#cuz I see her posts everywhere regardless

[ptsdickgrayson]

And that bitch is still posting abt incest.

[momo-shut-the-fuck-up]

So i ve done the main story in infinity nikki and im gonna stop playin now, before i squeeze the game dry of content and have nothing (new) to do on release.

Time for a lil review/thoughts post

I m not gonna review every single mechanic in the game, simply things that stood out to me or that i wanna talk about. I also wont add more images, i kinda want ppl to see the world for themselves... i ll share more when the game comes out tho.

There s a lot of text under this. Tldr, i like the game i think it's a solid, enjoyable experience with a good gameplay loop, the story isn't for me, and i'll keep playin of course. And u should try it too if ur device wont blow itself up tryin to run it.

Dress up

The bread and butter of Nikki games... it's good as usual. Game doesn't shy away from long skirts or coat tails or complicated ballgowns just cuz nikki can run and jump and dash now and i'm very happy bout that. There's some clipping issues once in a while, but it's nothing major and the clothes we do have in the game are lovely. There s an evolution system for some of the sets, which makes em a diff color.... usually they can evolve once, but i saw Three extra evolutions for one of the UR sets and that scares me. Bcs to evolve them u have to craft the suit again. So u have to pull 4 copies of a suit to max it out..

Combat

Game's definitely succeeding in its quest for being cozy. There's no real stakes, combat isn't difficult in the slightest but i do welcome it- super simple but it's pretty fun regardless. The boss fights were surprisingly creative and fun for what they are, it's just unfortunate that you have to do them more than once or twice (crafting mats)- but they do change what the boss does so it's different depending on what mat u are farming for... and u can claim double or triple or however much stamina u got-le of the mat after u complete it once. So that s rly nice.

Exploration

I actually think it's really really good. Again this isn't a difficult or complicated game, not yet i guess... but with the major goal being "get new clothes" and "take pretty pictures maybe", the open world feels actively engaging to participate in. There's collectibles everywhere, little challenges you can do that are diverse but quick, styling battles, collecting everythin from animals fur to bugs to fish, and allll of this brings u closer to that never ending goal of woo more clothes.

However even if a challenge doesnt give you a blueprint, it's still just. Really Nice to exist in this world. It's very whimsical, as expected of Lilith, and the world has a combination of realism and cartoon artstyle that is just soso appealing to me. It's genuinely how i would've imagined miraland to look in 3d. Shame it's not the same miraland we know..

Story

Hmm... silly is one word i could use for it. Cute also. The story isn't doin anythin bad per se, and i did start skippin dialogue near the end w the pieceys because i want to keep at least Some part of the story for the game's release... but i get the gist of it, and it s just not my thing.

It feels like a story made for children, and it definitely would get a G rating. Easy and simple to follow, there's moments of tension or sadness sure but with the antagonist bein a literal babie lookin cutey fairy with a grown man's voice, or the creatures that i'm interacting with are a bunch of. Fuckin weird lookin big eyed balls of fabric that look closer to plushies than somethin Alive... it's all so silly and dramatic sometimes i can t help but cringe.

Part of it is a me problem, if u just open ur heart and free urself from the cringe the story is fine. It's just a little too kiddy for me and i so desperately hope it won't stay like this forever. My prayers might be answered though, there's a whole war beyond the borders and we have refugees around... shit's lookin bad for Umbrosa.

Other things i noticed that i liked:

The effect on nikki's skin when it's raining, she actually has water dripping down her face... its so cool

Momo capes are actually kinda neat ngl. Especially cuz the fucker follows u around everywhere, at least i can bedazzle him

Npc models look really good im a fan. They do suffer from "everyone is very beautiful" syndrome, which makes some of the npc villains look/sound ridiculous, but they have kid-teen-adult-elderly versions of models (i never see teen models in these games! Its cool!) And some body variation. The grandmas look so lovely i cry

The dark skin tone is really dark, and it looks quite nice and natural.

The lighting engine in this game is just rly good in general. God bless UE5

The edges of the map where there s forest, which u obv cant go thru, the forest is made to be darker, thicker.... i m a huge fan of this idk y. It's not just *invisible wall in front of an open field* nopee cant go there lets explore that area later tee hee. And it looks good to boot.

Camera function is p robust, has more options for changin brightness/saturation/contrast etc which i feel Shining Nikki lacks.

Some of the creature designs are so good man i looove themm <3.... the pieces are awful tho. Ok creature design is a hit and miss sometimes but the stray hatty? Peak. All the weirdy fashionable animals? Peak.

Bein able to quick switch thru ur saved sets while in the overworld is real neat

Oke that was it. Bye

[lestappenforever]

I’m gonna have your back here. I love seeing how Max is so sweet around children and it’s beautiful that he has such a good relationship with P. /without/ trying to take the place of her father. He’s been as respectful as he could be regarding the father/daughter relationship she still rightfully have with her dad and I’ll forever cherish the fact that he has been so careful about it.

BUT. As much as I do find cute seeing P. hugging and kissing him as he is streaming, I still find very problematic to see kids constantly putted on social media. I censored a family friend’s kid that I was holding in a pic I sent /privately/ to a friend because I didn’t feel comfortable sharing their face without consent from the mother.

I get that most of the time the pic/video we get are from family gatherings/because P. suddenly get in frame as Max is streaming, and the goal is /not/ to show and parade her around as family vlogs do (it’s disgusting really how some people openly exploit their children like that) BUT still she cannot consent to have her face all over the internet.

Even if in the F1 fandom most of the comments are harmless (all kinda being about max being a positive figure for her or being such a girl “dad” and breaking the circle of violence is father started) there are still a lot of people online who WILL have inappropriate thoughts and reactions toward a /kid/.

I get that this sport has basically become a big media circus thanks (ironically) to DtS, but people still need to remember that drivers are athletes and they are allowed to have a private life, especially concerning their families and KIDS.

I myself am guilty to enjoy watching Charles holding a baby ever so kindly, cuz it makes my heart melt, but as much as I appreciate it in a pure way I DO KNOW that people are not all good hearted and without malice and I’d prefer to not see this things at all then bearing the guilt of giving pedo****s free content.

I am an adult and although I do understand the consequences of posting my face online I still sometimes feel disgusted if my mind lingers too long on what people might do with my pics.

Now imagine growing up and finding out your parents have posted your face everywhere without thinking about consequences and without your consent and you’ll never be able to delete those contents because what internet takes internet will never give back.

So yeah, ok, at least he didn’t show her face but should we really praise him for doing the f bare minimum to protect a child’s privacy? Maybe not.

Anon, this is so well put and I don't really have anything to add to this because you've hit the nail on the head here. And thank you so much for your support!

The only thing I will add is an example that has haunted me since it happened and will continue to haunt me forever: Not too long ago, David Beckham posted a picture on Instagram where his daughter is kissing him on the mouth. An innocent display of affection many children share with their parents. And the comments were flooded with people sexualizing it. I will never be able to unsee some of the comments I saw on that post. If that doesn’t tell you everything you need to know about the fucked up people that lurk on social media and the absolute horror you can potentially subject your child to, then I don't know what does.

It really is true what you said, anon: What internet takes, internet will never give back. This is important for each and every person out there to remember and be mindful of, regardless of age. But it's especially important to remember that when content of children is being posted.

[kayoi1234]

*still vibrating*

there's people who meta-vote, aka what happened in t1: it's when instead of voting according to forgiveness and personal opinion, you vote according to: - probable outcomes of verdicts - the public opinion going around and how much it is agreed on - what you think will happen to other characters if the current prisoner is judged forgiven/unforgiven

in t1 the reasoning was that by voting her unforgiven, it'd make her realize that shes doing bad things/the cult is wrong or something with "tough love", well guess what!! that only reaffirmed her more!!! because though love is exactly what the cult used on her!!!!!

also that bit about shidou: yeah he wont get shanked Now, but people still worry about her sabotaging his stuff. in the t2 voice drama she get her hands on scissors, hides them in her long sleeves, and tries to attack es (who is by all means untouchable if the intent of the prisoner is to cause harm), and while attacking other prisoners while es is awake is (iirc) impossible, who knows what she'll do between trials when theyre asleep for (probably) months !! she got the fucking scissors from a supply closet !! who knows what else is in there!!! (i havent read minigram but iirc they talk about it there? dont take my word for it)

meta voting Also happened to shidou, who has an interesting dilemma regarding his judgement: while he still thinks he shouldn't be forgiven, he sees how much he's needed in the prison (Triage: "Shall I fulfill your request and elect to live / ... / See, indispensable, I’m indispensable") and directly asks to be forgiven Because, after loosing his family, he has a reason to live again!! (Triage: "I want to be [forgiven], I want to live!" / "That’s right, there are lives that need safeguarding / So hey, prolong my life, I’m indispensable") all of that, regardless of what he actually did, got him a forgiven judgement anyway!!

it also happened to mikoto in t1 to a lesser extent (and i hesitate calling this meta-voting): tiktok people happened to found MeMe, saw the bathroom scenes, "damn he's hot *votes forgiven*". didnt really matter cuz his t1 ration is 31,57% forgiven to 68,43% unforgiven

this post got derailed but i hope you enjoy getting paragraphs from me first thing in the morning *hits send*

One: the beauty of being Australian is that whilst it might be morning for you it is like 7:20PM here so I am at the Exact Right Time to process new information

Two: Meta voting is such a wild concept and yet it is the exact thing that happens in real life when we vote for politicians lmao art imitates life or whatever lol.

But also it’s really funny that people did it the first time round with Amane, found out it didn’t work, and yet there are still people going “well maybe it’ll work a second time?” With the same amount of confidence as the person who planted bamboo in the ground and said “It’s not going to grow everywhere!”

Anyways also Shidou is real interesting because i’m ninety percent sure this isn’t going to do wonders for his mental health lol rip Dr Malpractice maybe you shouldn’t have stolen all those organs.

(Also poor Mikoto man. Wakes up in prison told he’s killed someone yet he can’t remember shit, gets called a murderer when he explicitly remembers Not Doing That, then the ps5 in his brain tells him he’s hot but also a killer and hey there’s another guy in here but no one ever tells him about the other guy in there because no one knows whats gonna happen if they do that all because some kid with twitch chat also in their brain ran a poll on some funky music video they got out of his head and went “Well sorry dude but unforgiven I guess”.

Also maybe there are actually three mikotos which is. You know the depths of the boy surely knows no bounds.)

