#hello ??? what is this racist mess?

[ellecdc]

HIII, I wanted to know if I could request a poly marauders x festy slytherin reader.Something of how they started or whatever you have inspiration for.I would love another part of that, if you feel up to it. Hope you are taking care of yourself <3

feisty/slytherin reader x poly!marauders is actually my favourite thing to write (followed closely by any ship with whimsical reader) so I was more than happy to whip this up for you! Thanks for requesting! 🫶

poly!marauders x feisty, fem, Slytherin!reader

p1 // p2 // p3

CW: werewolf prejudice, making fun of possible birth defects due to Pureblood's being terribly inbred, swearing

Remus felt that generally, he was a very understanding person. And not just in a compassionate way, but also in a sense that he just understands a lot of things.

He understands Sirius’ need to defy his family whilst simultaneously looking after his brother as if his life depended on it.

He understands James’ need to make sure everyone around him feels as loved as humanly possible, even if it’s at his own expense. 

He understands that Gryffindor’s hate Slytherin’s, but he also understands that not all Slytherin’s are horrible, prejudiced racists.

He understands everyone makes fun of Hufflepuffs for being soft and emotional, but he also understands that Hufflepuffs can be some of the most heartless, ruthless friends you can have.

What Remus has had a hard time understanding, however, was his boyfriends’ sudden interest in you.

Remus could admit that you were quite attractive, but you were also sort of…terrifying?

“What have you boys done?” Lily murmured in quiet horror (quiet awe if you asked James).

“We pranked Slytherin!” Sirius said jovially, as if Lily had somehow missed that key piece of information. 

“I can see that, Sirius.” She said like one might speak to a small child who was quite dumb. “But on portrait day?”

Sirius smiled smugly as he watched Slytherin’s enter the Great Hall for their school portraits. As they passed through the door, they were unknowingly walking under a charmed mistletoe (which was very difficult to find this time of year, thanks James very much) which turned their green and silver robes and ties to a beautiful red and gold. 

The best part is some students still hadn’t noticed yet, and another amazing part was that those who had noticed couldn’t figure out how to turn it back.

“Mr. Black, Mr. Potter, Mr. Pettigrew, and Mr. Lupin. I suppose the four of you have no idea who may be behind this prank?” Professor McGonagall challenged as she looked down her nose at them sitting at the Gryffindor table.

Sirius smirked as he responded “Why, not a clue Minnie. But I’ll keep my eye out and let you know if I see any mischief makers.”

McGonagall let out a long suffering sigh as she took five points from Gryffindor for improper address of a professor. 

“You rotten dugbogs.” Remus heard you screech before he saw you. He had the good sense to cringe as you stormed up to their table whilst Sirius and James grinned enthusiastically. 

“Why hello Y/N, my beautiful angel.” James greeted as Sirius let out a sultry “Don’t you just look smashing in red.” Accompanied by a wink.

“I don’t know what you sods have done, and quite frankly, I don’t care about the rest of them; but you will fix this.” You spat angrily gesturing to your faux Gryffindor uniform.

“But that would be such a crime, dollface.” Sirius lamented.

“You can’t expect us to mess with perfection.” James added.

You shot your hand out and grabbed James’ collar, pulling his face to yours until your noses were nearly touching. 

“I swear to Salazar himself, Potter, if you do not change my robes back, I will cut your dick off and charm it to your forehead so you walk around looking like a limp-dick unicorn. Change. It. Back.”

Your voice was low and threatening, and Peter actually gulped as he hid behind Remus. But looking at James’ face pressed up to yours, you would have thought you had just serenaded him with the greatest love song known to man.

“You have such beautiful eyes.” He murmured in awe. Remus was certain he could see steam forming behind said beautiful eyes, but before it could shoot out of your ears, Sirius came to your rescue.

“Very right, Prongs. She does have beautiful eyes. Unfortunately, I believe her usual green does compliment them better than the red.” Sirius said lasciviously as he cast the counter charm to return your robes to their rightful colour.

You looked down at your form before looking back at the boys skeptically. You seemed only then to realize you were still holding onto James’ collar like a vice and dropped it. Remus almost chuckled at the look of loss that crossed James’ face.

“Right.” You said and cleared your throat, backing away from them as if you weren't fully trusting what just happened. “Thank you.”

Sirius’ head actually reared back in surprise at your thanks and James beamed.

“Anytime angel, truly.” 

James’ pet name seemed to snap you out of whatever trance you’d been in as you narrowed your eyes at him. “Don’t call me that.”

“Terribly sorry, my love.” He relented.

You groaned in exasperation and carried on towards the Slytherin table.

“Isn’t she lovely?” James whispered in awe, eyes still glued to your form as you bodily shoved Evan Rosier out of what Remus could only assume you had dubbed as your seat at the Slytherin table and sat down. 

“Try bloody terrifying.” Peter shivered in horror as he finally extricated himself from behind Remus. 

“Oi! Don’t talk about our future missus that way, Wormy.” Sirius squawked and swatted at the poor sod with his copy of the Daily Prophet.

“Is he wrong, though?” Remus asked as he let out his own breath of relief.

“Don ‘t worry moons,” James murmured into Remus’ cheek as he pressed his nose into the werewolf’s hair line. “She’ll win you over soon.”

Remus wasn’t so sure.

You were the only Slytherin photographed in proper uniform that day. 

A few weeks later found Remus sitting horrifyingly uncomfortable in Defense Against the Dark Arts as they moved on to the unit featuring Werewolves.

James sat on his right, and though the shaking of his knee under the table gave away his nerves, he spent the entire class rubbing soothing circles along the back of Remus’ hand with his thumb.

Sirius, sitting on Remus’ left, was incredibly stiff and clearly poised to fight if given the chance which did nothing to ease Remus’ discomfort. It also didn’t help that they shared this period with the 6th and 7th year Slytherin’s.

He just wanted this day to be over.

“Why are we even talking about this?” Mulciber sneered, interrupting the professor as they discussed elements of the Wolfsbane potion. 

“What is your question, Mr. Mulciber?” The professor drawled out in a bored tone.

“Why bother discussing werewolves? The lot of them should be culled anyway; euthanize them on site for all I care.” He spat, earning snickers from Avery, Goyle, and Snape. 

Sirius sucked in a breath in preparation of a verbal (and possibly physical, should he be so lucky) spar when Remus dug his nails into Sirius’ thigh. “Please, Pads.” He begged quietly; voice taught with emotions.

Sirius let out a pained sigh and leaned back further into his chair.

“Funny, Mulciber.” A bored tone commented, “I was just thinking the same about you and your lot.”

Remus, James, and Sirius all turned to see the majority of the eyes in the room already on you, though you never bothered lifting your head from your textbook.

“Care to repeat that, L/N?” Mulciber sneered, sitting up in his chair as if ready to lunge at you if necessary.

You lifted your bored gaze from your book and stared at him head on. “Do I need to repeat myself, Mulciber? Mummy and daddy kept it too close in the family tree, huh?” You murmured in faux sympathy. “I was just thinking, most of the Sacred Twenty-Eight ought to be culled. That would save the wizarding world a whole lot of trouble.”

“How dare you compare me to some filthy half-breed. My family is royalty compared to those disgusting creatures.” Avery shouted.

“The only one acting like a disgusting creature here is the likes of you tossers.” You shouted back.

“Alright.” The professor tried (not very hard, albeit) to quell the quickly spiralling discussion.

“I could hardly look at myself in a mirror if I’d been tainted with a curse like lycanthropy.” Snape sneered, pointedly facing the Marauders across the room. Sirius burned with shame and protectiveness, being the reason Snape knew Remus’ secret and the overwhelming need to defend his lover. Remus took that moment to dig his nails into Sirius' thigh again, pinning him to his seat.

“Are you sure, Snape? Are you sure you wouldn’t rather live a life with lycanthropy than have to look at that mug of yours in the mirror every day.” You drawled.

“You insolent little bitch.”

“Hey!” James finally shouted from across the room, far more stern than Remus can ever remember seeing the boy. But you carried on, completely undeterred. 

