#and there's still a lot of fan entitlement going around these days that i'm also leery of creators taking on too much feedback... idk

[lazzarella]

Oh, I started a very similar post recently but couldn't be bothered posting it. (Read: was too chicken)

“it’s important to be critical of the media we consume” doesn’t mean I have to do so in a public forum

This! This is exactly why I often have a kneejerk "NO!" response when I see 'we have to be critical of the media we consume' because SO many people I've seen express that sentiment mean we have to do it in the public eye (and not an insignificant number of them want you to be critical in the same way they are, and if you're not then it doesn't seem to count) and preface any praise of media with a long disclaimer on its flaws. And it's not everyone, but it's enough people that I'm leery of posts like that now. I just have zero interest in always having to list every single flaw before I can dig into what I like!

Anyway, I personally try to meet media on its own terms, these days, as in I prefer to look at what it's trying to do, instead of what I think it *should* do, and I'm able to enjoy a lot more things that way! Sometimes I don't think it's successful, and sometimes I end up realising it's just not for me. And I'm also trying to keep in mind that a LOT of media critique comes down to subjective preference. Pls, I could very easily tear even some things I love to shreds, and while it can be fun while I’m yelling at my television, I personally find it more gratifying and challenging to dig into what’s working and why, I guess?

It's certainly interesting to read other people's thoughts on different shows and movies and books, but yeah, I follow people on Letterboxd and Goodreads and see people in the tags here who never seem to enjoy anything! I'm sure they do, but their reviews are always heavily skewed toward negative criticism and it must be exhausting. It seems exhausting to me, anyway!

There are so many ways to engage with art and media and focussing on the positives does not display a lack of intellectual curiosity imho

(Sorry, I don’t usually add anything to posts, but this has been on my mind a lot lately)

The thing is, I do have negative thoughts and criticisms of the things that I watch or read, but I don’t often feel compelled to share them, and I don’t think this makes me intellectually inferior or vapid.

I think it’s quite easy, in fact, to recognize the flaws in a piece of media. And I don’t owe it to the public or to strangers to make sure that they know that I know that something that happened in a show was poorly executed or that an actor had weak delivery.

If I really feel like talking about something I disliked, then I will, but “it’s important to be critical of the media we consume” doesn’t mean I have to do so in a public forum, and I don’t get why some people act like doing so makes them smarter than the rest of fandom. Frankly, I think what bothers me more than the negativity is the pretentiousness around it.

[sergle]

Every time YouTube nonsense happens I'm always like "I can't wait to see what Sergle says about this" because you're the only person I follow that talks about YouTube nonsense.

Please take this is an invitation for you to talk about the Watcher's apology video lol

I am a filthy youtube enjoyer so you can absolutely count on me and GODDDDDDDDDDD... I mean the apology is not NEARLY as funny as the blunder, so it hasn't kept my attention as much but like the obligatory upfront thing is that, like, it is good that they posted it, they apologized for being insensitive and whatever, they're not scraping their channel clean or going forward with their old plan to only post their shows on their own platform, and these are technically good and correct things, because they could have pretended not to notice all the negative feedback. So like, responding is good. BUT LIKE I HAVE QUESTIONS NOW... Because they took SO LONG to film and upload a video that basically is just "we fucked up, we're sorry, we're not gonna do that anymore", which doesn't exactly take a writer's room several days to cook, but I DIGRESS... They were quiet for long enough for everyone to LOOK REALLY CLOSE. After the initial reaction, people had time to do some pretty comprehensive cost breakdowns for their stuff, and for what they have to be pulling in from adsense, sponsored segments, patreon, merch, and touring Like, they'd need to be really mismanaging their finances, because they're doing very well for themselves, making good, stable money, and the vids they make are super duper advertiser friendly. SO... you take long enough without putting out a holder statement or a quick heel-turn apology or anything, it gives people more time to get comfortable with not liking you, and also to dig around and google things about you, or scrape up info/trivia about you to corroborate their new opinion of you. It gets personal, is what I mean. So pulling this move has still, at BEST, caused some permanent damage to their relationships with fans, in both directions. They all got a huge flood of negative feedback, and even a perfect, emotionally mature, non-entitled person would have a negative reaction to people being upset with them at such a high volume. But now they're gonna remember the things that people have said about them, and there's no way that at the very least, Steven isn't gonna feel spiteful about this. People TOTALLY unloaded on him (funny) (valid) about his evangelical christian conservative leaning tesla privileged out of touch boy gold flaked ice cream eating ways. He definitely is going to remember that ppl said they never liked him in the first place. As for Ryan and Shane, people didn't have any dirt on them, but they definitely still received a lot of angry messages from people, most of which will have been reasonable, but they're gonna remember the really really mean and intense ones. Anyway, they made a booboo dumb enough for jack to want to make a skit about it, so for that I'm very grateful, because I thought it was really really fucking funny

[galvanizedfriend]

hi! so i’ve read pretty much all of your works and loved them so much. your writing is amazing and some of the best fan fiction i’ve read.

the only ones i haven read from you are the wolf series but i keep hearing so many good things about it.

i know it’s a TO rewrite with caroline instead of hayley (and i could look past the baby plot if it means klaroline) but i’ve tried watching the show a few times and hated hayley’s personality and some other nuances to the show and o was wondering if The Wolf is Caroline in place of Hayley but her personality and the way she acts in situations is how Hayley does in the show, or if it’s very much so Caroline if she were put in the position Hayley is in? if that makes sense

First of all, thank you very much, nonnie! ❤️ Glad you enjoy my little fics 🥰 Your question makes perfect sense, yes.

The short answer is: no, Caroline is not just Hayley in a wig 😂 If you're asking me, I'm obviously going to say it's completely different! I'm biased, but I also know how much work I put into it, so I know all the ways TW deviates from the show. I think Caroline is very IC in this, if I may say so myself, so obviously not Hayley, and every time I've gone back to re-read parts of this fic I have had a great time 😂 So personally, I think this is a very entertaining story, but again, it's my story lol Other people might be able to give you less biased opinions.

If you hate hate The Originals, there is still a chance you won't like this anyway, but I do think it's very different, and I have a longer answer if you're interested.

Under the cut because I DON'T KNOW HOW TO SHUT THE FUCK UP!!! Be careful what you guys ask me, you might get a freaking bible as a reply.

I have become deffensive of this fic over the years because I have received some very nasty comments in the past (not saying your question is offensive in any way, nonnie, this is a very valid question!). I can respect people not liking it, I can respect this isn't everybody's cup of tea, and that's totally fine. What I can't stand is when people tell me I haven't done anything to the show, or that Klaus and Caroline are exactly the same as Klaus and Hayley. I did not spend the amount of time I have spent overthinking and overwriting this shit into something that makes much more sense and is way more fleshed out than the show ever was to hear from people that I've done nothing. I can't even list all the ways TW deviates from the show, or Caroline from Hayley, because I'd be here for the rest of the day.

As the person writing the story, I know exactly how much thought I have put into it, how many original scenes and dialogues and shit I write each chapter, and how much of what I've taken from the show I have cracked my brain to twist and change in a way that fits. I have spent more time of my life overthinking the crappy writing on this show in order to add context and find correlations and make connections and rationalize characters' behaviors and add depth to their actions and their thoughts, and let me tell you, nonnie, it was not easy. It's unbelievable how weak the writing for TO is, the actors do a lot of the work all by themselves. My friends who were with me during this time know how fucking annoying I was lol

This was me sending messages to @definedareasofuncertainty in the middle of the night to explain an idea:

I realize I can't expect readers to feel the same way, everyone is entitled to their opinions and I can only be responsible for what I write, not for how people are going to understand it, but I can't help the way I feel because, to me, it's insane when someone reads this and thinks it's the same. The entire premise of The Wolf is different. It's never about the baby, the baby is almost background noise. The Originals starts and ends around Hope, but The Wolf is not about baby Eve (that's the baby's name), it's about Caroline. Everything is about Caroline, and about Klaus' feelings for her.

A lot of what I think is wrong with TO is that it just doesn't make sense. The things they do, the choices they make, the way they relate to each other just doesn't work, and what I tried to do was rewrite it in a way that it did make sense, not only moving the story forward, but also, and especially, the characters, their motivations and their relationships. I feel like TO was always going to be a better show if they'd focused more on characters than on plot, because that's what I was there for from the start, the family and their bonds, not undercover werewolf packs or baby-stealing aunts. But the writers sacrificed the characters so much for the sake of some arguably very silly plots (don't even get me started here…). While I do keep the plot points, what I tried to do (and hopefully succeeded, at least to a certain degree) was to bring the characters to the front and push the action and enemies and wars and such to the background. So instead of having the characters reacting to the plot, I have the plot serving the characters, if that makes sense. I kept the parts that interested me and that I felt I could use to serve my purposes and threw out everything I could dispense with.

And what I was aiming for first and foremost was to get Caroline the center stage I always felt she deserved, and the love story she could've had with Klaus. So the whole thing is really about that. S1 is the two of them sorting through their differences and understanding their feelings for each other, S2 is the two of them negotiating an actual relationship, S3 is them being married. That's it. I had the best time writing about the two of them through the eyes of the other characters, to have Elijah and Rebekah and Kol and Marcel witnessing and monologuing about Klaroline, all these different points of view on them. And my actual favorite part of the entire story is the part that isn't The Originals at the end of TW2.

So anyway, my point with my TO rewriting was never to fix everything that is wrong with the show. I wasn't writing the version of TO I wish it had been, my ideal spin off. I could've done that, but I didn't, because it's not what the project was ever about when I started. I wanted to keep the show as close to what it is as possible, whilst trying to prove a point (to myself, but also, hopefully, to some other people) that there was a way that this show could've still kept me invested. I'm an easy girl, just give me faves on their journey towards endgame and I'm satisfied, you know.

