😂. Still goofy, friendly and obsessed with food but even he thought MK's cake tasted bad. I laughed when he ran away with Cake Chef.

Chris:

Sounds like he's still mad at MK about the hairdryer when he called her team greasy lol. I laughed at him talking about physical money as if it's extremely old, like prehistoric times old. I want to know which secret he stopped Zee from saying. Him pelting Priya with marshmallows was mean.

Chef:

It's sad that no one in universe thinks he can cook after all these years. Got calf implants for some reason and it looks kinda gross tbh.

Eliminated contestants:

16th: Lauren/Scary Girl - she's "shown up" in ep 4 and ep 8 so my theory that she's going to appear in ep 12 (fear challenge) is looking extremely likely at the moment.

15th: Chase

14th: Millie

13th: Emma

12th: Nichelle

11th: Bowie

10th/9th: Axel/Ripper - Both of their development came to a halt after they got together and it was annoying to watch them constantly make out so I'm not really sad to see them go. I did feel bad for him being upset about her leaving but I didn't expect him to just grab onto her like that. And Chris just decided to count it as a double elimination, wtf?

8th: Zee - Didn't do much in ep 7 tbh. I didn't enjoy watching him put his shorts in his mouth/being in his underwear for most of ep 8 but the squirrel was funny. He should have told Priya the truth when she talked to him before the challenge, that would have been the perfect opportunity. Spilled the beans about Caleb after he kissed Priya which was bad enough but then he kept talking and exposed a few secrets about the others. There is no way he should have been voted off over Caleb who is clearly the bigger threat in every way but because he still has a plot to be resolved he gets to stay. One of the most forced eliminations in the history of the entire show I swear to god. It should have been a tie in which Caleb would probably still win but at least he would have had to fight to stay in the game instead of just getting lucky with the voting. At the very least I hope the friendship between Zee and Priya isn't ruined for good, I liked seeing them talk to each other and stuff.

Merge

Priya:

She shouldn't have tried to use natural yeast, just let the cakes be flat. I'm not ok with 99% of PDA so I didn't enjoy watching her and Caleb try to kiss while people were around. They finally kiss and then she runs off crying after hearing what Zee said and doesn't talk for the rest of the episode. I don't want her to get back with Caleb even after the misunderstanding gets cleared up but I don't think that'll happen.

Caleb:

I don't like him and he should have been voted off instead of Zee no question about it. It's going to be annoying to watch him stick around.

Damien:

It's awesome to see that his confidence has grown and that he has found his footing in the game. The squirrel doing the finger guns back at him was cute. I can't believe he found the immunity idol by accident while the others were actually looking for it and he did the Family Guy knee gag 🤣. I hope it doesn't get stolen from him. It looks like he's still terrified of Scary Girl. Change your undies my guy. He'll probably comfort Priya in the next episode.

Raj:

It's lame that he and Wayne decided to work with Julia in the cooking challenge instead of against her. Hopefully that changes soon. Also seems to have lost some IQ points but not as bad as Wayne I think. I don't even want to bring up his secret 😨.

Wayne:

He seems to have gotten dumber at some point? It took forever for him to get to the pinball challenge and then he was knocked out of it right away. I don't know what to think of him.

Julia:

I laughed at her getting chest bumped by the hockey bros and the two of them slowing her down unintentionally. Of course she knows how to bake and mill raw ingredients, why am I not surprised? 🙄 She sicked Owen on MK and sounded upset about it enough that she's avoiding her at the start of the next ep. I didn't like her trying to pry the secret out of Zee. I'm not surprised that she stole from her own grandma. Her plot armor is ridiculous jfc.

MK:

I enjoyed her suffering in the cake challenge. I'm disappointed that her monstrous cake didn't come to life, could've been a funny reference to some SNL sketches. Isn't mad that Julia betrayed her in the cooking challenge apparently. Struggled to carry her coin up the mountain and then got crushed by it lol. She's a gamer and was able to figure out how to get more points quicker than the others. Bit Caleb's leg which was funny to me. Sleeps with a stuffed unicorn, awwww.

Five episodes left and I really hope Julia doesn't win. I procrastinated typing this because of the holidays and Zee's totally BS elimination but still got it done before 2024, woohoo!

[powerpolyculeshowdown]

Out of curiosity, why did you not include more... Actually Canonical poly relationships?

Sure a lot of them are in underground stuff so garnering interest is hard, but it feels kinda sad to have a poll where most of the things on the list are just fandom wishful thinking instead of actual works with polyamory in them. TV tropes has a whole page of examples if you couldnt find much.

Like theres quite a bit of modestly popular canon poly stuff, The Kane Chronicles, Xenoblade 2, Hades, Fate/Stay-Night, Sense8, Demon Slayer, ...technically Sekirei if fanservice slop is fine, X-Men 2019 comic run, technically Homestuck with the quadrants, and Steven Universe all have some level of not too underground-ness to ride on.

You have a couple on the brackets already sure, but I just wish people would rec actually canon rep instead of wishful thinking more is all.

because i took nominations and most people nominated headcanons. im not in most of the fandoms that were nominated, these arent my ships, in fact i didnt nominate anything myself. So i didnt go on tv tropes to pick because i didnt nominate anything.