[embraceyourdestiny]

I don't blame Laura myself (she's one of my favorites, after all), I was giving my perception of how it was to Travis. And Travis, "You said no more killing, ma," Hackett isn't likely to stab someone without feeling like they deserve it.

While he might initially view her as young, by trying to (from his perspective) take his life so that she can harm his family, she likely became an adult in his eyes. "Legal adult" is internet terminology in that context, but the core concept of someone old enough to be responsible for their actions is everywhere. Chances are, the Hacketts set the age of responsibility significantly below average in his case, so the number is more malleable in his mind.

Communicating clearly could have avoided a lot of trouble, but can be physically difficult if you grew up having your words used against you and/or dismissed. Travis goes into conversations assuming the person is going to ignore or weaponize everything he says. Obfuscating is safer for him, because he is less likely to be punished for "bad reasoning" and he expects them to do what they want regardless of his concerns. He told Laura about the white wolf, and she decided to kill his brother instead of helping him end the problem at its source and save his family along with her boyfriend, which only confirms to him that honest communication is dangerous.

While the game warns us that he will kill Laura because she shot him, we don't know that he would have done so if she had left his family alone. I.e. if she took a car and tried to put as much distance between herself and North Kill. In that situation, he may have let her live if he caught her, but approached her as a fugitive who deserves to rot in jail. I personally see Kaylee's death as his breaking point, not being shot.

She was his proof that people can be good. If Laura chooses not to hurt him, then she is her own proof. Kaylee may be gone, but he still has hope that humanity is able to be better than what he knows. Without a light to turn to, he succumbs to the darkness he was raised with because being "better" is pointless if all it does is get you hurt.

I don't think he was a "good guy", or making the right choices, I just can understand his perspective.

(Thanks for chatting!)

Here a more in-depth reply continuing a similar conversation with another person

I don’t really have much to say to this because I feel like I covered this in the other post but I will say a lot of the thoughts you bring up are mostly inferences / assumptions / hypotheticals and not anything founded by canon (like the assumption of ‘good communication and consequence’, unless you have evidence which id love to see, or if Laura found a car) so I don’t really wanna touch that because it’s gonna turn into semantics about things that aren’t canon so imo i don’t wanna talk about that when I’m specifically talking about what happens/ can happen, (if you wanna analyze / character study Travis in my inbox tho, go right ahead!) so I hope you’ll understand where I’m coming from with that. Cuz if we wanted to get into the nitty gritty of character motivation and our assumptions and such we absolutely can but that is an entirely separate conversation than the one I was having originally, where the point was that in that specific playthrough the math isn’t mathing for Travis to me. Like I said, feelings are justified, but his actions? Personally, I think no. Because Travis is forgetting Laura is still a victim. He’s a victim too, in some regards, but when it comes to her and max he’s literally their capturer and he WOULD go to jail if anyone found out (and if our system was just 🙃)

Oh and in case you don’t read the other post, the biggest thing is that he kills human Laura after the curse is broken. Werewolf Laura ofc makes sense for various reasons, but killing Laura after everything is over? It’s just petty lmao like idk I have a real shit family life and know how easy it is to get involved in family bullshit but he didn’t see Laura as an innocent because she… angered him? Escaped? I guess you can say she “foiled the plan” but still, is that enough to be determined to murder someone that you stab them multiple times with a broken mirror, and then try to kill another person there who was also a victim?? Maybe something deeper is being hinted at though. The animalistic nature. Because Travis definitely looks crazed when he charges for Ryan. Maybe he metaphorically had a wolf in him the whole time. Who knows.

[zumpietoo]

When some bitchy sock accounts decide to publicly troll/send hate and get called on it.....all the world’s bunched panties:

Once again, I absolutely haattteeee defending Babyman, but, he’s actually right here and you’re completely wrong. He’s “dramatic” because y’all post vile, mouth foaming gibberish where he has to see it, insulting him and the rest of the show’s crew, all because you aren’t getting your preferred pretend couple....and, hilariously, it’s because your kween is a dumb, slutty cunt. 

And while IDK if that’s true for the cast, if it is??? How does that make it okay? Plus FT whined everywhere when she chose to piss off OG BH stans----and currently, because you like her, you’re fine with her having been an ass.....so, again, nooopppppee....

Ummm....pretty sure in 15 years he’ll be fine and you’ll be screaming somewhere about not having gotten your way, Kettlebullshitchip.

From the bitch who whines endlessly....plus here’s a thought....how do YOU feel when others point out YOUR complete lack of talent as a fic writer? Yeah, we know, freak out, martyr yourself, etc.....so why, again, does one set of rules apply to you and not to him? 

Plus we’re talking about you’re reduced to this level when anything remotely less than ebullient praise pops up. You guys (and we all know it was you) posted hate. ON his public account.

Ummm.....dude.....your depiction of Ted is ltierally yourself. And you’d be pissed regardless of how he turned off or on comments. 

Says the gaslighter who routinely throws tantrums, pushes racism and openly lies about “scuttlebutt”....and then gets pissy when it’s pointed out to her....

Dude, you’re the preschoolers...

And actually, no, all the writers react like this and, again, why are you acting like it’s cool to send hate at all? Oh right, cuz you do it....

He’s talking about the crew....and yeah, they do work the equivalent of Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle’s work days....

Ummm....dude, he’s a lead writer on a network show (and was before), you write abysmal fanfic. I agree he sucks, but I don’t think you get to give HIM “career tips”.....that said, I wonder how they’d react if peeps starting posting negative comments on their fics?

First off, no....he’s an asshole, etc....but this was RAS’s OG plan AND your kween is why this happened. Secondly? If you’re merely “moderately interested”, why are you here, why did you send me hate so I blocked you and why did you block me? 

That’s a lot of work for some show you’re only casually invested in. And, again, sending anybody hate is wrong. The end. 

A) WTF is she even saying? She’d laugh if he was dying?

B) Ummm.....he’s allowed to have SM, dude.....it, again, isn’t exclusively for yourself and your GG friends to bully people with. And he’s entitled to enjoy it/post what he likes, etc....

C) Why do you scream into the void, post hate, etc when you know it’ll get you nowhere? Or think anybody GAF if you’re happy or not?

Again, being teenagers doesn’t entitle them to be hateful assholes. Funny how this is lost on you.

Again, they aren’t exempt because they’re teens.....you don’t get to be an asshole because you want to be or aren’t 18. And, again, we see your reactions any time something critical is sent to you....

Ummm.....dude, if you don’t like what he’s saying/think it’s boring, maybe don’t go read it? Plus, no, him posting shit you don’t like doesn’t entitle you to send hate.....in fact, by this express argument, I guess you’ll be fine with peeps sending you hate on anon? 

And LBR, it’s his JOB to do this....and, again, I hate Babyman, but you guys are in the wrong. 

Ummm....so you’d be fine about that and then peeps posting vile comments about your “work” publicly? I bet if your “clients” (I really question this) were even remotely critical, you’d throw a hissy fit. 

Plus, not the same fucking thing, you idiot. And he was talking about the crew. Again....maybe you should work on reading comprehension....

And yet you struggle to compose single, declarative sentences, are fine with another writer receiving public hate and actually think PP’s eloquent....dude, I don’t think writing for your 6th grade school paper counts as “journalism”....

Oh and you can’t discern the painful false analogy you’re making.....and are so delusional you think you’re on the same level as the writers and get to dictate story lines and terms....

No he doesn’t “hate his job”, he hates receiving vile public hate from assholes....and I say this, again, as somebody who largely thinks he sucks. Love how, again, you think you know everything.

Ummm....he’s doing promo for the show/his job....why does he need to tailor what he posts to please you? And where’s this outrage at your kween when she shoots off HER yap?

Again, maybe peeps should just not post hate? This is literally like the reverse of the “instead of teaching girls to manage male aggression, teach boys not to assault them”.....instead of insisting Babyman “turn the other cheek”, maybe don’t post vile comments?

Ummm.....slizzypinto, grammar check!!! Are you also a “boss at a well known journalism”?

If this were true, feel bad for him....buuuutt....again, he’s not the one posting hate (where he has to see it) and then convincing himself he’s entitled to be an asshole. Which would be childish....

Also, kettlebullshitchip, your grammar is bad....interesting. 

Actually it’s there all the fucking time. And, again, there’s no excuse for it. And, honestly, that’s quite rude. And that it’s only a few assholes, also does not excuse it. 

Plus, wow, your grammar keeps getting worse and worse.....journalism/copywriter indeed.....

Plus so you want to meet him and terrorize him? And think it’ll be cool if you do so? Gross.....

[sserpente]

So um I saw this twitter post on how the main reason the loki series was created in the first place was to make loki the first main character in the mcu to be bi, is this true? I mean I thought the reason it was created was because marvel wanted to continue on where loki went after he escaped in endgame. I know I shouldn't just belive everything I read on the Internet that's why I'm asking you about this. I kinda belive it for a second cuz ever since ep 3 of loki came out, Kate herron has been kinda pushing the fact that loki is bi in everybody's throats in a twitter post of hers and I quote "it was very important to me, and my goal, to acknowledge loki was bisexual." So yeah, I just need a second opinion on this cuz lately marvel has been kinda woke if you know what I mean if you know about the whole controversies on their new comics. I really don't want any of this to be real. I'm really looking forward to your response.

*blinks* Okay, first of all, I'm flattered you want my opinion on this because I didn't even work on the show and I am, in fact, just another Loki girl on the Internet, haha! Okay, so here me out:

The main reason? I really doubt that! The reason we got a Loki show is because Tom Hiddleston has been stealing the show for years. In fact, I strongly believe that it is OUR passion for this character and HIS incredible talent and commitment that Marvel went ahead with his own series. If Tom's Loki wasn't this popular, I'm pretty sure he would have stayed dead after TDW. So don't worry about that. ♥

As far as I'm concerned, Kate is bisexual herself. She loves Loki as a character, so her passion for this is understandable. I support the LGBTQ+ community with all my heart, so I too cheered when Loki cheekily went "A bit of both". They worked this lovely aspect of his character into the show and given that it's always been there both in the comics and in the myths, it was only a matter of time in the show, I guess. After all, they didn't really have the time to focus on that in the Thor films.

But, and this is very important now: Loki being bisexual doesn't define him. It's a meaningful aspect of him (an aspect that resonates with many fans which is great), part of who he is, sure--but it doesn't define him as a fictional character. He is Loki, the God of Mischief, not Loki, the MCU character who is a bisexual. A friend of mine is a lesbian but if I pointed this out to her every time we met or only referred to her as such, she would go mad. And she certainly wouldn’t keep talking about her being a lesbian every time we met either. It doesn’t define her. It’s part of who she is but it doesn’t define her entire being, let alone reduces her to that. Just... let people love whoever they want, you know?

