#and to all you naysayers: no i don't give a shit what you think :)

[samwpmarleau]

“hearing about all your bozo exes [makes] me feel much better about my last relationship.” “the footballer, right?” “yeah.” “yeah, jamie what’s-his-name?” “no. well, yeah — no — um...”

i have QUESTIONS

why did jack think jamie was keeley’s last relationship, to the point where she knew his name but not roy’s (or she might’ve known roy’s, but jamie’s still came to her mind first)

like why was keeley apparently talking so much about her ex-ex-boyfriend that jack was under the impression he was her most recent

perhaps more importantly, why did keeley herself conflate jamie with her last relationship

not just her stumbling over her words but before that immediately saying “yes” when jack says “the footballer,” given that roy is not, in fact, a footballer, he’s a football coach

you only have one “last relationship,” keeley, that’s not debatable. jamie shouldn’t factor in at all in that conversation, especially since you broke up with him nearly three years ago

girl.

[lilbittymonster]

rubs my hands together mischievously — 3, 6, 8, 10, 13, 14

3 - screenshot or description of the worst take you've seen on tumblr

Oh, Amaurotine fashion death squads....

This has become a running joke in my fc and it will never not boggle my mind how you can take "this side quest NPC says that you're dressed funny like a child would and here, take these robes so you'll look more mature" and "Hades compares individual transformations to stripping naked in public" and get "Amaurot has death squads that will hunt you down in the street for being non conformist". Like. What the entire fuck. I am aware that this is the piss on the poor website but this is some other shit lmao.

6 - which ship fans are the most annoying?

Y'know, honestly, the call is coming from inside the house on this one bc I have to say that it's other Estinien fans. Every time I go through the wolstinien tag on ao3 I get hit with "he would not fucking say that" "he would not fucking do that" almost every fic I open. It's dire. Usually I answer with G'raha stans but it's worse when it's about a character you actually give a fuck about. I think I have more wolstinien accounts with bad takes blocked than I do accounts who post untagged Zenos tits.

8 - common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

"Aymeric throwing the eyes off the bridge was a stupid move." No, it was the best decision he had with the information that he had at the time.

Veterans of this blog will know I have picked a bone with this for a long fucking time but for those of y'all who're new here, the naysayers who decry Aymeric's order to the WoL and Alphinaud to discard the eyes of Nidhogg into the Sea of Clouds as an idiot decision simply don't understand how limited perspective in storytelling works. I have yet to hear an actual answer to "well what would you have done?" that isn't Ha Ha Funnie Joaks "weLl My wOl woUld hAve JuSt eaTen tHem".

The scenario is; the finale of the Dragonsong War. Everyone is hyped up on adrenaline. The Sea of Clouds is well known to be nigh inhospitable to any life except the extremely specialised fish who have made their home there. No one has plumbed the depths and we Just Don't Know how deep the Sea really goes.

We also know that the Vault where the Eye (single) had been kept wasn't enough to keep Estinien (a single, albeit extremely strong, mortal) out of it. So what's going to stop a Warrior of Darkness or an Ascian from breaking into it if the Eyes were kept in Ishgard? Not only would keeping the Eyes simply continue to perpetuate the cycle of violence that this finale is supposed to fucking end because this is the entire plot of the fucking expansion we just played through, the Ascians would have still just yoinked the Eyes to give to Ilberd and we still would have had the whole Baelsar's Wall battle just with slightly different steps to get there.

We also know that both Eyes in proximity to anyone, and at that moment especially dangerous to Estinien, and the best solution is to get them as far away from him as possible. This is also very textually canonically Aymeric's closest friend! He has a very personal vested interest in keeping him safe! There is emotional distress on top of the adrenaline and if you think "well this is obviously the time for logic" you're someone who clearly has never actually been in a high stress situation and also you're just plain wrong.

So throwing the Eyes of Nidhogg over the edge of the Steps of Faith into the depths of the Sea of Clouds where no one has any reason to expect they'd be retrieved by ghosts, basically, is the most sound decision to everyone present.

"But we saw the Warrior of Darkness-" shut up. You've missed the point. Just because we, the player, know something has happened in a cutscene, this does not mean that all the other characters will have the same information. The characters are not omniscient and if your criticism rests on them not acting on information that they do not have then you have nothing of import to say.

10 - worst part of fanon

I have another ask with this one so I can break the tie and say "Estinien is stupid". Is it because of the hair tie thing? Is it because he's surrounded by graduate students now? I don't know. But one, buying an overly inflated hair tie from merchants who are clearly struggling does not make him "stupid" because he goes on to do the same thing in the patches by paying way too much gil for that map just to make sure that child eats. And two, wisdom and intelligence are two separate scores for a reason. He may not be book smart the way the rest of the nerds with the tattoos are, but he's probably the most emotionally intelligent one of the bunch, and that's just as valuable as getting a good Sharlayan SAT score.

13 - worst blorboficiation

This one goes to G'raha. The guy is cunning and sharp and tactical and honestly it's a good thing that he just wants to be a storybook hero bc he can be dangerous when he wants to but you wouldn't think it from a surface glance through the wolgraha tag. I don't particularly like the guy but I still get annoyed on his behalf when he's reduced to "lol wolsimp" constantly. I know of exactly 3 people who have an interpretation of him that actually compels me and they are all my beloved mutuals. And maybe it's because they're also poly/multishippers that they have a better grasp on his character depth? It's a phenomenon I've seen across fandoms and across character types.

14 - that one thing you see in fics all the time

Estinien being cruel to Aymeric's cat. Oh my fucking god why do people make Estinien be cruel to Aymeric's cat. Why. What are you doing. The son of a shepherd who likely would have had barn cats to keep rodents out would not be cruel to a small animal! What the entire fuck!

This is a guy who would have been in Aymeric's life for years who would have been around said cat for years as well! Even if the cat didn't like him he wouldn't be mean about it! And I am a very firm believer that if someone, fictional or otherwise, is mean-spirited towards small animals (or big animals or medium animals) then they aren't someone who's safe. And if that's the version of Estinien that you're writing then I have zero interest in anything else you have to say.

Thanks for the asks @nidstiniens I hope you enjoy the essays

Choose Violence

[quiet-admirer]

This is just a ramble so I'm not composing my thoughts in any way, and this is my perception from only being in limited online circles, but it feels like the past year or 2 was like feedism and fat fetishes got a little wave of normie exposure and people shitting on it with the usual first-argument-that-pops-into-your-mind societal regurgitated bullshit (on tiktok for example from what I hear anecdotally), but then that was coming up right as there was this growing wave of 'can we stop with the no kink at pride discourse'//'stop being puritan cops'//'there are no thought crimes' and I think those two waves coinciding has kind of combined into a weird thing where I've been seeing a ton of neutral and positive references to feedism by non-feedist online accounts/people in the past few months alone.