If you made it to the end of this, congratulations, nonnie 😂 You wanted a yes or no answer and you got a STATEMENT. I'm very sorry for my dumbass response, I've just become *protective* of this fic. If you do read it, I hope you'll find it enjoyable. If not, that's ok too! There are many amazing fics out there for you to be wasting your time on something that won't spark joy for you ❤️ And thanks again for reading my other fics, that's very lovely of you!

[signedjehanne]

i'm writing this post because i think that a lot of non AAPI fandom bloggers could benefit from reflecting on how they view both asian cultures and asian people.

to start, we have to understand what cultural exports are. a cultural export is defined as "exchange of ideas, information, art, language and other aspects of culture among nations and their peoples in order to foster mutual understanding". it is most often used to rebrand a country in the wake of propaganda.

in the west specifically, a lot of the largest cultural exports from other countries come from east asia- in forms such as k-pop, j-fashion, idol culture, anime, k-dramas, k-beauty and c-beauty, etc. there also are other notable exports that influence the west's perception of these countries, such as technology.

enjoying these cultural exports isn't inherently bad. enjoying things like anime and kpop isn't cultural appropriation, and it's something that brings together communities around the world. however. the issue arises when people cross the line from "this is a cultural export from this country" to "this is *who* the people from this country are". reducing entire ethnic groups to one component, no matter how "positive" the component is, has far more consequences than people realize.

in essence, it is stereotyping. and it also reduces the perceived humanity of the AAPI community. because these parts of certain cultures are commodified in this way, reducing us as people to these cultural exports carries a heavy risk of commodifying us as *people*. when you as a person and community are perceived as a commodity, people feel like they are entitled to you and your identity. this is seen in stereotypes of asians as submissive and obedient (ESPECIALLY ASIAN WOMEN), and white people essentially playing dress up with being asian (like oli london). it's also seen in stereotypes of us as cold, villainous, and unfeeling (such as the head director of BLI in danger days).

these stereotypes are often a matter of life and death. in the atlanta spa shooting, the shooter confessed that he wanted to "eliminate the temptation" that these asian women represented for him. this is where reducing the AAPI community's humanity ends up.

tying this all back to danger days. we can see where it drew from japanese art and television, but gerard took it too far and ended up dehumanizing asians. and we see this everywhere, in the majority of fandoms, as well as in non fandom interactions. and it needs to fucking stop. because all it does is dehumanize us, and dehumanizing us only causes more violence towards us. it unconsciously feeds into stereotypes, it's the literal definition of orientalism, and it's not okay.

as an aside- i see this also happening with the reduction of chinese people to being the same as the chinese government, which also carries the real world consequences and violence from sinophobia. whether negative stereotypes or ones that seem positive on the surface, reducing a people to one aspect of their country is never acceptable.

if you say dumb bullshit in the replies or tags, you are going to get blocked. i have no bandwidth to deal with white people griping. i am still processing monterrey park and i am weighed down by fear for my family. i will not be nice. i have spent energy explaining this to you in depth, and if you don't want to understand it that's on you.

i also have a post about the person saying they would get the rising sun flag tattooed, here

[idolish7imagines]

can i request tamaki with a reader who’s a trigger fan and some new limited edition trigger merch comes out and reader is determined to get the whole collection and drags tamaki along (we’re running the trigger new merch drop like the army telling him what to get when we get there how were gonna split the store up etc etc) (cute and fluffy and hes supportive and tries his hardest but also maybe some jealously hehehe)

Yotsuba Tamaki x Reader :: Merch Sweep

A/N: these drabbles are getting longer and longer so if yall read it all i love you

He's pouting and you haven't the faintest clue why. Again.

"Tama, what's with that face? Perk up! We're almost at the store and we have to be on our toes as soon as we get in there." You explain, nudging his shoulder as the two of you walked through the sidewalks and streets bustling with life already even though it was fairly early.

"I hate waking up this earlyy.." He rubs his eyes, there were clearly still crust and tiredness in them since he barely got up despite you shaking him so much to the point you nearly considered body slamming him.

"I'm still sorry but we've been planning this for almost a week so its not like you didn't have time to mentally prepare yourself." Letting out a sigh, you wrap your arm around his lest he think about wandering off to go buy king pudding or something else of interest.

A gasp escapes you, seeing there was already a line wrapped around the corner of devoted TRIGGER fans waiting to get their hands on a limited edition signed CD at a vendor that was outside.

You grunt, but still have a look of determination, counting the amount of people in line in comparison to how many CDs they said they were going to sell on social media a few days ago.

Tamaki just stares. "Couldn't you have gotten So-chan to do this instead.."

"Sogo needs his rest he's got a lot of work this afternoon."

"But he wakes up earlier than I do anyway!" Tamaki retorts, lifting his hands in the air before you shush him.

After a moment of tapping your foot and thinking throughly, you turn to him. "So you remember the plan right? We can come back to this line later when its calmed down, maybe in about 6 to 7 minutes. But other than that its likely gonna go down how I predicted. So I'll take the stores on the left and you take the ones a little farther down on the right. I know you'd hate waiting in line so I'm gonna come back here while you keep shopping, and when thats done we're meeting in the food court."

'Food court' is probably the most reassuring thing Tamaki has heard all morning.

"kaaay." He lazily drapes his arms behind his neck. By now he knows its pretty useless to complain, and that you are gonna turn into a whole animal if he doesn't get all the stuff you want.

-----------

Tamaki understands that you and Sogo are entitled to your opinions. What he doesn't understand is that sometimes you treat TRIGGER like a bigger deal than IDOLiSH7, he's working hard too you know?

Thinking over this for a while has left him with a pout, hand on his cheek while dipping a fry in some ketchup after you bought him food as reward for putting up with your demands.

You on the other hand, was deeply satifisied with the amazing haul you had gotten from both you and his splitting up to buy all your new TRIGGER CDs and merch. Looking over everything, from Tshirts to perfume, a content sigh escapes you, paired with a giddy smile.

"Thank you Tama, you're the best!" You jovially compliment.

He mumbles in response, shoving another fry in his mouth.

"Oh come on, you can't still be mad about being sleepy, are you?"

Another grumble. "(Y/N)-chan doesnt get it at all.." The teen mutters.

You lean in, a sign to inquire on what he meant.

"I don't hate shopping with you, but you always talk about TRIGGER." His cheeks puff a little. "Why not talk about I7 or King Pudding?"

You pause for a moment, blinking a few times in the silence.

Deep down you know what this is about; he wants some praise. And well, you figure you might as well give it to him.

His turquoise eyes widen, suddenly feeling the weight of your hand on his head.

"You're a good boy, Tama." You ruffle his hair. "You're a talented dancer, singer, and a goof, and I love spending time with you."

Tamaki's lip slightly pokes out, not entirely an embarrassed pout, but he does take your hand off of his head.

"Its weird to pet my head when you're shorter than me." He says like an objective fact rather than to put you down. Despite that, he's still holding your hand.

"Okay, I'll stand up while you're sitting down and then i'll be taller." A grin spread across your face.

"Ehh? It doesnt work like that! If you do that I'll stand up too and still be taller!" He says as if its becoming some sort of competition.

You shush him a little so no attention is drawn towards your way.

"No seriously, I really do appreciate you Tamaki. I don't know if it means much from me, but IDOLiSH7 is a great group and you're part of why it is."

The idol seems calmer, smiling at you.

"TRIGGER is good too, but we'll have to pass Tenn Tenn, Gakkun and Ryu-aniki one day."

"Shshsh not while I'm still in hardcore fan mode for them." You shush him again but for your own personal reason.

He gives an offended exclaim. "But you just said-"

Before he could finish, you burst out into laughter, covering your mouth with your hand, but it was hardly masking anything.

Tamaki pouts, but your laugh always had the ability to make him join in, so he did.

[thefrogdalorian]

How can you still ship Dinbo when shippers have been so disrespectful to Katee AND she said it wasn’t going to be romantic?

Hello! I'm going to put most of this answer under the cut because it contains a lot of fandom discourse for one fine Sunday afternoon. But I wanted to give your question a full answer so I can direct any future questions I may receive of a similar nature to this answer because honestly, I am not a blog that revolves around shipping and I really do not want to be one! But thank you for asking a question without being aggressive, I am more than happy to answer :)

TL;DR: I hope the disrespectful idiots step on a lot of Lego. As much as I may share a ship with them, they do not speak for me and I cannot control their behaviour. I certainly do not condone it. Also, I ship Dinbo because I personally enjoy the idea of it and as much as I respect an actor’s opinion on their character, I do not necessarily have to share it. An actor should never be harassed for an opinion, that crosses an awful lot of lines that should never be crossed. I hate that that happened just as much as you do.

Ultimately I believe in ship and let ship. I stand against harassing real life people over fiction and more than anything: always always ALWAYS treat others with kindness!

Firstly, want to start off this answer by saying that I absolutely love Katee, she’s great and she brought SO MUCH to the character of Bo. I am thrilled she was able to portray her in all her forms, we're so lucky. To make such a successful leap from animation to live action is testament to how talented she is as an actress and I feel like she deserves so much more praise than she gets. It’s sad because in all of her comment sections after Mando S3 there were endless disgusting 2% jokes after ONE tiny comment she made on a much longer podcast appearance where she shared much more interesting stories. I think that was maybe the same one as she spoke a little about Dinbo but tbh, I haven't actually watched it because I can't stand podcasts... they make me cringe 😭

Anyway, those basement-dwellers focused on borderline sexually harassing her because of how attractive she is to them, rather than appreciating her talent. That just… absolutely sucks for her. I feel terrible for her. It was so widespread too and lasted for months… really hard to watch, tbh. But as far as I’m aware, it wasn’t Dinbo shippers that were leaving those comments.

