#genuinely i'm not a rabid fan

[themintman]

I am filled with HATE and SORROW y'all know how like Nurm is my favourite character my number 1 guy out of any piexe of media ever I love him dearly which sucks cause he's pretty unpopular but whatever whatever. N I'm like "man I really want to see some new Nurm content but everything I find I've either seen before or I created ☹️" and then I. I go on tiktok and I KEEP seeing edits that start with a clip with Nurm in them and then haha surprise it's actually a Petra edit!! Cause it's ALWAYS PETRA GOD DAMN IT and I love her. I love Petra so much. She is a fabulous character but ohm y god I am tweaking. I genuinely started crying y'all I am not sane nor normal. I'm so normal about him. Oh my good god I am going insane I am 💥💥💥💥

[witchyhoarding]

I'm not a fandom person so pls don't take this as me defending HH with my life (I just like the weird little blorbos and wanna talk about them)

But I do think that the squicks and the morality make it a little interesting, because the morality system of heaven/hell is so fucked up, both the Princess & King (?) and the worst most villainous demons think different things are gross and weirder than they are.

Like, are they demonizing BDSM a little too much? Yeah. They're also like appropriating and doing some other not-good shit with entities like Lilith, so it's a Pick Your Battles situation here

(EDIT: you say you're at the 3rd episode? Things progress a lot and sort of take the weird flaws and highlight them as part of the worldbuilding)

But I think they make up for it with the Consent club, just a bit? The slogan was something about nothing builds trust like bondage. And everyone there was willing and wasn't shown assaulting each other or anything -- they were genuinely consenting.

Same goes for the BDSM place. Seems like everyone there was happy, and idk a bunch of fresh faces walked in, of course half the *demons* would be drooling over them and getting a bit too close. (They didn't touch anyone who didn't want to be touched though!)

I think Charlie's squicks / discomfort specifically is because she was so sheltered with Lucifer / Lilith rather than having to grow up on the streets or in one of the other rings of hell. She's spoiled and although she knows *of* all the nasty weird nonsense in Hell, she's naive as fuck.

And even she was kind of like ehhh not for me at the BDSM club -- in her opening song she looks at some (probably) voyeurs and doesn't flinch.

I don't know. It does feel rushed and messy and convoluted, but it seems like a fun sandbox to poke around in. Especially if half the HH theories are true -- like the idea that people's irl deaths influence or dictate their Hellish/Heavenly appearances.

But yeah, morality being messy + the question of who goes to heaven and who goes to hell, and who "deserves" a second chance is a fun part of it.

It has a lot of flaws. It really does. But it poses a lot of neat questions *and* has songs and pizzazz.

every time I watch an episode of HH I think about that post that's like "who is the audience for this show" because, the popular virulent contempt for the show aside, it is confusing. it scans like an irreverent slapstick cartoon for older kids but the dialogue is often conspiciously Adult™. the character dynamics seem like they'd be fun to explore but the way they're explored feels more shallow than I'd like. I started paying more focused attention to the animation style and immediately regretted it, but it still can be fun to look at when they play around with the character presentations (how Zenthius moves, Alastor's glitchiness). and sometimes the setting and the way the characters act are at odds to me. I mean, okay, if I think about it for more than two seconds, of course you can work in Actual Hell and still have squicks about BDSM but I can't say it didn't make me go "????" (it's mostly the way they acted about it, for me. I think the morality system at play here is what I'm mostly confused about, not necessarily that a demon can have squicks.)

I think I am almost the audience for it and that's the annoying part, lol. I like it and yet it makes me scratch my head constantly. I'm waiting for the point where the scales tip and I just Can't anymore, and the fact that I almost got there in as early as the third episode doesn't bode well

[eruscreaminginthedistance]

Damn I'm not sure what internet everyone else is on but it feels like the people defending Bioware Corp from criticism about their lack of tactical RPG elements are way, way more angry than those who dislike the action RPG format

[mytheoristavenue]

How MHA Guys React to Fangirls

Summary: Dating a pro hero can be a challenge, especially one so handsome, with so many rabid fans.

Warnings: jealousy, fluff, gn!reader, very little angst

Katsuki Bakugo:

Bakugo has never been into having fans as he is just being all together admired. Not one for social interactions, he tends to clam up and become defensive when asked for an autograph, so when he's approached by a fangirl, he wants nothing to do with them. Especially if he's out with you, off duty. If one does happen to approach, and ignoring them doesn't do the trick, he'll make sure he's not their favorite hero anymore by the end of it.

"Do I look like I'm on duty to you? Can't you see I'm out with my partner or are you fucking blind? Piss off, I ain't signin' any damn autographs."

Izuku Midoriya:

Izuku totally understands how it feels to be a hopelessly obsessed fan, so he cuts his fans a lot of slack- sometimes too much. Though he rerfused to admit it at first, he has a lot of fangirls. and he's never the type to hurt someone's feelings on purpose, so he almost always stops for free autographs and photo ops. It can be sometimes frustrating how much of a people pleaser he can be, but rest assured, if he feels like you are getting too uncomfortable, or a fan is becoming too bold, he politely and swiftly ends the interaction.

"Hey, thanks for the support! I'd love to stay and chat, but it's actually my day off, so me and and my partner here are gonna move along. Hope to see you at the next event I attend, though!"

Tenya Iida:

Iida does truly enjoy interactions with his fanbase, but he considers that part of the job, and he's very strick about working off the clock. Because of this, he declines nearly every interaction if he's off duty. He absolutely has no tollerance for being flirted with, either, especially in front of you.

"I appreiciate your enthusiasm, but I and currently off duty and will not be indulging in fan interaction at this time! Please feel free to catch me anytime you see me in uniform! Good day!"

Shoto Todoroki:

Shoto doesn't beleive he has fans, genuinely. He can't quite wrap his head around having a fanbase, or being a fan of a celebrity in the first place, due to how he grew up. It tends to bewilder him when strangers approach him on the street wanting autographs, even more so when they try and put the moves on him. It just goes in one ear and out the other.

"You want an autograph? Why? Well, okay, I guess, but then we should get going. My partner and I are busy."

Eijiro Kirishima:

Kirishima tends to have a very healthy balance of pleasing fans and knowing when to say no. He loves giving out autographs, taking selfies, and giving hugs to all his fans. He especially loves interactions with child fans because it reminds him of how he idolized Crimson Riot, and he hopes to inspire someone like that too. He is, however, very aware when he's being flirted with or sexualized, and has no issue with promptly, albeit politely shutting it down.

"Alright, ladies, I understand someone as manly as me attracts a lot of attention, but my partner here is the only one I've got eyes for, and I ask that you please respect that."

Denki Kaminari:

Unfortunaely for you, Denki loves attention from fans, especially from his fangirls. He never turns down a signing or photo op, posing with girls however they want, even if it means something suggestive. To his credit, he will stop if you ask him to, but you still have to ask.

"Oh, what's that? Okay. Sorry ladies, we gotta run, but catch me at the next meet and greet!"

Hanta Sero:

Like Kirishima, Sero seems to have a pretty healthy mix of reactions. He loves his fans to death and would do most anything for them, especially kids. He lets his fangirls sexualize him to a small extent, knowing they probably don't totally realize he's a real person, but if they come to commenting on his body, or touching more than his shoulder, upper back, or elbows, he puts a stop to it.

