#especially because he has a troll form

[mysdrymmumbles]

So far, the character I have been most excited to see return this expac is Emmigosa.

[suiana]

imagine rejecting a yandere! god and he gets all mad and petty so he curses your love life

so maybe you used to be a cleric or something that worshipped him and he decided to be silly and come down to earth in a more human form (still godly but less flamboyant). he was bored and what better thing to do than to meet up with his worshippers? especially you, his most devout and sweet little thing?

of course, he eventually fell for you and confessed his feelings. you're just so captivating after all.

"hey i really like you-"

"sorry, i am only meant for my lord and saviour☺️ we can still be friends."

"oh... that's not..."

yeah, he kinda forgot that you think he's joking about him being your god and stuff... oops...

whatever! you should've accepted him anyway! you'd break your vows for him wouldn't you?! apparently not.

yeah, so he decided to curse your love life becase he's petty like that and you wouldn't give him that time of day. wouldn't even entertain his delusions for a bit smh. how could you just leave a literal god heartbroken like that?

and just like that, your first life as a devout worshipper came to an end.

your next few lives were... rather tragic too.

all your lovers would randomly die, disappear, or leave just when things were getting good. it was infuriating and you were starting to think that the gods had something against you. well, more like a god had a thing for you but who cares right?

meanwhile, your petty and childish god was just watching over you from his abode. he really likes watching you. no, he's not a stalker. he's a god. there's a difference okayn gods can watch over humans like this! what? creepy? no he's not creepy! don't call him that!

he... also probably has a shrine and collection full of things from all your lives or something tbh. and no! it's mot creepy!

in any case, he didn't interfere in any of your lives directly up until your current life.

when you suddenly showed an interest in him again.

yes, after your first life you had also forgotten all about him. no, it wasn't a part of the curse he laid on you. it was probably just your soul getting revenge on him for cursing you. or... maybe it was because you were human. duh. unfortunately, your god has a peanut sized brain.

in your current life while reading on about mythology for your studies, you started gaining interest in him again.

"huh... god of... mischief? sounds like a real troublemaker."

you immediately moved on to another god after that.

and the god lets out an audible gasp.

how could you be so cruel? not even a, oh he was hot or something like that? just a simple he was a troublemaker???

also, he was not a troublemaker!

sure he might've meddled with your romantic partners and cursed your love life... and also caused some major disagreements in human history... but that's just a little bit of tomfoolery! a little bit of trolling if you will!

ugh! he's seriously getting mad again!

guess he'll have to come back to meet you in person to show you he means business this time.

[thewertsearch]

EB: but in the end, you did it to help me, didn't you? EB: really, i should probably be thanking you! EB: uh… EB: are you there? AG: Yes, I am here. AG: Sorry, I wasn't sure what to say for a moment. AG: I am just so incredi8ly relieved you are not angry with me.

This is probably the first time anyone's ever appreciated Vriska’s 'help'.

She's used to (justified) hostility from the trolls. The idea that John would thank her is as alien to her as he is. She can barely comprehend it.

AG: I don't know, John. You'd 8e surprised how often people resent it when you try to help them! AG: 8ut see, you really get it. That's why you're special.

Well, hang on a second, Vriska.

Tavros resented you for a good fucking reason. Things aren't different because John's 'special', they're different because you're actively treating him better than your last apprentice.

Vriska enjoyed torturing Tavros. Maybe she did think she was ‘helping’ him, but she also knew it was a miserable experience for the guy. There was an undertone of sadism to it that can't be denied, no matter what her true intentions were.

Contrast this with John, who she killed painlessly in his sleep. She didn't torment him, she didn't gloat or insult him, and she went out of her way to make his death as comfortable as possible. Unlike Tavros, Vriska actually cares about John's well-being, and that's why he's more receptive.

John's thankful because he can tell that Vriska cares, and Tavros resented her 'training' because he knew she didn't. Does she really not grok the difference?

AG: I know how this is pro8a8ly going to sound, especially to a human. AG: 8ut I just killed someone.

And I think you’re having some very unwelcome feelings about it.

Just what is happening to you, Vriska?

AG: He was a friend. AG: Someone from our team. […] AG: The truth is I killed him 8ecause at the time, I thought I wanted to, and sort of felt like I finally had to.

I think you killed him because that's what you're trained for. Years of FLARPing with Terezi has trained you to deal with problematic trolls decisively and violently, and years of feeding your lusus has taught you that being a murderer is what defines you. From multiple directions at once, your instincts were screaming that it was time for Tavros to die.

And yet... you're saying you thought you had to kill him. You're not sure anymore - and thus, a small crack begins to form in your worldview.

Vriska Serket is beginning to change.

[zivazivc]

What kind of nu metal music fits Les's band?

First of all I gotta clarify that I sent this ask myself because I accidentally lost the original through constant editing and drafting. I realize I could just make a regular text post but I'm quirky like that, and a question is a nice little attention grabber for those who are interested.

Anyway...

It's hard to point at one song and say this is their sound, because A: I'm picky, B: the band's style changes over time, and C: I don't know what I'm doing lmao

This answer is very long uhh I don't seem to be able to form short responses, mi scusi 😅

Back at home the brothers' music and then also the first year on the road with Flea the band sounds like the albums Music and especially Grassroots by 311. (Grassroots is such a banger of an album, I listen to it all the time, really recommend.)

Hed's the main influence on the band's sound because he's the main vocalist, songwriter and overall the most invested in the band succeeding (Les's main concern is making ends meet, and Flea is just enjoying the ride lol). At the start Hed and Les have had basically no contact with Rock Trolls so even though they're both more metal/punk than regular rock, their "rock side" is softer at this point. Hed also grew up with hip hop because of his peers so there's a lot of rapping in his lyrics. And he also incorporates reggae into his style a lot because of his favorite uncle, Kymani (one of the guys who live with Ish) who is a Reggae Troll. Hed is pretty much a sponge when it comes to music, much like Floyd. The closest I can come to describing his genre is a fusion of Rap Metal and Reggae Rock which are both already fusion genres jskksdjsk

(The band 311 has two singers and oddly they both sound like Hed and Les to me. SA Martinez (the higher of the two voices) sounds 100%, exactly like how I've imagined Hed's voice in my head. For Les I have a different voice claim because Les's personal style of music is much different from the band, but Nick Hexum (the lead vocalist here) is still in the second place when it comes to voice alone. Imagine my enthusiastic surprise finding voices for both brothers in the same band 😄)

examples from the two albums:

...

While driving around and performing small gigs they come in contact with the alternative and nu metal scene and meet a lot of Rock Trolls (mostly various Metal Trolls) and other mixed trolls, and in the following couple of years their sound gradually becomes heavier (Hed rediscovers screamo lol) and they go from rock to metal.