Now, that’s not to deny that Dinbo shippers have taken things too far at some point, I’m sure they have! It wouldn't be the first time shippers in a fandom have crossed a line and sadly, it won't be the last. But I personally didn’t see it because I try and stay out of fandom discourse as much as I can. I really only have the energy and appetite to interact with the chill, respectful people on my little corner of the internet. If I ever saw anything that disrespected her, I would 100% call it out.

However, I do know there was that one panel appearance where people booed her or something? Ngl, I never watched the clip because just hearing about it made me cringe too much… (wow I really have a low tolerance for these things). I think, though, that it is a case of entitled assholes being entitled assholes, regardless of what they ship. It isn't a ship that makes them behave that way, that's the excuse, but really it's their idiotic, selfish nature. I think it would be a shame, then, to tarnish entire groups of people who might be enjoying a ship in a perfectly respectful way with that same brush, I don’t think that helps keep fandom spaces kind places to be. Absolutely screw all the people who have been disrespectful to Katee, I don’t condone that AT ALL. But equally, I am not responsible for actions of everyone who happens to ship the same thing as I do.

As much as I admire Katee and she absolutely DOES NOT DESERVE ANY NEGATIVITY FROM FANS, she is an actor at the end of the day. An actor’s opinion on a character is exactly that... their opinion. They portray them as their personal interpretation of the character and how they’re directed to, of course. I'm not arrogant or deluded enough to believe I know more about Bo-Katan Kryze than the person who portrayed her. I don't at all think that, but I think I can still disagree with Katee's opinion because, y'know, I'm human and humans don't always agree on everything.

The great thing about media is that audience can come away with a totally different view of the same character. Once the work is out there in the world, it takes on a life of its own, for better or worse. Sometimes beyond what even the creator intended originally. It’s like, for example, after you finish reading a book and you discover that other readers interpreted the exact same words in a completely different way. Some of those opinions you might agree with or entertain, some you completely disagree with and wonder how the hell they can even think such a thing. A portion of such interpretations probably aren’t even what the author intended, like this golden piece of tumblr history: the curtains were fucking blue.

This kind of thing has happened to me with my own writing before! People thinking a plot will go in a completely different way to what I intended. It's always a strange feeling, but as long as you don’t berate the author/fellow readers with different opinions, I think it’s perfectly reasonable to draw your own conclusions about it. After all, art is meant to be interpreted in many different ways. That’s the beauty of engaging with and creating art, to me.

At the end of the day, we're all bony sacks of meat with our own individual lizard brains and it would be boring if we all thought the same! Of course I still respect Katee’s opinion. If she says she wasn’t playing Bo to have romantic feelings towards Din then I’m not going to say she’s lying or get frustrated at her! That’s genuinely how she played it. Equally, it won’t really change my opinion because I know what I, personally, believe I saw in their interactions! Katee is more than welcome to share her thoughts, I would never think that she should stay quiet because I disagree with what she said… but equally I don’t have to let her words stop me from shipping something I enjoy! Plus I don’t think any of the cast know how Mando will end. Maybe they have some general plot ideas set out but nothing is final yet.

Ultimately, I’m equally happy for Din to end up with Bo or another love interest, if it makes sense for his character and feels right for the story, as I am for it just to be him and Grogu. The love he has for Grogu will always be the most important thing in his life. Loving a child like that changes you as a person and I love that we got to see how he evolved into a much better man because of it. Not to be a simp or anything but he truly is the best man in the world and I love him so much my chest aches.

A final point: I think if we just took actors and creators’ words as gospel then fandom would ultimately become a much duller place to be. Speculation and shipping are FUN (when done respectfully, of course). There’s so long to wait between seasons that if I just watched Mando repeatedly and never considered a different way to view the story… I just think it would be boring for me, personally. Enjoy the show however you want, watch it and interpret it however you want...but equally I will do the same! If you don’t share my ships and headcanons then that’s totally fine, as long as we can both respect each other and not lose our humanity.

Like I’ve said before, I welcome ALL Din ships and headcanons for Din or indeed for any characters. We may disagree on some of them, but ultimately, I am not right and you are not wrong… we’re all just nerds on the internet. And I’ll always try to make my blog a friendly, welcoming place to be for anyone who stops by, I really take that vow to you and anyone reading this very seriously.

I hope that answers your question and you can see where I’m coming from. I'm glad to have said my piece and I think any future questions I get like this, I'll just direct to this answer because it really sums up how I feel.

Thanks for reading if you made it this far. I just wanted to end this with what I said at the beginning: ship and let ship, don’t harass real life people over fiction and treat others with kindness… that’s my philosophy and it’s one that I’ll always stick by :)

[uncloseted]

but that's the thing!! she implied that a fan saying hello to her or asking for a picture is ALWAYS weird and creepy and that it shouldn't even cross our minds yet she has pictures with so many celebrities, and tries to become friends with them, like aren't they all supposed to be random people? it's hypocritical. that's why people including myself are mad at her

Anonymous asked:

I’m not the original anon but I think I agree with what she’s saying about Chappell. I also get what you’re saying about how hard it is to be famous and how harmful parasocial relationships are. I would never want to be famous and honestly I don’t think I could handle it for a week lol. I feel bad that Chappell has had to deal with stalkers and harassment. That’s never ok and shouldn’t be brushed off just because she’s a celeb. That is creepy and weird behavior. What I don’t like is how she’s labeling asking for a picture as creepy and weird. Celebs absolutely have a right to say no to a picture and I get it would be exhausting to constantly be asked that but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with asking as long as it’s done politely/you respect their answer. In the example she gives in the video she responds to a fan asking for a picture with “no what the fuck” and then says they shouldn’t get mad. If I nicely asked a celeb for a picture and they started swearing at me instead of just politely saying no I would be angry too. Boundaries can be communicated in a polite way. I think respect works both ways. I see a lot of people asking for empathy for Chappell (which I agree with) but I don’t see anyone asking her to have empathy for her fans.

Is that what she said, or is that what you heard? In the first video, she calls out people who yell at her from their car window, who harass her in public, who ask her for photos and then get mad when she says no, who get offended when she says she doesn't have time for an interaction, who stalk her family, who follow her around, who dissect her life, who bully her online, and who make assumptions about her. In the second one, she says that she doesn't care that abuse and harassment and stalking are considered normal things to do to famous people, those actions still aren't okay. Then she says that it's weird when people think that they know her just because they see her online and listen to the art that she makes, and that she's allowed to say no to creepy behavior. If to you, Chappell Roan saying "please don't harass me, stalk me, or get angry at me when I don't have time to interact with you. I need to be able to say no when people are being creepy" translates to "fans should never talk to me in public", I think you need to take a step back and think about what you're considering a normal fan interaction. I also think that it's important to remember the scale of this problem. While Chappell might be the first celebrity a person has ever seen, the person asking her for a picture is likely the fifth or tenth or thirtieth person she's talked to that day. It becomes impossible to exist as a person when you have that many people putting demands on you whenever you leave the house.

But also, even if Chappell had said, "please never approach me in public. When I'm Chappell, I'm Chappell, but when I'm Kayleigh, I'm Kayleigh, and I need to be able to keep those two parts of my life separate," which, to be clear, she didn't, I don't see what the problem is. The job of an artist is not to be a public figure who's accessible 24/7. It's to make art. Chappell Roan makes records, tours, and makes merch. Her fans buy the records, go to the tours, and buy merch. In return, they have a record, an experience of going to a show, or a piece of merch. That is the extent of what her job is. It's really weird to me that people feel that because they bought her record, they're also entitled to do whatever they want to her if they see her in public. There is no other job where that's just normalized, and it's weird that we normalize it for artists. Can you imagine if you sold someone a cup of coffee and from then on, that person decided it was acceptable to touch you in public and demand photos with you and stalk you? That would be weird, right? But because Chappell is a musician, that somehow makes it okay?

I also need you to understand that Chappell Roan taking a picture with a celebrity is very different than you approaching her in public to ask for a picture. Other celebrities are essentially her co-workers, and she's taking pictures with them at work events. Chappell Roan didn't just see Olivia Rodrigo in public and demand a photo with her - Chappell did background vocals for Olivia's GUTS album, then opened for her, then took a picture with her at the tour. That's basically the equivalent of going to a work event and taking a picture with your coworker. That's really, profoundly different than going up to someone you don't know on their day off and asking them for a picture and then getting mad when they say no.

Again, I think if she had been media-trained or written out a script before posting the video, her point probably would have been taken better than it has been. Her example of a hypothetical random lady who says, "no, what the fuck" when approached for a picture seems to have gone over particularly badly by people who aren't willing to accept that that's totally how a random person might react if they were asked that in public. But she's not wrong. She has the right to exist in public without having to be performing all the time. She has the right to take off her Chappell costume and just be Kayleigh. All celebrities should have that right, because they're just people.

We're putting these celebrities in gilded cages and expecting them to dance on command, as if they're objects instead of people. As Khadija Mbowe said in their video, there's a real way in which that's abusive. And the whole "well if she didn't want to be approached in public, she shouldn't have become famous" and "she should be more polite when communicating her boundaries" thing just reeks of victim blaming to me. It feels very "well why were you wearing that outfit if you didn't want me to hit on you" or "you're such a bitch for telling me you're not interested in fucking me". Chappell should have the right to be an artist without being harassed, and she should have the right to set her boundaries the way she thinks they'll be heard, even if that's in a way that's less than polite.

At the end of the day, just like... leave celebrities alone unless you're interacting with them in a professional context (like a meet and greet, con, show, etc) or if you're going to interact with them like you would an actual stranger. Write them a fan letter or a DM to tell them how much you love their work instead. Your desire to interact with them doesn't supersede their need for privacy and to be treated as a person instead of as an object. It just can't.