"Now, that's enough, ladies. I appreiciate the admiration but even us celebrities have to set boundaries. It was nice meeting you, but it's actually my day off so me and my partner are gonna get, have a nice day!"

Minoru Mineta:

Like Denki, Mineta unfortunately lets his fangirls do whatever they want to him, short of carry him off. He actually does sometimes feel guilty for hurting your felings, however. He just doesn't realize how his flirting can affect you at times. He hopes you know that, even if he does flirt back, it's you who he truly loves!

"Awe, babe, I'm sorry! They don't even matter to me, I swear! It's you that I love, not some silly fangirl!"

Tokoyami Fumikage:

Tokoyami for the life of him does not know how to interact with his fans. He gets overwhelmed by crowds, but can usually handle interactions if they come one or two at a time. He typically caters to most requests, unless they happen to be personal questions, or something embarrassing. He doesn't like the idea of some fans being attracted to him, as he's only attracted to you, and he feels guilty beign someone's unrequited love. Due to this, he doesn't entertain any kind of flirting from any of his fans, no matter what gender.

"Sorry, I'm not comfrotable signing that for you, can you pick something else? My partner here is my only love, so it wouldn't be right of me to sign your photo with anything romantic."

Mezo Shoji:

It took a lot of convincing to get Shoji to understand that he had fans, let alone ones that were attracted to him. he's just not used to people other than you thinking of him that way, with his mutations and all. You actually had to show him all of the fan works of him online to get him to believe you. That being said, Shoji loves his fans, but he tends to get overwhelmed by the sheer number of them, and the fact that the can forget he's a person, not a character. In the past, he's had issues with fangirls stroking his muscles during photo ops, squeezing his pecks, and one even tried to yank his mask down. Luckily since then, he has learned how to manage fan interactions much better.

"Hey, don't do that. I'm a person, just like you, please treat me how you'd want to be treated. And don't disrespect my partner by tyring something inappropriate right in front of them."

Mashiroa Ojiro:

Like Shoji, Ojiro had a hard time accepting he had fans, but took much less convincing on your part. What he really struggled with was coming to terms with some of his fans liking him romantically. He doesn't typically turn away fan interactions, even on his days off, but he does cut them shorter that he would if he were working. If someone tries anything inappropriate, he ends the interaction right there.

"Sorry, I don't appreciate what you just did. Besides, it's my day off and I'd like to spend it with my partner here. I forgive you though, and hope to see you again at a meet and greet in the future!"

Tamaki Amajiki:

Tamaki appreciates the thought of having fans, and when standing intront of a cheering crowd, he can soemtiems handle it, but he really hates fan interactions. He never knows how to handle them, and many end up with him just nervously standing by while a stranger takes pictures with him, many times without his permission. Many times, you have to step up from him and ask the person politely to move along, which he always appreiciates.

"T-Thanks, babe... They were making me really uncomfortable but I didn't wanna hurt their feelings..."

[bamzies]

very useful things to script for your kpop drs cause goddamn

ৎ my mental health never gets affected in any way ৎ our company gives us therapy / our company has a good therapist ৎ my members are never affected by hate ৎ our company doesn't put us on extreme diets/or any diets (if you script no weight gain) ৎ we get along with our members / not co-worker relationship ৎ we are never overworked and our schedules aren't too full all the time ৎ members always in sync ৎ always passionate / never lazy ৎ we always get full nights rest ৎ companies don't mistreat us/abuse us ৎ we get along with staff and have a good professional bond with our staff ৎ idols do not bully each other ৎ members aren't attracted to my crushes/s.o ৎ no drama with members ৎ we don't always need to eat healthy (cus uh uh 😭) ৎ our physical health is never put at risk ৎ our fandom is not toxic or creepy ৎ our fandom consists of mostly women (personal preference) ৎ or none of the men in our fandom are weird and the women ৎ older fans arent creepy (im talking like 30's 40's) ৎ no saesangs ৎ our fans aren't parasocial ৎ each member is treated fairly and with respect ৎ our company doesn't put us in debt/we dont have debt ৎ our company lets us have freedom (dating, leaving the building/dorms etc) ৎ no creepy staff ৎ we are not underpaid/paid unfairly ৎ shooting mvs is fun ৎ our company covers up for us and defends us (dating, personal privacy etc not scandals) ৎ we get creative freedom/our ideas get acknowledged ৎ our company isn't shady !!! ৎ world tours are actually world tours (as a south african stan) ৎ no airport mobs ৎ fans respect us/listen to us ৎ we can connect with fans and not be parasocial ৎ our fans make fire edits (AUGHHHH) ৎ our fans do not ship us...(unless platonic) ৎ fans aren't jealous rabid animals (male x female interactions for context) ৎ we aren't forced to get surgery ৎ even if we get surgery fans are supportive/aren't weird ৎ k-netz are normal. ৎ k-nez aren't no.1 priority ৎ int fans are also taken into consideration (these are for seunghan) ৎ variety shows are fun ৎ variety show hosts aren't weird ৎ we do NOT need to do aegyo (optional..) ৎ armys/blinks/stays are normal ৎ makeup is always done perfectly and suitable for your skintone ৎ (for my black shifters) you can always wear your natural hair out and you can get a silk press that comes out perfectly ৎ (for my black shifters) dye, straightening etc will not damage your hair (this can apply for all hair types actually) your hair is strong ৎ our fans are funny ৎ our fans aren't cringey ৎ i genuinely care for my fans.... ৎ i'm not stuck up ৎ im humble ৎ our fans help other groups if they ever experience a black ocean (im looking at u czennie 😽) ৎ script fandom friends ex: tokki, nctzen, onedoor etc (will help for backup 😭😭) ৎ no stupid fanwars ৎ you are _th gen it girl/boy ৎ mc bank is fun and silly not memorized expressions and lines (from what ive heard from other shifters) you get to be yourself ৎ male idols arent weird (female too but mostly men) ৎ all male idols with sexual assault charges get death penalty (not just idols) HAPPY SHIFTING 😸😸😸😸 do not !! copy my shit im watching you

[bisexualbaker]

You know what...

I am genuinely curious now! This is not a judgement thing (again, I am very much a "read and write what you like, fictional people can't be hurt in reality" person), I really do just want to know what's more popular.

Pick whichever one you prefer to read/watch/etc; consuming only, not creating. I may do a sibling poll that includes both creating and consuming after this one closes. If what you like depends on your mood, you can pick either the one that you gravitate to more often, or the one you feel more strongly about. If your preference is for really hardcore stuff that's consensual, vote Comfort.

My impression is that Hurt is somewhat more popular in fandom, because a lot of people really, really love how pretty their blorbos are when all beat up and crying and helpless, but that Comfort has more fans than you'd expect. But it could also be an Ideal Peach Ripeness situation, where Comfort is more popular, but fans of Hurt are just waaaay more rabid/vocal about it. Which is why I'm curious about it, to be honest!

Reblog for sample size etc etc.

Edit: For further clarification, all instances are assumed to have both hurt and comfort. Vote for your preference of which one has more screen time in hurt/comfort stories.

