#but I think? it could be about a decline in popularity or success and the inevitability of that only they turn it into

[carbondioxidewater]

Make A Move

americanfootballplayer!Sukuna x fem!reader

genre: slow-burn romance, college au, fluff, angst

warnings: none so far

word count: 1.8k

(-> Pt. 2) (-> Pt. 3) (-> Pt. 4) (-> masterlist)

Being too kind is truly a disadvantage sometimes, you thought to yourself when you realized the true intentions of your counterpart.

You were sitting at a table in one of the most renowned restaurants in the city. A classmate from one of your courses invited you after you two had successfully presented your group project. He was adamant on taking you out to celebrate your success and you were too kind to decline, being relieved yourself. He wanted to pick you up from home, but you told him not to bother driving to your dorm and just meet you there.

"'My treat." he said, referring to you doing the most part. Honestly, he didn't participate too much, that's why you figured it would be just fair for him to do something for you in return. After all, you saved both of your grades.

But when he began to make remarks about your appearance and asked you what you have in mind to pay him back because he'd pay for dinner, you quickly searched for a way to get out. You cursed yourself on the inside for even accepting the invitation and not seeing through his facade - you didn't take him for that kind of guy - but of course, he's a man after all. You would never ever blame yourself for the horrible behavior of men though, this is completely on him and if you wouldn't see him constantly, you probably would've smacked him across the face. But you were not in the mood to fight, you simply wanted to flight. Of course, the bathroom was your first idea, so you excused yourself and made your way to the back of the restaurant where the sanitary rooms were.

There was a small window at the top of the wall that you could only reach when standing on the toilet, but it was big enough for you to fit through. You didn't think too much and started crawling out of it.

There were a few stacked boxes outside that you, very carefully, used for support and once you stepped fully on them, you jumped down the not too high distance to the floor. You didn't notice someone standing outside, too engulfed in your plan to get out, so when you suddenly heard a voice next to you, that certain someone startled you.

You immediately recognized the person, it was the heartthrob of the college and the most popular guy on campus. Even outside of your campus, many were familiar with his name, he was known all over the city for his excellent and extraordinary football skills - it was no other than Ryomen Sukuna.

"You know there's a door over there right?" he immediately began, cocking his head into a certain direction.

You looked to your right and to your surprise, there was a door indeed.

Shit, you thought, there must have been an exit right next to the bathrooms that you failed to see.

"Oh." you simply voiced out, not knowing what else to reply to someone you never talked to. You weren't even sure if he knew you went to the same university as him.

"Who are you running from? A horrible date?" he asked then, smirkingly.

"Just another guy who thinks I owe him a favor for something I didn't even ask for." you replied sighingly when your open and unfiltered answer quickly stunned you - usually you weren't this talkative with someone you pretty much considered a stranger. To get rid of the sudden awkwardness that emerged in you, you asked him a question back.

"And what are you doing here outside, all alone in this empty and dark alley?"

He shrugged, then started to speak again.

"Smoking." he bluntly said and held up his right hand, it was just then that you noticed the half burned cigarette in it.

"Isn't smoking allowed inside?" you questioned, remembering the sign that you definitely saw when entering the restaurant.

"Can't a man enjoy the silence and peace of the night?" he replied back.

You went silent and just stared at him, not knowing what else to say.

"What, are you scared of me? Scared of someone who enjoys spending his time in dark backstreets?" he smiled smugly and slowly came closer, caging you between him and the wall behind you. When he saw your startled face, he backed off and laughed.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything to you."

"I know, you'd have your whole football career ruined and I don't take you for the guy to risk that."

At that comment, he seemed surprised.

"You know me?"

"Who doesn't." you simply waved your hand and that intrigued him.

"Don't you think this is a little unfair?" he then voiced and that confused you.

"What do you mean?"

He grinned.

"I mean that you know who I am, but I don't know who you are. Care to enlighten me?"

"Not my fault you don't notice people you share a course with." he seemed truly surprised at that.

"We're sharing a course? Which one?"

"Find it out." you then teased and immediately excused yourself right after.

"Anyways, I have to get going before my cover blows. Have fun strolling around dark alleyways all creepily." you surpressed a smile and quickly went your way. He was speechless.

Yes, you definitely intrigued him.

At home, you immediately told your friends Shoko and Utahime about the horrible evening and your encounter with THE Ryomen Sukuna. Thankfully, you three being little gossip girls made your night better.

The next monday morning came by and you were on your way to your class. You were pretty early, so you sat down on a bench near the sports field and enjoyed the morning sun shining down on you. Usually you weren't so early, coming last minute but still punctual every day, not feeling the need to be there earlier than required. You just knew how to do it.

What you didn't know is that Sukuna has been thinking about you a lot during the weekend, wondering if you really went to the same college as him. Wouldn't he have noticed you?

So when he coincidentally saw you sitting there at the bench, him being on the field behind you to use the empty space to train a little, he started to walk up to you. But before he even reached the end of the field, you were already gone, already left for your class.

That happened again and again, whenever he spotted you on campus, you always found a way to get lost in between the crowds of students, he was simply unable to get to you, not that you had noticed of course.

On friday, he finally catched you after his second class ended. He ran up to you quickly but carefully, not wanting to attract your attention to purposefully scare you a little again.

"We don't have any courses together." He remarked after basically teleporting out of nowhere and he was pleased to see you wincing. You responded in amusement.

"But it left you wondering, didn't it? That just proves my point: you don't notice your surroundings, otherwise you would've known right from the start."

"Such a shame, I was kind of looking forward to seeing you in my classes." Your heart missed a beat, causing you to fail to come up with a fitting reply, caught off guard by his response.

"Didn't know I was dealing with a pathological liar, though." he added.

"Didn't know I was dealing with a self-centered player. Oh wait, I did!" you followed suit and he catched onto that insinuation.

"You mean player as in athlete or fuckboy?" he questioned, completely amused by your insolence.

"Guess we'll never know." you shrugged and he laughed.

"Sassy. I like you." You felt yourself heating up at those words. Somehow, he was very easy to talk to.

"So, what made you exit through that window last week? Don't you know that normal people use, I don't know, doors?"

"Nothing that concerns you, I believe."

"It does, it traumatized me. Imagine you're just trying to enjoy your life, then all of a sudden someone creeps out of the window. A disturbing sight, really."

"Sorry for not meeting your standards then."

"I didn't say that." he corrected you and smiled cheekily. He was confusing you, was he flirting with you?

"So?"

"So what?"

"Your date."

You sighed. "It wasn't a date."

"Hah, and I already wondered why you were dressed so casually."

You furrowed your brows.

"Do I have to look special to go on a date?" you questioned. To be fair, you like getting ready and dressing up all prettily, but that comment made you challenge him anyways.

He laughed at your upfrontness and continued.

"Not at all. It's just that from my experience, I know people usually put more effort into their appearance when going out on a date."

"If you figured, why bother asking?" you asked, half playful half serious.

He smirked again.

"Feisty, I like that." You rolled your eyes. "I'm just curious. Am I wrong?"

"Well, I guess people only dress up for special people."