[comebackwhen]

While I don't have a lot of time to enjoy the fandom the way that I used to, I did finally manage to borrow a PS5 and a copy of Rebirth. Almost 94 hours later I have thoughts and no one to share them with because I'm the only idiot I know IRL who is this deeply invested in this franchise. I kept notes while I was playing and have a lot of thoughts.

I don't expect anyone to actually read any of this, but it'll be fun for me to come back to whenever the next part comes out. If you want to read the ramblings of a fan from the earliest days (For context, I borrowed my brother's copy right after he finished playing it when the game first came out in 97) feel free.

Since I managed to stay spoiler free until I played the game over the last two weeks, I'm still going to pop my thoughts under a break in case there are others out there waiting on a PC port. Beyond here nothing is safe, plot and character-wise.

Holy shit.

I feel like the last two weeks have been kind of a fever dream. It was simultaneously everything I wanted out of the game and also weirdly disappointing in a lot of places.

So, to kick it off, I wasn't mad about the way they were playing around with the whispers and the multiverse-esque concepts. A perfect shot for shot remake would be fine, but as someone who wrote a lot of fanfiction about the game, I can hardly fault the game's creators for wanting to get in on it. lol I would imagine that some of the new content falls into the - would have been in the OG if not for the limitations of the day - category anyway.

I also found it supremely funny that they included a vaguely malevolent entity that was obsessed with keeping the story "on track" and forcing the players to disagree with those entitles via the characters when a significant chunk of those players would be making that their chief complaint when they hit the end of the game. Call em on their bullshit FF7 devs!

As someone who has always been fascinated by Zack, even when he was practically nothing more than a few lines of dialogue and a missable cutscene in the Nibelheim basement, I can't tell you the joy I felt when I saw him live through the final fight. I was down for whatever they wanted to change at that point. I was even excited for it, I think. I find the idea of a time loop or multiverses crossing over kind of fascinating, so I was ready for whatever they wanted to do with it.

So now that you have context for where I stand on that particular side of the argument...

There was so much that rebirth did right. On the whole, I'm so, so impressed with what they did. The world feels so much bigger and some of the details are exquisite. Little things, like the way the news reports things in the background while they're happening and seeing the way Shinra would spin it. Hearing people talking about world events while you walk by - not to mention the sheer amount of people in the world. It really gives weight to some of the events in a way I had never been able to picture.

Though, whoever thought it was a good idea to put so much destroyable/movable clutter in the world was an idiot. JFC. I had to kick coral out of the way on the way to the altar in the Forgotten City and it genuinely annoyed the everloving hell out of me to be distracted by something so dumb in that moment.

I was worried about playing through the Nibelheim flashback for the Nth time but there were so many subtle things that made it interesting. Like, I didn't appreciate the way that Cloud's VA would be able to do that subtle impression of Zack in the way he delivered the lines. If you don't know what's happening there, you'd totally miss it but iykyk. I loved that. There were also subtle, heartbreaking things, like the kids playing Sephiroth when you walk through town. And I cackled when Tifa and Aeris outright call you an asshole for going through her drawers.

Honestly, the amount of casual swearing in this game gave me life. Which is hilarious, because I'm pretty sure Cid didn't curse once. I was really looking forward to hearing him tell us to sit down, shut up, and drink our $#%Y^ tea in full VA glory, so I'm a little sad that we didn't get that.

The choices between what was changed/how it was changed and what wasn't changed at all sometimes seemed a little weird to me. Like falling off the bridge into a river that being what swept the other trooper away, makes way more sense than falling into a ravine as far as why someone could survive it with scraped knees and someone else would end up in a coma. Removing the hidden bookshelf entrance into the Nibelheim labs? Lame. Chocobos at the ranch don't dance? Laaaaame.

I am glad that they finally called out how weird it was that Tifa never said anything about Cloud being there. It's like half the reason I always disliked her character so much. I even liked the conflict between them and the way that Sephiroth kind of turned it into an uno reverse situation. Cloud's eventual descent into madness near the end feels more earned because Sephiroth has been putting the pressure on the whole time.

Some thoughts about the world travels:

Fuck the Midgar Zolem. Nopenopenope.

I loved so many things in Junon. People in lower Junon protesting at the idea of the parade, awesome bit of world building. The weird ass bald bar with Rude? Chef's kiss. Cloud becoming the parade captain and having to go gather the squad. Loved it. He got so into it and you could see the hints of trooper Cloud under the fake Soldier persona he built. Lovely. The parade mini game was perfect. Even little things like the 1/35 soldier collectibles being used to plan the parade formations in the building where you usually grabbed them in the OG. It's the little details like that. I was super bummed that we weren't getting Red XIII in the trooper uniform until we did.

The Gold Saucer. THE GOLD SAUCER. I spent actual hours there. The only thing that would have made it better would have been a section in the Wonder Square where you could have played the OG versions of the mini games. Cait Sith's voice was giving Crowley high on laudanum and I wasn't mad about it.

I had a really funny moment when I got to Gongaga where I went, "Huh, she looks an awful lot like Cissnei..." and then she said she was Cissnei and I wasn't sure how to feel about it. Most of the Turks went into hiding, so yeah, okay sure. I just feel like there was a missed opportunity for her to call herself something else and it to be a subtle nod to the fact that Cissnei's probably not her name either. I just can't believe she didn't say anything to Cloud or Aeris (you'll pry that spelling out of my cold dead hands) about Zack.

Cid's early entrance into the game was also a little confusing. Like, he was still working for Shinra at that point in the OG. The only reason I was mad about it was that it meant we probably weren't getting Rocket Town. To be fair, I had to start speed running the plot by that point because I only had the the PS5 for two weeks, so I pretty much skipped exploring the Nibel region entirely. Could Rocket Town be there, sure. I won't know until the PC port comes out. lol I'm intrigued by the idea that Cid knew Ifalna. Was he the one who let them out? Again, not an idea I ever considered, but I wouldn't be mad about it.

Going to Cosmo Canyon was the moment I realized this game was not made for anyone remotely neurospicy. I started calling Rebirth "ooh, a squirrel!" the game at that point. I was so excited to go to Cosmo Canyon. Like it was one of the parts I was most excited to see in modern graphics. I immediately got sidetracked by the chocobos, the reagent collection stuff, the screaming owls, the towers, the Chadley bullshit in general.

That was probably one of my biggest complaints, honestly. Trust me to want to go over every inch of the map on my own. I don't need this weird AI kid to give me quests to make me do that. If anything, I actively started avoiding areas because I could see a cluster of his nonsense which meant traveling through that patch of map would be a pain in my ass. I didn't mind him or the concept as a whole, I just needed like 60% less of it, at least.

That being said, I loved the look of Cosmo Canyon, but I was confused by the vibe there. I feel like if that many people believed in Planetology, Shinra could never have gotten away with the bullshit it did. Even in all the towns, there's a dude in robes preaching Planetology. People are talking about the Lifestream and the Planet as a sentient being CONSTANTLY. There needed to be more, "don't believe that hippie, religious nonsense" people to balance that out. Or people saying, mako's absolutely a renewable resource, even if you believe that Planetology stuff. People on the whole would be destructive for the sake of comfort, but there was this weird disconnect there.

Since they were going with this, Planetology is more popular route, I do appreciate the fact that the people who believe in it at the Canyon are kind of pretentious about it. Tifa literally got eaten by a weapon, the group - including Nanaki who is one of them - have seen a number of wild, inexplicable things in the last couple weeks. Probably mako poisioning and group hallucinations. You should get checked out and how dare you question me! Oh you're a Cetra? Here, light the pretty lights at the festival then.

Since we're talking about Cosmo Canyon, the bit about Red's voice cracked me up. I was not prepared for the tiny babby puppy voice he started using in the back half of the game. I definitely missed his grownup voice the rest of the game though.

The GI cave part was well done. I'm sort of intrigued by the idea of the GI creating the black materia. I just wish they would have explained where the GI came from then, since they weren't born of the Planet. Materia is supposed to be the condensed knowledge of the Planet, so how did they make their own? I love the idea that the black materia was supposed to just be a way for them to take themselves out of the world and it ended up being so powerful it could destroy the entire world instead.

Also, the Cetra were just out there fighting everyone, the GI, the humans, Jenova. I really liked the way that GI Nattak called out that she's only Cetra by bloodline because the actual Cetra were kind of assholes. It's an angle I never considered and I'm kind of here for it.

I don't know how to feel about them turning Nibelheim into a mako poisoning treatment center. I think I preferred the Shinra coverup. It makes them much more sinister. It also made more sense when the replacement townspeople were rude to Cloud and Tifa. They have to stay in character because that's their job. Hell no you two didn't live here. Get lost. Now, everyone's just uncomfortable because two people who used to live there are in their midst. It was weird.

Also Cloud remembered Zack way the fuck early for no good reason. He doesn't talk to Aeris about it. Tifa tries to get him to cover it up. Why though? It makes way more sense for him to get flashes but nothing concrete if you want to foreshadow but you're not going to do anything interesting with it.

I have mixed emotions about what they did to Vincent. It's weird that he stayed at the mansion of his own volition as "security" considering what Hojo and Lucrecia did to him. Why tf was he sleeping in a coffin then? It made way more sense for him to be locked away and willing to join up with the party so he could take a piece out of Hojo. Now, he's claiming to have unfinished business with Sephiroth instead but also refuses to go anywhere near him? Also, I can't not hear Matt Mercer's voice when he talks so that was super distracting. lol Galian Beast was incredible. I'm just pissed I didn't get to use him as a limit break.

