#but I think I should still be allowed to point this opinion out

[farshootergotme]

https://www.tumblr.com/ruestheday/765956792656265216/one-of-the-biggest-lies-the-fandom-will-tell-you

Opinions on this post?

I'd say that I agree with what this person is saying. As much as I give Bruce shit for his parental skills (which are flawed and shouldn't be overlooked, don't get me wrong), we can say Alfred is partially one of the main reasons why Bruce is the way he is.

I won't say anything about "Alfred should've/could've taken Bruce to therapy" because then we gotta consider a lot of things about the decade when Alfred was introduced and his age in-universe, as Alfred might've not lived in a period in which therapy was widely accepted and even recommended. But I won't dwell too much on that.

Now, I don't think Alfred is necessarily an evil person, but he can be quite selfish and a coward when it comes to facing consequences (which he rarely gets, if ever).

When shit hits the fan, he's the first one to back out. Why should he be responsible? He's only a mere butler (until he goes and calls Bruce "his son").

He's always detached just enough from the situation that nobody will look at him when looking for someone to blame for a problem that Alfred was most likely involved in.

Bruce might be the Batman, but it's Alfred who works from the shadows and leaves the responsibility of his decisions to the rest.

Does he do this on purpose?

Hard to say. I think he's in a way aware of his cowardice and harmful tendencies, but he doesn't have an active intention of hurting others. However, lack of intention does not mean lack of action, and despite whatever he might feel or believe, he does many things that end up in someone's hurt and even death.

And don't many consider it, but to me it doesn't come as a surprise that Bruce is so emotionally constipated and an unavailable father when he never had someone to learn from about proper parental skills.

Bruce never knew where he stood with Alfred, and Alfred didn't help to make it clear. At first, Bruce was just his master. A responsibility left behind by his parents, but still with the authority to order around the person who's supposed to be his caretaker. And Alfred? We know how much of an enabler he is, but also how inconsistent he can be when it comes to letting Bruce get away with things. And how confusing that must've been for a child? To never have clear boundaries to respect, rules to follow and his behavior corrected.

Kids learn from habit and patterns, and I don't believe he'd see much of that with Alfred, who jumps from his role as a father to his position as a butler way too often for a young mind to fully comprehend. Add to that the fact Bruce already had a position as a rich kid, which would've led to even more people forgetting to set boundaries with him due to his influence.

Now it's not so weird to see him getting away with his toxic behavior towards his children instead of confronting his mistakes like a parent should, right? But I digress.

So, moving onto the next point: child soldiers.

The post you sent mentions Alfred's involvement in the later creation of Robins. But how can he normalize sending kids out there to fight a war that isn't theirs? Well, that's when you remember Alfred joined the army at quite a young age, and there he must've seen even younger kids working as soldiers. What are the chances he has a messed up view on what children should and shouldn't (have to) do?

Subconsciously, he must've internalized this idea of children fighting for their country, and when he saw Robin for the first time, it might've brought back that idea and so he allowed this child to fight for a city that was not even his yet. And then came Jason, then Tim, then Steph, Cass, Damian, Duke... They just kept coming, and Alfred kept pushing this idea.

Jason died? That's a shame, but war is unrelenting, and soldiers are expected to die. It doesn't mean the rest should stop fighting, right?

"Jason Todd, a good soldier".

On top of all that, Robin is good for Batman. Robin is the light Batman needs. Robin can help Bruce, his boy. His son. And who's Alfred if not a messed up man? He'll put the children at risk if it means helping the boy he failed to help before. And when he gets attached to said children, it'll be too late to try pull them out, and then they'll be just another repetition of what Batman came to be when he allowed Bruce to leave.

As for Julia Pennyworth, Alfred was separated from Marie—his then partner—due to war, and found out about Julia's existence only two years after she was born. Their relationship had been distant since then. Julia didn't know about Alfred, but he requested a friend to take care of her and kept sending money all the years to come after making his friend promise not to tell Julia about him, his real father. Why didn't he ever go to see her? That's because, according to Alfred, he was afraid to disrupt her life. But if I'm being honest, I think he also didn't feel ready for the responsibility. And when he became Bruce's guardian, he still was not ready, but Martha and Thomas were his friends, so there must've been a sense of responsibility and guilt influencing his decision.

To summarize, Alfred Pennyworth is an extremely flawed individual and he should not be absolved from any of his mistakes.

[honorhearted]

Emma's voice held the frigid chill of ice. The pointed edge of her greeting was palpable, yet Caleb mercifully said nothing while Benjamin inclined his head by way of answer. "Miss Dunster," he offered in return. "Are we truly to be so formal on this day? I would think that you and I could drop such charades, seeing how close we've grown."

It was a low blow, both to her and himself, if he was being honest, because he was still deeply ashamed by his actions. But if he could prove himself unruffled, then perhaps he could still win this game, after all.

Emma focused on greeting Caleb instead -- probably wise, all things considered -- and the whaler laughed at her demure response. "Can't say I've heard 'it's lovely to meet you' before," he teased, winking. "Is your judge of character truly so piss-poor? Then again..." Here, he gave Benjamin a friendly wallop to the shoulder. "You seem mighty taken by this here gollumpus, so I guess that answers my question."

Benjamin stiffened at the jest, irritably pushing Caleb's hand away from his arm. "It's called being polite, Finnegan. Perhaps you should try it out sometime." He once more moved to entreat Emma to allow a chaperone, but she was quite adamant in her denial.

"A burden?" he echoed. A genuine, incredulous smile touched his lips. "It's hardly a burden to accompany you on horseback. It's one of my favorite pastimes, and, as it so happens, one of my favorite animals as well."

Emma remained immovable. “Forgive me, I didn’t mean to interrupt your conversation.” Her cheeks grew florid within the early morning sun, and her hands tightened to the point he swore he heard the leather squeak of her riding gloves. To Caleb, she said, “I’d love to hear more about the haul, if you don’t mind sharing. Mister Bolton doesn’t seem to think women are capable of thinking of anything beyond fripperies, but you look like a clever enough man. I'm sure you don’t share the same ignorant opinion as your associate.”

Caleb bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. "I do, do I? Gadso, I can see why Johnny-boy here is so smitten! You're mighty generous with the compliments -- even if they're clearly lies."

Benjamin sighed, embarrassment flooding his face as his friend gave a sound thump to his arm. "Yes, well..." Avoiding Emma's gaze, he muttered, "She's lovely, so...I'm certain anyone with eyes can see that. That hardly makes a man smitten."

Mercifully, Emma seemed intent on bringing the conversation back to commerce -- the true reason for their stay.

“I'm sure Mister Bolton forgot to mention that I am in line to inherit the family business--he doesn't seem to think me capable of such a feat--so I am intrigued to hear how things are coming along for your privateering. Do you dabble in hogs as well?"

Caleb snorted. "You must not know much about privateerin', eh? No disrespect, o' course. I 'dabble' in whatever we find as prizes. Hogs certainly do come up -- I supply some of them to Johnnyboy's farm -- but we also get varying kegs o' booze, weaponry, ammo, textiles, you name it! We have a letter of marque to legally attack and take over certain ships, so I'm just doin' my part." Here, he gave a cheeky salute. "I've gotta say: I am intrigued by a lady business partner. Do ya like your numbers?"

"She can count, if that's what you mean," Benjamin supplied, looking Emma's way with a smirk. "Are you sure you won't let us join you, Miss Dunster? You look a little peaked."

