#but yeah that's my two cents on the whole discourse

[modernchillthings]

Needed to rant a bit about HoTD. I'm seeing a lot of complaints about the show rushing the plot w the time skips. I get it tbh even though I'm not as bothered. I haven't read the books but I did read the plot on the wiki so I know what happens in the actual dance (and there IS a lot)

I do understand that they're speedrunning through things bc technically, this whole season is just the prologue and we haven't even really gotten into the main story yet.

Aside from that, I think maybe the creators of this spin-off weren't quite sure the people would be too receptive of the show after the ending of GoT. They probably thought that the action-y stuff is what would hook them so they decided to speed things up not expecting everyone to actually be invested on the characters themselves and have a positive feedback. But bc it's too late for any major changes now, they can't do anything. I think if GoT ended well and ppl wanted a spin off, I could see them maybe extending the plot a bit for more character development because more seasons=more money for them so there would be no need to really rush the story as much as they are now.

However I do think it was smart of them to recast in the middle so that the audience can get used to the new faces bc they will be the ones headlining the rest of the show otherwise, if the younger cast got a whole season, who knows what kind of complaints and outrage people might have w/ a new cast. Especially if a second season wouldnt come out immediately.

I do think in paper, these time jumps make sense but I feel like it could have been executed better? I mean, I have my own gripes about some character decisions they've done but like I said, I don't really care as much since I'm still pretty invested and very hyperfixated on this show lol

But I've seen so many complaints and it can be off-putting if ppl aren't as invested.

[jq37]

Just to throw my two cents on the Rat Grinder discourse: They weren't worth the Intrepid Heroes' time. We didn't get the full picture of what's going on with the Grinders until the last quarter of the season. Before that they were just this other clique that hate the main characters, so in-character why would the Bad Kids bother giving them so much attention when they've got so much of their own crap going on. Kristens quest to get Cassandra back and her presidential campaign, Gorgugs courseload, Riz's million and one plates that he's been spinning all season, Adaines financial problems, Figs curse and her doubts about what she wants to do with her life. Fabian's the only one who might have had the time, but he had to be Maximum Legend. There genuinely was no time or even an incentive on the IH's side to develop the Rat Grinders characters.

I still think it's fucked up that these teenagers got taken advantage of by adults they trusted, but we didn't learn any of that until we only had two roleplay episodes left. Too little too late to even try anything diplomatic even if they didn't spend all their time after the Last Stand in hiding.

And a thing about Ivy that no one is roasting her about and really should: An elven archer? Really? Wow, never seen that before.

Yeah totally. Like, from a meta level, I see where the players themselves could have been more curious about the Rat Grinders. There are obvious plot threads that could have been teased out there (though, in fairness to the cast, the adult manipulation aspect didn't become clear until way later in the season--the rivalry and foil aspects were more obvious). This final confrontation could look really different if they'd played that all the way out all season.

But in character? The Bad Kids really didn't have a good reason to waste time on the Rat Grinders. They came into this school year already burnt out from their Night Yorb quest and wanting a break. But they don't get that because they immediately are beset by problems they have to deal with--Kristen's god is on death's door from neglect and she's on the brink of expulsion, Riz is running himself ragged trying to boost his resume for college, Fig is having a whole ass existential crisis, Adaine is struggling with money issues she doesn't want to talk about, Gorgug is taking FOUR YEARS of school at the same time, and Fabian is multiclassing and dealing with his empty house/not having parental support (or Cathilda's support) for the first time. They are dealing with SO MUCH high stakes, personal stuff before the plot even kicks in. And, mechanics-wise, this is represented with the downtime system that means that any time they spend on the RG's is time they can't spend on something that matters more to them. IMO, not prioritizing your haters is actually pretty mature. Like, they weren't proactively using their free time to bully them or anything (except for arguably Fig). They were snippy with them when they crossed their paths and that was it. As opposed to the Rat Grinders who literally had to be told by Jace to stop antagonizing the Bad Kids (though they must have been pretty ineffectual at it because the Bad Kids hardly noticed, which I bet stung considering they were so obsessed).

And also, it's not like they didn't try at all with the Rat Grinders. Early Insight checks on Kipperlilly just got, "This is a polished steel orb of a personality" which doesn't sound very worth interacting with in a sympathetic way if at all and then the next big thing they learn is that she had hated Riz since Freshman Year and that she wants Riz and Kristen dead. And that's AFTER we saw her smile and kill her party cleric. In their position I'm not spending further time trying to empathize with this person, I have made my judgement and it's up to the Jawbones of the world to find if there's something in there to be rehabilitated.

And that's not the only case. Adaine straight up saved Ruben from disintegration during the Frosty Folk battle when she easily could have saved the spell slot, but that didn't soften him towards the Bad Kids any. Adaine also was really keen to Scry on the Rat Grinders to find out what was happening at their meetings. But, in scene at least, she was never able to do that so we never got a scene of them, huddled together, clearly unsure about the path they're on but not feeling like they can walk it back or say no to the authority figures in their lives. She didn't get anything humanizing that would cause her to rethink their position on them the way that she did with Aelwyn for instance. So why would they think they're anything but gleeful co-conspirators?

Hell, the one RG Adaine was even slightly curious about was Oisin and now we know that he was feigning interest in her which, man, can you imagine how much worse that would have felt if she'd actually taken the bait and pursued him beyond just thinking he was cute? Of course, it's possible that her interacting with him more along with some good charm rolls could have changed the narrative in some way but we can only go off of what we know to be true in canon and those facts are (1) He tried to get closer to Adaine while actively planning the downfall of her and her friends, (2) he (along with Ivy) was mean to Buddy behind his back while tricking him into a plan that would force him to go against his religious beliefs, and (3) he called his KVX related dragon ancestors to try to kill the Bad Kids and endanger the entire student body population. Three strikes, you're out. If I'm a Bad Kid I'm not super interested in whatever else is going on with him. And again, literally all of Adaine's friends (except Riz) gave her help to do an Insight check on him during their confrontation in the hallway so she was looking for something there worth engaging with, but she didn't get much.