This was the point that I realized I had to start skipping exploration/side quests if I wanted to get to the ending before I lost access to the game and system. If I don't mention something and it's not required to beat the game, assume I didn't get to see it and will have to wait until the PC port comes out and I can take the whole game completely apart.

I got the Aeris Gold Saucer date. 10/10. I just wish they had got a vocalist that sounded more like Aeris's regular VA, but the play was a fun little minigame. I was confused by why they were all wearing VR headsets while sitting in a theater and if everyone saw themselves as the hero and people in their party as Rosa, the enemies, etc, but I mostly just turned my brain off and enjoyed the ride. The ferris wheel date was the perfect update to the dialogue while still keeping the vibe. Loved it.

The Temple of the Ancients was both better than I could have hoped for and possibly the worst section to play through at the same time. I was really looking forward to a quirky puzzle solving section with a weird, reality warping backdrop. The temple itself was perfect. The way it built itself up when the keystone got inserted. The look of the labyrinth. All of it. Then, it turned into an action RPG enemy grind. It needed to be half the size it was if they were just going to cut all the cool parts out anyway.

The flashbacks to everyone's sad moments were cool, but I feel like they didn't actually do what they were supposed to for anyone but Aeris. Red ends his tied to the table by Hojo, Barret - Myrna's dead and his arm is gone. (Though it was cool to see what Myrna looks like!) Tifa's dad's dead. Yuffie's confronted by Nero and mocked for leaving Sonon behind. If the Temple was trying to tell them that anger and grief can only take you so far as a warrior, they should probably all ended with some sliver of hope, like Elmyra helping to take care of her. Barret finding Marlene for example, would have been great.

I like the way they handled Cait Sith here much better than the OG. Him physically holding up the temple so it wouldn't collapse was a nice touch. He seemed genuinely remorseful about what he did and the surprise, here's Cait #2 moment seemed far less out of the blue and wrong toned because everyone was still conflicted about how to feel about him.

Cloud creeped me the hell out by the end and that was perfect. The way he chased Aeris for the black materia while saying creepy half-mind controlled stuff. I'm also not mad that they skipped him beating her up and replaced it with them both falling into the pit. It still gives a viable reason for why he's unconscious and gives her the space to run off to the sleeping forest.

I am a little sad that we lost out on his indecision about whether he's safe to go onward. The group dynamic when it comes to Cloud being weird is confusing. It seems like they all understand that degradation is a thing and there's a good chance it's happening to Cloud, but they also let him get away with shit that he really shouldn't be doing/saying if that is the case. He yeeted Tifa into a mako pit and she got eaten by a WEAPON. Did we address that, not really..? He's desperate to get to the black materia in a way that's making Yuffie looked restrained? That's fine. We don't need to tell him to go back and sit with Cid and Vincent. Just let him come along!

The ending leaves me feeling conflicted and brings me to my complaint about the remake itself. I feel like we were speedrunning the plot to ultimately get nowhere fast. Everyone knows the plot, so who cares if we bring Cid in early to cut some of the journey out. We're going to skip over Wutai for now by hinting at the side story we'll get to later. Vincent's backstory, who needs it? Any world exploration in relation to the keystone, nah, Cait just knows that. Let's put Rufus and Hojo at the temple with the Turks and steal some of the northern crater stuff and do that instead of the Temple of the Ancients puzzles. Bone City, Sleeping Forest, Forgotten City? Yeet.

For real though, the Forgotten City feels smaller than the OG version and that's a fucking crime.

I assumed that the climax would explain more about the alternate universes, why Zack survived, how the whispers work, etc. and that was the REAL story here, so sure, let's get to that.

Any time now.

I'll wait.

Wait, not like that! I didn't mean- and the game's over. Well fuck.

Seriously, that's how I felt about the ending. I was kind of holding off on the Zack side story so I could come at it all at once. I loved that Zack got into Midgar just to see that, without Cloud, the Avalanche stuff falls apart. There's a teeny plot hole in how Aeris would have ended up involved without Cloud buuuuut fate's gonna do its thing and I can suspension of disbelief that.

What I can't ignore is that we never find out who the missing Soldier with the Buster Sword was that was involved. The reports talk about a missing Soldier who Shinra's still searching for. Maybe they're just tacking that on because Zack survived his execution and they're trying to kill two birds with one stone, but then why aren't they looking for two Soldiers? Zack still clearly has Cloud. I have questions.

On that note, literally no one bats an eye at Zack and Cloud looking like they could 100% have been running from that fight. Kyrie would have absolutely have handed Cloud over to a Soldier/Trooper the second Zack was gone.

So great. Now we have Zack and Cloud at Elmyra's with Marlene and Aeris in a coma. Her materia's all clear. The world is ending. Spooky af. I'm fascinated. Biggs is the only one who survived the capture of Avalanche. he's super guilty. Love it. Wait, why's he talking about Cloud like he knows him and he was there at the bombings? Marlene too? Of course Aeris has a crush on Cloud, you're dead silly! It's probably best she never wakes up because then Sephiroth murders her.

Elmyra implying that it's okay if no one saves Barret and Tifa because the world is ended and they're all going to end up in the same place soon was fucking DARK. I was not prepared for that.

Then, Zack has a decision. Shinra HQ for a cure to Cloud's coma or rescuing Biggs from his own stupidity. He chooses a friendly chat with Hojo, rocks up to the building on a motorcycle and guns it into the building despite the troopers. Love it. Wait. Why's he talking to Biggs in the reactor? And Biggs is dead and Zack's facing down the army again. Did we just branch into a second alternate timeline where Zack both went to HQ and tried to save Biggs? Awesome. We're really leaning into the weirdness. Let's fucking go.

Aeris and Cloud wake up in their coma bodies. Okay, awesome. We're finally going to get an explanation. Is this some weird sort of afterlife where all the souls from the multiverse end up and drop their knowledge off before rebirth? Is Aeris going to take Rebirth!Cloud and bring him somewhere else because she's a Cetra and can do crazy shit like that?

Nope, we're going on another weird ass date.

This is when I realized that we've definitely got at least two "Zack lives" timelines. The Cloud and Aeris one seems like a spinoff of one of those too, since Cloud woke up in the wheelchair in Aeris's house. Then there's one where Zack is sitting on the church steps right before Sephiroth shows up. I can't tell if the dog Johnny's holding is the same one as the bag from the remake ending or not. You can keep track of which timeline you're in because of the Stamp used in that universe. What the fuck even is my life?

So assuming that "Johnny dog" Zack is the one who fights with Cloud, is he gone when he says goodbye at the end? Is he the one that wakes up in the church? But the flowers in the church are okay when all the other Zack timelines aren't. Is this a fifth timeline?

I don't necessarily mind that they didn't tie it all up in a bow because this isn't the end, but I have so many frustrating questions.

Lastly, let's get to Schrodinger's flower girl. If she's really dead, I feel robbed. If they were actually going to kill her off, I wanted to be fucked up emotionally in 4k. I wanted everyone saying goodbye on the altar. I wanted the water burial. All of it in high def so I could sob my heart out like a teenage girl.

I'm intrigued by the overlay of Aeris bleeding and not. Her holding Cloud's face and it looking like he's holding her hand up because she's already dead. Cloud giving the OG speech with no words and just crying and ignoring Sephiroth entirely. Are we seeing multiple worlds converging and only Cloud can tell because he was dragged into that alternate world with her? Is Cloud's mind cracked beyond all telling and this is just Jenova/Sephiroth coming to him wearing the face of someone he loves and trusts?

I'm still annoyed that they seemed to scoot on by the most pivotal part of the OG, but I will forgive them if it turns out that Cloud's crazy and we get to see it all properly in Part Three. Or if they come up with an equally suitable twist involving multiversal travel where she really is both alive and dead in any given universe.

I'll be excited when the PC port comes out so I can really take the game apart and find out what makes it tick. I'm sure I only barely scratched the surface, considering how much side content I had to skip. I think a lot of this could benefit from a second playthrough, even if I had 100% it.

If you're still here, I'm confused but hope you enjoyed my ramblings. Night all.

[frazzledsoul]

I found an interesting poll on Buzzfeed from a few years ago.

Let's see how this stacked up.

These results are SHOCKING! Luke and Lorelai win by a mile. RIP, Team Dean.

Again, SHOCKING! Mostly because that many people were willing to vote for Christopher, but otherwise the Diner Man wins.

Again, I am BLOWN AWAY by these results! Mostly because how on Earth do people rationalize a Rory/Dean ship working out? Even Marty makes more sense.

But who cares? It's a Team Jess world.

Rory comes in fourth behind Lorelai, Sookie, and Luke and barely outranks Jess. That's weird. I was told I wasn't allowed to prefer other characters to her or criticize any of her decisions. Huh. Funny how that goes.

Huh. I think the whole "stealing a boat because I received a bad performance review" aspect of her behavior is far more concerning than taking a break from college (and no, receiving criticism from someone she admired was not a justifiable reason for her actions, Rory doesn't have the right to break laws every time she's upset).

Ultimately, I'm not sure that fancy degree meant a lot in the long run since Lorelai is basically indifferent to Rory choosing to have other people support her and coast on her trust fund/wealthy lover's money twelve years later. But Rory is a grown adult, Lorelai can't make her go back to college, maybe she should have just...dealt with it? IDK. Just talking sense here.

Affairgate takes the prize here, as it should. No, sneaking around with your married ex and eventually fucking him (and then running off to Europe to cavort around on your grandmother's dime so no one finds out) isn't justified because Rory was bored, lonely, and thought she should be with Dean instead of Lindsey. You don't have a right to another woman's husband just because you want to feel better about yourself. And yes, a summer with a single if financially struggling Jess was a more moral and practical choice in every aspect. Rory isn't entitled to use Dean and Lindsey as her playthings when she's not as good at adapting to upper-class life as she used to be. After all, she has an ability to escape to that life to outrun her bad decisions. They don't. She had an ability to avoid the affair for weeks before it happened and she didn't. So yeah. Stupid, selfish, shallow behavior that helped ruin a marriage, hurt a completely innocent person, and it should not have taken her two years to say she regretted it.

