#but i dont know!! it FEELS like a general trend over time at least.

[mamawasatesttube]

one thing that is kinda wild to notice is the way fic seems to have gotten a shorter and shorter lifespan over the years. granted, i only have my own anecdotal experience to go by, and there's plenty of factors that can contribute to that, but it's wild because like i remember posting fic in like 2015 would get so much more engagement over time than posting fic today. in 2015 if i posted something i generally would get comments and interaction with it for a week or so before it tapered off into obscurity. today, its like. you post a fic and after 24 hours its dead in the water. odd.

[dr-spectre]

Sonic x Shadow Gens Review.

(MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD!!!)

So, gamers, i have played and finished Sonic x Shadow Generations, both campaigns, and i just wanna say.... GOD. DAMN.

I cannot believe that Sega released a Sonic "remaster" and it actually TURNED OUT GOOD!?!? WITHOUT ANY BUGS!!? NO GRAPHICAL GLITCHES FROM MY KNOWLEDGE!!?!? WHAT HAPPENED!??!

I will quickly go over Sonic Generations before we talk about... the big boy.

So, how is Sonic Generations? Welp. It's.... it's the same game!! And as someone who played it on PC for years, it looks identical to the original release! Maybe the colours are tweaked? The UI looks way nicer with the resolution boost and the chao rescue stuff is really cute.

Uh, i will say though. i do like MOST of the rewriting that they did. But here's the thing, Sonic Generations' story is like eating a McDonalds cheeseburger, but it's only the patty and buns. The rewrite just adds some cheese and a dab of tomato sauce. It's better, but you're still eating a damn McDonalds cheeseburger. And to add on to this, the VAs didn't sound... good, this time around... Idk, something seems very off about their performances? Mike Pollock especially, bro lost ALL OF HIS ENERGY in his Eggman performance. Tails' VA sounds kinda... bleh too, i dont know what happened here. Roger Craig Smith sounds bored playing Sonic, and i feel bad for him because Ian Flynn's writing can be pretty damn wordy. He's a skilled voice actor FOR SURE, but i never clicked with his Sonic, ever. (Jason Griffith, i miss you every day, my sweet prince... They took you away too soon... At least i still have the definitive Sonic voice in the Japanese version...)

The story also continues the trend of turning Amy into a boring side character with zero personality or spice because GOD FORBID A CARTOON CHARACTER ACTS CARTOONY AND A LITTLE CRAZY! SHE IS NOT AN ABUSIVE STALKER WHO WANTS TO FORCE SONIC INTO THINGS HE ISN'T COMFORTABLE WITH! SHE IS A FUCKING FANGIRL OF SONIC WHO WANTS TO HANG OUT WITH HIM AND SHE LOVES HIM AS A PERSON!!!! IF YOU PLAY THE OLD 3D GAMES WITH RETRANSLATED MODS YOU WILL SEE!!!!!!!! GOD!!!

But i could make a whole post about Amy man... I really could...

Okay enough about Sonic Generations, it's time to talk about Shadow Generations and what do I think of it?

First, I'll brush over the story, NO SPOILERS DON'T WORRY!! I will say this, there were plenty of moments that easily got tears out of me and the stuff involving Maria and Shadow? Oh.... oh baby... PEAK!!!! Black Doom is really dope too, Shadow was pretty well written in this, too, and his VA knocked it out of the park!!! Kirk Thornton, I'm sorry that i doubted you... And Maria's VA too? Love the performance!!

However... This story feels... underdeveloped? Undercooked? it feels like there needed to be MORE! I think that the pacing felt a litttleeeee too fast and i kinda wished there was just more to chew on! It's like eating some damn good chocolate ice cream, but the ice cream is just one scoop. LIKE I WANT MORE!!! I WANT TWO SCOOPS!! I WANT SOME CHOCOLATE CHIPS IN THE ICE CREAM!!! UGH!! It's good, BUT I WANT MORE!!!! There needed to be more on it's bones, more screentime with Maria and Gerald, more time fleshing out stuff and properly explaining Black Doom's return instead of it being optional dialogue in the white world or prologue animaton on YouTube that you could skip. There's all this cool optional shit that is well... OPTIONAL!!!! And it actually enhances the characters, BUT I DIDN'T SEE IT UNTIL I LITERALLY BEAT THE GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I DIDN'T READ GERALD'S DIARY UNTIL AFTER I BEAT THE STORY!!! THE LAST TWO PAGES ARE LITERALLY AT THE FINAL SECTION OF THE GAME!!!!

There is this one moment with Maria and Shadow and like.... it gave me the biggest damn smile on my face. And the ending too man, my god.

ALSO THE CUTSCENES ARE FILMED REALLY WELL?!? HOLY SHIT THEY ARE ACTUALLY GOOD?!?!? It makes Frontiers look like a PS1 game in terms of quality like holy mother of god, the cutscenes and animations have improved so MUCH in the span of one game... It makes me so so excited for what's to come....

NOW! GAMEPLAY TIME! How does Shadow control? How does this black and red alien hedgehog play?

I'll put it like this... Imagine Sonic Forces, BUT!!! The air control is better, platforming feels smoother, the homing attack is better and more satisfying and 2D control feels actually good. it's just like Forces but everything feels a lot better, it's WAYYY BETTER THAN VANILLA CYBERSPACE FROM FRONTIERS!

Good controls don't mean much if the levels aren't good, BUT THANKFULLY Shadow Generations level design is actually pretty damn solid, and each level made me feel satisfied and wanting to go again!! There's plenty of optional pathways but the pathways don't really go to brand new exclusive areas. It's not on the same tier as Sonic Generations, BUT! It's close.

My favourite level is either Sunset Heights or Radical Highway. YES! THE SONIC FORCES LEVEL IS MY FAVOURITE! HOW CRAZY IS THAT?!!? THEY TURNED MID TO GOOD!!!

I also love how the collectables are placed on the harder pathways and reward you for skillful play, unlike in Sonic Generations where most of the red rings ARE ON THE BOTTOM PATHWAYS!!!!! WHY?!!? THAT'S THE PLACE MOST PLAYERS WON'T GO TO!!!! Ugh. I hate collecting red rings in Sonic Generations but thank god the collectables are actually fun to grab in Shadow Generations.

Now i wanna brush on the white space because i have some words to say on that too.

White space was really fun to explore and unlike Frontiers, you could see things in the distance and platforms don't just pop in!!!!!!!!!! I loved doom surfing around, finding chests, bolts and just running around. It's really fun. It's not as in-depth as Frontiers, but i want the next Open Zone game to take a lot of inspiration from this white space. Also, seeing Omega and other characters in the hub and talking to them is really cute stuff.

Finding ALL the chests and bolts tho makes me wanna wish a thousand year torment onto someone.

And speaking of Doom Surf... The Doom powers and Chaos Control, i.... LOVE THEM! They are the perfect way to make Shadow more unique from Sonic and give the levels that extra level of flavour. Doom Spears add some spice to the standard homing attack chains you do in 3D Sonic levels, Doom Blast is really fun to use and opens up new pathways, Chaos Control is AWESOME!!! I LOVE HOW IF YOU USE IT AT THE RIGHT TIME IT OPENS UP COOL PATHS!! MY JAW DROPPED MULTIPLE TIMES SEEING THE PATHWAYS THAT I FOUND FOR MYSELF WITH CHAOS CONTROL!!! Doom Surf is fun to use and it spices up Kingdom Valley a lot, but... Doom Morph? The squid? THAT ONE SUCKKKSSSS!!! Awful turning, awful speed control, awful jump arc that makes Super Mario Bros. from the NES look like a top tier platformer, they don't properly explain the grappling mechanic which left me feeling so frustrated at certain points.

And... of course... The Doom Wings...

THE DOOM WINGS.... THE STUFF YOU COULD BREAK WITH THEM AND THE LEVEL DESIGN ACCOMINDATES FOR THEM TOO?!?!? SO IT DOESN'T FEEL LIKE YOUR GLITCHING THE GAME?!?!? SONIC TEAM DID SUCH A GOOD JOB OH MY GOD!!!!

Now, let's talk about the bosses...

Bosses are pretty fun!! They feel very satisfying to beat down and have some awesome dialogue. Although they are kind of one note, like the strategy to beat them doesn't REALLYYY change but hey, It's Sonic bosses, they've never been that amazing since the beginning of the franchise. But i would rather take this kind of boss design OVER SONIC SUPERSTARS!! BLEHHH!!!

Also I'm not gonna go too much into it but what they did with Mephiles, story wise for his boss fight? Oh man, I LOVE IT!! THEY DID SUCH A GOOD JOB! (the new VA for him, Robbie Daymond was kinda.... okayyy. Needed to sound deeper and it would been damn great. I know he played Akechi from Persona 5, he just needed better direction.)

Alright.. Let's discuss arguably the most important part of any Sonic game, the music, and um, I'm gonna be for real, it's kind of a mixed bag? DON'T GET ME WRONG!! There are some bangers, some top tier tracks that will get that blood pumping! But for every banger, there's a Space Colony Ark Act 2 and a Chaos Island Act 1....

The music can be summed up with this handy chart!