A year into their "touring" is also around the time Hed meets and starts dating Liv and gets her to join the band. Liv's genre has the heaviest sound of all of them (Industrial/EBM), which influences Hed and the band too. And with Liv on the drums, Hed takes over DJ-ing and is also able to put more focus on the vocals, which also makes Les step down and only sing backing vocals with the rest of the band if needed.

The band in this era sounds like the album Revolution by Insolence and to some degree Introduction to Mayhem by Primer 55.

examples from the albums:

...

Two years into the bands existence is when Floyd runs into them. At first he's more just standing there, observing their practices and performances warily, because he's had bad experiences with Rock Trolls in his one year alone and metal music still kinda freaks him out at this point. But he soon starts joining in in melodic parts and then it progresses into him singing longer and longer segments because he has the strongest vocals of everyone. And once he saves enough of his earnings for a guitar he starts playing the rhythm guitar too. (The guitar he took with him when he left the Troll Tree got stolen before he met the band.)

I guess I should clarify: Flea is the lead guitarist, Les is the bassist, and Liv and Hed switch on the drums and DJ-ing depending on the track. At one point they also get a keyboard.

It's also not that long before Hed and Floyd start actively writing songs together, sharing each others notes, and they start to split the singing parts more evenly. Hed even teaches Floyd screamo techniques, because he thinks Floyd has a great voice for them (He is correct, Floyd has a mean scream 😁).

During this time the band still pretty much sounds like Revolution by Insolence but with more melodic singing parts from Floyd (and screaming/shouting lmao). I think Verge of Umbra is another good band to compare, it sounds more clean and Floydy but still Hedy. (Man, I should write scientific research papers skjdkjf)

↑↑↑ song with the lyrics from the drawing at the top

From here on out I'm a bit unsure how the band's sound develops, but I'm pretty sure Floyd would unintentionally infect them with a mild case of radio friendliness (Pop trolls can't help their in your face nature lmao 😞). So for now I'm stopping here...

This took me days of searching and writing so I would appreciate to hear any thoughts you have if you've come this far and given some of the songs a listen. :)

[petracozbi]

I'm finally came around to do my own Trolls HC list-thing (most are Branch related cuz he's my favourite):

Branch has almost perfectly trained senses from living and surviving on his own in the wilderness; he's got a very sensitive nose and he can easily hear the smallest movements even if they're fairly far away, etc.

Poppy makes sure to at least make a little noise when approaching Branch, as to not catch him off guard, since he had a tendency to get lost in thought when he feels he's in a safe and secure space, and can lower his defences. Kismet does the same (they're found family to me idc)

In the beginning, the bros found it kind of annoying/confusing how Poppy would start getting louder and yell out Branch's name every time they were getting close to him, probably shrugging it off to her just being a very hyper and overexcited girlfriend. It wasn't until they got to experience first-hand how Branch reacted when they suddenly just touched him while deep in thought, and let's just say, after having their arm pinned behind their back and a sharpened stick held to their throat a few too many times, they learned to give a heads-up.

Branch needs glasses. He stopped wearing them after Rosiepuff got eaten to fully avoid any connection with Brozone and his boyband persona. He's not completely blind and can still get around, but he relies mostly on his other senses (which also got way more sharp because of that), and has to get up close to see things in detail.

A HC I think I shared before: Branch is freakishly strong, but doesn't look it at first glance - He's very much humbled the bros (especially JD and Bruce) with this fact, when they try to wrestle him into a headlock to give him a nookie or a Wet Willy (JD and Bruce) and he just won't budge (Kismet knows to not even try) or when they want to help him carry something and they almost collapse under they weight when he hands it to them.

Besides being his vehicle, Rhonda is also JD's (unofficial) therapy animal.

Clay can't swim. He never learned since he spent his entire life in either the trolltree or the abandon golfcourse. When Bruce learns this, he takes it upon himself to try and teach him, but to their shared frustration, they both (Clay and Bruce) discover that Clay is apparently deadly afraid of open waters.

Bruce also didn't know how to swim when he first left the trolltree. He got washed up on vacay Island, having been staying afloat by holding onto a branch. The vacationers taught him how to swim.

JD can cook circles around most trolls. He did most of the cooking back in the trolltree 'cuz Rosiepuff was a horrible cook (referencing her apparently rancid-tasting fluffleberry cake), he also taught (Sp)Bruce how to cook, but never got around to teach the others 'cuz they split up. Bruce later incorporated some of JD's recipes into the menu at the restaurant.

Branch's tastebuds are pretty hardened (some might say almost nonexistent), and trolls tend to assume it's from his survival years, where he'd just eat whatever as long as it was edible, didn't matter what it tasted like. In reality, it's mostly from solely eating Rosiepuff's cooking for like maybe a year or two after the band split up (yeah that's all it took to mess them tastebuds up for years after). Ofc in the beginning, he had to force himself to even put the food in his mouth, but he did it 'cuz he wanted to make his grandma happy.

Kismet was formed shortly after the bros left. It was Rosiepuff who encouraged Branch to socialize with other trollings around his age, since he became very closed off after the split (tho' I think he'd been a pretty shy and quiet kid to begin with (with the exception of when he performed as Bitty B))

Branch used to get bullied (more) for his greyness as a kid. Kismet would chase them off.

Although Branch is not as forgiving either, Kismet 100% holds a grudge for the bros leaving Branch - the Snackpack too, when they also learn what happened.

The bros are absolutely bewildered by the fact that Branch is dating the Queen, and that he'd probably one day be King. Branch himself gets very anxious when they mention this; just the thought of that much responsibility and being in the spotlight like that has him sweating.

Bruce's favorite way of annoying Branch is to tease him about his and Poppy's relationship, asking him when he can expect the wedding invitations and some nieces or nephews. In reality, it's probably Poppy that proposes in the future, with a long, romantic and heartfelt speech ofc (and yes, he cries).

That's all I got for now

[incandescentflower]

Things I like about No Gain No Love:

The female lead is sex positive and clear that good sex is important to her in a relationship. I haven't seen this kind of story since Love to Hate You in that sense - people recognizing that women get judged differently than men when it comes to romantic relationships. Sex is important to her, that's valid. Ji Uk says sex & love go hand and hand for him, also valid. Any judgment on screen is meant to discuss people's preconceptions and call them out. When it comes to that aspect of their relationship, it's never presented to be an intractable difference between them. He is never insecure or concerned about her sexual past.

A character is in a poly relationship. The drama addresses people's negative reactions to that kind of relationship and ultimately their discussion ends in understanding and support.

