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oasis-nadrama · 3 days

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"The Alien is cooked": A Theory of Franchise Renaissance

Oasis Nadrama, 23/09/2024

[Warning: Body horror, general spoilers for the Alien movies and for Prometheus]

H.R. Giger's Alien Monster IV

In 2014, early in the preproduction stages of the Prometheus sequel which would become Alien: Covenant, Ridley Scott declared "The beast is done. Cooked". He then gave in to fan and studio pressure and gave the new movie the "Alien" label, commenting "I'll give them fucking aliens!".

It may be a mistake.

What if the Alien franchise let go of of Aliens altogether?

Giger's painting Necronom IV, the ancestor to his legendary "Big Chap" creature design, better known as "the Alien", "the xenomorph", "the adult drone" or "Kane's Son"

When Alien hit the silver screen in 1979, a huge part of its impact was due to the fact Kane's Son was a never-seen-before creature (both aesthetically and conceptually), an unknown entity, and a total Eldritch abomination. It was inspired by a variety of real animal species, including parasitoid wasps, and various previous tales and flicks of space horror (Van Vog's The Voyage of the Space Beagle, Planet of Vampires and It! The Terror From Beyond Space are the most commonly indicated influences, although O'Bannon didn't have a specific source in mind when writing). But it was still a powerfully original entity, further strengthened by H.R. Giger's nightmarish and subversive creature design.

In the first movie, we don't know the limits of the Alien's life cycle. Alan Dean Foster, in the novelization, suggests that the crew of the Nostromo has no reason to hope that what we call today the "adult drone" form is the final stage, an idea I always found striking. And indeed Giger designed an unseen Alien Monster IV, which seems to be the hypothetical stage IV (and later was used by Cameron as an inspiration for the Alien Queen). There was also the suggestion by Ridley that Big Chap was about to naturally die by the end of the movie - it was oxydizing, and retired to the Narcissus for its last moments. We don't know the limits of its intelligence. O'Bannon thought the star beast was from a population which once had a developed culture, while Ridley had this unused idea for an epilogue where the Alien would use Ripley's voice to contact Earth (strangely reminiscent of a scene we would come to see in The Terminator five years later). We don't know its history, if it was a specimen, a weapon or even somehow part of the same ecosystem as the Space Jockey. we don't know its resistance. Until the all-new interquel, we didn't even know if Kane's Son survived the reactor burn or not.

This mystery is a huge part of the appeal of the movie, a titanic part of its sheer heaviness, and strangely part of the enigma remains intact even after seeing the entire series.

Big Chap, the face of the unknown

It is hard to deny that James Cameron's angle for a sequel banalizes the Alien. Love or hate AlienS, it is just a fact: we now know the Alien can be killed, and even killed by things as mundane as bullets, grenades or flamethrowers. We now know the limits of its intelligence, it is similar to a dog or a chimpanzee maybe, and only interested in killing and reproduction. We know it has a social structure. We know a gestation will always result in the same creature. We see an apparently closed life cycle, both in terms of successive transformations and reproduction. We see a complete hive, the endgame of the cycle, and the Queen reigning over it all. (I personally think Cameron's entire approach is a large mistake, which had sad consequences on the entire franchise, but I understand people who absolutely love this movie, and I think it's a matter of taste.)

Since then, the creature kept appearing. In the extended universe, it "diversified" into various castes generally playing with the same limitations, or simply trying to imagine "stronger Aliens" - the Praetorian, with all due respect, is just a Big Chap with more muscles. In the movies particularly, the classical Alien became the absolute star and the focus of the franchise.

The Alien hive: an iconic idea with diminishing returns?

By this point movies containing the original Alien (or a close approximation) are generally good DESPITE featuring the original Alien creature and close approximations, not BECAUSE it features it. (We will count the Neomorphs, Praetomorph, Newborn, Offspring and even the Deacon as "close approximations".)

Prometheus had it right all along. Despite its writing flaws, and the erratic quality of the creatures featured - we all hate Zombie Fifield, and regarding the Space Jockeys retconned as almost entirely humanoid Engineers, your mileage may vary -, the Prometheus project had its heart in the right place: it is time to look elsewhere.

But to look elsewhere does NOT mean to lose the focus. It does NOT mean the Alien movies should stop being about the main threat. It does NOT mean they should now propose corporate thrillers, fights against random and unrelated extraterrestrial lifeforms, etc.

It merely means to explore the same concepts from different angles. Do you remember what you felt when you saw the Trilobite serenely collapse upon the vainquished Engineer, and you recognized its typical posture?

Would ANYONE deny it was an incredible moment? Like, you may not like anything else in Prometheus, the themes, photography, bestiary, characters, etc, may not speak to you, but would you deny the power of this instant? When we finally see the facehugger in the Trilobite?

Don't you want more of it? Don't you want creative explorations of body horror, other disgusting biological processes - as Engineer bioweapons, as new stages of the Alien creature, as different incarnations of Plagiarus praepotens, whatever?

We could have creatures like the Vang which are created through the assemblage of multiple repurposed human beings. We could have parasites similar in process to the Half-Life headcrabs, who take control of a human body by merging with the head and then work from there. We could have creatures which eat human beings by vomiting their stomach in our mouth, starfish style. We could have anything.

Why not head towards a larger Alien universe, a sea of unknown nightmares which, while closely tied to the mythology as we know it, would make the experience alien once again?

Detail of the cover for the second book of The Vang trilogy by Christopher Rowley

#alien #xenomorph #horror #science fiction #body horror #creativity #various articles

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nghialtrn · 6 months

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WEEK 8: Digital Citizenship and Software Literacy: Instagram Filters

The Rise of Instagram Filter

The era of technology has opened up new avenues for the development of the media industry, bringing with it significant impacts on society. With 95 million photographs and videos uploaded every day and counting, social media has given us access to more data than ever before. According to Instagram's most recent data, this number is expected to climb (Stout 2019). Initially, social media platforms were not inherently bad. These platforms made it incredibly easy to discover new places, people, and things. However, these social media platforms, especially Instagram, have provided users with a vast array of live filters, allowing users to use them entirely for free.

As previously mentioned in Tumblr's previous blog posts, social media is where users tend to self-perceive that this is where the best versions of themselves appear. Using filters to make ourselves look our best is no longer reserved for professional photographers, but today, even those who know nothing about color correction or contrasts in photos can easily produce high-quality images. A 2017 study on 2 million Instagram accounts found that 18% of total Instagram photos used filters and 25% of Instagram posts with the hashtag #selfie used filters (Pettersson, S 2017).