“I’d bet ten thousand galleons that not one werewolf ever asked to be a werewolf, yet you wake up each and every morning actively choosing to be the ugliest, most hateful, vile, disgusting beasts known to mankind. That is what is despicable. That is what should be euthanized on site.” Your voice grew louder and louder with each word until you were standing behind your desk and punctuating each word with a slam of your fist against the table in front of you. 

“Alright, that’s enough.” The professor finally called; tone booming across the lecture hall intoning no nonsense. 

“Mr. Mulciber, Mr. Snape, and Miss. L/N. Detention with me this evening.”

The Slytherin boys all scoffed and cursed under their breath whilst you offered a bored shrug of your shoulders, returning to your textbook as though this was just a run of the mill day for you.

The boys had been absolutely right; you just won over the affections of one Remus John Lupin.  

[felassan]

As I understand it you’re probs going with Lucanis for a romance on your first run!! What in particular drew you to him as your first romance? (This is also free permission to gush about him from what little we know!)

hello! ◕‿◕ ooh hhh this is such a fun question, thanku (⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)

soo for this I'm stuck between Lucanis, Taash, Davrin, Bellara and Neve HHH. (which is a fantastic problem to have tbc /pos). aa they are all so 😳😳..

for Lucanis, what I like about him is the character he displayed in TN. in his short story he was really cool and interesting. he's badass - who can't love a dude who makes evil magisters shit themselves in fear just by the mention of his name - but he also has a soft heart.

Lucanis stared ahead, focused and intense. He was the kind of man you couldn’t look away from—until he looked at you. --- Lucanis exhaled through his nose. “If someone wants to pay me top coin to kill a bunch of racist blood mages—who have it coming—I’m not going to complain.” --- The word quit sparked some life in the Wigmaker’s blank expression. “So, the crow thinks he can best the dragon?” “The crow,” Lucanis mocked, “knows it.” --- “Death is my calling”

like... ok sir 😳

but he's also really funny, in that dry or wry blunt sort of way.

The mage was coming to. His unfocused eyes took stock of his situation. “I won’t talk,” he spat. “Even if you torture me.” “I’m too busy to torture you,” Lucanis said, and ran him through with his sword. --- “So, the Wigmaker.” Illario wiggled his fingers ominously. “Tell me about him.” “He’s weird,” Lucanis replied bluntly.  --- Don’t think about it. Lucanis took a deep breath and flung himself off the roof. --- Lucanis thought about securing the entrance—leaving it unlocked could raise suspicion—but chose not to in case Illario decided to work tonight.  --- “Eight marks the final kill,” Illario said, coming to stand next to him. He dusted off his palms. “Do you still recite that old nursery rhyme? The one Caterina made us memorize during training?” Lucanis moved to retrieve his throwing knives. “What can I say? It’s catchy.” --- Illario rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean. The Venatori already have your name. If they learn your face—” “I’ll grow a beard.” --- Ambrose threw down the matted mess. “Lucanis Dellamorte, I presume?” “Sì,” Lucanis answered, knowing even a single syllable of a foreign language would disgust the Wigmaker. It had the desired effect—Ambrose recoiled as if he’d stepped in urine. “Is this your handiwork?” “Sì.” The mage’s jaw pulsed. “You think you can come into my Imperium and act as judge and executioner?” Lucanis opened his mouth to respond, but Ambrose anticipated his answer. “Don’t say, ‘Sì!’” That earned a genuine smile from Lucanis. “Normally, there’s no judgment—only a contract. But for you, Ambrose, I made an exception.” --- While hunting his mark, Lucanis had opened the wrong door and walked into an orgy. Getting out of that had been interesting. --- That’s it. Lucanis smiled encouragingly. Good little demons. 

😭😭 lmao pls

what sent me over the edge into wanting to romance territory though is some of the things we learned about him, or the way he was described ig, during the DA:TV marketing era: "lacks social skills", loves coffee, "the sole dumpster fire of the crew" written specifically by Mary Kirby to be a "bisexual disaster of a human", that he's short and has a mullet. what can i say ʅ（◞‿◟）ʃ

how about you? :D is there a character in particular that you plan to romance during your first playthrough? ^^

[gd-dollopole]

Hello, and welcome to my blog (the Lazy Daisy)!

You can call me GD, or 'that guy who will literally talk your ear off about BBC Merlin'.

My pronouns are he/him, they/them, and if you don't support queer spaces, or if you're transphobic, homophobic, anti-semitic, a zionist, racist or sexist, you can not so kindly fuck off, scroll away.

I make crack posts, analysis, theories, GIFs and prompts. I'm a fanfic writer, who works on BBC Merlin (Merthur centred) and you can find me on Ao3, GDN7!

My top work is done and revised and you could take a look at it by clicking here:

"The Once and Future King has made his return (and it was about time)".

Summary:

When unexpectedly, Camelot returned to the present world, Merlin is left with the responsibilities of the Old Kingdom all over again, without any clue on how to begin the search to untangle the entire mess that has been happening. "Arthur Pendragon was beautiful. It was a fact, rather than an opinion. Many people in his life had shown him, told him, that he was superbly elegant, a prince. A regent, a king. He had the respect, the intelligence to rule a kingdom, the patience to listen to his counsellors, the trust of his people. Camelot would have been nothing without him and the moment she had lost her king, she fell at her feet, as everyone else who had ever served her, served him, worked and fought for him. He had the quality of a true and just man, and for that, his beauty was to be excepted. Yet, Merlin saw more than that, while he watched his king sleep."

If you'd like to give a feedback, either here on Ao3, or to ask me questions of any kind, you'd make my day.

I'm currently working on my other WIP, and you can find it here:

"What he never had, he finally found."

Summary:

When two idiots, who work in the same unfortunate university, happen to be in the same place, at the same time, but for different reasons, both their lives change for the worse (or the better).

Give it some love :D!

But if you'd like something lighter, I also wrote a one-shot fic related to my post here!

"Arthur's rules on hairstyle (and how Merlin couldn't care less about them)"

Summary:

One of Merlin’s main duties is to brush Arthur’s hair in the morning. They both pretend it’s not something they enjoy.

And another one related to the scene in season five, episode one, where Arthur and Merlin get caught in the trap:

"I'm so glad we got stuck"

Summary:

When Arthur and Merlin get caught in the trap in the first episode of season five, how do they spend the cold night, knowing that Arthur had actually seen Merlin doing magic to defeat the Saxons, who had followed them during Morgana’s attack?

Enjoy, and have a great day!

[lover-of-mine]

This is gonna be a little long but here we go.

Not one of the regular spies but I’ve been keeping my eyes on things the last few days and I can tell you in the discord group I’m in, it’s mixed between buddie fans and BT fans. There are a couple…loud (nice word for it) ones especially who are very much trying to push hard core right now that between the messed up fics and that tumblr account the other day, Buddie fans are “out right declaring war” against gay men specifically due to their “homophobic attitude” toward Tommy. Like the amount of times in of them said “against gay men” in their latest rant in discord, if it was a drinking game we’d all be hammered.

If someone asks questions because they aren’t familiar with what’s going on because they have things blocked or filtered then it’s immediately on the defense of “you need to clam down” and “maybe if you didn’t burry your head in the sand over buddie you’d see how this is affecting real life gay men” or the fan favorite rhetoric of “if your a woman then you don’t need to speak on the matters and you should be supportive of Tommy right now”

It’s honestly getting really wild how much they are losing it. And even when myself and other queer have said something we just get ignored and accused of being “self hating homophobic”

Then on the TikTok and Twitter side, they seem to have launched this rhetoric that kinda goes along with what LW was saying about changing the narrative about Lou/Tommy and mental health. One of the louder BT fan TikTokers even made this wild video today about how people need to really try and step back from their hate and understand that when we saw Tommy in the begins episodes

“it was 2005 and that kind of stuff was just the normal hazing and stop reading into it.”

So pushing the racism/misogyny as just normal hazing now instead of what it is.