Fig was fully doing CIA, MKUltra, Fantasy Geneva Convention violations on Ruben to try see if she could get information or flip him. I think she did it in an objectively insane way so I'm not entirely shocked that it didn't yield the exact results she was looking for. But she never found the smoking gun (or whatever the opposite of that is) in his head that would absolve him/show the Rat Grinders were being controlled and her messing with his dreams never flared his conscience enough to make him try to break free (as far as we know) which is what I assume she was going for. If I was Ruben looking for a way out but scared of the repercussions, I might go to Adaine who saved me from certain death earlier the same year and has helped saved the world 3 times with her party and their friends in high (and low) places. Maybe that's what Fig thought might happen but it didn't so from Fig's POV? Gave him a chance. Time to start blasting. And again, at that age, if I walked in to the first day of class and the first thing this random boy does is sneer at me and flaunt his musical success, I'm popping up on his Nemesis Alert at that moment. Doubly so after he tries to trick me and my friends into doing drugs so we get expelled. I'm surprised she tried at all with him.

Fabian absolutely tried to interact with Ivy--in large part for self interested reasons of course, but that doesn't change that he did it. And she came across as callous and unkind from the jump. Their final conversation before the latest episode is the one where she talks about wearing Mazey like a sweater and then says that Fabian missed his chance with her before stalking off. That's a pretty open and shut interaction. No way 17 year old me is like, "Hmm, but why is she acting so mean? Perhaps I should examine that more closely to further understand her." Nah, I've decided she sucks.

And Kristen has tried with Buddy literally up until the last moment. She rolled an Insight check on him right before the fight started and she got a 1. She got nothing from him.

Mary Ann is actually the only Rat Grinder who hasn't done anything to make a bad impression on the Bad Kids--the only thing she did was have a really good Bloodrush tryout. So no reason to hate her specifically (and, in fact, she is also the only Rat Grinder that at least half of them are positively obsessed with), but no reason to explore her further. And Kristen still tried giving her a stuffed animal and her response was that she already had that one and that she was going to give it away. What are they supposed to do with that?

Even when they tried, they didn't get information that was worth chasing when they were so busy and had to manage their free time. Gorgug didn't even slot in downtime to talk to his bio parents when they visited. Why would he spend any time on Mary Ann to figure out her deal? Maybe if they were given more explicit opportunities to interact with them in passing. If Mary Ann was shown at Bloodrush Games. If during class time Oisin tried to interact with Adaine. If Kristen ran into Buddy and Bucky talking. If any of their forays into talking to them or looking into them yielded anything actionable or that piqued their interest--they opened the door for Brennan to give them something more than once. But they never got anything that was worth investing more of their limited time into.

(And also, they didn't learn that Porter was involved until WAY into the last quarter of the episodes. Which absolutely could have changed things since, as far as they knew the RG's were working alone to raise this god which isn't crazy for them to think because Kristen literally did that last year and it was of her own free will. If they knew early that the RG's were smaller players in Porter's plot then maybe they would have been in more of a rescue mindset--especially since Fig has always mistrusted him--but that's not information they had and by the time they got it, the RG's were in deep hiding, like you said.)

And so, coming into the last few episodes, that's who the Rat Grinders are to the Bad Kids. A group of kids who they first heard about in the context of, "they famously hate you," even though they'd never interacted before. A group of kids who they already thought sucked even before they tried to kill the entire study body an hour ago. A group of kids who are trying to doom all of Elmville to eternal rage and who are willing and ready to kill them to do it.

With that context, yeah I think their actions are pretty understandable.

(Also, lmao. Yeah, I think calling Ivy basic would probably hurt her more than most things you could say to her.)

[afirewiel]

I've been seeing a lot of discourse about Rose and Tentoo on my dash lately and I thought I'd add my two cents. I have never been a fan of that ending for Rose. "He's Ten but human! He has Ten's memories!" That argument would hold a lot more weight if it weren't for the fact that earlier in the same season there was a clone of Martha who had Martha's memories and yet acted completely differently than Martha, showing that she was in fact not Martha but her own person. In the "Almost People" arc in season 6, we get a copy of Eleven with his memories, who again acts unlike Eleven and is his own person. In one of the new specials, we get copies of Fourteen and Donna, who also have their memories but are not them. So this whole "memories are what make the person" argument in Tentoo's favor just falls flat.

He had Ten's memories and yet still committed genocide. An act Ten was enraged at him for. So clearly they are in disagreement here, so Ten's memories didn't seem to do him any good as he still chose to do something Ten did not approve of. And why would anyone, least of all the Doctor, leave the woman he loves with a man who had just committed genocide!? It makes no sense to me for him to do that. If anything, one would have thought the Doctor would want to keep Rose as far away from Tentoo as possible after that.

"You changed me. You made me better. Now you can change him." Excuse me, Doctor, but it is not Rose's job to change him! She doesn't owe it to you, to him, or to anyone else to make make him better. She made you better by influence, not because she actively went "I can fix him." And expecting her to, is just wrong and that is not the healthy basis for a relationship.

The biggest reason, however, that I don't like this ending is that Rose wasn't given a choice. Ten didn't let her choose between him and Tentoo. He didn't tell her that Tentoo was human and then asked her if she wanted to stay and live her life with Tentoo. Nope. He told she was going to. "But she kissed Tentoo!" Only because he was the one who told her how he felt about her. Ten purposefully avoided answering her. And even after she kissed Tentoo and realized that Tardis was leaving with Ten and Donna in tow, she chased after them and looked heartbroken when she realized they were gone. Even RTD and Billie Piper have said that the ending was a cope out and that Rose wasn't given a choice. That if she had been, she would have chosen to return to the Tardis with Ten and Donna.

Perhaps if we had gotten a spin-off show about Rose and Tentoo's life, I could have warmed up to this ending, but we didn't. Instead all we got was Ten losing her again (this time of his own choosing) and then immediately losing Donna afterward and him being all alone. So yeah, not a happy ending in my book. If you like it, that's fine. I for one just cannot.