"And he wasn't?" he tilted his chin upwards but still stared down at you with his eyes, awaiting your response.

You snorted. "No, he was not."

"So? What did he do?"

"Why do you care so much? Don't you have anywhere to be?" you then asked, remembering he probably had classes to attend to after break, just like you.

"Why do you care about my obligations?"

That silenced you. He laughed.

After a small second of silence and the expectant look on his face, you gave in and told him the story.

"Happy now?" you asked after finishing.

"Of course not. That guy is an asshole." He exclaimed. His reaction surprised you, after all, he was a famous womanizer himself.

"Oh come on, no need to feign sympathy, you probably use the same methods on girls."

That made his eyes widen.

"Who do you take me for? I'm a true gentleman. Speaking of it, where's your next class? Want me to bring you?" he suggested, but you declined.

"No, thank you, I think I'm very much capable of finding the way myself."

And he was shook, never before had a girl rejected his offer.

To be honest, being reminded of last friday soured your mood and you were confused about the sudden interest Sukuna had taken in you. If he thought you'd be his new plaything, he was wrong. He has the whole campus swooning over him, but it's basic knowledge that he leads women on. You didn't have anything against him, but you were not interested in joining his world.

Sukuna stopped in his tracks for a moment and watched after you.

Oh, you're gonna be a lot of work, he thought to himself, catching himself smiling.

Had this in my drafts and I've remembered it randomly. Let me know what you think! I have a lot of ideas already...🌜

[bippot]

Eddie Munson - Stranger Things Masterlist

+ Ralph Penbury - Timewasters and Billy Knight - Cormoran Strike

Wanna be added to a taglist? Either comment on this post or send me a message!

Taglist: @emxxblog, @jeangeniex

1) The Need To Graduate I Tumblr I AO3 I

Eddie Munson needs some encouragement to want to graduate, and his best friend is more than willing to give it to him. Or, not give it to him. That’s a more accurate description.

2) The Tongue Piercing I Tumblr I AO3 I

Eddie gets bored one night and decides to make himself more metal by sticking metal in his face. And, honestly, he has no idea how his girlfriend will react.

3) Chicken I Tumblr I AO3 I

All of his attempts to talk to her had failed miserably. All of them. He didn’t know what to say, so when Robin brings said girl along with her to the arcade, Eddie finally gets a chance to strike up a conversation.

4) Official I Tumblr I AO3 I

So, yeah, Eddie has a little crush. Between working in the garage, school, and late nights thinking about a special someone, he doesn’t quite think he has the guts to do something about it. But, that’s okay. She might have them.

5) Talkative I Tumblr I AO3 I

Mike Wheeler had no idea why Y/N was allowed to be in Hellfire. She just took up all the time he could’ve been using to talk about, you know, what he wanted to. Maybe she was let in because of Eddie’s very obvious soft spot for her? Or maybe it’s because the other members genuinely like her? Who knows. But one thing is for sure: her not talking to him drives Eddie insane.

6) Pinky Promise I Tumblr I AO3 I

There’s a secret that Eddie holds close so people don’t bully him more, so when his best friend offers to help him out with it, he can’t decline. Only an idiot would do that.

7) Picture Perfect I Tumblr I AO3 I

Can Eddie Munson draw? Hell yeah. He even has a favourite thing to sketch. Well, it’s more a who rather than an it.

8) Sick Little Baby I Tumblr I AO3 I

Poor Eddie didn’t show up to school because he has a bit of a cough and Wayne needs his rest, so his best friend and her puppy are willing to come to his aid.

9) The Henderson Connection I Tumblr I AO3 I

Who knew that Dustin had a sister? Well, Eddie did know about her. He just had no idea what she was like. But as soon as he met her, there was no going back.

10) The Day of Fools I Tumblr I AO3 I

When the hell is Eddie’s birthday? Well, the Henderson siblings soon find out and rush to make it the best day they can.

11) Half the Work I Tumblr I AO3 I

They get paired together for a biology assessment. That’s it. The popular cheerleader would never ruin her reputation and standing with her parents for a DnD nerd. Unless….? Also, why does Jason Carver hate Eddie Munson so much?

12) Baby Fever I Tumblr I AO3 I

Eddie is great with kids of all ages, but there is something about babies that makes him want one of his own. Yet his girlfriend may need some convincing.

13) Vegas, Baby I Tumblr I AO3 I

Corroded Coffin is successful and probably will continue being successful for a while. Yet, they’ve been working nonstop for so long and are desperately in need of a break. Where do rockstars go? Fucking Vegas, baby! Casino’s? Dolphin shows? Spa days? Siegfried and Roy? A chance for Eddie to finally show his singer how much he truly loves her? How could they pass up an opportunity like this?

14.1) Stuck In The Middle I Tumblr I AO3 I

Steve can play the guitar. Corroded Coffin is down a guitarist… It’s perfect. Well, except for the fact that both Eddie and Steve like the same girl. So, who will she pick? Or the better question is, will she have to pick at all? (Eddie x Reader x Steve)

14.2) Best Of Both Worlds I Tumblr I AO3 I

After coming to the conclusion that they could share their crush, Eddie and Steve also get closer as a result. Too close for comfort at times, as Steve would find out, but it’s okay; all they need to do is kiss and make up.

15) Sound Asylum I Tumblr I AO3 I

School sucks. Studying sucks. Jason Carver sucks. The record shop named Sound Asylum fucking rules. Sure, it sells all of Eddie’s favourite music, but everyone knows that’s his excuse to talk to the cashier there, a.k.a. his girlfriend.

1) Step By Step I Tumblr I AO3 I

Billy’s on the mend. It’s a process with a lot of ups and downs, but his friend is more than willing to help him out. Whether it’s comforting him after therapy or picking out new clothes, the pair are always together and trying their best to build up his psyche and teach him what it feels like to be loved.

1) A Change Of Pace I Tumblr I AO3 I

Ralph knows he’s quick to fall in love, and that’s bitten him on the ass every single time it has happened. Not this time, no. To ensure he doesn’t scare his new infatuation away, he must take the advice of his servant, Michael, and take it slow.

[haitianempress]

Theory about the Garden of Eden Club

RANT INCOMING!!

So with this update we are finding out a lot about the club and I have several theories in mind surrounding it.

I feel like Mr. Kim is apart of making sure Idols get pressured into going to the club.

Examples:

He claims he's mad at everyone in the group and wants better for them, but he doesn't address the fact that the idols have personal issues. If he were really mad, he would fire the idols immediately, especially Lin, who has been given many chances! Something is up.

He literally hired Dong-hyun, the son of a famous person with no degree in psychology, to give therapy sessions to his idols lmao.

He also hired Castiel, whose father is a successful CEO. Do you think he doesn't know anyone at the club who could threaten the idols?

He probably makes more money from these poor idols whose mental health is declining so badly that they would do anything to succeed. He seems like the type to take advantage. He’s suspicious, sorry.

Every single artist under the company is popular due to outside forces coming into play to help boost the Idols popularity.

Examples:

Seo-yoon went to the club and got in contact with a benefactor who helped skyrocket the group's career. But with that came her failing health and eventual suicide.