[ddejavvu]

ok so personally, Im usually so adverse to romantic interactions that even if I click on that someone is genuinely pursuing me, ill ignore it or pretend they arent. maybe a defence mechanism? idk BUT it does make for the most rabid situations and thoughts ever ever ever

imaging best friend!James and reader maybe getting into the situation in which they have to share a bed sometime. maybe its a group vacation or something. in my head - James potter is a serial humper in his sleep sometimes. hes a big guy in all aspects, and he also cant help but wanna cuddle with you to sleep!! but that also means he wakes himself up a couple times by grinding softly on u, and he feels so bad, but thankfully youve never woken up cus of it. separately, youve also learnt to not mention that you can quite clearly uh..feel him some mornings when ur both drowsy, pressed together n still groggy. and you, oh so conveniently also never mention that you kinda like how it feels. but, hey-ho.

its the middle of the night, and as usual, James is spooning you from behind, he has to be bent a little to fit his head in ur hair, and hes pressing his entire body against ur back. the air still smells of washed-off sunscreen and sea salt, and theres a fan going in the corner of the room. and this time James wakes up to YOU humping HIM. im talking, his breath hitches and everythingggg until he realises ur sleep. ur asleep and grinding back on him and ur breathing is all stuttered and he always guessed youd be a little quiet but ur little noises are so breathy and holy shit ur wet????? theres no way you get this wet.. until James realises that hes propped himself up on his arm and is just staring down at where ur moving ur hips on him and he tries to snap himself out of it by waking u up. ur still groggy but absolutely mortified when he tells you "yeah bug, you uh- y'got a little excited 'bout me in ur sleep, huh? s'okay yknow, its okay :]"

and he 100% offers to help you out. even when u say that friends arent suppose to do that, AND also mumbling about how guys normally didn't really make girls cum and mentioning abt how you always hear people say its too complicated, he just brings up how you just grinded on his lap in ur sleep, and that felt good, so, how can it not be allowed? its just a friend helping out a friend! :) and that he can definitely get u off, he'd be sooo good at it!! the only way this goes in my head is that not much shuffling around is done, all that changed is that ur on ur back now, and hes licking his bottom lip into his mouth as he looms over you slightly from ur side, his hands moving down and down. he'd definitely be tilting his head and "yeah, this part feels really good, yeah? yeah" all nodding and smiling n shit. 'best friend' James from that point on, takes any opportunity to 'help you out', he'd transition into using more than his fingers too. he was in love with you before this but now???? hes a goner.

babe thank u for blessing me with these cause i did NOT feel like writing today so i let you tell me a story and it was amazing <333

this post is 18+, minors dni.

james potter sleep slut is canon in my mind... just the way he wakes up with his big beefy arms wrapped around you while his hips move?? mhm. and he wakes up and is like ohshitohshitohshit but he doesn't wanna let go!!! so he just tries to dial himself back in, but he most likely needs a minute in the bathroom to compose himself </3

no but if you feel it in the morning.. you don't wanna point it out 'cause what if he says something like 'oh sorry i'm just really sensitive' or 'sometimes the wind makes it do that' LIKE NO. YOU WANNA KNOW IF IT'S REALLY BECAUSE OF YOU. so you just keep quiet, but in the early morning when he's sleepily begging for fivemoreminutes and isn't quite in tune with his body yet, you're definitely hyper aware of his hard on digging into your thigh or butt or hip or belly or whatever <3

when HE wakes up to YOU grinding on HIM he's mindblown.. he knows he likes you, he knows you're pretty, but he marvels at how amazing you look while dragging your hips back against his, like how could you look this amazing??

but he feels even worse watching you than he does accidentally doing it in his sleep, 'cause this isn't an accident!! he's not catching you in the act by mistake anymore, he's just watching you grind on him and getting all worked up about it, which in turn is only making him more hard. finally he decides to just wake you, smoothing your hair away from your face and kissing your cheek, murmuring your name softly until you finally rouse. and when you're blubbering sleepily at him 'why'd you wake me?' he just smiles like :] oh you were having a wet dream :] just wanted you to know :] and you're !!!!!!! WHAT !!!!!!!

you're instantly apologizing a million times but he's reassuring you like no no no!! it's okay bug, really!! happens to the best of us <3 but if you want some help w that i can help you!! i mean i've got the facilities, trust me. just say the word and we can make your dreams come true :]

you're just instantly terrified. you're shaking your head, sitting up like no, that's not what friends do. and- and it's hard! to make a girl- y'know... and he's like ?? no it's not ?? i promise i won't have a hard time with you bug.

so once you've suggested that he won't be able to do it.. he's gonna do it. he'd never ever force you to do anything against your will but the only excuses that you have are that friends don't do that (and they totally do!!! james is right now!!!!) and that it would probably be hard for him, and nothing about you not wanting it. so when he finally gets it out of you that yes you want it, but no he won't be able to help, he's gonna go to town. he begs for a chance to prove you wrong and you should have known with his super competitive nature that challenging him would be dumb, but i mean. worst case scenario he can't do it. you're already expecting that. why not??

so he tries, rubbing your pretty little clit and stroking over your folds before dipping between them, only a little upset that you're already wet because it means that he can't get you all worked up first, he can't kiss the slick out of you, he can't suck on your neck until you're wet, it's already there </3 but next time for sure, for now he's very excited about just being able to touch you

your cunt is warm and wet and everything he's ever dreamed of, but he's too nervous about overstepping to ask to eat you out, so he doesn't.. but in future, it's coming.

but he absolutely soaks in the moment, humming and cooing and crooning at you about how good it feels, asking you every time you whimper if it feels nice, if he's doing it right, if you think he'll be able to finish you off. and it's so intoxicating having him that close that you absolutely have to use all of your willpower to not kiss him while he hovers over you. he guides you through your orgasm and brings you down gently, absolutely the perfect lover, and he even asks if he can lick his fingers clean. he's like wouldn't think it was weird, would you, bug? I can clean 'em off? and when you nod he sucks them clean, humming at your taste and grinning giddily at you.

now you have a helper ! he will not leave u alone. bed sharing is a must now, and the more you sleep together, the more horny you are for him, and the more you wake up in the middle of the night, and the more he 'helps you out', and it is a cycle that you couldn't break if you tried, not that you'd ever want to.

[goldustwomun]

bite the hand (e.m.)

pairing: rockstar!eddie munson x girlfriend!reader

summary: things come crashing down around you when you watch eddie from the sidelines of the stage. you know you shouldn't leave but you beg eddie for forgiveness anyway.

warnings: (unedited) more angst folks i think i'm going through something, established relationship, swearing, tears crying sobbing (for eddie but you too babes x), i use face and features too many times but we move

wc: 2.0k+

note: short and (not so?) sweet :) :( i'm really struggling to sustain my writing for very long but oh well xoxo

Here’s the best part distilled for you But you want what I can’t give to you Your hands are gravity while my hands are tied

He should’ve known it’d get to you eventually. The screams and cries of thousands for him and only him, because as much as he stood, awestruck, by the talent of the others, it was always his name the crowd went hysterical for: Eddie. Eddie. Eddie. They’d chant and sway and go all but rabid when his black mop of hair would peak from around the stage, teasing in that very ‘Eddie’ way that you were all too familiar with when he’d feel a little more playful in bed. His mischievous eyes and quirked lips, tattooed skin and leather-clad thighs. He was the embodiment of a devilish smile, dripping, oozing, even, with sex appeal and charisma.