I wanna quickly brush upon the challenge acts too, i liked most of them but having to complete 4 OF THEM FOR EACH ZONE TO ADVANCE THE STORY IS SOME MASSIVE PADDING!!!

And.. I think that is it!! Overall, Shadow Generations is great!! The story has some cool moments but it felt VERY underbaked, the level design has improved a lot from previous games, i like the white space and the simple enjoyment of going around and collecting things.

It is a good to great game but it definitely has some flaws and i wouldn't give it a 9/10 and say it's PEAK overall like what some are saying online. Yeah it's good, but, it has flaws. It isn't perfect, however it is VERYYY fun!

Shadow Generations really does give me hope, this isn't yet another "step in the right direction" no. This is a LEAP!

[mimikooandbts]

Let's be serious here.

You'll can't call out taekookers one time after everything happened and think your job is done.

Tkkrs and solos have been harrasing his father since 2022, after armys showed up at his cafe during Busan concert. They wrote pann articles, trended nasty hashtags and all that.

The fandom ignored. 3 years of that. No army account spoke about it, only Jimin report account was asking to report them. And now kmedia picked it up.

Suddenly a handful of armys are making posts calling out tkkrs and solos without even naming them.

Where were you'll for 3 years?

The number of army accounts who call out jikookers, and the frequency and over the most silliest of things is not the same as calling out tkkrs once after so much damage is done.

If you dont see the difference, then sorry you're part of the problem.

Anon, I normally don't respond to solos cause they're genuinely brain-dead, but I'll answer you cause you sound like an Army who decided to turn solo. Or at least someone who has been fed solos narrative.

Anon, I never understood how solos can pretend to know anything happening in the fandom. Y'all literally only follow your solo fanbases. You are surrounded by solos narratives all the time, and you think that you know the truth? Of course, you'll feel that only your solos peers support and defend your fav. Everyone's perception of reality is influenced by what they see, and what you see is what is in your tl. A solo won't know better than an Army what's happening in the fandom.

Let me tell you this. Yes, Army have been defending JM's dad as long as I remember. Army defend Bangtan family members. Did you know that Hobi's sister, jk's brother, and jin's brother were all being harassed by boycotters? Why would you care, right ? But let me tell you this, not every Army talked about it. Yet, Army defended them, the same way they called out boycotters when they were planning to harass papa JM and protest at his restaurant. This was an example to let you know some Army, I being one of them are aware and have been defending JM and his family. Not everything is talked about within the fandom in the big scheme, and this is regardless of the member.

Yes Army use generalization to call out bad behaviors cause y'all litterally spend your time pointing fingers at each other with your whataboutism. Y'all are just different sides of the same coin. None of you is innocent.

I'm tired, and have enough of this hate measurement comparison bullshit. You guys sound insane. Every member gets hate from you. Everyone is being victim of your hatred and tantrum. Just dealing with this for a couple of hours was exhausting, I can't imagine dealing with this for years.

Alright, Army is and has always been the bad guy, but what about you guys having a group discussion where you talk about solving your issues and conflicts. I don't know, maybe make some rules or protocols that solos and shippers should follow? Us Army are gonna admit that we are the bad guys in the story, and we are tired of being the referee in your fights. So just talk among yourselves and solve your issue. What about that?

[ebisul]

TCW Rewatch: Season 1 Episodes 19-22

These are probably my favorite episodes of Season 1. I dont think we get that many Windu-centric episodes so thats like a special little treat for me

Episode 19: Storm Over Ryloth

* Separatists are blockading ryloth and the people are starving

* This seems to be a common trend of the separatists using starvation specifically to their advantage

* “We cannot allow the republic to invade this planet” baby YOURE invading the planet

* Anakin pulling out that false surrender

* Thats a war crime? I think? I need to start a scoreboard for most warcrimes committed

Episode 20: Innocents of Ryloth

* Using the citizens as living shields because they know the jedi wont risk the twilek lives is so shitty but not surprising coming from the separatists

* Okay boil lets not do any slurs please your daughter is down there

* Codywan interactions are always nice…well…

* Wooley is here thats cool, fuck that recon droid tho

* Boil is not good with kids, waxers a sweetheart. We love numa

* This episode is like 80% boil complaining

* Obi wans jedi tricks coming in handy, Cody knows whats up

* ofc he does thats his boyfriend

* Cody with obi wans lightsaber as usual

* Not killing the droid in the cage is so telling of the jedi and obi wan honestly

* The Twileks are freed

* Obi Wan in a tank goes hard actually

* Twileks being freed and like almost immediately beat the shit out of the droid that held them hostage the first chance they get is so real

Episode 21: Liberty on Ryloth

* Ok i understand now, Anakin is fighting ships, that was episode 19, Obi Wan is specifically freeing the Twileks held captive, last episode, and this episode is the front lines with Mace WIndu to take back the capital, i see

* Most of the generals with their clone commanders we’ve seen so far have great synergy, like blyla, codywan, wolffe and Plo are all like known for their great relationships but like Ponds and Windu also have a like respectable relationship it seems although its different from the others

* Its bc they aren’t shipped and windu isnt exactly fatherly but the mutual respect seems to be there and Windu cares about his men

* Anakin and Obi wan have both progressed with their objectives Windu needs to take back the city and capture wat tambor

* The GAR plans to ally with Cham Syndulla and his freedom fighters against the warnings of the senator of ryloth and palps

* Maybe its just me but i thought star wars was pro resistance or at least neutral so why does it seem like they always wanna villainize their resistance leaders like cham syndulla and saw garrera this is more prevalent later in rebels and tbb if im remembering correctly so maybe i need to wait until i rewatch the og trilogy but thats for later it just feels icky i blame filoni

* Twileks were massacred without the help of the Republic in the face of the Droid Army and forced to surrender.

* The separatists tried to exterminate the surviving twileks

* Fuck thats a warcrime right there, bombing a village presumably with civilians inside

* Cham just wants a free Ryloth and willing to make a compromise with the senator for the safety and wellbeing of the twileks

* This bitch only cares about his position of power he sucks at least Cham is out here doing shit

* Fuck the Senate

* Ponds, Windu, and Cham Syndulla is such an interesting trio to me idk why

* Is the silence supposed to be shellshock or to indicate focus in the force bc im getting shellshock vibes?

* I like the effect tho for whatever reason

* We dont see jedi fight like windu a lot

* Or maybe hes just being intentionally depicted as more competent… or maybe we do and i just dont notice

* The tactical droid is overthrowing Wat Tambor??? They can do that???

* Anakin coming in clutch

* Wat Tambor captured i assume? He Surrendered

Episode 22: Hostage Crisis

* CAD BANE LETS GOOOO ig aurra sing is there too or whatever

* Anakin wants to spend time with his wife but also his wife is a very busy very important senator who is busy bc theyre in an active war

* Ani is getting real toxic here already weaponizing their love like that it actually only got worse the longer the scene went on

* Enhanced Privacy Invasion Bill??? What does that entail???

* Wow… another hostage situation… im so shocked…

* Ok i see what their goal is, freeing ziro the hutt, but why? Information?

* Background riyo chuchi??? Fuck yeah

* Palps agrees to release Ziro, Senator Free Taa has to be the one to go to the prison

* Ofc there are bombs

* Ziro the hutt is cartman core

* Senator taa has an anxiety disorder for real

* Is that fox or thorn??? Im usually good at identifying clones by armor, i think it was thorn?

* She calls him master jedi, is that a term used for all jedi generally? I thought that was just jedi masters

* Also lackluster season finale

War Crime Counter

Separatists: 7

Republic: 1 🎉babys first war crime🎉

[maschotch]

idk if this is controversial but speaking of Reid girls n all that, i hate how forgotten Morgan gets since everyone seems to favour Reid. writing a mlm fic? it’s centred around Reid and Morgan is just sorta there, or maybe comforts Reid. need just one queer character? it’s Reid. a trans masc hc? it’s Reid again. and most of all,,, people making any kind of hurt/comfort or angst or whatever to do with csa… and they choose Reid. they make a head canon that he experienced csa, when Morgan literally canonically did, and everyone ignores that he did. and it’s fine to have a favourite character and all that, but it’s… disproportionately skewed in favour of the skinny white boy, yk? it feels so off to me. and also how people seem to totally forget about Morgan’s experiences. idk

aldhskdh it’s definitely controversial but youre so so right for it?? i feel like a lotta people just… ignore morgan. it wouldnt feel as purposeful or malignant if they didnt give the exact things morgan deals with to reid?? the same thing kinda happens w hotch, where people obsess over reid so much that it overshadows the places where they’re similar (like hotch being a nerd or autistic hotch or transmasc hotch) but even then, at least he’s got the hotchgirls to balance it out. where are the morgangirls?? where are they??

it seems like such a waste that morgan gets sidelined as the himbo jock football guy when the writers went out of their way to let us know that’s not who he is?? it’s the one time i think the writers actually did good in comparison to the fandom: they made him one of the smartest, most emotionally open characters. he’s so so caring. and reid is smart, sure, but even morgan has his strengths. he’s a better chess player than reid (something i wish we couldve seen more of), which i think no one ever fucking mentions. morgan seems like an afterthought at most in cm fics, with moreid, hotchgan, and morcia. he’s just.. underappreciated in general in comparison to his white counterparts.