As soon as the door locked into place, Emma froze and leaned her head back against the cool wood, willing her heart to slow its rampage. How had she let herself get so flustered by him? She knew that their challenge was still ongoing, to expect the unexpected in the midst of war, but she hadn’t planned on him proposing such a ridiculous idea tonight. Tonight was supposed to be safe, a quiet night in secured by the fact that her father was playing host. None of his friends or men ever ventured farther than the parlor or his study, and she had somehow assumed John Bolton would be the same. He had used the false security against her.

That’s what it had to be. There was no other logical explanation for the way her body felt right now. She was merely caught off guard, her armor not properly secured. The next time she saw him, she would be prepared for anything he wished to hurl at her. Next time, she would not falter the way she had tonight.

...

Despite spending so much time in her room over the next few days, Emma couldn’t manage to sleep very well at all. Each time she closed her eyes, she imagined his face, standing there all smug and aggravatingly handsome. Every time her eyelids dared to flutter closed, she imagined his bare chest, the feeling of her fingers against his skin. Even in her dreams, all she wanted to do was reach out and pull him closer, to run her hands along his body until she’d explored every single inch of his being. Until she knew him better than he knew himself. In turn, she wanted his hands to touch her, to hold her, squeeze her in all the places she shouldn’t want him to. Instead of constantly fighting off the waves of shame that ebbed and flowed upon each wakening, Emma eventually resolved herself to staying conscious. If her dreams would be plagued by him, she would simply stay awake.

It wasn’t the smartest plan she'd ever made but she had no other ideas for how to rid herself of his imprint in her mind. As long as he was staying under the safe roof and ingratiating himself with her father, Emma would be at his mercy. After nearly four days locked away in her room, the hours spent desperately trying to think of anything else, she gave up and and decided on an outing. She needed to get out of her room. She needed fresh air and a new setting to refresh her mind before she went mad. Before she dared to find him and drag him into her room herself.

Dressing herself in a suitable riding outfit, Emma grumbled as she stalked her way down the hall and past a handful of servants. If they noticed her agitation, they didn't comment on it and she found herself eternally grateful for the fact. The less she had to explain herself, the better. All she needed to do was reach the barn.

But instead of being welcomed by the pleasant, solitary company of her horses, Emma was met with the absolute last person she wished to see. And another stranger.

Great, she silently grumbled. Another man to present to pine for her father's attentions, she assumed. Without sparing a glance to the new face, Emma gave a curt nod, hoping her cheeks didn't betray her attempt at remaining composed.

“Mister Bolton.” His name escaped her in an exasperated tone, her heart beginning to race as though she'd sprinted all the way here. How did he manage to be everywhere? Why was he haunting her like this? In her own house, she couldn't go anywhere without seeing him in some capacity and it was maddening. Her thoughts were so tangled and jumbled by seeing his countenance that it took her an embarrassingly long moment to finally take in the presence of the other man.

“Mister Finnegan,” Emma dipped into a halfhearted bow, less formal than what would’ve been expected from her, but she wasn't in the right state of mind to care. As long as John Bolton was in her presence, nothing mattered except leaving. “It’s lovely to meet you, sir.”

She tried to keep her gaze on the new face, but her attention kept being drawn to John, her violet-blue eyes drinking in every ounce of him that she could. It had only been a few days and yet she felt like it had been an eternity since she'd last seen him. It felt as though he’d gone to war and she was seeing him for the first time in years. It was a ridiculous sentiment, and even more foolishly, she couldn’t help but imagine herself running into his arms and kissing him again. Even more so, it struck her as mortifying that her mind even dared to admit she missed him.

“Hm?” Her reply was delayed, the thoughts of their previous encounter still vivid in her mind. Her dreams had been plagued by the feeling of his lips and, despite her insistence that she didn’t like him, his face was all she could envision when she slipped her hand between her legs and released her built up frustration.

“No.” She replied too firmly for her own liking, wincing at the harshness of her tone. “No,” She tried again, but the lingering effects of the first no couldn’t be ignored. "Thank you. I wouldn't wish to place such a burden upon you."

Emma didn’t wish to make a scene in front of someone else, but she also didn’t wish to make a fool of herself in front of her worst enemy. Or at least that’s what she tried to remind herself that he was. The enemy, the villain, the man who she could not fall for at any cost.

Though the idea of having him nearby was tempting, Emma knew it was better for the both of them if she kept her distance. Her resilience was not as strong as she had thought it to be and if she spent too long around him, she wasn't entirely sure what she would be tempted to do. No, it was safer to stay alone. The farther she stayed from him, the less she would imagine the feeling of his hands on her hips and the taste of his lips on her own.

“Forgive me, I didn’t mean to interrupt your conversation.” A blush crept onto her cheeks and she all at once felt incredibly out of place in her own family’s barn. He was the guest here and yet she felt like the outsider, as though she were the one trespassing. Turning her attention back to Mister Finnegan, Emma forced a smile.

“I’d love to hear more about the haul, if you don’t mind sharing. Mister Bolton doesn’t seem to think women are capable of thinking of anything beyond fripperies, but you look like a clever enough man. I'm sure you don’t share the same ignorant opinion as your associate.” Fluttering her lashes, she tried to act demure. It was the same tactic she had used in her youth to convince her father to let her do things a young lady ought not do, but it always seemed to work. And perhaps appearing so sweet and devilishly kind to someone else would be enough to rattle the enemy. Or at least make him jealous. “I'm sure Mister Bolton forgot to mention that I am in line to inherit the family business--he doesn't seem to think me capable of such a feat--so I am intrigued to hear how things are coming along for your privateering. Do you dabble in hogs as well?"

[dallasthetransgenderlegend]

I may be entirely biased but I do find the Neil Gaiman written episodes some of the most enjoyable in eleven’s run.

[puppyeared]

i feel like im not making any sense but does anyone else feel like there are stories that let u run with them and ones that spell everything out for you

[girlkomaeda]

thinking about replaying all the danganronpa games and reading more of the novels and spin offs n stuff…

[teamfortresstwo]

Okay, I still do disagree with these points, though seeing it from Odysseus’s perspective does make sense why he might not see Eurylochus as close as others on this list .

My thoughts are that, I don’t think neither we as the audience are meant to nor does Odysseus view Eurylochus wanting to leave Circe’s island as equally morally reprehensible to Scylla’s lair. Odysseus says they should try to save them, but I think people are meant to recognize that this is ultimately a very idealistic way of looking at things, spurred on by him still clinging to the few people he has left in the wake of losing a close friend to him. The fact that it works out is luck, and it’s not something anyone could’ve predicted with the information they had at the time. Scylla’s cave was something Odysseus knew was going to happen.

Also, Eurylochus has a role as the voice of the crew. He’s essentially obligated to listen to them, which is why I think he does a lot of the things he does. Even if he might understand why Odysseus does what he does, if the crew disagrees, then he cannot allow it to continue. Even if it’s rational, even if he would’ve done the same, he doesn’t get that decision and he doesn’t think Odysseus should either. Maybe if Odysseus told the crew what was going on they would’ve agreed with the sacrifice or come up with something else or even straight up given up, but that wasn’t a choice Odysseus should’ve taken away from them, and I think that’s the part that causes Eurylochus so much rage.