But it wasn’t just you, now, who noticed those things about him. The two of you weren’t perched on a bench outside of Wayne’s trailer anymore, smirking into the other’s mouth after a particularly strong joint he had rolled from his stash, legs resting on top of him as you were all but sat in his lap. Neither were you the sole body in the crowd of the Hideout, the only one out of the tens of patrons to be hanging onto every rasp of Eddie’s voice, every strum of his long fingers against the guitar.

It wasn’t just you, now, who noticed those things about him, and you knew because of the hundreds of letters he got, every other week on mail day, from adoring fans and sycophants and a few stalkers. You knew because of the way the crowd stretched so far into the distance that you couldn’t see where it ended, the countless bodies moving like a singular mass of pure, unaltered adoration for the man who assured you it’s you, it’s only ever going to be you.

“Penny for your thoughts?” And his voice broke you from the road you were beginning to travel down. You tried your best to force the smile on your lips, and really, you think he knew you were faking it but the giddy energy from the show he was soon going to be playing had already begun to fizzle through his bones and so he ignored it. He took it, instead, for something genuine despite the way it didn’t quite reach your eyes.

“Only a penny, Munson?” you scoffed at an attempt of playfulness. “I know for a fact you could offer me a lot more than a penny.” He laughed and your belly dipped, even all these years later, when he pressed his lips to your cheek. Eddie Munson might have been a kind of lust personified but he was also the sweetest human being you’d ever known.

“Ah, you’re right. My girl deserves much, much more,” and his lips began their slow descent from your face to the crook of your neck, fixated on that one spot that would have you shivering in mere seconds. He stopped for a moment; face still buried into your flushed skin— “Two pennies then?”

You groaned – “Eddie” -- at his pitiful attempts of humour (but really you loved it), shoving him away even if you didn’t really mean it.

“I’m only kidding, sweets, I’m only kidding!” he cooed at you, soothing your pout until it melted into that smile of yours that he loved to be the cause of as his fingers traced meaningless patterns into the exposed skin at your hip. “Forgive me?” he begged, his turn to pout now.

And it was comical, really, the way you gave into him, whatever doubts you had crumbling at the very feel of him against you, his words forcing whatever walls you were beginning to build-up only moments before to crumble into nothing at your interlaced feet.

“Always, Eddie,” you promised, voice leaving you at barely a whisper. And when you continued, heart thrumming as you waited for his answer, your words wavered: “Do you forgive me, too?”

He watched, confused, as the question left your lips, head tilted like a puppy unsure of his surroundings. “What would I ever need to forgive you for?” he asked, soft.

“Just—do you? Would you? Forgive me?”

He stared into your eyes, a penetrating gaze, begging you for an answer and explanation for your behaviour, but when you remained quiet he acquiesced. “Like you said, sweetheart: always.”

You nodded, that same, tight smile appearing on your features. The sound of a knock on his dressing room door pulled the both of you out of whatever daze hung, limp, in the air, and Eddie moved past you to answer.

“Five minutes to go, Eddie. Need to get you mic-ed up.” You couldn’t hear his answer (probably something along the lines of ‘Be right there’) over the roaring in your ears. The door clicked close again as a warm hand traveled to your waist, turning you in-place. Eddie’s hand moved to cradle your face in his palms, touch cautious like he always was when it was just the two of you. Like you were splintered glass, on the verge of breaking.

“Going to come watch outside, yeah?” And how could you say no to him and his big, brown eyes. So you nodded, followed him through the corridor leading towards stage left. People rushed around, gathering wires, plugging amps and checking cables with the kind of frenzy you’d never get used to despite having been there for almost all his shows.

Gareth, Jeff and Doug were already huddled in a corner, cheeks split into nervous grins. They waved Eddie over who gave your hand a reassuring squeeze before joining them, face dipping as someone came in to swipe some powder over his face.

You don’t remember what happened after that because the next thing you knew, the band was rushing onto the stage, the arena blacked-out, and the moments the light switched on, a deafening roar erupted from the crowd, bright lights carving out their bodies from the darkness. You edged closer to the stage, only just visible from behind a curtain, when the crowd came into view.

And you hated it, the way your gut twisted, mind reeled. You know if you had just said something, anything, to Eddie when it had begun, weeks ago on the first night of the tour. Someone had slipped a note into your back pocket as you and Eddie pushed through a crowd, security walling you in. But you had felt it, and you just knew what it was going to say.

It wasn’t the first and it wasn’t the last, but you had to applaud its author for the precision with which their words sliced at your very core, holding a mirror up to every insecurity you had ever had (and more you hadn’t even considered) until your hands were shaking, fierce.

When you stared out into the crowd, when your gaze connected with someone right in the front, and a look of disgust overtook them, you felt that lest tether inside of you snap free. The air knocked from your lungs, that same cold feeling of fear dripping down your back.

Eddie must have seen it, he was watching you the entire time, having tuned into your every move since the two of you had left his dressing room. He knew you were acting odd, skittish, like a petrified cat getting ready to flee. So when you retreated, he motioned to Jeff to keep the crowd busy before running off on in search of you.

He called after you, having bulked up enough since high school to catch up with you with ease. When you moved faster at the sound of his voice, he did too, finding you pacing in the haven of his dressing room. He shut the door, locking it, before approaching you, slow, cautious, like the floor was uneven and you on a precipice.

“Sweetheart, what’s wrong?” he asked, unsure.

You weren’t facing him so when your shoulders began to shake, he wasn’t sure if you were crying or laughing. But when you turned, face splotchy and chest heaving, he rushed forward, gathering you in his arms.

“What is it, my sweet girl. What’s wrong?” he murmured into the top of your head, holding you tight so that the pressure of his embrace might calm you down enough to talk, to explain or clarify or at least quell the rapid thrum of his worried heartbeat.

“I can’t Eddie, I just—” you hiccupped, voice muffled by the sound of his t-shirt— “I can’t do it.”

“It’s alright, love, just try, yeah? Just—whatever comes to mind—”

“No—You don’t get it—” and you pulled away, the distance between the two of you growing with every moment in more ways than one. “I can’t do this. This thing—” you motioned between you, and he froze.

“You can’t do what?” his voice hardening, on the offensive, and his face contorted to prepare him for the worst.

“Eddie. It’s too much. It’s been too much for so long and I know I should’ve—” a sob ripped from your chest and all he wanted to do was reach for you, his body yearned for it, but he knew better. “—I should’ve said something ages ago. Not let it go so far but it’s too late and you can blame me for—”

“—for what! Us? This? Is that all we are? Some vague abstract of now? Just come out and say it.” he was exploding, erupting, Vesuvius and Pompeii. “Go on. Say it.”

And it was your turn to yell and shout and hurl until your lungs seized. “It’s killing me, Eddie! I feel like I’m fucking dying here. I can’t compete with them, not anymore. I’m exhausted and I feel—I feel fucking heavy.” You were panting from the force of your words, the weight they carried, and you had been carrying.

“There’s no competition, sweetheart. There will never be a competition,” he pleaded, stumbling a step closer but you pushed back.

“I know you feel that way, Eds. I know you do—” his heart squeezed at the nickname. “—I know this is irrational in so many ways. It shouldn’t matter that your fans fucking despise me,” and he flinched at the crudeness of your words. “But there’s one of me and millions—holy shit, there’s millions of them, Eddie. They’re suffocating me and I just—I want to breathe, again. I need to breathe.”