Like that burger kink post that has 17k notes last I saw it?? Regardless of whether that op has a feedism kink, their blog isn't a feedist blog, and I impulsively went to look in the notes and all of it is like 'lol I thought that said feudalism not feederism' and not 'umm you can't joke about feederism it's problematic' which is SO WILD to me. 17k people are willing to see a funny pun about feedism where it is not the butt of the joke and it's not at the expense of feedists and laugh along without needing to turn it into hysterical discourse like it's just a normal kink we can make puns and laugh about, and it's so normalizing??

It's not even just been that post either, it's wild to me. I know I've been much more active in this kink community in the past 3-4 years, so my experience is limited but it has really seemed like there's been increasingly bigger waves/cycles of exposure -> backlash -> pushback for acceptance -> exposure

And of course there are the vocal naysayers but the fact that there even IS anyone else out there other than anti-fat fetishists and us? Idk it gives me hope. I know there will be more cycles of backlash but seeing very slowly that there are starting to be people outside our community that are willing to have our back or just be willing to be seen standing next to us in a manner of speaking is weirdly healing. Like, I love being weird and I don't really like the idea of feedism being "mainstreamed" and am sceptical of feedism being "normalized" except for in other kink and queer communities, but there was NOTHING even close to this 12-15 years ago when I was first discovering my kink. It gives me hope that baby feedists will be more likely to stumble upon informative and positive ideas about themselves while they're figuring it all out

And that maybe we can move from being vocally and universally stigmatized from the few who've even heard of us to maybe being perceived like furries have been in recent years where it's started to mostly be like 'yeah they're weird but their art is kinda cool and they're just vibing'?

I don't know man, TL;DR I almost teared up about that burger kink post yesterday and I keep seeing posts everywhere about feedism that aren't filled with hateful comments and I'm just like what the Fuck is going on

[reallyunluckyrunaway]

are marvel fans homophobic?

(+and stupid?) (👈Based on what I've been seeing recently, this one is unequivocally true...)

Tom Holland. A kind person and the ACTOR who portrays the current version of spiderman. (Within the MCU). He's been in a couple of other things, and has played many different roles... ROLES. Fake characters for different (mostly) made up stories.

Well Tom Holland starred in show recently. In the show, he plays a fictionalized version of a real life criminal.

The crowded room, is a series based around the real life POS Billy Milligan. A man who robbed, kidnapped and sexually assaulted four women. (Oh, and the naysayers demand I mention that: his character is only a made up fictional person that is only loosely based upon a horrible person. Okay?)

You'd think that is is where the controversy lies.

Ha! Yeah right! People don't give a shit about women! Who cares that the geniuses at Hollywood thought it would be cute to base a show around a horrifying disgusting vile rapist? No, that's OBVIOUSLY not the real problem here.

Nevermind, that his defense attorneys at the time were trying to excuse his sexual assaults with things like: "oh but he was assaulted too, uwu.. 🥺" or "it was one of his other personalities though....👉👈"

(Side note: man, people are revolting creatures. I hate to break it to you... but schizophrenic or not, whether he's a victim or not... He's still a PIECE OF FUCKING SHIT WHO PLANNED MULTIPLE FUCKING ASSAULTS AND ROBBERIES.)

.......anyways. all that clearly isn't important. Nooooo. Clearly there's a bigger, more pressing issue with this series and what it represents.

—gay experimentation.

Yep. Billy Milligan allegedly had a couple of sexual encounters with men here and there, while in prison. And there's a scene in which Tom Holland's fictional version of said character does the same. This scene got a lot of backlash because people just didn't find that "spiderman" should ever be caught dead doing such a thing.

Hashtags soon started to circulate the internet sphere. Hashtags like: "not my spiderman'', etc. but most egregious, is probably the development within the marvel fandom, to speculate on his real life sexuality and preferences.

News flash, just because you play a fucking bisexual or gay CHARACTER, doesn't mean said actor or actress PORTRAYING them, is in fact, GAY.

Zendaya played a bisexual character in euphoria for crying out loud! Is she bisexual now too?

When you live in a society where people are not bothered by "spiderman" playing a criminal and literal rapist, and are bothered instead by the notion that said rapist may swing both ways... you know that society is just not worth preserving anymore.

It really speaks of such a sad statement of things, really. That people are so concerned with this whole: "straight is great" thing, that they would gladly dismiss and overlook a horrific injustice, like an unwanted assault. But would just as quickly condemn and mock the act of consensual homosexual acts.

It's so... fucking disheartening and disturbing.

[nikethestatue]

Everytime there’s discourse or fandom drama it always make me resent sjm/Bloomsbury a little bit more cause let’s be real, this shit would still be around but wouldn’t be near as bad if they would just fucking announce something anything. They don’t even have to give a specific date but the more they are silent and the longer it goes on the more I feel the fandom eat itself and sjm dig herself into a hole that frankly, is probably past due climbing out of. No matter what ship she goes with now, even if it’s ACOMAF level, it’s gonna be a shit show. This’ll be her second release after getting BIG big and after how shit HOFAS was I feel like the hole Bloomsbury/sjm dug themselves by keeping quiet will halt her upward momentum. She’ll always be popular and have her fan following but if she doesn’t deliver on the next book she’ll be quickly eclipsed if not already by other authors her show is already losing momentum from the popularity of the series and as others discover other books than hers with authors being more open people will just move on idkkkkk I don’t expect a book a year or for her to churn them out but it really feels like she just don’t give a fuck anymore or Bloomsbury is trying to capitalize on a “twilight” strategy with Team this and team that but it’s backfiring

I don't blame her and BB for the assholes in the fandom. She wouldn't be able to help that even if they announced the book. If people want to pick fights, they will, regardless of anything she or BB do.

I mean, even AFTER the book is written, I am quite sure there will be a bunch of naysayers. Look at Nessian--it's been years, but people are saying that they have a fake bond and she belongs with Eris and Cassian will die. So I mean, you can't cure stupid sometimes.

As for her popularity--yeah, it's a weird gamble they are taking. Not sure what the deal is. Unless we are for some super major shock that no one expects and it will blow all of our minds, I don't know why certain things about the book cannot be shared.

At the same time, I think being in the fandom warps our perception. It's important to remember that. BB is a company with lots of moving parts--do they really care that some fans on Reddit or IG want to know who the next FMC will be? I doubt it. I think the way they see it, they delivered a book this year, only 5 months ago and like, what else do you want?! We aren't going to get books and announcements every 2 months. I think in their minds, there is no pressure.

[pumpumdemsugah]

I also just wanted to say that a lot of ppl say that black women are not seen as women when that's straight bogus! Like yt men treat black women like women, with their hatred and contempt. It closely parallels with how they treat women they deem evil or bad in their society but not men. Pro tip: when a man says he'll treat a woman like a man he means hell treat her like a woman who stepped out of line. A lot of the abuse I faced as a young black girl is not because I was not seen as a woman, if anything my womanhood was my defining trait in the abuse.