[nozunhinged]

my love sea rollercoaster

Okay so I was at the forefront of the love sea haters (don't ask me about mame I don't know anything about that discoure you can read why I didn't like it here if you want) but as weak as I am I kept watching and ep 2 still didn't do it for me but ep 3 turned the boat around so fast that I feel absolutely sea sick (literally!!) right now -- and because the discourse and perspectives on tumblr made me try to keep watching unbiased, I'd like to share my five cents as to why the story suddenly works for me after I've spent the first two eps rolling my eyes so hard I got a migraine.

I think it comes down to three major moments, with their conflict as the turning point

When rak started spitting the most degrading speech going at mut for dragging him out of the house, literally blowing so fucking low the blowjob mut was wishing for in the end was sky high terrain, I went "ok that's it, I'm turning this off" -- rak said word for word "no means no" but mut still kept pulling him I was close to angry tears what a fucked up situation that is, I thought.

But just as mut made rak snap out of it with his unimpressed reaction, so did I.

It was like the first half of the episode flashed right in front of me within the second rak was speechless. He was so on edge from the many calls he had in the first part and before that the diving incident -- he was streched out so thin that of course he would fall back to his default mode which is insulting anyone who dares to get within a 10ft radius of him. And then a guy who even dares to break down his pretentious walls? Better double down! (I'm still mad about raks tirade though, I would've dumped him in the sea right then and there)

But here's the thing, mut isn't fazed at all. Like, at all at all. And that's exactly what rak needs in this moment. Someone to vent his anger at so he can collect himself. We know now that mut had it a million times worse than this and his reaction isn't just because he has the hots for rak, it's literally his character. They both would react the exact same way if it was any other person. The difference? They develop an emotional bond over it and that's how they move forward. CHEFS KISS!

You might think but noz, of course its his character, thats the whole point? Yeah but not to me.

In the last two episodes, it felt like everything that happened between them was excruciatingly forced by the narrative (see my yaoi-post why I despise that) -- that everything between them is only brought out because they met. I know that thai bl (no, lets say the romance genre in general) has a big issue writing and introducing characters in a manner that makes their romance believable, but most of the time I can overlook that because we're not here for deep literary masterpieces, we're here for the smooches and the fumbles. I get it.

But when it feels so forced like it did the last two eps to me, even I just check out. So I already shelved that series in my mind and it's the first time I get so damn humbled that I have to write down a million paragraphs to defend myself lol. I think my longing for watching a believable lovestory reached so deep that it contributed to my current brainrot.

Don't get me wrong -- I attest this shift 100% to fortpeats insanely stellar acting. They make the characters believable and they make me understand why rakmut are prefect for each other although I HATE their dynamic. But that's the beauty of a good story my friends, I get now why their pulling and pushing works for them and I'll gladly watch them do that! Because until now, no aspect of the show managed to do that, neither the narrative progression, nor the editing, writing or pacing. Nothing. It was all just a jumbled, annoying mess.

So what's different now? The story lets fortpeat finally shine! (Accidentally maybe?)

Someone already said that the scenes are stale and slow (cant find the post anymore sorry) due to the fact that nothing is happening other than the two of them talking in the same position behind a different background and I 100000% agree. And the only way this poor choice is saved by is fortpeat. I was hanging on their lips for every single word. Their dynamic was suddenly so clear and palpable to me, I struggled to breathe properly. Rakmut are fucking made for each other and I'm losing my shit over it.

I can't believe they managed to make ALL the flaws of this show just POOF -- go away??? And it just keeps going like that. I could write 10 more pages about the little details of their dialogues that cemented my impression but I'll try wrap this up first.

The two other pivotal moments (to me) were muts reaction to rak telling him about his name. Yes, you read that right. Now that I finally understood how these two are ticking, I absolutely 100% understand where mut was going with this objectively BONKERS suggestion. Rak drops this bombshell of a trauma on him and he offers to do exactly that too??? Well, in muts head this is the only way to make rak understand that the outcome can be different. So of course, this idea would only work on him. Made for each other, I'm telling you. Two pieces of a fucked up puzzle.

Now, that scene.

First, doubling down on how much worse mut had it. (I'm not talking about his house thats a topic for another post) I think this one little story was enough to land the punch, the talk last ep was too long and clunky. I wouldve loved to have a scene where the guy who was fired tells the story to someone and rak overhears it, not understanding a thing and then putting the pieces together when mut starts talking I-- oh I think i wouldnt have survived that, I cried then and there already.

Well yeah I was in tears when they started fucking that was awkward but again raks reaction just made sense. They don't know each other that well and rak only knows one way how to make mut feel good which is riding him to the moon and back. And as a little cherry on top he completely let loose without any restraints.

There's already this amazing post by @hanhonymous which explains perfectly why the pillow talk after works so well as it does, so I'm not gonna say anything more. Just know that I was full on bawling at this point. When rak said "try it" it lost it. How he encourages his island boy who said "someone like me" a million times in the last ten minutes was perfect. Beautiful. Absolutely wonderful. Even his false lead felt perfect for this moment because only this way mut would understand that rak is absolutely serious.

I don't know how the bangkok arc will play out, my hopes are not very high but I will forever have this lovely little episode. And their lovely little pillow talk. And when they confess and love each other for real I will once again cry like a loser because fortpeat are amazing. Please someone get them a high quality production they deserve it so much.