as far as the trans masc hc… ok.. this one might get me into trouble lol but it feels so… uninteresting? he’s “gnc” bc he has long hair ig. i dont wanna say too much more on that bc morgan/hotch seem very comfortable in their gender identity, and it’s probably easier for questioning people to identify with the generally-insecure reid. which is like.. fine ig but it feels? belittling almost? infantilizing/woobifying trans men? idk

this shit is always kinda hard to talk about bc yeah there’s nothing inherently wrong for csa reid hcs or trans reid hcs or autistic reid hcs or whatever, but it feels particularly disingenuous when you have morgan right there who can easily have as many if not more of those popular hcs applied to him. but sure yeah lets just ignore him as the dumb jock lol. lets make him a prop for other characters. lets cast aside his characterization to make reid more interesting. it’s definitely a trend in fandom to hype up the skinny white boy, so i cant reeally blame reidgirls for living up to the stereotype, but it feels like they actively ignore morgan. it just sucks bc morgan js such a fun character

[the-storming-sea]

also also read ur intro post just now may i politely ask about your opinions of asian media and rep. is it specifically for fantasy? or just lots of genres with general trends or themes youve noticed? 👀

omg i wrote that so long ago and my brain is kinda fried so i'll be a little brief. may expand on it later but eh its all good. these are just rambling thoughts

a lot of asian rep in media mostly revolves around the east asian experience, which is valid bc god knows they need it, except often times it leaves out literally everyone else in its wake, or it keeps grouping up certain asians together. currently south east asian cultures are particular victims of this. But sometimes what ends up happening is that there is a "fantasy asia" world where the world is not technically Asia, but it might as well be given the inspiration behind it. in my personal opinion its kinda orientalist and a bit fetishistic of the 'exoticness' of asian cultures. Like it wants asia but without all of the real people in it

like for example the world in raya and the last dragon. it was great seeing someone who looked at me on screen but goddamn they couldn't at least set it in south east asia, let alone have distinct cultures instead of just taking little aspects of culture and making fantasy. it was a great movie for diaspora sure, but anyone actually from south east asia was disappointed. Xiran Jay Zhao compiled a two part video on it that elaborates more on it better than i could right now–i say compiled bc she doesnt do much talking in them aside from the beginning of the video; everyone else talking in it is south-east asian.

another fantasy world heavily inspired by Asia is ofc atla's world. my problem is that While its a good representation of east asian cultures, south east, south asian, northern asians, and western asians are left behind.

and what bothers me is that there are many places where they can fit in. Like the swampy tribe areas and the ancient firebenders from the dragons era feel like they should be south east asian inspired somewhat, and if you wanted to make a commentary on how these lands have been taken over and colonized (or at least there was an attempt on colonization) would be interesting. or how it feels like it makes more sense for katara and sokka to be more north asian inspired than american inspired. and of course there was the one (1) south asian inspired character who was. more of a caricature than anything else. im not saying the indigenous american rep is bad. obviously any representation is great, especially for indigenous americans. But if you are going to create a clearly "asian inspired" world (like nearly every aspect of this world is asian in culture and the main character is clearly a buddhist monk, it would be hard to argue otherwise), then at least take inspiration from asian cultures?

(side note people making fun of the swampy fog people is not great. does not feel great. regardless of whether they believe they're south east asian rainforests or the american bayou)

other small things are more of fan issues than creator issues. specifically the way people treat some anime characters like they're white instead of japanese/asian and then hold them to white cultural standards. all might is a great example, where despite being named Toshinori Yagi and being from a world where the mc has green eyes and green hair, people still think hes white bc hes blonde haired blue eyes and loves america? which–side note, you dont have to be an american to love america, lots of older people who got really into the american dream still like america. another thing was when i read a bnha fanfic that described someone as looking "asian" which. yeah i sure hope so. the story takes place in japan. and then theres some people not recognizing that asians all look very different from one another even if they're from the same area of the world.

more recently ive noticed the fandom racism in dungeon meshi specifically towards shuro, who despite being from a fantasy world is clearly japanese, and from a japanese-inspired culture. and its his culture which leads him to respond to laios in the way that he does. im not saying its racist to be upset that shuro responded to laios that way, but like. different cultures come with different cultural views and different ways of responding. shuro and laios come from two very different cultures. it happens.

this is kinda a lot and may not make sense bc im super tired rn jhfdbgdhjfbgd but i didnt want to forget this ask and just never respond to it

[flockofdoves]

i feel so bitchy saying this (dont know if thats softened at all by me clarifying this isnt based on specific derision of any individuals just like a general trend that various people do or dont exhibit at various points in time) but.

i feel so weird in some of my theater classes as someone minoring in it because i like a lot of technical non-performance aspects of it (dialect coaching, set construction, technical direction, costume construction, etc)

because i feel like theres just such a trend among people who are there to be actors to be just like. deeply incurious and purposefully obtuse and try to cutesily be like ‘ahhhhh how can you even expect me to try’ and try to shirk any work they need to do in any of my favorite classes. and its just so so annoying. like i get that different people have different skill areas and struggles but i try with my required performance classes i think that maybe if you got over yourself for a second you could cut a piece of wood or find out the basic math that goes into finding out how long a wooden cube would be if the pieces of wood are x long and y wide and put together with a butt joint in z way or you could click on the icon of the tool the professor is clicking on in vectorworks on your computer with the same vectorworks layout and even if you dont like doing it that much you could at least be polite to the professor about it

[ourfag]

*cracks knuckles* well,

ed’s obviously something of a legend as a crewrunner, capable enough at sleight of hand and cultivates a very deliberate image of his capacity as a hitter even though it’s not his favorite role—ive got a post from maybe last month somewhere noodling around with his relationship to the grift (i imagine him having an issue with acting similar to sophie’s, but in the opposite direction: he can’t do it unless he feels like there’s an element of fundamental truth-telling involved about himself, so his ability to play roles designed for the mark to feel negatively towards becomes diminished as he unlearns his self-hatred)

he’s a pro with the technical side of b&e but struggles with justifying his right to be there if he gets caught out. this also develops with time as he becomes increasingly confident in his right to be, more generally.

stede doesn’t know how to do a character that isn’t over-the-top. he’s a very good grifter if over-the-top is what the con needs, but his utility more commonly lies in his insights on how a rich mark will operate, the bureaucracy, the social conventions, white collar culture etc etc. harry wilson stuff.

he doesn’t have the physical tactical prowess to be a career hitter, but he also doesn’t go down very easy. surprisingly good at sleight of hand, especially after instruction from ed, but not particularly stealthy. would get stuck in a vent shaft. NOT A GOOD HACKER.

lucius has a lot of thief-adjacent skills but altogether dislikes solo field work. he’d especially like to be as far away as possible from jobs where a hitter is even necessary. his strategy for escaping difficult situations is to simply not find himself in them in the first place but, on the occasion he does, he actually thinks pretty well on his feet. he just hates having to do it.

pete is a plant. pete is the guy who wins the streetside shell game lucius is running to show onlookers it’s totally possible and they all totally have a shot at the money. i think both he and lucius could excel at the kind of online credibility generation and trend manipulation that breanna and hardison do, or at least the creative aspect. i don’t think pete is good with computers. i think lucius is good with computers but doesn’t draw attention to it, because being underestimated has put him at certain advantages before, but also because staring at a screen all the time gives him migraines.

ive previously considered using computer programming as a modern-day analogue to the literacy gap among crew members, and im still keeping that in my back pocket, but im starting to reconsider its use here, bc i think frenchie would be so so great with digital scams. quite frankly i dont know enough about computers to elaborate on the rest of it but he strikes me as the kind of person who knows exactly how many brackets he has open at any given time. phishing he’s definitely outstanding at, and more generally he’s very good at knowing how to communicate with a variety of different marks in ways that reliably come across as credible, relatable, authoritative, whatever the situation demands.

one of the rarer skills he has is the ease with which he adapts to whatever team is on hand—he’s very good at working out what a given crew member’s greatest strengths are and coordinating things so they can take as much advantage of those strengths as possible.

he can shimmy through a vent like it’s nothing, but he’s not as stealthy as jim. good at forging signatures, better at forging documents. don’t ask him to pickpocket unless you’ve got a second person whose job is specifically to distract the mark while he does it.

i remember seeing a clip of samba schutte discussing the backstory he’s created for roach, and one of the elements that stuck with me and i think could apply well here is roach going out of his way to learn skills that make him extremely valuable to a crew as a means of self-preservation. this might not mean honing in on particularly indispensable roles as it does in canon, since in leverage you tend to get every given crew member being specialized in something important, but i think when roach catches himself being significantly outmatched in a skill by anyone else, he makes developing his proficiency in that area a priority. so he’s got all kinds of stuff under his belt, safecracking, lifting, cybersecurity, etc, he knows how to lead a mark around, and he throws a pretty decent punch. unarmed combat is a weak point of his, but he’s a lot like parker in that he’s very good at navigating his way from point A to point B regardless of structural or human obstacles as quickly as possible, especially with a taser. tbh i’d really like to see an early-seasons parker interact with him.

