#anyway a lot of this was because I saw a post on reddit talking about any of the crews returning

[m-s-justice]

Black Ops 6. I think I’ve seen tossed about is if the old crew is getting revived or mentioned or will be somehow relevant to the plot. 

Do I think they will bring the original crew back? Not really. Like a 25% yes, 75% no. The nostalgia bait would be Huge. A ton of people would come back, even if they’re just operator skins, I just know it. And considering corporate greed, I can’t realistically say they’re above baiting that nostalgia.

Thematically? There would be a lot going on about it thematically speaking.

A good question, and perhaps the biggest, would be “how”? Getting the audience on board with their revival is critical to the reception of them. If it’s an asspull, people will be pissy. If it makes sense, people will still be pissy because they’re cod fanboys but would not be as obnoxious about it. The only really good answer would be through the dark aether. Maybe Takeo and Dempsey’s souls could have endured the destruction of everything since they were technically in the summoning key when that happened (even though it broke in the process, and I’m not sure how one could finagle getting Nikolai back in that case). Maybe it’s some alternative version of them that was alive when the multiverse collapsed and were consumed and banished like Victis. Maybe they’ll tie in the fucking Cod Mobile lore happening over there. Maybe there’s like some kind of freaky Homestuck-esque Ultimate Self shenanigans going on there. An ego without the persona. A mind above partition. They were sort of leaning into that in Alpha Omega, so it’s not a complete stretch. But whatever.

Maybe Richtofen missed them. Their souls were bonded, afterall. With them gone, does he feel exposed? Alone? Where he, in the most intimate way, pressed against them, his very soul mixed with theirs, there is now gaping air, something missing. Perhaps the death of his family only worsened that feeling. Perhaps that’s why he wanted a family in the first place. Perhaps knowing that people can be ripped from him so suddenly, so violently, without any warning, makes him crave that familiarity, that guaranteed company, that there will always be someone there.

(Janus is a god of doorways and beginnings and endings.)

But what’s in there, thematically speaking?

I’d like to get a bit meta. (who would have thought?) Richtofen, at least in this hypothetical storyline, would be the community, or at least the old guard. Wanting that return, even if it wasn’t as great as he has made it out to be. (It was bad. He hurt people and was hurt himself.) So bringing his team back would symbolize him abandoning the future, the world that Nikolai sacrificed everything for, to go back.

Those opposing him, namely the new crew, possibly Samantha, would ultimately symbolize the future. Wanting to move forwards, to leave the past. That no one living can exist in the past. Even if it's different and scary and brand new, it has to be done. You have to keep moving or you will be left behind.

I think it would be something very hard to chew, but ultimately cathartic to the community. A more “proper” goodbye to the old crew. They were very, very, very unceremoniously killed off in a way the community perceived to be disrespectful to not only the characters themselves, but the player base,and the story itself. “Re-doing” that, in a sense, might give the characters themselves more time to come to terms with it, as well as the community.

Now, it’s fair to criticize bringing them back just to kill them immediately afterwards. But, isn’t that what happened in BO3? Perhaps, not an exact 1 to 1, but I do know a few old heads only stayed with BO3 because they would get to see Ultimis again after them being MIA in BO2 and slowly warmed up to Primis along the way.

Truthfully, I think they’re dead as doornails. At most, they live in whatever memories Eddie has. And ours, too, I guess. Anyway poll. For science. Zombie science!!!

[themyscirah]

Okay so basically the United States MINT of all people is going to be working with DC to make a line of coins! These coins sadly won't be in circulation (the things I would do to live in a world where I could get Batman coins from the supermarket) as they're collectors coins, but will be releasing over the course of the next 3 years, 2025-2027.

Designs haven't been released yet (the same is true for all 2025 designs) but we know there will be 9 coins in total (3 each year) with the first year featuring (of course!!!) Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman.

Although we know the first three heroes to be featured, the remaining six have yet to be decided, and it turns out the Mint is putting out a survey on their site to gauge which of a group of culturally significant heroes people want to see most! (link to the form is mentioned in the article above)

The considered group includes: Supergirl, the Flash, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Captain Marvel, John Stewart GL, Aquaman, Hawkman, Jamie Reyes BB, Robin (Damian?), Cyborg, and Batgirl, of which 6 will be selected.

As someone who does a bit of coin collecting myself (mainly circulation coins like the quarters sets, but I also have a couple proof and collectors coins) I think this is a really cool and interesting idea that showcases the history of the comics medium and these characters and their influence on American culture. Really excited to wait and see what the designs look like for the coins already announced!

[gifti3]

Mc from [redacted] is a loser fr and not in the fun way

[e-rated-beardo]

Do we need another voice added to the conversation about The Thing? I guess it can't hurt.

I have about every feeling on Earth. I'm frustrated it's going to be shorter than we thought. I'm wary, because we've all learnt this year that a green light can be un-green-lit with no warning. I'm so relieved they've removed That Guy. I'm relieved we're getting something. I'm angry that That Guy had to secretly be a shit (judging from the info I have) which has caused all this bloody anxiety for all of us IN ADDITION to the actual proper shit things he's done to others in the past (given the info I have) and that his shittiness is going to sully people's enjoyment of this thing in big or small ways. I'm cautiously optimistic that we might get something faster, because fewer minutes means quicker work, maybe. I'm worried (as I always was) that it isn't going to be what I've hoped for. I'm frustrated that it's still so very quiet in media regarding what That Guy has done and mildly worried his ex-fans might never know a lot of things that might have led to closure.

I've never been in fandom before this and I have a vague understanding of how lucky I am that this was the one that sucked me in. I'm told not all fandoms are created equal. This one is a bloody marvel. A real fucking marvel. I'm not talking about the art and writing (which are just fantastic like I can't believe), but about how last night I first read The News in a Discord server and thus had other fans Feeling All The Feelings around me right from the start; how I went on Tumblr and found the early discussions and shock and complicated emotions from people whose handles mean something to me, and how I went on Reddit and saw other people gif-screaming in frustration while simultaneously trying to comfort each other. This is such a wholesome place. HOW is this such a wholesome place. Can we keep cultivating this? All of this? Keep welcoming the randos posting on Tumblr about experiencing the Final Fifteen for the first time with avalanches of emoji hearts and fanfic? Keep patiently explaining and re-explaining new and confusing news to commenters who haven't heard all of them yet? Keep showing strangers how to code on AO3 or how to be a lovely fanfic reader or introduce them to the metas people thought up in 2015 or encourage them to post their own loving, scrunckly first art piece and give them love and appreciation for it?

We've Had A Fucking Moment Year, haven't we? And somehow, as an overall experience, to me, this has been an absolute GOOD. Because there's a whole bloody world of other obsessed folks around me now, feeling the same conflicted feelings as I do, largely speaking, and mulling them over in open blogs and private servers and fanfics and comics and DMs.

I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve. (Or more than half of you, more likely. We're not Hobbiton.) I really like y'all, anyway. You're neat. Can we be frembs? ❤️

If you want a little comfort fanfic escapism, I'm told this 7k-word, E-rated silliness I made once is a balm for S2-related wounds. (There's a podfic of it, too.) This thread on GOAD cropped up with great timing yesterday and is full of people's comfort fic recs. There's tons more of this everywhere. This fandom, man. This fandom. 🖤🤍

[nekohime19]

AITA for sleeping with the guy my girlfriend is cheating on me with?