[mostlymaudlin]

ooooooh ok juicy sfc posts happening !! i rly honestly truly love to see it. here's my unasked for two cents, as someone who did find the story really hopeful. im posting this not to like, discourse or disagree or discount what im seeing, but to just maybe offer a different pov for ppl who might be trying to file this story away in a less devastating way.

i, of course, think baz deserves better than what he gets from his family. we all deserve to have families that love us unconditionally, and so many of us DONT have that -- including baz. that hurts !! i also think simon didn't deserve to lose his magic, and penny didn't deserve to take on the sole responsibility for keeping simon safe, and agatha didnt deserve to be shoved into every princess/damsel role ppl cast on her, etc etc. 

what i like so much abt this series is that ppl dont get what they deserve, but theyre still okay. its why i also love the end of awtwb -- simons LICH ER ALL Y crying lol. he got a whole mega-bucket of extra trauma dumped on his plate that he hasnt even started to process. but its still so clear that he's got the support he needs to live a good life alongside this terrible knowledge. the mage fucked him over even more than he knew, but he doesnt have to define himself by these terms anymore -- we've seen his growth in this regard.

bazs main arc in the series is about how he sees himself -- in crudely simple terms, he rly wants to be a Good Guy (you know, not a vampire, straight, a good pitch etc etc) but sees himself as cursed with that impossibility. this continues as his idealized Good Guy self develops over the course of the books into something that actually feels more achievable to him and is less reliant on the shit his family put on him growing up. 

the cool thing about snow for christmas is that -- just like when simon finds out abt the mage at the end of awtwb -- we get to see baz's new sense of self tested. we get to see what he's using to draw the lines of morality. and we get to see that while of course he still cares about what his family thinks, and it still causes him anxiety and trauma and all the shitty things that he doesnt deserve -- he has grown from that place where their value system can make him hate himself.

and moreso on the hope part -- the grimms value, above all, the ability to fit into the roles they think theyre supposed to hold. its bullshit, and they've both caused themselves problems and absolutely are fucking up their children. daphne fully had to be saved by a cult bc of it and shes still not over that mindset -- these ppl need therapy lol. so it's def sick n twisted that they're celebrating baz being able to hide better rather than celebrating who baz is, but is this not the utmost sign of love that they're capable of? baz gets to fit in better -- that's all they've ever wanted for him, whether we agree with that or not. baz seems to recognize the balance of this in the story. he narrates the rest of the dinner with a sort of dry, relieved, disbelieving tone. it’s like hes huffing a laugh, shaking his head, thinking, “did i really used to pin so much of myself on this stuff? how silly.” he is not distressed bc he understands his parents, and he has, again, divorced his sense of self from their expectations. so much so tht he says fuck it and gives simon the lil kissy at the end, because THIS is his new value system: he ALWAYS kisses simon goodbye!

so, is this a step forward for the grimms being more supportive parents? yeah, maybe not. maybe it never gets better than baz hiding his fangs at dinner and everyone doing the bare minimum to accept simon's role in baz’s life. that's not what baz and simon deserve. but it could be enough, because simon and baz have different ways that they measure their happiness by. they have each other and penny and shep and ruth and agatha and niamh and every other person they'll meet in the many, many years ahead of them whose opinions they can choose to make important to them, or reject. i love this for them! the true queer hope story imo. thats what i want for myself and for the people i love. 

to be clear: this story made me sob so hard i scared my cats. (im not rly a crier, they did not know what to do). i had to put it down in the middle because i couldnt see the page. any queer person who has Family Shit is bound to get whammied lol. but! i personally find comfort in the idea that we can coexist with people who are important to us but also very difficult to be around, even if its not totally what we deserve. its a very quiet, somber hope -- but that only makes it feel more real to me. 

[autumn0689]

I’ve seen some discourse revolving around Veneer, so I decided to give my own opinion on Veneer.

Veneer being clearly in a toxic relationship with his sister AND him needing to face the consequences of his actions are two opinions that are accurate! Hes not an ‘UwU Cinnamon Roll’ but compared to Velvet, he is WAY more tame, though he does need to face the consequences of his actions, and I can definitely see him redeeming himself.

Compared to other antagonists *cough* Chef *cough* Velvet and Veneer aren’t really that bad, sure, they committed heinous crimes (which resulted in Floyd’s death even though he came back) but compared to the Chef, who basically wanted to cause Pop Troll GENOCIDE (again, there is probably an allegory of Pop Trolls representing drugs but that’s a post for another time) they really aren’t that bad.

Not to mention, Veneer is the quickest antagonist I’ve seen accept facing the consequences of their actions, and whether or not we see him again in future movies, I can totally see him becoming a better person. Again, doesn’t excuse his actions, but the Trolls have forgiven WAY worse (*glares at TTBGO Creek*)

So yeah, that’s my two cents on the whole ‘Veneer’ thing I’ve seen!

[wordyneonlights]

OK so I feel like I'm the only one who read the end of mha, like, the final chapter because what is this is this discourse I'm seeing.

First of all, I know it's a joke or whatever but Midoriya is not working at McDonalds (not that there’s anything wrong with that you do what you gotta do but people are framing it as him failing in life and peaking at highschool), he is a teacher.

Like, do you understand how important teaching is??? A bad teacher can make or break someone's like like a good teacher can save it!!

Him ending up a teacher is in no way a failure (at least to me) he's out here providing children with the support and encouragement that he never got, he can be a positive impact on people, he can help with quirk insecurities he can tell people the words he wished to hear!! That yes, no matter the quirk, you too can be a hero.

And while it's sad, class 1a splitting up is kind of realistic, in my opinion they kind of needed time to grow away from each other, them still being super close as adults feels a bit like trauma bonding in a way. In reality, it's kind of rare to keep the same friends you had in high-school, let alone keep relationships with the whole class.

Besides, it's obvious that everyone still has love for Midoriya because of the whole suit thing. But more on that later.

We see that midoriya's kind of lonely, yeah, and that's real. He's wanted to be a hero for so long and only got that dream realised for what??? A year. Yeah that must suck for him hut he gets up and still inspires kids everyday (ugh can you tell he's one of my favourite characters). And and and Horikoshi makes a big show of having him wait, or having him gain things he doesn't expect. Sometimes good things take time, but Midoriya took that time and did something useful!!

Anyway, back to the suit. My literal goat bakugo (who will get a post for himself because his character development is so amazingly beautiful) got the whole class to donate money for eight years, eight years to get Midoriya a new suit, he understood how important his dream was to him and did all that because he believed in him.