There's talk about abortion that's not judgmental. There are specific conversations about the fact that people who do not want children can become shitty parents and sometimes the best choice is to not be one. And also, even if you could be a good parent, it is still valid not to want to be one.

Really terrible parents are not being redeemed here. Their actions have real consequences and we see that in all the second generations hangups.

Sometimes parents are good people and still shitty parents. This I like in particular because Hae Yeong's feelings about her childhood are never invalidated, despite all these other characters feeling great warmth toward her mother. It's complicated and the narrative has allowed it to stay that way so far. I especially liked the comment that you can love someone, but not like them. The idea that sometimes you have parents who have hurt you enough that you don't have the same warm fuzzy feelings other people do, but you still love them, really speaks to me personally. It's not a nuance I have seen in dramas before.

Trolling on the internet is an action of harassment that causes suffering for the other person and people should be accountable for that. There are people behind the screen and those commenting should remember that. Gyu Hyun's reaction to Ja Yeon's smut is played as comedic at first, but his actions toward her are not. I appreciated that. This was something that definitely needed atonement. Whether or not he atoned enough is a little questionable to me, but I still appreciated the overall commentary.

Things I hope they address:

I'm hoping there is more reasoning for Ji Uk to not tell Hae Yeong that he was one of her mother's foster kids besides the negative feelings she has toward her mother fostering children. It's clear she's formed bonds with some of her foster siblings and it doesn't make sense for him to keep that from her. The drama has up until now really cared about character motivations so I hope this is a compelling reason and not just something to keep the drama going for later episodes.

I also don't understand why Ja Yeon has not specifically challenged Gyu Hyun's behavior in terms of the choices he is making in how he is treating Hae Yeong and Ji Uk. It's treated by both Ji Uk and Ja Yeon as kind of understandable and yes, he has this terrible parental pressure, but he still has choices. I'm sure that will be his redemption arc, but I don't understand why that's not happening now and why he still thinks what he is doing is fine. It makes it hard to enjoy any intended relationship development between Ja Yeon and Gyu Hyun.

Looking forward to the last two episodes. I'm glad they're coming out this week.

[dulltoned]

Notable Dynamics in Kismet!

These are all in relation to my depiction of Kismet and how I write them, you can see my oneshot collection Familiar and New for some more context.

Ablaze and Trickee

- Ablaze and Trickee get along great. Maybe a little too well, they've both got a willingness to throw a punch that can be a little off-putting, especially to Pop Trolls.

- Their first real interaction was Trickee socking Ablaze right in the face and getting a black eye in return. They had a mutual respect for each other after that.

- Both of them are wildly protective even if they show it differently and after Kismet formed it created a strong bond between the two of them.

- As the two oldest they have a sort of comradery between them. There have been nights where they've stayed up late into the morning talking about BroZone and how much they despise them for what they did to Branch. Trickee doesn't mean it, Ablaze does.

Boom and Hype

- They already knew each other, vaguely, before Kismet. Back when they were Trollings in the Troll Tree their pods were fairly close to each other so they played with each other a lot before the great escape.

- Both of them are fairly emotional and positive and in a band full of repressed idiots and that's created a deeper connection between the two.

- They take great pleasure in ganging up on their bandmates to force them to talk about their feelings, especially Ablaze and Branch because it's an 80-20 chance that it'll work when it comes to those two. When they succeed they're very smug about it.

Trickee and Branch

- Trickee latched onto Branch after the whole Creek scenario, how angry and suspicious Branch was broke Trickee's heart, and Branch subconsciously latched on just as hard.

- Trickee has to sneak out to hangout with Branch but he couldn't care less about how much his mother hates the grey Troll.

- Branch tries really hard not to get attached to Trickee but it's hard when Trickee is always by his side with a fond smile and an angry retort for anyone who so much as looks at him wrong. He missed feeling loved and Trickee reminded him what it feels like to have someone who actually cares about him. It terrifies him.

- Trickee is so angry at BroZone and Pop Village on Branch's behalf, his determination to prove to Branch that he's not defective turned into a real and adamant adoration for the younger Troll that attached them at the hip for years. That desperation died down the longer they knew each other but the fire and drive that glued them together never left.

[tourettesdog]

I am having extremely specific and niche ideas I must share. Specifically headcanons for Danny Phantom characters playing World of Warcraft

I feel like Sam would have been the first of them to get into WoW. Something other to play than Doomed, with a heavier focus on questing. She'd play on a PVP server and would be something of a legend on her realm.

She'd pretty much do everything, from hardcore raiding, to achievement hunting, to a little roleplaying on the side with friends.

She'd have two characters she swaps between, a troll warlock and an undead rogue, and would have the most min-maxed gear she can possibly get at all times. A "for the Horde!" girlie all the way. The warlock has tailoring/enchanting for professions, and the rogue mining/jewelcrafting, and she's got every recipe she can get her hands on for both.

I could see Sam trying to get Tucker and Danny into WoW, only to be wildly disappointed with their character decisions as both of them cozy up Alliance-side on a roleplaying realm.

-

Tucker takes one glance at worgen and goes "I'm gonna be a fucking werewolf" and it's all over from there. His main would be a guardian/feral druid (tank and melee dps) with the corniest RP name you've ever seen, and he loves them dearly. He's always looking for new transmog to dress up with, and he takes his mining/engineering professions a little too seriously. He mostly plays with Danny, but probably has a horde alt Sam forced him to make so they could actually play together before cross-faction became a thing (I am being intentionally Vague about what expansions they'd be playing in).

Tucker's horde alt would be a tauren druid that ALSO runs engineering. Pretty much the same character, especially considering he spends 90% of his time in animal forms.

-

Danny would start off playing a night elf monk and would get more into the RP of it than he ever wants to openly admit. He loves all of the flips and shit the monks do, and he's all in on the night elf aesthetic. He swaps between mistweaver and windwalker (healer and DPS), depending on what him and Tucker need to get shit done. He doesn't really focus a lot on the professions, instead going for dual gathering with mining and herbalism so he just has a lot of rocks and plants to throw at Tucker or onto the auction house.

After the accident though, Danny takes a long, staring look at death knights and decides he needs to play one-- for the memes. He's dogshit at it after playing monk for so long, but you can pry his frost (dps) death knight from his cold, half-dead hands.

The DK is just another night elf and when he's RPing, Danny likes to say it's the same character as the monk.

(Also I specifically think that Danny would play a nelf instead of a draenei because, as a trans Danny truther, I feel like the too-buff male draeneis would be a little Much for him, and the femme ones would be too dysphoric.)