Idk what happened but I just had the funniest idea ever and I just had to write it. So basically it's a reddit post style short story with Wukong's pov. It's an interactive story so the comments will be used as the answers. There will probably be a part two (maybe even a part three) but I don't think I'll write more than that.

Shadowpeach is the end goal and we don't forgive cheaters in this household.

Also sorry Spider Queen, love ya.

AITA for sleeping with the guy my girlfriend is cheating on me with?

Okay, so I'm not used to this internet madness but my successor once said it could help sometimes so here I am sharing drama.

So I (5000, He/him monkey immortal) have been dating this other person we'll call Venom (??, She/her, spider demon) for quite some time. And I've been quite happy with her. I know I'm not the most… upfront with things and I have issues (like a lot) but she liked me and we worked well together.

But then we got into more arguments when I began to train my successor (21, he/him, human???), we'll call him… Bud, just because.

The thing is, Venom got this whole world domination plan, which is kinda normal for demons. A lot of demons do that. And it never really bothered me because I was retired (for context I'm a retired hero who used to battle demons a lot). Besides, I had some kind of the same phase in my youth so I just thought it would pass when she'd realize it's kind of a stupid plan, and anyway she never did anything to achieve it.

But then I found a successor, Bud, and I began to train him to protect the city and fight demons, all that heroing stuff. Venom, of course, wasn't happy with that and we began to get into arguments. She accused me of betraying her and I just told her I was a hero from the start so she shouldn't have expected me to agree with her view and all.

Things got really bad when Venom decided to pull a end-of-the-world shit show on New Year when we agreed beforehand to go on a date that day. It felt like she was spiting me. Plus, she destroyed more than half of the city and gave Bud a really awful time so I was, understably I think, very angry with her.

We got on our biggest argument and took some time apart to cool off. But then Venom got back all sweet and said to leave that behind us, so I was very happy and just decided to forget our arguments entirely. I thought she just decided to stop her world domination thing. It wasn't weird for us to do that. Not the first time we got into an argument about heroing and usually we just get back together after a little bit and decide to move on.

But then I started to notice some weird stuff about Venom. Like, she was on her phone a lot more (when she always thought those mortal things were lame before) and she was kinda dismissive and distant. She forgot some of our dates and had some lame excuses, like taking weeks of vacation or something??? When she never did that before.

In hindsight maybe I shouldn't have done that but I'm a monkey you know, so I'm naturally curious. So I took her phone and snooped around a bit.

Turns out Venom was cheating on me with another guy (??, he/him, monkey demon) we'll call him Six. She was seeing him behind my back and all, planning date and calling him “darling”, 🤢. I saw red. Like cheating ???? I know we have our ups and downs but to the point of cheating on me? I was really hurt by this.

So, I don't know, to try to calm down I started to investigate on Six. Like what kind of guy he is? Is he better than me? I was kinda surprised to discover he's another celestial monkey, like I always thought I was the only one?? But also it kinda hurt because Venom was cheating with a cheap dark version of me.

So I got petty.

I wanted revenge. And info. I decided I was gonna confront this Six guy first and pull a Monkey Cop, sussing him out to see if he was aware of my existence and to clarify this situation. Maybe I should have just talked to Venom but, idk, I guess some part of me was dreading the confrontation with her.

So I got to Six workplace with a disguise and all (sunglasses and hoodie). He works in the local theater and, okay, he was kind of good on stage. I'm not gonna lie, he's also kinda cute. Just a little bit. So I approached him at the end of the show, praising him for the performance.

One thing led to another and we kinda took dinner together??? I learned he moved in recently and that he got in a relationship with Venom three months ago (which hurt). But he seemed to genuinely like her and had no idea he was the side piece here. Sooo, maybe I took pity on him, like the guy didn't deserve that? I offered him a bottle and we got waisted. In hindsight, a really bad idea, especially since I have a loose mouth when I'm drunk.

We had a fun night, doing stuff together. He admitted my disguise was shit (which, rude 🙄) and was excited to meet another celestial monkey. We talked about our experiences and we really bonded. Annnd, I got to ruin it and spill the beans, saying the truth about how Venom is in fact my girlfriend.

At first he didn't believe me, but then I pulled pictures and, yeah, he was understandably upset. He kinda looks hot when mad. We got even more waisted and cried and cursed Venom and ate ice cream then we got on my mountain, drank some more of my personal celestial wine collection, and watched Monkey Cop… Then I say “You're kinda cute.” and he says “You too”.... One thing led to another and, yeah, we slept together.

And so now I'm in my bed typing this with the worst headache on earth and with very obvious marks of what happened last night on me. Six is sleeping next to me and I'm questioning my life (and my sexuality???)

WHAT DO I DO????

AITA ??

[cherrysolo]

hi my love again hehe!! in one of your posts you were asking about luigi's goodreads!! and i made an analysis about the books he's read that ive read here it is if u want to read it :))

sapiens - also part of luigi's favorite's list!! this is by yuval noah harrari my GOAT guys.. i cannot STOP yapping about this book!! if u guys dont like reading very bulky texts and js want to get the main point there's a graphic history version and it's ive read it spits out points very concisely !! so either book it's all good :)) it's veryvery interesting it talks about evolution and why humans act like humans!! i love history and yuval noah harrari made me love evolution so much!! this book was rated a 5/5 by luigi (deserved hehe) girl honestly anyone ANYONE who gave sapiens a chance would also rate it 5/5 or a high rating it's a timeless lighthouse on the fog of defining humanity so since luigi is a very left brained man this deff fits his character all in all (oh js wanted to mention he rated sapiens: graphic history a 4/5)

harry potter - he rated 1st-3rd book a 5/5 def deserved !! ofc it's a classic ive had my harry potter phase die out and live again MULTIPLE times harry potter is probably apart of many people including luigi's first books ive read and loved list

the little prince - 4/5 (by luigi) it still freaks me out that he read the same books as a lot of us, watched the same movies as a lot of us, and that he's js a regular human but his actions moved society to forward him to transcend into the status of being "it is hell on earth to be heavenly - ts", almost even myth-like anyways back to the little prince it's rlly an AMAZING book !! it's a short read and it speaks so much about taking the truth of growing up and adulthood and making it alien through a child's eyes def made a lot of people relive an innocence that once was

animal farm - he rated this a 4/5 and i agree with that i read animal farm for school and it is a classic, so typical and so true i reference it all the time for me i gave it a 3/5 on my goodreads too because halfway through the book PLSDONT FLAME ME FOR THIS i kind ofalready picked up what george orwell was putting down - especially for the ending it was a bit obvious for me PLS DONT GET MAD IM SORRY anw it talks about the oppressive effects of a dictatorship (specifically communist government) and basically talks about how EVERYTHING gets political and even a revolution that looks toward freedom can get blurred when u lose ur ideals that's the main message i got out of this!!