They allow users to adjust photos by adding enhancements, brightness, saturation, etc., creating a digital world far removed from reality. The use of real-time face filters enhances the opportunity to express oneself through images (Javornik, A, et al. 2022). However, this influence does not stop at images; the concept of filters has penetrated our online lives, impacting how we shape our digital presence and even the information we encounter through social media streams. Instagram has leaped, drawing users; attention to their platform, surpassing other competing apps like Facebook or Twitter. The platform seems to prioritize users’ self-expression and self-promotion rather than developing and maintaining connections (Sheldon, P, et al. 2016). Instagram's concept gives users a sense of excitement as posts need to use at least one image, encouraging users to depict an idealized version of themselves online subtly, creating captivating images along with an enhanced experience to elevate their status and quality through images or videos.

Filter and the Shift in Digital Citizens' Perceptions

With the proliferation of filters, users tend to abuse and utilize those that suit them best. Filters have added excitement for users, allowing them to transform their faces into humorous visages, coupled with sound adjustments during voice recordings, sometimes entirely changing their voices. These filters, particularly the ones that transform users into cartoon characters, maybe amusing. The “Mermaid” or “Mickey” filters, which provide iconic red hair, princess eyes, headbands, seductive grins, and even simulate the mesmerizing voice of a mermaid when users talk, can sometimes make users feel lovely. Other filters change faces into more comical forms.

As social media platforms develop alongside a large number of daily users, the virtual space is maximized, allowing everyone access to updated information daily, whether relevant or not. Consequently, users have moved from simply using platforms to complicating matters by magnifying events. With the platforms' aim of constructing online virtual spaces, they intend for them to serve as repositories for memories at every milestone of life. The creation of new features to diversify usage for users enhances the experiential aspect to a new level. Though beneficial, there are unfortunate potential side effects of their use. As previously cited, users tend to post only the most perfect images on social media. Their perception has somewhat shifted from simply posting to preserve memories, to having more demands such as the need for the perfect version of an image, requiring adjustments in composition, color, and contrast, with images often needing filters to make faces more attractive. Some physical features, such as brighter eyes, smaller noses, and rosy cheeks, are notably accentuated by beauty filters on social media platforms. Others entirely transform facial appearances by smoothing out all pores, enlarging lips, and altering eye shapes. Every time users open an app, it feels like they discover a new filter that turns them into an entirely different person.

This has caused social media users to become excessively habituated to applying beauty filters to improve their looks and hide imperfections. This is especially true for people who use social media regularly, place high importance on appearances, or are more feminine in personality. The new truth regarding beauty standards in society has been made clear by beauty filters. Women are frequently under pressure from society's standards about certain physical attributes, which makes them think that they are unattractive if they don't have lovely lips, smooth skin, big eyes, a nice jawline, or high cheekbones. Users who use filters to change their looks in an attempt to project a socially acceptable version of themselves risk receiving negative feedback from other users. This highlights a crucial problem by showing how accustomed women have grown to be to filters and how the normalization of unachievable beauty standards for women has taken shape. In addition, users' body image problems are becoming more and more of a worry because of the negative consequences of comparing one's physical appearance to that of others.

Conclusion

The use of filters not only limits itself to enhancing photos but also opens up an entirely new digital world where users can express themselves creatively and uniquely. However, the impact of using filters extends beyond just images and permeates into how we understand digital presence and the information we receive through social media. While using filters on social media contributes to joy and creativity, the misuse and reliance on beauty filters have created a new concept of beauty standards in society and altered citizens' perceptions.

Reference list

Hong, S, Jahng, MR, Lee, N & Wise, KR 2020, ‘Do you filter who you are?: Excessive self-presentation, social cues, and user evaluations of Instagram selfies’, Computers in Human Behavior, vol. 104, p. 106159, viewed <https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563219303711>.

Javornik, A, Marder, B, Barhorst, JB, McLean, G, Rogers, Y, Marshall, P & Warlop, L 2022, ‘“What lies behind the filter?” Uncovering the motivations for using augmented reality (AR) face filters on social media and their effect on well-being’, Computers in Human Behavior, vol. 128, no. 107126, p. 107126, viewed <https://reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/pii/S0747563221004490?token=C2FCB5A5DF589848E787953D5759B7990EBCED72E6360E2BDA180ED67E63FA10D50C03C6E45357DEA822281F2161C099&originRegion=eu-west-1&originCreation=20220107091932>.

Pettersson, S 2017, ‘Statistics: How Filters Are Used by Instagram’s Most Successful Users’, Kaptur, viewed <https://kaptur.co/statistics-how-filters-are-used-by-instagrams-most-successful-users/>.

Sheldon, P & Bryant, K 2016, ‘Instagram: Motives for Its Use and Relationship to Narcissism and Contextual Age’, Computers in Human Behavior, vol. 58, pp. 89–97, viewed <https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563215303307>.

#MDA20009 #Filter #Instagram #Art

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lgbtq-history-museum-cfl-intern · 1 year

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Internships and

One thing I love about internships is that they are like sample jobs. It’s like shopping around, seeing what you like and what you don’t, what you can tolerate and what is overwhelming.

For example, no matter what it is, I love gathering and organizing information. I also have, as I like to think most people do, a love-hate relationship with technology; it simplifies so many tasks while a lot of the time being itself a complication. I reluctantly accept its ever-growing presence in daily life, leading me to my interest in digital history and spaces. When I think of my career in Public History, I only see technology becoming more and more central to the field.

But, what is “Public History”?

To be honest, as an Interdisciplinary Studies major, I feel like a stranger in the discipline. In fact, I have only a surface-level understanding of it. I just know that I like history, I liked what I did at my last museum internship, and I want to enter a community-facing graduate degree program and career.

According to the National Council on Public History:

“[P]ublic history describes the many and diverse ways in which history is put to work in the world. In this sense, it is history that is applied to real-world issues.”

What attracts me to the field is how broad it is in terms of means and ends. As an interdisciplinarian, flexibility is important to me.

When I think of “public history” I think of public landmarks and those who work to preserve that status.

I think of documentaries and the untold stories they can reveal.

I think about podcast series and the intimacy that they can bring between interviewers, guest speakers, and listeners.

I think of museum exhibits that aim to engage and educate diverse audiences.

I also think about digital databases and archives that give access to those who aren’t local to an organization or institution and couldn’t access it otherwise.

Public history is so much more than that, however. The American Historical Association cites careers in publishing and editing, as well as consulting and contracting, and even non-profit.

When I think of my career in public history, I see myself doing something in the former paragraph and I like the idea of non-profit work.

My capstone course for my Interdisciplinary Studies program is teaching us to view career goals in terms of mission statements. If you’re not familiar with it, capstone courses are like the close-off to a degree program, oftentimes focusing on compiling your work and packaging it p for grad school or a career after graduating. That’s why you take it the same semester you graduate.