-

Val would very begrudgingly start playing WoW with them once she joins Team Phantom. She'd go Horde-side with Sam, with a tauren warrior decked head to toe in red. She quickly gets sucked into the game, and gets a little intense with farming for all of the things she wants-- mounts, cool transmog, some battle pets. She likes to do a lot of content alone, finding it fun to just go off questing, but she'll let herself be dragged into dungeons ever now and then. She just doesn't have the time or energy for raiding consistently.

Val winds up making a bunch of different alts eventually to keep collecting shit, and she gets scary good at gold farming so she can pay for her subscription with in-game currency. She's got a bunch of different professions she runs on her various alts, but the warrior's got mining/blacksmithing since the idea of making her own armor won her out.

-

Dani plays on a laptop bought with Vlad's money, on a subscription also bought with Vlad's money. She takes one look at Val and Sam playing Horde-side and decides there is no other side to play.

She mains a vulpera hunter and is a troll through and through. She lives up to the hunter stereotype of accidentally pulling everything, but makes up for it by being scary good at DPS and PVP. Her and Val do a lot of mog and mount farming together, and some of her favorite things to collect are the battle pets and toys. She's got Meerah's Jukebox (a toy that plays a song about alpacas before exploding) hotkeyed to drop at a moment's notice.

She winds up getting a little too invested in alchemy, insisting she needs to be good at making goop.

-

Wes would not play WoW, and would instead play FFXIV and would never shut up about how much better it is than WoW.

Bonus:

Lancer plays a lot of WoW during the summer when school is out. He's got a human mage who looks a bit like a buff version of him that he's been playing since the game released, and he's got all sorts of achievements and collectibles held onto from that era. He runs herbalism/inscription as a profession, and has every recipe for it under the sun. He still insists on riding his first horse mount that he ever got, and it has a Shakespearean name.

[xxnomadsxx]

So how would the tribes and their leaders react to the grey trolls?

Pacifically Delta Dawn,Queen Essence and King Quincy and Queen Barb.

I read from one of your posts that the grey country trolls were grey because they liked other music genres and were considered criminals resulting them getting kicked out of their home and if I'm not mistaken a few were kids?

How would they react to seeing Delta Dawn since she is mostly likely the one who made the decision.

The (some) funk trolls were researchers that were left behind so how will they feel when they meet Queen Essence and King Quincy,and how will those two react knowing how they became grey.

And how will Queen Barb react to the reasons the rock trolls left and became grey especially since one of them was deaf.

Pop: The Pop trolls try to welcome back the grey trolls with open arms. (They are so happy by the discovery of them Because friendship) Who for some reason aren’t to excited to come back? I wonder why.. (The grey trolls are way to scared of what the pop tribe is like they basically took a break from being “happy”like the others and now see how messed up everything is) The Pop tribe is determined to bring there colors back no matter what (I’m talking loud obnoxious parties, activity after activity, loooooonnnngg hugs that last for days, being braided to another troll who is supposed to be your fun buddy) but after a long time (and tons of reflection) they realize how messed up it all seemed. So they took it slow and let them just get accustomed to everything, a party or two a week and not a lot of loud noises (plus no more tying people together) gradually overtime the grey pop trolls are able to be in the village and not feel overwhelmed (a looooot of insecurity about being grey though)

Techno: Trollex welcomes all the Techno trolls who were lost, left or born in the grey tribe. (He was initially shocked but quickly relieved to find the missing trolls who have been gone for years!! Plus the new editions) He tries to help them as much as he can, ie fixing torn flippers, setting up a new foster system for future trollings, making sure to know who is here or missing every week, overall just trying to help with what he can to make them more comfortable (He didn’t do much wrong with the grey Techno trolls as some of the other tribes besides a few getting separated from the group by currents and no one noticing) but he tries to right whatever wrong there is…..and throw a few raves in their honor he is still a troll he will party. The grey Techno trolls greatly appreciate it and get along well with the other Techno trolls.

Funk: The absolute guilt the royal family has is insane!!! Not only did they leave behind a group of researchers, but they are the ones who asked for them TO BE THERE!!(they did go back and look for them but found nothing) they try to make amends and do whatever to help the trolls, the fact the trolls were grey because of them almost put them in an early grave. They start figuring out ways so that this situation would never happen again (I feel like trackers would be their best option) the grey Funk researchers are a little angry at the royal fam (I mean they left them so it’s a valid response) but they do forgive them on account of why they left (I’m going to say bird attack that forced them to get out of there quickly) and the fact they went back for them🥹 (the fam still does whatever to help like, making therapy a way bigger thing on the ship for others ) they also help the other grey funk trolls get accustomed to the ship and being around more trolls.

Classical: Trollzart would immediately put into action more ways for Symphony Ville to be more accessible for trolls who can’t fly, while also putting in ways for the classical trolls to get around more (I imagine they use walking cane or some form of wheelchairs to get around because like they have the bodies of literal BABIES?!?! Can they even walk on their own?!?) As for the other grey trolls they try to get accustomed to them, maybe put on performances where they show their sorrow and anguish, but also try their best to help them however they can.

Country: Oh boy… Delta is absolutely mortified by her actions. Not only did she kick out a couple of trolls from the flats (sooo much guilt) but they had kids while they were out there, kids who had to survive in the forest for years !!!( I hc that she absolutely loves kids!!) she tried her best to make what she did right (she’s been feeling guilty about it for years) the banished country trolls themselves hold a lot of resentment towards her. I mean who wouldn’t for what she did to them, but after months of holding the grudge and resentment and many many constant apologies and acts of kindness they eventually forgive Delta (there is still awkward tension between the three but they try to put it aside) Delta does absolutely whatever to fawn and show the kids love and kindness since she feels guilty about her being the reason they were grey to begin with. She also helps the other grey country trolls who either went too far away from the flats or got dragged away by predators and got lost cause of it. She tries her best to make amends for all the country trolls and their young. Now she tries to keep track of her people more and has grown a tolerance to all music. The grey trolls greatly appreciate all she does for them and their kids now. (I know I made Delta look like a bad person but this was in the past and to be fair she did lock up Poppy and Branch when she first met them sooooo… I do really love Delta though)

Rock: Barb was angered by the fact some of her people were in the forest surviving for years and grey!??!!! (She seems to be really insecure about being a leader this issue does not help her) she places a lot of guilt on herself because of this and does WHATEVER it takes to make things right!! So she implements a lot of mental health things (more therapy, rage rooms concerts about mental health) anything to bring awareness and to help. For the one deaf rock troll they go immediately to the funk trolls and soon enough hearing aids were made for the little rocker (by the way the deaf troll is like 8, i thought it would make it more angsty that a child left because they felt out of place.. and I was right!!! it makes it sooo much worse) Barb and the rock trolls basically bend over backwards to help their fellow rockers. The grey rockers greatly appreciate what has been done for them and how they got used to their survivalist antics.