BUT, even if midoriya had remained a teacher, that would still be cool with me. He's still here encouraging a new generation of teens.

But... yeah, just wanted to get my two cents in because people framing midoriya as a lover is getting me upset especially cause he always gets alot of flak for expressing emotion as he does or like... existing as a character.

Nah, but to get real real Izuku Midoriya means so much to me as a character and a concept. Like call me a glazer or whatever but it's true. He's passionate, kind, brave, loyal and such a good person. Even when he doesn't get his dream he's ready to dedicate his life to helping others achieve theirs. What is that if not selflessness????

ANYWAYS, just tired of people acting like he ended up like some 'loser' when he literally became a hero. That's why he's in the big spread of everyone when they're all grown. Cause he's saving lives like they are

[violetkituwu]

Ok, I’m seeing some discourse on the Percy Jackson show so I’d like to throw in my two cents.

a. the show isn’t poorly written, the story is just a bit different than the books, he looked at his old work with his experience and a new medium and adjusted it. After all Percy isn’t stupid, he is smart enough to not fall for the monster in mortal disguises when there is shit like people statues that are terrified or ignore an obvious parallel Annabeth pointed out. Of course those failures aren’t there! These three still mess up, they don’t just easily succeed. Same with the new books, they are equally well written, sure there are moments like Samirah’s whole hijab thing (which I couldn’t find in my copy) but he still tried with it, and there are funny little moments in both the show and the book, y’all just don’t notice it it seems, he matured the humorous bits for a more mature audience.

b. the story is a bit different sure but there were only 8 episodes to jam a whole book into! There had to be cuts, and we get a different perspective so there is new stuff to show. Also the show nails the characterization.

c. Yeah there is stuff that I dislike about the show like Procrustes being done the way it was. But there are some better done scenes and choices.

d. If you don’t like it you can just leave it at that. Your dislike doesn’t mean the writing is bad or the plot is too changed. Yeah the move sucked because of it’s changes but that’s mostly the destruction of the characters and slaughter of the plot. In the show the plot is very similar and the book’s characterization is just reinforced with the show.

No hate to anyone who dislikes the show though, I’m just dumping my thoughts out.

[bonesandthebees]

If I can give my two cents on this (also obviously /nm, just from like a genuinely place of discussion):

I just think it's not that deep. Most of the people I've seen saying things like "they're my ocs now" are really not coming from any place of malice. There's a lot of serious stuff going on in the fandom with the content creators and it really does not hurt anyone to be like "they're mine now". It's a way for people to be like "I am not writing about the real people in any shape or form. I'm taking the base characters and writing them in aus and such. They're disconnected from what's going on."

People have been doing that for ages in fandom, even this fandom, and it's not some kind of like. crime. It's such a dumb thing to discourse about because like just let people do what they want.

Taking a character you love and writing them differently in a fic or something where they're not their canon counterpart is really really common. Not to mention the many times ccs like Wilbur have said that the characters "belong to the fandom". Also, c!Phil's wings, c!Quackity's scar, c!Wilbur's white hair streak, c!Wilbur's train limbo, c!Skephalo being c!Sapnap's parents, and so many other things in canon have come from the fans. A lot of these characters exist because people made animatics and art which inspired the ccs to keep making the story.

I think as long as you're respecting boundaries when writing them, you're pretty free to call them your oc. Like, within my own fics, I've completely rewritten c!Technoblade for one of my modern aus because of the life that he's lived in it. He's still the same base character at his core and thusly I'm respecting boundaries, but other than that, he could probably pass for an oc. Like I just don't think it's that deep to be like "these are my characters now because I don't like the people who made them."

And I detest the idea of "you hate the media so you have to leave the fandom". It's probably one of the worst takes I've seen time and time again. Like there's a difference between being negative about it every single day and being critical of how it is written. I really love this series even if I hated one part of it. I'm not leaving just because of that.

anyways if this is poorly phrased I am rather tired rn and I wrote this quickly but yeah my thoughts on the whole. I just don't think it's worth fighting over some teenagers wanting to emphasize the fact that their writing is separate from the ccs.

(this entire response is also /nm it's just a discussion)

I think we're just seeing different sides of twitter because I understand saying they're your ocs in a non-malicious way, but I've genuinely been seeing more intense takes on the situation in a way that just irks me. Also, I'm not referring to making them your ocs as in just putting them in different aus and keeping the core of their character, because I do that too! But they're not your ocs in that sense. You're still taking their characterization from canon. They still share the same names and aspects of their appearance with a cc. And again, I'm all for people just having fun in fandom don't get me wrong, I'm just seeing it phrased in certain ways on twitter that's really irking me.

Also of course you can be critical about a piece of media you're in a fandom for. I'm critical of a lot of writing choices in dsmp. That's not what I'm referring to. When I say if you're not having fun then leave, I'm referring to the people who literally hate every aspect of the media and fandom and that's all they talk about. Like, you're just making yourself miserable at that point, y'know?

Overall, I didn't mean to start a discussion on this, but that's my fault for not clarifying when I made my post. I just don't like the discussion going on on twitter right now because it just feels very weird and toxic in a way that's bugging me and I wanted to complain about it. But I'm not trying to attack teenagers for emphasizing their writing is separate from cc's, and that's not really what I was referring to. I can understand why my post might've sounded like that though so I totally get your point here.

Again this is /nm, but I'd rather not make this a whole thing so if anyone else sends me asks on this I'm not gonna answer them unless they have a really good point I wanna speak on.