I think this is also part of why Eurylochus chooses to have his confrontation out in the open. I wouldn’t say he’s planting seeds of doubt, so much as he’s voicing the doubt that’s already there. Because while I think he would handle personal matters in private, this isn’t a personal matter. It’s not between him and Odysseus, but Odysseus and the crew. If the crew needs to have their doubts quelled by the captain, someone must be willing to voice those doubts. That’s why I think the wind bag situation ultimately happened. There was so much tension with no productive way of resolving it because Odysseus had practically silenced all doubt.

Having said all that, I also know that the point of the poll was which of these characters Odysseus sees as his best friend. While I can justify his actions left and right, I can’t deny they hurt Odysseus.

But I still stand by the fact that Eurylochus was his best friend. Because yes, despite the self isolation, despite the breaking of trust, despite flat out ignoring eachother on multiple occasions, they are practically the only people the other really has for the majority of the musical. Polites dies early on, Athena leaves, Hermes isn’t here practically at all, we haven’t even seen Penelope yet, but Eurylochus is a constant presence.

A lot of Eurylochus’s actions are motivated by his concern for Odysseus- him opening the bag was, in my opinion, done both because of the urging of the crew and his concern for his friend. Him wanting to leave Circe’s island was because he didn’t want to endanger his friend.

And Odysseus in turn shows great affection for Eurylochus- “There’s no length I wouldn’t go, if it was you I had to save.” And the ways that even after he basically tells Eurylochus to shut up and fall in line, he doesn’t even scold him when he goes against that command. He settles his friend’s worries to the best of his ability because he still cares about him.

It’s only after monster, when Odysseus basically throws away any attachment he has to anyone that isn’t his wife and son that their friendship truly starts to fall apart, but at that point I doubt any of Odysseus’s relationships could’ve survived . (Except for Penelope, ofc.) Eurylochus is stuck doing his job, putting the crew above everything else, and Odysseus is stuck with his self preservation, putting getting home above everything else. And yeah, even at this point in time, when everything sucks so fucking bad, they care about eachother.

Odysseus tries to stop Eurylochus from eating the cow out of concern for his friend. Odysseus is clearly absolutely wrecked by the loss of his friend. And Eurylochus is so resigned because he does understand Odysseus. And, in my opinion again since a lot of music is subjective even relative to most art, in his voice, I can detect no blame. He’s just tired, and he’s come to terms with death. And I dont think he blamed Odysseus for his decision, or was angry about it. In the end, they both forgave eachother, because they did care for eachother, and neither wanted to spend their last moments together in hatred. The tragedy is that it didn’t matter, and they were doomed anyways.

So yeah um . I still don’t know if this is cohesive but . That’s basically why I think out of everyone listed, Eurylochus is still the best candidate to be Odysseus’s best friend of the given options, at least at this point in the story, given the things we know.

[mekatrio]

damn what a coincidence i was literally just researching lolicon phenomenon this week and now theres a kpop controversy abt it

[jellicle-brawl]

"Hey Jelliclebrawl, you're being really cavalier and showing a lot of favoritism on this poll. :/"

Couple reasons for that.

I have in fact not shown favoritism, because thus far I have implied that I want Tugger to win. This is not true! I'm expecting that likely either he and/or Misto will win, and I'm okay with that because I like them, but I am also nerfing them as much as I fairly can so that at least they have to work for it. However, I actually want Etcetera to win, because she's my baby. I just don't think she stands a chance against, you know, everyone else. Maybe against Pouncival. I think she could take him.

On a less jokey level, this is my fourth tournament (and will be the third that has started voting once it does). In the first I was accused of favoritism because I said in an offmic conversation that I would like the two mascots of the bracket to make it to the finals; in the second, I ended up going off on one of my voters because my determination to remain impartial meant that I couldn't just say "I do not actually like this option and here is why" to the person who kept pushing me regarding an offhand and extremely neutral remark I made. So, I'm trying something different, and seeing what happens if I'm just really blatant about which options I'm backing. Especially since my choice is likely to change at the drop of a hat, especially with the groupies and young toms, because I really do love every single character and would genuinely love any of them to win. But especially Etcetera, because she's my baby.

In the two weeks before I changed up this tournament, I got exactly two votes. One of them was from my best friend submitting John Partridge as Tugger because they knew I really wanted to run him but had already selected the two autoentries and left him up to chance. It was really discouraging but in the interim while I watched that number stay at two I decided to just run a bracket about the 1999 proshot, because I had all those gifs anyway so why not? And since this is effectively a tournament where all of the options are my own submissions, I realized I can just do whatever I want to. Would I have really liked to do my original idea instead? Absolutely, and maybe if this tournament builds enough of a follower base I can run it (and my original original idea) in future. But in the meantime... I make the rules babyyyy. If you wanted impartiality you should have submitted to my tournament when you had the chance.

I want to be able to talk about my opinions and headcanons and the stuff I'm putting into my fanfictions and the little background things I've spotted and having to remain impartial gets in the way of that. Having to do it for the Discworld poll is hard enough; doing it for the thing I am actively hyperfixating on would be torture. I want to be able to chat with you guys in the comments. I want to have fun engaging with fellow fans. I can't do any of those things if I have to sit on my hands and pretend I don't care who wins or loses and don't have any favorites while I'm in character. I'm still in character here, just this time the character I'm inhabiting is a guy with 27 cats and some dogs and I really want you to have opinions about them with me while you decide amongst yourselves which ones you like best.

And, because it bears saying: regardless of my own impartiality, vote your own heart. If something I say makes you decide that you like that option, then by all means! But I am one man and I have one vote (well, two if I feel like going to the trouble of logging into the old account), and all of my propaganda should carry the same weight as any other rando who propagandas about the polls.

[3hks]

CORRECTLY Writing "Morally Gray" Characters

Want to write a hot, cool, and bad character but DON'T want he/she to come across as toxic, downright bad, or, god forbid, cringe? Well, I've got a couple of tips that may help you create exactly what you want!

1. Softness

Okay, yes we want this character to be tough and cool, but there also needs to be a certain softness, no matter how small, that comes with them. If there's someone that your character prioritizes or cares about, there has to be a point or two that it shows--a moment where they're soft only for the people that they care about. Why? Because this establishes the humanity in them. It shows the readers that your character IS human, not an emotionless monster.

2. Goals

Key to any good characters are their goals. The thing is, for this type of a character, their objectives can't be so random. They need a reason for their actions, and it needs to be valid. Usually, this is reasoned out by some kind of past epiphany, which is crucial because without it, your character doesn't have anything solid backing up their goals. We need to see where they're coming from.

Bad decisions, but for an understandable reason.

Establishing their morals is important for nearly the same reason.

Now, why is this important? Because it can pull readers to their side. As long as they understand the cause, they have a chance to follow your character's side, increasing their likeability!

3. Neutrality

Notice how this is a "morally gray" character, not a "completely evil" one. Why does this matter? Well, a trait people tend to overlook when writing these characters is the morally gray, or neutral, part. It's important to just occasionally show that your character is walking the fine line and in my opinion, a great way to achieve this is to have them help the protagonist out (instead of always fighting against them) one, or even two times!

4. Positive Characteristics

This is a very simple one, but make sure to depict a couple positive qualities (besides just being hot) of your character! Like my first point, it's pivotal to illustrate that they have some humanity, and this is an easy and great way!

Throw in a few good characteristics (I have a post with some examples of redeeming qualities for villains if you need some help), and let it show that they are still respectable!