So, this is what I came up with for my mission statement:

“I want to help diversify the pool of knowledge by advocating for the visibility of under-recognized populations.”

This is exactly what I wrote for the discussion post asking us to come up with one.

I would add to it now (it’s been a couple of weeks now since then):

“…while engaging with the community through a public-facing graduate degree program and career.”

I want to emphasize positioning myself as a bridge between people and education, with a goal toward the accessibility and diversification of these materials and spaces.

This could be through museum work: curating, archiving, and collaborating on exhibit design. Here I can produce work that is accessible to the public and manage collections to make archives easier to navigate, especially online. I can find the information that will inform an exhibit and maybe someday hold an important enough position to choose how to expand a collection and participate in the selection process.

This could also be done through school counseling and administration (preferably in higher learning). I could not have come this far without the support and guidance of faculty advisors at UCF, and I’d like to extend that gratitude by motivating other students.

Most of the time these faculty members’ jobs don’t stop at the advice. They collaborate within their department or school to engage students across campus and connect with the wider community.

… As you can see, my capstone course has had me thinking about a lot concerning my career and academic plans.

So many things changed so drastically earlier this year that, though I tried to pivot my plans and felt sure, in the midst of all this self-reflection, I’m finding myself wandering again.

I’ll be back next week with some more updates!

Thanks for keeping up 😊

#public history intern blog #internship blog #history student #education #history intern blog #interdisciplinary studies

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barbaragenova · 1 year

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“Antiracism puts pressure on mainstream white people to try and diversify their lists, and it gives them more leverage when arguing with acquisitions boards that they should make an offer. Without that pressure, the editor might think ‘this topic is too niche’ or, if they did try to acquire it, the acquisitions board might shoot them down.

So, there’s a push and a pull. Antiracist types are generally uninterested in my work, but they create an environment where their colleagues feel more incentive to buy it (which is maybe the reason antiracists don’t like my work. They think, even a straight white person could love this).”

#diversity in writing #diversity in publishing #antiracism #naomi kanakia

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petnews2day · 2 years

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Down 80%, This High-Growth Stock Is Worth Buying (If You Know the Risks)

New Post has been published on https://petnews2day.com/pet-industry-news/pet-financial-news/down-80-this-high-growth-stock-is-worth-buying-if-you-know-the-risks/

Down 80%, This High-Growth Stock Is Worth Buying (If You Know the Risks)

The past year has been absolutely brutal for investors. But for SoFi Technologies (SOFI) shareholders, the pain goes back even further; the company’s stock peaked way back in February 2021. At recent prices, it’s down 80% from those highs, while the S&P 500 is down about 1.5% in total returns.

And it’s down for a reason. Between a market that became pretty exuberant about the prospects of fintech stocks, the loss of that conviction, and more recently the macroeconomic pressures (read: rampant inflation and skyrocketing interest rates threatening the economy), its near-term prospects have taken a major hit.

But despite those near-term pressures, and the very real risks they create, there’s still a compelling bull thesis, at least for investors who can handle the very real risk of losses if things don’t pan out.

SoFi’s future as a bank and the risks

Over the past few years, investor interest in fintechs has climbed up — and back down — a mountain. Today, it’s at a relatively low point. The same thing has happened for bank stocks, as investors see the positive of rising interest rates not being enough to offset the risks of a potential recession.

And this makes sense because banks are very leveraged businesses, lending about 90% of the cash that depositors put into accounts. As a result, when recessions happen, people lose jobs, have their hours cut at work, and otherwise have to tighten their belts — leading to increased late payments and loan defaults. And that means big losses for banks that haven’t done a good job underwriting high-quality loans.

The risks are potentially higher for SoFi than for many other banks. That’s because the bulk of its loan originations are personal loans, which are typically unsecured. This means that, unlike a mortgage or auto loan, there is no collateral the bank can foreclose upon or repossess if the borrower defaults on the loan. While it has made home loans a bigger priority, the collapse in mortgage activity has caused mortgage volume to slow.

As a result, SoFi has more than $7 billion in unsecured loans on its balance sheet. That’s almost 91% of its total loan book at the end of the second quarter (it had not filed its third-quarter 10-Q at the time of publication). Those loans represent both a significant amount of interest income, but also a not-small amount of risk if we do fall into a serious recession that results in significant job losses. The kinds of loans SoFi specializes in are the riskiest kinds for a bank to hold on its balance sheet.

The bull case for SoFi

SoFi has taken more control over its future by acquiring a bank recently, giving it a banking charter. As a result, it no longer has to partner with a chartered bank, which means that it has better costs and more control over banking relationships and how it can leverage things like yields on deposits to acquire customers. It’s also growing the number of financial services and lending products it offers.

As a result, SoFi is absolutely growing like wildfire. It increased members by 61% last quarter, products used by 69%, and adjusted revenue by 51%. Maybe most importantly in the current environment, revenue from financial-services products was up 83%, growing much faster than its 24% increase in lending products revenue.

In other words, SoFi, while still pretty leveraged to those unsecured loans, is steadily diversifying where its revenue comes from. That’s a really positive sign, especially the fact that the number of products members use is increasing even faster than member growth.

The risk in the near term is that it will have to live off of its balance sheet, as it continues to spend money to take market share and grow. This situation could be compounded if defaults increase, wiping out book value.

Risk, reward, and getting through the cycle

While not a perfect metric, SoFi trades for about 86% of its book value at recent prices. Buying a bank for less than book value can often deliver wonderful returns, especially if the buyer can grow that book value.

Here’s the catch: SoFi is burning capital as it spends to take share and grow. Moreover, if we do see a recession, loan defaults would further deteriorate its book value. In other words, this could prove a value trap, and investors should proceed with that firmly in mind.

SoFi’s balance sheet appears to be strong enough to get it through a downturn relatively unscathed, and that makes the risk-reward profile very attractive at this price. It’s growing customers by upward of 60% per year and revenue above 50% right now, and its customers are steadily doing more business with it. For investors who can stomach owning a bank through a potential recession, SoFi could prove a very big winner on the other side.

#Pet Financial News

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interact-if · 3 years

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I’m sending this in because it seems like I could get good opinions from not only you but also the people who follow you. I have an idea for an IF, and I’m very excited for the story. My question is, would people be offended if I made the playable MC physically female that identifies as female and all the ROs physically male that identify as male? I have seen some out there that are strictly M/M or F/F, and I’m so happy they exist because I feel that population is underserved. I just feel, not having the experience, I could bring justice to writing LGBTQ+ (and I don’t want to offend anyone in that community by writing something incorrect), mostly when it comes to sex (which I plan on including in my game). I support games that have those relationships in them and admire them, even play those games, and I don’t care who plays my game. The more the merrier! I still want the characters to be diverse. One of them will be of a descent that is based on Japanese culture and many others, based on Persian culture. I also want the playable MC to have any skin tone/features the player wants. I just want to know if this…will have people coming after me? I want to tell my story, but I don’t want to be attacked for it, if that makes sense?

