#and other such topics

[randomfoggytiger]

I view his public persona as a sad, sensitive and pessimistic man with reservations - I don't even think he's an introvert. Much of his speech and how he presents himself to the public is calculated to keep certain controversial personal choices out of the spotlight. And that's fine, I don't care about his personal life, I admire him a lot as a professional - he'll always be Fox Mulder and 90% of the character's success was his doing. But it is possible to be a fan without losing sight of the fact that actors are loyal to their desires and their bank accounts - and have no qualms about using everything they can to stay in the good graces - and pockets - of the fans. He's no Bill Crosby, but he's far from being Gandhi.

I do and don't agree, I think. Gonna put this below because the discussion got a bit hefty:

Let's break these into points, keeping his girlfriend last.

Firstly: I do agree... somewhat. What's shown to the public is calculated-- he admits it, too: the juggle of keeping enough of yourself out of the public spotlight, away from constant speculation and criticism, and enough "in" to market your brand. But so do other celebrities, politicians, front-facing corporate workers, YouTubers, streamers, etc., etc. Often times, it's not directly calculated for results-- though it always has to be, to a degree: our bad or boring sides aren't marketable-- so much as what he calls "podcast face": a persona he uses for his work, be it in fan interactions, on talk shows, with associates and cast and crew, etc.

Regardless, to my knowledge it wasn't until really recently that he wanted to be seen as an emotionally sad, vulnerable person. He's alluded to this side of himself before through "hee hee, hah hah, I feel pathetic all the time" snippets but always accompanied that reality with a joke or witticism to divert attention. The podcast has been the most open I've heard him talk about his struggles and pain.

Secondly: I strongly believe he's an introvert, since there is plenty of evidence that that is likely the case. He himself admitted, years and years back, that he goes home from the X-Files and needs an entire day to decompress, alone. Tea confirmed this and was fine with it (don't know what changed after kids, but they did pretty good, regardless.) The cast and crew of each movie he shot or tv series he worked on echoed similar observations: withdrawn, soulful (i.e. moody on bad days), not really hobnobby outside of work. I've also read the same from personal interviews with his family and from fans who've continually met him; and I've seen footage and pictures that point to the same conclusion (i.e. when he's unaware fans/bts people are filming v. when he is.)

Does he have fun making connections, friendships, and contacts? Oh, yeah-- but that doesn't make him an extrovert or introvert. To make a long and more complicated story short: introverts, boiled down, are people whose brains intake information differently than extroverts-- information goes in, and stays in, until they have time alone to process it. Extroverts process (mostly) everything in the moment, around people and external situations.

Thirdly: Yes, I remain staunch that you, I, and others can acknowledge where someone might live differently or make different choices and still be a fan. There will always, always be something about a person you strongly dislike, be it their thoughts or how they live their life or who they support or don't support. Humans are human. Even Ghandi wasn't "Ghandi", after all.

Lastly: I don't agree in that.... Hm, how to approach this. I've done a lot of deep-diving into the polarization in this fandom because it fascinated me; and at the end of the day, evidence against fell through and evidence for remains what it is.

David didn't really keep Monique Pendleberry private. He's said, again and again, that he doesn't trust social media and doesn't really want to interact with it; so engaging with the discussion via that angle was a fruitless moot point. So, what did he do in his personal life? He took her on tours; he invited her onstage to sing with the band and his behind-the-scenes people; he engaged with (to my knowledge) her filming or snapping his photo for her Instagram account-- or at least wasn't bothered when she uploaded pictures of him "behind his back" (and he would have found out about later through teenager West.) They were snapped together in photos with the event coordinators of his concerts. He teamed up for a few of her workout collaborations with a California gym. He brought her to Gillian's play, and they and GA and PM (allegedly) were spotted eating dinner together that night. He's taken her routinely to spots that are celebrity pap hot spots, and hasn't shut down articles with pics calling her his girlfriend. For those that wanted to know, their relationship has been public for years-- most, out of this space, just don't care.