5. Backstory

I believe that with certain characters that play certain roles in the story, explaining their backstory is a NEED for them; and this character type is no different! Introducing even a bit of their past can get the audience interested in your character. It also allows for better understanding of them and shows how they changed over time.

6. CONFIDENCE

Be confident in your skills when writing this character! To many, the idea of "cringeness" makes them second-guess how they should write. In reality, it's better to write it however you wish, because if you're confident in one moment and clearly less in another, the readers are able to sense any unexpected changes in things in your character's tones, expressions, and actions.

It's important to keep your character in, well, character. Still, there's going to be a few moments that break it, but it shouldn't be in any unnatural way.

If your character is flirty, then let them act flirty. If they mess around a lot, then let them mess around. Don't limit their actions or words just because you think some people might find it cringe!

Alright, that's it for me! What do you think? Are they valid or unreasonable?

Happy writing~

3hks <3

[foone]

Tumblr crashed and killed my post and I'm too lazy to go find what I was reblogging, but:

You need to understand that there is a type of right-wing person who is (relatively) sex positive.

You need to understand this because it explains some "contradictions" but more importantly so that you won't assume someone isn't wildly right wing just because they're sex-positive. These people still have horribly opinions on a lot of things, including sexual ones. They just don't think it's Inherently Wrong to do "weird stuff" in the bedroom.

I always describe this viewpoint as "it's okay to get freaky, but don't be a freak".

They're making a distinction between things you DO and things you ARE. They hate the latter, and think the former is fine.

This is a big part of why you get "confusing" things like right-wingers who are against trans people but those same people might enjoy crossdressing during sex. They're fine with wearing girls clothes while they get pegged, but don't think you should be allowed to go by she/her in the workplace if you're AMAB. Crossdressing is a thing you do. Being trans is something you are.

And the post I was trying to reply to was about swingers disliking polyamorous people: it's the same thing. Swinging is a thing you do: they're having freaky sex. What's wrong with that?

But polyamory? Having multiple partners at the same time, even when you're not fucking at the moment? That sounds like something you are.

Basically it seems to be the worldview of people who are sex-positive (to an extent! I don't want to overstate their positivity) in their personal life, but are against "the decay of society".

They're basically conservatives nostalgic for an imagined world where everyone has 1950s social roles in public, but can get up to whatever weird sex stuff they want behind closed doors.

I don't know how much this kind of few point is due to libertarian influence on these kinds of right wingers (where they've internalized the "the government shouldn't tell me what to do" part of the ideology, but still think "the government should tell those weirdos to get cut it out" is fine), or how much this is because of the rise of 4chan as an alt-right meeting spot, and that site was (and still is) partially a porn site.

It's slightly hard to argue that all sex besides married missionary for procreation is immoral when you're one click away from threads full of anal-toy-howtos and pregnant "dickgirl" hentai. (Not that they don't try, sometimes)

Just keep the fact that these people exist in mind: it'll better explain some of the strange opinions you sometimes see online.

It's probably also a major driving force behind Bidoof's law. They can easily argue against something innocuous like polyamory or trans people while filling their own timeline to with images of trans orgies, because they think Doing Sex Stuff is morally neutral, but Being Stuff is inherently wrong. You can cross dress or swing, that's fine, whatever gets your rocks off. But you can't be trans or be poly. That's wrong, apparently.

(This is probably also South Park's fault but I'm not an expert on that show so I'll not try to explain)

[luveline]

also if you’re still taking requests for some established relationship criminal minds fics…

could i possibly get spencer and his bombshell when she’s having issues with not getting as hungry as she usually does? like she eats her fill but her fill is less food than she normally eats? this is very self indulgent so feel free to skip 🙏

thank you for requesting <3 bombshell, fem

“Spencer, lovely?” 

Spencer believes that only occasionally do you use your powers of seduction against him. This stringing of words, Spencer, his name, rolling off of your tongue, and lovely, so quaint and said so nicely, how you’ve called out, that’s unintentional. That’s pure niceness. 

“What’s wrong?” he asks, getting up to find you. 

The point of you staying at Spencer’s apartment is to see you, why isn’t he seeing you? (Dramatic. He invites you to spend time here because you want to and he wants you, and whatever you do while you’re here is fine by him.) 

You’re in the kitchen peeling fruits. A whole fruit salad, green and red apples cut in small slices like prep for an apple-sugar crumble, peeled tangerine, strawberries, pear, grapes. “Nothing is wrong,” you sing-song. “Wait, why do you think that?” 

“No reason.” He sweeps as much of your mountain of peels and off cuts into his hand as he can and carries it to his mini compost bin. This’ll take some time. “You did call me, though?” 

“Yeah, I want your opinion.” You slice through another strawberry.

Spencer cleans the last of the peels away, rinses his hands, and creeps up on you. “Why are you drawing this out? Is it an important question? Don’t be nervous,” he says, wrapping his arms around you from behind. Your shoulder is soft where he presses his nose. 

“It’s not important, I just wanna know if you think it’s okay to melt some chocolate and drizzle it over the fruit. Is that greedy? Am I gonna go into a sugar overload?” 

“That’s not greedy.” Spencer laughs softly, kissing your cheek. 

You pull away from him, but only to look at him with your own smile. It’s one he’s starting to know rather well, the I love you smile, fond and indulgent at once. It makes you look like you’re gonna pinch his cheeks. 

“You’re hungry, right?” you ask. 

“Yeah, I am.” It’s a lot of fruit. Spencer doesn’t know exactly why he says it at that very moment, but he suggests, “How about we make a little pot for fondue instead. That way if we don’t eat it all now we can put the fruit back in the fridge.” 

“You just want me to feed you,” you tease. 

Spencer hadn’t thought about it, but the image is a pleasant one. “Fondue was invented purely for dessert purposes at first, no seduction involved.” 

“Let’s involve it anyway.” 

He grins. “Before or after we eat?” he asks lightly. 

You tell him before in a way that reminds him that you aren’t just his best friend but his twin flame, drawing him close to you, your hands fragrant with orange rind and the sweet strawberry juice staining your fingertips. You take his face into your hands as he holds your waist, and when you kiss him, he smiles the entire time. 

“It wasn’t just chocolate,” he says, pulling away. “It was cream and cherry liquor, too.” 

“We should try it one day.” 

Spencer resists the urge to grab your face and squeeze your cheeks. “Yeah, we will.” 

He melts some chocolate and heats a small round dish in the oven. He pours the chocolate into the dish and you, impressed, sing his praises as you make some lemonade slush in the blender. It’s a fresh, cold snack for a warmer day. You take it in the living room with the window wide open and the drapes drawn back, sunshine at your feet. 

Spencer pulls you into his lap as much as you’ll allow him on the couch, the coffee table dragged to be in front of you, the TV remote held hostage under your arm. You dip a slice of apple into chocolate and offer it to him.

Spencer accepts it. He finds, as the bowl empties, the chocolate cools, that you don’t seem to eat very much. He slows his grazing in case he’s being greedy, but after what could only be a handful of fruit you’re done, curling into his side and hugging his leg. Your attention is on the TV but your legs wiggle restlessly.

“Is something on your mind?” he asks. 

“I don’t feel very hungry.” 

“That’s okay. It was a lot of fruit, angel, we can wrap it up.” 

“I feel like my appetite is awful lately,” you lament, sitting up to tip back across his lap, your shoulders to his thighs, looking up at him with a frown. “Do I look like I’ve lost weight to you?” 