I really don’t mean to offend anyone. I just don’t want to cause trouble, and I just want to respectfully ask for people’s opinions on this.

Hello! So, before diving into our response, we’d like to emphasize that we are but five individuals running a blog devoted to interactive fiction. We are neither the end-all-be-all voice on this matter nor necessarily a representative mouthpiece for the community.

First off, you can write whatever you would like to write; as the author, you have absolute control over what you produce, so nobody is going to stop you from writing what you want to write. It’s also important to write what you enjoy.

That said, the community is, in our experience, very inclusive, and largely devoted to providing a space for the queer community. We can understand the desire to have an appropriately inclusive and diverse game, and why you particularly want to turn to characters of color to bridge the gap; however, substituting characters of color for queer characters to claim diversity in a project is possibly something that will receive the wrong kind of attention. Furthermore, assuming that writing characters of color well is any less complex than writing queer characters potentially suggests that said characters could end up underdeveloped or tokenized. (See Nines' and Roast’s response below for more context)

All of that doesn’t mean you can’t make a game that’s genderlocked and restricted to M/F romance, and I don’t think anyone will be offended by such a game, but it might limit your audience. At the same time, there are (many) other visual novels that have this format, so it’s not something unheard of. As far as CoGs and text-based games go, as far as we’ve seen, they are rarely genderlocked unless for plot reasons, etc.

There is also a chance that you may receive feedback requesting that the MC be un-gender locked, or for additional ROs to be added of different gender, or for the ROs to be made gender selectable. These requests may be gentle, insistent, kind, or aggressive, and they may only occur at the beginning of your work, or may occur throughout your game development. Maybe they’ll never happen at all. It’s impossible to predict the future, but in our experience, we have often seen this occur to games in the past with RO gender imbalances, locks, etc.

As for searching for feedback, if you’re looking for feedback but you’re not pursuing the CoG format, may we suggest the Reddit subforum? It’s a little difficult for you to get the feedback/dialogue going here that you’d likely like to get, so Reddit’s format may be more conducive to your needs.

In the meanwhile, those who would like to provide their thoughts are encouraged to respond in the comments of this post. Please remember to be polite with your discussion!

— — —

The above is our general mod response; a few of us wanted to offer some individual thoughts as well, and those can be found below. These are personal opinions and reflect each individual mod’s thoughts, rather than a collective response.

While it can be a little daunting to write about something you’re not familiar with, writing often broaches topics with which we don’t personally have first-hand experience. Additionally, queer relationships are ultimately still relationships between people—they’re not all that different from heterosexual relationships. If you’re worried about the way you’re portraying your content, that’s something well-curated beta readers/testers (from the population you’re trying to represent) can help test for, and give feedback on. And on top of all of the above, that’s not to mention the potential issues associated with substituting in POC to replace queer people, which is perhaps not what your intention is, but is what it feels like your intention is (see Roast and Nines for all the ins and outs on why this is an issue). Ultimately, I stand by the opinion that on the most basic level, most will not be offended by a game that’s about a straight, cisgender female MC—yet some, or even many, may be off-put by such a game. I know I, personally, am. (P. S. Also consider that the MC has to interact with the other ROs that she isn’t romancing, as friends, enemies, acquaintances, what have you—having selectable ROs, for example, also allows the player to “diversify” their acquaintance group, if they so wish.) — Dani

I understand that this ask is coming from well-meaning intent but I would just like to state that writing characters of color is not easier than writing queer characters. One of them isn't a substitute for the other. Writing characters of color and writing queer characters are separate matters entirely, and both come with its own difficulties. Wanting your characters to be diverse, while admittedly lacking the perspective to back such identities, is still a murky water to navigate.

Personally speaking, and I really do have to be transparent about this, the way certain sentences were phrased in this ask rubbed me the wrong way. Still, I understand that this isn't malicious, just someone who is asking for guidance, which is something I can't fault. We all have to start somewhere, you know? That being said, if you really want to write diverse characters, my general advice is to do research. Lots and lots and lots of research. No author is exempt from that, honestly.

Find helpful articles, journals, studies, video essays, etc. to aid you in writing your characters. If you still feel like that's lacking in some way, which is a valid concern, being open to feedback from the appropriate people is also a good way to improve. The integrity of a project is important, but so is reasonable criticism against, for, or about it. Keep an open mind, educate yourself, and don't be afraid to ask for help or clarification should it be needed. — Nines

Nines says it well that queer people and poc are not interchangeable nor any 'easier' than the other. The fact that you're willing to do research and include characters of color yet not include queer characters tells me that you're afraid yet misconstruing how much effort actually gets put into cultural research.

There is a 'purity culture' that goes around tumblr that claims that diverse characters have to be perfect, have to have no flaws, cannot die, cannot have trauma, cannot face adversity, they must be perfect and good and happy.

I think this is bullshit.

I also think the backlash from this 'purity culture' community is what is creating so much fear in authors (including queer authors!!) in making characters with different backgrounds and identities than their own. In making queer characters with flaws and tragedy and negative characteristics.

If we only ever wrote what we knew, what we've personally experienced, fiction would be a very boring world.

Being afraid of representing a community wrong is a valid fear, but it shouldn't stop you from trying. You can write what you want to write, but it shouldn't be limited by fear.

Do your research. Get sensitivity readers. Be open to feedback. Be willing to be afraid, but do it anyway.

If, in the end, you decide to gender lock, make it an informed decision at the very least, and if you are including characters of color, know that that is a heavy amount of research too, and should be handled with the same care as what we've said on queer characters.

And like we've said before, we are not the voice of the community, we cannot give you permission or our blessing or flawless feedback, we are just five people running a blog. — Roast

Alright this was already mentioned a bit before but I wish to add my two cents: M/F relationships are the norm anywhere else in real life, and if you feel like there's no space for you and your relationships in a mostly-queer community then you might want to recheck if this is the community you wish to have as your target audience.

No one's going to be offended if your story is cishet, as we said, but you are extremely reducing your audience by doing such. The appeal of interactive fiction is that a good bunch of us have played female-mc-straight-love-interest visual novels in the past, having to endure being misgendered or romancing people we might not be attracted to.

The current interactive fiction community we're trying to promote has opened a million doors for everyone to explore themselves, so don't be surprised if your story, no matter how good, is ignored due to this aspect. Most of us have no interest in being forced to play as something we're not.