The only thing he didn't do was engage with her Insta... but he's also said publicly that he has someone managing his social media accounts (we all suspect it's either her or his manager Brad, anyway.) And during the years since their first appearances and now, his family and friends didn't seem ashamed to be publicly seen with him or to do repeated public events together (e.g. Tea voice acting Miss Subways, Tea posing at a music studio with him, Tea and he being friendly while engaging with paps if necessary, etc.)

The only points one could argue are: he didn't take Monique to a red carpet event; some fans report that he wasn't loving towards her in person; his kids don't interact with her; and he doesn't mention her name publicly. The first three can be checked off because fans have also reported, repeatedly, that he's affectionate and loving with her when pap cameras or crowds aren't pressing into their personal space (I've seen evidence from Twitter fans and various pap sites to back up these statements); that he's taken her to a couple public events since then (after his kids were out of the home-- which is smart); and that his kids have interacted with her, without a problem, since 2023 (West continually, Miller in a set of pap shots.) Further, I've seen footage after footage of Monique shrinking from the attention from paps (or the public in general), and looked into theories that she keeps them dialed up-- and, you guessed it, all "substantial" claims fell through, leaving me to believe that she doesn't want to engage with the public except on her own terms (Instagram.) But whatever the truth may be, it hasn't chased away his kids, publicly distanced Tea, or put off feminists Gillian Anderson, Pamela Adlon, and Samantha Bee who A. don't need him for their careers and B. don't seem to mind linking his name with theirs (amongst many others.) That doesn't say a lot in Hollywood, I own; but it does say a lot in the fandom-- namely, those women are often used as "proof" that his peers are ashamed of his "lecherous" lifestyle. I'm sorry, but there's no tangible proof of this claim, let alone that he keeps her away from important people in his life.

At the end of the day, is it my business? No. Do I know them and vice versa? No. Do I see the point in letting their personal business consume my life when all parties involved seem A-okay? Pfffft, no. I've got meta to write.

This got long, so thanks if you stuck with me, anon. :DDDD And if you have different opinions, that's great-- tell me about 'em! I truly want to know.

[egophiliac]

can't believe that skeleman has turned on us, and Halloween Prom is tomorrow.

(what a top-tier UM...we are about to be just totally obliterated in the absolute silliest way. what possible use could this power have outside of bringing us to the brink of utter holiday disaster.)

[basofy]

tw upsetting topic

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Who is this sassy lost child?

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[elbiotipo]

Don't want to insult this person but. Again. I literally live in Argentina.

[welcometogrouchland]

[ID in ALT] I've made posts before about Talia/Dick co-parenting Damian moments (will never happen but let me dream) and this came to me in a vision. Took me ages to finish for some reason 😭 and then even longer to post

[bacchuschucklefuck]

class swap design masterpost for convenience (from top to bottom: bard!riz, cleric!gorgug, sorcerer!kristen, barbarian!fig, artificer!adaine, and rogue!fabian)

[mothcpu]

If you stare directly at reality, you'll end up going blind!

[puttingwingsonwords]

I do think the ‘comedy’ of Dracula in this part of the story only adds to the horror. Like we can all go ‘haha lizard fashion’ because it is ridiculous, he’s crawling barefoot on that wall like 🦎

But also fucking imagine a whole ass man skittering down a wall like that, the fact that his cloak is billowing like wings means he must be going fast too bc otherwise it would just fall over his head. (Or idk maybe he is using magic powers to make his cloak look cooler who knows.)

And it’s in his pretending to have servants too, I know, my most popular post rn is calling him a loser for it which he is!! He’s probably really embarrassed about it too bc it’s demeaning for a boyar to do those chores!

But Jonathan doesn’t have the luxury of laughing at this stuff.