There has been some push back against that video by both POC creators and white creators being like uh no that’s definitely not hazing and it’s definitely not your place to dismiss it as such etc. but the comment section is unfortunately mostly with people agreeing with the BT creator and that people need to “let it go and try and understand Tommy better”

Twitter they are trying to push hard on the narrative that they know they aren’t going to see Lou until either 8.01 or after 8.01 “but it’s for his mental health to not be seen so it’s for the best”. And it’s of course the buddie fandoms fault he needs to take such actions and can’t be seen until then. But very big push right now on trying to get them all on board with the “it’s for his own good and we should be proud of him for standing up for himself and staying where he needs to be so he can be safe and happy”

That’s all I got for now

🅰️

Hello darling ❤️

This was a lot. Be supportive of Tommy? When he's a canonically bigoted character and people keep saying gay excuses racist while attacking real life queer women and poc people for having opinions on a fictional character? I'll pass. When the show gives me real proof he evolved as a human, maybe, until then ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

I did see the calling the comments he makes "normal hazing" which is out of touch to say the least and considering tiktoks algorithm, unfortunately, that only gonna show up for people who agree.

And, look, I think he's gonna be in the season too, but this narrative that we are so bad for Lou's mental health is... Tommy and Lou are not the same, so like, opinions on Tommy are not attacks on Lou as a person and I'm still waiting to see proof of this awful bullying we are doing to Lou that leads to this. Even more when we've seen multiple of them attack Ryan very explicitly.

[comikadraws]

Hello. I really like your analysis of the political stuff in naruto, and I just read your latest one in regard to Hashirama's odd neutrality towards 'the curse of hatred™'. But I kind of want to know now: could you say the same about Kishimoto himself? Does he agree with the 'curse' in a simular vein as H.? Or is H. a deliberately flawed character rather than something that the narrative primarily sides with? (because that's the impression I've got but it's been a while, so idk, I didn't really get the nuance of the plot in the way that you explore when I first watched it)

Authorial Intent and the Curse of Hatred

Okay, so I've got like ten other Naruto asks in my inbox but I will prioritize this one real quick because it is actually very central to a lot of my posts. I already went a little bit into this mess when I analyzed the "Curse of Hatred", but I feel like this topic deserves a post of its own.

This particular part of the discussion leaves the confines of Naruto as a fictional universe entirely and instead delves into the realms of authorial intent analysis and criticism.

My TL;DR is Kishimoto very much intended for the "Curse of Hatred" to be real and the narrative sides with Hashirama and Tobirama (and that is problematic). In the longer version, I am particularly focusing on Tobirama as he is the founder of the Uchiha Clan Genetic Theories™.

I also apologize in advance because pointing out Kishimoto's shortsighted writing is something I have gotten harassed over in the past. Hence I believe some theoretic knowledge is needed.

<Analysis under the cut>

Note: As always, blue links are external links or other people's posts. Red links are my own posts that add context to my thought process.

The problem with Kishimoto's intent is that the guy almost never explains the intention of his writing. This is why discussions like "Was Itachi retconned" or "Does Kishimoto hate Sakura" persist to this day. The only thing we are left with is to instead infer the meaning from other sources (such as the manga itself or minor remarks from interviews).

My conclusion is influenced mainly by four things: The social and political context behind Naruto, Kishimoto's usual treatment of sensitive topics, the narrative of the manga itself, and fantasy genre conventions.

But before all that, here's a little info dump.

Death of the Author

In opposition to the idea that the "Curse of Hatred" is real in canon stands the idea that it was just Tobirama's racist propaganda piece - and this is actually a fairly widespread thought. Not necessarily a misconception, however, as it depends on your school of thought when it comes to engaging with fictional text - Extreme intentionalism (full submission to the author's intent), Anti-intentionalism (complete disregard of the author's intent), or anything in between. While extreme intentionalism can probably be considered the "truest to canon" (as opposed to anti-intentionalism, which is more like a subjective interpretation or "headcanon") it is also incredibly limiting to our fandom experience.

Before I continue this, I need people to understand that both approaches are valid. Especially in instances in which the author's intent translates very poorly into our contemporary understanding of the world, as is the case with the "Curse of Hatred". Both authorial intent and the audience's interpretation are vital puzzle pieces when engaging with a piece of media critically.

To clarify, I do not support Kishimoto's writing decisions in this. I am not pushing an anti-Uchiha clan agenda. What I am going for is analyzing Kishimoto's intended canon. As I have already pointed out, it is a canon that is problematic and nobody should be forced to submit to.

With that out of the way, back to the main topic.

Social and Political Context of Naruto

Personally, I believe it is possible that Kishimoto intended to portray themes of prejudice in his story. Mostly in the sense in which people get defined for their worst character traits (as we can see when comparing Tobirama's and Hashirama's characterization of the Uchiha Clan) or for their affiliations (as is also the case with Jinchuriki). I do not believe, however, that he was aiming for racism specifically - and definitely not for scientific racism, let alone eugenic ideologies. And this has a lot to do with Japan's lack of sensitivity when it comes to racism.

For starters, Japan has a very ethnically homogenous society with about 98% of its population being ethnically Japanese and therefore having one of the lowest diversity scores in the world. On top of that, Japan has no national human rights institutions or laws against racial discrimination. The Japanese population is rather unsensitized to themes of racism.

To not turn this into a fallacy of composition, a different user pointed out that Naruto (as a story) was possibly influenced by Japan's reactionary right-wing movement (possibly revealing Kishimoto's own political standing). The movement responded to an increase in anti-Japanese sentiment across Asia. Said sentiment was sparked by a controversy in which Japan omitted its war crimes (which is a well-known pattern in Japanese politics).

At the very least, it is correct that Naruto is very pro-state in its way of protecting the state's reputation by hiding its crimes from the public consciousness. Kishimoto himself demonstrates an incomplete understanding of Japan's war history by unintentionally paralleling WW2 crimes in his story or claiming that the war was the result of mere grudges when, in reality, it was racism and imperialist ideologies.

While this is just my hypothesis, Kishimoto's lack of political and social awareness could easily influence his perception of social injustices, such as racism. Insensitivity, meanwhile, might reduce any motivation to engage with such themes.

Inadequate Realization of Sensitive Storylines

So about insensitivity... This might actually be less of a hypothesis when we look at Kishimoto's repeated failure to address sensitive topics in his writing with dignity and/or a critical lens. I've also ranted about this in an older post.

We are talking about child soldiers and death matches between children (Chunin Exams), slavery (Hyuga Clan), human experimentation (Orochimaru), human trafficking (Kushina and maybe Mito) genocide (Uchiha Massacre), and the invasion of neutral territory (Amegakure). In all of these cases, crimes are not further acknowledged than a brief admittance of "damage was done" before the plot forgets about them entirely.

Chunin exams? Never talked about again.

Slavery? Naruto promised to change the Hyuga clan but never mentions it again.

Human experimentation? Orochimaru is welcomed back after his exile.

Human trafficking? The Jinchurikis got stockholmed, so everything's good!

Genocide? Addressing that might tarnish the Uchiha Clan's reputation. So we don't.

Invasion of neutral territory? We never see Amegakure again after Konan's passing.

It is a larger pattern in which social injustice is primarily introduced to add flavor in the form of "tragic backstories" but not actually to resolve it. We are supposed to condemn those tragedies, to feel sympathetic - but we are not supposed to criticize Konoha as a main perpetrator, enabler, or apologist.

To me, it doesn't seem like Kishimoto ever truly cared about those social issues. He knows they are bad, yes, but they were never the focus of the story and Kishimoto barely even stops to consider the implications.

The Manga's Narrative

The story does not engage critically with itself. And frankly, it also does not demand such critical thinking from its readers either.

In the manga, we are often presented with incorrect or incomplete exposition from unreliable narrators. Obito lies all the time, Madara gets the wrong story from Zetsu, Itachi gets the wrong story from who-knows-where, and Sasuke doesn't know what's going on half the time. The interesting part is how the truth behind those lies is usually uncovered.

Usually, we do not know that any of them are perpetuating a lie until said lie gets corrected by another character. Said character is usually a "source" in the sense that they have personally experienced the (until then) falsified events.