That said, homestuck, the kane chronicles and hades were already in the poll, as is iron widow which is canon, the throuple from penumbra podcast: second citadel, the girls from amphibia, and leverage as well. i did mention in another ask that i intended to include one of the sense8 polyships (the confirmed canon one), but i forgot. steven universe was also included, also not one of the canon polycules. i considered including fluorite which was one of the 3 su nominations (and the only canon one i got afaik) but i wanted to pick smth that i thought would be more recognizable so i chose amelapidot which later i discussed w some participants that informed me peridot is aroace, and some ppl agreed they worked well as queerplatonic so i decided to keep them in becauee of that. i did preliminary polls for spop and catra/adora/glimmer/bow won, even though i personally wanted to include rogelio/kyle/lonnie (canon) but i hesitated because they're less popular characters and i didnt know which ppl would prefer (thus the preliminary poll).

also, i personally like headcanons very much because idk a lot of canon rep so im always finding it in characters i relate to, which i imagine might be the same for many ppl here.

all that said, if you decide to make ur own poll w only canon polyam relationships, please let me know!! id love to vote on it and if be happy to promote it here!!!

[retired-for-now]

WINNERS:

After a long and harduous battle against 1S, Fresh finally beat up that child came out on top

As much as we all love Inverted Fate, Cross is pretty cool, for a sans

After a week of arguing with his past, Geno self, Error won his poll

For winning a staring contest with local axe-maniac, Horror, Og/Classic/Vanilla/call him whatever moves to another Round (yipee!!)

... but I doubt he'll stand against the destroyer of worlds

Sadly for all the Nightmare Fans (Including me), the octopus lost to local squid guy, Ink

The Council has decided: the best of the two "classic" Aus is Underswap! With Swap winning over Fell by a close margin

The Council strikes again: Anxiety is the better of hheisa's Aus over Mint

I'm not even going to lie to you: I didn't have the heart to vote in this poll, so most of the time I was clueless. Looks like Blueberror won over Science sans tho! Shame, Sci was the first one who got propaganda (and he kinda grew on me in the christmas party au)

After making it in to the surprise of everyone, Slump the Skebump won against a child sans

To the surprise of no one, however, Reaper won against Lust. Why can't he have nice things?

[Insert clever Underverse joke] Killer Vs Dream. Positivity wins, as always

God takes the good souls early, just like how he took Epic from us over Dust. Guess that guy still has some unfinished business huh?

In a not-so-epic epic battle of the underrateds, Farm won, which kinda left Tone a little sad [*look at what you've done.]

You know what? I'm sorta glad Paperjam lost to Storyshift, that guys way easier to draw

In a battle that I honestly sorta forgot about, people decided that Stars were better than Humans and you know what good for them

In the Battle of the Winged, the guy who absorbed like- 8 kids won over the Overzealous Cocky Positive Asshole

[ateezscupid]

Congrats, I'm one of your new follower. Wink wink. Maybe you can start a new series!

eeeek! i have a whole bunch of mini series ideas in mind, soo y’all can vote on which one y’all want me to write for my 100 followers special!! 😁

12:00am - jung wooyoung angst, smut, romance, non!idol au

every new years since you were 16, you get a knock on your door at midnight. every time you’d open your door, nobody was there. now you were 21, and as expected, the knock came. though this time, a man, probably the most handsome man you’ve ever seen, appears in front of you. to you, it sounded like he was your guardian angel trying to find you your soulmate, but you didn’t know that your soulmate was him.

fallen - park seonghwa angst, smut, non!idolau, romance, college au, whole lotta heartache

at school, everyone calls him an angel because of how incredibly attractive he is, but he decides to call himself a fallen angel which earned him the “fallen angel of the school.” in simple words, a complete douchebag and fuckboy. but then, he saw you. he met you, he spoke to you. he wanted to change his old ways but knew it wouldn’t be easy. how could an angel fall in love with a human?

captain - kim hongjoong romance, yandere!joong, mafia(?)au, slight angst, kinda fantasy au

the leader of a dangerous group who terrorized villages finally made it to yours. he brought along his friends too as they scavenged the place, taking all the goods they could find and steal out of the peoples hands. when the leader approached you, he froze. it was something about you. he couldn’t put his finger on it, but he knew you were bad like him. he needed you in his life more than you needed him.

i wanna be yours - park seonghwa (literally just like harley and joker except…not as toxic? idk, you’ll see), non!idol au, angst, heartache, romance, smut, some sensitive topics

a therapist was a nice job, for you it was easy since you wanted to help people. one day you get a patient; a man who was said to be insane but all he wanted was to be loved. through your sessions, he fell for you, and he fell hard. but the worst thing about the entire situation was he was scared. he was scared of love. he didn’t know how to love or what it would feel or look like, and it made him sad; sad he couldn’t fulfill your needs. but if only he knew, you loved him just as much as he loved you.

cosmos - choi san romance, angst, fluff, non!idol au, college au

“i’ll meet you in the cosmos!” it was corny and you couldn’t stand it, but deep down, you loved it. you loved the boy who was obsessed with stars and astrology, who loved stargazing and pointing out constellations. god, you missed him. what went wrong? you two fell off going into college, but now you two were older, you could rekindle your relationship! which you thought before you found out he had moved on. “i guess we didn’t meet in the cosmos.”

dream - choi jongho slight angst, smut, idol!au

he’s been weird dreams ever since the tour started and he doesn’t know the cause of it. when his friends ask what the dreams are about, he explains he keeps seeing you in every single one. of course, his friends thought he was joking, and he laughed to hide his embarrassment knowing he’d never see you. that is, until he saw you in the crowd of his groups concert.