After Seo-yoon's death, Mi-yeon suddenly surpasses the group in success and starts avoiding Luna. However, Mi-yeon was not feeling well in the days before her death, and she discovered the person who pushed Luna's sister into taking her life. She also commits suicide.

It's Castiel's father who is funding RK3, so he can get money back by helping cover up what happened to his son at the club. Without his support and money, they would have fallen off the charts and disbanded.

Dean literally admits that he's spying on everyone at the company for elite people. These people could include Mr. Kim or individuals associated with the Garden of Eden. He says he's a fox for a reason, and perhaps that helps him pay his bills and support X-EVO's success on the charts.

They are overworked so bad on purpose in order to make them vulnerable so they can get more Idols to go to the club and make deals.

Examples:

You heard it from Luna they HAD to be pushed to exhaustion when working hard for their debut cause it's a lot of money to prepare Idols for the beginning of their careers.

After they flopped post-debut, they needed to repay that money somehow. Seo-yoon, afraid of seeing her sister and group members hit rock bottom, sought out desperate measures.

After the idols in the club were used and then discarded, they were pushed to commit suicide so that the club wouldn't appear guilty and wouldn't have to pay them back.

Seong-hwa may have this sweet, hardworking leader vibe, but Luna has seen him exhausted and trying to hide the bags under his eyes multiple times. He is the only one in X-EVO who is like this, which is concerning. What could be causing this?

Additionally, he knew Seo-yoon was going to the club based on a picture he had of her leaving in his camera roll. Maybe he didn't speak up not just because he wanted to protect Luna, as he claims, but also because he's scared to say anything since someone is probably watching.

I think many of the idols, when they go to the club, end up selling their bodies, selling drugs, and becoming recruiters who lure other idols to the club.

Examples:

Castiel tried his hardest to save Seo-yoon from whatever was happening in the room she entered but was stopped by a man who literally tried to sexually assault him.

Idk if Dean or Castiel said this but one of them said something about watching your drinks so someone won't slip in something…

In notion, this implies that approaching strangers and drugging, groping, harassing, or even raping them is accepted there.

A lot of idols are roped in because they are caught in compromising situations where they could be exposed. The elites use this to their advantage and threaten to blackmail them if they don't go to the club.

Examples:

Poor Castiel was sexually assaulted by a man, and to prevent the story from getting out, his father paid the man and the club for their silence. But that protection didn’t extend to Seo-yoon. His father is making him work hard and physically abusing him because he can’t make much money off RK3.

Luna is heading down a dangerous path, getting involved in investigations with both her 'therapist' and the group's songwriter. They both know people who have been to the club.

They are using her to do things cause they know grief is tearing her apart and she wants answers. Not to mention Minhyuk caught her outside the club,

She shouldn’t trust anyone, even if they know people hurt by the club. Minhyuk’s full intentions aren’t clear! LUNA IS IN DANGER!!

Lin is on the verge of making the same mistakes as the other girls, but he’s acting irrationally and angrily. They are trying to keep him in line and imposing tighter restrictions on him, and his group’s poor performance is pushing him to desperate measures. Like Seo-yoon, he may seek outside help to save his group because he feels guilty.

Luna discovered that Mi-yeon might be gay or bisexual based on her crush on Castiel and her relationship with Seo-yoon, as seen from the photos and texts. But what if someone else knew this and threatened to blackmail her by releasing the photos if she didn’t comply with their demands?

That's all! What do you guys think?

[celticcrossanon]

BRF Reading - 15th of June, 2024

This is speculation only

Cards drawn on the 15th of June, 2024

Question: Does The King want Harry to live in The Royal Lodge?

Note: This is a one card reading

Card Drawn: The Knight of Wands

Knights are action cards, so drawing this card upright is a Yes. Action will be taken to install Harry in The Royal Lodge.

The Knight of Wands represents a Sagittarius person, which is not Harry. However, it also represents a person who gets all fired up with enthusiasm and charges into things, who wants to be successful, who wants to be the hero, who can be reckless and act without thinking, who can act hastily, and who can be rebellious - all things that could be said about Harry.

The Knight of Wands can also mean that you want to achieve some important task or tasks, which tells me that The King thinks providing for Harry is important.

Underlying Energy: The Page of Pentacles in reverse

This is my card for the UK. In the reverse it indicates unhappiness about something. The energy from this card is strong and it says that the people of the UK will not be happy to see Harry installed in The Royal Lodge. The King is going to have problems getting them to accept this without seeing his popularity decline further, and they may never accept it. The King wants Harry installed in the Royal Lodge but the people of the UK do not.

Note: I asked this question again, just to check the answer, and the card I drew was The Sun, which is a definite Yes to the question, with the underlying energy of The Tower in reverse, which said to me that this would be a very unpopular decision and only possible when Harry was recovering from some sort of Tower event.

[allurilove]

Hi! I love your fics so much and I was wondering if you could do a popular yan x reader fic but not using the trope of reader either hates or doesn’t care about the yan. Don’t get me wrong I love that trope but sometimes it’s overused and sometimes feels insincere like yan only “loves” reader because they’re different and not really because of their personality. Instead id like it to where reader is a fan of popular yan but not like a die hard fan who’s in one of his cult like fan clubs or like knows everything about him like his shoe size and other weird stuff like that. More like a fan who just admires him because of how good at socializing he is and how he’s so successful at almost everything he does. Basically to reader he’s just like a good role model who makes reader strive to be better. I just feel like when yan falls for reader it’d be more sincere because reader would be showing their true personality to him and get to know each other as friends. Anyways if you do this request I’d like to thank you so much in advance and say that I think your writing is awesome 🫶🫶🫶

Have you ever met a man that was good at everything like this man in front of you? You were seriously starstruck by how knowledgeable and confident he sounded. Your classmate was presenting his project to the class: his back straight like an arrow, his eyes looking into the crowd of his peers, and every sentence was so perfect that it almost brought the professor to tears. You knew how amazing he was when he first opened his mouth, people had brought out their laptops and notebooks to make sure they got everything he said.

You had seen him around a lot. He spent hours at the library doing his homework after his classes, ate lunch with his friend group and for dinner he was seen visiting his family nearby, and he even managed to work in a short session at the gym. He had his whole life together and organized--while you scrambled to get everything turned in on time. College was hard, and you weren't even sure if you wanted to go in the first place. It was just expensive, made you miserable, and you were drowning in fees.

You decided to approach him one day. He was sitting alone in the corner of a coffee shop, his pen lightly tapping against the wooden table as his brows knitted together. His back was hunched slightly, and his attention was absorbed by the book in front of him. You wondered if it was rude to interrupt him, but he had more pages on the left than the right-- so he had been reading for a while and was close to finishing.

Your footsteps were light and slow, your pulse quickening with each silent minute that passed. You had been staring at him for a while, just wringing the strap of your bag in contemplation and doubt. Just as you began to open your mouth, taking a leap of courage, he muttered without lifting his eyes from his table, “Seats not taken.”