In other words, I remember there being a few discussions on whether the show should include Loki’s sexuality or even love interests before it came out and I understood that worry to some extent simply because Loki has a lot on his plate right now. Think about it:

The last thing that happened to him was him finding out that he is a Frost Giant, why Odin favoured Thor all these years and that his entire life is a lie, him starting a desperate attempt to gain his adoptive father’s recognition, failing, trying to commit suicide, ending up with Thanos instead, getting tortured and being forced to invade New York City, failing again (presumably even intentionally) and now being about to be brought back to Asgard expecting Odin to execute him (which is not far-fetched—Odin said ‘Frigga is the only reason you’re still alive and you will never see her again’ in TDW so I’m sure Loki was almost certain to be executed by Odin). So when the Tesseract landed at his feet, he saw his chance so he took it and escaped and now the TVA is telling him that he shouldn't exist and forces him to work for them, else he will be disintegrated and he learns that he can't return to his own timeline, has no home. He is struggling with his identity and finding his place in the world, figuring out who he is and what he wants. Now imagine making all that only about his sexuality and gender identity and disregarding everything else or shoving it in the background. Doesn't make sense, right? Loki must learn to love himself first before anyone else, regardless of their gender identity, can love him. If he ever gets love interests in the future, I'm pretty sure it'll be a process full of angst and hurt. I don't know anything about those alleged controversies concerning the new comics though, so I wouldn't be able to comment on that.

A lot of people are staining society with their negativity and try to find negative aspects everywhere which is why I never interact with such posts on here or elsewhere, it’s not worth my energy. It starts with bisexuals who happen to end up in a relationship with the opposite gender and are being judged for it even within their own community and as of right now it continues where some individuals on the Internet insist that we all must now use "they/them" pronouns for Loki when even in the show, they use "he/him" pronouns for him and "she/her" pronouns for Sylvie--not every non-binary/genderfluid person exclusively uses “they/them” pronouns.

Most importantly, I really doubt that every future episode now will keep reminding the audience that Loki is bisexual. You’re probably not familiar with her but Alex, the winner of this year’s season of Germany’s Next Topmodel is transgender--and, at some point in the season, when she was asked by an interviewer about what she thinks about a transgender model winning Germany’s Next Topmodel, she said in her opinion, simply a woman would win Germany’s Next Topmodel because that is what she is, meaning that society should stop pointing out how “different” the LGBTQ+ community is by constantly pointing it out but instead to finally start acknowleding it as normal. She told her story once and that’s it--she wants to be considered a female model, not a transgender model. Being transgender is a part of her but it doesn’t define her entire being.

Puuh, now that was a very long answer. Please, anyone, feel free to add things, I’m happy to learn more about what you guys, especially if you’re in the community, think about it. ♥

[galaxy-bread345]

Part One: Where’s The Foundation

This is an analysis of Jak/Keira’s relationship in the Jak and Daxter series specifically why I think it doesn’t work. This analysis only covers the first three games and potentially Jak X if I feel up to it. I will not be going over The Lost Frontier cuz I don’t see it as canon and I have no desire to analyze it. I will try to keep this analysis as unbiased as possible but understand that I have biases and they may slip through.That being said if this is a important ship to you and you don’t want to read someone being critical of it, don’t. 

Ok, lets begin with the first game The Precursor Legacy. Its established early on what everyone character archetype: Jaks the main protagonist/ hero, Daxter is the comic relief/ sidekick sorry buddy you are, and Keira is the smart friend/ love interest. As we see in the first cutscene upon meeting Keira both boys are obviously infatuated with her. Daxter tries his hardest to flirt with her throughout the entire game to no avail. Keira states it very clearly: she doesn’t date animals and shows blatant disinterest to his flirting. Jak doesn’t flirt with her, hes very quiet and shy around her. We know hes interested in her because of his body language. When she flirts with him hes blushes and becomes very nervous, looking everywhere but at her. He stares at her when she gets the Blue Sage’s machine to work with a dopey look on his face. At the end of the game, Jak and Keira try to kiss which is rudely interrupted by Daxter cuz hey they just saved the world why not celebrate by kissing your crush? 

This sounds good, right? There’s just one problem: there’s no indication of a working friendship. After reviewing all of Keira’s dialogue it can be broken down into three parts: 90% of it is talking to both Jak and Daxter about the zoomer or helpful advice on how to complete tasks, 5% is responding to Daxter with a sassy remark to his flirting and the other 5% of it talking to Samos. There is only one time she directly talks to Jak and thats when she tells him to be safe after pleading with Jak and Daxter to go save her father. Keira talking about a “brave adventurer” and batting her eyelashes at Jak is a direct remark to him while answering Samos’s question but not what I would call having a conversation with him. Neither of them talk to each other or act like friends would. There’s no jokes, no activity that they both are interested in that they do together. They have interests that are associated with each other with her being a mechanic and him racing presumably. She’s not involved in his shenanigans with Daxter and he never tries to get her to come along on the adventure. She is essentially a helpful and friendly person and I hesitate to even call her a friend. This goes for both of them. Jak doesn’t go out of his way to understand her projects and he helps save her father because he’s not an asshole not yet at least  he cares about Samos and wouldn’t want anything to happen to him regardless if he was Keira’s father or not. 

Their interactions with each other revolve on the other providing a service. For Keira, its someone to test out her zoomer and to be able to work on tech. The journey isn’t personal to her until Gol and Mia capture her father and are threatening to destroy the whole world. It wasn’t personal to her when Daxter got turned into an ottsel and him remaining an ottsel doesn’t heavily effect her either. She uses the opportunity of the boys needing to travel for them to test out her zoomer. She isn’t upset at least in the beginning or even distraught over what happened to Daxter. Tbh, the only one who seemed mildly upset over what happened to Daxter is Jak. Samos isn’t so much upset as rather disappointed that they didn’t listen to him. He jokes that if Daxter were to remain an ottsel then he could take care of the village rat problem so not much sympathy there. For Jak, he has someone to give him the technology to travel and the advice on how to complete tasks. His interactions with her revolve around acquiring tools and information. Its a service that anyone can do if they are a mechanic or understand the area. So there isn’t anything keeping him emotionally invested in knowing her as a person. In a hypothetical scenario, if Jak were to leave and go on an adventure he doesn’t need Keira so long as he has someone with the tools and information to help him. We know there are other ways of traveling, mainly by boat and there are older people who have more experience and knowledge of the terrain than Keira. She is a teenager much like him so there are going to be other people in the world with a more comprehensive knowledge of it because she has not lived long enough to acquire that information and experience. 

Simply put, there is nothing keeping them together as friends. Good relationships require a good friendship and the ability to communicate with each other. They don’t do that. What they have is shallow interest in each other because they find the other attractive and useful to their own benefits. It would be incredibly easy to write Keira out of the gameplay and have her dialogue be given to another character which does not support the idea that Keira and Jak are close to one another. On the other hand, if you were to write Daxter out of the game it would change everything. Partially because the goal is to change him back but also because Jak’s friendship with him is a central aspect of the game. Jak, even though it was accidental, is the reason Daxter is an ottsel. It was Jak’s idea to go to Misty Island at night to explore it. It was Jak’s idea to continue to wonder around even though there were lurkers in the area. It was Jak who pushed Daxter into the pool of eco. Jak made a mistake but he then tried to fix it because he cares about Daxter as a person. He cares about him as a friend.  Even though it got him in trouble he still went to Samos because Samos knows more about eco than he does. Even though changing Dax back meant fighting monsters and putting himself in danger he still did that. Even though changing Dax back meant crossing a bunch of terrain and doing tasks he might not have liked i.e. mucking through boggy swamp, dealing with giant spiders, suffering the cold of the mountains because dammit he needs powercells. RACING OVER OPEN LAVA TWICE AND DEFEATING A ROCK MONSTER WHO COULD HAVE EASILY KILLED HIM IF IT WERE NOT FOR ECO!! Jak went out of his way to help Daxter and even before all that the game already establishes them as friends because not only do they converse and have direct conversations with each other but they also have similar interests (adventuring/ exploring) and are established as hanging out to the point of Jak’s Uncle seeing Jak without Daxter causes him to question where his friend is. And its a two way street. Daxter looks out for Jak. He didn’t have to sit on Jak’s shoulder and also put himself in danger. We know he’s cautious because he is constantly pointing out danger and advising against doing something stupid/ reckless. He helps collect the materials they need to power the zoomer. It would be very easy for Daxter to argue that due to the fact he is now a tiny animal that he should stay in the village, out of danger ,lets something tries to eat him. The biggest thing of all is that Daxter never holds Jak’s mistake over him. After realizing that they need the white eco to defeat Gol and Mia, Daxter agrees even though this could mean he stays an ottsel for the rest of his life. Yes, it was a life and death situation but after the fact Daxter never brings it up. (If this fact is wrong please inform me, to my knowledge Daxter never brings it up.) He never gets angry or upset or even blames Jak for what happens. They both know it was accident but that wouldn’t stop Jak from feeling guilty over completely changing Daxter’s life. It wouldn’t stop Daxter from feeling angry and hurt over suddenly no longer being human. Jak and Daxter are friends and continue to be friends regardless of what happens because they are emotionally invested in each other. They don’t need a service from each other but rather they actively choose to be there for each other. This is what makes Jak and Daxter’s friendship believable and Jak and Keira’s not. This is why in the The Precursor Legacy Jak and Keira’s relationship doesn’t work because there is no solid indication of a working friendship to begin with. 

In the next post I will go over their interactions in Jak 2

[lokaneiscanon]

Mighty Thor in Thor: Love and Thunder rant

Seeing Natalie Portman returning to reprise her role as Jane Foster, nevertheless wielding Mjolnir, finally getting the treatment this character deserves, was surreal to say the least. I had just started reading Lords of Midgard, the 8th issue of Mighty Thor (2015 - 2018), and had fallen in love already. But I didn't suspect at all that Taika Waititi would pull this card in Thor: Love and Thunder, considering Jane was barely mentioned in Ragnarok. The news about my favorite actress portraying one of my favorite characters coming out of the blue - you can imagine the excitement. Alas, I quickly remembered what the fandom thought of that comic (at least on tumblr) and imagined it now growing tenfold, cuz not everyone in the MCU fandom reads comics but pretty much everyone wants to watch another Thor movie. And yes, many fans weren't ready for this step, still recovering from Sam Wilson getting the shield in Endgame. Which is completely fine. We're not obligated to like everything Marvel throws in our faces, we're allowed to criticize and express our opinion on the internet or wherever. What is not okay is mindlessly hating, and even worse - using false facts to support said opinion.