jim is similarly difficult to divert, and they do make a good hitter, but they’re a little awkward on the grift. they and olu are a very very effective team because they complement each other’s weak points. olu’s fantastic on the grift, especially when he’s got a good handle on as many contingencies as possible. he’s also great with picking locks and cracking safes, being more inclined to the careful patience they require than jim, for whom patience is a professional skill they must grudgingly maintain. if jim is confronted with a safe and olu’s not with them, they’re gonna grab it and run.

sorry i just realized how fucking long this is getting these are maybe 10% of my thoughts about this none of it really answers your question and i didnt even cover everybody. FUCK

doodle while i watch leverage

[roughentumble]

i think for a long time ive really hated knockoffs, and yeah there's a decent amount of them that are simply in it for the money, but i think it'd be good for me to change my perspective a bit and instead see them as more of a thing that i like, you know? if you like [thing a], then generally [thing b] would just be more of [a], youre just fleshing out the genre more.

like, i suppose its the difference between being a "knockoff" and being "inspired by", but even copies and clones of other things can be really fun in their own right, so why do i get angry and defensive when i see them? lots and lots of fantasy books and romance are playing copycat, but people enjoy those all the time, and that just means theres a lot out there to love. more art is better than less art

and i think the definition of what is a knockoff(as opposed to being "inspired by") has been growing recently, or at least that's been a trend in my life. why do i get irritated when i think of black swan as "copying" perfect blue, why cant rhese be two pieces of art in conversation with each other? i adored perfect blue, and black swan is also good, so why didnt my brain catagorize it as excitement over have more of a good thing?

even with 50 shades vs twilight, clearly it's filling an entirely different ecological niche than its inspiration, does it really matter that it's derivative? especially when i dont even like the thing it's derivating from? i dont like 50 shades either, but i think my point stands. i dislike it for other reasons, so why is it being twilight fanfiction a black mark against it in my head, instead of simply a funny anecdote? why did i even get mad at el james for making bag back in the day. i dont like her books but honestly good for her, i pray i reach the same success someday, that i never ever have to worry about money again.

like i guess im just suddenly realizing that while laighing at funny videos that dissected Why Things Suck, i internalized a lot of really negative feelings towards. a thing that doesnt matter. a thing that mostly is defined by "infringing on intellectual IP", and i dont need to do the mouse's job for him there. i can just..... let go of that negative perception of something that hurts no one

wtf. i think im like growing or whatever??? or something???

[kikimochiiiii]

My personal take on MDZS kins based on what I've seen (which is almost nothing)! Understand that this'll be very biased n uninformed, but it's just for fun and I cherish all kins! Please and thank you!💕

WWX: Fiercely protective over their homies/mother bear type; Live for the drama though, so they WILL pitch homies against each other; They will state that their opinion is ALWAYS right to assert dominance; They never feel silly enough; "What do you mean people don't have a bi panic every 20 seconds?"; The life of a party, for better or worse

LWJ: They are very accomplished and orderly; But ask them about that and they'll say that they hate how boring they are; They can recite all of their unrequited loves in detailed, dramatic stories; They have at least 1, if not multiple crushes where they hate the fact that they love them; once they hyperfixate on one thing, they'll never be able to tell you anything about anything else; Shy n sweet, we protecc

JC: "I HATE THAT I KIN THIS MAN, YOU DONT UNDERSTAND-"; Their family sucks so much and they absolutely deserve better; They always want affection but can't help but act grossed out by it; will fight WWX kinnies in a gas station parking lot; prayed to all the gods to be asexual because they hate hormones, but they couldn't be more thirsty; have killer fashion that makes everyone double-take; A fierce, chaotic beauty ppl don't forget

JYL: The mom friend; Is always the therapist/advisor/caretaker/friend/mom for everyone else; Girl, are you okay? You are overworked for real; Wishes they could be intimidating once in a while; LOVES ALL THE GIRLY FEMME AESTHETICS; "I'm so average TT TT" (is actually talented in so many areas wth); everyone is protective over them and they don't know why, but they like it💕💗

LXC: Oh my gosh, ARE YOU OKAY-; Have an emotional wall higher than Mt. Everest; The person with the most propriety; Perfectionism is their worst enemy; Have definitely dealt with toxic friends in their life, so please handle with care; the best listeners; Extremely artistic in some form or another; Are kind to all other kinnies, but will bloody take a bullet for JC kinnies on sight; No one shall ever know their music playlists...

NMJ: "I am who I am, and don't mess with me"; If people aren't genuine with them, they can't stand it; An open book at all times; Their face WILL show what they are feeling; They are just aiming to find a himbo or cute twink for their love partner (or both!); generally nice, but can whip out insanely painful insults, so don't test them; They are confident, and therefore, they are H O T

JGY: GOSH, WHY ARE THEY SO PRETTY??; Definitely were the reason for someone's bi or gay awakening; soft aesthetic e v e r y w h e r e; "A-Yao never did anything wrong!🥺"; Will 100% not snitch on you if you give them a favor or are just hot; Are all about optimizing their situation, if you catch my drift; They are the most loyal of loyal friends if they cherish you💗💕

NHS: "I was born to be petty."; They can recall everything they have a grudge against in worryingly great detail; They will exact revenge on you, so be nice; They have the absolute maddest make-up skills; Work in tandem with WWX kinnies to make chaos, but take a backseat more often; Either habe the highest standards or none at all with no in-between; Bring them to ALL of your sleepovers

WQ: Queen energy 24/7; "I fUCKING TOLD YOU SO-"; They are forever suffering from the incompetent, irresponsible people around them; They have dealt with creeps thirsting after them, and they all wound up missing, oops-; Will be a full-on bodyguard for JYL kinnies and MM kinnies on sight; They just hate men in general; Extremely smart and/or street smart

MM: Also constantly suffering from idiots around them; They are so pretty, but very modern n with the trend when it comes to fashion; They are so stable and sure in themselves, we love to see it; Definitely witnessed friends go through VERY cringe romantic relationships; Doesn't talk much in a group context, but if you start talking with them, they are an awesome friend💕💗; When protected by WQ kinnies, they'll insist that they didn't need up, but they'll secretly like it👀

WN: Classic shy and sweet TM; People were absolutely attracted to them before because they thought they fit a trope, and it was deeply upsetting to them; They are SO INDECISIVE; Their fear over making core decisions is immeasurable; They have an intense fear of emails; "Please don't perceive me..."; Can pop off when defending a friend, and it's very hot of them

XY: "Okay, but like, I'm just saying...a pocket knife would be good for self-defense because-"; They joke about concerning things in discord vcs at 3 am that everyone mutually chooses to ignore; Are adorably extroverted; "Omg you like candy too?! LETS BE BESTIES!!💕🎵"; Are oddly sweet considering they relate to Xue Yang; Definitely tried the goth look once, but they still looked like a cupcake; The hugging type of friend; Occasionally bratty for attention

SL: "Why do all these people lack common sense?"; Had 1 (one)(uno) crush and then never liked anyone ever again; Everyone calls their lifestyle dull, but they just say that they value consistency; You have to plan a meet-up with them 2 weeks in advance or else they will PANIK; Their form of love is helping you manage your finances; Are actually quite mature and wise once you get them talking

XXC: YOU ARE SO PURE, WHY ARE YOU ON THE INTERNET; Weirdly aged and ageless in personality; Also the mom friend, but they aren't burnt out, unlike JYL kinnies; Wear super cute, oversized sweaters, I don't make the rules; sweater paws HNNG; Sometimes a bit out of the loop, but they're doing their best; Jump around in a conversation; Found family is their absolute jam; An extreme empath, so they have to protect themselves from too much depressing stuff, like the news

Okay, that's it for now! I just picked out some of the MDZS people that stood out the most to me for now bc man, this is long, but lemme know if you want my take on any other MDZS character!

[jjheejz]

About Internet Water Army in the case

This is an ongoing update about the case from start to development. List of all related posts can be found on this blog's pinned post (link provided at bottom of each post as well).

19 August 2021 update: Added the scale of his success for reference, before bonus below

18 August 2021 update: Added timeline of events, orange title in post, found out the official English term for Immoral Media = Internet Water Army)

Major updates since first draft: Added bonus, added disclaimer, certain info details

Originally posted on 16 August 2021

[The purpose of this post is to provide a perspective as to why the Media is raised/blamed regarding the issue. Especially for international fans, as all the encounters happened on Weibo. Also, those who were on weibo, do read through if you will. So although it's lengthy, do try to read all, at least if not the last two parts].

The Media referred by most, is not the common perception of the Entertainment Industry (celebrities, directors, shows, channels, staff etc), but the dark side of the Entertainment industry: Antis, toxic fans, toxic marketing accounts. They are called Internet Water Army💧.

Toxic Marketing Accounts is one of the things they do, these accounts on Weibo has millions of followers, each of their post likes are in the hundred thousands (buyable) to give credibility to passer-bys. Some use similar names to Official accounts, some use similar logos. Their posts are usually subjective or aims to steer view points of a certain celebrity/movie/show. Before the latest update of this post (18.08.21), I just group them all together and term them as Immoral Media*.

*Below is my original post using my original term because at point of first draft, I did not know the official term (so have changed/added the term from Immoral Media to Internet Water Army in content below but retain the content based off first draft).