"Are you hungry?" he then gestured to the croissant that was conveniently placed down by the waiter after you sat down. Your classmate then placed the thick novel he was reading away, and he had an easy smile on his face. "It's all yours. I was thinking about eating another... but ah, I don't need it." he jokingly patted his belly.

He kept ordering you more and more croissants, to the point where the café had brought you four takeout boxes. You couldn't really decline, he just kept talking over you whenever you protested and waved down the waiter. Your friendship really started to take off the moment he sat down next to you in class. He passed you his insightful notes, and if you had any questions you turned to him.

“What does that even mean?” you whispered, pointing to a random formula your math professor had drawn. “There's no way that's humanely possible to remember all of that."

Your classmate snorted, his arm resting around your shoulders. He leaned in closer, whispering in your ear: “It means we should have another study session at my dorm.”

A study session with him was absolute hell. First, he liked to just raw dog it. No music. Second, while the free food was nice, he drank a shit ton of coffee and redbull. You weren't exactly ecstatic thinking about what would happen to your body afterwards. And lastly, he could study for hours! Hours without even stopping once he finds his 'groove.' You were always the one to tap out in the end, and fall asleep on top of his bed.

"Oh don't give me that look. Don't worry, I'll pay for the energy drinks this time." He smiled widely and ruffled up your hair.

[vivalgi]

I found a short article with an additional 10-min video podcast on the recent PB acquisition by Series AI Entertainment. It discusses a little about what led to it and what could be the implications of AI driven content creation. One of the guys in the video is an industry insider who has deeper knowledge about PB. In the video they also provide some recent revenue and download estimates from Sensor Tower, which is otherwise paid content. One thing that caught my attention was that near the end of 2023 downloads suddenly spiked and then plummeted. If you ask me then it coincides with Blades 2 reaching the end of its weekly releases. It was the book that people had been eagerly waiting for 3 years and also the most successful book of 2023, according to its lead writer. Kinda looks like many people said their final goodbyes to Choices with that book. Many of you did promise to wait for Blades 2 to come out before uninstalling the game due to the declining quality of content in recent times. Overall, if you look at the past 12 months then according to Sensor Tower the revenue has slowly decreased around 30% while downloads have dropped nearly 90%!

The guys in the video told it's mostly the long time players still helping to pay the bills. This is why I find it strange that PB has been trying to attract new players from Chapters with cheap controversial sm*t, instead of focusing on its core player base and what made the game so popular in the first place. It's so easy to lose valuable customers but near impossible to get them back later.

All in all, no matter what we think about the morality of using AI in creative works, the fact is that PB's new sugar daddy is its final straw. If that doesn't work out then it's game over. Only hope is that PB will make Choices available on Steam should the worst case scenario happen.

[ashpkat]

i was thinking earlier (which isn’t a good thing) about the series and here’s my thought: how popular do you think the magisterium series would be if calron had been canon?

the magisterium series came from two (semi) well known authors that are worth hundred of thousands — maybe millions — of dollars, and observing stuff from other VERY popular fandoms like percy jackson and seeing how feral they go over canon LGBT characters in POPULAR media i just had to think. these lgbtq+ characters aren’t even main characters— well, yes they are main characters but they aren’t THE main character— but these characters like nico are practically worshipped purely because they are lgbtq+ .

and so i began to spiral: how feral would the gays have gone over a canon lgbtq+ main main character? cc and hb could have MARKETED IT. not to say i condone it, but they could’ve capitalized the lgbtq+’s community want for representation and they very well could’ve grown a fan base much larger than what they had. instead, they chose a straight ship over a fan favorite (sorry callmara shippers, i love you, but it isn’t very popular) and pushed the magisterium series low onto their priorities and gave it the BARE minimum because it wasn’t getting nearly as much money or attention as their own more popular series.

(i will say this, the magisterium was never extremely popular from the get-go and it only declined further and further because hb and cc more than likely completely gave up on the idea of it being as popular as folk of air or shadowhunters after TCG dropped. however, and i’m reiterating this, by marketing/ writing the new books to incorporate lgbtq+ main characters into the story it would’ve multiplied whoever was reading their books by 10x purely due to the fact of good representation and more than likely could still have been semi relevant today. but maybe im being dramatic)

here’s the last thing ill add: the fandom now includes three active people and a shoelace. hate to say it, but compared to cassandra clare and holly blacks other works, it wasn’t successful at all. i don’t want a sequel series or a prequel series or even CLOSURE at this point, what i want is something that’s no longer possible or obtainable. i want a redo.

[thevindicativevordan]

So, overall thoughts on 2024 Superman stuff, and hopes for 2025?

Pretty good year for Superman with a few exceptions.

Obviously the biggest news on the comic side is the launch of Absolute DC, with a new incarnation of Superman as part of the first wave. DC finally does a proper "Ultimate" line and surprise, surprise, it's a success! Who could've predicted that a new line without DC's messy mainline continuity weighing things down would connect with people (me that's who)? I've loved every issue thus far, Aaron's creation of a working class Superman in the vein of both Siegel/Shuster and Morrison/Morales has been a welcome sight, and the worldbuilding done plus the changes to the usual formula has me excited to see where he intends to go. Ironic that after all the back and forth with various new Supermen meant to replace Clark as the Superman for the 21st century (Jon, Val, Kenan), the comics, film, and animation divisions ended up simply doing revamps of Clark to fill that space. Also Sandoval's art is amazing, if he stays on the title he will definitely go down as a definitive Superman artist when all is said and done.

Williamson's run dipped at the start of the year with the underwhelming conclusion to the Pharm and Graft storyline, but I enjoyed House of Brainiac and the Absolute Power tie-ins. Mora joining on art, Williamson cutting back on how many titles he was writing, and a number of genuinely surprising plot twists has reinvigorated my enthusiasm for this book. Part of why I'm so hard on Waid (more on that below) is that Williamson is doing a far superior job at what Waid is trying: mixing together the DCAU with Silver Age tone and Modern Age characterization/stakes. Current rumor is that both Superman and Batman are getting relaunched in 2025, which could mean the end of Williamson's tenure is in sight. If so I hope Williamson can deliver a satisfying resolution to the Zod and Lex storylines he's set up.

Superstars has on the whole been inferior to the best of PKJ's Action, although I can admit that the book declined steeply post Warworld for reasons I don't believe are PKJ's fault, but I did enjoy Aaron and Simone's arcs. Aaron wrote one of my favorite Bizarro arcs and Simone perfectly captured how Superman feels about fighting imo.

Downside has to be Waid's fall off. If you had asked me to pick who out of the Superstar writers would be the weakest, I would never have picked Waid, but that's what happened. His handling of the Aethyr plotline PKJ set up was dreadful, his sanitizing of Jor-El only made the character worse, to the point I actually dropped the book because of that decision. World's Finest began strong this year with the Magog arc, but has since started to feel like filler and driven me to drop that book too. Now it's just JLU (which I'm unsure if I'll continue to read) and LDoLL (which I actually do remain excited for). Waid's schtick has grown stale for me, tragic irony being is that he seems to have grown disenchanted with his own style as well per his comments on BluSky in the wake of Trump's re-election. We'll have to see if that results in any actual shakeups to his writing approach.