I have seen some people using the argument that it is one of Marvel's worst selling comics. Which has already been proven wrong by multiple sites, including Comichron, just Google it, as I did myself. I read multiple posts, ones saying how good Jane is doing as Thor in sales, others disproving this, so I checked for myself the numbers at the site mentioned above month by month to be sure. The comic truly had its downfalls as the story progressed but in my opinion it's normal for the 1st issue to have more sales than the 21st. If we compare it to Unworthy Thor, which started running a bit later and followed the now unworthy Odinson, the data shows the latter had more sales. But then again, while Might Thor was at its 17th issue, Unworthy Thor was at its 2nd. Also, they later crossed paths, shared comic issues, it's fair to say they go hand in hand and Jason Aaron, the author, probably doesn't want us to compare them, as they complete and compliment each other's stories. Still I decided to check the comic that made Thor unworthy in the first place - Thor: God of Thunder (2012 - 2014), which seemed to me more "comparable" to Might Thor (2015 - 2018). *I keep putting the years it was being released so as to not be confused with previous Mighty Thor issues, whole Odinson was still Thor, please bear with me* So yes, the numbers were pretty close, but from what I saw, Mighty Thor had the upper hand if we compare first issue to first issue and so on. (In defense of Odinson, we have to take into account that this data is only from the US and does not include digital sales. Also, he's been around since the 50s. We could argue Jane was a breath of fresh air that some Marvel fans were indeed ready for. As a non-American, and also a person without a hint of knowledge in economics I cannot take into account inflation and whatever else has prevented or enabled Americans to get their hands on the comics or has affected prizes through the years. Bear that in mind.) Moreover, from what I saw on Comichron, both comics had much competition - God of thunder was released along with Avengers vs the X-men, the Uncanny X-men, pretty popular at the time, and the Goddess of Thunder faced Civil War 2 and DC Universe Rebirth (yes, DC is in the game too), also dominating with tremendous sales for the longest time. Yet I stick with my original statement - both Thors are valid and shouldn't be put against one another regardless of profit. Because at the end of the day what will matter the most is the story. And boy, what a story it is.

Now, I haven't read the Thor: God of Thunder, but as I was doing research I found one very well written summary and explanation of Thor's arc and his becoming unworthy and I will post a link below, because I honestly feel I wouldn't be doing this comic a favor by describing it without having read it. Which I plan to do in the future, tbh. It's a fantastic prelude to the Mighty Thor (2015 - 2018) that I've come to love. First, I'd like to ask you all to stop hating on the comic without having read it first. It doesn't make any sense and being petty for the sake of being petty won't benefit neither you, nor anyone, really. Now, about the comic itself - the art is magnificent. It's just gorgeous. Mighty Thor isn't , thank all the gods, sexualized, she is pretty buffed and generally looks like a warrior. As it is with the other characters, I dare say. The background truly captures the essence of every world Jane finds herself on. Action scenes are just the right amount and balanced with dialogue well. On a side note, it's pretty funny to read/listen to in your head the Shakespearean English cursive in which Jane talks as Thor. The plot line branches beyond this comic, starting from Thor: God of Thunder and leading to the War of Realms. And it is elaborately built in every issue. You don't know what to expect, yet it makes sense when it happens. Which leads me to the characterizations. My God, what a treat Loki is in this. Clearly, my opinion is kinda biased, since he's my favorite character, but you never know which side he's on. What his motivations are. And it just feels so... Loki. His writing is brilliant. Almost makes me forget what the MCU did to him. Also, he gets some daddy time with Laufey (not as kinky as I make it sound). Frigga/Freyja is just as awesome as in the MCU, even more, at least in the comics she calls Odin out on his shit, who btw is I guess an asshole in every version and universe. Malekith, the main villain, is unbearably despicable, I want to tear every page he is on. He really was mishandled in the Dark World, if you want some true action with the dark elves, you are welcome to enjoy. I saved the best for the end - Jane Foster/ Might Thor. Now, if you think Dr. Foster spends her time boasting about her worthiness and how Odinson is just called Thor, but she is Mighty Thor, you are horribly wrong. She just... does her job. Because the hammer chose her. Because there's no one else to do so. That's it. If you think there's some feminism involved, yes, there sure is, but it certainly isn't the reason Jane became Thor in the first place. It was not the creators going SJW because it's trendy, as such a mindset is honestly offensive to any descent creator with any self respect, but a well thought out story arc, which, I repeat, you have to read the comic to understand. Jane is not at all whiny about the hate she gets in-universe, not only from foes like Odin and who-not, but from Shield and generally people whose asses she's saving. Her having cancer is not something they pulled to provoke sympathy and make her look like a victim - on the contrary, she is a damn hero and a victor. I don't want to give out spoilers, but her being Thor is actually a giant sacrifice that no one really appreciates (both in-universe and in the fandom). She is not Thor to prove she can be, or just to prove "women can be heroes" - she doesn't have to. She is simply needed by the realms and so she does her job, even though she is called a thief, persecuted and generally hated. All that matters is that the hammer finds her worthy - the beauty and simplicity of that fact you will find out, for the last time, if you read the comic.

I'm not making you read the comic or watch Thor: Love and Thunder. I myself don't know what to make of this film yet because there's barely any information about it. I only know it will be based on the comic so that's a reason for my hopes to be up already. On the other hand, since I didn't like Loki's characterization in Ragnarok, I'm not sure what to expect from Taika. There are valid reasons to not like the idea of Jane returning to the MCU as Thor, which you are entitled to. However, reasons such as "why does everything have to be political these days" are not. Because if I had to make a list of everything politically related in the MCU, it would take forever. Steve Rogers kills nazis is the most blatant example. Make of it what you want. But I think we're far enough into the 21st century to realize art and real life are not that separable. It's undeniable that art affects people and that is to say, people everywhere. And they all have different opinions and aren't gonna like everything media is offering to them. And I wish I could simply tell you not to watch the movie but I'm a Marvel fan too and I understand that I can't just take away Thor from you because I want Mighty Thor as well. But none of us can stop Marvel from producing it. So, to quote an image I saw recently, I don't know how to explain to you that you should care about other people. Let the rest of the fandom enjoy what they want to enjoy. Yes, ik I can play around with the tags and avoid posts that unnerve me but, for example, I'm looking up Mighty Thor fanart, which obviously isn't anti-Mighty Thor, yet I get attacked in the comics for anticipating a movie that doesn't even have a full cast yet. Ik I'm not asking for too much when I wish to get the same internet experience (not only tumblr, but also insta, YouTube, Twitter, any site) as the Thor Odison fans, for example. I'm aware I cannot stop all the toxic fans and the trolls but I hope this post has inspired those of you who simply can't envision Jane as Thor, or don't like Natalie Portman in the role, or whatever eles personal preference that doesn't involve political issues and isn't harmful to the community, not to attack every post on your dash with hate. The movie is called LOVE and Thunder, for God's sake. (on a side note, is a franchise that is too afraid to show LGBT characters for more than 1 minute so as to not lose profit from China, THAT politically correct)

Anyway, that was a veeeery long rant, sorry to whoever reads this but, like, please, I put effort into this, hoping this time around I won't be the only positive reviewer of a movie, like I was with Solo: a Star Wars story (yes, I'm still bitter about this), which was boycotted for no apparent reason but was a decent film in reality, and I'm only bringing it up because it has a similar experience to Love and Thunder for getting hate before even being released. I'm not defending a billion dollar company that flopped in box office once, I'm defending the viewer's right to media they are interested in. If you don't like the character, remember - that's your opinion, not a fact that the character sucks. Kudos.

Not very easy to navigate, I advice you to do the research month by month individually for comics you'd like to compare. Also, if you happen to find more reliable data, pls say so in the comments.

Here you have the summary and explanation of the greatness of Thor: God of Thunder, Jesus, I'll go bankrupt if I buy this one too.

Yes, I want to end the sales dispute once and for all, I'm tired of seeing it on my dash. This guy probably explains it better than I did.

@awesomejenlawrence you said you'd like to read this and I delivered

[spinelfangxrl]

♤ Introduction Post!!! ♤

Hello, my name is Celeste! The basics of what you need to know about me is that I have an obsession with Eclipsa Butterfly and I ship myself with her! Our ship name is Ceclipsa.

(My other account is @lgbtloudhouse - which I rarely use anymore because of the drama I've caused on that account was too much for me to handle.)

Keep in mind I don't like ships with Eclipsa that isn't with me or Globgor because of my obsessive jealously I experience because of it. The obsession itself can be very unhealthy, and can cause me to get depressed over her or have anxiety attacks, breakdowns, heartache, etc, over my obsession. I /hate/ seeing people calling her their wife other than me or globgor.

And also, I've done some fucked up shit over my obsession that I'm still healing over. ♡

And the little things remind me of her and it's sorta annoying at times. Spades, butterflies, songs, I all connect them with her. I can't exactly get away from her when she's everywhere, and I don't wanna get over her, I love her too much to let her go.

Also "total eclipse of the heart" just came on while I was typing this. UHHH- BAD TIMING!!!

This is because of how in love I am with her. I get triggered when I see m*rclipsa or any ships like that. I'm okay with globclipsa though. Also if you think of judging me because of my obsession, think twice because you don't know the half of it. It's not just a "tumblr thing". It's real as can be. The feelings are real, not something to get attention over. My romantic feelings for Eclipsa have been there since September 2018. And I've been obsessed with her ever since 2017.

In conclusion, when I say I'm in love with her, I mean it. She makes me smile, blush, cry, and she fills my heart with joy and love. And yes, pain too. The one thing people don't understand about people who fall in love with fictional characters is that just because the character isn't real doesn't mean it stops them from falling in love with them just like someone would to with a real live person.

You can't control who you fall for, fictional or not. Your heart doesn't know the difference, yet your mind does. Have you ever felt depressed and suicidal over the fact you can't have someone? No matter what you do, it's just not possible to get the one thing you love the most? The one you desire the most, the one you think about all day, the person you'd die for, the one you want to give all your love and affection to and make them feel safe and loved, and all you want is them, and for them to love you back, but you just can't have that?