the art of war - i havent finished the art of war yet..sigh.. he rated this a 4/5 and it's fitting since from the reviews ive read it's very strategic and calculated js like luigi so the rating matches with his personality

so sorry that's all the book titles that ive recognized in his roster.. I FEEL SO BEHIND but on a serious note i feel rlly inspired to read more books!! school has been so draining :(( and ive been lacking time to read im trying to light the spark again this year

i saw a lot of philosophy and psychology and self help books (including health about back pain) he's so avid about self-improvement it's stunning

i remember in luigi's reddit too he was very staunch about the fact that when he wanted to bring a book in his backpack it had to be physical and not kindle and he enumerated like 4 points to justify it it was so cute and made me so happy coz i shared the same views as him

oh and i also wanted to mention that luigi is an absolute culture absorber !! so inspiring he reads books about the places he goes to eg. hawaii and based on pictures he's a very openminded social butterfly hehe

luigi is a walking pursuit of wonder. like he read elon musk and the unabomber for specific reasons and i think it's because he was curious to find out the mindset of these people that yk he doesnt exactly idolize to euphonize it at least.. so if we wanna find out what type of person luigi is i think itd be good to judge that based on the books he's read def since it's what he's been exposed to/chosen to be exposed to so if anyone who has read the same books as he has u can always anon message me/make a post hehe i find his mind so interesting!! i love u so much!! i hope you're doing amazing!! good luck at uni!! (not that ur gonna need it hehe) sending so much love and admiration!! i mean poli sci??? now we need a standing ovulation for that. love u so much!!

OMFG I LOVE THIS SM!!!! I find it so interesting the array of books he’s read! he definitely doesn’t conform to one genre of books. especially in his tbr goodreads shelf he had a book about female pleasure….. we love a man who can read! haha

his post about not having a kindle and rather a physical book makes me giggle! I previously shared the same views, because nothing compares to holding the actual real book! But I now have a kindle and it has changed my reading habits completely! he would definitely be a lil suspicious if his so read on a kindle, because why choose a device over real writing on a page???

I definitely agree with you that reading can be so draining and book slumps are inevitable! I always try to set reading goals but I rarely accomplish them lol. do you think that luigi always set a goodreads yearly reading goal too? I wonder what his goal was set to!

I genuinely have such a smile on my face reading these replies ahhh!!!! ily <3

[marzipanlvr]

Please yesss 👀👀 post about his books you found and your thoughts

hello anon!! hope ur good!! OMG HELLO? HELP ME ARE U GIVING ME A WARRANT TO YAP... here's the real thing i don't want to disclose my age but im a teenager and i havent read all the books he's read (it's impending doom laying upon me ALWAYS :(( feeling so behind rn) but ill talk about the books ive read that he's read!!

sapiens - also part of luigi's favorite's list!! this is by yuval noah harrari my GOAT guys.. i cannot STOP yapping about this book!! if u guys dont like reading very bulky texts and js want to get the main point there's a graphic history version and it's ive read it spits out points very concisely !! so either book it's all good :)) it's veryvery interesting it talks about evolution and why humans act like humans!! i love history and yuval noah harrari made me love evolution so much!! this book was rated a 5/5 by luigi (deserved hehe) girl honestly anyone ANYONE who gave sapiens a chance would also rate it 5/5 or a high rating it's a timeless lighthouse on the fog of defining humanity so since luigi is a very left brained man this deff fits his character all in all (oh js wanted to mention he rated sapiens: graphic history a 4/5)

harry potter - he rated 1st-3rd book a 5/5 def deserved !! ofc it's a classic ive had my harry potter phase die out and live again MULTIPLE times harry potter is probably apart of many people including luigi's first books ive read and loved list

the little prince - 4/5 (by luigi) it still freaks me out that he read the same books as a lot of us, watched the same movies as a lot of us, and that he's js a regular human but his actions moved society to forward him to transcend into the status of being "it is hell on earth to be heavenly - ts", almost even myth-like anyways back to the little prince it's rlly an AMAZING book !! it's a short read and it speaks so much about taking the truth of growing up and adulthood and making it alien through a child's eyes def made a lot of people relive an innocence that once was

animal farm - he rated this a 4/5 and i agree with that i read animal farm for school and it is a classic, so typical and so true i reference it all the time for me i gave it a 3/5 on my goodreads too because halfway through the book PLSDONT FLAME ME FOR THIS i kind ofalready picked up what george orwell was putting down - especially for the ending it was a bit obvious for me PLS DONT GET MAD IM SORRY anw it talks about the oppressive effects of a dictatorship (specifically communist government) and basically talks about how EVERYTHING gets political and even a revolution that looks toward freedom can get blurred when u lose ur ideals that's the main message i got out of this!!

the art of war - i havent finished the art of war yet..sigh.. he rated this a 4/5 and it's fitting since from the reviews ive read it's very strategic and calculated js like luigi so the rating matches with his personality

so sorry that's all the book titles that ive recognized in his roster.. I FEEL SO BEHIND but on a serious note i feel rlly inspired to read more books!! school has been so draining :(( and ive been lacking time to read im trying to light the spark again this year

i saw a lot of philosophy and psychology and self help books (including health about back pain) he's so avid about self-improvement it's stunning

i remember in luigi's reddit too he was very staunch about the fact that when he wanted to bring a book in his backpack it had to be physical and not kindle and he enumerated like 4 points to justify it it was so cute and made me so happy coz i shared the same views as him

oh and i also wanted to mention that luigi is an absolute culture absorber !! so inspiring he reads books about the places he goes to eg. hawaii and based on pictures he's a very openminded social butterfly hehe

luigi is a walking pursuit of wonder. like he read elon musk and the unabomber for specific reasons and i think it's because he was curious to find out the mindset of these people that yk he doesnt exactly idolize to euphonize it at least.. so if we wanna find out what type of person luigi is i think itd be good to judge that based on the books he's read def since it's what he's been exposed to/chosen to be exposed to so if anyone who has read the same books as he has u can always anon message me/make a post hehe i find his mind so interesting!!

i want to say thank you to the anon who send me this message!! i love books SO MUCHRWEDHBS and i had NO ONE to talk to about the books he's read. the minute i stalked his goodreads my jaw kept on dropping till it reached the floorwax. i was so happy that he read the same books as me and i was so excited an intrigued. that marked my crush on luigi i guess.. free nerds love nerds !! thank you anon i love u and ur sweet soul :(( please stay safe anon hoping rainbows ALWAYS find ur way!! <33 u sweetiepie

[militarymenrbomb]

I happened across a reddit that features true stories from Military men about their m/m experiences while in the service. Would you guys be interested if I posted them? Here's a sample titled part 2.

Hook up in Iraq part 2: co worker in Balad

This one took place in Balad. I worked at the flight line so lots of hot pilots with attitude. I never found them interesting because they were divas. If they don’t get what they wanted, they complained . The one that interested me was my co worker. He was a plane mechanics and an avionics technician. We had different shops so we only see each other when the plane was broken. Other than that, I saw him rights across my shop but never really talked . We’re supposed to be smarter than them. Lol. He is a surfer type the way he talked and acted . He’s got that surfer bod too, lean and muscled in the right area. I only see him in uniform but I could he has a nice body when he took his DCU while working on the plane. He has ripped muscles and they flexed every r he turned that ratchet to tighten a bolt on the plane. Sometimes he catches me looking at him when we’re together. He just smirked and continued. We never talked since mission first when you’re out there.