Already dove deep into the trailer and poster here, only thing to add is that at the time of this post, the trailer has hit 50 million views, the lifetime total of the third MoS trailer which was the most popular MoS trailer. Folks if Gunn delivers a film on par with his Guardians trilogy, I think this is going to be the breakout hit of the summer even with Jurassic World and F4 for competition

S&L S4 largely seems to have satisfied the fans of the show and as I thought, has seemingly been forgotten in the wake of marketing for Gunn's reboot beginning. Suppose that's fitting given the DC CW shows by and large always had to toil in the shadow of whatever WB was doing with the characters on the film side. Nice full circle moment that DC on the CW began and ended with a Superman show set in Smallville

MAWS S2 ruled, can't wait for S3. Wish more of you bought the tie-in comic which I thought was excellent and featured my man Bloodsport. Hopefully Gunn tosses some of that Creatures Commandos money this show's way.

SS: KTJL was a total bomb that appears to mark the end of DC pushing them. Apparently RS is haphazardly resurrecting the JL in cutscenes made on a shoestring budget but I genuinely wonder why. Conroy is dead so we probably won't get another Arkham Batman game, the WW game features a different WW, and none of the other Leaguers are ever getting their own game. I am totally fine with Arkham Superman staying dead, only NRS did a worse job handling the character, and I absolutely would not want to play a Superman game that had to try and salvage the mess RS made of Superman and his setting. In the unlikely scenario where we ever did get a new Superman game, it would probably be either off on it's own world or congruent with the Wonder Woman game anyway.

Looking Ahead to 2025

Don't feel hyperbolic in proclaiming that next year will be the most important year for Superman since 1978. This is likely the last chance we have to get WB to push Superman back up there with Batman and Spider-Man the way he was decades ago.

Obviously the biggest hope for me is that Gunn's Superman movie is a critical and commercial success. Even if I don't love it personally I would still benefit from that. If it succeeds it reaffirms to WB that Superman is a money-maker, and that would lead to more Superman projects in animation, comics, film, etc. MAWS would be more likely to get more seasons. Wonder Woman got a video game off of her first movie being a hit. Anyone who wants that for Superman has to root for this film to be a hit.

Comics wise if Williamson is leaving then I'd prefer someone other than Slott took over. Totally fine with Slott getting Action, but I'd prefer Williamson either stay or we get someone like Dan Watters handling writing duties. I cannot wrap my mind around DC potentially relaunching Superman for a past his prime Marvel creator again. But better him than Taylor I suppose, who I expect will be getting one of the books next year.

Speaking of Taylor I hope Injustice 3 is at least one more year off. It's less cancerous for the character with the movie, Absolute Superman, and MAWS in the picture but I still hate that franchise with every fiber of my seething fanboy heart. DC needs to get people to like Supes and Injustice solely exists to dump on him and Wondy while wanking Batman. Let's not remind people of childkiller fascist Muderman while trying to reintroduce Superman to the general public ok?

Can't wait for PKJ's book, with that and Absoute I will at least have two Superbooks to read no matter how things shake out with the mainline

For S3 of MAWS I am crossing my fingers for Zod in addition to Lex. I want a Superman cartoon that has the Big 3 (Lex, Brainiac, and Zod) all together, and the tease they've done about Krypton's fate has my mind scrambling over all the possibilities. Mostly I'm interested to see how they would differentiate a MAWS Zod from their Brainiac who already shares some traits in common with "classic" Zod. I'd also like a more traditional Metallo but it kinda seems like they'll be making Henshaw into Metallo based on the new opening shot of the baddies.

Seems likely Kara will get a new book, I wish it would be a team-up book with Kon. I liked their dynamic in HoB!

Would be cool if Kenan got something written by a good writer but I'm not holding my breath

[cdsmusicblog]

Why are boybands always big hits?

Boybands have been a thing for decades now, even if it’s been slowly declining over the years. Going from The Beatles to the Backstreet Boys to One Direction and more recently BTS, boybands have always resulted in massive success, but why is that?

First of all, what is a boyband? It is a group of young boys, from late teenage years to early 20s, who sing songs written for them and who, most of the time, don’t play instruments.

I think The Beatles were a starting point in the history of boybands. They gained popularity in the 1960s and even if, by definition, they don’t really fit in this category, they really shaped the way boybands are marketed nowadays. With an enormous, mostly female-based fanbase coming from all over the world, The Beatles revolutionized the way fans interact with pop singers and especially boybands.

The 90s were the years of boybands, with iconic groups such as the Backstreet Boys and NSYNC who also amassed immense success and very large fanbases. After them came One Direction in the 2010s who really were in the right place at the right time with the rise of social media, making it the perfect period to create a band that could interact closely with their fans and be relatable. In the late 2010s came the korean band BTS who also blew up.

The key to their success comes down to one thing: their audiences. Being mostly marketed at teenage girls, with their catchy songs and handsome group members, we understand why they’re always so successful. Most of the time, the band members are characterized into “archetypes”, with all different personalities so that every fan can pick a favorite. Boybands member are also often marketed as the “perfect boyfriends” which is very appealing for teenage girls, but it also results in parasocial relationships between the fans and artists, which is something their record label profit from. Boybands interact a lot with their fanbase, with concerts, meet-and-greets etc… creating this kind of relationship, as if the fans know them and are close to them, something that is, again, very financially profitable.

Also, most of the time, boybands members are overworked and exploited by their companies. For example, Lou Pearlman, the manager of both the Backstreet Boys and NSYNC, stole roughly 500 million dollars from them over their career while some of the group members could barely afford rent. Some of the members of One direction also stated that they were overworked during tours and talked about eating disorders and problems of anxiety related to the impossible standards they had to meet for their record labels but also for the fans.

In conclusion, I think boybands are really fun to get into from the point of view of a young fan, but seeing it in its entirety, you realize they really just are industry plants created by the industry to make the most money possible by taking advantage of both young artists and a young and easily influenced fanbase.

[adambadeau]

i need more edwin booth lore Please i think i am going to #die

so where were we. Ah yes. 1864 long run of hamlet big deal . Edwin Booth votes Lincoln in that year, because he’s based. Then comes the year after 1864, 1865…

note: somewhere in between these years Edwin saves RTL from dying on the train tracks!

the civil war ends in April of 1865. someone’s not too happy.

remember the brother I talked about earlier?

on April 14th, 1865, during a production of the wildly popular farce Our American Cousin, (that actually featured one of Edwin’s old friends and acting colleagues, the esteemed Laura Keene) the President was enjoying a reprieve from the war business with his wife, Mary Todd. John Wilkes Booth snuck into the president’s box and fired a single bullet from a .44 caliber derringer pistol into the back of President Lincoln’s skull.

He died the next morning.

For the next twelve days, Booth and accomplice David Herold were pursued through the forests of Maryland and Virginia in a manhunt directed by Secretary of War Edwin Stanton. The nation was in shock- in reality, support for the President had been lower. But now? Lincoln was a martyr.

the war department rounded up anyone who was previously affiliated with Booth, including his family and brother in law.