Anyway, got off track there for a minute. We already know how I feel about Yale (not that big of a deal by itself).

Blurting out she was pregnant on her mother's long-awaited wedding day. Yes, that was really, really selfish. Was it the worst thing she even did in AYITL, though? Really, there's so many other options. There's also cheating on her own boyfriend with an engaged Logan, slacking on or quitting all her projects, moving home without asking and refusing to get a job, throwing an unholy tantrum because Lorelai didn't want her to exploit her private life in the exact way Rory wanted and shutting her out for weeks, having unprotected sex with her still-engaged ex even though she knows he's committed to getting married and getting pregnant....okay, other than the affair, the pregnancy reveal is probably the worst thing that she does, but there are so many other options.

I feel the fourth option shouldn't count here because not wanting to become homeless because of termite infestation is completely reasonable. There were really...so many other terrible decisions.

Affairgate is still the worst, though.

I know Luke/Lorelai fans who were very upset about their story because it ruined the endgame they had in their heads, but that's the problem with trusting ASP. I liked it, personally. My expectations were not high.

Rory's storyline was awful and if it's true that Alexis has shot down revival plans because she refuses to participate, I don't blame her.

I think the story has a perfectly nice ending that didn't require a lot of work for fans to dream up the exact ending they wanted and it should have stayed that way.

[stranger-rants]

(1) I hate how the Duffers and no one im the ST fandom allows Nancy to be flawed and how she's now shapped as this person incapable of making mistakes. With that mentioned, all these anons around Billy Tumblr finding genuine joy when she's bullied by Carol and Tommy (which i admittedly like how they embrace their mean energy), even after she's concerned about finding Barb, saying that her hitting Steve was wrong and that she shouldn't have reacted like that, making "nancy wheeler slander" party posts, the whole sex shaming situation that a lot of fans still feed into these days, blame her for Barb's death, claiming that all those moments that she was ridiculized weren't a big deal, pretty much laughing and saying that she deserves all that treatment just because she is annoying and entitled its something that pretty much makes my stomach churn in ways that i can hardly describe...

(2) This is coming from someone that stopped caring about her after S3, bur also from someone who has been in same slut shaming bullying situations and that possessive jealosy treatment Steve (i'm not saying he's bad either) gave her on S1 just because he thought she was cheating on him with Jonathan

I’ve only gotten a couple negative anons about Nancy, and they’re usually about Nancy and Steve. Otherwise, I don’t get these posts on my dash nor do I see them in the tags because I don’t follow anyone doing these things and I generally stick to the Billy Hargrove tag only. I think a possible reason for the antagonism in “Billy fandom” have to do with how many vocal Nancy fans are Antis, but at the same time there’s prominent Steve fans who are Antis as well and Steve does tend to avoid criticism for a lot of things. It just reads to me like two characters being pit against each other for the nice guy love interest Steve which is a tale as old as time in fandom spaces.

I do think Nancy and Steve come with an entitled attitude to certain situations, but that’s because of class. I am also critical of the way that the Duffers use her as a “girl boss” while also positioning her and her family as conservative. There’s something about how they’re not just trying to capture the pop culture nostalgia of the 80s, but the political nostalgia of the 80s through their most popular characters that really bothers me… but again Nancy is ultimately a teenage girl with her own flaws just like any other character on the show. I wish fans of the character and fans who hate the character alike would spend less time making it our problem.

I’m not particularly interested in The Wheelers, so I don’t spend a lot of time willingly talking about them unless something comes up that I want to address. I’m ambivalent to Nancy, but I will get defensive if fans pull unfair criticisms of just plain hate against her on my blog but really this isn’t a Billy fandom problem exclusively. I know post season two and three, there was a lot of discourse among Steve fans about her and what she “owed” or didn’t owe Steve. That pissed me off and I’ve spoken up about that in the past on my main blog, but really she is not the character I care to spend the majority of my time talking about outside of that.

I understand the discomfort this brings, but it also makes me uncomfortable how a wedge has been purposefully driven between Nancy fans and Billy fans despite the characters hardly interacting. The amount of hate comments I’ve seen from Nancy fans in the Billy tag is astounding and I’ve blocked many of their accounts, which might be why I don’t see this particular fandom discourse all the time. I don’t go into the Nancy tag, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they get similar hate posts. I just don’t see any of my mutuals doing that, nor giving love and support to hateful anons. I think it’s worthwhile to look at the wider fandom for criticism on this one.

[boredwritergirl]

Day 4 - Duel Spirits

Hey everyone, a weird one for you today. I just did a writing sprint with @sapphicdesiress and I somehow accidentally made a fanfic of Yu-Gi-Oh GX. I've never made a fanfic before and idk if I'll ever do it again, but as with all the previous stories, I'm open to make a follow up if there's a desire for it. Also, while this is technically a fanfic, i must stress that it doesn't take much show knowledge to follow and honestly, I don't believe I properly represented the show nor the Character Alexis Rhodes. I imagine many of you would claim somethings are out of character and kind of mean spirited and I completely agree with that. But It's still something I wrote, and I think it works as a standalone story, so it's likely that people with only a vague knowledge of the show would like it more than die hard fans. Maybe I will make a more faithful fanfic sometime, But I'm perfectly ok if this is the only one I ever make. Also, I did take the time to edit this since I was in a writer's sprint, making shit up off the top of my head, typing fast on a phone, so yeah, It needed A LOT of editing, but it's in a decent state to share with you all now. Thanks for reading and hope you catch tomorrow's story.

Duel Spirits

The school was never pretty, but it looked especially daunting at night time. It felt wrong, like I was doing something against nature. But as I rummaged through the principal's office, I knew I needed to find it. I couldn't leave one stone unturned. I needed to see what he was hiding.

I made a complete mess of that buffoon's office. I just know he was hiding something. I just know that he knows what happened to my brother.

I took a deep breath before taking a look out the door, making sure no one's lurking in the hallway.

It has to have something to do with the abandoned building on the edge of the campus, the one place on this island that's forbidden to attend.

That must be where I go next, into the forest, into the abandoned dorm where my brother and 5 other obelisk blue students disappeared. I'll never give up on finding Atticus, even if I do get caught.

As I began to step out, I immediately closed the door as I heard footsteps in the distance. As I listened out, I could tell who it was. It was unmistakably the footsteps of the flamboyant Dr Crowler, I almost didn't recognize it without the accompanying sounds of his entitled gloating from earning a doctorate in playing Duel Monsters.

He was likely on his way to find some other way to mess with Jaiden, but I couldn't worry about that now. Atticus could still be out there, needing my help at this very instant. 

It's a shame I have to operate in the dark like this. As the highest ranking woman duelist in the academy, a lot of eyes are on me. Not as many as are on Zane, but I can't afford to slip up, because any mistake caught will be campus gossip before I could know it.

Then I heard the sounds of Dr Crowler coming back, this time his hand trying to turn the knob on the door. 

I made my escape through The giant window behind the Principal's chair and slowly climbed my way down from the building and onto the ground beneath me.

I immediately booked it, running to the abandoned dorm, through the dark forest of the night. 

But then I got lost. I looked and looked all around, not being able to see anything other than trees, endless trees!

I had no choice but to keep running and running, until I saw something strange… winged kuriboh.

Winged Kuriboh was one of Jaidens cards, but what was it doing here? And how was it physically in front of me? I didn't see a duel disk lying around, so it couldn't have been from that. Perhaps there was an old Industrial Illusions hologram generator around but those were outdated anyways, besides there's no chance Kaiba Corp would allow another company's tech at their campus.

The little furry winged beast beckoned to me, not able to speak, but gently cooing and pointing behind it. It wanted me to follow it.

I did so, going deeper into the woods following a duel monsters card come alive.

But then I stood shocked, dead in my tracks as I saw them… my deck. All of the monsters of my deck had come alive, and there was something wrong with them. Their eyes were blood red, their skin was rotten and foul. The cute and feminine deck I used to have became perverted into this monstrosity… I immediately ran away for my life, being chased by them. Their howls echoed through the night.

Blade skater and cyber gymnast zipped through the trees effortlessly, Cyber tutu and Etoile Cyber jumping from tree branch to tree branch trying to take me down while Cyber prima and cyber petite angel chased me in mid air.

I kept running, my legs not stopping for an instant. My face was soaked with sweat and my breaths were short and rapid, my heartbeat going at the pace of an F1 formula racer.

This couldn't be real, this can't be happening. Duel Monsters aren't real, it's just a children's card game! This makes no sense.

Of all the monsters, oddly enough, it was Cyber Petite angel that managed to get the jump on me. grabbing the duel disk on my arm and smashing it into the tree, completely shattering both the duel disk and my bones.

I let out a scream of terror and pain as I came to a collision, my arm now out of its socket. 

I tried to crawl away with the one arm I had left. All of the monsters I won my duels with smashing the duel disk until it was nothing but miscellaneous scraps of metal and wires.

But I didn't stop moving… I couldn't stop moving. I crawled as much as I could, but it was fruitless. 

My most powerful monster, Cyber Angel Dakini stood before me. He held his javelin to my face, lightly scraping my cheek to make me bleed.

It was obvious what was to come, what was to happen, that I'd never find Atticus again, that this was the end of Alexis Rhodes

But then suddenly, Jaiden Yuki Showed up. He's a great duelist from the Slyfer dorms. And of course. He did what he does best, say a bunch of heroic crap, tell the spirits to “get your game on!” And starts dueling my deck to save my life.