Spencer holds your cheek. “I haven’t noticed anything, are you worried?” he asks, rubbing the softest part of your cheek with his thumb. 

“I guess it’s not a bad thing?” You wince. 

“It’s not a bad thing if you don’t feel hungry, but you need to eat. Maybe we can just switch to some dense food for a while. Protein bars and nuts, stuff like that.” Spencer leans down to tap your noses together. You laugh under your breath. “Do you want to lose weight?” he asks, frowning. 

“Not really. I’d prefer not to.” 

“Okay, good. You’re perfect like this,” he says. “We can just make sure you get your intake through whatever means necessary until we figure out what’s changed. Maybe you’re just changing. We can start having smaller meals throughout the day. It’s better for digestion.” 

You reach for a curl, twisting it around your fingers. “I have an appetite for you, at least.” 

“That’s corny,” he says. 

“You love it, though.” 

Spencer pushes the ‘diminishing appetite’ search results from his head. He can worry later, when you’ve been well and thoroughly kissed. 

[essycogany]

Rare But Not So Rare Sonic Moments

Sonic Swooning Over Amy

So, Sonic’s been kind of the driving force of Sonamy recently. Let’s analyze that.

I’ll show Sonic having feelings for Amy in almost every media aside from Fleetway and the two cartoons she isn’t in. I’ll also present the “whys” in more detail then just “Amy calmed down.” While that’s part of it, I’d like to add my own can of worms. And possible headcanons too. Bear in mind I never grew up with Sonic, so forgive my mixed opinions.

While I love Amy having a crush on Sonic like the energetic sugarplum she is, nowadays Sonic’s oddly been the drive of their dynamic. Any examples of it beforehand? Let’s look outside of the games first.

Sonic X

This Sonic takes more time to himself. He’s introverted, so his feelings for her isn’t displayed as obviously as the others. In fact, most people think he didn’t like her in this show because of how much he runs away. He even manipulated her by flirting in one episode. In my opinion this show has Sonic running away from Amy more often than not. Hot take: Sonic and Amy never had a real conversation either. They don’t…talk like they do now. Unless you count,

“Oh, Sonic I love you!” “Ah! C’mon, Amy. Knock it off!” No, it wasn’t constant but still common.

From my point of view, the conversations were short lived to none existent. It was the same in the earlier games too. Compared to how they talked to other characters or now, you might be able to notice. At least until Sonic And The Black Night were he talks to both The Lady Of The Lake and Amy. The two would also have visual gags of Sonic getting aggressively hugged by Amy. Or Amy falling on her face while trying. Aside from one moment in Sonic Riders where Sonic put Amy in danger, it wasn’t good or bad. Just cartoony for lack of a better term.

Maybe I’m just insane. You decided.

Anyhow, their dynamic in X is clearly built on actions. Like Amy giving Sonic a seashell bracelet and Sonic giving her a rose. Those little things. While I do prefer them being able to hold longer conversations, I don’t mind how X handles them. But let’s get to Sonic’s crush. I assume in Sonic X Sonic is conflicted. He’ll run away from Amy or try to pull from her on most occasions and others Sonic would constantly hold onto her when he doesn’t have to. For a long period on time no less. Amy’s the same way. One moment she’d be head over heels and other she’s bashful. Goes to show how young they were I guess. I have no clue as to why Sonic liked her back because there wasn’t much to go off of. Except the bracelet moment or her general kindness like feeding him one time. She was a bit much to him and most characters back then.

It’s possible Sonic just liked her and that was it, but I’d imagine due to all of the hand holding and small reciprocated gestures were enough to convey something was there. Straight forward and simple like the show itself. I headcanon this Sonamy being where the boyfriend gets dragged into a relationship and is fine with it. This version of Sonic’s attraction seems to be chaotic pink hedgehogs apparently.

Sonic Boom

Should I even explain it? Might as well because not only do I have something different to say, but these two haven’t been brought up much. Sonic and Amy’s romance mostly is played for laughs. Not saying their love for each other means less because of that, but the humor is the main reason they exist. Much like why in the main canon they started out the way they did. Regardless, I’ll dive deeper into Boom!Sonic’s affection for Amy to the best of my ability.

Boom!Sonic is egotistical, so whenever he thinks Amy’s crushing on someone else, it bothers him. Apparently he’s the only one she’s allowed to like. No “Radical Speedsters” or “Celebrities” can take her attention away from him. Like in Sonic X he tries to keep his crush to a minimum. Even though both him and Amy are terrible at it.

The moment in “Fortress Of Squalitude” a episode where everyone is a bit rude to Amy, close to the end Sonic says, “We may have a hard time saying it Amy. But…well you know.” Then she responds with, “Yeah, I know.” It’s such a sweet moment. Not as powerful as most moments with them but for Boom it’s very nice. Sonic and the others still value her as part of the team, but it’s Sonic who expresses it out loud. Goes to show how much he cares about her for even attempting to open up in this instance. Didn’t even have to finish the sentence. Amy understood perfectly. I also noticed how much he tries his best to impress her. When he needs to returned her book back, finds her hammer in Archie, (Vector did it in the show and Sonic got jealous) shows off randomly or dreams about her, and stopped racing to get her some eggs in one episode.

The funny thing about this Sonic is how much of a people pleaser he can be. Especially since the towns people are very spoiled and ungrateful. He wants to be needed and that’s possibly why he goes out of his way to do special things for Amy like go out on picnics, implied dates, and comforts her. She’s very take charge in Boom and Sonic has no problem calling her out when he needs to. Much like Amy in the show and games. Sonic will even put effort into doing things he doesn’t feel like doing for her. How honorable of him. Sure, sometimes he tries to make her jealous and isn’t perfect, but he tries. I believe Sonic likes Amy because again like Sonic X Boom isn’t canon, so more outright reciprocated feelings are allowed in this case. Not to mention the dude likes being shipped with her in the show. Which is a win in my book.

Sonic enjoys bugging Amy much like a playful boyfriend. He probably admires her leadership, but I’m saying this by observation. It could be for anything. Maybe he thinks she’s cute when she’s mad and finds her temper amusing. It could also be for her stubbornness. Some people like each other because of how much they can relate to their partner and in Sonic Boom’s case they’re two cuts of the same cloth. Although still different, due to the show’s theme, they carry the same condescending, slightly self centered, hotheaded, stubborn, and humorous traits. But they’re still good hedgehogs with a heart of gold and usually makes reasonable decisions. Not to mention they’re both equally shy about their crushes. In Sonic Boom, Sonic and Amy is that married couple who doesn’t get along much, but when they do you’ll understand why they stay together.

Reboot Archie Sonic

I haven’t read the comics (unless you count watching a few dubs and internet reviews) but I’ll give my limited thoughts. Luckily there’s not much to say. Although most people believe it was unintentional, I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch that someone from Archie thought it was a fun idea to have Sonic crush on somone in this reboot. Maybe it’s unintentional but it doesn’t seem that way.

I’m basically using this part of the post to ramble about how Reboot Archie’s Sonic still manages to be a casanova. He’s like a mixture of his old self and how he is in the games. That’s also why he acts the way he does around Amy. Could it also possibly mean he’s meant to like her canonically too? Reboot Archie did have to follow a more accurate way of writing Sonic after all. Anyways, let’s run down the list of Game!Sonic if he was allowed to be down bad for Amy like they’re already dating. Which is how I view this continuity. It’s basically if Boom and X had a weird fusion and this version of Sonic’s crush was the result. Except here he manages to be more bold and upfront. He knows what he’s doing. Here’s a run down.