[sokkastyles]

Azula hallucinated her mother saying that she loved her because that’s what Azula really wants more than anything, is for her mother to love her, so her mind created a hallucination of her mother saying that to comfort her because Azula was in a lot of pain. This is why Azula cries after her mother says that she loves her because Azula knows that it’s just a hallucination saying so, not the real Ursa, and so Azula still believes that her mother actually didn’t love her.

Okay, I know you're just a troll with a fetish for being verbally eviscerated online, and don't really deserve the time of day (did you really just make another blog MINUTES after I blocked you just so you could send this?), but this is a thing that actually deserves a longer meta because I see people say this about the mirror scene so often and it's only partially true, and doesn't acknowledge what is so very good about that scene.

Azula does indeed hallucinate her mother in a moment when she is in great pain. I do agree that Azula wants her mother's love more than anything. I also think Azula knows the truth, that her mother is not there, and that this is a large part of why she cries after breaking the mirror.

But you also have to look at what else the scene is telling us about Azula's relationship with her mother.

Because Azula did not conjure up the illusion of her mother to comfort her. I do agree that part of her desperately yearns for that comfort, but in order to understand this scene and what it means for how Azula views her mother, we have to look at what the hallucination of Ursa that Azula's mind conjured up is actually saying, and how Azula reacts to her presence.

Azula does not seek comfort from Ursa. Far from it. When Ursa appears, at first complimenting her hair, Azula reacts defensively, saying "what are you doing here?" She denies it when her mother expresses interest in care toward her, saying that she knows what her mother "really thinks" of her. Ursa replies that Azula is confused.

And, of course, since this is really Azula having a conversation with herself, this means that Azula is confused. She doesn't really know what her mother thinks of her. This is supported both by the textual framing of Azula talking to a mirror - a common trope in visual media used to symbolize that a character's perception is distorted - and by the fact that Azula has been gaslit by her father her whole life to believe only the things he says and to not listen to her mother, who her father took away from her when she was eight. Azula does not see her mother clearly here, and what she is really seeing is a reflection of herself.

The hallucination of Ursa tells Azula that all her life, she has used fear to control people, like Mai and Ty Lee. And because we know that Azula was hit especially hard by Mai and Ty Lee's betrayal, we know that this is a sore spot for Azula. That Azula knows, deep down, that her friends abandoned her because she treated them badly.

Azula does not want to admit this, though, so she replies defensively, saying that fear is the only way, and justifies it with "even you fear me."

Part of what's going on here is that Ursa takes the form of Azula's conscience, saying the things that Azula cannot admit to herself, because she has internalized the idea that the empathy her mother tried to teach her was a weakness. Another thing that's going on, though, is that Azula is trying to justify her actions by falling back on the idea that her mother hated and feared her.

If even Azula's own mother feared her, then fear must be the right way of doing things, the ONLY way of doing things.

And that's the tragedy, because love certainly didn't work for Ursa. It didn't make Ursa stay or make her happy. So therefore, Ozai must be right. Love is a weakness. Fear is the only way. Azula watched her own mother be afraid of her father at the same time that she was forced to choose between who to listen to. Who do you think had more power there? Who did she choose to believe? Ursa was vulnerable and scared, and Azula desperately wants not to be those things. Fear must be the only way because the other option is to be afraid.

But then Ursa says that line, that one line that totally shatters Azula like so many shards of a broken mirror. No. I love you.

Azula cries because this is what she's always wanted. She cries for the mother she's lost. She cries for the friends she's lost. She cries over the fact that she can't let herself love anyone, and that this is why she's alone. She cries for the fear she felt throughout her childhood that she was never allowed to express because it's a weakness. She breaks the mirror in a fit of rage and cries because even destroying the image won't make the truth Azula knows go away, and she can't reconcile the confusion she feels over her mother with what she has internalized from her father, who at this moment has also abandoned her, so she has no idea what she should believe anymore. She cries because she hates her mother and she hates herself and she loves her mother and she doesn't know how to love.

Because remember, Azula is really talking to herself. Destroying the mirror is an act of self-destruction, just as cutting her hair (the hair her mother loved) is an act of self-destruction. Just as challenging her brother to a duel to the death is. Just as the insistence she's held on to for so long that she is a monster is an act of self-destruction, a denial of her own humanity, and therefore a denial of all the things that she thinks make her weak.

But a big theme of atla is that those things, the things that give us our humanity, don't make us weak. They make us strong. This is what Azula fails to reconcile at the end of the story, and that's her tragedy.

[kneelingshadowsalome]

Hi wtf!! That rude anon was not me, this is my blog. I created it and then had some problems with verification so I couldn’t send anything. (I only had my main😭) I’m sorry, we can tots cook together now🫶

Anyway, as for robot!König making you squirt, there are no questions asked. Rusty old robot doesn’t even know what the hell he just did. And omg yes your way to make him respond was exactly what i had in mind. He obviously knows what squirting is, because he’s so perverted, but he’s never seen it in real life - outside of the countless porn he’s downloaded.

He likes watching your face, eyes practically staring into your soul. He watches your mouth pout and listens to the little ah ah ah sounds you make, as your hands grip his strong shoulders.

He’s caging you in with one arm, forearm laid next to your face, and the other is gripping your thighs - angling your leg in a way as to encourage you to wrap it around his waist. His hands slide down to your ass ever now and then. Perhaps it’ll be a squeeze, maybe a slap or they’ll continue their journey until he’s reached your clit. He rubs and rubs and squeezes your poor little clit between his harsh fingers.

He mirrors your moans, seemingly unaware of the sounds he lets out in response to your own. And he finally breaks eye contact when he feels you starting to clench on him, “gonna cum..? Hm..?” He almost says nonchalantly. You find it unfair, how he’s not even half as affected by the fucking session. His eyes dart back up to yours when you don’t answer, and he turns on a low level vibration to which you immediately respond with “y-yes!” to. He hums, and turns up the vibration.

The thread snaps and you’re closing your eyes, gasping for air. He always tells you to keep your eyes on him, but this time… he’s not saying anything. He’s not even fucking your, the vibrating dick ongoing and prolonging your high, though. When you finally come home, eyes watering and throat dry, you quietly look at König to meet his eyes. He’s pulled back, sitting on his knees, and keeping your thighs open for him. He’s not looking at you, though, but down at the mess you made. You can’t even excuse yourself because you’ve ‘never done this before’ and you’re ‘so so sorry’ because he tilts his head to the side and lets out a short breath of air.

“Interesting.”

And he starts his painful rubbing on your clit again, grinning horribly at your yelp.