One night I was in my pc shorts going to shower and I soon as I opened the door , it was him . I got startled and excuse myself while he continued shaving. He looked at me and continued to gaze until I was on the left side of him. I was gonna shaved too but decided not so I immediately went to the closest shower. He could see me cuz I saw him looking at me all way. I decided to flirt and slowly took my clothes off until I was completely naked. I can tell he was still looking . I kinda smiled. I turned on the shower but didn’t go inside . I want to show more of my body to him. He wasn’t even shaving anymore . He was just looking at me through the mirror . I leaned down to pick up my clothes and put on the bench. Now I’m facing him and we’re just looking at each other through the mirror. My cock was hard. I could see bulge on the white towel covering his bottom part of the body. It kept growing until the head was out. We both just looked at each other . No one else was there, just the two of us . I went inside the shower but didn’t close the shower curtain . Next thing I knew he was going towards me . I was scared and excited at the same time . I don’t know him well enough so I didn’t know what’s gonna happen. He took his towel off and revealed a beautiful cock. It wasn’t big but I love it anyways. He joined me in the shower and closed the curtain just in case someone comes in. We kissed for a long time. I can’t stop kissing him while we jerked each other off. The shower too small to kneel down so we just keep kissing and jerking each other off but not making too much noise just in case. We both came but we continued kissing and hugging . I told him to peek and go out first and leave. About few minutes , I decided to come out of the shower too. He was gone.

I saw him the next day at the shop and we smiled . I knew he is married so I left him alone and not pursue anything else. We still worked together in the flight line but never talked about Ty’s shower incident even if we’re alone.

He emailed me few times and said “ I like what we did “. I answered back “me too” . It never happened again but I wanted to.

[woobifykamukura]

ghdsfkjghdsf is that a common thing?

I don't really get how he'd be misdiagnosed anyway; it would need brain scans, especially since it's so rare at his age, and if anything it would have been misdiagnosed as other conditions for a while. Only going off cry-stars here- I have no expertise myself- but she's said that can happen and there was a recent case in Japan where a young guy's dementia was mistaken for depression for ages.

If we doubt Komaeda's FTD it can only be via doubting his honesty imo (but I still think he's telling the truth). I also love seeing analyses of him through the lenses of other disorders as comorbid instead of alternative diagnoses- especially autism, but I've seen interesting takes wrt OCD and BPD too- but canonically I feel like bvFTD, extreme post-traumatic stress and political radicalisation adequately explain his issues.

TO BE FAIR it probably isnt As common as i think it is, i just saw one reddit post thst explicitly claimed the FTD was a misdiagnosis and that it totally makes way more sense for komaeda to have autism and bpd, and a surprisung number of people... agreed? for some reason??

which i need to state for the record a) i am autistic myself and b) have absolutely zero problems with headcanons, even if they arent ones i ascribe to personally

what i DO have a problem with is people erasing canon neurodivergencies and/or erasing traits CENTRAL to a character in order to square-peg-round-hole the headcanon THEY have as the most correct one

"nagito has ftd and was autistic before that?" cool! neat! seeing how those two disorders being comorbid with each other could be really interesting!

"nagito does NOT have ftd, the devs were wrong, they actually wrote an autistic character and didnt realize it" stop talking.

this is very like, misanthropic i guess but after SO MUCH SHIT ive seen it just speaks to an unwillingness to empathize with or relate to anyone that isnt exactly like you. and you cant just headcanon real people around you with Misdiagnosed Autistic (most.... times....) so this pops up in fiction

like. i am autistic! i also have two (2) personality disorders, and neither is bpd. this has led to a non negligible amount of autistic people completely stereotyping my other disorders as evil in order to prop themselves up ("i thought i was a narcissist/sociopath, which wouldve been awful, but really i was just autistic! phew!!" with implicit, sometimes EXPLICIT value judgements being made)

i have had a friend i had in real life, to my face, say he didn't believe i had either personality disorder and really i was secretly just autistic

...if we had been better friends, maybe he would've known me well enough to know that that's almost... comically untrue. lol

so in my opinion there do exist a certain minority of autistic people who see autism as the only neurodivergency that Matters, or at least the one that matters the most. and the only way they can feel any sympathy for anyone else is if they are also autistic

and i know this is a minority! and i just see it a lot because i am an autist in fandom and a lot of other autistic people are also in fandom! AND that this is a mindset prone to ANY minority- most people think their Problem is the Worst Problem, it just... happens. however i am just as irrational and prone to biases as anyone else and ive chosen this as my completely irrelevant hill to die on

that one reddit post made me so goddamn mad bc of All This PLUS its double insulting when someone says "i have a special interest in psychology!" as a way to say theyre extremely knowledgable, and doing genuine analysis with the lens of "i am looking at the text and trying to make an objective diagnosis" and then STILL DO THIS!!! because they have this veneer of "im just a guy asking questions" before diving right into a weirdly consspiratory subset of "everyones an idiot about mental health except for ME"

...which tbf i dont think that about myself. i am very good at writing a wide variety of mental illness due to a combination of research and life experience BUT i could really only tell you like. actual non-surface level FACTS about aspd and to a lesser extent, npd. because thats what i chose to focus on. there are far and away lots more people that know more about me about other things, and im fine wit that

i am however also aware of this extremely hyperspecific social phenominon. and thus it is my burden to bear. my mountainous molehill.

also r/danganronpa just fucking sucks like in general. every time i see a kokichi opinion there i get a little closer to pulling the trigger. i think the real moral here is reddit is garbage and should not be used for anything other than product reviews

(also fwiw i agree w ur personal take at the end, with a lil bit of ocd tendencies that like, started off manageable and nowhere near diagnostic level badness, since things he might do to manage his cycle and even the constant thinking about it are very much reminiscent of obsessions and compulsions. but ftd in of itself can cause ocd symptoms so after that it got... worse. thats my personal take on it ^^)

[bellatrixobsessed1]

The Tragedy of the Trix; Rehabilitation vs Punishment

Saw this post on reddit asking if the Trix are tragic characters and at first I almost said no. And then I thought about it a bit. On the outside they seem to handle things very well and they seem to be delighted and content with being evil for the lols but honestly, that happiness is probably super hollow and fake. And they might not even realize it. It has the same energy as someone super wealthy who has a lot of nice things but very little love. Anyways I decided to share my response on tumblr.

I've got several points here that I might elaborate on later if I get some time because I feel like there are a lot of topics here that the fandom doesn't talk about a lot; like Light Rock and the treatment of witches overall.

Honestly yeah I kind of do think that they are tragic characters. It is mostly self-inflicted and we don't really know what happened to them (unless we're counting Icy's last minute backstory) to make them the way that they are. So I can absolutely see them having grown up in rough environments.