First of all, THIS. No joke, more of these interactions would send me to the moon. I would explain why but the panel speaks for itself.

Sonic says, “I was worried about you.” Which he hasn’t admitted to her before this to my knowledge. He states this by giving her a side hug. Along with other out of nowhere physical affection and flirting. Not to single out Sonally fans. Sonic and Sally clearly have a close connection people appreciate and I respect that. In any case, Sonic and Amy in Reboot Archie also matches energies so much. They’re both clearly running off the same brain cell. You’d think they were together. They’d be a chaotic couple that’ll do the most outlandish things and somehow manage to survive them. After willfully risking their lives they’d do it again because being normal and safe is boring. I promise you, this version of Sonamy would be a huge force to be reckoned with.

-I’d also like to mention my friend Salty showed an example of Sonic being jealous of Knuckles coming with Amy on a mission and it’s brilliant. Dude gets all bratty about it too. Archie!Sonic does not play around. The post in question.

Sonic Prime

Already talked about this in another post, but I want to mention it again. Prime!Sonic is the most sensitive version of the character, so it’s no surprise he displays his admiration for Amy freely and out loud.

This moment says enough on its own. Sonic’s like this throughout the entirety of Prime and even changes the tone of his voice when speaking to or about her. It’s so authentic and adorable and makes him stand out against other variants.

Amy’s crush on Sonic in Prime is up to interpretation, but I don’t think she likes him in that way personally. Like other characters, Amy tends to be done with Sonic’s childishness. Guess she thinks he’s probably too immature to be boyfriend material whether she has feelings or not. Sonic on the other hand, acts how you wouldn’t expect. I personally see him as his own interpretation, so I’m fine with it. If he wants to have goo-goo eyes for Amy in Prime, it’s cool.

Prime!Sonic has it bad and I wouldn’t be shocked if he’d be the one wanting to go out on dates. Maybe he’d cook dinner for her sense he cooks in the show. I’d imagine Amy declining at first, but does it after his constant begging. They’d be swapped version of most emotional to least emotional. Prime!Amy would be a girlfriend who feels more like a parent than a partner.

Unleashed/Black Night

No one can bring up Sonic Unleashed without the lovely Amy meeting the Werehog scene. I love how Sonic didn’t like Amy hugging him, but right after she left he solemnly mopes around for probably the first and last time. He’s never in any game slowly moped around disappointedly before. Proving he only has certain reactions when it comes to Amy Rose. At least in some continuities. Unleashed gives you a choice to go on a date with Amy or not. Then the next game Sonic Team followed through with it, but ended up having Amy mad at Sonic for missing it. At least Sonic tried. Not to mention his reaction to The Lady Of The Lake and him flirting is fun to watch.

See how Sonic still likes her back but it isn’t because she’s “calmed down?” She’s still the same excitable love strucked Amy. There must be something more to it. Other than the obvious answer with Sonic Team wanting to do something with the pear. I have no idea why but having multiple hints even in the past must’ve been done for the fun of it. “We created this love interest but then railed back to Sonic not reciprocating her feeling. But we still want to market them as a couple in some way.” This franchise never cease to confuse me.

Amy encouraging Sonic in one of the cutscenes could’ve been where he started liking her back. Not in the way he does now, but he admired her none stop compassion and might’ve wanted to return the favor. “Eh, she’s sweet. Maybe a date won’t be so bad.” The fact he went out of his way to get her a chilidog and flirted with a different version of her should tell you enough. Of course it would take a while before anything else happened. 

IDW/Sonic Frontiers

Yeah, after issue 2, Sonic’s never felt the need to run from Amy. From the comics to Sonic Frontiers there’s a lot of moments of Sonic being somewhat emotionally candid. Not by much, but close. I believe Amy’s the reason for that in a way. Sonic’s not afraid to hang out with her anymore. He even hugs her back on some occasions. “Ames” was a nickname from fanfics and Boom which became canon over time and he occasionally calls her that.

Sonic wishes to share an umbrella and spend more time with her. He also gets excited to see her more often. It’s like Reboot Archie but slightly toned down. At least up until the hard to trigger lines from Sonic Frontiers. The same game where he outright admits to being worried about Amy and smiles back at her with a Coco looking between the two. Then he supports Amy’s decision to leave etc. We all know where we are now.

Crazy how the more you look into this franchise the more tiny details you notice. It’s also crazy how much Sonic’s been into the love interest he originally was already supposed to love. To me, Sonic had a crush on Amy in Unleashed but fell in love with her in IDW. What makes Sonamy gripping though is how unique it is compared to most romantic relationships. Leaves it to be more entertaining whenever something unexpected happenes. It keeps you engaged.

Why Sonic Crushes On Amy?

1. Amy doesn’t want to slow him down. Obviously because of IDW issue 2’s love confession with Amy saying “I can’t change you. I don’t want to change you.” Amy joins Sonic and he includes her more often because of that. His speed is no match for her persistence anyways.

2. She shows compassion and love for those around her. Not just to Sonic, but everyone. She’s the definition of soft hearted. Even for people Sonic and his friends would be weary about. Think about now in the recent comics and games where Sonic’s trying it out. I do think it should be more of Amy’s thing then Sonic’s but it just goes to show how much she probably inspired him. Who knows? Even in the past he had respect Amy for her tenderheartedness.

3. Amy’s energy matches Sonic’s. Though sometimes she can be overly enthusiastic compared to him. Even before now, Amy’s always been adventurous and that’s probably something Sonic liked from the start. Not in a romantic way, but in a respectful way. If he were to have a partner he’d need someone to keep him grounded and be on the same level. No exceptions.

4. Her loyalty. No matter what Sonic does (including times she disagrees) she’s one of Sonic’s most loyalist companions. Obviously other characters are too, but Amy has her being a long time childhood friend/Sonic 06 and Unleashed going for her. 06 for trusting Sonic over Silver and Unleashed for still loving Sonic despite his transformation. Heck, before she knew who the Werehog was she wasn’t disgusted. Amy’s commendable for that.

From all these points here physical attraction isn’t included. What I like about both characters is their crushes don’t stem to how they look. Though it is worth mentioning Sonic has called Amy “Radiant” in TMOSTH, but that’s probably the closest we’ll ever get to an outright physical compliment. From Sonic at least.

- Side note thanks to @saltynsassy31 again, Sonic and Amy’s dynamic can be summed up as not a relationship but rather a situationship. Yes, it’s a real word. What does it mean? Basically two friends who has crushes on each other but doesn’t do anything about it. Just a fun detail for you guys.

Why Did Sonic Run From Amy In The Past?

I’ll make this quick, but the reason Sonic ran from Amy wasn’t because he didn’t like her. On the contrary. Sonic always could’ve ran at his normal speed to get away from her. Sonic’s the fastest thing alive. Why would he let someone he “didn’t like” catch up to him? I personally think he enjoyed the thrill of the chase. It’s why I believe he misses it nowadays. Though I do understand Sonic didn’t often treat Amy like a friend. Not in a way I can understand at least. Not that I think their relationship was bad, but from what I’ve seen, it was more told then shown due to Sonic and the gang not including her on missions. Amy normally had to catch up with them which was a running gag. Especially in SA2. It might be why some prefere her in stuff like Reboot Archie, Boom, IDW, and Frontiers. Because Amy’s friends includes her on adventures now. At least in my opinion. Correct me if I missed anything.