Right!

The Black women aren't seen as women originally started out as a statement that was meant in the same way men way " I wasn't treated like a man " but everyone's is being so dumb about us

Black men moan about manhood all the time but no one is dumb enough to think it's a statement about them being physically different from other men like an alien and they would immediately understand that doing so is racist but white monkeys are running around talking about Black female bones because they're insecure about being big and tall so we need to be weirdly built so they can feel normal and I'm not willing to affirms people's insecurities if they think they can bring up like this

Naysayers will bring up all the race science experiments as if a cornerstone of that ideology didn't also posit that white women had smaller brains and are less developed than white men. White men literally did it to everyone. Who gives a fuck what these old fuckers said about people's bodies ? They made shit up so why is that shit somehow true but Black women but not you?

Black women aren't treated like women is a statement about gender roles and expectations but the internet is too horrifically stupid for that simple idea to the point some dumb ass white monkey argued ' Black women would have never been slaves if they were seen as women ' lmao and said it to Black women with history degrees

Because of that, I'm rescinding the statement. No one is allowed to use it until everyone behaves

Everyone's being dumb including twitter lib Black women encouraging this idea to focus on our bodies so they can say fake deep shit about gender, instead of how we're treated. The point was always, we're being treated like shit but you say women are delicate. This is why so many Black women are obsessed with femininity- it's in hopes that we'll be treated nice and less rough

At this point I don't know what id do if someone says this off social media because I'm a deeply confrontational person that loves taking low blows when people say stupid shit to me

They thought we were like pigs and cows. We don't call farm animals women. So why is everyone acting dumb ? We were literally property like a table. We were never going to be treated nicely. Our foremothers brutalisation was spun as a necessity because if they didn't need to rape, beat and enslaved, they couldn't claim to be civilised

So many white people make it so obvious they wouldn't have been an abolitionist because they're affirming slave master views for what reason ?

[bugcatcherwill]

if the monsters [the main/first four at least] had theme music what do you think it would be like,,, asking because I only compose once in a BLUE MOON and I need ideas so I can make songs for them WITH your permission ☝️

OOOOOOOOOO this is a good one hmmmmmmmmmm

Kobb's theme music would be what I call "protest/revolution music" like shit from the Vietnam War era and the early 00's Green Day/MCR. Just that vindictive, angry music of the system and just playing their feelings out when faced with near-hopeless situations against infinitely powerful entities.

This might be a sneak peak into what I have planned for the 5-year time gap between BoTW and ToTK, but if I had to make a "theme song" for that period it'd be "Holiday" by Green Day (ESPECIALLY THE LYRICS "the ones who died without a name" BECAUSE IT'S LIKE ALL THE MONSTERS THAT WERE LOST TO THE MALICE FOREVER AAAAAAAAA)

Sledge is sea shanties. Like, I can't really think of a better music style for its whole arc. It's the reminiscing of how things could've been, it's the melancholy memories of those who are no longer there, it's the isolation of the sea, it's the finding the small joys in those around you, it's the being stuffed in a small spot but never feeling cramped, IT'S SEA SHANTIES BABYYYYYYY

I don't have a specific song for Sledge, but just that minimalistic and/or vocals only shanty/folk song that works best. Funny enough when writing some chapters I occasionally put on like 3-hour sea shanty mixes from YouTube jhkajsdfhjl

Zayl to me is extremely Pink Floyd core (psychedelic rock in general but especially the band). Zayl is such an interesting character because from anyone first meeting it, it's this extremely chill down-to-earth monster that looks like it's never had a worry in its life. But then you scratch the surface and find that while its personality isn't a front, it's been dealt SO MUCH pain and anguish that you wonder how it can still be smiling. And then you have the musical contrast that PF does when it goes from ethereal to whimsical to gritty and harsh, and how Zayl whenever it enters combat seems to become a completely different monster with how it shuts down and locks in. Like it tries the hardest out of all of them not to let remnants of its old life leak out, but when they do it's more obvious than any of them.

If you have 17 minutes of free time, PLEASE listen to Dogs by PF. It's such a good song and I cannot get enough of the lyrics about working yourself to the bone, stepping over anyone in your way, all to please those above you, only to get discarded, betrayed, and tossed away when you've outlived your usefulness. It's one of THE allegories that inspired how I wrote the Malice in RaTC

Rezek is 100% fast-paced rock/metal. Shit that comes to mind for me is like Offspring, MUSE, Megadeth, etc. Probably its most famous moment where it goes toe-to-toe with the whole Wizzrobe army in the chapter "Reapers and Hawks" is a direct callback to the song "Reapers" by MUSE (and naysayers will call Drones bad and MUSE's worst album which it ISN'T but this isn't the place for me to rant about that lol)

It just fits its fighting style too well. I just love that I gave it this frantic almost manic style to contrast its more uppity nature than the rest of the monsters. Perhaps it gets a little too into the magic but you can't argue with results.

I hope this was the answer you're looking for! I have very old-people taste in music thanks to my parents giving me Dark Side of the Moon in middle school jhalfdjhk

One day I'll make a playlist of every song that helped inspire me to write RaTC and all the songs I have imaginary music videos of my blorbos dancing in my head,,,

[astralartefact]

FFXIV 6.5 Thoughts and Feelings the 1 ffxiv player that didn't come here for the story (me) keeps winning while everybody else seems to be losing

I debated writing a review at all - but I'm just weirded out enough by the discourse that I feel the need to say something.

I don't really get what's happening right now. The Fandom vibes in certain places are rancid (thankfully it's not here on tmblr all that much (yet)) and I don't really get why and how it happened so quickly.

I understand not liking the void quests or not liking that Zero gets a cecil makeover into default paladin or that Yoshi-P's vision for this game is kind of questionable at times or whatever else you don't like about these patches, but for some reason everyone is acting so... heated about it? We somehow went from "This game is the best Final Fantasy that ever Final Fantasied, I love you Yoshi-P, take my firstborn" to "This is the worst FF expansion I've ever played. Yoshi-P is a hack and a fool and I don't trust the devs to write something good ever again" in the span of one meh-at-worst patch cycle and I don't know how that happened??? And I know, 6.0 already brought this underlying "Hmm. Not as good as Shadowbringers..."-attitude with it, but still, It just doesn't really feel proportionate how heated people are right now.

To give you my feelings: I don't care. Perfect Indifference. Yes, some pieces are feeling like they're missing from 6.X, but the devs were obviously trying to restructure things in a way that just simply didn't work out. I'm sure they know that nobody really liked it all that much and will adjust for 7.X - but a lot of people are acting as if the devs are suddenly just stupid idiots when the same people - and this time it really is the same people - were acting like Yoshi-P could do no wrong just half a patch cycle earlier.