The thing that I think makes it a real tragedy as that no one really ever tired to help them. Griffin actively encouraged their mischief and bad behavior until it became a little too evil. In the 4kids dub they didn't even get expelled for the deed itself but because they got caught. And Griffin took little to no responsibility for her hand in all of this; she's the adult, they were still probably teens when they started at Cloud Tower. So in some sense she did have a duty to guide them (and every other student). She praised them for the things that they would eventually be imprisoned for. Which is the next issue; they just kept getting imprisoned and punished with no real attempt at rehabilitation.

I would not call Light Rock rehabilitation. Based on the 4kids dub it had cult vibes more than anything else; not even the guards were allowed to leave and one of them said he felt like a prisoner rather than a guest. The whole scene opened with a debate over the morality of trying to force people to be happy. Light Rock was less about rehabilitation and more about brainwashing. So the Trix never really did get a shot at true rehabilitation and help. It was all punishment. I feel like Light Rock overall was a waste of potential; there were some implications there that really could have made for a cool plot point.

But yeah I feel like not only were the Trix neglected and heavily misguided but they were actively pushed in the wrong direction. The witches in general (not just the Trix) have such a stigma about them that even when they're doing good or minding their own business, they get accused of being evil. And so no one should be surprised when they just embrace the image.

I also feel as though some of the punishments were disproportionate to downright cruel. Like them getting sucked into a void in season 7. Heck, even Light Rock was cruel; it's brainwashing, an attempt at manipulation, and psychological abuse. It's usually passed as a joke but honestly, they have experienced the horrors. Of course they're going to come out more resentful. The comics are almost worse for this. Again it's usually the result of their own schemes but their suffering in the comics is literally played for laughs.

I think that that's why I liked season 8 upon rewatching it; more compassion was given to the Trix. Bloom told Icy that she saw good in her. And, what do you know, Icy was receptive to it. Instead of taking the power for herself, she helped the Winx save the magical dimension. I really would like a follow up on that story line. It was nice to see them humanized a bit more.

Tl;dr: Yeah the Trix brought a lot of their troubles onto themselves but they were actively being praised for doing evil until they did something too evil. And there was no genuine attempt to help them.

[kitkat-the-muffin]

Late screenshot dump/review for Cloutchase Vol 4!

Here are the previous three installments: [1][2][3]

Hey everybody! It's been a while, about 7 months since I've last been remotely active in this fanbase, but this past weekend I played Vol 4 with my friends and I am here to share my favorite screenshots! I will of course start this post off with some spoiler-free teasers to encourage others to play the game themselves!

And now it's time for the rambles!

This session was quite unique since I had two friends with me this time!

"Homestuck is too problematic lets to Danganronpa" oh I just know you guys put that in on purpose. I only ever saw the Danganronpa anime once but my friend immediately knew who they were going to dress up as and she was right haha

Honestly I love how Snapchat has a permanent dog filter on. My other friend who joined us today gave him the most perfect voice that I can barely attempt to describe. I called it "Irish-Canadian stoner" if that helps you imagine it

Backrooms reference *airhorns*!!!! It was kinda funny when TikTok just abandons the player in favor of egg theft, but what I think desperately needs to be talked about is the alleged missing lion man. Who is he? Where did he go? I have to know!

I spent a good 5 minutes rambling about Musical.ly's character design before I realized they're TikTok pre-transition. They look so fashionable tho! Can I get the raw files of these photos?

YOOOO VINE GETS NEW SPRITES!!!! I like how he's behind the times because he's been dead for a while haha

This is the best possible timeline I think

Tumblr looks FANTASTIC heck yeah

What did they mean by this?

Kinda love how Threads is a character and also kinda not a character. Design is peak tho

Get Gatsby'd! If I had a nickel for every time I was Gatsby'd this year I'd have two nickels-

Congrats on the gender! Genuinely though why did Twitter start looking infinitely more attractive to me after coming out as transfem? Like... she's so pretty now... but also exactly the same? Gender is a construct but holy cheese

I was literally trying to read the option choices and she cut me off ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff anyway hi Reddit. My friend had a surprisingly good Reddit voice (I'd describe it as incel meets gamer but less embarrassing somehow)

Old man Facebook! My friend had the WORST voice for Facebook... Imagine the creepiest old man asmr of your life

Kinda interesting that the Magical Girl sequence is part of the Bad Ending. My friends and I agreed that it was more of a Neutral End than a bad one. She looks great tho, I love the art in Instagram's route

Caught in 4k! This frame only appears for a split second haha

I really like how they characterized the creepy tracking of meta software this way. Instagram looks pleasant on the outside but underneath that top layer is a completely fake personality that covers another layer of invasive curiosity that covers another layer of genuine artistic enjoyment. That's so interesting! Anyway my friends and I started theorizing what the multicolored strings mean and we're stumped on the white bit between Amino and Kik-

I love Insta's photos, I like how they're physical polaroids. The logo on her bag is also the old Instagram logo! I need to see that full sized photo of Tumblr and Twitter tho-

Honestly didn't expect this ending but it's cute and I love it! Genuinely we should all be encouraged to post about our favorite simple pleasures rather than trying to appeal to the masses

Anyway before calling it a night we looked at some of the new bonus content (some of which is just stuff from the tumblr blog lol) and dang is Wikipedia so pretty in this screenshot

Actually my friend saw this next photo and said "he's just like me fr why don't I have that?" Honestly I can't wait for the Wikipedia route hahah

ANYWAY GET GATSBY'D FOR A THIRD TIME-

Or a second time if you aren't a Gravity Falls fan lol

Anyway, this volume was a lot of fun and I greatly enjoyed playing it! I like how TikTok's route had multiple activity choices and endings. It's kind of reminiscent of how much time you can accidentally waste on TikTok haha

Instagram's route being based on trying to maintain a level of perfection was interesting, as well as the Great Gatsby motifs. I laughed out loud when Waltz of the Flowers played because I'm hyperfixating on Princess Tutu rn and my friend is obsessed with Tchaikovsky so that was fun

Here's to the next volume! I can't wait to play it!

[stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale]

Tillie uploaded a few previews of Book 3 on her Instagram. Most of them were on her story though so they might be gone now. I posted them on reddit (ew) if you missed them and wanna see :)

She always gives us teasers when I'm at work and can't post about them right away, but yes, I saw them!

There are 8 pages for Clementine Book Three soooo I'll share them here under the cut and give my thoughts for anyone interested.

So... Olivia's havin' a real tough time.

If you'll remember from Book Two, whether because you read it or because you read my in-depth review/analysis of it: Olivia's pregnant with a little Amos Jr.

Or, as I like to call the baby: AJ 2.0

I know the baby's not going to be named AJ... but god, wouldn't that be so funny?? Everyone else would be so mad but I'd be so happy.

Anyway, I knew this would be a big thing in this book since obviously, but also because Tillie Walden was pregnant while she was working on these books. Given how she creates her stories, and how she's talked about how giving birth completely broke her... I think it's gonna be a lot.

We see how Olivia's struggling to cope with the pain she's in to the point where she's just like "God, kill me, just kill me--" which is a big oof.

And like... the fact that we're starting the story off like this? I see that "Chapter One" there, this is the opening to the final book in the trilogy.

And honestly...?

I'm so here for this.