[nigesakis]

to add on your whole shipping discourse (?) thing, i literally think zosan is so popular because, people are used to the whole "we antagonise each other / cat and mouse / i hate my wife / my husband is a man child" dynamic through het ships and so when they see a queer version of it, they're like, "oh, that's love." and then when actual ships based on friendships and respect and loyalty show up, they're just like, "hmm that's just them being friends" bcos het ppl can't fathom that you're actually supposed to Like your partner, not just tolerate them. that's just my two cents, at least (i've always thought zosan was the staight people's gay ship)

yeah exactly 😭 you said it so well

[raisinchallah]

the recent discourse re:yuri is so curious to me. my two cents is that some of it can be attributed to the very well researched book on yuri history by erica friedman that came out a couple years back which made the seemingly legit claim that the genre started with women authors. of course the whole picture is more fraught than the viral posts i see on this paint it. and the book itself has a long section on The Bad Parts of yuri. but the quotes i see people use and word of mouth fail to mention that part. i can kind of get the defensiveness bc yuri is so often dismissed as a genre JUST for the tillitation of men in a way that really erases the quite large subculture of lesbian/bi otaku and the women writers themselves. which tbf is often the case with a lot of these subcultures (sooo much "moe" was/is written by women but was imediately dismissed as a dude thing. this kind of radicalized me as a teen.). all of that being said there WAS an interesting shift these last few years on the stories being told and how they are told (maybe because of the critical/comercial success of kabi nagata's memoirs and of series like kase-san and yagakimi? the overall evolving discourse about lgbt people on the public sphere? the uptick in openly queer women writing independent webcomics? none of these? all of these and more? shrugs). i've been reading unhinged gay manga in dynastyscans for like, a decade by now. and it's become increasingly more common for them to feature adult women, people actually saying the word "lesbian", lesbian bars even. it still surprises me constantly. comic yuri hime actually split itself in two (the idea is that the core mag is for women and the other is for men. fostering this idea of yuri by women to women). even the kirara magazine started including a lot of yuribait in its publications. which is a different beast entirely but is amusing enough that it makes me go "okay who is this FOR? yuribros? just to snatch the stray lesbian reader?". sorry for the long message i am just fascinated by all of this.

no worries at all this is actually extremely interesting thank you so much for all these extra details yeah i have been curious about like general demographic surveys or such of major yuri magazines yeah that makes sense from a lot of my research as well erica friedman seems to be the main source of a lot of information about yuri i have also wondered in general if some of the confusion around the genre also seems to come from a lot of western bookstores manga hosting sites and so on seemingly grouping memoir and short like joke comics about lesbians and so on under the yuri label i mean im sure part of that online is cuz dynasty scans has a really wide interest in what they seek out and translate which like i love that this stuff has a wider audience but its odd to call it yuri yeah ive noticed that as well in terms of shifts in whats actually focused on i read one yuri manga that was also about broader yuri fandom i guess like about a lonely lesbian who wrote yuri doujins and so on helping another manga artist find her love for drawing again and talking about like actual stuff about being gay and so on idk very interesting the places things are going like i think thats the other funny thing about the new narrative around yuri is like as you said its often kinda surprising still when characters actually say they are lesbians cuz a lot of works kinda held onto like oh ur my exception oh this will fade etc idk fascinating stuff thank u also for the details about the states of different magazines very interesting also if u wanna discuss this more in dms :3

[straightlightyagami]

As for the whole age gap discourse, here's my own two cents! I, as a 19-year-old, would be unwilling to date anyone below 17 (though I'd prefer people of my own age or older). As for other people, I think it should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Like, there are certain age gaps that are never okay, but when it comes to two people who are in high school together, I think looking at the actual relationship can help determine if it's appropriate. I'd definitely side-eye a relationship between an 18-year-old and a 14-year-old, but I don't know if I'd want to say it's always predatory. I don't know, I didn't think too hard about this. What are your thoughts?

Yeah I think it’s true that some factors depend case by case. I personally have a hard time imagining a relationship between a 14 year old and an 18 year old where it’s not a glaring issue though. Imo like, a 13 yo and an 18 yo is clearly predatory, a 16 yo and an 18 yo is clearly fine. 15 and 18 exactly 3 years is legal and probably fine, ig (i’ve seen it work out for some people but i think also there are many cases where it wouldn’t). 14 and 18 is ehhh I don’t know if it’s predatory exactly but personally i don’t think is a good idea at all in any case I can come up with. I would question the 18 year old’s decision to go ahead with this relationship. there are differences between different people of course but imo if you had to draw a hard bound for an age difference in a relationship where at least one of the people is a minor 3 years works pretty well.

Last post on the subject I just didn’t want to leave your ask unanswered. Deleted the other posts btw bc I don’t really like this discourse and idk why I posted it in the first place (thank you for the ask though!)

[lindszeppelin]

Hello! Another lurker here. Forgive me this is meant more for another anon. With all due respect, it’s somewhat irritating that people always want to throw the word “hate” when it comes to not liking Kaia or not shipping this relationship. I personally don’t hate her I don’t even know her or Austin. I just don’t care for her and I am a fan of Austin and support his career, not her. That shouldn’t mean I need to be forced to kiss the ground she walks on just because she’s dating Austin (still neither one has come out and verbally said they are in a relationship, just saying…since people want to assume everything based off of pap pics and sightings haha) The issue really is the stans who are so obsessed with their personal life and try to force everyone to love and ship the relationship. You can still respect someone and not like them.

Oh so Austin confirmed he moved in a new GQ article? Well I’m sure Mollie and her morons are just jumping for joy and this is the ultimate confirmation they moved in together lmao. He still has yet to actually say he’s in a relationship or mention he has a girlfriend 🤷‍♀️

Also I love your blog and it’s a nice change of scenery from the cluster fuck of Twitter and Instagram. :)

alright last anon im gonna answer before i gotta get back to the grind!

Hate is a strong word and I was taught that as well, so I would agree. "Strongly Dislike" is what i've went for when I want to say i hate somebody lol. It's the same vibe but hate should be reserved for people who are destined for one of the rings in hell when they get there lol.

As per the GQ article he said "I recently moved" or "I just moved". Something to that effect. So that is concrete evidence from his mouth, which is what I was looking for. But like I said, just because he said he moved that does not imply that he moved in with her. The whole "moving in" debacle is trite at this point since we debunked that. But like I said, I feel like he himself moved into a new house separate from her.