I feel that over her. The fact that she's not real has... affected me in more ways than one. Despite this, I still love her and I still call her "mine" regardless of the fact she's not real. She loves me in my mind. And I can't exactly break that mindset. Cuz it feels so good. It makes me feel fulfilled. She gives me a reason to live. Ironically I've wanted to die over her too.

Ever since SVTFOE has ended, I've missed her so much. It feels like I've experienced the death of a family member or went through a break-up. Not having any new content of her is something that depresses the hell outta me. I can still feed my obsession myself, but it's not been the same ever since the show ended. :/

And I have one last thing to say before I wrap this up. Don't purposely trigger me. Just don't. It's not funny, it's downright fucking embarassing to me and you as well for causing me pain over my obsession on purpose. Have some respect and at least try to understand my feelings for this.

Thank you for reading!!! <3

[lizzylunawizardessfanfics]

Heroes That Light The Path

Warning: Angst, death, lots of feels (trust me I cried a lot while writing this)

Summary: It was to be the final battle to put an end to Felix’s evil plans once and for all however it seems it’s an unfortunate turn of events. (This was suppose to be finished before Rembrandt’s route came out but it’s fine as also there was a picture to go with it, but I will post it at a later date cuz it was the whole reason why I even came up with this painful fic. ENJOY! :’) )

When the group arrived to Felix’s hideout they were too late to stop the revival of Lacan. This long battle to save the world was not in the prefects’ favor against Felix and Lacan as blood was splattered everywhere along with bodies lying close together. “Th-this isn’t how.. I-it was supposed to end,” Zeus let out a pained growl attempting to get up only to collapse again. “I-It sucks that we couldn’t.. Hold out any longer, b-but I’m p-proud my last few m-moments are with you all,” Caesar said coughing as him and Alfonse held each other's hands. “O-Our sacrifice will… Not be f-for nothing, as I-I’m glad I was able.. To have you all as my friends,” Lucious said laying on his back looking over to his friends.

“It was amazing being able to work with you all...I hope w-we can meet again in the afterlife,” Alfonse said in a weak voice while smiling though it was the end for them. “That doesn’t sound half bad.. T-though it would of been better if we got to go b-back home to e-everyone… But I’m glad we s-see this to the end heh,” Hiro managed to say in addition to the conversation that’d be their last. “This i-isn’t the end as l-let this spark… The r-revolution to put an end to Felix and L-Lacan’s evil doing. Thank you all f-for being my friends, it’s an honor being with you all,” Hugo spoke as he struggled to breath. All of them seem to be crying as they managed to take each other’s hands as if comforting one another. Getting out a small laugh despite the tears and pain Lizzy said, “I’m happy I knew you all and it’s been a lot of f-fun… This maybe the e-end, but let's keep fighting f-for our loved ones future.”

Just a short distance away Rembrandt stood watching in horror and denial that the group of young adults he once called students minus the one were dying before his very eyes and the worst part was that there wasn’t a single thing he could do to save them. His heart broke more while listening to them share their last words with one another as they didn’t sound scared or with regret as when it didn’t seem like things could get any more painful for the ex headmaster of the academy until there was the chorus of voices collectively saying, “We love you Headmaster Rembrandt, we know you’ll help create a brighter future!” Rembrandt’s eyes widened in shock as regardless everything he had done up to this point to hear that they didn’t hate him made his guilt all the more worse as a few tears fell from his eyes as silence soon fell upon the spacious room.

“How pathetic, thinking they could honestly stop us from reclaiming this world,” Felix said just standing there without a flicker of emotion or sympathy in his eyes. “They were just kids,” Rembrandt shouted as compared to them they were very young in which a fire was sparked while he glared at the hooded dragonkin. “They were foolish for thinking they even stood a chance, as I should of known better to have kept you around; I should of disposed of you after we obtained the pocket watch,” Felix said glaring coldly in return but smirked slightly as if a sudden thought came to mind. “Your time with the humans have made you soft and weak,” Felix continued to say as exactly seven shadows started to appear as he added “Why don’t I let those ‘precious’ students of your’s be the ones to bring you to your end.”

“Leave them alone! Haven’t you made them suffer enough,” Rembrandt yelled clenching his fists as how could he even dare to even harm his students any more than he already has though the shadows continued as they melted into the lifeless bodies as painful as it was to witness them pass as it is to watch as one by one their bodies were slowly getting up once again; however, he knew all too well that it wasn’t his students he used to know. Their uniforms tarnished and dirtied with dirt and blood as Rembrandt could only frown at the view as he didn’t want to put them through any more pain. “You won’t get away with this,” Rembrandt said as he stood guard keeping his eyes on Lizzy and the others as their eyes opened to reveal their lifeless colored eyes as they smirked with malice while some of the blood continued to drip down their faces and the likes. The two dragonkin only chuckled as Lacan was the first to turn to leave as Felix slowly followed right behind. “You want to betray your own kind for those worthless humans then you can die with them all… All of you see to it that he doesn’t leave alive,” he said giving the possessed bodies their orders as the two disappeared.

They started to attack as Rembrandt started to use defensive magic to protect himself from the blows as he really didn’t want to bring any more harm to them. It may have not been them spiritually; however, it didn’t change that it was their actual bodies as there had to of been another way though he did not have any of the mad queens on hand though even then it could of been bad to use on an actual human being’s body. The attacks were slowly creating creaks in the barrier which left the dragonkin no other choice but to fight, so he could help his let his students rest in peace. It was a close call as there was a few moments where it seemed like Rembrandt was going to be done for, but he managed to defeat them and banish the shadows.

Now that all of the fighting was finally over Rembrandt went to his fallen students as he knelt down before them letting his sorrow and sadness out as his vision started to blur from water building up. “I’m sorry I-i failed you all as a role model and a teacher, I could not protect you all,” he cried as tears fell as it killed him on the inside to see such incredible individuals die at such a young age as they knew this could happen which they still continued to fight for a better future. “I-I’m so proud of each and everyone of you, I wish I did more to prevent this from happening...B-but I promise I will make things right,” he said as he sobbed mourning the loss of seven brave wizards and wizardess.

Soon the sound of storming footsteps echoed throughout the room as Rembrandt sat up as he cleared his tears as he started to stand up. Though being told to freeze right where he was he slowly turned around and stood there as a big group of troops along with some familiar faces appeared. “Stand down men,” the one known as Vincent called as the troopers stood guard as himself, the one named Glenn, and lastly Klaus came rushing over. “What in the world happened in here, we lost communication with Lizzy and the others-” Klaus was talking until he stopped when he looked down at the ground as his eyes widened. “My deepest apologies that I was incapable of protecting them,” Rembrandt said solemnly with a frown since he knew that not only did he lose friends but a family member as well. Glenn and Vincent were next to react as sadness seemed to strike them.

Soon there was once again there was the sound of running footsteps as everyone looked behind them to see who it was as it turned out to be Vain along with Mischa who was with him. He was looking around frantically as his visible eye widened when he looked towards the ground. Mischa’s ears dropped as she sadly started to walk over as her owner rushed over to where both Hugo and Lizzy laid. “No no no,” Vain said as he didn’t want to believe this was real, it was all just a bad dream or an illusion made by the dragonkin to make him believe that his younger brother, the people he was slowly starting to consider his peers, and the girl he fell in love with were dead. “T-this isn’t funny wake up,” Vain said as he ripped off the mouth mask as he tried shaking Hugo a bit. “Wake up! Wake up please! I should of gotten here sooner, I-I shouldn’t of listened and just came with you guys,” Vain said as none of the others could see his face though it was clear he was in pain as he shifted a bit to attempt shaking Lizzy. “Please… Please wake up, I-I didn’t get to get to-,” at this point he seemed to be whispering as he hunched over as his shoulders trembled. “I didn’t get t-to say I love you,” he said before sobbing as with his gloved hand he moved her bangs that were stuck to her face as he felt so broken over losing more people dear to him.

Soon that sadness turned to rage when hearing the dragonkin try to apologize Vain was quick to quickly get up and turn around starting to storm up to Rembrandt pointing a finger at him. “THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT! None of this would of happened if you didn’t try to bring the dragonkin back,” he said as despite his anger and yelling he was crying. “Part of me thanks you because I got to meet the love of my life… But at the same time I lost her, I lost my brother because of you! I LOST EVERYTHING I EVER LOVED,” Vain shouted shoving Rembrandt backward as Rembrandt stumbled but catching his balanced as he continued to frown as he let the young man yell at him and let it all out.

There was a silence for a few seconds before Rembrandt hung his head down slightly before saying, “You’re right it is my fault; I wanted to bring back the dragonkin because I wanted to create a future where humans and dragonkin could live peacefully… But sadly Felix did not share the same beliefs as he can only think of reclaiming the world… I cannot fix the mistakes I’ve made as I truly wish I was stronger against my brethren to protect everyone but alas I couldn’t even do that. I do not expect you to forgive me but please find it somewhere in your heart to believe when I say I am deeply sorry for all of your losses and I’m sorry I caused you all this pain.”

Vain gritted his teeth as he started to open his mouth to say something until Mischa intervened as she said loudly “Vain that’s enough! I understand your pain all too well, but this isn’t what Hugo nor Lizzy would want… We weren’t there to be by their side to comfort them, but we’re here now.” He stopped heeding his familiar's words as he put his hand down before going back over to help with getting them to a hospital as maybe there was a small glimmer of hope there could be hope that they could live, though a highly unlikely probability.