Final Headcanon

Since Sonic in the games has been the one to push the Sonic side of Sonamy much more then Amy does for herself, I’d like to think in most cases (especially as their dynamic grows) Sonic would start carrying other versions of him traits like trying to mess with her.

He’d want to get her to chase him more often and Amy would probably ask once or twice, “What’s going on and why are you acting weird?” He’d definitely play it off as him fooling around. Sonic doesn’t know much about romance, but he does know what Amy likes. Maybe he’d ask her out or go on a bunch of traveling missions. Anything to get her to pay attention to him again. After all, there’s been examples of the guy feeling ignored by her in and out of canon. It’s possible.

-There’s also a consistent detail where Sonic’s finally ready to open up but has to deal with Amy doing her own thing. Or when he’s face with different variants of her, he’s flirtatious with them. For the fastest thing alive, he has terrible timing when it comes to making his mind up.

Conclusion

Welp, there you have it, darlings. Examples of Sonic crushing on Amy more than some would think. It’s a Sonic character analysis and Sonamy post all in one. I know there’s more, but I think this gathers examples from the actual content.

Stay Creative! 💜

[woso-dreamzzz]

Shirt

Zećira Mušović x Hardersson!Reader

Part of The Big Adventures Universe

Summary: Zećira manages a miracle

It's a difficult situation to navigate.

For one, it's because the shirt you're currently wrinkling your nose at is a Chelsea one.

Everyone on the team knows of your hatred of Chelsea.

Truly, Zećira just thinks you hate blue. She's known you longer than most others on the team, remembering you as just that tiny little baby who cried when Pernille tried to leave you with Magda at camp.

You're still young, young enough at least to have fairly flexible opinions. Maybe it's not that you hate Chelsea but that you hate the colour blue.

Red is your favourite colour which is why you're attracted to clubs like Arsenal because of the red on their jerseys and rebuke clubs like Chelsea because of the blue.

"Blue is the opposite of red," You've told anyone and everyone on multiple occasions.

So, Zećira puts down your hatred of Chelsea to the fact that London is blue and you'd prefer it to be red instead.

Which is why this situation is delicate.

You stand in front of her, arms crossed over your chest with your little wrinkled nose.

Zećira holds a Chelsea shirt in front of you, waving it teasingly in your face.

"No," You huff," No! No! No! No Not-Wolfsburg!"

"Are you sure? It's got your Morsa's name on it?"

“Morsa’s smelly!” You declare,” And Not-Wolfsburg is bad!”

Zećira laughs, kneeling down at your level. “Work with me here, princesse. You don’t want to wear Magda’s shirt and you don’t want to wear a Chelsea shirt?”

You stick your tongue out. “Don’t like blue!”

“And you won’t wear Magda’s Sweden shirt?”

“Smelly Morsa!”

That’s a new thing you’ve been going through, calling Magda smelly at any and all times that you can. You heard it off Pernille, kind of.

A few weeks ago, Magda left her smelly football socks and boots around the house when she came home from training. Pernille had gone straight to the nursery, to pick you up from one of the few days that you went in so she hadn’t seen it until she got home, tripping over one of the boots and then slipping on the socks.

She’d complained they were smelly and that Magda was smelly after she found out that Magda had gotten straight into bed without washing off all the sweat from the day’s training.

You’d parroted back her words and Magda could now hardly appear in your vision without you calling her smelly.

Zećira sighs, pulling the shirt back.

“You have to wear a jersey if we’re going to train,” She reminds you and you huff.

“I know! A different one!”

This is where Zećira gets a bit crafty with it as she pulls out a second jersey.

It’s a Chelsea one, that’s for sure but it’s very much not blue.

You eye it warily.

“It’s mine,” Zećira says, showing you the back with her name and number.

“It’s Not-Wolfsburg,” You reply bluntly.

“Yeah, it’s Chelsea,” Zećira admits,” But it’s not blue and it’s not smelly Magda’s.” She waves it in your face and you slowly reach out.

You withdraw your hand quickly though and eye Zećira wearily.

“You won’t tell? I’m not a Not-Wolfsburg fan. I don’t want to make Wolfsburg and Arsenal feel bad.”

“I won’t tell,” Zećira promises and you nod, finally taking her shirt.

You pull it over your other t-shirt and Zećira grins.

She’s pretty sure she’s witnessing a miracle, you wearing a Chelsea shirt. She also knows that she can’t tell anyone though because you’ll never forgive her and you’ll never wear any of her shirts again, let alone a Chelsea one.

You pull on your gloves, getting a little stuck with the Velcro but you manage.

You point a finger at her. “Can’t tell,” You insist,” Our secret.”

Zećira smiles, unable to stop herself from teasing. “Are you allowed to keep secrets from your mums?”

You purse your lips.

Technically, you’re not allowed to but it’s a bit like technically you’re not allowed to lie. You’re not allowed to lie but Morsa’s told you before that saying a white lie to save someone’s feelings is okay. Like how you should always tell Momma’s momma that her ugly floral shirt is pretty even though it makes you want to close your eyes and never look at her again.

You think this is kind of similar. Momma and Morsa might get upset if they find out you wore Zećira’s Not-Wolfsburg shirt so willingly. You don’t want to make them sad but you definitely don’t want to wear their Not-Wolfsburg shirts either because you just hate Not-Wolfsburg and everything it stands for. Admittedly, you’re not quite sure what Not-Wolfsburg stands for but you’re pretty sure you won’t like it either way.

“It’s only a little secret,” Is what you settle on telling Zećira,” So it doesn’t really matter.”

Zećira chuckles a little at you audacity but doesn’t argue, merely adjusting your gloves so they fit a bit tighter around your wrists and giving you an antihistamine to take to combat any reaction you’ll have to their latex.

“Alright,” She says as she leads you out of the house and towards the park,” Today, we’re going to work on your catching.”

[trashfangirlsworld]

Hello! I've been inactive due to the current events in the mcyt community, but I've been keeping up with the qsmp admin situation and I thought I'd share some opinions because the amount of doomposting I've seen the last few weeks has been more than I've seen in any fandom in a while and I feel like it's reached the point where people really need to chill the fuck out because they're not thinking straight and actively not helping. Everything I'm gonna say is based on stuff I've seen on both tumblr and twitter.

they should not promote/release merch! : one of the things that baffles me the most tbh; how do you expect any employee to be payed then? Merch is so far the only big source of income for the server besides q's own cc salary or whatever income they get through the official qsmp channel on twitch and youtube (which I don't think is a lot). "I get that they said they have no funds, but still it doesn't feel right"... sorry but at this point I don't know what to tell you, do you expect them to pull money out of their asses? You can't demand that they stop making merch and then complain that they can't afford the twitter admins at the same time. If you don't feel comfortable buying anything from them it's fine obviously, but if your reason for it is that you're helping the admins then I have bad news for you. I have seen people propose that quackity sets up a patreon, and while I think it would be a good idea, I understand why he's not doing it, since with the merch he can at least give something back to the people that choose to support his project instead of people just giving him money for free, especially with what's happening now. Also with how much hate he's been receiving simply for the merch I can't imagine that a patreon would be recieved well.