It is very rare that the audience gets to pick up on little clues to realize that a character is lying. One such instance is when Obito directly contradicts Itachi in his rendition of the story. But even then, the conflict between their two renditions gets resolved by a "source" character in the form of Kushina retelling the events from sixteen years ago.

Now, let's compare this to the "Curse of Hatred".

I have already mentioned this in another post (where I analyzed the curse and its contents), but the "Curse of Hatred" is first officially introduced by Obito. He focuses on the Uchiha's war-torn history and how that influenced its members. Tobirama more or less builds on that, adding his hypothesis about the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan and its effect on the user. Then Hagoromo adds some things about the reincarnation cycle that might play into this. In the end, Zetsu wraps it all up by revealing that he manipulated the Uchiha Clan for centuries.

The problem is that not one of these puzzle pieces directly contradicts the other and instead, they appear to complement each other. Therefore, no lie gets officially "disproven" in the story itself. Tobirama's Theories are treated as though they were perfectly fine fact that does not require revision.

We can further infer Tobirama's credibility on the matter by judging the present characters' reactions.

Hashirama, as explained in my previous post, tolerates if not accepts Tobirama's ideas. Orochimaru shows himself hostile toward Tobirama but does not take the chance to contradict him. Sasuke, who is an Uchiha and has personal experience with the Sharingan, shows no signs of protest. Skepticism, yes, but it slowly fades away until he seemingly accepts Tobirama's words as truth. He does not even attempt to argue against it.

Add to that that Tobirama is generally presented as a truthful character, described as "rational" and "principled" in the databook. He regularly criticizes or insults other characters without the bat of an eye, seemingly having no problem with tarnishing his own reputation, unconcerned with keeping up false appearances. He is not the type of character to lie.

Yes, Tobirama comes off as a bigot regardless, but that's because he's essentially an asshole and not because he is actually intended to be racist. Even in the event that what he says is non-factual, he fully believes it is. But also, the possibility that Tobirama is talking nonsense is not even hinted at (again, he is described as "rational" and no character seems to disapprove of the Uchiha Clan Genetic Theory TM).

Fantasy Fiction Conventions

In fantasy writing, none of what Tobirama says is actually uncommon. In fact, if anything, his theories concerning the Sharingan resemble popular fantasy tropes.

In Anime, many powers are awakened through trauma. This is called "Traumatic Superpower Awakening". The Sharingan is just one of many offenders, even in the story of Naruto. This reflects Tobirama's idea that the Sharingan is triggered through great emotional pain.

It is also a common trope that characters who gain too much power eventually go insane. This is called the "With Great Power Comes Great Insanity" trope and reflects the Uchihas' to essentially take away psychic damage alongside each newly awakened Sharingan power. Kishimoto just specifically linked that insanity or pain to the Sharingan (which represents the power of the Uchiha).

Yet another trope is the "Personality Powers" trope. This one can be seen in the Uchiha Clan's tendency to feel deep love and hate - at least one of which is essential for the awakening of a Mangekyo Sharingan (and, depending on the circumstances, a regular Sharingan). Hence Tobirama calls it "the eyes that reflect the heart". In other words, the personality facilitates the power.

Last but not least, we've got the fantasy races trope. The author invents a race and then assigns it distinct characteristics (both physiology and behavior-wise).

In its most extreme cases, this can be used to create an "enemy race" (such as orcs, vampires, demons, etc.) for the good guys to fight. It usually removes complexity from the story by dumbing down the enemy to simply just being "born evil".

Now, notice how the Uchiha Clan's Hatred could be considered a personification of Kishimoto's idea that wars are caused by grudges? Furthermore, Kishimoto makes that comment at a point in time (February 2012) when all three main antagonists of the story are Uchihas (Madara is revived in chapter 559, which was released October 2011), and then releases Tobirama's theory a year later (February 2013).

This one, unlike the other three, is particularly controversial as fantasy races often get conflated with real-life ethnicities. This is not always the intention of the author, however, as they often never intended to portray racial stereotypes. For two particularly popular examples, take a look at Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" or Itagaki's "Beastars".

On one hand of this debate, you have that fantasy races are unlike human ethnicities and do not necessarily reflect reality, simply because the author decides what is real in canon or not and because fantasy is always a lie from a real-world perspective. Hence the Curse of Hatred, or rather, Tobirama's Theory is canon.

On the other, fiction does not exist in a vacuum and it is impossible not to apply our contemporary understanding of racism and ignore what are otherwise screaming red flags of racist ideology. Hence we recognize Tobirama's explanation as racism and wish to reject the Curse of Hatred as a concept.

But these two ideas can coexist.

The problem is just that Kishimoto likely only accounted for one thing and not the other. His intention translated very poorly into our contemporary understanding of the world, making Tobirama (and therefore, Hashirama as well) the victims of short-sighted writing.

Who cares anyway?

In the beginning, I explained that regardless of what Kishimoto intended for his story, any interpretation is valid. So why should we care about what the author thinks?

In my analyses (which are separate from my headcanons), I will usually take an "Extreme Intentionalism" approach in which I prioritize the author's intent over the reader's interpretation. Not because I am opposed to the idea that the reader's interpretation is relevant to the meaning of a text but because readers' interpretations are unique to the individual. Focusing on such an individual interpretation can easily alienate those who don't share it. Hence I like to focus on something that is more informative, almost objective in nature, such as the author's likely intended canon - which people can then mould into whatever suits their headcanon best.

I have also noticed that, sometimes, anti-intentionalist takes will devolve into full-blown lies (sometimes with the purposeful intention of omitting canon). This lie can then be upheld in an attempt to condemn or rather bully those with intentionalist interpretations. This unwittingly protects the writer (as well as problematic writing conventions) from criticism.

This is why I think even Anti-Intentionalists should inform themselves of an author's intention. This is, more or less, an aspect of media literacy as it allows us to identify biased or manipulative narratives and take purposeful action. In our case, this involves questioning and criticizing Kishimoto as an individual, raising awareness about his writing's shortcomings, and learning from his mistakes.

[forget-me-maybe]

*taps mic* UM HELLO I AM SEARCHING FOR ARADIN FIC IDEA ANON

i got even more carried away and re-wrote and wrote the whole shebang, hope that's okay.

this is also the first time i tried writing kinda rough top tav since i'm such a fucking bottom so it might've trailed off into fluff territory at some point 🤷‍♀️

anyway! here goes 2k words aradin smut:

They haven’t been at the grove for more than an hour and Tav is already fuming. The way the druids treat the refugees, her kin, sending them off to their inevitable deaths for no reason other than greed. She’ll have to deal with them soon, but first she’s going to deal with the merc that called the leader of the refugees a foulblood. 

Racist little prick. 

She wishes she was the one to throw the punch at him, instead Zevlor had been quicker and downed the man before she got the chance. Now he’s scurried off to lick his wounds in a secluded part of the Hollow and Tav is going to make sure he’s learnt his lesson. 

“Leave it be,” Shadowheart said. 

“He’s not worthy of your time,” Gale agreed. 

But this is on principle, if no one stands up for her people, who knows when the next Elturel will happen. It’s just typical she’s going to have to do it on her own. 

Tav can’t say she isn’t a bit nervous, from what she knows about the bastard his temper could blow any time. At least she’s lucky enough to find him alone, sitting on a crate by a makeshift table, shirtless and tending to his bruised jaw. She’s not blind, damn, she’s only a tiefling for goodness sake, and the strong muscles of his torso almost distract her from the purpose of her visit. 

“What d’ya want?” he snarls at her. 

Almost.

“You,” she hisses. “You fucking bastard. You owe Zevlor an apology. Hells, you owe all of the refugees an apology.” 

“Fuck off.” He stands up, approaching her in an attempt to look intimidating. Sure, he’s half a head taller than Tav but she knows her strength and she’s not going to be scared off by some basic, bastardly behaviour. “You brighteyed bitch.” 

There it goes, every single gram of decorum vanishes from Tav’s body and her fist hits the merc on his already beaten face with a force that leaves the man wide eyed with surprise. The shock lasts no longer than a moment before amber eyes turn dark. 