I couldn't pay attention at all to the fight, my eyes were focused on my arm. Knowing Jaiden, he probably just used his Elemental Heroes so he can fusion summon Elemental hero flame wingman, set up his skyscraper card to boost it by one thousand attack points and win with his special effect just like always.

When he won, he took me to the nurse. They did all they could for me, but nothing was ever the same after that. 

I tried to go back to classes, But everyone looked at me differently. Before I was Alexis, the girl everyone wanted or wanted to be… but now, I'm just a victim. Status never mattered to me before, but it hits differently when you have nothing left.

Maybe I'll never find my brother, but I figured I could make another deck and go back to my dueling studies, but no… every time I saw a card from my old deck, I'd just freeze in terror. I'd lose over and over again until I was demoted from obelisk blue, all the way down to Slyfer red. 

I finally got kicked out after a couple Of years. I just couldn't go back. No matter how hard I fought, I'd just lose, lose, lose.

I felt so pathetic. I couldn't save Atticus anymore than I could save myself. I finally admitted to myself that I'd never find him, and that my career was just as lost as he was.

Atticus deserved better and I used to think I deserved better too, but now I'll settle for just a single night where I don't have to relive all of that in my dreams.

I'm sorry, Atticus Rhodes… but you deserved A better sister. It should have been me who vanished in that abandoned dorm instead of you…

[twinsoftriumph]

(You do not need to answer this ask if you're not comfortable with it)

I am someone who followed you before you went on that huge hiatus back in 2020, I was a huge fan of your art because I loved the twins A Lot (still do to an extent), and your art style and interpretation of them was quite literally perfect. However, said hiatus started right as some individuals in skyblr were called out for holding some shitty opinions about queer discourse (Panphobia and aspec-exclusionism in specific) and these individuals were people you also associated it.

I do not want to seem entitled to know about this information, and I absolutely do not want to cause drama (which is why I'm sending an ask instead of making a post). It's just that finding out that you associated with these people and kept silent about it as they were called out for their harmful views was just...dissappointing.

I reiterate you do not need to answer this ask if you dont want to — I just want to know if you do not hold these same views or associate with people who do? At least as an aspec person I do not feel comfortable with following or interacting with someone who does, but also I am just a stranger on the internet 👍

Regardless of anything, I hope you have a good day/night

hope you don't mind me putting this under a read more since i wanted to give a decently thorough answer to this!

hello! i appreciate you sending an ask about this, and i don't have a problem with answering it. (also, thank you for enjoying my art!)

i will say up front that no, i am not any sort of exclusionist. i want to make this extremely clear right off the bat. i myself am actually on the ace spectrum, if it's any sort of comfort! but i've literally only ever explicitly stated this to like. two people. so i wouldn't fault you for not knowing (also i genuinely don't remember anything about ace exclusion stuff being part of the discourse?)

if you're asking for clarification on why my inactivity started around the same time as the discourse, it was for mental health reasons unrelated to the blog. i won't get into specifics but it involved stuff like dropping out and having to go to therapy (doing better now though). this was something that was building up for a while and i genuinely have no idea how i managed the amount of activity i did when first starting the blog LMAO. i was also fed up with some sky-specific problems.

i know the point of your ask is to ask about my own views, but if it's of any interest to you, in 2021, the main person involved publicly and privately apologized and said she doesn't hold her old views. thus, OP of the blocklist deleted it.

i do understand that at the very least, some affirmation for my mutuals, followers, friends and general audience at the time would have been valued; i do apologize for not saying anything at the time! i hope my words now can at least ease any feelings of uncertainty anyone may have toward me, but it's very much up to the individual.

ultimately, i do not find value in making assumptions about one's label, including the circumstances in which it was chosen, an individual's feelings toward their own label, that sort of thing! so again, i am not an exclusionist, and i want my blog to be a safe space. i've been hoping to clarify this but wasn't sure when or how i should do it, so i hope this suffices. you have a good one as well :)

[mayasdeluca]

Sometimes I'm guilty of the thing I'm gonna 'complain' because I love to see my faves interacting on social media, I know it's not everything but I'm just a noisy girl and I wanna see. However it's been really annoying in the fandom how people are acting like a comment or like is an "approval" and the lack of it is "ignoring" or something bad.

Not being specific about just a post or person but in general it takes away from what really matters. Like even since D's directing posts people would do a checklist of likes and comments (and then we saw how people were supporting her even if they never interacted on insta) or lately treating likes to other actors as "indirects" or "fights" when we could just be enjoying their posts or what they're sharing.

I have been here since late 2020 and I don't know in what world some people were because since at least 2021/early 2022 we saw a big shift on everyone as the fandom grew and they changed their ways to interact in public and with the fans but besides early seasons where everyone was hanging out and interacting (as always is in the beginning lol) we only had the lives, takeovers and some random little "treats" for years.

Sorry for ranting here and I know everyone can feel how they want to but I saw so much little tales on how "it used to be" and a lot of poison that gets everyone spiriling and looking for stuff in every detail and I wish they were looking forward to Spampi episode to see her work and not so get anyone's else reaction to it.

Yeah I totally get that...honestly I see both sides of it and have been on both sides at different times. Like theres times when I feel one way and will miss seeing Danielle and Stefania interacting on social media and doing all the lives they used to and getting the BTS and all that but I also am aware that Covid made most of that happen and it gave us a false sense that it was going to continue being like that and it just so happened to be around the time that Marina was getting popular so the timing was just right for everything but even still of course people want to see the actresses of their favorite ships interacting. We know they're close, we know they spend time together on set and hang out and all of those things but it's different than actually getting to see it and this is not me trying to sound entitled, it's just part of the fun in being in fandom.

But then I also get the side of people putting way too much into it and thinking it means all these different things and to go as far as making checklists like you said and comparing who said what and who didn't do this for this person is just crazy. Like obviously there's things that are going to happen that are going to make people wonder stuff but at the end of the day we truly don't know these people or how they really interact with each other because they are always in control of how they interact in public and what they choose to share on social media with us. It's a shame that a lot of it ends up being about the drama of it all and what someone did for this person and not that person as opposed to actually to just enjoying the content that is actually being shared.

It's just the unfortunate part of a fandom I suppose because it happens in pretty much all of them. Instead of just getting to enjoy the ride and soaking in what does get shared with us there's a ton of speculation and drama especially once boundaries are crossed and people have to start pulling away because of it and then things start to shift.

[elderemorune]

Dad of Light/My Dad

So I just found out about Dad of Light.

For those unfamiliar, let me set a baseline for you. I'm a big fan of Final Fantasy 14, as mentioned previously. I get really into being a part of a community, and love playing the role of tank. Carrying my party through a dungeon and taking the hits as we fight back the forces of darkness suits me perfectly.

The game's been around a long time. The first version came out in 2010 with A Realm Reborn relaunching the game in 2013.

You may have heard some stories, about how fans of Kentaro Miura all dressed up as Dark Knights and formed a line in the major cities in the game to mourn his tragic passing.

And that's but a single facet of this lovely game.

Dad of Light is a Netflix project that came out in 2017, following the tale of a young man (Akio) who bonded with his dad (Hirotaro) over Final Fantasy when he was a kid.

Years down the line, Hirotaro suddenly quits his job without telling his family. Akio is concerned and decides to try to reconnect with his father by purchasing a PlayStation 4 and Final Fantasy XIV for him. With the help of his Free Company and friends, Aru and Kirin, Akio plans to use his character Maidy to befriend his father and discover why he quit his job.

Now, I haven't watched this yet. I literally just started, and it got me thinking about how much I love Eorzea, and how much I love MY dad.

See, stories about fathers and sons ALWAYS fuck me up. For a lot of reasons, but I think chiefly because I wish my dad was like any of these dramatized men. That he could apologize, mean it, and change his behaviour.

He's done part of the work. He apologized for being a rage monster when I was a child. For holding me to impossible standards that even he would have struggled to meet. He meant it when he took me aside in June of 2021 and told me he was sorry.

And the behaviour DID change, for awhile. We worked together at his tech startup (which is still just he and I), and we were doing amazing work. I was learning web design and constantly improving my own skills, because I wanted to be able to help him more.

Then his therapist retired, and he stopped doing the work to be better.

Then he put my wife and I in an incredibly uncomfortable living situation with my sister and her husband that mostly entailed her being entitled to everything, and when we'd put boundaries in place she'd just lose her shit. Then dad would step in, say something like "Don't make me choose between my kids" and fuck off like that would fix a damn thing when she was breaking the lease, up to and including bringing her then boyfriend in without even asking us if he could move in.

Then when we left that situation, he said he couldn't afford to pay Seattle wages.

So I left the company (under the impression that I had been let go), and I lived off savings for a few months after we got here. I scrounged for work, and had recruiters telling me I was worth way more than I was looking for, but that they couldn't find me work that paid the figures they were telling me I deserved.

It took awhile for us to even get things sorted here. We'd moved across the state to escape from my sister, and so that my wife could finally go to college. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't find a job that fit me. I worked for a temp agency for a bit, did a job for a big company answering emails. I figured it'd be fine, it's just emails. Turns out the customer service culture at the company was something along the lines of "All of our customers are literally the worst, we wish they'd just go away, but also we have to pay attention to super fine details when doing our emails so..."

I lasted ten days. Then I asked for my job back with Dad. Things have been better between us since he no longer owns our home or our car. But the condescension is still there. The frustration when I don't get topics he sees as simple.

He may have meant the apology, but a lot of the behaviour didn't change.