Yay!!! If trolling anon made you start your own writing blog to let us enjoy your Köni thoughts then I'd say we won :D Definitely waiting for what you come up with next! ❤️��❤️

As for robot!König, can I just say I love how unemotional but piercingly intense he seems?? I mean they must have programmed some emotional responses into him, but you can never tell how organic they are. Is he curious in the way that artificial intelligence is, or is he actually developing feelings for you...? Is it all just electrical impulses or is there some form of human consciousness somewhere in there too?

Because one day he brings you a kitten, says it’s a gift but he gives it to you inside a grocery bag – he’s heard humans and especially women like pets, but he doesn’t understand the concept of giving gifts... So he just hands it to you like that, and when you look inside the plastic bag there’s this shaky little creature inside, meowing at you in minor shock.

Other times brings you “souvenirs” from war, and you never know if you’re going to get chocolate, cigarettes, pantyhose or a human skull :/ And he has at least some sort of self awareness and pride because he likes his new reputation as not only a killing machine, but a fucking machine as well. The container that serves as your home is echoing with your moans and mewls as he fucks you so of course everyone knows how good he is.

You always wonder if he's boasting to his comrades about the things he does to you, but then there are times when he looks almost tender while sitting on the old wooden bench, watching how you play with the kitten he brought you. Lets you put the cat on his shoulder so that it perches there small, wiggly and cute, on the slippery metal plate of his armor he never takes off.

You tell yourself it's affection, not curiosity, that makes his turn his head... It must be, a genuine attempt to seek connection when he slowly, gently, extends a gloved hand and lets the kitten shyly sniff at his finger, then rub her scent on it...

[mal3vol3nt]

lfr is such a loser it's too funny, she's a zuko boymom pushing 30 and self-inserting herself onto a 14 year old, a terf and a talentless hack who uses AI in her lame fanworks like damn pick a struggle! anyone who thinks shipping an indigenous girl with a violent imperialist who was hurting and antagonizing her for 90% of the story is feminist praxis is a braindead idiot who should never be taken seriously, you made the right call not responding to zks and their shitty uninformed takes they're too worthless to warrant a response

with the way she talks about katara and femininity in general, i have no doubt in my mind that she’s a terf. like i don’t even need proof i believe you LMAOO

also i remember hearing about that ai art when i first joined atla tumblr and that’s fucking hilarious. imagine using fucking ai to create ship art and thinking it’s worth sharing with the world. cause to even use ai you have to be a moron in the first place, but to then post it and try presenting it as your own hard work?? you’re an imbecile who’d probably get winded trying to lift a pencil

i truly can’t entertain any of her posts or sokkastyles and the-badger-mole cause they all go out of their way to misinterpret every single thing about atla for the sole purpose of promoting zutara. it is not possible to beneficially engage with their posts like at all, especially when they start saying shit about how the ember island players katara was the real katara and how a 12-year-old deserves to die because he has a crush. they’re not trolls, they’re just degenerates who watched a show centered around asian and indigenous characters and decided that was a good form of media to center their sexual fantasies and unchecked racism around (because yes, it is racism)

as adults who engage with a kids’ show, it is our responsibility to interact with its characters and themes appropriately, especially since the target audience is much younger and the themes are so heavy. adults who can’t do that—who can’t interact appropriately with underaged poc characters and intellectually engage with the cultures presented in the show—deserve to be called every name in the book

atla is a fictional kids show that is humorous and at times, very unserious. the show definitely should be criticized for what it does poorly and enjoyed for what it does great. but when we, as adults, start demeaning and sexualizing underaged characters for the purpose of a ship then we have failed to be responsible with the handling of this children’s media

[rocksibblingsau]

how would young classical trollings would react to branch, a pop troll attending their class or lives in their tribe in general?

So I feel like everyone expects Classical Trolls to be stuffy and snobbish about anything they view as beneath them, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Classical Trolls might prefer things a certain way, but they're willing to at least keep an open mind. Hugs aren't their thing, but they were willing to try for their friends, and in the end they found a compromise.

The fact that Branch is so different from them wouldn't upset them, and I don't think they'd exclude him from anything. In fact I think at first he's the center of attention. Everyone's intrigued by him and wants to know him. I think networking is very big in Classical culture, and anyone who stands out is someone you want to know.

Branch is a mystery at first. He's hard to read, especially since he doesn't know the many forms of communication they have. He responds only to what they say, and it leads to them needing to be more direct if they want to ACTUALLY talk to Branch. This helps them when Trollstopia becomes a thing, as most Classical Trolls just pretend they're talking to Branch.

Once he does learn the other forms of communication... he's still a bit of a closed book. He doesn't always express his thoughts even when he has the knowledge of how to do so. Which makes him still pretty mysterious and interesting to them. What a delight to have to interpret a troll as you would a song! Very stimulating!

They would also love watching Branch learn about and react to classical troll culture. Things they've never considered as noteworthy garner a reaction from Branch, and things they all enjoy are an entirely new experience to Branch. Imagine your favorite show or game or song, the more widespread and well-known the better. Now imagine meeting a person who has NEVER even heard of this thing. You want to show them this thing you love and see how they react to it. What they notice, what they live, what they take from it, how they interact with it. They love showing Branch all there is to do and experience because it's incredible watching someone experience things for the first time.

Branch has a lot of respect for their ways. While at first he hates music and the like, it's clear that he's not turning his nose up at their music in particular. They're the tribe with the least amount of singing, and they can only imagine what other tribes think of their music. He's also happy to do the things they don't want to, or can't. Not to mention, Branch has his own interests that are new and interesting, especially to one troll in particular that finds Branch muse-worthy.

In short, they find him delightful.

[qqueenofhades]

I frankly sometimes feel like social media has ultimately given a lot of people the illusion of power, while also causing them to become corrupted in a similar way to traditional forms of power, only without any actual power that goes with it. The similarities in their behavior to the latter is disturbing as hell, ESPECIALLY given the horrid behavior of online types the past few months.

I really can't emphasize enough how much of a constructed and artificial environment social media is, especially these days, and especially the Social Media Platform Formerly Known as Twitter, which is still the main avenue by which a lot of people attempt to "do" social justice. Once upon a time, Twitter was a moderately beneficial public communication service because everyone and God was on it and you could therefore get communiques directly from the source, there was a blue-check verification service that actually helped you understand who was real and who was not, and while there were serious and ongoing flaws such as there is when useful public discourse is sacrificed on the Great Altar of Profit, there was at least some attempt to monitor or ban Nazis, white supremacists, bad actors, and eventually Trump himself. All of that changed and/or was directly destroyed when Apartheid Clyde took over and turned it into a revenue-generating service for Russian propaganda, alt-right cranks, bots, and the rest of the Elon Fanclub willing to pay $8 for a meaningless blue checkmark, while trashing the site's guardrails and any other useful features. It basically exists for Elon to fanboy Putin, Trump, white supremacy, his 4chan trolls, and anything else that makes his money (while Mr. Free Speech Absolutist arbitrarily bans anyone who hurts his man-child fee-fees). This is not an unbiased, neutral, or constructive environment to start with. You don't have any certainty about who you're interacting with or who is amplifying your messages, and only a hardcore-radicalized (of whatever persuasion) base of human users remain, while a lot of casual users have left.