As the bodies were carefully removed to be transported to a hospital in Gedonelune to get them checked on, Rembrandt was taken into the Ministry for questioning about what happened in which he freely told them everything that happened along with what Felix was planning on doing next though the location was unknown.

~~~ The Next Day ~~~

Many were gathered outside in the courtyard as the academy was holding a memorial for the fallen heroes. Many wept and mourned as Schuyler stood at a podium that was next to the stand that was beautifully decorated with flowers and framed pictures of them all. “Thank you friends, classmates, loved ones, and staff for joining us as we pay our respects for our brave heroes who bravely fought to protect their home,” Schuyler started off with as it seemed like he was trying to keep his composure. “Caesar, Lizzy, Alfonse, Zeus, Hiro, Lucious, and Hugo fought valiantly to not only protect all of us but everyone in the world. Each and everyone of them will be dearly missed and remembered for years to come as they have touched all our hearts,” Schuyler added as he took a breath. “I will now pass this over to Klaus Goldstein,” He said as Klaus was walking over as when crossing each other they shook hands before Klaus took his spot at the podium looking at the vast crowd.

“I cannot tell you the pain and sorrow I feel for the loss of such… Amazing people that I’ve had the pleasure of knowing and being close to,” Klaus said remembering to breath as he could feel his words getting caught in his throat. “Their death will not be for nothing, as their dedication and drive to protect all that they cared about and fight for what they believed in… I promise you all that there will be justice; as it may not happen tomorrow or the next, but I hope to continue to strive for a better future that my brother and friends fought for with whole hearts as I hope that others will also rise to the occasion to bring that vision a reality,” he said clenching his hands as they rested on the podium. While looking out to the crowd he saw old classmates that traveled to be there, his own family along with other families, and many others who cried. “We have found that they had several letters on hand in which on behalf of the Ministry of Magic we have been asked to read a few,” Klaus said as soon Vincent and Glenn joined him.

Klaus breathed forcing his tears back as he decided to read the group letter as he opened it up as they didn’t read any of these before hand. Clearing his throat Klaus read, “To everyone we know and love, thank you for all the memories and opportunities you’ve given us. For the good times and the bad, the happy and the sad; please do not cry as though we may have passed but we are never truly gone. We hope you all continue to strive to become the best version of yourselves and to remember to fight with a full heart for what you believe in. With love Zeus, Caesar, Alfonse, Lizzy, Lucious, Hiro, and Hugo.” Klaus’ voice slightly cracked while reading as towards the end he cried as a few more letters were read out loud though the ones that were personal ones were handed to who they were for while people were paying their respects and putting flowers on the memorial.

It wasn’t going to be easy nor would anything ever be fully the same again without the group of friends but there was one thing for sure; they will forever be remembered as the heroes who fought and sparked the movement for a peaceful and brighter future.

[praphit]

Come Sunday, I'll still be sexy as hell.

In my last post, I talked of wanting to get back into the movie game. I wanted to come back strong with that Quiet Place movie. A movie about apocalyptic monsters who tear people to shreds when they make noise - right up my alley. Unfortunately, life has been a lil cray for me lately, and so I didn't get to see it soon enough. I did see the movie eventually (pretty good btw), but... it's like showing up to a party late, and eating the sloppy seconds of pizza. It has finger indentations on it, hair in it, and toppings have been picked off, but even though it's still good (somehow), it's weird to point that out now, you know?? It's gotta be fresh, baby!

We were on the road this past weekend, and I had some time to kill, so I decided to roll the dice on the Flix! In light of my previous post, I decided option #1 would be "Come Sunday", and stumble across a decent church movie.

OR... option #2 - NIC CAGE!

YES! I love this man like I love deep fried Oreos. When you think about it, it's ridiculous and bad for you. But, if you're in the right mood, and in a moment of weakness, they're frickin magical.

　

Coin flip time, and hence the title of this post, you know Jesus got all up in my coin flip action.

"COME SUNDAY" a simple (based on truth) story of a stereotypical megachurch preacher, who also happens to be a stereotypical black church preacher. At some point he says something crazy at the pulpit, he gets the boot, and has figure out how to keep on keeping on.

But, the real story is in the details:

First detail, this movie stars Chiwetel Ejiofor, as our preacher man (Carlton Pearson). My man CE is sexy as hell in this movie.

I mean he's a good lookin man anyway, but it's like they took time and money (plenty of "Soul Glo" and gold jewelry) into taking him from a 10 to a 15. Now maybe I was influenced by one of the people watching it with me, who kept praising God for CE's sexiness. But, the first scene of this movie confirms it.

He starts talking to some woman on a plane. The way he's looking at her, and she's looking back at him... I'm tryna tell y'all. He is getting her to open up. She mentions something about wanting a baby (keep in mind he just met this woman). Now, the scene ends, and nothing happens, but we all know what went down. The way they were looking at each other, I wouldn't have been surprised if she demanded that they go into the bathroom together and join that club.

Point stands, he's too sexy to be a minister. No way scandal is not happening.

Plus, it's easier for sexy ministers to preach heresy. For example, I love Janelle Monae. If she started a church, and started preaching out of "The Gospel of St Nick", I'd be like, "hmmm... I don't recall that book of the bible, but

(drool)... whatever you say, Pastor Monae."

Speaking of said heresy, it happens when he gets overly emotional while watching some horribleness in Africa vid, and listening to his favorite Christian Album (Snoop Dogg's Gospel Album)

 That's a thing now. No, seriously.

Anyway, you've got to be careful when you're listening to your fave emotional-stirring songs. I listen to N.W.A.'s "Bleep the Police", and I'm like "You know what... yeah! BLEEP THE POLICE!" - if a cop were to be around at that time, I'd get into trouble.

Same thing here, he gets carried away, believes God is speaking to him through this manner, and then COME SUNDAY - he acts a fool, and starts preaching the gospel of inclusion (look it up kids).

Now, regardless of what you or I believe, he should have known this wasn't going to end well for him. Back to my N.W.A parallel. I could get a "revelation" to cover my ride in "BLEEP THE POLICE" stickers, and drive everywhere giving to popo the finger, but at that point it doesn't matter what I believe, it only matters what's going to happen next.

Didn't the Pope say something similar to inclusion recently? But, the people around him kinda left wiggle room. When's he getting his Netflix special? I really hope Nic Cage plays him.

　

More so than the heresy element was the racial element that fascinated me. Like most organizations, the old, rich, white men ruled over our sexy minister, and when he started getting "out of control", they had to step in. Not, only the old, rich, white men, but also the church stepping in. Things get muddy here, because on one hand organizations like churches need rules and structure and discipline, but on the other hand, giving so much power to fallible people... well... y'all know. Of course the old, rich, white people had to have what's known as a "cooler" to help Rev. Dr. Minister Sexy navigate through the muddy waters (Jason Segel, who's really good in this), but even he couldn't take any more.

Another detail of story was the pastor's wife, and her resentment of her husband for being more in love with the church than her, and kinda being disillusioned about being a pastor's wife. And at the same time trying to support him through all of this craziness.

Another detail - a gay music minster. So, you can imagine some of the issues that arose.

This movie is fully loaded!

I only wish that the movie was as fascinating as its talking points.

It's longer than it should be. With 35 mins left, I was ready for it to be over. And I only lasted that long, because I can relate to church culture. And on that note, it was too churchy. Every scene was either in church or a family at a table eating (btw - make sure you've got stuff to eat while watching this movie; it WILL make you hungry - I ain't talkin popcorn and Skittles. I'm talkin fried chicken and yams). I can't believe I'm saying this, but this movie needed Tyler Perry. It needs flair!It needs some side-non-churchy drama! It needs Madea!

The movie also could have used some slaps. If you know me, you know I love my slap scenes. So many missed opps here. The backstabbing, fickle, praying-demons-out-of-everything congregation needed slaps. Pretty much all of the white people in this film needed some slaps. And even Bishop Minister Sexy had a scene where it would have been perfect for him to have been slapped (when he gets kicked out of the church... there is an old man who gets all in the Rev's face; perfect moment for slappage - could have slapped all of that product out of his hair). But... sadly, no. I need to direct!

Michael Bay has his explosions. M. Night has his twist. I want to be known for my slaps!

I also would have played up the struggles of Reverend Sexy's sexiness for sure. Have a scene where he fails the sexy test (meaning he's too sexy for the job). They try things to unsexify him, but nothing works. There's actually a scene in this movie where they dressed my man up like Bill Cosby (pudding pop and all), and still... sexy as hell. All Tyler Perry movies have a cheating no good man somewhere in the storyline - this could have had that too. Minster Evangelist Sexiness has his Tiger Woods moment... possibly having his wife chase him down the street swinging a big thick bible at him. BUT, with some slaps and inspo from Madea, a good soundtrack (thanks Snoop), and the power of God, he's redeemed. But, none of this happens. Sooooo Grade: C

Still without a solid church flick in my memory banks, but that's ok cuz you know what's coming out soon?

Blaow!

We're gonna get away from all of this church and deep talking points soon, and get back to superheroes and aliens beating the holy snot out of each other. As it should be.

Amen.

[pokefanbri]

1st I have to say this b4 I repeat the post from fb. This is a place where I can speak my mind freely without judgement, speak my peace even. Which is exactly what im gonna do so prepare for a read. So think what u want idc, but the last thing I wanna do is tick some1 I know off cause on some level there's a mutual appreciation & respect regardless of my impression. And anyone that reads this isn't obligated to understand my opinion & I dont expect u to. With my brain its my thought process to let information out of my head so I can put things aside, observe & absorb more lol. Writing is another tool or coping mechanism for my anxieties & other psych ailments, treatment for my mental health depends on it & other hobbies in other words, especially during shutdown, something to focus on. Heck even youtube is recommended by my doctor if it keeps me happy lol. But because ill be working again, I may not have time to do alot of things I like sadly..idk i just wouldnt want to be burnt out & focus on more important things. I have a high respect for anyone working around people during this time & it must worrisome for u too, means I have to keep on my toes as well soon..its a scary world out there for an introvert but I was killin it in NY too. It was just a slow steady process with all the limitations & moving my life up there wasn't easy to begin with but I pulled through & did it all...only for it to be taken away.

So, I'm an Irish, German, Canadian,British Mut from tucson. Maternal & paternal immidiate families lineage mixed made me, including my NY blood from my bio dad. The rest is all over Europe but u get the idea. Tucson may be where i was born & my 1st home without a father & raised not knowing (were mardi gras babies btw 😒)

But NY is & will forever be my 2nd home i dont care what any1 says, I felt I belonged there. Its the other half of me quite literally.Theres a memory that's really been bugging me. Last day b4 i left it, a bald eagle flew across my path in the sky no joke going NE & I was departing back to the SW. I chose the eagle years ago cause I identify with it. including the background symbolism in different phases of my life that included them lol, but to actually see one was just amazing.

They symbolize strength+freedom in general despite it standing for the country from sea to shining sea lol. Also Braviary was always in my pokemon team besides pikachu since its gen came out lol. I've always been strong, whether some believe it to be true or not is their problem, only I know the things I've gone through. Point is different ends of the spectrum its always been with me throughout in some way & im glad i got to share it with someone that gave me the freedom I needed.