Again, we cannot tell you what you can or cannot do. We don't speak for the community, we speak for ourselves and for this blog. Maybe every comment we've made was incorrect and your game turns out to be successful, really, but it's what we believe you should keep in mind. — Cruz

Honestly, I don’t have much to add since everyone here mentioned and discussed important facets of this ask! At the end of the day, we are not a group who can or will ever dictate what you can or cannot write. That is not the purpose of the blog or the reason why we’re working as hard as we are.

There have always been games with this specific set of characteristics: gender locked MCs and/or ROs. Some people may enjoy it, others may not, for whatever reason.

Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee anything in terms of how people will respond to a game, because people will react to content differently. All we can do is offer our perspective and the potential things that may happen in the future based on the experience the lovely devs above have had. (fellow interact-if mods, my beloved ❤️)

It’s always admirable for people to reach out when they’re unsure, and I’m sure there are infinitely more opinions that vary or are similar to the ones in this response. But there you have it, some of our thoughts!

Goodluck with your project! — Mars

#interact-if asks #anonymous #long post

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xuanlw · 2 years

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suppose i brought my soloist muse kris (a ten chittaphon fc) back. would anyone plot with him hehe (maybe with a taeyong or winwin opp?? but not necessarily?? he’s open to any gender tbh he’s what himself the kids call a bisexual legend). n e ways i’ll leave more info under the read more cuz i’m too lazy to do a more organized intro and i should be studying anyways so like hmu or like this if interested?

ptbr; suponhamos q eu ressuscite meu oc solista kris (fc ten chittaphon). alguém por ventura plotaria com ele... (talvez com um taeyong ou winwin de opp?? mas não necessariamente?? tipo ele tá aberto pra qualquer gênero valeu ele é o q ele mesmo os jovens chamam de ícone bissexual). enfim vou deixar mais info debaixo do read more (nessa ordem mesmo em inglês depois português) porque to com preguiça de postar organizadamente no meu sideblog e devia tá estudando então vem no privado ou dá o like se tiver interesse?

around ~26 (age can be changed a little), soloist, bisexual. tw for implying grooming of sorts & sex exchange & just power imbalance? you know nasty entertainment industry shit. anyways! about kris. grew up struggling in the poor areas of bangkok then turned backdancer for kpop idols turned trainee & survival shows contestant turned widely famous all-rounder soloist with a diversified discography, though he has been leaning more into rnb recently (he doesn’t label himself musically cuz says he wanna have room to explore different genres etc). total extrovert with a very playful & charismatic personality. he’ll annoy everyone & flirt with everyone with the same determination. somewhat impulsive, lives for intense emotions, 100% yolo, not so secretly a sl*t (like have you seen his lyrics? horny jail for 1000 years). what’s more of a secret (or so he thinks, the idiot) tendency to overwork himself. the youngest of three siblings to a very neat & supportive family (and now also a doting uncle!!). hiding the dirty secret that he slept with a big shareholder of his first company for a while to get support for his career, until he could disentangle himself from the man (pretending that didn’t fuck him up in the slightest). always trying to prove to himself that he deserves to have gotten where he is. plot!! can be anything. with someone who’s also in the industry, as a singer or something else (even as a staff member like mua, choreographers etc) or with someone who’s like a non famous person with no previous relations to famous people trying to make it work with a world famous celebrity. exes, established but secret relationship, fwb to lovers, hookups to lovers, people who just met & are working on a collab u name it.

ptbr; ~26 anos (dá pra mudar umm pouquinho), solista, bissexual. tw para grooming implícito (bom meio que grooming), sexo como moeda de trocar e desequilíbrio de poder?? enfim a mais pura sujeira da indústria do entretenimento. enfim bora lá! kris cresceu na labuta nos cantos mais pobres de bangkok, virou backdancer pra idols de kpop, virou trainee & competidor em survival show, até virar um solista all-rounder famoso com uma discografia bem diversificada, embora ele esteja se inclinando mais pro rnb recentemente (ele não se rotula musicalmente porque diz que quer poder explorar gêneros diferentes conforme a verdade etc). total extrovertido com uma personalidade brincalhona e carismática. vai encher o saco de todo mundo e flertar com todo mundo com a mesma determinação. meio impulsivo, vive por emoções intensas, 100% yolo, não tão secretamente p*ta (tipo, já prestou atenção nas músicas dele?). o que é mais segredo (ou é o que ele acha né otário) é sua tendência de trabalhar até o limite da exaustão e daí continuar trabalhando. o caçula de três irmãos pra uma família bacana que o apoia (e agora também um tio babão!!). escondendo o segredinho sujo que ele dormiu com um dos acionistas da primeira empresa dele por um tempo pra conseguir apoio pra sua carreira, até ele conseguir se desvencilhar do homem (e fingir que isso não ferrou com a cachola dele em nada... terapia filho). sempre tentando provar pra ele mesmo que ele merece chegar onde chegou, esetar onde está. plot!! pode ser qualquer coisa, com alguém que também é da indústria, como cantore ou algo diferente (até alguém que trabalha nos bastidores tipo galera da maquiagem, coreógrafe etc), ou com alguém que não é famose nem tinha nada a ver com gente famosa antes e aí têm de fazer o relacionamento secreto funcionar com uma celebridade mundialmente conhecida. exes, relacionamento às econdidas, amizade colorida, ficantes (pra que tratar ficante como namorade quando se pode tratar como espose), pessoas que acabaram de se conhecer e estão trabalhando numa collab, tanto faz.

#⠀ ⠀ ♡ ⠀ ⠀ 𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕⠀ ⠀ ⠀╱⠀ ⠀ ⠀characters.#faz tanto tempo q n jogo com ele quem me conhece daquela época saiba q eu sou uma nova mulher agora #o kris continua n prestando porém mas ele continua engraçado

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herstarburststories · 4 years

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(He Isn't) A Good Guy

Kinktober day 15: humiliation kink

Pairing: Jensen Ackles x reader

Summary: Jensen is tired of everyone saying he's a good guy.

Warnings: dirty talk (kind dark bc of the kink), handjob, p in v, riding, cheating, possessive, slapping

You have to be careful with what you're good at. You might just end up doing it for the rest of your life.

Jensen Ackles never caught the appeal of that saying. If you were really that good at something, why wouldn't you want to do it?

Such a mindset was as constant as a mother’s love and made Jensen's loyal company for a long time during his career. He pictured it would last forever: the head pats, positive criticism, and his charm that caught more and more fans. The Hollywood man was happy, really. He grew to be a good — if not great — actor. He had a wife and three kids that were the love of his life. He could go anywhere and find a job through the instantaneous recognition that Supernatural bestowed upon him, not to mention its gift of a best friend, Jared, and the raw amount of personal growth he went through.