But yeah you're right, neither of them have confirmed anything so lol.

And you're welcome im glad you feel comfortable coming to my blog to give your two cents. I always welcome constructive discourse.

[luxshine]

I posted 1,680 times in 2022

That's 303 more posts than 2021!

860 posts created (51%)

820 posts reblogged (49%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@drifting-pieces-blog-blog

@ragnell

@lunaresystem

@enigmatist17

@stealth-liberal

I tagged 898 of my posts in 2022

Only 47% of my posts had no tags

#amigurumi - 280 posts

#murphysplushtrips - 279 posts

#murphysplush - 273 posts

#yarncraft - 215 posts

#moon knight - 174 posts

#sdcc2022 - 74 posts

#cats - 74 posts

#webcomic - 70 posts

#yarncrafts - 62 posts

#building blocks - 61 posts

Longest Tag: 93 characters

#as she complained about her status as a glorified cameo and wanted byrne back on her pencils.

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Queerbaiting in real life -and it's not what you think it is.

So this is no longer 2 cents. This is a whole dollar because I am sick and tired of certain parts of the fandom discourse re: what happened with Misha. Because I KEEP reading people having to "forgive" (or, conversely "hating") Misha for "queerbaiting" us and In the wise words of Inigo Montoya: You keep using that word, it doesn't mean what you think it means.

(Once again, YOUR feelings about the situation ARE valid, yes. You have the absolute right to feel hurt over everything that happened. BUT I also urge you to consider WHY are you hurt, and WHO hurt you. Especially given the horrible biphobia that the fandom showed even BEFORE Misha spoke up)

Queerbaiting is, at its core, "the practice of implying non-straight relationships or attraction to engage or attract an LGBTQ audience or otherwise generate interest without ever actually depicting such relationships or sexual interactions". Which means that no, a real person can't "queerbait" because come on, do we want everyone to parade their private lives around all the time? (This is even HARDER for say, a bi person. I mean, are we REALLY going to start asking for queer credentials and demand every bi person is in a poly relationship with partners of more than one gender just to prove they're bi? WTF people!)

More importantly, what kind of benefit would this weekend have? No one sold tickets "so you could hear the most incredible secret of Misha's life", and while Stands did send that mail about the pins and everything... well, if everything HAD been a pr move, don't you think it would've lasted MORE than three days? I mean, at least until SOMEONE bought something and couldn't take the order back!

And besides... We, society, know EXACTLY what "RL" queerbaiting looks like. And yes, the younger members of fandom may not know about this, but I side eye any 30 + year old Queer who ignores this.

Allow me to introduce you to t.A.T.u:

This video? Was SO SHOCKING in 2002 that the UK wanted to forbid it world wide.

t.A.T.u was a Russian (YES, I know) girlband formed by Lena Katina and Julia Volkova in 2001, when both girls were 15. They came from a children's music group named Neposedy and had been scouted specifically by producer and director Ivan Shapovalov in order to fulfill a very curious concept he had.

The name of the group (usually pronounced Tattoo) comes from the phrase Та любит ту (ta lyubit tu) which literally means "This girl loves that girl" so... yeah, the concept was VERY Clear if you add the video up there, right?

And I mean it, there was NO official image of these two that was not dripping with sapphic longing

See the full post

108 notes - Posted April 27, 2022

#4

I can't sleep, so hey, my .2 cents on what happened.

First, disclaimer: I am a cis-bisexual woman who was lucky enough to be born to two very open minded parents (and, ironically a match made in homophobic heaven. My dad was gay, and only married because he wanted kids and he didn't want to come out to his mother, My mom is a lesbian who, up until three years ago, was in the most transparent closet in the universe and ALSO married just because she wanted children and didn't want to come out to her family, AND the other option was a convent. So, yeah) and while I had had that one very awkward "but are you SURE you are not 100% gay? I mean, you can be gay and we'll love you anyway" conversation I think every bi and pan person has had at some point in their lives, I never had the impression that I had to HIDE that I liked both boys and girls when I was growing up from my PARENTS.

Clear point there: My parents.

So in a way, the whole "Coming out to family and friends" is a bit alien to me.

Even now, I didn't really came out as much as I stopped denying it when asked point out. So, when the first news came out about Misha's slip of tongue on Friday? I was happy for him because THAT's exactly how I -and many, many of my Bi friends- ended up coming out. Casually, by accident, and trying to change the subject to a different thing.

HOWEVER... I also don't blame him for correcting himself ("taking it back") for two reasons:

If his current label is straight? Then good for him that he corrected the record as soon as he could -even if I find it weird that he didn't know about it until now as I assume there were a lot of bi-fans squealing the whole weekend- because doing otherwise WOULD be really bad and leading on fans (See: T.a.T.u for the best example of that. RL Queerbaiting, no joke) And yes, I said CURRENT label because I 100% believe that sexuality is fluid. A person can identify as cis-straight at one point of their lives, then as cis gay, then as trans-gay after a long road of discovery, then as trans straight when they realize that they were attracted to the opposite gender (To their REAL gender, not their ASAB gender) all along, and it is ALL Valid.

However... IF he is Bisexual? Then we have to consider WHY he might have felt he had to take it back, and it was not JUST that it was made a big deal out of it in the Media and Social Media.

I mean... the reactions that were not 100% supportive? Were a cesspool of horrible biphobia that just reminded me of the one truth that every queer person knows: No matter how safe you think you are, no matter how much you trust the people around, no matter how much society insists that it's OK to be GAY now? Coming out is ALWAYS hard, and it will always HAVE backlash.

Coming out as Bi, Pan, Ace or Aro? Same thing but in HARD modality (And when you add coming out as Trans? That's Nightmare difficulty and I am so sorry it is so)

So yeah, I can see someone trying their toes in the queer pool, coming out as a bit of a joke, as a bit of a casual thing, trying to see how the label fits. And then being first love bombed -because as far as I know, in the con itself? It was all love, rainbows and puppies- but then coming back to reality and social media and... well, reading all THAT.