Edwin, however, was not arrested.

he quickly denied being close with his brother in any way, shape, or form, and stepped away from the stage in the years following the assassination, instead repeatedly asking new President Andrew Johnson for his brothers’ body (so it could be buried anonymously on the family plot) and taking a new wife, 19 year old actress Mary McVicker.

Despite living in the shadow of his brother’s heinous crime, Edwin returned to the stage showered in adoration and support once again 😊. He continued to have successful performances in the years leading up to 1873 when a young deranged man named Mark Gray fired several shots at Edwin while he was performing onstage… they all missed,and Edwin was unscathed, but surprised. As one would be, if they were nearly assassinated for what seemed- and seems to be- no clear reason.

So Edwin was chill I guess. He had a statue erected of Shakespeare … built what is now the Booth theatre on Broadway, and founded the Players’ Club.

then in June 1893, he croaked at the age of 59 after a steady decline of several strokes . That was the finale.

There’s also a cutesy statue of him as Hamlet in gramercy park! I’d love to see it, it’s on my list . One of these days I’ll get out there and check out all the Edwin stuff. Heading up to Broadway soon and thinking of him (as I am always)!

Edwin really inspired me to pursue theatre and history . I care about him so much because without my Booth research I don’t think I’d be the same guy I am today! Despite all that happened, all the hardships and loss (he had quite a sad life, digging deeper), he still made his name as one of the greatest actors of all time, and many actors (like me!) have looked to his many influences and performances for inspiration to infuse the craft they adore with the same passion he had. Edwin Thomas Booth, ladies and gentlemen!!

[indiaalphawhiskey]

i was just wondering do you think there really is a chance that harry might be less popular when he comes back (whenever that will be) and not be at his career peak anymore? i find it really hard to imagine him not playing stadiums/ being extremely popular etc anymore tbh for me it obvs won‘t make any difference i will always love him just the same (and wouldnt mind annyoing tiktok stans and fans who only like him bc hes „trendy“ to leave lol) i just wanted your thoughts on that :)

Okay, so I’m not a music industry buff. What I know, and what I’m about to say is based entirely on my general knowledge of pop culture (that’s heavily influenced by American pop culture, btw) so if I make any leaps, or if there’s an alternative view from a non-America-centric perspective, please forgive me.

But, for all intents and purposes, if you look at Harry’s profile as an artist and compare it to other artists of a similar profile (super popular boyband member + teen heartthrob turned solo pop star), historically you don’t really have many examples of successful solo careers, and even less of career longevity.

If you compare it to The Beatles, for example, they weren’t a traditional boyband (and arguably, neither was One Direction after TMH, but still), and if I’m not mistaken, though John Lennon and Paul McCartney both went solo, (and Paul obviously has the longevity down), their individual work still wasn’t comparable in popularity to their work while they were in The Beatles.

More modern examples, like George Michael, Robbie Williams, and Justin Timberlake, have a similar story in that while they were all able to launch solo careers, they all had a relatively short shelf life because pop music (and their fan bases) are very synonymous with youth, and they all eventually “aged out” of that marketing bracket.

So, really, the only example I can think of, of someone who was more popular solo than he ever was in a band and still managed to hold such a wide and devoted fanbase over multiple career eras, is Michael Jackson. And that’s like, music legend level.

I think Harry has already currently surprised people on many counts by being able to equal and arguably surpass his success and popularity in One Direction as a solo artist, especially without having to drastically rebrand or pivot his genre of music. He’s managed not only to hold on to what people thought was a very age-specific fanbase, but also broaden it massively. That’s beyond rare in pop music, and if you add that to the fact that a lot of people still attribute a big part of his success to his looks, the music industry is expecting him to age out soon, and therefore, for the steep decline in his popularity to start. That’s why people think it’s crazy that he’s taking a break because the industry is constantly pumping out new young artists and so, there’s always going to be a ticking clock.

Personally, I think Harry is a once in a generation performer, and has everything it takes to get to that legend level. But it’s something that is so rare and impossible to predict or orchestrate because so many factors have to go into making that happen, and the pressure of setting that as the ultimate goal of creating music could very, very easily break a person. I think he’s much more content to take a break, cultivate his connection to music, and just let those dice fall where they may.

[alabasteranxieties]

Something shifted

When you're realistic with yourself, you tend to separate women you find attractive into two groups, aiming for modesty. In my league and out of my league.

Many pretty women are of course out of my league. The types of girls you see online, are often out of my league, and many in real life as well. I'm a regular white guy, and I try to nip ego in the bud when I can.

With the rise of hip hop, R&B, the general Africanization of pop culture, and interracial pornography, this new fascination with BMWF couples initially had little effect on me because simply put, the girls in these arenas are WAY out of my league. Girls like that preferring black men has essentially no impact on me. That's how I felt initially anyways.

However, there has been a trickle down effect, as is true with all trends. As this kind of content gains traction, and as mainstream media also pushes this particular pairing, and as women gain more and more independence, empowerment, and proudly state their sexual taste, more and more girls are getting curious, or at least simply open to the idea of a black partner, whether its for a night or for life. I personally think it's great that people are figuring more out about themselves and exploring all options, especially ones that were previously off limits.

I think these seeds are planted initially in women with generally good self esteem. Girls who know they're hot and are having fun with it. However, as women encourage each other to try things out, and more and more, porn just means interracial porn, even more average girls are flirting with the idea of hooking up with black men. Its been a slow progression but over the past 5 years I've seen BMWF couples go from 9/10s, to 8/10s, to 7, to 6 to 5 to 4s… You get the picture. As this trend takes off and truly permeates itself into our pop culture, I see more and more women, extremely normal women, having a preference or inclination towards black men. Even outside of white women, Asian women from Japan, South Korea, and China are exploring this with increasing popularity (sorry white dude, I know Asian girls were your weird little back up plan but things are moving fast and you can't keep up)

This of course is ok! Everyone has preferences, and nobody is entitled to someone's companionship. However, it has also led to a massive decline in my matches on dating apps and the little success I ever had with girls in real life has vanished.

In fact I would make the claim that in casual interactions, a lot of girls treat me a bit differently nowadays. Still polite, but small talk is ended essentially immediately. I am no longer humored and thus my opportunities to turn a conversation into something more have vanished.

The little conversations I could previously start with women, I now see black men starting effortlessly while these same women talk to me like I'm a cashier at their local grocery store.

By default, there is an extreme disinterest towards me now that did not exist for most of my life.

So I find myself in an interesting position. The girls who used to be "in my league" have upgraded, which I guess means girls in general have upgraded their "league".

I find myself not just in a lower league though, but not in a league at all. I've been forced into retirement, quite early might I add.

Now this doesn't mean white guys don't get laid anymore. That's a delusional point of view usually just for fueling fetish material, but SOME types of white guys have absolutely been cycled out at least from casual hookups.

On the flip side, black men who I would measure to be roughly in the same league as me, are absolutely killing it. Not just on dating apps but openly in public, and on social media. A black man I would equate to myself is at times thirsted after by many different types of women. I know this probably sounds like I inflate my own score but I assure you I am trying my hardest to be realistic and modest (and frankly I'm quite insecure anyways).