He was perfect in the most diversified aspects of his life, and, God, it was boring as fuck.

Whatever Jensen did, he was excused for it. Plenty of people would light themselves on fire for him (and hey, don’t think he was ungrateful for that), but being called a good guy that apparently couldn’t do any wrongs while the rights came out even in his sleep could be devastatingly annoying.

He thought he might have some problem, perhaps even a middle-aged crisis. Come on, who, with his life, would feel compelled to look for something else? Ackles had the money, the friends, and family. He had everything everyone dreamed about, but he just wanted to wake up.

Then, he met you.

You were the woman in her twenties who was barely starting in the media business, yet you had enough luck and talent to evoke the CW's attention that early. They wouldn't hire you as an official director, but you were in the training process. You were a prodigy, as most people on the set liked to joke about.

You sighed, slightly frustrated about the direction these takes were going. Asking Ackles to follow orders was roughly the same as punching a wall; the brick didn't break, and it only left you with scuffed knuckles and growing irritation. “Jensen, you need to tilt your head to the side or we won't be able to catch her face on camera.”

“I'm doing that,” he said as if it was obvious.

“The camera doesn't agree with you.” You crossed your arms, tired of having this heated squabble again.

“I know how to shoot sex scenes, Y/N. I've been doing that for—”

You interrupted him: “I'm aware of how long the show I'm working on has been going, Jensen. Now, take my hint and do as I say. I get that you have done this before, but we are trying a new position, so your M.O. might not work.” You knew he was a good actor. Supernatural wouldn't be what it was if it wasn't for his character. Still, you needed this episode to be perfect in terms of filming. It was your first actual chance to prove how worthy you were. Jensen had his career and little apple pie life settled, but you had to scratch and squirm to insert yourself into the industry. You knew what you were doing. Nonetheless, you attempted to pacify his self-assurance by being assertive and gentle at the same time: “Just listen to me and try it. Please.”

The green-eyed man opened his mouth, very much ready to spit out a contradicting retort, but at the last second, he clamped his jaw shut and opted for a smirk instead. “Yeah, boss.”

It was the first time in years that someone actually came at him. Jensen felt the bruise aching his ego that spiked a sudden pressing need to puff out his chest and say I know what I am doing. Why don't you watch?

He'd call that the Texan man behavior, alpha macho testosterone levels on high, but, honestly, he was just mad that someone had the audacity to talk to him like that, as if he was a rookie on his job. Jensen's whole body heated up, his jaw clenched, and his breath caught on his throat when he glanced at you — of course, he'd never put a hand on a woman, but God, that was infuriating. He wasn't a middle school child in need of a lecture.

But this was his first impression. As you gave everyone fifteen minutes to relax before shooting again, he went to his trailer, gait unnecessarily heavy like a child throwing a tantrum. Jensen locked his trailer and closed his eyes, trying to pick out his emotions — how long have it been since he got mad? That couldn't be healthy.

Do as I say. Your words were echoes in his head, spinning and making him dizzy. Just listen to me.

And the look you gave him. It wasn’t adoration as a fan or nervousness like a new worker. You didn’t excuse him as anyone else did. You glanced at him as you would to any other person on the set that had made a mistake: you pointed it out and didn't offer any sugarcoating to dull the blow.

It felt refreshing.

Shaking your head at the scene unrolling on the other side of the camera, you let out an exhausted sigh. This was your second directed episode, and Jensen wasn't making it easy for you. He always seemed like such a nice guy, yet you weren't surprised by his mulish behavior. You had called him out, and now he was turning it back around on you. Celebrities were complicated on their one, but male ones even more. Their egos required a role for themselves.

“Everyone, ten minutes!” you announced, placing the headphones on the table next to you. Your crew started dispersing, Ackles included, when his name left your lips: “Jensen, c'here.”

The green-eyed man arched his eyebrows, not sure why you wanted to talk to him so privately. Still, he approached you.

When you were a kid, you went through a phase when your smile wasn’t very pretty. It was too much teeth, eyes too tight, and head lifted high enough to show under your chin. Your parents couldn't just up and tell you that it looked terrible, obviously, so they just showed you multiple pictures until you decided that you didn't like something about it.

Maybe that would work with Jensen.

You patted the chair next to you, and Jensen sat there with a wisp of hesitation. You clicked on the scene you had been trying to get right for almost an hour. The replay went smoothly, Ackles's shoulders shrugging by the end. He didn't see the fuss about this.

“Seems good,” he said nonchalantly.

You squinted your eyes at him. Someone as talented as him couldn't be serious about not seeing a problem with how ridiculous his vampire transformation through the last season was. “Seems like a sitcom”

“It's a dumb scene.” Jensen shrugged.

You groaned. “Can't you just accept that you can do better?”

Jensen crossed his arms and straightened his posture, holding a defensive atmosphere around him. God, he was infuriating sometimes. “Maybe you can. I've been doing great for years. You might not be the right director for this kind of show.”

“Just do as I said. You're in the scene, but I'm the audience. I can see right through you. I'm seeing things from another perspective and trying to tell you how to improve. That's what a director is for. Go ahead and try it!”

Your friendly conversation with the lead apparently had the opposite effect. As soon as he went back to his place in front of the camera, Jensen Ackles appeared to acquire the stubborn, incredibly unprofessional desire to take on all the worst camera angles only to get on your nerves.

“Are you kidding me!?” You elevated your voice, furious at how careless he was. All your patience has been zapped. “You're doing it on purpose. How can you be so petty?”

“Me? Petty!?” he said between gritted teeth, almost hissing as he walked to you. “I've been playing Dean for years. I know him more than—”

“I know. You do a big job with that character, but Jensen, you make mistakes. It's part of the process. You're a grown-ass man, so you can take what I'm saying and make something useful out of it. I'm the director; you are the actor. I don't care about how long you’ve been on this stage, and I don’t care for incompetence. You ain't doing good, so do as I say and fix it.”

Jensen tensed up when you said that, exhaling shortly while his eyes glued on you. You were half his age, yet the way you presented yourself — arms stiffly crossed, eyes ablaze and chin lifted — spoke of your power on this film set. At the end of the day, he was just a man, and he was in your court. Just like that, you held all control. He bit his bottom lip, neck red with the heat of anger and adrenaline that lashed through his body.

He was furious, yet all his body could do was react as if you had kissed him instead of punching his ego.

Anger and luxury both came from the same place. They were just different branches on the same tree growing from a common seed.

The half of Supernatural's leader actor started doing it on purpose, then. Not acting in a way that could collide with his career or mess up the shooting schedule, but an occasional bitched scene here and there when he had a chance, and always when you were in charge of the scene.