If you have chased before celebrities, or just simply passed by an article about certain celebrities, recall how some title that caught your attentions were like. Clickbaits is one of the many things they do. If GZ is your first and you do not have Weibo, then this read(link) is good enough.

Just as the term Immoral Media (Internet Water Army), it’s immoral and unethical, but they exists because they are paid to do so. Who pays them? Entertainment Companies, and maybe other Organisations

Normal Media/Marketing vs Immoral Media/Toxic Marketing/Internet Water Army

When a show or movie comes out, the normal Marketing department will generate outreach and buzz so that people know a show is airing soon/know the show exists etc. Official announcements are not enough, because there isn’t much context (limited content to put up as well) so having some other Marketing accounts do the buzz in a planned period to gain awareness through posts, some articles about the casts, the plot summary, the production details etc is normal. This is Marketing, bigger companies will probably have stronger Marketing departments (aka influence) and can hire more Marketing accounts to generate buzz. Celebrities (aka casts) themselves, are also Marketing point.

Then we have the Internet Water Army/Immoral Media, these are what they mainly do:

Create Fanfiction-rumors: Creating rumors about celebrities to shift audience perception of them. [eg. XX was seen with XX leaving a hotel, XX was drunk on Event Y and did ZZZ to AA, XX is dating BB and has been in a relationship for N years etc]

Honing their brain degrading skills: Come up with titled clickbait headings/ trending topics with negative written contents. For articles, exceptionally out of heading content related to the celebrity. [Refer to Baidu, it’s a winner of these, feel free to Google Translate]

Regressing their common sense and understanding skills: Take everything a celebrity does completely out of context in a negative way and create a topic out of it [eg. XX said AA is a ---, “XX raised his finger, a sign of ---?”, XX pushed BB aggressively on Variety Show Y - A competition variety show, XX is in beef with CC because XX was caught giving CC the eye]

Using their fingers to stir shit and bathe each other in it: Escalate all smallest form of possible tension created by fans/themselves into a huge thing by acting as the fandom's fans/lurk in fandom chat groups, and voicing their disguised opinion to spread tension/exaggerate severity of the issue [eg. XX fans mocked AA - in groupchats: tbh I've never liked AA before, AA just gives off a vibe that I dont like and now this? It just disgusts me even more > Yea, i feel this way too. AA has problems / XX Lurkers expressing views on XX about NN, slowly to NNMHFXW - XX did NNMHGT - I cannot accept NNmHfHw, I'm leaving = multiply by 1000++]

Epitome of a self-deteriorate: Creating something out of nothing and react to that something negatively to gain massive attention/reaction [eg. “XX raised his hand on show Y” - dk what XX fans are thinking, are they literally blind? XX fans are tasteless just like XX hahaha / “XX did community service” - they are acting / “XX breathed” - From the start, i thought XX was NN, but I am so ZZZ that XX breathed. Goodbye fandom, i’m leaving. Those who still want to stay I urge you to rethink your life choices] - if I may add, Xiao Zhan’s fanfiction case as well. 

Metaphor - Ability to use bare hands to collect paychecks from the urinal/toilet bowl where their boss/client peed in: Doing all of the above.

Apologies for any term offense, but not apologetic of the term context. This is what they do for a living. Any normal human being who do not like anything, will generally not be interested at anything about it in the first place, so to have some antis/toxic fans knowing certain things and inside jokes/references in their posts questions their goal.

On involved in Internet Water Army/Immoral Media 💧

Fans on weibo during these few months witnessed many of the above on GZ. From rumored girlfriend (spammed with articles) to mean and nasty comments on trending topics, to bouts of insults and fake emotional cryouts by certain fan accounts that GZ's office has to release a number of Lawyer’s letter to them. 

Aside from WOH there were also a few other BL adaptation films that were actually released this year but they did not reach exponential success like WOH. BL adaptations are so highly followed by because this is the key to wealth. Literally. Successful BLs like The Untamed and  Dao Mu Bi Ji saw the amount of wealth fans are willing to spend on the celebrity as compared to say BG or idols (younger fan groups). This is why when WOH shot up exponentially, Immoral Media start to sweat.

Major anticipated adaptations were supposed to air this year eg. Hao Yi Xing(HYX), Sha Po Lang(SPL) etc but was severely held back due to the stricter change in BL adaptations submitting their scripts for approval regulations (WOH manage to submit earlier before the change). Because of this, most final films were rejected and they have to keep re-editing, by then WOH was already months into reaping tonnes of major brand endorsements, shows/movie casting, variety show appearances etc, something that is seen as too successful in the Immoral Media’s eyes, because they have to create buzz for other celebrities, some are specific celebrity oriented and thus circulate rumors about having endorsement opportunities shifted from celebrity X to GZ (think fanfiction-rumors and shit stirrer) causes tension in celebrity fandoms. - A real event just in July:

The Untamed’s cp fandom is called BJYX which had always been in the Top 1 of Cps for 2 years dropped for awhile to Top 2, over taken by LLD. Both of them had a war and hated each fandom, one fandom is somehow not allowed to like the other fandom even casually after everything broke out because it started out with some BJYX toxics photoshopped GZ on of portraits .

Also another case of which he wore the same costume as WYB did in a previous photoshoot and it became a useless comparison of who wore better, who looks better, degrading the other. (Finger stirring shit).

Now apply all of the above things the Internet Water Army do and we have them earning money, while both fandom reacts and hate each other.

In LLD, our own fans started suspecting each other on who is a spy from BJYX and what not.

The first few months of Internet Water Army saw LLDs mostly mocking them because the average age is 30-40s, they know and see through all of their intentions so nothing was big. They were trumpeting and LLDs didn’t even care, what with all the doing tedious stats was not even important to them.

Over time, as the issues they create became more and more serious LLDs did start to care, reporting Toxic Marketing accounts/toxic fans became a daily task, go vote for GZ at certain polls etc, solo fans, and LLD fans also split apart. Solo fans think cp fans use GZ to furnish their fantasies, and cp fans thinks they are the ones furnishing their dreaming-girls fantasy with (aka my boyfriend).

There was also a period where LLD had a habit of continuously mentioning “we are in the 30-40s so we can see through everything about the media, we are all fans for the first time, we are good at spending money (because of purchase power compared to other fandoms)” it was prevalent for so long it felt odd, ‘chasing celebrities the first time’ in particular sounds more vulnerable as a weakness than a strength / sth to be proud of.

Gradually, more secretive/insider confirmed ‘sweets’ were flying around. Fans advised each other to not circulate, and the mindset of “if you know, you know, dont tell.” (This is a problematic mentality, of which fans will still be curious to know and search for it themselves, but this secretive hook is unhealthy. Over the long term, it becomes hard for existing fans to know a lot of things properly to judge for themselves, especially those who knew and publicly reacted, but blasting those who ask and telling those who know to keep quiet, this did not help some to understand why on certain things, even so for international fans, dont know and dont understand, causing misunderstandings. Yes, certain information should not be shared, so why should you react about it publicly in the first place? - Internet Water Army effect)

The last few months (for example the July fan war) created a tonne of seriousness and anger. A period even broke out with a tonne of ‘insider confirmed sweets’ (which is LLD’s daily dose of happiness), it was hard to tell what was real and what was fake. Trending topics became negative and everyone warned each other not to enter because it will give the trends ‘views’ and trend statistics, in reality entering there is to enter an exhibition by the self-deteriorates, collecting the fandom's traffic data (it's a sure lose for fans each time they enter the topic). Everyone even starts thinking that the trend’s popularity was caused by each other (it's true but it can be bought daily and not caused by fans). There was a raise in the number of fans who were getting emotional because they want to protect but Internet Water Army kept coming and got worse, because fans, tbh, not just GZ fans, every other celebrity’s fans are always fighting with an Army, getting played and plotted in that Army's calendar.

Even so, despite all of these, LLD is actually a fandom Internet Water Army may find the hardest to break because they understand GZ so much, they could tell what are fake news regarding GZ, because among everything above, there are still plenty of logical fans to stop many fans from drifting too far and debunking them. Why? 30-40s are grown up adults.

Why 13.8.21 and the Japan issue is plotted?

First of all, in the political climate of China, there are many political dates in a month that is NO-Entertainment news. Because it’s the honoring of certain important political events. It’s like Remembrance Day, thus the sensitivity is higher. On these days, there are usually no news and even the Internet Water Army zip their pants. This year also marks the 100th year of the Chinese Communist Party(link)

Secondly, he had no work schedule on 13 August 2021. A great full day to focus on any other news (because if he had schedules, everyone will turn their attention to his events, what trumpeting outside is just bird chirps). 

Thirdly, when the news broke out, especially about the shrine, the reception was actually quite serious within the fandom so the scale of this might be big but to what extent in reality?

Lastly, 15.8.21 marks the 76th anniversary of the announcement of surrender of Japanese in World War 2(link). Also a day of NO-Entertainment news. 