Fact of the matter is, we previously lived in a world where white guys were given bonus points for simply existing and that's being corrected a bit.

Some white guys were scoring goals because the goalie literally didn't know how to block and now women everywhere have gone to training camp and learned on a professional level.

I am not angry about this, and I prefer not to wallow. If women have decided universally that I no longer should have intimate relationships, I of course accept this outcome. Entitlement is foolish, and frankly I don't blame them. In fact I think it's quite a good thing! If women can decide to filter men like me out, and they've successfully done so, then it sounds like we're making some great progress for Women. People like me are no longer getting women purely out of resource hoarding or fear. I would argue a decent amount of the population only bred through misogyny and oppression and the result are guys like me, who in a natural world would frankly not exist. However, I am here, for many more decades hopefully, and I don't just cease to exist just because I no longer exist in the lives of women. I will most likely not pass my genes on (for the best probably lol) but I'll be kicking around for a bit.

In a future post I will discuss how to exist in this state, or better put:

What do you do when you no longer have a league?

[6kate1bishop6]

the hatford family history, as made up by me

disclaimer: this is an entirely made up family history that is based solely off of really quick google searches on life expectancies and such, if its not compatible with canon in places that is my bad also i made this all up so i could write about my oc so just ignore the redacted part of the family tree for the time being, a lot of this is based more on creating a comprehensive family relationship as opposed to making it historically accurate so my apologies

okay so starting from the top we have henry hatford born 1853 died 1893, he is a husbandman in suffolk just outside of ipswich, a lot of land in suffolk was enclosed (common land, which is kind of like parks basically green spaces that are free for anyone to use, was taken by often the rich and wealthy and mostly turned into agricultural land) so henry hatford is a farmer of enclosed land that is owned by like a lord, the agricultural scene in the mid 1800s was in decline i think but the hatfords farm remained fairly successful or at least affloat, imagine they were farming whatever the most popular crop at the time was

henry marries betje hatford nee de boer born 1855 died 1897 and this is where we get to the crime stuff, betje is from amsterdam we're not gonna question too deeply how and why she emmigrated to the uk or how she met henry maybe they had a meet cute when she arrived in london or henry was visiting mainland europe and they met there but either way they met and got married yippee, betje is from amsterdam and thus has family there, as rotterdam began to supplant amsterdam as the most popular port her family became desperate, in 1875 the port of felixstowe was opened and as betje was uniquely positioned near the port and her family were desperate they began a smuggling business, the port was newly formed and as such it was easier to bend the rules, the hatfords are now committing crime! with their new income they are able to buy out the hatfords farming land from whoever owns it and it becomes the hatford family estate, they build a house, likely something that looks similar to bletchley park just not on such a big scale, a victorian house which is larger than a standard suburban victorian home and not terraced but still has the bay windows and all those bells and whistles

so betje and henry hatford are committing crime, whats next? kids of course! their first child is ivo hatford born 1879 died 1922, ivo is their only surviving child, they also have katja hatford 1881-1882 and godfried hatford 1884-1884, as ivo is her only survivng child betje throws her all into him and nurtures him to take over the family business

ivo marries jessamine hatford nee kemp born 1882 died 1828, jessamine and ivo only have one child ingrid hatford born 1905 died 1959, ingrid is raised as the heir to the hatford crime family because betje instilled gender equality for committing crime into ivo, ingrid marries michael hatford nee fisher born 1903 died 1943, michael is obviously not a hatford by birth but was welcomed into the family graciously and decided to take the hatford family name imagine ingrid and michael as a childhood friends to lovers situation, michael dies during the second world war when working on the raf base in woodbridge which is the third point in our triangle of ipswich and felixstowe, the base opened in 1943 and fixed faulty aircraft and we'll say he died in an accident on the base sure

ingrid and michael had four children, three of which survived, edwin hatford born 1924 died 1985, antonis hatford 1926-1930, paula williams nee hatford 1928-1974 and sofia hatford 1929-1980

so paula marries mark williams 1924-1969 and have one child rachel williams 1945-present or at least still alive as the books are taking place

sofia is more interesting sorry not sorry paula, sofia marries paul cranmer 1920-1952 and they have two children lucile hatford nee cranmer 1946-book present and gabriel hatford nee cranmer 1950-book present, when sofia discovers paul has been abusing her children she kills him and begins a rerlationship with her life partner carla samuels 1927-1981, the kids revert to using sofias maiden name and all is happy yippee

back to the main hatford timeline, edwin is ingrid and michaels only surviving son so he gets raised to lead the hatford crime family because the hatford feminist spirit gets lost at some point post ww1

edwin marries theresa hatford nee hardings born 1934 died 1999, theresa and edwin have two children stuart hatford born 1957 and mary hatford born 1962 died 2005 and now we are in canon land so things start to get a little iffy

this is what is canon to me but ive just made this shit up so

theresa is a very demanding mother and puts a lot of pressure and judgement on mary, stuart is raised to be the next hatford heir but when edwin unexpectedly dies in 1985 the hatfords are left a little loose footed, theresa pushes mary to marry nathan and the marriage goes ahead in 1986, the books sort of imply that this was a power alliance kind of marriage or at least not a marriage born of love so the marriage helps to ensure the hatfords stay in power, it probably provided them with some moriyama connections

we can probably expect that if they weren't from the beginning the hatfords are probably now enmeshed in the drugs trade as well as other smuggling endeavors, this new alliance is likely to provide them with connections within america to smuggle things there

so neil is born 1988 and they go on the run in 1998 when he is 10, the books state that neil and mary spent a week in england with stuart and mary didnt want to stay with the hatfords because they were still a dangerous crime family, but what we see of stuart is less violent crime lord and more devoted family man who is also the leader of a crime family

what i propose is mary did not want to return to her family because she didn't want to stay with theresa, who died a year after they went on the run

considering nathan would probably have staged people at all airports on his side of america as soon as he discovered what mary had done, the hatfords smuggling abilities would have come in handy to find a way to extract neil and mary from america under the radar, their smuggling connections within europe would help form the basis for marys european connections and arguably the people who helped forge documents for them

now stuart, as i was coming up with this storyline to flesh out stuart in order to interact with my oc i have i think biased myself to a more positive overall view of stuart personality wise

but anyway now to talk shit about him, i think stuart would be a new labour voter i cant explain why he just gives blairite vibes to me, i think he owns proprty all across the uk and could feasibly be a landlord but also i dont want to make stuart a landlord, of his london properties he probably uses the ones in soho and near canary wharf/greenwich the most

anyway this took me like two hours to write out and all of yesterday to plan, if you intend to use any of this family history could you please credit me, if its not historically accurate then my apologies my english history knowledge unfortantuely has a glaring gap when it comes to the 1800s

[itsclydebitches]

I honestly have no idea how they intend to greenlight volume 10 if it's not been greenlit already. They've announced the final season of Red vs Blue and a lot of early day fans are in agreement that the end of RvB is the signaling of the end of RT in general. It's their second biggest money maker next to RWBY. After this new season, it's over. What do they do next? Do RT really believe that RWBY is popular enough to coast on for another decade? It'll be a miracle if it lasts even one more year.