One thing that really caught my attention this time is the uncanny valley of it all. From the moment Jonathan meets the Count, he can tell something is off. No matter how thickly he puts on the charm, Dracula can’t hide the fact that he’s not human; he’s something else, a ‘creature in the semblance of a man’, there’s something innately off-putting about his presence. His eyes, his teeth, his hands, his smell: he has the aura of a predator and Jonathan, his prey, can feel it.

From Jonathan’s point of view, every hilarious weird thing the Count does is another sign of him being Not Human, as well as the fact that he’s in total control—as his ruse of normality is slowly falling apart, but there’s still nothing Jonathan can do. The mask is slipping, the Count is revealing his true nature—whether accidentally or on purpose—and Jonathan can only watch and keep pretending in the hope that it will prolong his life.

[nebulo-philiac]

"You can be against the proship community and be pro-kink" no you fucking cant

[ducktracy]

there are a lot of evil people in the world and a lot of darkness in the world and so it’s very important for me to stress that now more than ever is the time to spread kindness and compassion. combat the evil by not only not partaking in it, but actively refuting it. destroy the notion that being compassionate or generous or kind to someone is uncool or embarrassing or even scary. be the change you want to see. start a chain reaction. positivity only breeds more positivity. do an act of kindness for someone so that that person who is too afraid to do it themselves can see you, realize that they’re not alone, and perhaps sheepishly follow your example. and then the next person who is too afraid but sees that person can do the same. when bad news comes out about bad people or horrible atrocities in the world it’s such an easy impulse to despair, and obviously it’s important to feel what you need to feel. grieve. be angry. be sorrowful. be empathetic. but dust off your pants and get up and be a part of a chain reaction that, no matter how small the scale, and spread compassion and love and care. all the reasons why you might not—“it’s hard! it’s scary! people will make fun of me! it’s useless because there’s too much evil!” are all grade A arguments as to why you should. you have no idea how many people you could inspire to do the same. even if it doesn’t get you anyway far, you can at least say you have the nobility of trying. please choose love and please choose life. you are worth loving and you are worth inspiring others to love

[deathdetermineslife]

[boydyke]

when people respond to trans women who have something to say about what they've experienced or witnessed as a trans woman with "haha what do any of these words mean. anyone in this thread smoke weed. none of these words are in the Bible. wow sometimes I stumble across a corner of the internet I never thought possible. op go touch grass" it is 100% coming from a position of privilege rather than whatever holier than thou high IQ normalperson stance they think it is. you haven't seen this shit before because you have the privilege to not be targeted by lolcow forums or called a paraphile for being into bdsm. trans women, women of color, autists & schizos etc--especially if many of these intersect--often don't have the luxury to be ignorant to transmisogyny and racism and ableism, or to not be targeted by neonazis for simply having a blog, their ""neet status"" is irrelevant to these things actually. this shit isn't exclusively online for them! many irl queer groups end up dominated by privileged white transmisogynists maybe because that's the status fucking quo. maybe be fucking nice for once and listen to things women have to say. the amount of meanspirited replies I've seen towards women talking about shit they've personally experienced recently is grating. it costs nothing to be nice and mind your own business. you don't have to act like underprivileged groups are hysterical psychotic freaks who care too much.

[spitblaze]

If you’re gonna care about prison abolition and justice you are necessarily going to have to care about the people who DID do those crimes and just want to reintegrate and live a normal life without hurting anyone. You're gonna have to be cool with the fact that the guy scanning your groceries might’ve raped someone. You're gonna have to relax about the possibility that your bank teller used to be a career criminal. The person sitting next to you on the bus might’ve committed three different murders, and as long as he's not about to commit a fourth right now, that's not your fuckin' problem. People don't disappear from society after they commit crimes, and most of them really just want to live a normal, stable life instead of going back to that. And the best way to make sure they don't relapse is to ensure they're able to live that peaceful life instead of freaking out because the guy next door used to run a dogfighting ring. You don’t have to be friends with them, you don't even have to like them, but you're gonna need to be okay with them existing in society. Sorry.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Look what we've become.

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