Timeline of events:

13.8.21 - [His rest day, Eve of Chinese Valentine's Day, Japan News broke out] His rest day, no schedules = increased attention about him online. Lowered guard among fans because they are getting ready for tomorrow's Chinese Valentine's sweets = Caught off guard = Huge break out of fans' reactions

14.8.21 - [Chinese Valentine's Day, Eve of the 75th Anniversary of the announcement of Japanese surrender] Keep a wishful and happy demenaor to not destroy the mood, suppressed thoughts about ZZH's Japan news

15.8.21 - [75th Anniversary of the announcement of Japanese surrender, Official announcement of ZZH's boycott and all China social media account ban] NO-Entertainment news day, Solemn day, not allowed to voice anything so the fandom can only wait for tomorrow to start voicing out/debunking but before they can wait out, the boycott and social media ban happened, every official accounts about him was gone overnight, fans had no time to react

17.8.21 - [All official fandom accounts related to ZZH and JunZhe were locked/removed]

Forced to be silent since the day his matter broke out, over the course of official news release with everything taken down in a day because of the Japan correspondence, his accounts banned overnight across the Chinese media and the overnight cancellation, fans could not speak anything about it. Overnight cancellation like this scale happened for the first time in China, leaving no time to react by the fandom, by the time they can, they are silenced.

When the period of events occured within a set of special dates, it’s not coincidence.

Conclusion

Because he was too successful and had many actually honorable past things, and a hard to influence fandom, Internet Water Army view him as a huge threat enough to want to destroy him, because it’s hard to defeat. With a chance they have, they will hold it till the end, bringing up this issue to the Government during this period also shows a sign of how scared they were of him and perhaps his fandom to plot something like this.

Updated on 19 August: Here's a screenshot of assumed calculation on the scale of GZ success for reference while chatting with a fellow fan, assuming GJ also has 27 brands, and there are 1000 brands. Rationale of numbers used: Only big brands can hire big celebrities.

Bonus

Mentioned in the first post, will mention again in case. After the news broke out within 2 days, there was a drop on his weibo followers from 18.9mil to 18.7mil. 200k+ drops, if the politics was such a big national issue, there should at least be a huge drop, even at least a million right? Because weibo is a China-Chinese majority right? Nope, we get a puny 200k drop.

What's funny? The self-deteroriates:

Translation: "Are his fans bought? Why didnt he drop fans? Those people got brainwashed to this point?" / "I've never entered his weibo and today i feel like having a look yet it showed I've followed him. All his fans were bought right? It disgusts me, i immediately unfollowed. This kind of process is worse than WYF..." / "i dropped fans because of him...no...I just reposted 2 posts and I've dropped 4 fans?"

Isn't the tone and regressing brain cells, all too familiar and same?

//

Added above, will remind again to read this link. It has an even more in-depth knowledge on who are paying them.

So what should we do? Link here

Related posts 🛏️:

[hella1975]

I know plenty of people have already talked about that particular line in the last scene of chapter 40 but can I just say thank you for letting kanut be the one to have that moment with Zuko. That genuine moment between these two queer people means so much to me.

As an asexual sapphic I struggle a ton letting these identities coexist. It often feels like I gotta pick and choose between them. So many people have this mentality that people like me are the queer asexuals unlike cis aroace/arohet/acehet folks. Like I'm queer despite my asexuality rather than it being an equal part of my queerness. Reading that conversation I instinctly expected Zuko to realise kanut isn't like him and dismiss that experience and advice as relevant to his situation. But instead you let them relate to each other and I haven't stopped thinking about that.

I went to pride a little over a week ago and found this acearo stand. The guy there told me they had a few WhatsApp groups for aspec people so I gave him my number. I live in a very small country in the Mediterranean basin so there really isn't really an asexual culture here at all. So I thought I'd at least try but I couldn't master up the courage to use the WhatsApp link he sent me. Anyways all that is to say I finally did it today because of this chapter and kanut. Congrats on getting a win over my anxiety.

Completely unrelated the whole thing with Zuko and the flower in his hair hit me so hard as a plus sized person. I've felt so many times in my life I needed to be more masculine and aggressive and to not put any emphasis on my body or my appearance. I know that definitely was not your intention and I'm not even sure if it makes any sense but my ed has been really bad recently and that part made me want to put flowers in my hair and cry in the summer sun.

Sorry if I'm being way too personal with this but that chapter has got me in emotional shambles. So I just wanted to let you know how impactful your writing is. I am never not floored by your insane talent.

asks like this mean the absolute world to me i genuinely treasure them and hold each one so close. im so glad you found something comforting in my writing. it was a personal chapter for me too and it was really important to me that zuko and kanut have that connection where they relate, not see each other as different. idk if it's tiktok or just the internet generation as a whole but there's a really disheartening trend atm of queer identities pitting against each other, competing over who has it worse and sometimes we all just need to step back and remember what unites us. each person has different experiences with their own queerness even if they share a label with someone else. it doesn't need to be a battle and that's what i was trying to show with kanut and zuko and thankfully i think i got that across pretty well based on the overwhelming response ive had from that chapter. it's truly touched my heart so please dont fret about this seeming too personal. you deserve to be recognised and the fact you messaged that group despite your anxiety? knowing i had even a minor part to play in that is going to make me smile for DAYS. i hope they offer you more of a community than what you've received so far. you deserve flowers in your hair xx

[amazingphilza]

maniac :: cc!tommy x reader

angst (?) , platonic (?) , gender neutral ! ib: conan gray’s maniac

this is satire & note that i write the reader to be a few months younger than tommy (besides that, i think it is fully inclusive !)

synopsis : you put all your hard work towards a useless crush. with no expectation for reciprocated feelings in the first place, it still all ends in a bittersweet slap to reality.

you grew up with minecraft and it was an understatement to say it was part of your childhood

even years later, you still maintained interested in the game

it wasn’t just a simple video game, the community inspired you to do many things

you aspired to be like the creators you watched at a young age like sky, dantdm, cupquake, stampy, and many more

making people happy and entertained was a dream

and when minecraft slowly began trending again in 2019, you started making your own content whenever you felt like it out of fun

you never got much views but it was an enjoyable experience nonetheless

but it wasn’t until the first minecraft monday you decided to push a bit more with your hobbies and worked hard to make it somewhere

however balancing your passions with school wasn’t the easiest

given, you were still only around 15 and your content wasn’t even that good

with not much of a goal or plan with your youtube channel, you fell out of interest eventually

you loved minecraft but you always a rocky relationship with it; getting back into it for a few months then pretending it never really existed for another few

besides the occasional videos you watched in your pass time, you didn’t stay that updated

then lockdown happened

it changed everything and even got you regressing back to old interests

soon enough you were back to minecraft

there was so much to catch up on

hermitcraft season 7 just started, there was minecraft championships, and smp earth and smp live, and so much more to look forward to watching

you were a bit late on both of the smps but your interest peaked specially towards smp earth and it didn’t stop you from watching the past videos

you first gravitated towards a certain youtuber’s videos first since you remember stumbling onto his videos before from your recommended page; wilbur soot

besides recognizing him from his you laugh you lose series and making parody-type of songs, you didn’t know much

however with a few clicks, you had binge watched his smp earth series effortlessly

you found yourself falling down the endless hole, finding more creators to watch through wilbur

one in particular caught your eye in an interesting way

tommyinnit

my god, how can someone be so annoying and pushy in these videos? like shut up already

and to find out he was barely months older than you frustrated you

you just wanted to be better in some way

if someone like him could be popular, why can’t you? yelling at others and causing problems didn’t seem that hard

and so you went back to working hard on your previously failed youtube channel but this time with a goal; be better than tommyinnit

it was a weird aspiration in your head but it worked

he was your age and successful, why need a better motivator?

tommy wasn’t the sole reason why you strive to make content since you truly did want to create videos to entertain people like the youtubers you originally grew up watching

and with the amount of free time you had, you thoroughly analyzed his content; what was the most popular, how he streamed, edited his videos, everything

you just completely studied the algorithm in general

along the way, tommy’s personality grew on you

tommy was undoubtedly a very loud and energetic person but you became fond of his ambitions

you understood why he was popular at such a young age; he was a natural entertainer

your spite towards the boy turned into a hope

a hope to be at par with him someday and even be mutuals

and it was like your dreams were suddenly manifested into existence

you gained a large following in the early months of lockdown and even was recognized to be apart of minecraft championships

it felt like yesterday that you were just watching your favorite youtubers livestream the same competition

and now you were situation in a team to play yourself for the first time instead of being a viewer for once

not to mention, with tommyinnit as a teammate

how did you manage to get so lucky?

under the excitement, you felt beyond never nervous waiting in the empty discord call for your team to join you to practice the mini-games

in the middle of gathering your thoughts together, you heard a sound from discord signaling someone joined the call

“uh, hello?”

you heard the familiar british accent you spent hours listening to from countless streams and videos

“h-hi! i’m y/n, how are you?”

you hoped tommy couldn’t hear the strain in your voice due to fighting your nerves, but you quietly celebrated that you didn’t freeze up altogether

“oh i’m good, thank you. and i’m tommy by the way, this is the first time we’re speaking, yeah?”

“yep! it’s nice to meet you”

“yeah, i’ve seen your name around the timeline a few times, you seem cool”

oh my god what?