The walls were crashing and crumbling and nothing he said would help to rebuild them, not this time. And he must have sensed it because it was like the air was knocked out of his lungs, too, and he fell to his knees in front of you, clinging to you like maybe if he held on tight enough, he could stop you from leaving.

“Please. My love. My sweet girl. You’re it. You’re always it,” and it must have hit him, what you had meant earlier, because he couldn’t stop rambling, stop repeating: “I forgive you. I forgive you, always, my love. It doesn’t matter what you do, you’re mine and I forgive you.”

Your heart cracked open then, your hand cradling his tear-soaked face to where he was burrowing himself into the pillow of your stomach. You couldn’t bear it anymore, to hear him, see him, touch him, whilst you cut away the pieces of your love. You brushed the hair from his forehead, your own tears falling on him and he cursed himself for making you cry.

You still don’t know if what you did was from a place of strength or weakness, if the way you went about it, with thousands still waiting for him mere feet away, was cruel or kind. But you needed to do it, or at least, that’s what you kept repeating to yourself in your head.

That and Eddie, Eddie, Eddie -- your mind chanted.

You were the only audience he ever needed. If only you knew.

As always, reblog + comment if you enjoyed this or want more! Requests are opennnnn :D

[olderthannetfic]

Sending this to you specifically because I feel like you're the only normal brained person about this series.

I read Captive Prince a couple of years ago and liked it fine, as someone who doesn't have a strong preference for or against m/m and therefore isn't well-versed enough in its clichés to notice whether it reads like something full of cliché fanfic tropes. I really liked the use of language, some of the historical/political stuff, some of the ways that the characters are made complicated or unreliable.

The problem is, I've since coincidentally read most of the books that were Pacat's inspiration and. Well. Like 80-90% of the stuff in there has direct parallels in one of those. I'm not sure if there are more than three original thoughts in there.

I am not joking, if you read 1. The Lymond Chronicles and House of Niccolò by Dorothy Dunnett; 2. The Nightrunner series by Lynn Flewelling and 3. The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice, you will find that some of the scenes were ripped off beat for beat, many jokes were taken and just lazily reworded, a lot of the character beats and arcs are at best a mashup of 2 or maximum 3 things from those books with the serial numbers filed off really poorly. There's a scene where some characters discover a suicide victim whose structure and descriptions are completely ripped off from another series, except Pacat fails to see what made the original scene so impactful. A lot of the pretty use of language is also directly copied from those, including some really really specific descriptors. It's so blatant!

And I don't see how people are okay with this! I know people who are fans of several of these works and they're totally cool with it! And honestly if it were some rando's unpublished original project I'd be cool with it too, but as a published beloved worldwide phenomenon with rabid fans? C'mon.

And another thing is, all of the other series mentioned above are balls to the wall insane. She just... she just made it bland. She took off most of the edge and reshuffled the elements into a fairly straightforward MLM love story with some light kink thrown in. It's not a BAD series, but I feel like I'm disappointed that someone read all my favourite books and THAT was their takeaway?

--

I started reading, got to the name of the series and burst out laughing.

And, wow, you brought up something totally new that I hadn't thought about! I'm impressed. Genuinely. Usually, I rant about all the reasons I hate the series while debunking the standard anti talking points.

--

I've read the Vampire Chronicles, but that was in the 90s and I read Captive Prince in like 2016 or after. I had zero recollection of common points. I haven't read The Lymond Chronicles despite years of hurt/comfort fans bugging me to do so, and I think I got like a chapter into the Nightrunner series before getting distracted...

The reason I found Captive Prince annoying and derivative is that it also reads exactly like the original m/m that was available when it was first being written, most notably the work of P.L. Nunn who was extremely famous for horny fan art but who also wrote some original m/m fantasy novels. The scene where they finally bone reminds me heavily of the one from... uh... what's the P.L. Nunn one where the prince creeps on that archer dude and he gets raped because of course and then the prince has to be ~patient~ and it's peak boring 2000s rape recovery tropes?

The rape backstory is not only lifted from Fushigi Yuugi (the author's fandom at the time) but is shared with basically 100% of original m/m from that era. It's sometimes the uncle, sometimes the stepfather. One single time that I can think of, it was the foster brother, but mostly it's that "funny uncle" type. Unless it's gang rape from a bad Gundam Wing fic. That was also everywhere.

Once somebody told me the author had previously shipped Tamahome/Nakago, I realized that they'd taken what would be a kind of unusual anime ship and made it a thousand times more boring by dumbing down the scary, tall general with the tragic backstory into an uke-appropriate waif.

So I guess what I'm saying is that there may be some inspiration you aren't familiar with, but it's the same story as what you said above: this is the blander remix.

--

As for why people are okay with this... honestly, most of the people who really adore the series whom I've talked to point to how it encapsulates the exact tropes and tone they loved in anime fic circa 2000.

As a fellow weeb, I loathed the tone of said anime fic circa 2000 and could not wait for tastes to change, so Captive Prince is a hideous blast from an unlamented past for me.

I think most people who love the series aren't familiar with its inspirations. Those that are may have consumed them quite a while ago and don't realize quite how direct the parallels are. Or, for the inspirations that aren't overtly canon m/m, the lure of it being Exactly Right may overshadow other things.

(They also mostly haven't read 90s fantasy doorstops that actually contain political intrigue, tactics and strategy. Captive Prince is a piss poor entry into this genre and should be recced for m/m, not this other stuff people constantly think is in there. None of these characters can reason their way out of a paper bag.)

More than any of that, there's a lot of love left over from when the series was a serialized original story on Livejournal in an era when we had vanishingly few original m/m works, especially long ones in a fantasy alternate world.

I think that is what gets it a pass when a new m/m novel presented as "m/m romance" or posted on one of the webnovel sites would be mocked for unoriginality. Many Captive Prince fans aren't (or weren't when they read it) all that familiar with the smorgasbord of original m/m available today. Many are unfamiliar with anime fanfic circa 2000, so this feels adjacent to the fic they've read but a little fresher... instead of like the week-old sardine tin I found it to be.

[m0ssrat]

arcane music headcanons expect I'm objectively correct

Jinx

Ghost and Pals, Will Wood and the Tapeworms, Mother Mother, Melanie Martinez, Corpse, Set It Off, Poppy Nightcore, Gorillaz, etc.

You know those really bad playlist for characters with like, extremely unfitting songs that have an abnormal amount of Mother Mother in them? Yeah. She's the one making those.

If it was a TikTok audio for a Danganronpa cosplayer in 2020 she probably has it on loop

Listens to shitty modern day Hyperpop and it sounds like ASS

She listened to a undertale fansong nightcore cover on her school Chromebook and it genuinely changed her life for the worst. She was on Wattpad with Angel with a Shotgun BLASTING through her skull candy earbuds she stole off of a kid.

She's never been to a concert and that's for everyone's sake. She would have the absolutely worst concert etiquette to ever exist.

Once she matures she becomes an IPC diehard. She is at a Juggalo concert with her shirt off throwing Fuego and probably getting pulled over after.