Tav is tackled to the ground hard enough that sends a sharp pain shooting from her tail and up her spine. The merc lands on top of her, pinning her to the ground. 

“I’ll fuckin’ kill ya.” 

“Fuck you.” Tav aims a gob of spit right in the merc’s face. It’s fighting dirty, she knows as much, but it also catches him off guard and he’s distracted enough for her to aim an elbow to his cheek. She takes the opening, and with a push of her hips she’s turned them around with the man under her, her hands holding his arms to the ground. 

There’s a moment of silence, only their panting breaths are heard in the cave. Something changes in his demeanour anger is replaced with something much more dangerous in his eyes. Tav lets go of one of his arms to deal a finishing blow but he’s quicker, grabbing the back of her head and pulling her lips to his with a force that has their teeth clink together. 

Tav wants to yank herself away from his grip, punch him again for his fucking audacity, but that is before she tastes him. The saltiness of sweat lingering on his lips and the bitterness of the ale he must’ve had before she barged in on his brooding. 

It’s intoxicating. She wants to devour him, reduce him to nothing more than a whimpering, wet mess. And he seems happy enough to be devoured as she explores his mouth with her tongue. Sharp teeth take hold of his lower lip as she pulls back, just enough to sting a bit and leave him wanting for more before she releases him. 

His irises are almost completely black with desire as looks down on him, still his eyebrows are pinched together in a way that seems to be permanent. She doesn’t linger on that too long, instead she digs her claws into his curls to yank his head to the side, gaining access to the sensitive skin of his throat. 

Teeth, tongue and lips take turns in administering attention to his dark and salty skin, earning herself something that sounds very much like a whimper from the big, bad merc. Tav can’t help but smirk against his skin. Calloused fingers dig into Tav’s hips as he grinds himself up against her, the friction is enough to leave her core aching with desire. 

“Tav, I don’t doubt your ability to handle yourself I just wanted to check in – oh,” Gale cuts himself off, and Tav isn’t sure if she should thank him or punch him for the interruption. “My apologies, I see you have it all – ehm – under control.” 

While Tav’s reluctant to pull herself away, she knows there’s a time and a place for everything, and riding the bastard into oblivion will have to wait. She gives his cheek a quick pat and the frown on his face deepens before she gets up on her feet to follow Gale out of the cave. 

The merc is quick to follow, grabbing her by the upper arm to pull her close enough for his breath to tickle the tip of her ear. 

“We’re not done,” he growls. 

“No.” She smirks, dusting herself off. “We’re not.” 

– 

Days have passed since their last encounter with nothing more than stolen glances. Tav’s had enough, every day she wakes up and hopes to come closer to a cure and finding that godsdamned goblin camp, every day they end up with some detour and fights they only survive within a hair's width. 

Today, she’s just had time to clean herself from the litres of gnoll blood she was covered in before she arrives at the grove. She’s given instructions to her companions to get some more supplies since it seems they’re never getting out of this godsforsaken wilderness. She’s got something else to retrieve, or rather someone. 

She finds Aradin in the cave where they had their last encounter. Unfortunately he’s fully dressed this time, but she’s quite sure that won’t last for long. He opens his mouth to say something when she takes a firm grip of his wrist to pull him with him. 

“What’re you doin’?” he hisses. 

“Finishing what you started,” Tav mutters as the merc stumbles along behind her. 

They get some questioning looks and raised eyebrows as she leads him out from the grove, there’s a nice, little clearing between her camp and the grove that will work wonders for what she has in mind. They reach it within a couple of minutes, hence the complaints flowing from Aradin’s mouth about Tav walking too fast. 

Only the gods know who initiates the kiss, and soon Tav’s back is pressed up against a tree with Aradin’s taste and scent overflowing all of her senses, his body pressed hard against hers. Tongues intertwine and hands grab onto whatever they can find, unbuttoning whatever clothing they stumble upon. 

When they come up for air again, Tav turns her attention to his neck, her marks from their last encounter are completely faded and that just won’t do. She works her way upward from the crook of his neck, sucking and biting as she earns soft moans from the merc. 

“Be a good boy and put that foul mouth to use,” Tav all but growls when she reaches his here, grabbing his earlobe between her teeth. 

“You minx,” he breathes out. 

Tav chuckles as he obliges, trailing kisses down the ridges of her torso as he kneels before her. His fingers hook into the edges of her trousers to pull them down, shooting her a baffled look as he meets resistance. 

“In the back,” Tav hisses. “I’m one of those foulbloods, remember?” 

A tinge of regret passes in amber eyes before he turns his attention to the lacing just above her tail. Soon, she’s free from her trousers and Aradin doesn’t hesitate to run his tongue along her slit, an appreciative murmur coming from deep in his throat as he notices how wet she already is. 

Tav grabs a handful of brown curls urging him to slide his tongue between her folds, she’s got no time for teasing licks right now. He moans against her wet centre as she grinds against his face and once his tongue hits that sensitive bundle of nerves a guttural moan escapes her. 

They work in tandem with greedy licks and rough grinds as that familiar pleasure builds up in the deepest parts of Tav’s body. 

“Fuck, yes, don’t stop,” she pants out. 

And he doesn’t stop, he picks up the pace of his tongue and with a couple of more licks the coils inside of Tav snaps with white-hot pleasure flowing through her. He continues through her orgasm and if Tav hadn’t yanked his head away he probably would continue to lap up her release until she’s an overstimulated mess.

But it’s her turn now, as Aradin tries to get back upon his feet she places her hands on his shoulders to push him back. He lands on his ass with an offended huff but doesn’t make an effort to get back up once Tav lowers herself to the ground and crawls her way on top of him, straddling his upper thighs. 

“Yer not gonna spit in my face again, are ya?” he asks, one eyebrow raised. 

“Only if you say please.” Tav smirks and Aradin seems to consider her proposition for a moment but settles on keeping his mouth shut for what Tav assumes is the first time in his life. She turns her attention to the laces of his trousers instead, working quickly to free his already erect cock from its confinement. 

She licks her lips involuntarily as she finds out where he gets his confidence from. 

“Like what you see, luv?” he asks cheekily. 

“Shut up,” Tav says, the words don’t fully hold the command she hoped for and the grin or Aradin’s lips widens. 

She goes in for the other way to shut him up, with her lips against his tasting him and her own pleasure on his tongue. She grinds against his length and Aradin moans against her mouth. Pleasure builds up inside of Tav again and she could probably come from this stimulation alone, but she wants more. 

She reaches down between them to position his cock against her entrance. She takes a deep breath and slides down, it’s almost too much but after a moment of letting her body adjust he fills her up perfectly. 

“Fuck, Tav,” he breathes out once she starts to roll her hips slowly. His fingers digging deep into the flesh of her ass as she savours every stroke of his length against her sensitive walls. 

Their moans can probably be heard all the way to the grove as Tav picks up the pace, Aradin’s hips meeting hers, thrusting him as far inside of her as possible. Whenever one of them has to pull away from the kiss for air, tongues wander down necks, tasting each others’ skin. 

Tav’s nearing her climax and, judging by Aradin’s picked breathing, so is he. He moves his hand down between them to rub gentle circles around her clit to urge on her orgasm. The pleasure is so intense now that all she can do is to focus on her movements to secure her release. 

Tav topples over the edge moments before Aradin, leaving her unable to do more than clench around him as he thrusts up into her, filling her to the brim with his seed. They pant into each others’ mouths, as if it’s the only way they can fill their lungs with oxygen. 

Tav buries her face in the crook of his neck and for a moment they stay like that, Aradin’s softening cock still inside of her. It’s not until the chill of the approaching night makes Tav shiver that she pulls away to be met by pinched together eyebrows. 

“I should get back to camp,” she murmurs, sitting up to look around the clearing for her discarded clothing. 

“Aye, I suspected as much,” he says, rising up slightly to support himself on his elbows. 

With that, they dress in silence and walk away in opposite directions.