For the Void Quests: I do think this would have been better as an optional trial series or as the direct prologue to a void expansion right after it and not as a filler bridge to Dawntrail (a contrast you couldn't make more drastic) - and there are more than enough other things I could complain about (The mo-cap eating animations. Why is everybody so jazzed about them wasting so much resources and screen time on fcking eating animations???) but still, I just don't really care. At the end of the day I'm having fun every time I open this game. Yay for me :)

I have realized over the past few weeks that I never really cared about stories in video games. I might be able to really be into certain stories, but generally I'm just simply not a person that cares about that stuff all that much. If it's bad I just don't care. As long as I have something else to enjoy about it I'm good. And I just simply don't play this game for the story either, I play this game to see my definitely not self-insert WoL do cool shit and look good and that's the one thing this game constantly delivers on for me.

But why would I write all of this if I didn't actually care? Why type all of this out at all and not just move on with your life? Do I think I'm better than the naysayers for accepting mediocrity??? Certainly not, we're all equally capable to check if the thing we invest time and money in is worth our while. But clearly something has to have gotten under my skin here.

Well, there is one way to make me, specifically me, care about something too much and it's if I don't understand why something is received the way it is by the general audience/community. Doesn't matter if I think something shouldn't be as popular as it is or if something is consistently hated when I think it's not all that bad - if I don't get it, I can't stop thinking about it.

And I generally try to keep it on the positive/underdog side of things, mainly because I have better things to do than be negative about a thing I can't change anyways. In that case I will usually just happily live in my headcanon and ignore it - but sometimes something so egregious comes along I just can't help myself. And this time it happened again.

Everyone is so mad about everything except for the one thing I am really mad about. That one is apparently okay because it's bittersweet uwu. Yeah, just fully trivialise some of the most integral lore that shaped the entire run of the game, but it's okay because it's sad q.q And I just can't stand it anymore, why does this exact thing always happen to meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee?????

Fuck Eulogia.

Fuck that thing.

Fuck everything it stands for.

Honestly, it's kind of funny. I just wish I could commit to seeing it that way and not constantly feel threatened about it (I love anxiety <3)

Anyways. Moral of the story? Play YoRHa:Dark Apocalypse.

[batteredwarriorstillstanding]

I am an intuitive type...it's the way I am. By and large, I'm pleased about this. I can often make enormous decisions without putting forth anylarge amount of reflection and study...and be absolutely confident that I made the correct one, games like Chess...where it is nowhere near possible to consciously consider all of your playable, or even superficially reasonable moves are the domain of those wired in this fashion. I have innate knowledge concerning many problems that haven't yet arisen and how to deal with them....it's not especially rare to be classified as having an intuitive personality trait....roughly 30 percent of the population. There are some so strong in this action that they are designated Intuitors by the same folks who certify psychics, I think. I don't know if it is THAT strong, but is certainly reliable enough for me to often sit through long periods of impatient partners and friends, and ridicule from less friendly types, awaiting an event that I "knew" woukd transpire, but, weeks later, still hasn't. What gives me the stones to confidently tell all sudden naysayers to fuck themselves is not a confident nature or an enormous intellect...it's merely my having experienced similar feelings of similar strength in the past and knowing that the events associated with them will break in a certain direction every time.

But, first if all, I only was ever "told" or clued into the reality that she is dear to me, and I needed to do anything I could in order to facilitate her ultimate transformation....anyone here into butterflys? Profound metamorphosis affecting the homely little caterpillar on such a profound level that it emerges a beautiful (although kinda useless....just kidding.lol) butterfly 3 weeks hence...at least we hope for a butterfly....a moth is unbecoming of her. I was also given all of these suggestions early on to advance our acquaintancship....not as confident in this intuitive angle as later in life, and also fucking TERRIFIED of being simultaneously embarassed and verbally desecrated that I kept attempting to accomplish shit at a distance. It did not work. I think you are actually open to the possibility of us sharing an unexplained (thusfar) joint venture to tackle....but now it is her who insists on trying from a distance....which is disappointing, because Passive Aggressive people (not submissive. I didn't say that) are the worst. They suck. They are dishonest and can't be trusted...I was not really overcome by this a decade ago...I was just frightened. If you are at all unsure, talk to ne. In person. You will be glad you did...whatever r happens. Then I can stop doubting what is so obvious.

The "feeling" I received after meeting the woman I remained infatuated with gor eons afterward was unique in its type, but STRONGER (and more persistent, as it turns out) than any other. One of the potentially troubling aspects of this ending in a manner undesirable to me (and there are several) is that it serves as a huge loss for an inner belief system that has been with me for as long a I can remember. In addition, there were 2 periods of my life more difficult than this one (maybe only I ne, actually) it's probably not going feature many huge changes in my approach to things. Logically, it seems like a wrap...and not even I can ignore this forever.

[appareils-futiles]

I took off all notifications and deactivated my Facebook and my Instagram and logged out. I also took down my Twitter and my TikTok. I'm in the process of deleting emails and unsubbing from newsletters. I've updated my planner and am even considering doing a mass cleansing of my Pinterest. I gave everyone from 10am to 1pm EST to follow me on @cavortinginmoonlight or ask for my number but hey it is what it is. I actually was on the train when I posted that time frame and gave them until after 2pm when I got home. I'm kinda over all this. I crave the easiness of the 90s and the simplicity of the 2000s. Day one of the dot com era, Hasan Minhaj said that social media is a killer and as someone that had the majority of their first 18 years of their lives pre social media (unless you count tumblr which I don't) and didn't have a smart phone until she was 24, many years after smart phones became a thing--the first IPhone didn't come out until I was out of HS! It was blackberry and sidekicks and of course at that point to a lesser extent, razr phones!)

But I remember when MySpace and Facebook and Twitter could only be accessed through a computer! Such simpler times. Hasan says that he thinks we should go back to that, where we still have SM but only use it on computers, because having it 24/7 at our fingertips is too much. It takes away from the simplicity of life. From legitimate interactions with other people in person. Is it really spending time if you're sitting on your phone, next to that person and they are doing it to? We should be able to go on dates, hang out with friends, visit people in hospitals, go on vacations and raise our kids without throwing our business through the cables of the nether world for our family and truthfully (mostly) complete strangers to enjoy and hate on. We can't complain about people being all up in our business, talking smack about us, spreading rumors/gossiping or even coming up with shit if we give them all the ammo to do it.