Vi

Twenty One Pilots, Hozier, Florence and The Machine, Weezer, The Smiths, Ghost, Rainbow Kitten Surprise, Queen, System of a Down, Nancy Sinatra, etc

She says she's not a big music fan and that she just listens to whatever's on the radio but that is a lie.

She's not normal about Florence and The Machine. Anytime she's about to have a breakdown she puts Dog Days Are Over on full blast inside her truck. She's been in the top percent of her listeners for 5 years straight now.

She listens to exclusively bands that a guy in a guitar store would brag about listening to saying they were totally indie and no one would know them. She owns a vinyl player. She's not as pretentious, but still.

Hozier is like, the one guy in all of history that she somewhat is attracted to. His music is a borderline religious experience. She went to one of his concerts with Ekko and cried so hard she got sick. As soon as they were in the hotel she chugged a bottle of honey whiskey and passed out. She has not been the same since.

She HATES Jinx's music with like, a genuine passion. She will smack Jinx's hand if she tries to change her music. they are fighting like rabid dogs for who gets the aux cord

Caitlyn

Taylor Swift, Chappel Roan, Mitski, Kate Bush, The Cardigans, The Crane Wives, Sabrina Carpenter. Billie Elish, etc

She's relatively normal about music. Most of the time she just has white noise on whenever she's working. However, if she needs to do a long drive or something and doesn't want to listen to the radio, she WILL be playing all of Taylor Swifts discography

Shes not a Swiftie, but she listens to it enough that she got Jayce into it. She's way more a fan of her older music though.

Most of the music she listens to sounds like breakup music. Like it's always weirdly somber and full of anguish. She will also occasionally listen to a song about family issues and clearly not be okay.

Again, not really a music fan. However, this has not stopped Jayce from seeing her in her car scream-crying to Good Luck Babe. He is so worried for her and she just acted so calm after.

She thinks Vi has such unique tastes and will end up growing to like a lot of Vi's music too. Disgusting. I think they kiss during a Hozier song playing and everyone thinks they're disgusting.

Ekko

Tyler The Creator, Gorillaz, Poor Mans Poison, Los Campesinos, The Oozes, Pavement, AJJ, The Front Bottoms, Jhariah, Jack Stauber, Djo, etc.

The only one with objectively good music tastes in the entirety of this group. He's the kind of person to genuinely mean it when he says he listens to everything. The only music he doesn't really love is modern country, but he fucks heavily with almost everything.

The only artist that's super consistent and someone he actively gets excited for when there's a new release is Tyler the Creator. He enjoys music as an art form rather than something to just listen to, and he loves Tyler's vision and how he makes it an experience.

He listens to a LOT of Legend of Zelda soundtracks. If his favorite video game has a soundtrack he will have that on loop for days. His Spotify Wrapped is consistently fucked because of this.

He took Vi to the Hozier concert because she kept asking and he got into Hozier before she did. He has a video of her drunk-crying in her hotel bed about it. It was genuinely such a magical experience for them both though.

He got Jinx into Gorillaz as a way to try and get her to like. better music. And it backfired so bad. He's the one pushing her to like ICP.

Jayce

Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Rodrigo, Chappel Roan, Charli xcx, Doja Cat, Kesha, Lady Gaga, Ayesha Erotica, Shakira, P!NK. etc

Do NOT take away his basic white girl music he will DIE!!!!!! he will die SO BAD!!!!!

He got into Taylor Swift due to Caitlyn and now he's the bigger Swiftie. Genuinely has started collecting all her albums. He is so obsessed with her music it is a little concerning.

He will blast Juno by Sabrina Carpenter on full blast while working and it annoys the genuine fuck out of Viktor. He is not doing this to annoy him, he's trying to get Viktor to like his kind of music.

Vi has been begging him to listen to literally anything else. Viktor is also begging, but he's starting to give up.

He went to a Sabrina Carpenter concert with Mel and he ended up getting the fuzzy pink handcuffs and he will NEVER stop talking about it. He has them hanging on his wall alongside a picture of him on the screen.

Viktor

The Hoosiers, The Oh Hellos, American Murder Song, The Taxpayers, Poor Mans Poison, Orville Peck, Gene Aubrey, Johnny Cash, Hozier, etc

Again, objectively good music tastes. He tends to listen to old country or folk music. He likes a song that tells a story and has a lot of heart in it.

If you put modern day country on the radio he will die. If he has to listen to a "I LOVE BEER AND TRUCKS" song one more time he's going to throw himself onto the highway full speed. He despises that genre of music more than anything else on the entirety of this Earth.

He is also a huge Hozier fan, and has been since Take Me to Church blew up while he was in his religious guilt era. He went to the same concert as Vi but they didn't know they were there. He cried so hard at that concert he got sick. It was more than a religious experience for him.

He has been trying to get Jayce to listen to Orville Peck or Hozier for MONTHS. He's not allowed Jayce to play his music ever. It's working very slowly.

He thinks about Jayce while listening to Hozier and contemplates ending it all while Jayce is playing BRAT in the lab. Genuinely couldn't be a worse situation for him actually.

Mel

See, I know most will say she would have amazing music tastes but I can't agree. I don't think she cares. She listens to whatever is on the radio. Her Spotify Wrapped is consistently fucked because she uses her phone as a speaker at like parties or during long car rides.

She doesn't have a preference when it comes to music. Her liked playlist of songs is close to 500 and it's just whatever songs anyone has sent her. She will put it on shuffle and get Halls of Illusions by Insane Clown Posse back to back with fucking Someone New by Hozier. It's bad.

She is not paying attention to what she's listening to. She blocks it out so well that she can't really pay attention to it. If she's forced to pick music, it'll just be whatever Jayce has made her listen to in the past week and a half.

She went to a Sabrina Carpenter concert with Jayce purely because she saw all the videos and thought it would be fun. Her and Jayce were dorking out. She could not match his energy though, and she loves him so much but she is never going to a concert with him again.

[babyboywinchester]

Hey, why do you hate Misha Collins? Can you explain please, preferably with examples, if you have time and it's not hard for you? I'm just trying to understand, because half of the internet literally in love with him and half of the internet hates his guts, so I want to know why.

I could delve into this, if you’re actually being serious, but it’s hard to tell anymore. I will refer you to @nancylou444’s very extensive list of problematic things he has done.

In short, I find his pandering and lack of a spine to be abhorrent and unbecoming. He continually throws scraps to his rabid base of fans who in turn harass, threaten, name call, and bully others who don’t share their point of view. (That Destiel is TOTALLY ACTUALLY CANON and anyone who says otherwise is HOMOPHOBIC)

His opinion changes depending on whoever is in the room, he says things when he’s alone with a group of frothing at the mouth gay fetishizers, but the second someone is around that can call him on his shit he is 😶. You didn’t see him saying Cas and Dean would be “balls deep” with Jensen or Jared on stage did you? No, because they would have shot that shit down immediately. He does it to stay relevant with a select few fans because he knows that’s all he has. He isn’t a well known or well liked actor. He has no prospects outside of Supernatural and the con circuit and he needs to make money. What better way than to get this gullible rubes to loosen their wallets and give him their hard earned cash when all he has to do his say Destiel was totes canon and TPTB were too homophobic to let it happen.

“Half of the internet” is a very skewed statement. He only seems as popular as he is because this is tumblr and the fans are particularly rabid here… but outside of that, on the internet as a whole and with the general population he is not known or liked at all. It’s only within the destiehell circles.