[demonqueenart]

Hello, I been engaging with your posts/anons for about a week now and I just wanted to share my opinion/advice as a latam fan, I am so supportive of raising inclusivity in this space and the community education has already been so helpful, but in my opinion setting the precedent of guilty until proven innocent is not a healthy fandom environment. Their content is a form of escapism and entertainment for people and the community should be a source of joy and inclusion and in the face of racism we should speak out to support that inclusion but I do not want to be judge and executioner that’s not what I signed up for as a fan. If they mess up the healthy option should be for everyone to individually decide to disengage with their content or help them educate themselves/the fandom for the better. You seem to be conflicted between “they are malicious racists” “I don’t know who they are” and “this is a space not to cancel them but educate them” and I think it’s your pejorative to do what you want with your space but I am afraid I can’t in good faith engage or endorse where the conversation has been going. The recent anons seem to seek validation from you by thinking the worst possible scenario and the last discussions about Palestine made me feel very negative about this fandom, defending their every move blindly is wrong, but so is looking for mistakes in everything they do as potential proof they were evil all along. Thank you for your earlier discussions, I appreciated learning about so many fans in latam, Asia and Africa I can support.

I’m sorry. I guess I didn’t mean to paint them in bad light, but I guess that's what you do when you stop believing in them. When I realized that all these things are something that they’re aware of and could easily do, it broke something in me. I tried my hardest to educate them and every other out there so that some kind of action could be taken. But it’s very hard to believe that they weren’t maliciously doing this when I made it so safe for them to talk about it, yet they chose to ignore this. Of course, there is no confirmation whether or not they see it, and these things take time to come through anyway. But I keep asking myself, what if I do everything I can and yet they still ditch us like we’re nothing? What if this is just something they don’t stand for?

You are right, I should be more patient with this. It’s just so hard to believe that they couldn’t even get a single apology out for the 3rd world country comment when all they have to say is just, that it was taught in school. Or just show some kind of care for other parts of the world when they’re going on tour by keeping us updated or being more transparent about things. Why would they keep ignoring us when we’re hurt like this? All these things can be done with a single short apology, and yet..

So I don’t know what to believe anymore, is what I’m trying to say. Honestly, the only thing that still keeps me having faith in them is that Anon commented where they said it might take time for them to come through. I want to be proven wrong, I don’t want to see them in bad light. But right now, I can’t do it alone. So if any of you can help me still have faith in them, I would really appreciate it. Everything just hurts too much for me right now, I’m afraid to trust them again

[canonicallyobserving911]

I saw that nasty bt reblog and tags on your post before you blocked them 👏 It's funny to me that they repeatedly parrot this pathetic "bommy are having lots of nasty sex we win" as if a) it's true and b) it's some kind of devastating gotcha???

8x05 is the most bommy content they've gotten since last season, and the "loving couple" who are supposedly endgame soulmates and wildly attracted to each other barely even touched lol

No matter how much they say it, bommy's nasty sex only exists in their fanons and fics. Which, i can read E-rated buddie fics too! Even if they're not canon! Amazing! And the fact they keep falling back on it just shows they're aware that (presumed, offscreen) sex is all their ship has over buddie, it has an expiry date, and it's just another of buck's hamster wheel relationships.

The other thing i can remember about that bt bitching about how buddies just can't realise that "people grow and change" - yeah and bommies can't realise that a) temu is a fictional character. He doesn't "grow and change" he's a side character plot device and only does what the script tells him to. He has not been thus far portrayed as someone perfectly compatible with buck or buck's endgame, or even as a particularly nice empathetic virtuous good-hearted person, and b) 911 regularly makes bad and unsatisfying writing choices and gives characters offscreen redemptions or assumed redemption. Do bommies think that Gerrard has "grown and changed"?? It seems like he's not racist and sexist anymore, he's just a comedic old hardass. Do bommies defend Gerrard and say he's not so bad now??

Also it annoys me how nobody seems to remember how temu was still acting like a snide asshole to Hen in 7x03 and making her uncomfortable and pretending he was helping her to be a good guy, when really buddie and chim had already gotten him to agree to help. And if he's such good friends with hen and chim now, as bommies kept insisting, why hasn't he been shown to interact or connect with them in a friendly way?? Seems like he's not interested in reconnecting with them and vice versa. How interesting!

Hello @blutterlie and thank you for the ask.

I'll start by saying I didn't read all of that mess the BT Stan added to the reblog because all I had to see was the part about Buddie shippers needing to understand that people change 🙄 and I knew then to block them.

This is going to be lengthy because I wanted to address each of your points.

Buck

I'll start with Buck and Tinsel Town because it's always amazed me how the BT's only care that Buck and Temu are having sex (which if 8x5 is any indication, if they are then that’s all it is beause Toy Story wouldn’t lovingly or romantically touch Buck like someone he even LIKES and that was before the boils appeared) it's all they have. Furthermore, if they knew anything about Buck, they would know that Buck uses sex to feel things and not once has he had an emotionally intimate relationship with any of the women he's dated. He was Abby's boy toy (just like he's Tonka Toy's). Ali was barely there and they were shown kissing but IIRC, they weren't shown in bed. All him and Taylor had was sex and the longer they stayed together the more clothes they wore because they didn't know each other beyond the physical. Buck went straight to the physical with Natalia too and since their relationship happened off screen, it appears outside of his death, that’s all they had. Now for Trombone, based on everything that’s been shown even starting with 7x4, he was so into Eddie that he actually spent money on him and courted him but he hasn’t done that with Buck. They've only been shown hanging out in the loft which proves Tom doesn't want anything serious. He laughed at Buck with his coworkers which means he doesn't respect him and he wasn't bothered by the fact that Buck was the butt of the joke. Buck was literally injured and Temu wouldn't even kiss him on the cheek or his forehead. That's not a loving relationship, it's just sex and nothing more.

Buck has always used his body parts so if they are having sex, then Tombstone is NOT special since Buck’s done that with everyone else. Therefore if all the BT Stan's want to see is two dudes getting it on, they should just watch p0rn.

Buck deserves better than someone who just wants to use his body as a playground and that's been his whole arc from the first episode 1x1. He was born for parts, he used his body for sex and now he acts like that’s all he has to offer.

But Eddie has always been there for Buck to remind him that he's not EXPENDABLE. Tom Thumb thinks he is so it wouldn’t surprise me if his confession is they aren't serious and Buck thinks they are and he spirals about it. Hopefully, he'll breakup with him because if he tries to stick it out, then he'll still be on the hamster wheel and it won't be a good look for Buck.

Timbuktu

I don't think he’s changed at all but I do think the writers gave him a personality transplant so that he could fit the narrative they want to tell. It's a bad look for 9-1-1 not to address it especially after everything that just happened here in the states and if they weren't planning to do it, then they shouldn't have brought his problematic ass back. They should have gotten a no name actor and let him work B-Shift or something so he wouldn't have had a background. The issue is TM is big on names and since LFJr. is a nepo baby, TM is using the name recognition so people who watched his dad be "The Hulk" in the 1980s will see his name and watch the show. However, there are two problems, Jr. can't act and he doesn't work well with others. So there's that.

Also, Gerrard didn't change just like you said but they sure gave him a happy ending and turned him into a captain who was cringey instead of addressing his past.

Hen and Chimney

I wanted them to tell Tombstone off but the show won't let them. If they would it would certainly be more realistic than the BS they're doing. He was being trifling and antagonistic with Hen in 7x2 and I posted about how she doesn't trust him but BT Stans keep acting like they’re all good friends when the narrative is showing otherwise. In 8x5, Chimney was sitting across from Tonka Toy but he didn't look at or address him. Trombone was and still is the outsider who will never be invited to the cookout but Hen and Chimney tolerated him because they were coworkers.

I can't wait for Buck to breakup with Triscuit so he can finally understand he doesn't need to be in a relationship to be whole. At this point and IMO, Buck needs to work on that before he enters a relationship with Eddie because the way that it stands, he gets everything he emotionally needs from Eddie but he gets sex from whoever he's dating and that's not sustainable. He needs to choose what and who he wants or he'll end up like Trombone.