We decide what we present to people not just with our looks but with our words, our expressions and how we treat one another. So we get off social media, we get our business off there as best we can, but will that keep the naysayers and haters from doing their thing? No. Haters and Nay-sayers are just that, haters and naysayers, unfortunately they will always exist no matter if you refuse them their fix of ammo or kick them out of your lives. The truth is, once you do it. They lose their hold over you, it's kinda like rehab. In a sense. You put an addict in rehab and they'll get whatever treatment they get and eventually get off the drug, it's out of their system, but the drug isnt the problem, or even access to it, or other addicts around them who may supply or make it hard for them to live cleanly, it's their sheer willpower to stay off the drug that's gonna keep them from using again (that was my terrible metaphor, so don't come for me in the replies because I will block you)

So if you cut off the haters/naysayers ammo, cut off their access to you, even in person, they'll either forget you (hopefully) or spread fake shit about you. But at that point, you either won't know about it because you don't fuck with them anymore, or you will and genuinely won't care. Shit, you may even get a giggle from the crazy shit you'll hear about yourself! Whatttt?? I'm doing "whatt? Why me didn't tell me I'm a cokehead?!" 😂😂 Take notice that not everyone around you is like this. But there's a difference between paranoid and being careful. Dig deep within yourself because there's someone wonderful in there and if you have the attention span of a TikTok and crave the attention of people for clout, take a step back and remember, you're a person........that's the machine. I was going somewhere with this. I swear. The point is this: Detach, even for a little while, just to get yourself together, in your head, in your heart, in your soul, in your finances and everything in between. The Matrix was a documentary and the Machine they talk about in Person of Interest is 100% real. This I confirmed when I was getting rid of Facebook and they had something on there I never shared on social media and that was just very creepy.

I'll be on tumblr. That's about it. Lenii

[the-silver-peahen-residence]

A Drabble Request; Asmodeus having second thoughts about being with Tsubasa, wanting to end their "relationship" in order to protect him from naysayers. After talking to him as calmly as possible, Tsubasa broke down in tears and had a mental breakdown, now believing his inner conscious about Asmodeus not truly loving him. He ran out without saying a word and goes back to the alleys, living like a rat again.

(feel free to add parts you think will do)

((Oh my, let me see. I can try to write something like this but it's almost like a lot of anons want these two just break up. Hmm, let me see what I can do.))

Silver butterfly mun/Peahen mom

Was it for the best? Asmodeus was thinking about this while sitting there with Tsubasa but he was wondering what is wrong. Was he alright or was he thinking about something? They been sitting here for a while but he only wanted to get this done in hopes Tsubasa understood.

"Soooo...what was this important thing you wanted to talk to me about, Asmodeus? Were we having something new to eat today?" He was wearing something cute for him but Asmodeus was not looking as himself to sigh.

"Little Red, we need to talk.." He said softly but touches his cheek. Tsubasa blinks unsure of what to say but nods understanding.

"Alright, what is it?"

"......I..." How was he going to say this? It will sound hurtful true but it has to be said. "Listen, i know you been here for a while and I wanna say I'm happy that you are. You really made me feel happier than anything else." He sees Tsu blink to smile understanding.

"I'm happy to hear that you are.."

"..I know..but.." He looks down but Tsubasa was worried.

"But?"

"....I think.....you should see someone else."

Silence was heard in the room but Tsubasa blinks looking at him.

"W..What?"

"..I..I think it's best for you and I to break up. I just don't want anyone or anything to hurt you. And you know how it is down here. True, I'm the symbol of lust but I just don't want you to get hurt so.......maybe that's best." He looks to see Tsubasa looking silent but he didn't show his face.

"*Sighs* Little Red, I know this is painful for you but..." He reaches to touch his cheek till Tsubasa smacks his hand hard away from him. This made the demon shocked.

"Y..You're b..breaking up w..with me?"

"....Tsubasa......"

"W..What......THE FUCK!?"

"Tsubasa, listen I just-"

"So let me guess: All of this was a lie then right?! You lied to saying you loved me, or me looking cute/beautiful! You say all that only to come up with this shit in saying you wanna break up!!!" He got off of the others lap looking down.

"It's not like that Tsu-"

"OH I'm sure it is! Your really a heartless bastard if your going to do this to me! You...Your just........" He covers his face now crying heavily in his hands but Asmodeus was trying to explain but Tsu wasn't having it.

"Tsubasa, please listen. I"m doing this for your protection and safety. You have to believe me."

"I can't believe you. I don't want to. Your really as you say you are. You only want to have what you want in this place. Love is nothing to you. Sex and other things but not that. You don't give a shit about my feelings or my heart. And here I acutally really believed you loved me."

"I DO love you!!"

"YOU DON'T LOVE ME! YOU LIED TO ME! YOU USED ME! YOUR NOTHING BUT A SOULLESS DEVIL THAT USED ME FOR SEX AND NOTHING ELSE! I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN THAT'S ALL YOU WANTED FROM ME! YOU ARE JUST A FUCKING BASTARD ASSHOLE!" He shouted in tears but Asmodeus looks to him trying to explain but Tsubasa wanted to hear nothing.

"Please calm down. Tsubasa, please..." He tries to touch him but he moves back to look away from him.

"Don't. Don't you ever come near me or speak to me again. I guess you are what they say you are. Your nothing but a horrible demon and I hate you for it." he sniffs to turn and run out of his room.

"TSUBASA WAIT!" He tries to follow him but heard the door slam knowing he ran out of the casino and out there. He didn't move but he looks silent to feeling his heart break. He just wanted to protect him. He wanted him to be happy but he felt worse now thanks to it.

As for Tsubasa, he was sobbing in the alley alone once more, already throwing out the clothes he got from that jerk but he was able to keep his other clothes to wear.

"....Why Tsubasa? Why can't you learn to stop trusting your heart? It gets you into shit like this. i knew I shouldn't have trusted him..." He whispered to lower his head crying more.

Through the streets, it was silent but the soft sobs of tears still was heard in the streets. No one will know who it was but Tsubasa has either fallen or has turned his heart cold forever.

[oblivionlotus]

4, 9, 14

QUESTIONS FOR MUNS.

4. which muse of yours is your all time favorite? if you stopped writing them: why?

Honestly all the muses I've ever written over the years have been great! Picking a favourite would be terrible of me to do, not to mention difficult. They all have their pros & cons as individual characters. But let's just say that writing Joker (J, Uncle J, Jack) has been a very memorable experience for me. J was my "big comeback" to tumblr all those years ago & a character I had avoided writing despite my inner fan due to insecurity. But the experience was not only interesting in terms of research & development, it was a huge confidence booster, helped me improve my writing & was SHIT TONS of fun. And, despite what the naysayers preach, writing him saved my life - there was a point back then where I had reached a very dark place in my life & just tuning out of myself into J was an incredible aid which also helped me evolve on a personal level to a better, well-equipped human. Hence the tattoo I eventually had inked on my neck, as a way of saying thank you to the spirit of Joker & all the beautiful people that wrote with me & him.