If this was a genuine ask then I hope that answers your question. I thank you for sending it and hope that helps! If you yourself are a fan of him that is fine. That is your choice and don’t let my feelings about him take away from your enjoyment, but I would ask that you don’t descend to the levels of his other fans who choose to harass people because they see him for what he is.

🩷

[sufferu]

Bravo to you for choosing not to let Rem be forgiven so easily. Honestly I've never been a big fan of Rem as a character, sometimes her endless pandering and obsession with subaru just really annoys me instead, and I've never understood people looking at her doing all that and then saying “Wow that's so hot I'm so jealous of Subaru!”

As for the ones who want her deeds to be easily forgiven by everyone, my personal guess is that they all only care about her body and the unheathy way she forces herself to act like the perfect waifu just for Subaru's sake, but subconsciously they can't stand the shit she did either, so they secretly want their favorite waifu to be a perfect being without flaws. But to me, isn't it essential to love a character and accept their flaws as well? They did wrong things, but there's no doubt THEY did them anyway, and that is part of what makes them who they are. Another thing is that forgiveness has to be earned, we're not cruel, coldhearted, or closeminded for not forgiving someone who hurts us. So I too agree with that anon who thinks WHDAA cast need to to beat some sense into Subaru on way too forgiving and tolerating the people who have hurt/killed him.

But now that you've decided to do that, beware of those rabid Rem stans coming after you and I'm worried that their harassment goes overboard and affects your personal life

I will say — I believe that Rem and Subaru’s canon dynamic is one of the most intriguing and multifaceted dynamics in the entire series. Their parallels regarding their insecurities and family members, their mutually codependent tendencies, the way they run the risk of becoming each other’s perfect enablers, the genuine sense of love and affection that runs parallel to the unintentional toxicity fostered within their relationship — it’s all really interesting stuff. In fact, exploring their dynamic through the lens of outsiders (including amnesiac!Rem) finally getting to peer under the hood is one of the main reasons I wanted to write a react fic at all.

As for why people like her — honestly, I think it’s kinda easy to guess? She’s a very cutely designed anime girl, she’s incredibly well-voiced, her insecurities are genuinely relatable, she’s got a super awesome oni power-up transformation, her morning star lends itself to some of the best choreographed action scenes in the series (or at least Season 1), she appeals to the whole “submissive maid” aesthetic that she knows Subaru finds attractive (and that also appeals to the target demographic of Re:Zero specifically, let’s be real here) — and frankly, there are so many scenes in anime where characters we’re supposed to like do fucked up shit that it’s not difficult to just…gloss over the whole “tortured the mc for several hours” part of her character. It’s understandable, especially if you’re not an insane person who spends all their time hyperanalyzing the anime they’re a fan of like I am. I don’t think it’s really that far of a leap for her to develop such a massive following, she was basically designed to be as popular an anime waifu as physically possible.

But then, that clash can become…a little uncomfortable if you’re writing a story where “Rem tortures Subaru” is a major plotpoint, and if you don’t want to reevaluate their entire relationship, it makes sense to find a way to just — get the characters to move along, much like a lot of the irl audience does.

But I really like toxic characters and angst and complicated relationships and all that fun stuff, so that’s what I’m gonna focus on. —Also Rem is WORSE in the LN. Girl starts fantasizing about whisking Subaru away while he’s practically comatose from shock (second Arc 3 loop) and then also makes a comment like “even if he had tried to assault her in her sleep, she knew she never would have resisted” like GIRL??? The idea of not tapping that insane well of potential drama is ludicrous to me lmaoo— especially because I really don’t care about maintaining the status quo ;)

(Also frankly, anyone who would start seriously harassing me over whether or not I share their opinion about a fucking anime girl is too pathetic for me to care about. I honestly don’t think I’ll get that big of a response — especially not on Tumblr “Gay Website” Dot Com — but even if I do…I don’t care, lmao.)

[whoishotteranimepolls]

Since we're allowed to ask for someone to explain the appeal of characters, can I add Silvers Rayleigh, Benn Beckman, and Marco to the list? I do not understand why so many of you find them attractive. I mean on the Funny tags post. Rayleigh and Beckman have the most extensive sections, and Marco has some funny ones, too. However, I find them highly unappealing. I mean, Rayleigh is just your drunk Grandpa, and Beckman is your drunk uncle. Marco, unfortunately, looks like a pineapple and is part bird. So I seriously don't know how anyone finds him appealing, but I know his fans are out there, and they're very loyal. So can any of their fans. Please explain to me their appeal. Apparently, you guys exist and not just exist. You guys appear to be ride-or-die loyal, and I do not understand.

Now, I watch One Piece. I enjoy One Piece, and the show has so many attractive male characters, but you guys are going crazy for Silvers Rayleigh, the drunk grandpa with a gambling problem that I'm pretty sure the family only keeps around because he taught everyone how to do tax evasion and is willing to take the fall if anyone gets caught because at his age live in prison doesn't mean all that much anymore

Or Benn Beckman, the drunk uncle with the smoking problem. Now, I'm pretty sure he only has the smoking problem because he had to finish raising Rayleigh's red-headed disaster of a son he found as a stray when Shanks was. What 15? Dealing with a teenage Shanks would turn anyone gray and to smoking, but I don't think gentle parenting works on Shanks, and Beckman should have tried something a little bit more forceful. In fact, I think he should be demanding compensation from Rayleigh because Shanks has only lost one limb on his watch. But back to the point, I'm pretty sure most people find him attractive because of his competency kink. Still, there has to be more to it because of how much is in that section on that nicknames and tags post because, apparently, his fans are. How should I put this? Absolutely rabid for him, and I would love to know why. That's the term I think works best. If you don't believe me seriously, go check out that post

Or poor Marco, that haircut does nothing for you. It's just cursed you with the nickname pineapple head. He's also technically part bird, well actually part Phoenix close enough. And I don't understand why anyone would want to get down and dirty with a Phoenix, but I have seen way too much fanfic to prove otherwise. So, can his fans explain His appeal because? I am just trying to understand you guys.

Because again, I watch One Piece, and there are so many attractive guys on that show, especially of the DILF variety, but I do not understand the Rayleigh, Beckman, or Marco fans. So can any of their fans explain their appeal

Defend Your Blurbo #3

Please remember this post is about curiosity and genuine fandom discourse. Be kind with your answers because this is not a debate essay, this is a discussion between fans.

Well, here are some photos of the blurbos and questions. Now, they are right when they say Beckman and Rayleigh have two of the most extensive sections on my nickname and funny tags post for one piece, which I will link. So I do understand where they're coming from on that part because when I was first putting that post together, I did not expect those two to have such long sections

Otherwise, One Piece Fandom, Defend Your Blorbos

[lemotmo]

Interesting question and super interesting answer. Spot on regarding lots of people's feelings towards Lou.

Q. I want to first say thank you for taking the time to answer our questions, I know many of them have not been nice. I'm glad you've started answering more nice ones, it's good for everyone to see. You've said you liked Tommy a lot in the beginning, is it possible that your changing opinions about Tommy are actually a result of you not liking Lou? More than the show changing Tommy? Does that make sense? I am genuinely curious, please tell me this is not coming across as rude!