He relished in it: someone treating him like a man and not an untouchable idol. A woman who would look straight in his eyes and not be too intimidated, excited, or lovey-dovey to tell him all the bad things he needed to hear. You were someone who could put him in his place.

Unfortunately, playing around can only get you so far. If you bring someone to the pool, they won't be satisfied with just one foot in the water. They'd want to swim, splash water at their friends to get them all wet and soaked too.

What started with provocative, fuming rage and nuisance soon melted into something deadlier. It was something unmanageable, a burning fire that attracted all the wrong kinds of glances. Yet, neither of you could help but follow where the smoke signal led.

You were here, in each other's arms. It was a dirty little secret that went way beyond just an illicit affair: it was about what you two could give to each other without even asking, and what other people could never quite comprehend. . . And they didn't need to. Jensen had you, and you had Jensen. To desire and savor the result was enough.

Your hand was wrapped around his cock, moving up and down in a painfully slow rhythm. You had two legs wrapped around his, your face hanging next to Jensen's — close enough that you could kiss all of his freckles if this were out of love and not necessity — as you spoke.

“Everybody thinks you are the good guy. Little mister perfect.” Ackles groaned at the malice in your tone. He hated that — how everyone called him perfect, how every single person told him he was such a good guy. You were his only grounding force under the blinding lights. “But I know you aren't. You are nasty, disgusting, and so needy for someone to put you in your fucking place.”

The male's lips parted slightly, a pornographic moan leaving his body. This perversion felt like a hair short of sin. Who in their right mind would be so turned on by a girl half his age picking up all the worst things one could say about him, only to throw them exactly where it hurt the most?

Why, in the name of God, did he want more? Why was Jensen bucking his lips, needy noises that he never dons escaping his trembling body? Why was his cock hard as fuck, ruinining your fingers with sloppy precum while he internally begged you for more?

It was like receiving a miracle and giving it to the devil.

“Look at you,” you continued, a smirk painted on your features, “getting fucked in your trailer by the woman who basically told you to stop whining and get your job done like a real man.” You loved being in control of the usually overconfident Hollywood star. If only his dearest fans knew how much of a submissive he was — how he just needed to be told where he belonged.

“Y/N…” Jensen managed to say, his chest moving erratically fast. You leaned in to press your lips to his, and he whimpered. Ackles' hand slid to your waist in an attempt to pull you closer, but all he got was a slap on the arm and lack of friction on his dick. “Y/N!”

“I didn't say you could touch me, stubborn idiot.” You hissed, getting up to throw away your skirt and underwear. Jensen sniffed, feeling so ridiculous about himself. You had way too much control over him, but he couldn't really care about anything other than you touching his cock right now. Fuck composure or else. “I'm not your wife. I'm not one of your thirsty fans.” Each word came out in a harsh tone, those syllabus together had no other duty but hurt him, and he loved how they agonized in his body, redirected right to his hardness. You got free of the skirt and your soaked lace panties. “I don't need you. This?” You gestured at yourself and Ackles, a wry laughter coming out as you climbed on his lap. “I'm doing you a favor. So, you better thank me and take whatever I choose to give you. Understood?” Jensen's eyes were obsessed with your image, not leaving your face once— not even to look at his hard cock that was so close to your cunt due the new position. He just nodded, wishing that was enough to show you his piece of mind. It wasn't. You slapped his cheek and howled. “I made you a question.”

Jensen gulped, the red on his cheek from your smack couldn't compare to his blushed body. This felt so good, finally getting what he wanted. Ultimately, he blurted out: “Yes, I understand.”

“Good. Now let's put you to good use.” You winked at him, a hint of silly playfulness before you got all his length inside you at once. Both of you moaned, the unique sensation of your walls around his hard dick was marvelous. So warm, tight, and wet. Everything he deserved in one pussy, one woman. You started to move your hips up and down. “You feel so good inside me, baby. Like your cock was made for me— I think you were made just for this, to be fucked by me. What do you think?” His eyes fluttered shut, Jensen was allowing himself to get lost into you. You were heaven in sin, fucking him so nice. You weren't having his silent, though. You both had to be quiet about many things regarding to your mutual arrangement, you couldn't get more of closed mouths. Not when this was happening. You grabbed Jensen's jaw, fingertips pressing against his skin. “You better start answering me before I get out of here and go get some with a real man.”

Jensen groaned, holding your hips possessively. You knew he was one of the jealous kind, talking about other men touching you always got a reaction out of him. “I'm a real man.”

“Show me then, baby.” A glimpse of sweetness appeared as you leaned in to kiss his lips. It didn't last much before your lips went to his neck, words coming through an open-mouthed there. “You know, they all are so caught up in your act, Jensen. The perfect texan boy, the amazing husband, the unproblematic idol…” You chortled, sending goosebumps through his whole soul. His dick was deep into you as you were riding his restlessly. “I bet you get tired of this. I bet you just want to fuck me in front of everyone sometimes, just to show them how dirty you can be.” He nodded, a soft whine leaving his lips. He was so tired of being the good guy. Only you knew him. “Like right now. You spent the whole day messing up with me, teasing me, just so you could get punished. And here we are, fucking in your trailer, while everyone is getting ready to go home.” He tried to move his hips as well, to get more of you. When you didn't stop him, Ackles winced and bucked his hips, hitting your G-spot, going deep and raw inside your tight cunt. One of his hands went to your pussy, digits pressing to your clit. Your next words came during groans of pleasure. “You should go too, baby. But you can't help it, huh? You just want go fuck me, even though I don't even care enough to send you a message to make sure you got home safe. You like it. You love that I'm not crazy about you, that I don't care.” His heart ached, but his cock only grew harder. Jensen could feel he was on the edgy. “So, you stay here instead of going home to your sweet wife. You stay here instead of hanging out with your best friend. You stay here instead of looking through your social media just to get an ego boost. Is this what a good man would do, Jensen? No... But that's okay. Men like you just need to be put in their places, and you love it.”

“Y/N!” He screamed helplessly, pulling your body closer to him when he came inside you, marking your pussy as his. A treacherous, lust stained thought was placed on his shoulders, whispering lovingly to his ear like you did your swearing: breed her, get her pregnant with your baby. Make her yours.

You had broken him, and he loved every second of it. He couldn't wait to give you the shattered pieces as a gift.

You came with an excruciating grunt right after him, all over his cock. The feeling of Jensen coming inside you always pushed you right way. You sighed happily, resting your head on his chest.

He enjoyed moments like this.

You remained there, waiting for his cock to relax inside you, get less hard before you pulled you. When it did, you pressed a quick kiss to his collarbone, walking to grab your clothes.