Now here's the answer I expect many peeps want to know. I haven't stopped writing J persay. After writing him for more than 6 years, I think I've earned a break from him. Not to say that he's obsolete or boring to me now (though he's developed to a stage now where there's little more development needed), but I wanted to try something new as a writer that I hadn't done before, hence Leto. I made the decision awhile ago to stop forsaking Leto & give them my time & energy in order to really appreciate & develop them as opposed to only popping in & out on the rare occasion (which is why the observant few may notice the change in Leto as I get more comfortable with them). Plus, I cut my writing teeth on supernatural muses - J was my first venture into a human muse for a long time - and I wanted to go back to familiar territory. Of course I feel overshadowed by J but I want to focus on getting Leto to that stage of personal satisfaction. Again I apologise for this decision to the beautiful writers that adore J & want only him, I really am sorry to neglect ye like this after all yer support.... but please don't hate me or take that out on Leto.

9. when you look at a new blog, what is it that makes you press the follow button? is it the muse, the aesthetics, the writing–?

Oooh you wanna know my secrets, eh? Alright. I always read rules & bios & verses of a blog & a few threads before I follow them even if I'm familiar with or a fan of their muse. I want to see how well they know their muse, how well they write. A writer's rules can hint at how much experience they have & the type of person they are so I consider rules sorta like an introduction as to how well we as muns would get along. So basically if I like what I read, I'm sold. Nothing to do with aesthetics, themes, etc.

14. which roleplay community has been your favorite to write in?

The DCEU community here has by far been my favourite, closely followed by the BtVS community on Bebo. Both have been welcoming & blissfully free of drama, with kind & talented writers galore. There's a lot of support & rapport between writers regardless of canon characters / ocs.

[twstedrabbithole]

Dorm Leaders With A Chubby S/o Hcs

This boy wouldn't really care about your looks honestly. Though I will say that it's most likely that his mother has set up standards in his mind about his partners.

That said, he very much would try to not have what his mother drilled in his head to influence him. He may make a mistake or two when on the subject of weight and looks but he tries very hard.

If he does say something, tell him immediately. Help him see the error of his and his mother's views. With time he will unlearn what his mother has taught him. He truly does love you.

If someone does make a comment about your looks or weight, Riddle will immediately go all red in anger. He will not tolerate anyone, not even his mother, saying such comments about you.

If you do want to lose weight or not sure how, this guys will go through many books and websites just for the sake of helping you. He has said he's wanted to be a doctor before, so this research will help him for his future.

You think this guy would care how you look? No, he doesn't. He also wouldn't let anyone "talk shit" either.

But I will say there is a slight difference if your feminine or masculine. If your more feminine or female, he's way more protective. He was taught to respect woman because of how powerful and strong they are in the Afterglow.

If you're more masculine or male, he won't be as protective honestly. But if he sees it's affecting you then he'll be the shoulder for you to cry on.

He may not understand fully on how much flack chubby people get. But he can greatly sympathize because of how he was treated because of his unique magic.

If you want to lose weight, Leona isn't the greatest for advice. He can give support, that's not a problem. But he mostly would want to sleep then work out with you. You have a better chance with Jack for advice on both diets and workouts.

Like Leona, Azul would not care at all how you look. But dare I say, he would have a preference for someone with a bit more meat to them. After all a restaurant owner has to know what food lovers like huh? I jest, he knows how you look doesn't have to be correlated to how you eat.

He's the most supportive one, in rival to Kalim that is, towards you. You don't have to prove anything to him that's related to your weight or looks, he loves you for you.

If you're confident in how you look that gives him more confidence actually, enough to where he might even openly eat his favorite foods if your with him and encourage him.

If he even hears a scoff in your direction, he's already scheming in his head. Even if it has nothing to do with your weight or looks, he already has a plan to doom any negative student. He's very, very, protective of you. Even the tweels actually, since they see how much Azul cares and loves for you, it would be a shame if someone decided to use you as a way to get back at him.

If you wish to lose weight, Azul is very much supportive. He may not be fully happy, but he will try his hardest to help you. He'll make meal plans, have vegan or vegetarian options on Monstro Lounge's menu, even count your calories if you ask. While he may do this, he'll allow you to have a cheat day with him. After all everyone deserves something fatty once in awhile.

Another boy who absolutely does not care about how you look! He only ever sees how you are as a person than how you look. Honestly he wouldn't even notice you're chunkier than most until you point it out. Well actually he would know, it just never registered.

He would most definitely spend so much money on tailored clothing for you, if most clothes didn't fit. Anything you want, he'll get, that doesn't change.

This includes the parties he hold, they're the same in the terms of having your favorite foods and activities. Jamil will practically have known all your favorite foods by heart because of Kalim requests.

He actually does get very defensive, but not in the way you would think. If he hears anything negative about you, he'll immediately but into the conversation and have compliments leave his mouth at a fast pace.

Kalim doesn't fully understand if you want to lose weight. But he'll still be supportive and ask Jamil for advice on what you and him need to do. He'll workout and go on a diet with you as well! Because it's more fun if you're not alone!

I'll be honest, this guy will care. But hear me out, it's not how you think. Yes he'll make a few subtle comments, but he believes it's to make sure you're in your top form and your most beautiful self.

If you're happy the way you are then he'll promptly be quiet, he would never actively hurt someone with words about their appearance. He knows everyone is different, everyone has their own qualities that make them beautiful. And as time goes on, he'll see that your extra weight is what makes you beautiful.

If say, your weight is do to something you can't control. He'll be very supportive and understanding, we all can't control how we look after all. If you feel sad over it he'll be there to be your shoulder to cry on and even give you a comforting spa day.

If he hears others talk negatively about you, then they have angered Pomefiore's queen. He won't tolerate anyone harassing nor belittling you. He may have been harsh with you at first, but he learned his own way and so he'll make sure others know better as well.

If you want to lose weight, Vil is the perfect person to ask for help! He may be harsh and tough on you, but it's to help you and motivate you. If you do need someone more comforting and soft Rook will be there to compliment and encourage you as well. It's very...contrasting, but it'll get the job done so you can be you're most beautiful self!

I'd say he doesn't care either, maybe also someone who prefers someone with more meat to cuddle. After all, I can see him actually having a cold body temperature even with the fire hair. Those with larger bodies are warmer actually, so you're perfect for cuddles!

He would want to give you loads of compliments, but his extreme shyness gets the better of him. So instead he plays games with you and even makes mods that let's you have your character be as chubby as you!!

Surprisingly Idia always cuddles you. You're just so warm and plush he can't help himself! Don't point it out though, or his hair will turn red and may cause another fire in his room.

When he or Ortho hears anything negative about you they immediately come to your defense, Ortho more often than Idia. Ortho sees you as another big sibling, so he defends you just like he does for Idia. Idia usually hacks his way into any naysayers phone to mess with them for a day, not usually anything too bad but something to make sure they don't say anything hurtful again.