As such, if you're basing anything (hypothesis, claim, source, evidence, opinion) on "what everyone on Twitter thinks," that is fatally flawed data to start with. Even at the peak of its popularity, something like 24% of all American adults regularly used Twitter. That still means 76% of the country who doesn't (and the number is larger now as Chucklefuck McGee has continued driving it into the ground). If you're forming your ideas or looking for "what America thinks" just by quoting or relying on the tweets of people who already agree with you, you've done basically nothing and you certainly haven't proved it, you've stunted your own critical thinking skills, and you are selecting from a data source that is already fatally poisoned and limited in any number of ways. Adding to the echo chamber of similar opinions on Twitter is not going to actually influence public policy or make lasting change. Yes, the interns and/or public relations staff of the public figures still on there will probably check the feed every so often and make note of things that come up, but couching it as mindless vitriolic abuse and/or demonstrably nonsensical things is not going to get back to their boss. It will just be ignored and/or given less weight in the limited space available for things that are deemed important enough to actually follow up on/make policy around.

Also, a lot of people saw Trump tweeting insane things at 3am for four years, and somehow decided that was actually how US/American presidential and governmental policy was made, rather than that he was a fucking narcissistic-personality-disorder psychopathic lunatic. But uh, and it should go without saying, it didn't work. Just because Trump posted something absolutely unhinged and announced it was now policy, that doesn't mean it was. Half the time he didn't even do so much as issue an executive order, those can be and regularly are challenged in courts, and so forth, because despite all its flaws, America is not an absolute monarchy where the king can rule by fiat and have it totally done, no questions, the end. That's also why Trump's second term would be even more dangerous than his first. In his first, he was flailing around and yelling on Twitter and not really paying attention to anything. In his second, the administration will be staffed top to bottom with dedicated fascists like the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 people, who have spent the last four years brooding on revenge and drawing up detailed plans to actually co-opt and suborn all the levers, checks, balances, controls, and functions of government directly to Trump's personal will (and/or the outrageously evil people pulling strings behind the scenes, because Trump is now basically a gibbering orange vegetable and the media is still far too beholden to the Biden Old!!! narrative to accurately report this).

In short, another Trump term (God fucking forbid) would be run by the kind of methodical and careful evildoers who know that policy isn't made by tweet, and would act accordingly. That would be much, much harder to remove, counteract, or fix, it would almost certainly lead to the end of American democracy at least for most of our lifetimes, and the repercussions of that would be absolutely terrible. But because we still have people who act like Trump is somehow a preferable option, who think that it's bad that Biden is trying to work through established and long-term channels to make sustainable policy and not just get short-term chuckles from an internet dopamine approval rush, that is the risk we are running from now until November 2024. After that, either way, we'll know for sure: we'll finally have a measure of safety, or we will be comprehensively fucked for generations. We all have the power to influence which of those outcomes come to pass. I suggest we use it.

[cat-and-fox-hub]

[Yōkai AU] Fiend & Menace

Made by Cat, aka Researcher Serif/AW

"I know I'm quite the catch but for you to look at me like that, you trying to tell me something, Master~? You don't need to look from so far, you're free see my true self as close and as often as you please~. Just know you aren't escaping me that easily~."

(The Kitsune no Mado, or "Fox Window", is a Japanese hand technique believed to reveal hidden Yōkai through your fingers as with above.

It's comparable to the Celtic hag-stone or adder stone, a stone found in riverbeds with a naturally formed hole which can reveal witches or faeries through it.)

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Sometimes, I really hate colors. I spent so long agonizing his color palette it ain't funny, I swear. At least I think I did better on colors this time. Not by much but decent enough... (lighting's hard)

Either wae, here's @cosmica-galaxy's Fiend and Menace! They're apart of my Yōkai AU, very much based/inspired on @twstedforyou's own original Yōkai Twisted Wonderland AU.

Below is some lore if you wanna know! I recommend reading up this post for further AU lore if you wish.

Do hope you enjoy either wae!

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For those who don't know what Yōkai are, "Yōkai are a class of supernatural entities and spirits in Japanese folklore."

They can range from your classic demon, in this case Oni, to objects gained spirit and sentience such as Kasa-Obake, a friendly and playful one eyed, one legged sentient umbrella.

So now that that's outta the way...

[Yōkai AU Lore]:

꧁ღ⊱ | Oni!Fiend |

Fiend is an Oni, a kind of yōkai, demon, orc, ogre, or troll in Japanese folklore. They're known to be big, terrifying and having great strength. They're also known for their violent and short temperaments with a hunger for humans and alcohol.

In this AU, since people are pretty much wiped out, skibidi's are the suitable replacement. While not as fun as human prey at times, there's something a bit more satisfying playing with them. (The answer is abundance and the fact no one cares about them. He can be as sadistic and cruel as long as he wants with his food, something he couldn't with humans to avoid getting caught with his pants down so to speak.)

Fiend is a young Oni, reflecting his canon self being a Gen 0 mimic born after the fall of humanity, but he's still quite older than a century at least.

Due to his experience and the fact that the Yōkai District is quite traditional, he's a bit different. A tad wiser and more eloquent in his words for one. Not that he chooses to be, preferring to be a bastard most times. He's still the tsundere little shit who gets turned on when you make the battlefield red with the blood of your enemies.

Due to his heritage, he's quite the alcoholic. Because of that, he's also quite a bit more aggressive with skibidis because there's just some types of alcohol exclusive to the human realm that isn't made or sold in his District.

In this AU, Yōkai can shift forms to disguise themselves as the most dominant species in the human realm via shapeshifting or illusions. For some more humanoid Yōkai like Yuuki-Onna, it shows in their true forms. The believability of a Yōkai's disguise vary between Yōkai and those with skills more inclined to disguise like Tanuki and Kitsune are better at it than most. Fiend has an unusual competence in the art for Oni, Yōkai known to be quite dog shit at their disguises, especially for one as young as him.

With his surprising competence in illusions and Menace being too young to create his own disguise, Fiend extends his own over Menace until he can learn for himself. It also means when his transformation goes, so does the tuggle's.