Maybe it's just me, maybe I'm the weirdo here... but I'm actually a little excited to read this whole thing because yes, give me the horror of a visceral natural childbirth within the zombie apocalypse.

We kind of got that with Rebecca in S2, but y'know what? Crank it up to an 11. If you're gonna go there, then go there. Book One could've given us cannibalism but didn't. Book Two could've given us frankensteined walkers, but didn't. Give me something.

I don't know if I've just embraced that yes, these Clementine comics aren't good successors to the games. Yes, the Clementine here doesn't feel like the same Clementine we knew. Yes, the clemricca romance is not great. Yes, and I don't care anymore. I do not have the energy to be angry about it.

I mean, yeah I care that this is how they're choosing to continue Clementine's story, but it's so far removed from the games that as far as I'm concerned, her story ended a long time ago. This is just a "what if" spin off, and no amount of "no, it's canon" is ever going to change that. Besides, it helps me view these comics as their own thing, as well.

Also, wait a minute... counting heads, I see Clementine, Olivia, Ricca, Fen, Saa, and Derrick... and one unknown person. With glasses.

Gasp, but that's Ricca's thing.

Like... this is a lot.

This is so much.

God, Olivia's sobbing and vomiting all over the place, she's begging them to kill her just so that the pain will go away... but it looks like they're in a safe location with a midwife, so... at least there's that.

But yeah, Olivia's gonna pop out that baby and I wonder how graphic it's going to get.. Like, it's already pretty scary to see them trying to roll her over and pin her down so that the midwife can push the baby over the pelvis on the next contraction... gaaaahhhh--

However, it's questionable if both Olivia and the baby survive given the whole "Clementine suffers a loss unlike anything she's ever faced" thing from the book's description. The obvious bet is that Olivia will die and the group will have to take care of the baby, but who knows?

Speaking of, I'll also share these from the article that posted the pages:

I don't know what else to say about these pages; we're in a new location with new characters, Olivia's having a baby and it's brutal... I'm interested to learn more about The Gardener and what the supposedly safe place is, but we won't know until July.

And yes, I've already preordered my copy because of course I have. When it does come out, you can expect another in-depth review/analysis of it in the "I read it so you didn't have to" style... AND I plan of doing a separate essay that's an analysis of the trilogy as a whole, explores the clemricca romance, dives into Tillie Walden's other works and what they can help us to understand the trilogy better, etc.

This is also another reminder to not be a prick. Leave Tillie alone. If you want to be mad about the comics, that's fine, but leave her out of it. Post about it on your blog, or go be butthurt on reddit.

But yeah, what do y'all think? Let me know!

[hollandorks]

It's that point in time where I randomly pop into your inbox again! 😅😂

But I have 2 things to talk about this time!

1. I thought now that Agatha All Along was over, Daredevil was next and they'd be releasing the trailer but I just found out I was wrong! They're releasing what if season next, and then spiderman AND THEN Daredevil so I still have way longer to wait!

I don't like watching leaks. They're sucky qualitt and come out way too early and often tell you too much. So I didn't watch the leaked Daredevil trailer & don't want to.

2. I didn't watch the Penguin but I know what happened and ... It sucked. Ive typed up my thoughts about this before on reddit (a lot of people suck there but I just deal with it). Instead of retyping it all, I'm just going to snapshot what I said & send the snapshot.

(please know that if what I said on Reddit sounds mean, it's because of who I was saying it TO. They were being MAJOR dicks about me not liking it and so I was pissed at them while typing this up.

I mean, I had someone try and tell me I didn't have friends and criticize me as though I thought I was actually Harley Quinn. Among other things.)

Anyway, i was curious what you think?

I'm still excited for Yhe Batman pt 2 but I thought the penguin was unnecessary, completely predictable and mediocre as can be. Not the marvel the critics are calling it.

Hi hello! Good to see you here lol!

1. They have released an official Daredevil teaser thankfully but I don't think we've gotten the full trailer yet? I've seen all the leaks though because I'm a HOE for daredevil 😅😂 I think I saw it debuts early March which is sooo soon but so far ugh

I get it about the leaks though, a lot of times they do tell too much! It can be a lot more fun going in blind without knowing all the cameos and returning characters--a lot of which they definitely spoiled in the leaked trailer

2. I definitely can see where you're coming from about the Penguin show! Also people shouldn't be dicks because you disagree with them?? And also try to attack you personally for having an opinion???? That's dumb wtf

I will say though (as you've probably seen from my unhinged posts), I loooooved the Penguin show. They did a great job doing a deep dive into his psyche and then did a great job revealing who he truly is (which we knew all along of course but it was a wild ride)

All that being said--the show is worth it for every reason besides the Penguin himself. Sofia and Vic's characters (and even some of the other characters like Oz's mom and Eve) stole the whole fucking show. The show def sets up some of that stuff for the next film! Also I really, really loved seeing more of Gotham and the criminal underworld. Like, I got soooo many ideas for fics just from that 😂

The storytelling is seriously so good though. Especially for Sofia. Like, she made the whole show for me and that's partly why I personally think it's a marvel! Plus the acting was just so good on so many levels. It felt like all the actors were super passionate about it and gave it their all! (Again, especially for Sofia and Vic!)

So, all that to say--obviously my opinion is different than yours but that's okay! I don't really like Soprano type stuff either typically so if the Battinson brainrot wasn't sooo fucking deep I probably never would have watched it 😂

[personasintro]

Hi Mimi. Can I ask you for advice.

I have a friend who is mad at me because I’m not calling her back 24/7, and because I can’t hang out all the time and have to cancel due to the fact that I work and they sometimes, even if I have plans, call me in.

I couldn’t attend her boyfriend’s surprise birthday dinner, who she’ve only been dating for like 4 months and I’ve only met twice, because they wanted to go out late at night and I was working the day before, during, and the day after. However that particular day I got to finish my shift early because it was raining so my boss told me to just go home. On my way home another friend called me, who I haven’t seen in four month because we live 1h and 45min away from each other. My birthday is in two weeks but she’s going on vacation soon, she asked if we could meet up in the city and have dinner, this is like 4-5pm, because she wanted to celebrate me by buying me dinner. I said okey. I didn’t think I was doing anything wrong. We meet up, have dinner, order some drinks, and I post a video of us. The other friend, not even 5 minutes later, sends me a loooong message about what a bad friend I am without even knowing anything. I didn’t answer her right away and decided to wait until I was home. I got home at like 8:30, and the dinner was around 9-10isch so even if I didn’t go out with my friend I couldn’t go and celebrate her boyfriend because I needed to sleep.

She really went off on me, said a lot of things, and made me feel so shitty for nothing. So I wrote back and told her, we’re not kids, I didn’t do anything wrong, I explained briefly why I went out with my friend, and I also told her it’s my life and nobody can get mad at me for my choices, even if I was free that day it still shouldn’t be a problem because I don’t have an obligation to anybody. I also told her that I think it’s wrong that she decided to message me when she saw I was out, she could have waited and brought it up the next day instead of basically trying to ruin my night. I also texted her “don’t worry about this now, go and have fun, enjoy, let’s talk face 2 face when we get the chance” She then texted me back saying “I am celebrating his birthday all weekend, we can talk another day, I don’t have time to deal with this now”. I wrote back “sure”. My first thought, before I calmed myself down, was “so you have time to ruin my night, and start this whole thing, but you don’t have time to finish it?”.