If you want to lose weight, Idia will scour the internet for any info on how to help. He even would go outside to help you! Ortho will also be there so you have someone to workout with, meanwhile Idia is playing on his switch...he may also make exercise and active games at some point so you two can play together while working out!

This man also wouldn't care how you look. He may say one thing about how "humans have always looked so different from each other" in a way to comfort you.

He wouldn't really treat you differently, but he would give you all the support and compliments you need if you're insecure about your body.

You two do have lots of ice cream together, but if you ask for the sake of any medical reasons he's happy to get you your own sugar free or low calorie frozen treats!

If anyone in Diasomnia hears word of someone making negative comments about you, you have a whole dormitory behind you. The faes of the dormitory just can't understand why humans turn against each other over something as small as having a different body type.

If you wish to lose weight, Malleus won't know exactly what to do to help. He'll ask his dormmates for help, which will lead to Lilia trying to make home cooked diet meals. And for Sebek and Silver to have you join in their duels. Great Seven have mercy on them when Malleus finds out.

[kob131]

Hey man, I know it's kind of your bread and butter here to respond to and critique RWBY "critics", but I just gotta ask: why do you bother with them?

Look, i've been in this fanbase since 2016 and I've seen my fair share of BS from all sides. After a point I just decided to tune out the naysayers and enjoy the show and the parts of the fandom I do enjoy

So why do you do this to yourself? Why listen to these arrogant asshats who think they know how to write RWBY better than the writers of the show? It feels like you're just setting yourself up for suffering

Again, not trying to dissuade you from doing it, I'm just tryna know why?

There's a lot to say about this. I'll try to give a good summation-

Tl;Dr- I don't enjoy RWBY fanfics very often anymore, I don't like RWBY fanart, I can't listen to RWBY music without it showing up-

I'm a stubborn asshole who enjoys picking apart and understanding media. And that's what I like to enjoy about RWBY. Issue is- There is no part of the fandom that I can enjoy that with.

I think to fully understand my position, I'd need to walk you through the journey of how I got here. I'll try to keep it brief.

I basically started in the Pokemon Shipping community. I really liked a certain ship from the anime, joined up with a budding forum and enjoyed hanging out there for a time. In it, my biggest contribution was analyzing certain songs from the movies through a self admitted shipping lens. I enjoyed interpreting the songs in such a way and wanted more of that.

And lo and behold, I got that. My youtube feed recommended me a couple of channels based around reviewing, like Mr. Enter, The Nostalgia Critic and Bennett The Sage. So I started watching them and analyzing their content to try and understand them. Along the way when I watched Gurren Lagann, I found Digibro and TheBestGuyEvar's videos on the subject. It incentivised me to keep going as I gathered

Some time later, I was introduced to RWBY and Red vs. Blue by my high school best friend (partially through Death Battle). Which got me really hooked. Speaking of Gurren Lagann, the moment I watched RWBY I instantly went "this feels like Gurren Lagann" which surprised, I was inspired by. And this is where I really got into a fandom for the first time. I followed certain artists, read some fanfics and got into it. I even started getting into analysis on the main subreddit. But I wasn't satisfied. So I heard about the 'rwde' tag on tumblr and thought 'A tag for criticism about RWBY? Sounds perfect! I'm sure the guy saying it sucks is just a little miffed about criticism!'

... I think you know the story from here. Me getting into fights with RWDE posters, making friends along the way, losing friends, doing the dumbest shit possible, somehow growing up- I'm sure you know about this.

Thing is, though I have changed (I think) as a person since starting this, my feelings about criticism and analysis haven't changed. I still enjoy that the most by far, especially compared to other aspects of fandom. I still by far get the most enjoyment from challenging my views on media and seeing what people can gleam from it. ... Except that the RWBY fanbase has been SHIT at this for years now.

And because of my Asperger's, RWBY is one of the few things I feel compelled to talk about. But I don't feel satisfied without discussion or debate and I can't get that from locking myself in a certain part of the fanbase. So I keep going, hoping that I learn something. Yes, there is one RWBY critic I actually like (@faboover ) but my apitite for this stuff is far more ravenous.

And before anyone gets any bright ideas about seeing this in a positive light- this is also likely due to my own stubbornness and routine (going into the 'RWBY' search on twitter).

Am I gonna find shit? yes, this fandom is the embodiment of Sturgeon's Law.

But I want something different god damn it.

[skvaderarts]

Hello! I wanted to give you a proper greeting that wasn't through an AO3 comment (I'd left a rather long one on Soliloquy already gdfhjfd). I've just recently begun reading your AU series and I'm going through your second book for it a little quicker than I thought I might omg. Actually, I wanted to let you know that I really dig how you're handling this post-DMC5 AU and that you really deserve a ton of encouragement for it. It takes a certain amount of bravery to go ahead and diverge from canon while not caring what naysayers try to do devalue your work and spirit. Like, I've seen some comments on your first fic that are so astoundingly nasty I've experienced secondhand whiplash from reading them. I'm so sorry you have to deal with shit like that, it's totally unreasonable. I seriously don't understand why some people can't just chill and scroll past. I, like you, gave V an AU of his own where he isn't a half of Vergil and it's something I've discovered is actually very strangely toxic to a number of people. ??? So, yeah, I commend you for giving V what I feel he deserves. No hate for the canon source material, but folks like us want a taste of a different experience, so we create it for ourselves. I totally get that. It'd be great to discuss AU things and general DMC stuff with you! c: Perhaps there may be an opportunity. Well, I will leave you to it. Keep doing what you're doing and best of luck!

First of all, I want to thank you for this wonderful comment. And second of all, I wanted to say that I'm so sorry for taking so long to respond! Sometimes I just don't get the notifications, or I read a post and for some reason think that I responded when I didn't! I totally wasn't ignoring you! Far from it, actually. I love this comment! Thank you so much!

I couldn't tell you what it is about V and Canon divergency in this matter that just drives some people up the walls! I think I've honestly seen less hatred for the incest fics and the fandom in the 10 plus years that I've been part of the community. I'm not single in the matter or anything, but I'm just saying I find it really odd that that doesn't seem to make people even nearly as upset. It's odd. I always try to keep my cool and not play into the hands of people I know are going to say something just to get on my last nerve, but yeah, you're totally right. I've had some really awful comments, and I still get them sadly enough. But I just sort of roll with it. That's all I can do at this point. I've come way too far to give up now!

As for what you said about the concept of having nothing against Canon but just wanting to do your own spin on it, I couldn't agree with the sentiment more! I realized that nobody had written the fix that I wanted, so I decided to create it because I had the time and I had the vision to do it! I write this story because I genuinely love it, not because I hate DMC5 or don't understand the story or don't like Vergil like some people seem to think! Quite the opposite! I have nothing but love for the series, especially the fifth game! It's probably in my top five games ever, and I've played a absolute crap ton of games. Probably more like top three!