“thanks! um i actually really enjoy your content not gonna lie”

“oh wow, good shit!”

and the conversation smoothly went on, bouncing back and forth between you two before your other two teammates joined the call

once everyone was situated, you decided to start streaming since it was your first mcc and you wanted a vod of you practicing to look at later on as a memory

your chat immediately noticed how much you were enjoying yourself, especially after all the short stories of talking about who inspired you in the past

the smile plastered on your face never left

after stream and your other teammates went offline, it was you and tommy left in the call once together again

“it was nice talking to you tommy! and the practice was really fun, i cant wait for the actual competition!”

“yeah definitely, we’ll for sure place high”

“hopefully. it’s my first time and i hope i don’t cost us the dub”

“nah, you think so? i mean rt and plumbella are also our team mates so you know, it’s all for fun in the end”

you knew tommy was implying the teamwork wasn’t going to be the best compared to the other teams but at least in the end you’ve both made a new friend

“yeah you’re right!”

“anyway it’s getting late imma hop off”

“okay tommy, talk to you soon?”

“yep!”

“alright byee”

“bye!”

the moment he left the call, you felt a sense of relief before a small wave of sadness took over

you wanted to continue talking to tommy but you knew you had other responsibilities to tend to

for the rest of the day, you couldn’t stop thinking of the call and mcc practice

the funny jokes, singing random songs, screaming for no reason, everything

it even kept you awake until the early morning

you buried your head in a pillow and screamed into it after realization hit

y/n no

no no no no no no no

you tried to recall anything that remotely related your other teammates which you remembered that didn’t include tommy

even if it was a few hours ago, you couldn’t pin point something specific

no

i must just be forgetful, right?

what the hell did rt and plumbella even say that whole call?

you vividly remembered everything with tommy and it was clear to you why

surely not

with putting a hand on your chest above your heart, you confirmed that you couldn’t lie to yourself based on the rapid speed

you liked tommy for a good while but it hadn’t clicked to you until now

eventually you fell asleep due to exhaustion but that’s to say you didn’t do so without imagining spending more time with tommy

ever since that day, time went by in a flash

your team didn’t do the best in mcc but it had been a while since then to have that as a concern

sadly you and tommy didn’t talk as often as you hoped but that didn’t make you have less feelings for him

on some days you felt bad since you thought you didn’t know enough about him to even be allowed to crush on him

it was a bit unprofessional but you were nearly 16, it’s normal to have these little crushes right?

eventually time came to rescue when tommy asked you if you wanted to accompany him in the dream smp

undoubtedly, you said yes

and for the few months during summer, it was where you two became even closer than before

however, once both of you two had to go back and attend school, it was harder to catch up with each other

even on calls together off stream, the occasional snapchat notification going off irked you in a way you couldn’t explain

only winter break was the small pause on your disappointment

but even then, it was a slow but steady hill of repressed sadness and frustration until early spring of the following year

you had hoped 2021 would be better than last year but after scrolling through twitter one day and seeing stans making rumors about how tommy had a crush on one of his classmates gave you the same pain you felt when school started last fall

you dreaded to look over at tommy’s most recent story time stream vod where all the gossip arose from; it was him stumbling over his words with the mention of a girl during a certain part

jealousy wasn’t the right word to describe the way you felt

you would never go out of your way to make tommy reciprocate the feelings you had for him

and if he liked someone else the way you saw him, you wouldn’t mind

having a crush is ecstatic, and if he has someone like that too, you should be happy

right?

you tried

what finally broke you was seeing a tiktok a few weeks later of tommy in college with eryn and another girl talking

you didn’t know how she looked like or anything but you wanted to sob

good for him

she didn’t even say much in the video and you dont know enough about tommy’s personal life to jump to conclusions like this

you knew you were acting irrational and you couldn’t be upset at tommy for something he couldn’t control

if anything, you never directly showed interest in him

you didn’t want to in the first place

it was a bad idea from the start

you looked back at the past year and all your intentions

what kind of sick fanfiction did you think you were living?

becoming a content creator, hoping to blow up, just to talk to a big youtuber you had a crush on?

oh my god

y/n what is wrong with you?

listen to yourself, y/n

you need to get some help

whether tommy was dating or even just had interest someone was none of your business

you had to move on no matter what it was and be good and supportive friend

it was dreadful to get over a stupid crush like this but after so much work you put in, you gave some sympathy for yourself

in a friend perspective, you were happy with whatever tommy did and was satisfied your friendship together, but you hadn’t realized how much you gambled from the beginning

and just for a crush?

you couldn’t comprehend how far you gone because you fancied someone

it wasn’t like anyone could get famous and become a popular content creator either

and now with you being on the dream smp along with a successful youtube channel at 16? you were grateful something pushed you enough to work this hard

but you’d never forget the fact everything that lead up to this point was a crush on no other than tommyinnit which first spurred from complete spite

“who’s the one better off now?” your thoughts mocked you from the complete irony

sigh

y/n, you maniac

[marshmallowprotection]

Hi, I'd like to ask for a match-up if you don't mind. This might be fairly lengthy or idk sorry about that. I use she/her and I think I'm pan although I would much rather not use labels for something as fluid as sexuality. My love languages are quality time and acts if service.

I've been told that I seem unapproachable to those who dont know me, which is understandable since I'm reserved around others most of the time. However, that's not the case at all with my close friends. I'm far more relaxed and expressive around them.

I'd say I have very low self esteem and find nothing to like about myself so I rely heavily on external validation, but only from people who mean somethingto me. I fear being perceived in a way i don't want by them so that sometimes leads to me being insincere with them at the start of relationships.

This will be a cliche but I've had my gifted kid burnout lol. It lead me to have a horrific work ethic like even right now I'm procrastinating on revising for an exam lmao. As for my grades they vary according to how much the subject interests me. Like I score really well on subjects like Math, English and psychology but in subjects like chemistry and physics, they're insanely unpredictable depending on if I liked that topic or not (anywhere from 40-100[which is sad tbh wish I was more consistent💀 also idk the us grade equivalent]) so I'd say interest plays a really important role in my actions.

That being said I gain and lose interest in stuff pretty quickly so it is really hard to talk about hobbies or likes and dislikes lmao. But a general trend that I've noticed is I unironically like pretentious shit lol. Psychology, law, philosophy and literature interest me very much. Other than that I've recently been getting into astrology bc of a friend and it's kinda fun?? Lol. Oh and for what it's worth I'm a Capricorn sun and moon and Virgo rising.

I also really like writing and have a collection of poems, some of which are embarrassingly edgy but in my defence I wrote them while having an emo phase back in middle school. But I still enjoy writing poetry and other short pieces. I also like singing and I think I'm slightly above mid at it idk. Other than that I like spending time with people who don't drain me on good days.

I tend to mess up a lot in relationships bc idk I somehow end up convincing myself I'm not worthy of them so I self sabotage a lot. Idk if this is relevant but I struggle a lot with mental health but I sought help this year so slay. I can also get pretty obsessive over them due to my pretty bad mental health. And uhhh like idk but if those feelings are not returned it just crashes and burns lmao like I end up hating them, which is honestly awful on my part, but I have to hate them too get over them. But eventually that hatred fizzles out into indifference but idk.

But uh sad stuff aside, I love passionately lmao. Like I spoil the fuck out of my friends and people I love. Handmade gifts, surprise trips, playlists or idk, just lying on the bed vibing in silence I just like hanging around with them. I make all of their problems mine and don't stop until I make them go away completely, or if I can't, I feel guilty about it. I'd say I like helping people. I want to be a therapist because I want to help people feel better or at least let them have some semblance of peace. Seeing that my efforts have made someone feel better makes me inexplicably happy.

And after all that would looks matter lol idk. But like it's safe to say that I'm conventionally ugly lmao. But I don't really mind it. I've made peace with it.

Ok that was genuinely long so sorry about that ahaha. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and have a great day!

I match you with...

Jumin.

You're the kind of person that is hyper-vigilant about everything that you do. No matter how you came to be this way, it's something that you're aware of and you have a hard time turning off. You are aware that actions have consequences and decisions can do things to other people. One of the things about being an empathetic person is you are constantly checking yourself. It means that you're a good person who always tries their best, but it also means that you wind up limiting yourself in other ways because while you try to emotionally regulate others, you forget to emotionally regulate yourself.

In that case, you need somebody in your life who knows how to remind you that you come first. It's important to help other people but don't take off all of your clothes in a blizzard to protect somebody else and leave yourself with nothing. So having somebody in your life that knows how to take care of other people is important. It makes you a powerful duo in your own right when you're having a good day, but it also keeps the two of you in check when you need a reminder that you need to be taken care of. Jumin is your man for that reason. He can be there for you and you can be there for him.

You’re passionate, too. You like to create with your hands and that leads to you sitting around with Jumin as you work, and he chuckles in approval, working on his projects at the same time. He loves to watch you make something out of the tools you have! It inspires him to focus harder on the hobbies he has. It’s meant to be methodical... but you remind him that it’s a creative endeavor, too. A labor of love molded by your hands. You inspire your lover every day just by being the person that you are. Love is strong and true, and you never have to be afraid of looking over at him and not seeing the same love-filled eyes. It’s always there in his heart.