Am I the asshole? Hahaha this sounds like a reddit post, I wanted to write it there but I don’t want to take a risk of her seeing it. Your account, your stories and you are also my comfort zone. I just feel safe here, which is why I am sorry for the rant and headache you have now. I just don’t like to talk about other people with other people, which is why I’m not asking for advice from my friends. But at the same time I’m desperate because I feel like I have done everything for her but just because I have work and have to prioritize myself I’m suddenly a bad friend for not attending her bfs dinner who I’ve only met twice. I mean it’s not like I missed her wedding day. It’s not like I was talking shit about her or told everyone her secrets for her to call me awful names and paint me as the bad guy. It’s not like the plan hanged on me, and I said no, and everybody stayed home but then I went out anyways. They still went out and had fun, so why should it be a problem if I was there or not.

I just want to add that this friendship is solely about me being there for her, I’m basically her therapist. I’ve never ever had demands on her or how she should treat me. I’m so drama free like this is my only drama in life atm in the past 6 years. I’m so easy going. You know that last year on my birthday she didn’t wish me a happy bday, and last year I asked her 6 times if she wanted to go on a vacation and she said no, but then she posts on snap that she’s going on a “random trip” with a girl she met 6 month ago at a gym who she doesn’t even talk to anymore because she feels that the girl was to clingy. I didn’t say anything because I thought it’s okey I’m not gonna ruin her day, vacation or whatever for something so silly, it’s HER life. I’m always there for her, even if I’m busy I always try to show her that she is not neglected by maybe sending her a song, or meme, or even going as far as telling her that I’m gonna be busy and that she can call me if it’s an emergency otherwise I won’t be so active. I always have her back, she calls me 4 in the morning and I pick up without blinking twice. My parents treat her as a second daughter, I’m always there for her as much as I can, and I just have to add that last month, I didn’t sleep for 36h and had a 10h shift the day after, but I still went out with her because she needed a friend due to having a bad day. I neglected my mental health for her. And our convos are 90% about her, 7% about random stuff, and 3% about me, and I STILL DONT HAVE A PROBLEM WITH IT because idgaf. Im honestly so unbothered I really don’t care, but right now I care because I feel that the text she sent me, and the way she wanted to paint me, and the words she used even though I’ve never ever had anything negative about her coming out of my mouth…I just feel like this is so unfair and I don’t know what to do. Should I end the friendship? Or maybe talk to her and try to make her understand? Im just so lost and this is honestly so sad because we’ve been friend for 12 years if not more. I don’t want it to end over something so silly…

Much love💜

Again I’m sorry for ranting, if you have advice I want to thank you for them. And I also want to thank you before hand for taking the time to read this. I admire u and ur stories!

I just have to add: she’s not a bad person, her good qualities overshadows the bad ones, which is why we’re still friends.

This message was sent a while back and I am sorry for responding only now. Maybe you were able to figure it out on your own or things happened after this. But all I can recommend for you to do is to talk to your friend, if you haven’t already. If I were you, I’d try to communicate and make her see where I am coming from as well and then… there’s nothing much you can do from there. You’ll see how she takes it and whether she’s able to see your side or not. Regardless of everything, she shouldn’t take you for granted and cut you some slack.

Like you said, you don’t want your friendship to end over something silly but maybe it’s not something silly at all. In the end, you don’t want friends who makes you feel guilty and take you for granted all the time. Just the fact your entire friendship seems to be focusing on her rather than on both of you says a lot. You shouldn’t be treated that way and you do deserve someone who equally cares about you as a person :)

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

Why do rumors about Harry and Meghan don’t seem to stick but rumors about William and Kate do? I mean, among a certain demographic or type of people at least. With rumors about H&M, I only ever see people who hate them repeat those rumors, and quite frankly, sometimes they start to sound a bit extreme to me if I try to take a step back from the internet & remember I don’t actually know these people. But with rumors about William and Kate, they get traction outside the sussex squad circle, particularly on Twitter. They get made fun of a lot and I just get this heavy feeling because I feel like there’s so much anger from the sussex squad that they would literally say the worst things about W&K (I see that there’s also so much anger towards Meghan and Harry but of course I have my bias so I feel bad about the ones about W&K more. It’s annoying when some social justice warrior on Twitter say things like “these people defending Kate, do you do the same for Meghan?”. Like, I’m defending Kate because I’m a fan, duh.) l. But anyway, outside our little circle here, people don’t take seriously the rumors regarding Meghan’s kids, for example. Like, some people here say there are rumors that Harry was violent to women, but outside the little circle of extreme royalists/wales fans, nobody thinks of Harry as a violent man. But they do genuinely believe the rumors about William and Kate even though they do not have any proof or whatsoever. They genuinely believe Kate is a victim of William, that he cheats on her, that he’s a bully.

I responded to someone who was spreading some wrong information about Kate’s sick leave (they said it was weird they didn’t post a photo for her birthday — i said they don’t do that every year, they said it was weird they didn’t release a photo of william taking care of the kids/it’s weird we haven’t seen the kids — i said it’s not weird because we only see the kids a few times a year, they said 9 months was weird — i said KP never said 9 months!) I literally simply corrected the wrong information the person was spewing. And then someone responded to me that I sound like the “leave britney alone” people, perhaps implying that i am a part of the problem because I am not entertaining the idea that Kate might need help?? Just because I think before jumping into conspiracy theories? Anyway, it was just a random person on the internet and I shouldn’t be bothered, but still… lol.

That was on reddit. I probably should just avoid that place if the things people have been saying make me feel bad but I wanted to set the record straight lol. Anyway, I also saw some people there quoting articles and stuff about William’s alleged temper. And I’m just like people have been talking about Harry’s temper for years too and they’ve also been documented in articles and books! I guess the difference for them is that Harry has been so open about his therapy.

I also have a confession to make. I was curious about the nature of rumors, so I did a little experiment and sent a tip to deuxmoi to see how easy it really is for anyone to just send it whatever. I didn’t want to make up something really potentially damaging, so I sent something innocent. I just said Meghan wants to work with Greta Gerwig. It got posted but didn’t get any attention. But I feel like if someone sent it something there like Meghan has a sex kink or whatever it still wouldn’t make as much traction as whatever sexual rumor they assigned to William. It would be seen as really disgusting (and rightly so). I mean, I probably shouldn’t feel that bad for a man who would be king and has the resources to protect himself, but people have been sexualizing William perhaps since he turned 18 and the rumors sussex squad spread about him are just another way of doing that.

It’s bothering me these days to be honest. I fear logging on to the internet fearing the things I will see about W&K. I certainly need to step back lol. I also remind myself there are things beyond our control. I look at it from a historical perspective, like there are rumors Anne Boleyn had six toes. So I guess it just comes with the territory for William and Kate that people could say absolutely anything about them.

Part of it probably is that it comes with the territory for William and Kate. Everyone in positions of power have an opposition that wants to weaken their impact so they use gossip as a tool to undermine them. Celebrities, politicians, athletes, rival friend groups in school.