Thanks again for the ask and have a great day.

[selfship-confession-void]

Hello there! This blog is a selfship confession blog for all types, meant to give selfshippers a safe space to vent, gush, or get anything off their chests! As for what to expect:

No proship/comship/darkfic/neutral/anti-anti/anything like that. It's absolutely not allowed or tolerated, I don't want those circles anywhere near me, I will block any on sight

Don't use this platform to hate or harass. Don't namedrop anyone you don't like, don't try to hurt anyone's feelings, and especially don't use the inbox to spread bullying or harassment

No transphobes/racists/homophobes/TERFs/exclusionists either. If you're in any way against minorities, leave. No radqueers, zoos, or RPF either.

Vents and gushing are 110% allowed, along with anon signoffs!

Please keep F/O names out of the confessions! This is to benefit non-sharers and prevent them from feeling uncomfortable. Nicknames, emoji stand-ins, or anything else like that are allowed though!

Feel free to ask me any questions or correct me on anything I may mess up on! I'll try my best to be as careful as possible with confessions, but don't be afraid to inform me of any harmful content that might get it

The confessions posted are not automatically my views, or necessarily things that I personally am in agreement on. I try to be as objective as possible and filter out content appropriately, but the confessions that do get posted are wholly the view of the senders

With all that said, please feel free to come in and confess to your heart's content whatever may be on your mind as a selfshipper :D

[justapersonfloatingonarock]

Alex Claremont-Diaz's pov of the election results

Disappointed is a wild understatement for Alex Claremont-Diaz’s feelings right now. It’s 2024 and Trump was just elected the next president. As soon as that last state filled in red to win Donald Trump 270 electoral votes and the presidency, Alex burst out crying. He feared for his country, all the women he knew, and members of the LGBTQ+ group including himself and his now fiance Henry. That sadness and those tears quickly turned to red-hot anger. Why should Trump get to be the leader of this country? What makes him in any way qualified? Not only is he not intellectually smart or have a plan but he actually wants to tear down this country. He is a homophobic, racist, sexist, and convicted felon. Alex belongs to 2 of the groups he is going after and has publicly proclaimed he does not support or have their best interests at heart. As a Congressman Alex did all he could; he campaigned and openly endorsed Kamala Harris in her efforts to be elected. Even though she did not win, she took it with grace. Alex wants to scream. Wants to run away to England with Henry and take all the people who voted blue with him. He is not giving up this fight because he must protect himself and his country, which he loves dearly but is currently extremely disappointed in. A speech must be made.

November 6th, 2024 Alex Claremont- Diaz addresses the 2024 election results

Hello everyone. Thank you for coming. Today I am sure many of you woke up to the devastating news that our next president will not be a strong, independent black woman who is fighting for the rights of the people, but instead a man full of hate and messed up beliefs for the country. I am not here to talk about Trump though. I am here to talk about you. You have the choice to give in to his power. To give up the fight. That is not what I will be doing. For the next 4 years, I will be doing my best in Congress to fight for what is right, for the American people's rights to be who they are, love who they want, and control their own bodies. So now, with a heavy pleading heart, I ask you to do the same because as Kamala said, "We fight, we win". Yes the fight may take longer after today's setback, but we must keep up hope that the world will keep spinning and that the beliefs of the American people shine through again. Thank you.

Alex exits the stage to a roaring crowd. Of course, he knows there will be backlash on the internet. When is there not? But right now he feels good about his speech and Henry is waiting backstage and pulls him into a proud kiss that loosens the tension in his shoulders. We fight we win he thinks to himself again.

Notes: Hi! So these were my feelings about the election but I edited it to be through Alex's eyes because I am sure he would support Kamala and be in Congress supporting her. I was very disappointed and wanted to do something with my anger so here it is. Please do not comment if you are a Trump supporter, just move along. I am deeply saddened today and don't need any more hate. I hope you like this and I will write more fan fic's in the future just about Henry and Alex and other characters and fandoms. Enjoy!

[rmgkyle]

Hello people it is Me Kyle/RMG this is my first time so..... Here is my introduction

Fandoms

smg4,take,murder drones, Baldi basics, Hazbin hotel, helluva boss, FNAF, FNF, hello kitty, Minecraft, roblox, bad parenting, gacha life, gacha Club, dead pool and Wolverine, Mario, dead by daylight, gorilla tag, and I might add more.

Basic information

She/her

They/them

16

Birthday : Jan 26

5'2

Brazilian 🇧🇷

I am very sensitive so if someone says something rude as a joke I will tear up/silly.

I take nothing serious so if I mess up my words I'm sorry I am still learning to control myself.

discord : wassapariii11

YouTubers

fgtsev, Sam and Colby, flamingo, CoryxKenshin, smg4,

DNI IF

Proshipper

racist

homophobic

under 13

NSFW artist

NSFW account

anything that makes me uncomfortable

Oc introduction

Meet RMG she is a purple, brown, grey deer who is insane and crazy all the time.RMG has a goal to kill the smg4 crew which she was forced but guess what, she doesn't.

Her interaction with smg4 crew

Smg4:they have a good friend ship and RMG sees smg4 as a dad

Smg3:doesn't trust RMG but still talks to her

Meggy: they BFFs

Tari: RMG doesn't really like tari because of her energy but still hangs out

Saiko : RMG HAS A CRUSH ON HER OOO

boopkins : RMG doesn't like him because he makes her uncomfortable with all the weird stuff

Bob: they BFFs

Fun facts about RMG

・loves popcorn

・can grow into different sizes

・insane lol

・the star on her shirt is actually the mark when she was stabbed multiple times

・the stitches were from her owner

・her soul is taken

・deer

・loves beer and drugs idk why

・can switch between deer and human

・afraid of quesadillas

・idk

[sweet-lil-kittyyy]

Hi hello welcome to my page!! Please read this before interacting!!! ABSOLUTELY NO MINORS, TRANSPHOBES, HOMOPHOBES, TERFS, RACISTS, ABLEISTS, PEDOPHILES, OR ASSHOLES WHO CANT RESPECT LIMITS

My name is Kitty, and I'm 24! My pronouns are they/them, I'm a switch, and I have a wonderfully incredible partner.

I've been able to explore my sexuality and my kinks with the support of my partner who knows a lot about and has experience with BDSM and kinks, so now I'm here to share my experiences as a sorta new but eagar switch who's daddy's sweet subby lil baby and also a soft daddy dom to the sweetest lil slutty puppy because where else would I share this except for tumblr hehe

When I'm the sub, I'm daddy's good little slut. I'm their baby girl, their kitty, their sweet baby, whatever daddy wants to call me as long as they pin me down and breed me hdhsbdjf anyways

Some kinks that I'm into when I'm the sub include: kitten play, daddy kink (I call my dom daddy), breeding, spit kink, overstimulation, edging, mild pain play (spanking, hair pulling, pussy spanking, thigh spanking, biting, choking, etc), degradation (love being called a good little slut, a whore, and being told that daddy owns my cunt), exhibitionism, voyeurism, public play (daddy made me cum on the balcony, they also fucked me on the side of the road under the stars cause we're kinky and in love, daddy used a remote vibe on me and i came twice in public, and then theyve made me cum in my car and i made a mess so i had to drive home without any pants or underwear. Recently I smoked weed in my car with my tits out and someone almost saw), orgasm control (daddy decides when I cum cause daddy owns my pussy), intox kink (specifically weed, I love getting high with my daddy, they're so hot when they smoke and then they help me smoke and they sometimes blow the smoke in my mouth when we kiss and then when im high and all melty and needy, they fuck me and it feels so fucking good), and probably others !

This one time, daddy made me cum over and over again on their dick and I made a huge mess and ended up getting cum on their thigh hehe usually when I'm subby, I'm insatiable and I wanna cum all the time and I want daddy's dick all the time too! I've recently discovered that I'm really into smelling things, too, such as my daddy's panties, cum spots on the sheets, etc. and it's really hot when they force me to sniff things and then makes fun of me for it.