Their viewership has been on a decline since Volume 6, they've abused so much of their animation department that there's almost no one left, most of their VA talent for RWBY's popular characters aren't coming back due to all the controversies, any spinoffs or soft reboots or whatever keep going back to the Beacon era and don't really do much to help with the overall problems that are down to the roots of the company.

They even made their biggest ship that kept what few fans are left canon and put out half assed merch that sold out in minutes, and somehow they still haven't managed to find enough money to greenlight another volume?

If they somehow miraculously get Volume 10 made, it's probably going to be the last.

The last few years of RWBY have really highlighted for me how challenging it is to define "popularity" and "success" nowadays. Granted, a good chunk of that is simply my own ignorance about how the production side of things are run, but it nevertheless feels like there's this intense level of ambiguity that wasn't there in the past (or at least wasn't as obvious). Fandom itself has always been an unreliable source because depending on the corner of the internet you're in, you can get a wildly skewed perspective without engaging with everything that contradicts how "good" or "bad" you think things are going. As you say, merch sells out in minutes, yet neither the finances nor the implied security of that seems to be enough to land another Volume. There are questions about whether this could be a marketing scheme, wherein Volume 10's future is simply being kept under wraps to drum up interest. There's the question of whether popularity matters at all when we've got companies cancelling and pulling undoubtedly successful shows, all according to their own, long-term algorithms. On the one hand the information surrounding RT is all about the abuse of their workers, another scandal, how this might all tie into the strikes... and yet most of this is nothing new and RWBY has still secured movies, a soft reboot, comics, and books. I agree completely with your list above of all the ways in which the series is struggling (massively) and yet RWBY has been "dying" for half its run-time. So is this the final nail in the coffin—the inevitable ending that's been a long time coming—or just another year where the fandom unintentionally cries wolf?

I'm not so naive as to believe that things were actually simple 'back in the day'—that's the nostalgia talking—but it still seems like things were simpler in comparison to what we've got now. TV and its media equivalents used to be—or at least felt like—a fairly straightforward journey of airing, ratings, syndication, cancellation, renewal, and then (eventually) the viewer securing a copy for themselves via VHS and DVDs. Now it's like, "What do I do with the newbie webseries eventually bought up by a major corporation and moved from a free watch, to a company-specific streaming watch, to a different, more expensive streaming watch, all of which has led to a decade of success with various spinoffs, but apparently this webseries still isn't making enough money to continue? Regardless, it and everything else I love to watch is inching more and more towards digital-only copies, a status that is inherently nerve-wracking, which means that if it does suddenly crash and burn (given that this is one of two series keeping the original company afloat) circulating this story and maintaining the fandom will be that much harder."

I find that depressing and I'm someone who thinks RWBY is pretty awful right now. I can't imagine what that ambiguity and the state of streaming media in 2023 feels like to fans still in love with the show.

So yeah. Idk how they intend to greenlight Volume 10 either.

[silvermoon424]

hey I just read your post on PMMM as a deconstruction of the magic girl genre, from 2013. I clicked your blog and wow you're still talking about magical girls 10 years later! I really admire your enthusiasm, it makes me happy when people are so passionate about something!

I guess I should ask something then, how do you feel the genre evolved or changed from 10 years ago to now? lots of trope changes? any modern magical girl show you enjoy?

Oh wow, thank you so much! If you're interested, I rewrote that PMMM deconstruction post literally just a few months ago.

As for trope changes- I would say the biggest change in the past 10 years is that following the success of PMMM a lot more magical girl shows are adult-focused and darker than the standard fare. It's not as common now but for a long time we were inundated with Madoka clones, lol. Except most of them didn't have PMMM's heart and soul so they kinda fall flat.

In general I've also noticed a steady decline of the genre. The 90s and 2000s were full of traditional magical girl warrior shows, and in the wake of PMMM the 2010s had a lot of "edgy" magical girl shows. But now, aside from Precure, there really don't seem to be consistent entries in the genre.

It makes me very sad. It's not like magical girls are extinct or anything, far from it, but imo it's not the popular genre it used to be. I swear 75% of the anime coming out nowadays is isekai or vaguely fantasy themed in general and it just holds no appeal to me. You'd think with the dozens upon dozens of anime that get made every year they could squeeze in more magical girl shows than Precure.

I'm hoping that the magical girl genre goes through another revitalization. Sailor Moon reinvented the genre in the 90s, and PMMM was another trailblazer that changed the direction of the genre. Who knows, maybe we'll see another breakout hit in the 2020s.

[randomthefox]

Me watching people become increasingly more interested in a story’s vibes rather than the actual substance beneath, leading to modern stories becoming increasingly shallow and stories of the past being grossly misinterpreted, often out of purposeful ignorance: Man, I think I want to kill someone. That someone doesn’t necessarily have to not be myself.

Careful, you'll get banned on Twitter and people will spend the next year acting like you saying that was the worst thing anybody could ever say about anything ever even though it's objectively not a big deal at all.

I don't think the general audience reception to stories is necessarily responsible for the quality of storytelling deteriorating. For one thing you have to remember that the vast majority of these "vibes" people aren't actually engaging with the media. They're just watching tiktok clips with some kind of weird mind numbing music track over the background. They literally aren't even watching the show or movie or playing the game, they're just gargling slop and rotting their brains. That audience isn't actually spending money on these products so there's no benefit to trying to court them.

For another thing, shit storytelling has always existed. The Michael Bay Transformers movies came out over twenty years ago (Jesus Christ) and they were basically the same type of film as for example the Sonic movies. And Bayformers 3 Bark At The Moon made like a billion dollars. Garbage has always been very successful and well received by the general public. There isn't really any sort of social decline happening just because mainstream popular movies and TV Shows all suck ass - stuff that's popular with the mainstream has ALWAYS sucked ass.

If anything the bar for anybody being able to create whatever they want and find a receptive audience for it has never been lower. Godot is a free indie video game development toolkit. Everybody who has a smartphone can use the camera function to make a film. Blender can be used to make 2D and 3D images and animations and is also completely free. And you can post your creations to a global audience with zero distribution or marketing cost. It has NEVER been easier to create and consume inspired and original art. I'd say "you're just not going to see it topping the sales charts" but hey sometimes you get lucky, look at Balatro and Lethal Company. Even though it seems like passive slop is all people want and that gets made on the macro scale, the tools and opportunities for unique passion projects exist now more than ever before and can thrive.

I understand that it's easy to succumb to Doomerism. But personally I'm not really partial to it because I've read my history. There's always peaks and valleys. Things get worse, but then they get better, and then they go bad again, but then it turns around. Enjoy the good times but prepare for the bad, endure the bad times and hold out for the good. And in the meantime be the change you want to see in the world. If you're unsatisfied with shallow modern stories, then write some substantive ones yourself. If you're frustrated by people misinterpreting stories of old, then make an essay dissecting what is truly to be found in those stories. Who knows, it might just blow up.