But yea I experienced what its like to be there & got to know that part of me even if I didn't find him & maybe didnt care...I feel I was meant to be there. I was in touch with my roots, lower Temps & above sea level rather than high temps & below sea level 🤣 I loved everything about my time up there. It'll always be a part of me, & I hope to see it again. But I digress.

But in regards to the relationship itself, emphasizing on what i said b4. Just as it i got "settled" in it was gone & I had no clue what was happening without my knowledge, the whole plan to bring me back, all of it, the whole chain of events that unfolded the way it did starting with leaving a marriage in the 1st place to be with him i mean come on lol. Chasing a dream that didn't play out the way we had hoped. I took leap of faith & I ended up starting over twice in 1 year with no benefit of the doubt. I still have my ny health insurance for the rest of the yr, I have to add it to my list to apply again in az. Ive been wearing the wrong prescription glasses for 6 months under quarantine & they're just now getting to stage 4 of opening lol. Just understand how frustrating that actually is for someone like me & u totally get it 😅 U want to take care of business but sometimes you're limited & gotta work around it. had all that covered there & then was told I settled, wrong thing to say & its no wonder I didn't blow up in his face right there & then 😒. But I have retraint & can control myself. Though it was out of my hands the new relationship didn't have to go sour, been just as long if not more, could've actually thrived given the proper balance with room to grow. Idk, Sometimes I honestly don't think anyone believed in me. I mean I have no debt, no record, no kids, im a clean slate type of girl lol. Yes I did end up feeling unappreciated, underestimated, a bit neglected, insecure about my body, ashamed for being myself, & I shouldn't have to feel that way at all & if that happens there obviously something off. I just didnt know what it is he wanted & needed, i wanted to help & be a good partner to this dude but why is it bad to ask the same in return? I shouldn't have to drastically change myself to fit someones standard i know, but...i needed the old him back, I missed the old us & wanted to get back to that.. Was always so closed off & probably ended up in his own head who knows, maybe there was guilt for some of the things he did & didnt want to hurt me anymore, spare my feelings any more than it did b4 it was too late.idk whatever the excuse i still don't know what triggered it all to fail so easily & i don't think i ever will. But ending up with the conclusion that I was the problem, its narcissistic to even believe that & i won't accept it. Not when he can't confront his own issuse & put blame onto himself too.. it was a low blow & literally felt like my heart was pierced at the sound of it. If im to blame its the other way around as well. My point of view wasn't acknowledged so this is my take & experiences of happened so plz dont hate me for speaking my truth.

But yea I can tell when somethings not right & feel strong empathy for others emotions. I knew something was different, there were signs everywhere since the mistrust started & during the last half of that time with him I questioned everything but sat in my own headspace as well as he did just thinking about it. If anything we failed eachother, the blame is on us both but idk what else i could've done to get through to him. That's the stubbornness, he wouldn't budge. Despite how things went down..Leaves me to think, what was the point of having me there in the 1st place, to not follow through with our shared hopes & dreams but instead spiral into such resentment for me that the interest faded. But at the at the same time...even if it ended early for him, I didn't give up & I fought to keep us okay which it was for the most part. Hindsight is 20/20, it definitely wasn't negative all the time. In fact things were great between us & acted like goofballs together, that right there is a friend despite if the stronger feelings weren't mutual. Nobody with hate in their heart acts like that, he was good, the best, cheered me up when I was down, shared interests & did things for eachother. But that alone makes me question what was truth & what was fiction sometimes ever since the trust between us started to fade. Am I in the right to feel what im feeling right now? Im angry & upset yes very, but the kindness he had throughout..he did care in his own way...which makes things so much harder.

Tripadoodle if some way you're listening, I hope u know now where im coming from. For your own benefit & quest to be a better man like you always wanted...actually try. Head my advice. Making yourself better shouldn't be put on a womans shoulders to do for u without her getting lifted in return...its alot of weight to handle for 1 person to carry lol. Get off your ass & build on yourself, learn from everything that happened & become better for yourself & the sake of others, Because it starts with u. Go to church if possible or watch them, it really does help. Even from across the country I still want u to do just as good & help u as a friend. You promised we could remain friends & im holding my end of the bargain whether u like it or not lol it was your idea during the ride here. All I wanted in the end was to not lose u in my life completely...but i should be patient i know.. Theres more space, im not contacting u directly & respecting that, eventually ill stfu lol but I feel I need this rn. I should hate u,but I cant hate u, I do still care, u had that affect on me so much that I can't really listen to others when they say ur a douchbag lol, u were still my rock the whole time even if u didn't feel the same after a while & u did help me alot as well. I see the good in people & u are good, with well balanced snarkiness & humorous sass to boot. light a fire under ur own ass & ull be okay lol. Never stopped believing in u. Ive seen what you can do, you're very smart & know your sh*t, u will go far lol. And as a friend I'd lend u my strength if I could but the most I can do is pray for things like safety/protection, healing, forgiveness, guidance, etc. Leave it to God if u feel compelled to. Give zanabell a hug for me.

God i talk way too much 😅 No im not doing any of this for attention, I want my voice to be heard as well as a possible learning experience if it had that effect on anyone. The things we learn build character & help us understand a little more about ourselves. Probably shouldn't share cuz its nobody's business, yea ive thought of that too.. But its a blog lol, Tumblr allowed it to be that space, opinions and rants are allowed & encouraged. Nothing wrong with that 🤷‍♀️ so who gives a crap.

These are pictures of the NY sunrise & AZ sunset. Clouds always get me cuz of the shapes, used to to take pics of them all the time. once saw mario holding a hammer when I was a kid 😂 3rd & 4th pic is a split rainbow, never seen that b4...either someone found the gold or its deciding whether or not to connect. Probably was connected but I missed it lol. But then I looked behind me after the split 1 disappeared & a double rainbow was forming. Nature can be scary but also beautiful

[that-fandom-tho]

Something More (Shawn Mendes)

“I missed you,” Shawn admitted as he wrapped his arms around my neck and pulling me into him in the privacy of his hotel room.

“I missed you too,” I say, returning his hug by wrapping my arms around his waist and resting my head on his shoulder. “I got you something.”

“I was the one traveling, you’re supposed to be the one getting stuff.”

“I guess we could’ve went together, but I thought you were going home so I was just gonna ship it there overnight.”

“Well.. show it to me,” he says, excitement dancing in his eyes.

I pull a muffin out of my bag, wrapped in the cute little plastic from the baker down the street. “This is a—“

“A red velvet muffin with cream cheese chocolate chips? From Bonnie’s Bakerie?”

“How’d you know?”

“I’ve been obsessed with muffins for years now, you think I can’t tell one when I see it? And I remember you telling me about it when we were on the phone back in May.”

“Ah, I remember that. So, how long are you here for?” I ask.

“Actually,” he says, drawing it out, “I wanted to talk to you about that.”

Oh no. I knew exactly what was coming. He was moving here, he had to be. I mean, Toronto doesn’t exactly have the same music opportunities as LA and New York does. And if I know anything about Shawn, it’s that he’s willing to do anything to accomplish his dreams.

Only problem with this was the way I felt. He’s been my best friend since we were in kindergarten, we’re closer to each other than we are to anybody else. Or at least we were, until he left to go on tour with The Vamps a year ago, and I left for New York. We may have been separated, but it didn’t happen quick enough that I could miss the feelings I’d developed for him.

The way he treated me before he left, spending extra time with me because we wouldn’t be able to see each other for months, maybe longer. The more he spent time with me, made me feel special in a way no other guy I’d gone out with had, made me fall for him a little. Then I thought about every time he’d been there for me since I was little and scared of the daddy long legs on the playground, and I was officially in too deep.

Him leaving was heartbreaking, but I knew it was for the best. Our paths from then on were completely separate. He would always be the boy I grew up with, the one who I first fell in love with. Ever since I moved I’ve tried to leave all that behind, but it looks like it’s catching up with me.

“Go ahead,” I say.

“I’m moving here!” he exclaimed.

Past or not, I couldn’t suppress my excitement to have him back.

“That’s great!” I tell him, going in for another hug, one I’d been craving since he pulled away 15 seconds ago.

“Yeah, I’ll have to stay here for now, but my manager says he already has a few places lined up for me to take a look at.”

“You know, instead of staying here you could stay with me.” No, Y/N, what the hell are you doing inviting the only boy you’ve ever loved to stay with you?

His eyes immediately make contact with mine and widen in that way they always do when he gets excited. “Really?”

“Yeah. I mean, my roommate is visiting her family until the second week of January so as long as you have a place within like 3 weeks you’ll be fine staying there. You can have my bed and I’ll take hers.”

“You’re serious?” he asks once again, his hands still at my back, leaning back from hugging me.

Too late to take it back. “Yes! I mean I know you hate staying at hotels, I’m sure even more now after tour. And what kind of best friend would I be if I didn’t offer you a place to stay?”

His adorable smile widens once again, warming me from the inside out. He’s still looking into my eyes, shaking his head a little, as if he can’t believe something. Before I can grasp what’s happening, his hand is on my cheek and my lips are on his. And damn, if that hadn’t been what I’d been waiting for for nearly 2 years.

After overcoming the initial shock of him actually making a move on me, I kiss him back, eagerly. His hands grip me tighter, pulling me closer. It only further encloses me in all of him— his crisp woodsy scent, the warmth of the juncture of his neck, where my hand rested, and the feel of his lips on mine, skin making contact.

A moment later we pull away, realizing what just happened. Both of us disconnect from the other, and I can’t say I don’t miss his warmth and the feel of his hand on my back, neck and everywhere else it touched. I can’t look him in the face, I don’t even know if I could look at myself right now. What have you done?

Sure, he initiated it, but I continued it, encouraged him even. I mean we haven’t even started to catch up. What if he has a girlfriend? No, he would’ve told me when we occasionally called or Facetimed. He was probably just excited to see me, it means nothing. To him at least.

“Woah,” finally comes out of his mouth. “That was…”

“Yeah.”

The next words out of his mouth shock me more than anything else could. “I’ve wanted to do that for so long.”

“Wait what?” I force myself to look at him.

It takes him a moment but e eventually speaks. “Y/N, I’ve wanted to do that for a while now. And I’m sorry, if you don’t like me that way. You know I love you as a best friend either way, but I couldn’t take it anymore.”

The timid side of me is flustered, doesn’t know what to say. But regardless, he’s still my best friend, I can tell him anything.

“Let’s just say I didn’t mind it,” I say with a small smile.

Shawn slowly walks closer to me, and I can tell he’s smiling even though my eyes are glued to the ground.

“So you wouldn’t mind if I..?” his hand tangle in my hair as he guides my lips back to his, and it’s everything it was the first time, just shorter.

“How long?” I ask, out of breath.

Luckily he understands my question. “Years,” he says simply. “You?”

“2 years.”

“The only reason I didn’t act sooner is because I didn’t want to tie you to me while I was out starting my music career and you were working on school. Going on tour made me realize just how much I need you.”