we don't know if the money is going to the admins/ they should not use pomme's likeness! : the money is definitely going to go to the employees and admins because otherwise the server would not last. And as much as I understand people feeling protective over pomme's admin, quackity studios is very much allowed to sell merch of the character because it is not the likeness of the admin, it's a minecraft model made by the people that work there. Would you have rathered they skip her character entirely? Do you really think that would have been okay?. Also correct me if I'm wrong, but I've seen posts and tweets saying that pomme's admin has been confirmed to come back with the other eggs whenever it happens by pierre, who talked with her admin.

the admins of the update accounts got fired, it means they want to fire everyone, they aren't making things better! : it sucks that the updates accounts had to end and I feel bad for every twitter admin that clearly cared a lot about the project, but unfortunately it had to happen if there simply isn't enough money to pay them adequately like they deserved and ultimately the update accounts were not essential to keep the project going, so it makes sense that they were let go unfortunately. This is not gonna be the case for the egg admins because if they got fired (which they didn't), the server would basically end. Just because a cc does not know when they will be back does not mean it's not gonna happen. Just because tubbo randomly said that he's not sure if they will be back does not mean they were fired; tubbo is normally not a reliable source of information, even less so when he's been live nonstop for the past 20 days, which is prior to everything happening. If you genuinely didn't expect a reduction in non essential staff considering everything, then you have unreasonable expectations on how this stuff goes. As I write this, I'm seeing people saying that "they would understand this decision if q had set up a patreon to pay the admins", and once again I don't understand how people don't realize why quackity might not be keen on the idea of having his fans pay his own employees for his own project instead of, you know, doing it himself; and, again, do not fool yourself into thinking it would be recieved well. That being said, it's fair to criticize how everything was communicated to the admins, but I'll get to this in more detail later.

quackity should not have uninstalled social media, he's trying to avoid everything! : he's not avoiding anything, he's been off social media for a while now, which is why it took him that long to remove wilbur from the server. He has every right to not want to look at social media, as his focus should be on restructuring his server instead of doomscrolling on twitter because people think he needs to see how much people dislike him. The only people that he should talk to are those that have important information to tell him, like josè with the document. He explicitly said on stream where to contact him if you have helpful information and I'm sure that despite multiple well liked posts saying not to spam his email, people are definitely doing it anyway, which is probably gonna slow the whole thing down even more. I hope josè's document is able to be seen with pierre's help as well.

quackity studios is not communicating with their employees and leaving them in the dark and that's not okay : I agree with this. i think a huge chunk of doomposting lately has been due the lack of communication not with the audience, but with the admins, and they deserve to know what is happening behind the scenes more then us since this is about their current or future job.... that being said, I do kind of understand why they're being so secretive and shutting everyone out, and that's due to all the "leaks" that have been spread online. I understand the anger but I really wish some people would realize that discussing leaked bts lore stuff in ccs discord servers does not help the situation at all and instead makes it seem like they're only doing this to rile up the fandom against quackity studios by using the lore of people's fav characters.

At the end of the day, I think people just aren't used to dealing with a situation that does not have a clear cut solution and someone to clearly hate, so the result is this doomposting and the over aggressiveness toward anything related to the project. Personally, I haven't witnessed anything that made me lose faith in the qsmp like some people have been saying, as every change that we've seen so far coincides with what quackity said on stream a while ago. I only wish things were communicated properly to the admins clearly, as they're the ones most affected, so I hope that's resolved soon. Ultimately quackity is singlehandedly restructuring the server from basically zero, has had to fire people that were misusing money and power and, depending on what josè's document said, is probably gonna have to fire some more. This is not an easy process, nor a quick one, you're not gonna hear about sunshine and rainbows for a while and doomposting about everything you hear because you expected quick change is useless. Think before you speak, have a clear head and most importantly have empathy.

[puppyeared]

this could just be "gatekeeping but im being really polite abt it" but. its less abt thinking only certain ppl should be allowed in, and more like i dont wanna open a pandoras box that makes it difficult for everyone to have fun. shrugs

i wanna post my skip to loafer art but i cant do it knowing ppl are gonna put it on tiktok and pinterest bc itd be like. bringing an invasive species ykwim

[fixyourwritinghabits]

How to Handle Critique

I’ve got to admit, I wish I was one of those beatific saints that could take critique with a grateful smile. Instead, I am constantly suppressing a horrible little gremlin at the back of my head hissing at anything from legit plot critiques to grammar corrections. I’m well aware I used that comma wrong, GOD.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m very good at suppressing that gremlin, but the little bastard is still there. He exists because even though your brain knows critique can help, it also knows you worked damn hard on the thing being critiqued, and goddamnit, isn’t that enough???

Anyway, here are some tips on getting that gremlin to shut the hell up.

It is okay to be upset. You worked really hard on this thing, and now someone’s gone and pointed out all the things that suck about it. You cannot control how you feel about one thing or another, but you can allow yourself to feel that way and let it pass through you. Let your critique partner you’re taking time to reflect on it, and go for a walk. Do something else. Let those feelings pass through you before you get back to the page.

Give yourself time. Don’t feel like you need to correct things right away (unless they are minimal grammar tweaks). Some pieces of feedback might take awhile to sink in, especially when you’ve got a whole novel to wrestle through. Set it aside, think about something else for a week or so, and get back to it when you’ve reset.

Get a second opinion and/or ducky friend. It can be very hard to tell the difference between good and bad feedback sometimes. Someone who means very well could give feedback that just doesn’t work for you, and someone who doesn’t give two shits could have spotted that fatal flaw right away. You can bring in a real third party or just make use of the old rubber duck technique, where you talk through the issue with a friend or a Naruto poster telling you to Believe it. Working it out out-loud is a really effective technique to figure out what needs fixing and what doesn’t.

Guide critique-givers toward the feedback you want. I, a person who prefers straightforward fantasy and sci-fi, cannot give the fine-tooth points on how a romance novel should work. However, I can give feedback on what works for me and what doesn’t story-wise. Giving your beta reader or critique partner a list of questions to look for will help avoid vague feedback based on how they don’t like the genre. There are many ways to do this, but consider using the following as a base to tailor your own questions:

Did you get a good sense of the setting? Did the worldbuilding make sense to you?

Was this story clear? Where there any parts that seemed confusing?

What characters did you like and why? What characters didn’t you like?

Did any parts of the story feel slow or repetitive?

Did the beginning draw you in? Did the middle keep you engaged? Did the ending feel satisfying?

If you were to write [insert plot point here], what would you do differently?

Again, all of the above questions are up for debate depending on your goal, but we are rarely taught how to give good feedback, and a guided feedback session would work better for you than a free-for-all.

Figure out what kind of advice doesn’t work for you. It is really hard to give good feedback sometimes, even with guided questions. It can also be really hard to figure out why some feedback doesn’t click with you, and that’s a matter of digging deep to figure out what you really want. You may lean toward characters who are horrible fuck-ups, but your partner prefers more steady characters who always strive to do the right thing. Your characters, therefore, may never click with this person, no matter how much they want to help you. And that’s okay! Figuring out where your critique partner is coming from can help you figure out what parts of their feedback isn’t working for you. Sometimes the only thing you can do is thank them and move on, but you might also want to guide them to focus more on the plot or the worldbuilding when looking at your work.

And last, don’t focus on grammar. It’s great if they point that out, but if you end up changing everything, trying to fix that first is a waste of your time. Grammar tweaks last, plot points first.

And, I dunno, give yourself a treat to get that horrible little mind gremlin something else to focus on. Sometimes patting those bad feelings on the head and sending them away can help way more than ignoring them.