Before the War, Yōkai had the option of either human or mimic guises but considering mimics themselves mimicked humans, it was mostly human disguises. Now though, the option is either Alliance members or mimics who mimicked them. Fiend in particular chose the mimic option because it gave him more freedoms so to speak. Disguising himself as an Alliance member would've burden him with the role of acting like one which, as apart of a military operation, is a heavy one to play.

Fiend spent most of his time in the human realm. When the fall of humanity came, he was mostly wandering and hunting alone and only rarely going back into his District when bored. Despite the solitude of the empty cities, not even he knew why he stayed in the wasteland as a TV mimic as he did. At least, not until he met you.

In this AU, his meeting with you was much like his canon self. He decided you were interesting at first and pretty much stalked you. Though, he was much more… open, so to say, with his less than mortal nature. He didn't necessarily show off he was of an Other nature but he didn't necessarily bother with blending in too much. Humans are pretty much dead and gone and he only kept a thin veneer up for the Alliance to not get up all over his ass after all.

Let's just say it was quite a surprise when he confronted you for the first time and found out you were his beloved Master all along. (He did not let go for the next week, still closely shadowing you for the rest of the month after. Your presence— no, your existence is simply too much— too intoxicating— for him to simply ignore and leave be.)

Bonus! He'd never admit it but sometimes, he'd head over to his District and find baubles for you that he makes seem like they're old belongings he'd never touched and left to dust. He's always terribly smug when you like it and gloats it over the others with a smirk.

꧁ღ⊱ | Oni!Menace |

Menace is also an Oni, a very young one

He's pretty much canon Menace but more of a little shit with a nasty temper when really angry

Though, instead of the whole 'parents dying leaving bby orphaned', its more he was orphaned at birth

Unless a hybrid of sorts, Oni are traditionally born from the death of a horrible human's spirit which is why Oni, at their base nature, are cruel and violent. By using the dead spirit of a horrible human to bring them into existence, they're bound to take bits of the violent and cruel parts that make up said spirit. Luckily for Fiend and you, it's something that could be taught to be managed but anger is always something present that'll have to be managed for the rest of his life.

Despite being essentially a toddler, he still has the absurd strength Oni are known to have. He can easily carry you with no problem which is a bit troubling considering he likes get mischievous. Often with Byte at that...

He's also a a bit of a nipper considering human flesh is apart of the natural diet of Oni. He knows better than to harm, Spirits forbid consider you prey and eat you. Adopted Papa Fiend is hovering over his back with a critical eye after all.

Bonus! Menace, underestimating his own strength and your human constitution, had accidentally thrown you once. Luckily, it was at Fiend. Unluckily, it was at Fiend. Possessive shit extraordinaire. (Yōkai won't let any slight against their Master stand, kid or not. Someone boutta get their little ass cooked.)

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Check out my main blog: @researcher-serif

Here's my NSFW blog if that tickles your fancy: @grandfather-of-sin

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[Read under cut for those that can't see the image text or colored text]

Fiend: "Hmm...?"

Fiend: "Oh..."

Fiend: "I see~"

Fiend: "Ahuhu~"

Fiend: "How flattering~"

[purpurussy]

I feel like the "dan is bi" anon is trolling but just in case they're genuinely confused: yes dan said in BIG that he loved and felt attracted to his high school gf (although he also made it pretty clear that they did not have sex so idk where anon is getting the idea that he has slept with "multiple women" 💀), and he alluded to his attraction not being confined to a specific gender in the part where he talked about labels, but you're completely taking all of that wildly out of context and missing the point of the whole video by calling him bi. I feel like this is probably the part that's frying their brain:

(shoutout to the legend @goldenpinof for this transcript!)

But firstly, imo it was very clear from BIG, as well as other stuff he's said over the years, that he just doesn't like labels. Which I find very valid, it took me a long time to figure out how to label myself. I still don't know what my gender is lmao but I started saying "bi" for my sexuality because it's a widely-used term that gets the point across. And I think that's the thing here: he came to the conclusion that the labels "gay" and "queer" are the best descriptors of his identity, which do the most accurate job of approximating something extremely psychologically complex and multilayered and nuanced in a simple everyday term that gets the point across to other people.

Obviously words mean things and it doesn't make sense to just pick a label at random (like for example it wouldn't make sense for me to identify as a lesbian, since I definitely feel attraction to men as well as women and everything outside the binary, and am interested in acting on that attraction at times, so I wouldn't be conveying accurate information to other people if I used the label lesbian for myself) but a label is just supposed to serve the task of conveying relevant information to other people (if a lesbian feels some kind of abstract attraction to dan and phil, that doesn't mean that the alphabet council needs to immediately revoke their lesbian card!! Since the word "lesbian" still does a perfectly good job of conveying relevant information to other people. Likewise if a straight dude has a fun little gay dalliance with his college roommate, but has absolutely 0 interest in men beyond that incident, it wouldn't be remotely necessary for him to start calling himself bi if he didn't want to, because what would be the point in that if he's only interested in women? Like if he told a gay dude who found him attractive that he's bi, only to backtrack... Do you see what I'm saying here?). It's perfectly valid for Dan to use "gay" and "queer" as umbrella terms that in his opinion do the best job of describing him, out of the language that's available. If he's like essentially a kinsey >5 and decided to just round it off to a 6 at this point, who are you to tell him he can't lmao

(shoutout to the legend @goldenpinof for this transcript!

Human sexuality is often way too complicated to boil it down to a single label in a way that doesn't erase any of its nuance, and I feel like this is something he's struggled with in the past, especially with him being a public figure. He's mentioned multiple times that feeling like he had to choose a label was a factor that prolonged his decision to come out.

And this is not even getting into the impact that his trauma from his childhood and also from spending a chunk of his formative years in the public eye probably had on the way he identifies or the way he chooses to label himself. It clearly took so much courage and strength for him to finally be able to call himself gay/queer please have some respect for our brave troops

Ultimately the point is that he uses the labels "gay" and "queer", not "bi", and it really shouldn't be difficult to respect that. It's also not biphobic for him to choose not use the label "bi" (again speaking as someone who uses that label). It's just that he feels "gay"/"queer" are better descriptors for him and nobody gets to determine that except him!! :) He wants people to know he's gay so he calls himself gay and that's that on that.

There are definitely people on here who are way smarter and more well-educated than me who would've done a much better job eloquently discussing this topic without rambling all over the place but that's my take (if anyone would like to add to this please do so, I'm always open to learn more about topics like this. And I'm also not saying that the way I see it is the only objectively correct opinion, but anon is definitely wrong so 💀). Thank you for coming to my ted talk