“It didn’t matter,” I explained, “I already knew how I felt for you. I couldn’t have been with anyone else anyway.”

“That’s exactly how I felt,” he says, relieving me of my worries that he’d found someone. “What about now? We’ll be in the same city, and I don’t think I could take knowing you’re wandering around NYC single.”

I laugh lightly, “We’ll talk about that later,” I say, bringing my lips closer to his.

“This is all I wanna do in the mean time,” he says against my lips. My eyes flutter shut and for who knows how long, I just enjoy him.

Eventually, we’re interrupted by the Jacks. Apparently they have a key to Shawn’s room. “Sorry, forgot to mention.”

Johnson charges in with Gilinsky right behind him. “Come on, lovers,” he announces in a crappy British accent. “No time for cuddles and kisses, we need dinner.”

“How do they even know we’re together?” I ask Shawn.

Johnson speaks up once again, answering me. “There was no way Shawn could talk about a girl like he does you and not be with her, or at least totally in love with her.”

I can feel the heat rising through my neck and cheeks as we all leave the hotel hallways. Shawn places his hand on my waist as we walk, making me feel closer to him than ever.

He’ll always be my best friend, but I can’t be more excited to call him more than that now.

Masterlist

Prompt List - to be updated

Song Prompt List

—— A/N: Thanks for reading, hope you liked it. Next out is another Shawn one and then a JG one just to add some variety. I’m still mad at him, even though things aren’t as bad as they first seemed. But the people who requested one with him deserve to have their request be honored so that will be out soon. Also, send me some good OGOC/Omaha blogs if y’all know of any, cuz there’s barely any of it in my feed and I follow like every one I find. But yeah, I’ll post again soon. I start work tomorrow so the next one probably won’t be up till Wednesday but it’ll get done!

Peace, that-fandom-tho.

[knightbrienne]

Hey, I think the question should rather be if racism is free speech. Free speech is the right to have an opinion, so is racism an opinion? If I tell you that I'm better than you cuz you're white and I'm not, would you consider that an opinion? You call it damaging rhetoric. Can opinions be damaging? If your father thinks that white supremacists shouldn't be stuck under one label, why should people of colour? Isn't that saying that they have more rights cuz they're white? (1/2)

I’m sorry to say this so bluntly but if your father gets in such a bad argument with you that you cry cuz you simply disagree with him he’s a fuckin abusive asshole. You did nothing wrong. It’s incredible that you don’t just blindly accept what he says. There so many people whose entire opinions are based on ‘same’. It’s okay if you need time to figure yours out and you can always change it. I’m not white and not neutral even though I tried to be to not influence you (2/2)

I want to start off by thanking you, anon, for sending a thoughtful response to a very charged topic. And I want to try my best to answer the ethical and political dilemmas that you have brought up.

I think anything can be free speech, including and especially opinion. For example, you can make a nonspecific (and possibly hyperbolic) statement about wanting to kill the president, and while it is damaging/hateful/treasonous, you cannot be punished for it. So in the same vein, racism exists under the umbrella of free speech. I believe that racism damages the safety of minorities, is fueled by hatred and ignorance, and violates American values, but racists are ultimately protected by the law when it comes to saying racist things. It doesn’t mean that racists are right. In fact, every inch of me believes that racism is wrong. But it is defensible with regards to free speech.

I also think I oversimplified my argument with my dad, who I was not intending to portray as abusive in any way. My family is a minority and immigrant family, and while my dad suffers from implicit racial biases like all of us do, he does not harbor any supremacist ideologies. Like me, he views the vast majority of white supremacists as disadvantaged white people who want a scapegoat for their own suffering. Like me, he sees them as spineless losers who lack any meaningful skills. Like me, he condemned the domestic terrorist who drove a car into a protesting crowd in Charlottesville. 

I personally got upset because I had trouble understanding how he could even defend people that could have stepped foot on my college campus and threatened my life and my friends’ lives. He was taking an infuriatingly impartial view and mentioned that if I wanted to limit the free speech of white supremacists, then I was no better than them politically. If I supported employers firing white supremacists, then I might as well have supported Hollywood firing communists during the Cold War. To summarize our point of conflict, my dad believes that citizens should keep their political, professional, and personal lives separate; what people say or do in the political sphere shouldn’t affect their livelihoods or their families. But for me, I spend nearly every day of my life on a college campus or in a scientific laboratory; both of these places feel personal and professional, and both of these places openly discuss politics. I think our political, professional, and personal lives are inevitably intertwined. I agree with this xkcd comic; my dad disagrees with it.

Last night, I also messaged a liberal friend of mine about this issue, and we both agreed that protecting the right to free speech is a cornerstone of democracy. She made an excellent point:

Leftist does not mean open-minded, and regardless of what side you’re on, there’s people everywhere who are intolerant of diversity in thought.

Intolerance toward anyone is still intolerance. Whether it’s not tolerating white supremacists, not tolerating communists, or not tolerating moderates, it is intolerance. People are entitled to their political ideologies and opinions, and we have to give them that right. But when we do want to change their worldview, when we want to show them that they are wrong and we are right, what do we do? I asked her:

How do you change somebody who refuses to humanize an entire race?

Do we ignore them? (My original post asked myself, at what point does simply ignoring them turn from being democratic / universally kind to being apathetic / enabling.)  Do we educate them? (How do you force somebody else to learn history that they deny and to befriend the people that they hate?) Do we continue to counter-protest? (What if counter-protesting simply increases their media audience and encourages more people to become radicalized?) Her reply:

I have no idea what solution would be, but I’m just getting increasingly frustrated with how we view what’s happening in our country and how people throw blame around everywhere. I’m so thankful that we live in a time/place where we can express our opinions and thoughts freely and without persecution, but I feel like when so much of this takes place over social media, it’s so hard to send a unified message in any way. It just ends up being people being grouped together as Neo-Nazis or social justice warriors or Antifa radicals, and it really doesn’t help.

I’ve learned from my dad and my friends that it is worth the time to question what we think we know. When we exist in an echo chamber where posts about violence against white supremacists are receiving thousands of notes, how do we expect them to change their views? If we’re shouting at them while they’re shouting at us, who will choose to be the first to listen? We all need to step back, reevaluate, and envision a future for ourselves and the people we despise. Like it or not, those white supremacists will stay around. But we know stories of white supremacists who have changed, who have come to understand our side, so what’s to say there can’t be others? Like you said, anon:

There so many people whose entire opinions are based on ‘same’. It’s okay if you need time to figure yours out and you can always change it.

We can pose difficult, conflicting questions to ourselves without compromising our values. We can’t continue to answer with “obviously,” “of course,” and “absolutely.” In fact, we must pose difficult, conflicting questions if we seek a society where peaceful and productive discourse can shape our future.

[thehooliganhangoutspot]

(submission)

Nerd here: To anon, I actually agree, I understand that race is a factor when it comes to marketing artists and deciding who to push and who not to push. I mean didn’t Bruno say himself that they didn’t want him to sing “Nothing on You” and they wanted a white guy with blonde hair and blue eyes to sing it? Even though Bruno was the one who wrote and produced that song himself? Like he literally had to FIGHT to sing his own song. Bruno faced that kind of racism himself. And I never once said in any of my posts that blacks don’t suffer from not getting that push, I never said that. What I did say is that black artists can be very successful if black people actively throw their support behind them and set it off. Now notice that I said “set it off” what I mean by that is to give these people a start, a solid fan base, a cult following on which they can build upon so that they could be able to crossover to other audiences globally. If these black artists don’t have a fan base to begin with, then how can they crossover? What are they crossing over from? Thin air? The thing with many black artists is that they first build a following with a main core audience of black fans and then from there they are able to expand. So do you see what I’m saying? It starts with us first. Like for example, The Weeknd was doing his thing for a while and had a solid fan base, but didn’t blow up until he made that “Earned it” song for “50 shades of gray”. Then with that song, he basically “crossed over” with a bunch of radio friendly hits. You can say the same with Rihanna, she was singing, building up her fan base and had a couple of hits on the R&B charts but the song that really solidified her place in Hollywood would have to be “Umbrella” that song really propelled her to a higher status and Beyoncé when she broke out with “Crazy in Love” or Usher whose initial core fan base was black girls he came out in 1994 but he wasn’t dominating charts then but came out 3 years later in 1997 and had his first number 1 billboard 100 hit with “Nice and slow” and the rest is history. My point is all of these people had a starting point, we are that starting point. But if they don’t have a starting point to begin with, then they are going nowhere. And also there are a lot of non blacks who are not getting the “Push” as well. Like do you hear Daley, Somo, William Singe, or even Pia Mia for that matter dominating the radio? You probably don’t even know who these people are. Hollywood is a tough place to make it period. Its especially tough for a black person. It’s a place of you gotta know the right people and make the right connections so that you can get your stuff out there and present it to the people. And even still, there is no guarantee that you’ll make it even with all the connections in the world. I mean Katy Perry still flopped recently even though she advertised her music everywhere cuz at the end of the day, it’s about are people feeling you, and do they like your music. And you say that Bruno’s success is NOT an all black audience, you’re right! The Hooligans fan base has to be one of the most diverse out here. All nationalities support his music. And you obviously supported Bruno’s music and contributed to his success too since you’re here on a Bruno fan blog in the first place. Even if you never bought his albums, I’m pretty sure you probably at least viewed one of his videos on YouTube. By doing that you contributed to Bruno’s success because that view counts as a stream and a stream equals money. In the case of Bruno, he is actually quite rare. Most artists take a while before they really pop. Whether if their black or white. Bruno basically hit the floor running and attained his first 5 hits faster than any male artist since Elvis. So he’s able to become super successful right away. Which is amazing for a person regardless of race, because that is quite rare. Also regardless of skin color, you have to say, this man is so entertaining when he gives a live show. He’s the best live performer of our generation. Name another person who can dance, sing and play a variety of instruments with a dope backup band on stage. You can’t! His talent is not a result of him being a certain race, it’s a result of endless hard work. But what I’m saying is that everyone is jumping on Bruno because he’s successful and saying if a black person did it, they wouldn’t be as successful. But at the same time not going out to actively support black artists and giving a black artist a fan base to work with so they can eventually could become successful. Like I said before, going after Bruno is not gonna solve the problem. If there was no Bruno at all, and he never became famous, he’s totally out of the picture, the problem would still be here. Jumping down his throat ain’t changing anything. But giving a black artist support and becoming part of their fan base so they can build, expand and grow will. They need a foundation from us so they can go on and crossover to be successful like many other black artists have done so before.