Some queer people could say "Ok, my bed, I laid on it, I can do this." But others? Well, others could go "yeah... no. This... This is not worth it. I can go back to the safe presenting side and... just hide part of me". AND BOTH ARE VALID. BOTH ARE OK. BECAUSE we all have to remember that every individual's path is, well, individual.

So, as I stand, for me there are two possibilities: Either Misha is Straight, he misspoke, he apologized and we should all respect that -which doesn't necessarily means forgiving him or accepting the apology. That's something YOU have to decide on your own. Just, respect that he APOLOGIZED- or he is Bisexual, got very spooked at coming out and ran back into the closet, which should ALSO be respected if it's the truth because rule number ONE of the Queer fight club is : WE DO NOT FORCE ANYONE OUT OF THE CLOSET.

So TL;DR? If Misha is identifying as straight? I respect that. If he at a later time changes his label? I WILL respect that and NOT take this incident as a point against him. Is it FAIR and OK if you felt hurt by the REACTIONS around it, but it is also important to remember that he is human, he also has feelings and, INCLUDING his apology? He has NEVER once gave us a reason to believe he is not at the very least a great ally who is willing to learn, to listen and to CHANGE his attitudes if needed.

And I think that's what we all should take out from this (Besides the importance of re-visiting at a later time the fact that for a very gay friendly fandom? There's also a lot of virulent biphobia going around)

OH! And if you need a safe place to come out? My DMS are open. Seriously, I can be your trial run for typing those words if you need one. My services as queer fandom auntie are always, always open for everyone.

132 notes - Posted April 26, 2022

#3

The Moon Knight #15 preview has Steven saying EXACTLY what we all have been thinking.

And of course, he gets STRAIGHT to a barber. Because Steven Grant is NOT going to let the body he and his headmates use look like an emo kid from the early 2000.

187 notes - Posted September 2, 2022

#2

Believe it or not, this is one of the BIGGEST honors someone can get in Mexico. Your own bootleg TORTAS food cart (Tortas or tacos. Both work)

BTW, "Tortas ahogadas" are literally "Drowned Tortas", which are basically your average torta pretty much drowned in salsa.

212 notes - Posted November 17, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

American Uterus-having people:

I'm so sorry about what is going on, but you guys aren't defeated yet. Because of the leak? You have time to organize, protest and fight this draconian thing. Just... FIGHT. Don't stop sharing links, don't stop informing people of what is going on and what is at stake.

Non-Uterus having people, while you may think this doesn't affect you?Remember, this is just the first step back to the dark ages. And you won't like where this ends. So please, please, please, fight with your uterus having friends. Help them to protect reproductive rights, and that, in the end, will protect you too.

I'm not in the USA, and I'm not a citizen. So I can't vote and help you guys overturn this. But I can help you raise your voice, and retweet and reblog and let people know what's going on. And I will. Because this is not over, and the good guys can still win.

(Also, if you need a shoulder to cry, I'm here. We're all together in this)

246 notes - Posted May 3, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[crossover-enthusiast]

Ima put my two cents on the whole skid dad being immortal thing because idk I have mixed feelings about it

on one hand yeah it would be messed up to find out that skid dad knew Lila since she was a kid and pretty much waited till she got older to date her and all the cute fan art and nothing bad happens Aus goes down the drain..

but on the other hand it’s pretty stupid how quick the people will turn on Sr pelo if that ever becomes canon like the fandom literally simp over a cannibal serial killer AND ship him with the the guy that got his arm ripped off and eaten by him

plus it’s not like the first time Sr pelo made fuck up characters for spooky month

Dexter killed animals (specifically cats)

frank kidnap kids and sells them for money

Roy uncle is a sexual predator

THE CULT

So yeah will it be gross that skid dad was stalking Lila the whole time and got with her when she was a adult? uh yeah that would be gross but at the same time he is the bad guy so people shouldn’t act surprised when the bad guy turns out to be a horrible person

but on the other hand it’s pretty stupid how quick the people will turn on Sr pelo if that ever becomes canon like the fandom literally simp over a cannibal serial killer AND ship him with the the guy that got his arm ripped off and eaten by him

HEAVILY agree with this bit. It's just gonna be a whole can of worms and aughhhh

Actually can. Can you guys stop sending me asks about this please? I appreciate asks but I am not a discourse blog and this topic is starting to make me uncomfortable

[ratchimerasvat]

Pink Addison Discourse

I've been seeing some discourse around Pink Addison around and I really don't want it to grow so I decided to give my two cents on the matter.

The whole debate is about Pink being portrayed as a stereotypical gay man, effeminate, sassy and sometimes downright mean. And the idea I've seen circulating around is that it's rooted on their looks alone, since pink is a color normally associated with female characters or sensitive gay coded men in general.

My point is, no, this is not the reason. Pink is a GNC character, referred on the game as "they/them". The way they laugh ("Ohhon!"), the fact that they are the only Addison that gets visibly annoyed when Kris refuses to buy their tea or the FreezeRing, the passive aggressiveness implied when they call Noelle "Angel"... Pink can be obnoxious!

And then there's the fact they went to sell the FreezeRing (how do they got such a dangerous item in the first place?) to lightners that were murdering people in the streets... I'm not even sure if that shows they are courageous or insanely greedy!

And lastly, but maybe the most important part... Their relation with Spamton. Pink is the only one that seems to still be mad with Spamton, even when they're mourning him. Imagine complain about a person at their own funeral... That's... Rude, to say the least. It's not a leap to imagine Pink and Spamton had some (or a lot) unfinished business with each other.

Pink Addison is the Addison we have the most material to work with, and that's great, in my opinion. I wish we had as much info on the others as we have on Pink!

So yeah, I guess Pink will keep their status as Spamton's rival but I don't think this has anything to do with their design and that's definitely not rooted in homophobia as I've read somewhere.

Also, I used to HC Pink as transmasc "he/him" simply because I think a pink feminine guy who can utterly destroy you is badass as fuck.

As always I’m always open to discuss.