I love that game so much I actually broke down crying playing it the first time, and there's parts to still get me playing it again! I've got like 68% of the achievements in the game at this point because I like it so much! I think it takes a certain level of understanding of the source material to even write an AU for it, so I've never understood the argument that disliking or wanting to change an aspect of the story meant that you didn't understand it. Far from it, you just had a different vision for how that could have played out. And there's no harm in that! That's the whole idea behind fanfiction: to write something or read something that brings you joy in a specific way!

I'm happy to talk about DMC with you literally anytime! I noticed that you dropped in to my messages, and I'll get with you on there really soon! Just have to take care of some stuff first! It's great hearing from you! Thanks for reaching out and take care! Nothing makes me happier than people actually like something that I did for once. Doesn't happen very much in my day to day life if I'm being honest. I think it literally only comes from writing.

Sorry for any mistakes! I used voice to text to write this, so I might have made a couple of mistakes. I'll fix them as I see him, but the dyslexia is real lol!

Thank you @whothehellisdante!

[lanzhanlanzhan]

This is a Wang Yibo Appreciation Post

Okay, first of all, whoever was responsible for even considering Wang Yibo as Lan Wangji ought to get an award. I mean look at this boy

Who looked at him and thought, "Yes! A perfect Lan Wangji!" It boggles the mind. In fact, one of the funniest things I found when the series was first aired was UNIQ fans belatedly realizing that Lan Wangji was being played by Wang Yibo. The whiplash must have been something because the gap is just unreal.

I remember that back when news came out that there would be a live action adaptation of MDZS, not a lot of people were behind Wang Yibo being casted as Lan Wangji. I would even admit to being one of the naysayers, and if I delve deep into this trash bin of a blog, I would probably find something I said last year that was along those lines. Mind you, this was in stark contrast to how people reacted to Xiao Zhan; most people liked him, thought he looked great as Wei Wuxian, and he just got a lot of approval on the get-go. The promotional posters that came out though just did not really do Wang Yibo justice. As Lan Wangji, he did not look the part, he seemed quite young, who even was Wang Yibo, or if you knew Wang Yibo, like really, Wang Yibo? And so on and so forth. 

The great reveal though is that apparently, Wang Yibo is the kind of guy you just have to see in action. The moment I got into him playing Lan Wangji? I was sold. I was so sold I would willingly eat my shoe for everything I ever said about CQL casting back in 2018. That face, the look? Picture perfect. His manner, his restraint, the way he conducts himself in fight scenes? It was sheer genius casting a dancer for the kind of grace required to pull off the esteemed Hanguang-jun. I love Wang Yibo's Lan Wangji and knowing what I know now, if you give me another actor to play Lan Wangji, I would stab him in the eyeballs, I am not kidding. Don't give me anyone else other than Wang Yibo.

Now, Xiao Zhan has proven time and again that he understands Wei Wuxian, and the great thing is he is articulate about it. I think it's pretty well known that this boy makes entire speeches and writes legit essays when asked about Wei Wuxian. We love that about him, and I think this is also why he is so popular with the fans. We don't get as much of that from Wang Yibo, but much like how it wasn't until we saw him in action that he proved why he was a fitting Lan Wangji, the same could be said here. He does understand Lan Wangji. How do we know? Because it just shows. I find that appreciating this boy is in seeing him just do things. I remember how it was when, with each episode that passed, people just started noticing how Lan Wangji—poker face extraordinaire—was behaving in each of his scenes. We went, "Was that--? Holy shit, yes, it is?? How is this actor pulling off these micro-expressions? How is it that we are actually getting emotions from Lan Wangji??"

This went on up until a lot of us slowly realized, "You know what? This is a really good Lan Wangji we have here."

The Untamed also gave us a lot of promotional and behind-the-scenes content, so let's talk about that, too. There is something refreshingly genuine with Wang Yibo that I don't think I often see in many celebrities. It could be because he's young, but that just makes it more impressive how well he is performing on-screen. Out of costume though, he doesn't seem to have many filters, and it is such a riot following him and listening to the kind of shit he says in interviews (and taking note of how the "more adult" Xiao Zhan reacts to them).

Besides, a drama with two guys as leads? This could have easily been a recipe for clashing egos. While whichever actors playing Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji would find themselves being called the "two male leads" of the show, the fact of the matter is, Wei Wuxian's character is defined by his actions and his convictions. He fights against something larger than himself, and in this sense he is the typical hero of a story. Lan Wangji, meanwhile, is defined by his devotion to Wei Wuxian. 

People get compared all the time, rankings are a thing, and product endorsement usually can only afford one popular celebrity as a brand ambassador. One could very easily be the actor who resents Lan Wangji's popularity being dependent on Wei Wuxian, and thus be considered "secondary" to Wei Wuxian. But instead, and despite all the wrong ways things could go, we got chemistry on screen and camaraderie behind the scenes. Wang Yibo favored Xiao Zhan and did not compete with him. It probably helped that Xiao Zhan is older (thank goodness for Asian values), but then Wang Yibo has been a celebrity for longer. Again, it could have gone badly.

I cannot stress enough how important it is to me that Lan Wangji's actor likes Wei Wuxian. It's not by any means a necessity, but a wonderful, wonderful bonus to all this—because what self-respecting Lan Wangji wouldn't adore his Wei Wuxian? We got cute banter behind the scenes, with Wang Yibo even seeming to be most partial to Xiao Zhan and generally being playful with him despite having a reputation of being cold to co-stars. He genuinely seemed to have had a lot of fun with his co-actor. I do not ship them nor do I follow RPF, but I find that them having that amiable and sometimes affectionate atmosphere does wonders for my own shipping of Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji. It's like everything just feels safe and good, and my boys are happy together in all iterations of their universe. 

I will always be thankful to these actors for interpreting these beloved characters so respectfully, especially given the nature of Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji's relationship. With the threat of censorship being a very real thing for them, I'm glad we still got the bond—and yes, love—between Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji in the scenes they share on-screen. (Actually, I sometimes wonder if Wang Yibo's, uh, violence towards Xiao Zhan is a remnant of Lan Wangji's affection for Wei Wuxian that Wang Yibo hasn't shaken off after they end a scene, lol. What's a guy to do with those feelings, right?)

Anyway, this accidental meta was brought to you by all these goodbye posts with CQL ending. I reiterate all the "thank you's" to the cast, but really for me, my appreciation goes most of all to our unexpectedly excellent Lan Wangji. I said so much shit about him last year, but he ended up being my absolute favorite of the cast. Wang Yibo took Lan Wangji and brought him to life in a way I never thought I needed, and now holy hell, I am churning up fanfic like mad every week. It has been such a wonderful journey, and never have I more sincerely wished success for any show's actor as much as I do for this boy. I was so, so wrong about him, but boy, never have I been happier for being proven wrong.