“Jensen,” You coughed after putting on your skirt. “I'll send you the new script tonight. Send me an email to confirm that you got it.”

What you truly wanted to say was, tell me if you got home safe. But you couldn't.

“Sure.” Jensen answered with a nod. Once again, he also wanted to say something else: thank you for giving me what I need, for seeing me. I love you. But he couldn't.

You picked up your wet panties, throwing it at him with a teasing smile before leaving the trailer.

It was enough.

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incarnateirony · 4 years

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Wow. lol-jackles seriously thinks Jensen's less attractive, popular, well known, and talented than Jared. Jensen's never going to rise above being 3rd on the call sheet unless a producer like Jared designs a role playing to his (read: limited) acting skills. Everything Jensen (and Misha) do/have/say is crap. But it's the hellers and AAs who are jealous and MEEEAN to poor Jared. True MAGA hypocrite, ignoring facts and living in some alternate reality they've created in their minds

P much

I find literally none of them attractive personally because, you know, they’re men and all that.

But all it takes is one look at Jensen Ackles, even if you’re not personally attracted, to understand that he’s the more classically attractive of the lot. He meets every media standard of attractiveness, like some perfect shake and bake bag of classic attributes of male beauty. I don’t know what universe anybody lives in to pretend otherwise or like Jensen would have a harder time finding work from his looks.

Much less his acting. I’m sorry. Jensen Microexpressions Ackles vs Jared Macroexpressions Padalecki is not a contest. Not remotely. That’s not being “AA”. It’s literally observing the basic functions of their acting.

Jensen doesn’t need to do shit like this

or this

He just doesn’t. Sam was equally over the top in 15.20. Again, he just was.

I think part of it is in the universe they built to shit down on Destiel, they had to shit down on Jensen’s micro work. They would rather imply, subdermally, that Jensen somehow underplayed Dean’s death in 15.20 than gave a solid (if directorially overdrawn) performance while Jared Manly Wail Dot Jpeged through it. Why? Because they also can’t recognize the same features of acting he applied in 15.18.

I swear to god it felt like they were acting two entirely different scenes with the energy in the comedically long 15.20 death.

Why? Because in both scenes, there was an I Love You with nothing back.

Given, they bro’ed the bro scene. Destiel fandom out here always “No Fear; Cas/Dean calling Each Other Brother: One Fear” and it was literally the bro scene that they crapped on by throwing “my baby brother” in when Destiel didn’t get that, despite all the other “When I first raised you out of hell/got you from school” “knowing you changed me/you didn’t take any of dad’s crap (so I learned not to)” and then they slapped the goddamn “my baby brother” on it and Sam also didn’t say it back and respectively, never ever has.

By bronly logic: Sam doesn’t love Dean, even as a brother. Unless of course, you only respect Manly Wail Dot Jpeg. And not all the nuance Jensen brings to his acting. (”No response; flat; underacted” etc.) -- understanding that would understand 15.18 instantly so can’t have that.

And that’s enduring even before 15.18.

We won’t even talk about the fact that Jensen is currently out-trending Jared on every platform--be it imdb star rating for how often he’s searched, or google--while Jared’s constantly headlining articles on a new buzzy show and Jensen is.. shoveling snow? Posted a picture on instagram? Made a few statements several months ago? Has a production company with zero actual announcements or current products while Jared has one that’s actively attached to Walker? Has a show role for a show that’s going to air in 2022, that got announced half a year ago? IDK. Shrug emoji.

The same people currently don’t understand that 0.2 is a smaller number than 0.3 in the same year on the same timeslot on the same channel too. Nothing they say is grounded remotely in reality. The whole world is a conspiracy against Jarpad to them, and that’s why people talk about Chaos Machine and not Stick To Your Guns, I guess.

They’re in flat denial that this current show is--as someone on SR (the site they convinced themselves I somehow personally made in 2009 just to fuck with Walker in 2021 [which I don’t own]) put it-- in “Walker Try Not To Round Down To 0.1 In Your First Season Challenge” mode with its current ratings trajectory. Ebb and flow tells us it’s going to hover its current 0.21-0.23 for a bit but start draining on the back end and does genuinely risk dropping under 0.151 at this point. And I hate to break it to them again, but 0.1 is a smaller number than 0.3 still.

Flat-out: even beyond who’s more attractive, or who’s better as an actor, or who trends higher online: Jensen just chose his career path far more intelligently.

He courted multiple possible media suitors (WB, Disney, Amazon). He came out with a role on an Amazon show and an exclusive deal with the WB for a studio that can put his work anywhere from on the CW to HBO. He’s diversifying his recognition base and portfolio.

Jared chose a path that is plugging him back on the CW, and actually makes his popup studio in association with it wholly dependent on its parent companies, rather than being an independent operation contracted into exclusivity. If and when Jensen’s contract ends, if he doesn’t feel it’s fruitful, he can do whatever he wants with Chaos Machine, while having a strong bedrock of existing product and notoriety under it. Stick To Your Guns is a limited vessel and reliant on its current clout ladder. Jensen will be able to walk wherever he wants after this. Jared will not. Not as a producer. Not with a media company. He’ll be back to being an actor seeking casting that has some production experience. Which he should, by now, after being in acting for like 20 years. Maybe Stick To Your Guns will survive past and Pedowitz will order another series aimed for a similar demographic to also be on the CW. Because Stick To Your Guns isn’t going much of anywhere else. It even platforming Walker on HBOMax is a CBS-WB agreement for how they’re peddling product with the Netflix deal broken. It’s not gonna actively create content FOR HBO.

Add in Walker being on the CW, and being all but uncancellable as a CBS product on the CW, he’s tied in for at least 88 episodes or until catastrophic failure, whichever comes first. That means 4-5 seasons with its current episode format. That means Jared will have spent his entire professional life on the WB/CW, known as a “stupid teen network”--while, at worst, Jensen may produce content for that network while also handling things for HBO and other WB platforms and performing on other media throughout.

Jensen and Jared both stayed true to SPN as a production--neither can be faulted for how much of their lives went into that and it’s generally an attribute. But one chose to step forward, out, and wider and the other just stepped laterally in the same space and that IS noticeable on a professional level. Again, that’s just reality. That’s going to be looked at by future media agencies. It just is. No amount of hollering on tumblr about the great AA conspiracy against Jarpad is gonna change that.

Jared has officially niched himself into a role where after this he’s pretty much gonna be forever cursed to play The Dad On That New Teen Show unless he does something DRASTIC after this. Period. Like end of story. That’s reality. Short of absolutely embarrassing collapse of Walker he’s not walking out of the show before he’s 43-44. Jensen was already shuffling contract work with his current clients at 41. And came out more independent for it.

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