But there are also two other reasons to consider.

First is that we don't actually know a whole lot about William and Kate. Despite being incredibly popular and famous, they're actually pretty private. We don't really know who William and Kate (as well as George, Charlotte, and Louis) are beyond what they have said in interviews or done in public on their engagements. They also don't speak to the press, fully adhering to "never complain, never explain." So because we don't know a whole lot about them, it's easier to make things up to justify, explain, or describe what we see. It sticks because they're never going to address it: not to confirm, not to deny, not to deflect.

Unlike Meghan and Harry. They're constantly talking to the press and constantly addressing whatever is being said about them. They give us information to that justifies, explains, describes what they do. We don't need to make stuff up because they're giving it to us on a silver platter. But more than that, specifically when it comes to the more egregious rumors like the ones about their children, they go straight to the narcisstic DARVOing, which is particularly effective at getting people to stop talking about you.

Second is that the Sussexes have the power of repetition. The rumors they create and the stories they tell about the Waleses stick because they keep being told. They sell the same story to People, Page Six, The Cut, E News, the Daily Mail, and Netfilix. Then they tell the same story to Scobie, Abigail Spencer, MIsan, Oprah, Tyler Perry, CDAN, DeuxMoi, Bouzy, and the social media bots. And all those publications, all those people, all those bots talk about it so it picks up traction, everyone repeats it, and it spreads like wildfire. Because the Sussexes have told so many people, there are many sources talking about it, so the general public is more likely to believe it - "I heard it from X, Y, Z, and 1, 2, 3, so it MUST be true."

Unlike William and Kate, who don't have pet reporters or pet publications or bots to fight these battles with. At most, they talk to one reporter for an exclusive every 2-3 months, if even. So because there's no "institutional backing" to Sussex rumors that spend the time and effort to keep them in the public space (like Oprah, Netflix, People, or even the Waleses themselves) long enough for the more mainstream public to become aware, the Sussex rumors die on the vine and everyone who talks about it looks unhinged.

That's why Kensington Palace speaking to Page Six was so groundbreaking. It's the first time the Waleses met the Sussexes where they are and hints that they're aware the Sussexes may have had a hand in creating the controversy. Usually when KP speaks to Americans, they do it through traditional mainstream press (the New York Times, Washington Post, NBC, ABC, etc.). They've never gone directly and personally to a Sussex/Meghan PR mouthpiece before.

(I don't count People as a Sussex-exclusive source because the BRF has used People long before Meghan came around. People takes stories from anyone with the money to pay them.)

[artistic-lj]

Okay so I “made” a new gender apathetic/apagender flag because the one I found/we have was just kinda lacking for me?? Like it’s okay and I don’t dislike it, but I thought it needed something

So the current one, according to gender fandom wiki or whatever (https://gender.fandom.com/wiki/Gender_Apathetic), is by @pridearchive (idk why I can’t tag them but I also just don’t understand tumblr so oh well)

But anyway, I’m not a huge fan of the fact that a lot of the definition relies upon the usage of the word “lazy” a lot, because like, while it’s true that laziness and apathy are similar, they are not the same. I was confused for MONTHS as to why everyone around me cared so much about their gender, both cis and trans people, and I just didn’t. Like, I thought my dad might understand cause we talk about queer stuff all the time and he was like “???… but I am a man, that’s just a fact… are you saying there’s people who don’t care??” And that confused me more cause I was like “wait even cis people care that much about their gender expression??” Because for me, I thought that trans people really cared about their gender identity and expression because of the dysphoria they dealt with from being born as the opposite sex. So, to hear that cis people also have a strong sense of gender and really care about the way they present and are perceived threw me for a loop.

So I went down this rabbit hole for, as stated previously, MONTHS, just trying to figure out if anyone felt the way I did because I felt fucking crazy. No one else spoke about not caring about their gender identity, not caring if someone called them a guy or a girl or something in between. I found labels like Aporagender (“a gender identity that is neither masculine, feminine or inbetween the two but nonetheless involves a strong sense of gender; a term similar to maverique.” - https://en.pronouns.page/dictionary/terminology#aporagender) and genderfluid (“a gender that varies, or changes over time.” - https://gender.fandom.com/wiki/Genderfluid) and bigender (“a gender identity which can be literally translated as 'two genders' or 'double gender'.” - https://gender.fandom.com/wiki/Bigender) but none of them felt right, even if I liked their flags.

But then, out of frustration, I decided to google “what is it called when you don’t care about your gender” and gender apathetic popped up. And I read the description and I felt so… understood. I felt like, no matter how small the group was, I had finally found people who understood me and felt the way I did. And then, because I’m annoying and visual, I saw the flag… and I was just… feeling very… ehhh…

Like, the brown, purple/lavender/light blue, white, and gray on their own aren’t inherently bad, but something about it just felt bland and… nothing like the sense of relief I felt when discovering I wasn’t alone.

And then I clicked through onto the post about the meanings of each color and began to like it even less

But, I pushed forward, ignoring my dislike of the color arrangement and meanings behind them and sharing my newfound label/identity and flag with my friends. I finally felt like I had something I understood.

That is, until one night when I got bored. And I started searching for flag makers to see what was out there. I came across a Reddit post about a custom flag builder (https://www.reddit.com/r/lgbt/comments/ooz3tb/custom_pride_flag_builder/) which lead me to Team Ultima’s custom pride flag maker: https://www.teamultima.org/flag/

Needless to say, as an artist and someone who’s nitpicky about colors and designs, I was stoked to find something that allowed so much creative control! After messing around with it for a bit, I made this:

Now, I know it’s not really that different from the current flag. But, to me, this feels a lot more balanced and cohesive. With the one by pridearchive, the “light blue,” which we all know is just lavender tbh, was the only color that had a bright saturation besides the white. Our eyes are naturally drawn to it and this does not allow our eyes to flow along the flag and take it all in. We kinda see the purple and get stuck there. Not only that, because we expect white to be in the middle of pride flags (as well as Im sure a lot of other color theory reasons that I’m not knowledgeable enough to know of or explain), the flag felt top heavy and uneven, with no equivalent saturated color along the bottom. The flag was lacking horizontal symmetry and I think/hope I did a good job of bringing it to this flag without it feeling like it’s too much or too little.

With all that being said here are my/the new and improved color meanings:

Brown - The natural human desire to find a sense of belonging and community, even if said community is formed around having a label for not caring about labels. It can also represent the warmth and security felt by having a label that represents how you truly feel.

Light Blue - A feeling of tranquility and peace towards one’s gender identity and expression

White - The limitless void of possibilities in which one can express themselves

Lavender - The mixture of all genders, feminine, masculine, neither, and everything in between

Gray - Lack of gender stagnation, not caring if one’s gender presentation is not as simple as black or white

Anyway, I’ve never posted anything like this before so… lemme know if I’m totally doing it wrong and all my color meanings are terrible and way off base or whatever. I’m gonna make a separate post of just the flag and the color meanings and whatever so that people don’t have to read all my dumb backstory to get to the actual “redesign” 💅💅