It makes me wonder what it would be like, if it started snowing in hell and I convinced the man to take up the mantle of Warrior of Light with me. Would he even let me tank for him? Or would he just run ahead and get mad when he died? Would he make fun of me for playing cross-gender? (Slicks M'Harbeck is the coolest, fucking fight me.) Or would he let me take the center stage and just let me help him for once?

I dunno.

I often say I love my dad, but I wouldn't wish him on anyone. None of my friends like him. My wife doesn't like him. But I love him. I know who he is, how he can be. He raised me, after all. It's hard to care for him because of his judgmental perspective, the way he was raised, all of it. I know some of his trauma, and it's not like I blame him for it.

But if I can be better, why can't he?

And stay that way?

I miss my dad.

Update: Just finished the first episode. I spent the entire time crying. I'm so incredibly jealous of the relationship that Akio and Hirotaro had. And so happy they could have it.

[musette22]

Realistically I know nothing is gonna happen at the con, 1. Because at the first sign of discomfort they will probably cancel the whole thing and 2. Because if there’s something Chris Evans fans are is a bunch of cowards and clinically insane but that’s another topic.

But the fact that they are very publicly speaking about how they’re gonna confront Chris about his relationship, and attack his girlfriend is absolutely maddening to me. Like it makes me believe that I’m living in an alternate world because there’s absolutely no fucking way people act that way. In the real world? Wild shit.

I wasn't sure whether or not I should publish this, but screw it, I'll just reply to this one message just because it's something that's been on my mind as well. I'll put the rest of my reply under the cut since I know a lot of my followers (and actually me too, usually) like to avoid negativity and discourse.

First of all, and I'm sure you know this too, obviously not all Chris Evans fans are deranged. I'm a little weird, sure, but I'm not stalker or harassment levels crazy, and neither are you I'm guessing, and neither are all the lovely people I have come to know here on Tumblr. Unfortunately, there are also plenty of lunatics out there and while I haven't seen much of the vitriol this time around (I learned my lesson after the same thing happend with Sebastian a few years back and decided to steer clear as much as possible), I have seen enough to know that it's pretty bad, and enough to make me genuinely worried about how this con is going to go down.

I hope to god you're right and that the proceedings will be closely monitored, but I find it really hard to believe they'd be able to make sure nothing crazy gets through, and yeah, that makes me nervous. I also don't think anything too bad will happen, but I still don't know what Chris was thinking when he signed up for 3 (!) days of this con as well as a (live streamed) panel, during this particularly turbulent time. He's not naive, he knows roughly what some people are saying and he knows there is a danger of things becoming pretty uncomfortable for him, I have no doubt. So I kind of feel like there must be a specific reason why he signed up for this con (a professional one, I mean), and honestly, I am equally scared about what that might be, considering some of the marvel rumours that have been floating around of late. But maybe I'm worrying about nothing here, and I probably shouldn't jump the gun, and just wait and see what the next couple of weeks bring.

But yeah, I absolutely hate how judgemental and entitled some people are about all of this, especially those who claim to be his fans. If you don't like Chris or don't agree with what he does in his personal life, that's fine. No one says you have to. Just avoid him and focus on people and things you do like, it's that easy. But there is no need to go around badmouthing him just because you don't like him. Don't go out of your way to make him out to be a bad person, or make rash judgements about the people close to him, based on rumours and hearsay and information from people who clearly have an agenda, and don't act like you know what's best for him better than he does himself. That's just stupid. And DEFINITELY don't fucking harass him or his loved ones, whether online or in real life. That is actual, high-level crazy person behaviour and nothing gets me angrier or more disillusioned about the state of fandom than those kind of people (who are giving the rest of us a bad name and also have repeatedly ruined good thing both for their 'faves' and for the rest of us). Wild shit indeed.

Anyway. Let's hope things go smoothly and that overall this con will just be a nice and fun affair that'll give us lovely new Chris content. I won't be watching the live stream lol, but I'll be over here keeping my fingers crossed and hoping for the best 🤞🏻

[partnersincrimesuau]

I feel like I really wanna get this off my chest. Look, I don’t hate Connie as a character. She’s perfectly fine and nice enough and I’m perfectly fine with Conniverse as a ship even if I REALLY don’t agree that it’s the best and ONLY true ship for Steven like everyone says it is and that Connie is Steven’s one true soulmate like everyone makes her out to be. With all that being said, I can’t help but feel like Connie became a HUGE Mary Sue ever since late season 2 of Steven Universe.

Okay, since this is gonna be a LOOOONG one, I'm gonna answer them all separately on the same post XDD Also I would advise you not to read this post if you're a Connie fan. There's no outright hate towards her (okay maybe a little bit...) but there sure ain't any love towards her either. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, remember!!! No hate to other users in the comments, please!!!

I agree with you on some people calling it the "only true ship for Steven"... people who say this about any franchise are people with no imagination XDDD (like, okay, I know that there are some characters from some franchises that I ship ONLY with one other character, but that doesn't mean it's the ONLY valid ship!!!) And also, YES. At first I was reluctant to answer this entire ask series, but I AGREE WITH YOU. Here we go, guys... welcome to the "Connie Is A Mary Sue Ask Series"!!!

2. Yes, a lot more good points! Now that you mention it, I have noticed that she is often "the right one" and is always very mature in what she says. And yeah, she's only a human teenager with a few what, weeks? months? (months at MOST) of experience with swordfighting... and is suddenly considered an expert? It's got me thinking - WHY did the writers make Connie a swordfighter? I mean yeah, it adds flavour to the story... but it still is a very Mary Sue kind of thing.

3. ARRGHHHH I KNOW!!! This is why those few episodes are some of my LEAST favourite episodes in the show - Connie just??? blames him??? She blames him for doing a righteous thing to save his friend, a friend who later gets killed in front of Steven, who is A FOURTEEN YEAR OLD, WHO IS STRANDED ON AN ALIEN PLANET BEING HUNTED BY KILLER ALIENS AND ROBOTS - and when he comes back she's like "We could have done that together wahhh" LIKE BRO!!! HE WAS LITERALLY TRYING TO PROTECT YOU!!!!! AJHDISDISHDI (sorry, I went off there. Carry on.)

4. (Sorry, i couldnt find a part 4 in my inbox...? either a tumblr glitch or a typo... it doesnt matter either way tho, im sure the rest of the ask series works without it ^^) OOOOOHHOHOHOHO ANOTHER GOOD THING TO MENTION!!! SHE NEVER APOLOGISES!!! Legit, Connie does this crappy thing and ruins Steven's life for a couple of weeks and then NEVER apologises about it. Does she have ANY idea how much of his PTSD was caused by her? I bet she doesn't. (Also just gonna quickly mention that Spinel did one crappy thing in one day and then immediately apologised for it, claiming that she knows it caused a lot of damage to their relationship from the beginning. Call me crazy, but I absolutely believe that what Connie did to Steven was WORSE than what Spinel did (specifically TO Steven tho - I mean, Connie didn't try to destroy a planet XDDD)

5. A thing I often say to friends and fans is that Connie was a good character before Season 4, and only before Season 4. "The New Crystal Gems" is a fun episode, and I love watching it, but I cannot STAND Connie at the end of it. Suddenly, Connie is the "mature adult" who orders around the "superpowered children"!!! And YES, i know, Lapis and Peridot were very childish in that episode - but tell me, why do you think they acted that way in that SPECIFIC episode? just to make Connie even more of a Mary Sue? Yep. Anon, you're on to something. (ALSO I KNOW, Lion!! how could you?! You're disrespecting the good name of your voice actor TnT)

6. THE LIST GOES ON, ANON!!! IT GOES ON!!!!!!! (Also ITS TRUE, the protagonist's girlfriend is the "only character who can talk to them"!!!! Writers, come on. The only time this trope works is in How To Train Your Dragon. It doesn't work in Steven Universe.)

7. I think you've basically cemented my dislike for Connie x Steven now. He deserves SO much better than her. And its true, she is "so perfect!!!" Maybe the writers should have paid more attention to Jamie's play. Maybe then they would have realised that Connie has no struggles by Season 5 and 6 and just dissolved into a very unlovable character. (Also can I just say, the first ask from this anon started with "I don't hate Connie, and I'm fine with Connverse..." and then escalated to this XDDD This is iconic, thank you so much)

8. YUP. YUP, YUP, YUP. SHE DIDN'T EVEN KNOW LARS DIED IN STEVEN'S ARMS WHILE HE WAS GONE, AND WE NEVER SEE HER FIND OUT??? If she KNEW, if she KNEW what he went through... gosh damn. Maybe she WOULD have been a better character in Season 5 if Steven just broke down crying about his trauma from that adventure in front of her, and she would have realised how much of an a**hole she had been about it. "Steven you left me behind and gave up to the enemy when you promised we'd be together forever!" "Connie, if I had taken you, you would have been killed. Lars didn't even make it out alive. I gave up to protect you! If I didn't, we wouldn't have been together ever again! But look, I'm back! I'm safe!" "Oh... I'm sorry. You're right." HEY CARTOON NETWORK CAN I BE A WRITER FOR-

And yeah, I think that's the last ask in this series. Thank you, my dear anon, for allowing me to sublimate all my hatred towards Connie in a post like this XDD And I'm sorry for anyone who actually decided to read all this. I hope that maybe some people will now see why I really dislike Connverse, and how in my opinion, it's ten times more toxic than Stevinel ever could be!!!

But of course, remember that everyone has different opinions. You are completely entitled to like Connie as a character, and I have nothing against that. Don't let my opinions override yours!! Love who you want and don't let anyone change that!!!

Thanks Anon, you clearly put a lot of thought in this ^^ I feel like I've just collaborated on a huge project with you, somehow?? XDDD (and i'M SO SORRY THIS IS SUCH A LATE RESPONSE!!!! All of these asks were from mid January - I'm the worst I know)