[nihiltism]

ok im gonna give a Shot at it. please hold. ill put these in lil groups. this will also be long so its under a readmore. im just gonna post morty and mack rn because i dont know how much time i have tonight + my desktop tumblr doesnt autosave and i get anxious about writing long posts. anyway ill be rbing with more ocs later too i have like. 19 now

[Section The Immortal Guys (do you have any idea how little that narrows it down) the guys who i write over generations and dont really have an ending to their stories because theyre here to be immortal]:

Morty:

"vee why dont you have normal wish fulfillment ocs". eternally undead (vaguely ungulate) skeleton guy who is basically only here as an observer to the world around them since they have all the time in the world to do so now. their backstory is ultimately irrelevant, they tend to deflect questions about themself but its kinda more because they dont like to draw attention to themself as theyve kinda distanced themself from being A Person over the years. this doesnt really mean theyre distant though, theyre here to watch the sun rise and the stars shift and find new and interesting people at their door and listen to their stories and have them over for dinner. they keep adopting mortals and i wish theyd adopt me. they cant feel warmth or sleep or eat the food they make or whatever but as long as theyre able to provide that comfort for others its a fair trade for being given time to appreciate the world and everything in it. also their name is technically a lie since its supposed to be just short for That Immortal Who Doesnt Pay Property Tax but it always bugs me to call them an immortal without an asterisk next to it but also its got emotional significance now as much as id like to change it. also i hardblocked somebody one time for (somehow genuinely, despite me prefacing with "my oc") thinking i was talking about rick and morty. so warning for that.

Mack:

sliiightly less developed as he was made more as a character to go With Morty more than anything (also im tempted to change his name since its kinda lame. its short for an angel name i found on wikipedia but who caaaares). vaguely ungulate (goatlike probably) angel with killable-type immortality and infinite respawns but in different places and times every time. kiiinda fallen but like, my version of heaven doesnt really care, they let him dick around on earth because he's at least out of their hair there. unfortunately this gives him infinite hedonism, hubris and no consequences as he has absolutely no reason to have any self preservation since he's ultimately here for funsies and has nothing to lose. he's probably a war criminal. anyway this Does end up changing as he meets morty and Keeps Meeting Morty and realizes every time he respawns somewhere he ends up Going Back to morty and aw fuck he has something to lose (even if its just temporary it takes a Good While to get back and more importantly leaves morty alone) and shit. goddammit. this is kind of enough of a kick in the head enough to get him to have any sort of self preservation and also some self Value and value in life as a side effect. good all around. nowadays hes a lot less uh. Wild. he takes notes on different places and times' fashion trends so he can mix them together in absolutely Criminal looking outfits for fun.

he and morty have a Weirdromantic relationship going on where they definitely love each other, but the type of love is different for the both of them (mack is Definitely romantic after a while, morty's is likely platonic but they're also just affectionate by default and actually do enjoy being loved so it works out plenty since they have. So much time to communicate about it.) but more importantly they're like. each other's only static points in time. they always find each other and they always have new stories to tell each other when they return and theyll have all the time in the world to tell it. thumbsup. i like them. they rarely have stories to their own though and are more just. always supporting characters in other peoples. and thats fine to both of em

I should like. make a group intro to my ocs list or something so you guys can at least vaguely know what the fuck I'm talking about at any time. these guys don't have visual refs I understand it's probably hard to visualize who the hell I'm talking about. bonus that I've only really made a specialized Lore Post for like one character and it's kind of outdated. there's not going to be a test on this

[iluvthingsfree99]

bräñdÿ mēłvïłłē methods!!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED FOR TEENS! i haven’t seen anyone do this yet so i wanted to share the methods that work for me @ basically any bräñdÿ store !! also i have done all of these with at least one or two of my lifter friends and it has worked so far (knock on wood). 

let’s start off with the precautions to take beforehand:

i HIGHLY recommend having a friend when going into brandy. the stores that are not located on a street or something are generally much smaller (and more difficult to lift from), compared to those in a plaza or mall. the ones in the PLAZAS or MALLS are the best options to go to especially during the pandemic. what i personally like doing a day before lifting is googling the store that you’re going to visit on yelp or any other website that can show the store’s exterior and interior. i always do this to get a realistic idea of the store’s layout based on where the register is in the pictures. don’t forget to go on their website and scout some clothing you might like! though, there is no option to check what is inside the store and isnt, it’s good to have a general idea of what you want in terms of basics, outerwear, bottoms, etc etc. 

me and my friends also usually wear very basic bräñdÿ girl clothing like mom jeans, a cropped long sleeve top, oversized sweater, and converse. since these bräñdÿ’s are located in wealthier areas, i try to look a bit more upperclass so they wouldn’t expect anything. we bring dark-colored tote bags (thank god for this trend) or one of us brings a kanken since mostly teenage girls are in/work there and we dont look suspicious. we also save large shopping bags from common clothing stores such as uniqlo, urban outfitters, zara, etc. and hold one bag each with a sweater or two inside (depending on the size) to make it appear as if we’ve bought a lot of clothing and that we have money to spend inside of the store (jokes on them, we never do AHAHAHA). kankens are very very useful since theyre small and no one really expects anyone to steal with it but trust me, it can hold A LOT.

next, what we’re usually all worried about - TAGS:

don’t worry about them in this store! there is NO security tags on any of the brandy melville clothing. (most likely because they are placed in more wealthier areas/malls)  usually, they are just casually hung up by a wire wrapped in fabric or folded and placed on benches. i live in the US and i have never seen any kind of security tag ranging from the pencil kind to the more rounded ones. 

now, who to watch out for:

CONFIDENCE IS KEY! don’t be nervous love! it’s usually a bunch of scrawny girls that work there anyways and from what i’ve seen, they do not have an LP and they very rarely have security guards. an LP is a higher up representative from the company that comes in to watch the tapes but they very rarely come by. the only thing to be aware of is the WORKERS. they are often dressed in regular plain clothing and blend in with other customers around you. when you walk in, it is only easy to distinguish the people working the register. i say to spend 5 minutes, browsing and picking up/putting back items to get a feel for the place and to see who are workers and who’s not. often, they go around to fix and fold varying items or they’re restocking different areas. customers and workers can be easily confused so i recommend staying on your toes and being self-aware. this is where a lookout is most useful and why i highly suggest bringing a friend just to keep an eye on anyone that may be passing by.

and for the BEST part - how to actually lift:

due to the size of the store, me and my friends have distinguished a language of common things to say in code. for instance, i might say, “can you reach that tank top for me?” which basically translates to: “i’m going to put this in my bag, keep a lookout.” we always, always, ALWAYS make sure to go into a blindspot because it is so hard to find the cameras unless they are placed directly on the wall (honestly, thank god for the pandemic because these masks are SUCH lifesavers since they cover your face). anyways, since the tops are flimsy it is *very easy to stuff it in your regular lifting bag. if it is your first time, i reccomend getting any and all tops. i usually just put some in my extra shopping bag quickly and pile up on them. i also carry my kanken with only one arm and leave the zipper a bit open for my friends to easily slip in anything they want inside. i am about 5′4 and both of my friends are 5′6 - 5′7 so usually one person stands in front of me and one is behind me so then the person in front can reach for anything i might like, take it off the hanger and pass it to my friend behind me to place in my bag. it can also work with two people where the person holding the kanken passes each top to their friend behind them. but for the 3 people, i hope this poorly drawn diagram explains it a bit better LMFAOOO

for sweaters, since they are thicker, i mostly use a large zara shopping bag and place it under an actual zara puffer i got previously (but honestly any sweater from any store would work as a cover for it too, i’m just a very paranoid person and scared they might check my bag LMAO). moving the clothes around would be loud but they always play music in the store and those working are always doing something else. last but not least, for pants, this is when i like to use my kanken since they are larger than both a sweater and a tank it’s riskier. i usually  hold them up to my waist, see if they might fit, and then i pretend to set it down when really i’m folding it to make it smaller. after, it is folded or rolled up very tightly, my friend becomes a lookout and i open the zipper to my kanken “looking for my wallet” and then i just stuff it in really quickly. before exiting the store, make sure you have no sleeves stinking out of ANY of your bags because there is almost always someone waiting at the door counting those coming in and out because of covid. remember to act CASUAL! if you act nervous, it will most definitely show to the workers. me and my friends are usually in there for about 15 - 30 minutes which is kind of a long time so one of us actually buys something cheap and simple as an explanation while the others leave and wait somewhere else. 

and i think that is it AHAHA. if you have any questions or if i missed anything, be sure to pm me, i am more than happy to help !! remember: act casual! dont conceal on camera / BLINDSPOTS ARE YOUR BESTFRIEND! trust your gut and dont get greedy with items! i know everything in there is cute but it’s always good to not overdo it for the sake of both yourself and your safety! 

here’s something for all the new babylifters too:

the paranoia gets better over time! use all the information on liftblr at your disposal and learn from experience and new knowledge! remember that whatever corporation you are lifting from, it is from a company that rakes in millions upon millions of dollars exploiting workers for a shirt that only takes 6 cents to make but is being sold for $26. the toxic capitalist system is justification enough and i promise that the workers and the company itself are BARELY affected by lifting. taking $200 worth of clothes or even $16, it is merely pocket change to these corporations. so, always stay safe and good luck loves !!!