A. Good morning, anon. No, your question did not come across rude at all. In fact it's a good question and one I am happy to answer. Before I get into the answer about Tommy though, I will address the Lou part. I have made no secret about my dislike for LFJ. I personally find him gross. And I will fully own that, as a result, loving Tommy would be rather difficult for me. But in my real life it's my job to sell shit to people and make them think they love or need something they don't (PR) so I could make my brain get there if I really needed it to get there for the sake of the show. But fortunately for me I won't need to do that.

A couple of things happened with regards to Lou that prior to him the show had never had to deal with before. Forgive me, but my public relations nerd brain is about to take over. Lou is the first guest star the show ever had that publicly and rapidly promoted themselves as a characters' love interest. None of the others have ever done that before. But he didn't market himself to the audience at large. He targeted a very specific portion of fandom to promote himself to, engage with, and profit from. I'm going to take this opportunity to point out that the minute Tim/ABC told him he could no longer do the cameo videos, thus removing his profiting capabilities, he ended all forms of engagement completely. That tells you all you need to know. For this next part I'm going to use Megan West (Taylor Kelly) as my counterpoint. Taylor was popular with the general audience. The fandom hated Taylor (and Oliver wasn't a fan either, bless him), but the general audience liked her. It's why the show kept trying to make her work for multiple seasons. The GA liked her dynamic with Buck. The GA didn't 'turn' on Taylor until the show started her exit storyline and they weren't supposed to like her anymore. Same thing with Tommy. I think my opinion of Tommy changed exactly when the show wanted it to change. I followed the canon change. The general audience doesn't care about Tommy. Having a small, yet rabid, fan base is good for minimal short term traction, but the GA is what extends contracts. He didn't promote himself to the GA because he already knew the shelf life of his character. He knew the storyline that his character is a part of wasn't going to change. As a result he promoted himself to a particular sect of fandom to maximize his character's minimal self life. And it worked, for a little bit.

The show was not promoting him. He did a couple of interviews right after episode 4, but any actor playing that character would have been given those interviews. That had zero to do with Lou. And, unfortunately for him, and those of us who had to read them, the man's a terrible interview. He has no filter, no self editing capabilities, and zero PR training. It was a disaster. Even the people responsible for editing them into something resembling coherence struggled to make them work. They sent him on one joint interview with Oliver, an actual PR unicorn (he should teach a class), and the only thing Lou was allowed to say about the show was that Tommy and Buck were 'thriving' (interesting word choice given his one scene in the finale, btw). It also cannot be ignored that Oliver chose not to speak at all about the onscreen duo. The rest of Lou's time was spent talking about his dad, which is what the two people interviewing him clearly wanted to talk more about anyway. Oliver was who the show sent to talk about the show. They weren't promoting the ship. The interviewers would have been given very specific questions to ask if it had been about the duo. ABC didn't want Lou talking about the show. He had already proven he wasn't capable of doing so with any kind of tact. It also became apparent that he and Oliver are not comfortable with one another. Oliver tried very briefly to sell it a bit, but he didn't try very long or very hard. I know Lou's fandom thought it was perfect, but based on everything non Lou biased we saw, they were in the minority. And the show clearly didn't think it worked either because you never saw them again. The show has been doing PR since the finale. If they wanted to drum up Buck/Tommy they would have been using at least part of this time to do so, and they haven't. The release of the deleted clip was the opposite of bigging him up and the reaction from the general audience as well as his own fans proves that. The off-season PR has been entirely Ryan/Eddie centered. Which also was when Ryan's gender neutral musings also began, but I digress. The show had never encountered the game Lou played before and as a result they had no rules and regulations in place regarding guest star behavior. They have clearly established some rules now and Lou has been instructed to follow them. I'm also certain somewhere in there he was informed of his final episode count so he knows exactly when he's leaving. And while the cameo videos were great for him personally, in the short term, that rabid devotion was going to change quickly once it becomes apparent on screen that Tommy's arc is nearing its end. And I don't think he will be around longer than 3 or 4 episodes. I think his arc will conclude around the same time Gerard's arc concludes. I do not think the two will necessarily be connected but I do think they will come to a conclusion around the same time.

I'm so sorry anon but he drives my professional brain insane. And now as a result of his own hubris the show is now trying to clean up a mess he had no right to ever start.

I don't know what to write underneath these glorious posts anymore. Each and every single OP post just slay. This one isn't the exception.

Thank you OP for so eloquently putting into words what all of us have been trying to explain for weeks now.

Remember, no hate in comments or reblogs. Let's keep it civil and respectful. Thank you.

If you are interested in more of the anonymous OP’s posts, you can find all of their posts so far under the tag: anonymous blog I love.

[sixdegreesofbali]

Waking up this morning to see the hate train still going strong. I'm still absolutely baffled how that post generated such strong hate.

I'm genuinely embarassed to be associated with these Max fangirls and hesitant to interact with any Max fan accounts on twitter. I feel like I'm living in some weird Kpop world or something filled with rabid fangirls.

Let's get one thing straight: you hating on Max's gf isn't gonna make him 'see the light' and dump her. He isn't gonna pick you instead.

The only thing you're doing is making his loved ones unhappy and causing unnecesary stress in his life.

[mothric]

(fair warning, re: ATLA—if you like Katara/Aang as a ship or just don’t wanna see anything anti them as a romance ship, def blacklist anti-Kataang and anti Kataang bc I…………………..reblog & post stuff with those tags, so I don’t wanna accidentally slam your feed with that content if it’ll bum you out ^^;)

thoughts under the cut - tl;dr i am not a huge fan either

no dude i'm... frustrated with kataang. it felt weirdly compulsory to have them kiss at the end when they never had a real conversation about their feelings other than katara saying she was unsure?? plus the kid is twelve, he hasn't even hit puberty yet... idk how you feel about other pairings, but i genuinely thought katara/zuko was endgame for most of the show, or at least leaving it open for them to get together when they're older. i really thought i was picking up on chemistry between them early on and thought that was intentional, that katara/aang was a red herring and that aang would have to learn to let her go as part of his hero's journey, while katara and zuko would have a whole thing about learning to see each other as three dimensional humans with common ground, not just enemies on the opposite sides of a war. (which, to be fair, they did have that growth - but he also let her touch his scar, for pete's sake! the least vulnerable kid in the world who wouldn't let anyone get near it! come on.) with all of the interesting, compelling, and clever writing this show achieved, it was really puzzling to watch them double back on what seemed like a clear setup for these very interesting arcs and go 'actually no, the hero does win the girl at the end because he's the protag and that's how it goes.' like? huh??? my brother in christ then why did you write zuko and katara the way you did and have aang go through all the turmoil he did about having to let go of things.... what

anyway before anybody burns me at the stake (i am quickly learning this is a many-years-long debate with many rabid defenders on either side) keep in mind these are just my impressions as a first-time viewer fresh off finishing this show. i haven't sought out any supplementary content, haven't seen LOK, i know nothing beyond what i have just seen. i don't hate the idea of katara and aang being together period, but for me to feel like it had wings, i'd need to see more natural growth/development of those feelings over time - lots of time, along with literal body-brain development. (again, one of these kids has started puberty and the other has not. when i was fourteen you could not have convinced me to smooch a twelve year old if you paid me. brother eugh)