When I'm the dom, I'm daddy to the most precious little pup! They're my good lil slutty puppy, my cute little whore, and the absolute best dumb puppy!

Some of my favourite kinks as a dom to my puppy include overstimulation (they're so cute when they're all whiny cause they're sensitive), edging if they're being a bit bratty, pain play (spanking, hair pulling, pussy spanking, thigh spanking, biting, choking, face slapping, etc), praise kink, degradation and humiliation, free use, exhibitionism, voyeurism, public play (ive used remote toys on them in public, ive edged them in the car while driving, and I've made them cum over and over in my car while watching the sunset cause we're kinky and in love) intox kink (also weed), and some cnc play.

Recently, I discovered that I can make my dumb little pup have to bark with their tongue out while they cum and it's the hottest thing to watch their eyes roll back with their tongue out as they make their sweet slutty puppy sounds. I can also make them sniff cum stains and panties, while also using panties as a gag for them. I can use their holes whenever I want cause their slutty little pussy is mine. We've also engaged in some cnc fantasies where I kidnap them and use them even when they say no.

So yeah!! Stick around if you wanna hear more about what my daddy does with me and what I do with my puppy!! I mainly dump all of my horny thoughts here if I don't text them to my partner!

Please keep in mind that while my DMs are open, I do still have a partner and that even though our relationship is open in the sense that we're both okay interacting with others sexually (sometimes we talk about them fucking me or me riding them and sending videos to people), they are still my number one priority! I do have a life outside of tumblr, I will not put tumblr DMs above my partner or my life, and there may be times where I don't respond. If you cannot respect that, then kindly leave.

Absolute hard limits for me include anything with blood, piss, scat, asphyxiation, and anal. If there's a new kink you want to try with me, tell me about it so I can learn more about it and I can decide if it's a limit or something I'd be open to trying!

[astronomer-of-pro-endos]

Meet us!

Well, first, have an extremely WIP pronouns.cc page.

Heyo! We’re a mixed origins system of, uh… (checks notes) 27 including the host/“original”!

DNI: Anti-endo, racist, homophobic, Pedo/MAP, Zoophile, TransID EXCEPT GOOD-FAITH IDENTITIES, transphobic, enby or acephobic, anti-good faith identities, pro-Trump, or pro-zionism.

I am RQ neutral unless you support the “big 3” paraphilias, in which case DNI. I don’t think I know enough about RQ to form an opinion.

PLEASE DO NOT ASK ME FOR DONATIONS. I do not have a payment app, nor a credit card, so I cannot help you. I will reblog what I see, but I have asked multiple times so please stop asking.

Here are our members:

Cait (She/Her)

The heck do I put here? Hi, you can call me Cait, I’m the host of this chaotic little bundle!

Doppo Kunikida (He/Him) 📓

Hello, my name is Doppo Kunikida. I do not like Gen A slang or general obnoxiousness. It’s nice to meet you.

Lullaby (She/her) 😴

Hi, I’m Lullaby, a brain-made willogenic headmate! I really like snow, sleeping, plushies, things like those. I don’t front a lot.

Kenji Miyazawa (He/him) 🐮

Hi! I’m Kenji from BSD, I like animals and farming and music and theater and stuff like that!

Alastor (He/Him) 😁

Greetings! My name is Alastor and I’m from some old Hazbin Hotel roleplay on Fandom (as in, from before the show even aired)! It’s very nice to meet you!

Kazuo (He/Him) 🐱

Hi!!! I’m Kazuo! I’m an OC, I’m also Kenji’s best friend! It’s nice to meet you! I really like cats, the big city, music, theater, stuff like that!

Joker (He/him) ☮️

Joker is from a story I (host) used to be a part of. He doesn’t front a lot, but he’s a really sweet guy.

Mikado (He/him) 🔌

Oh, hello. I’m Mikado Sannoji. Please don’t judge me by my actions in source. I’m from an incomplete comic host was making called Danganronpa: Infinite Encore.

Engel (He/him) 📝

Hey, I’m Engel! My source is Fundamental Paper Education. It’s nice to meet you.

Winnie (He/him) ❄️

Heyyy, I’m Winnie from Cold Front! I really like music and general happiness.

Augustine (He/him) 🔥

Hey, I’m from Cold Front. Winnie and I are best friends. It’s nice to meet you.

Light (He/they) 💡

Heyyy, I’m a super canon-divergent Omori fictive!

Harrison Finn Tailor (He/him) 🎧

I bet nobody knows my source… haha, anyway! You can call me Harry. I’m from essentially how my host would have written Inescapable: No rules no rescue. It’s a pleasure!

Orion (She/her) 💜

Hello, I’m Orion. I am Brainmade. I do not talk a lot. Not a lot of us do.

Rambley (He/him) 🦝

Hiiiii! I’m Rambley from Indigo Park! I love making new friends! I have no idea what else to put here!

Nicole (She/her) 🧩

Sup I’m from class of 09 and I’m our resident “evil alter”, I like ruining my headmate’s lives in Oregon Trail and teasing them about shit.

Mori 🎆

Hello! My name is Ougai Mori. My pronouns are he/him. I enjoy interacting with others, especially sourcemates. My best friend is Yukichi, also from the Falling Stars. I can be a bit of a jittery mess. I do want to be a good parent figure, although I’m not sure how good I actually am. :)

Fukuzawa (He/him) 🐈

Hello, I’m Yukichi Fukuzawa. I don’t know what to put here, but, er, I like cats. Ougai and I are actually not from canon Bungo Stray Dogs, but since our source does not technically exist, canon BSD will work for sourcemates.

Fedya 🪄

AUtive from the fanfic “Damned Angels”, or at least the plans for it. Also known as Fyodor. He/him. Please do not reference the killing curse from Harry Potter around me. Middle (15 years old). Please feel free to talk to me about my source.

Kolya (he/him) ♠️

Hiiii, I’m Kolya! I share a source with Fedya. I really like Quidditch and flying in general! I have a pet owl named Three-Of-Hearts. What else should I put here?

Soren (he/him) 🦡

Hello, pleasure to meet you. I’m Soren, the host’s Hogwarts Legacy protagonist. I’m a Hufflepuff. I really enjoy exploring the world around me.

Gold (he/it) 🪙

Hey there, I’m a gold watcher! I don’t know what else to put here! But it’s nice to meet you!

Niko (he/him) 🖲️

👋 I’m Niko! My source is Nanbaka! I don’t know what else to put here!

Vanitas (he/him) 📖

Hey there, my name is Vanitas. I’m a vampire doctor, I guess? I don’t know what to put here. But it’s good to be here, even though I sometimes wanna go home.

Phineas “Finny” Thatch (he/him) 🛡️

Hey there, I’m Phineas Thatch, former member of the trust. Nice to meet you.

Rui Kamishiro (he/him) 🎵

Hello there, my name is Rui, my source is PJSK! It’s a pleasure to meet you!

Giorgio (He/him) 🔎

Hey, I’m Giorgio! I’m from Ace Romanc— Just kidding! My source is The Art Of Murder!

[popculturebuffet]

Transformers ONE Review: Autonomy is the Right of All Sentient Beings (Comissoin for Brotoman.EXE)

Hello all you happy autobots! This reviews one i'm excited for. See I was hoping One would be good: Rise of the Beasts was a disapointment having some good spots (the soundtrack, Anthony Ramos) but falling into the trap of trying to cram 80 tons of plot into two hours while not developing the robot cast enough. I mean it didn't have robotic gay jokes, racisim, robot testicles, or Optimus Prime gleefully murdering people, instead at worst being an asshole, but it didn't quite reach the heights of Bumblebee , not really taking in it's lessons of "less is more" and "Maybe people like characters"

Thankfully Transformers One takes the later to heart: Transformers One succesfully combines the spectacle people want from robots punching each other on the big screen, with a deep and personal character story of two robots who were like brothers whose ideologies drive them apart. One delivers both huge robot spectacle but grounds it in characters you care about. I'm a more casual fan of the franchise, haven't seen g1 , but I can't be happier as a fan of both transformers and animation itself to see this film and hope it does well over time. The first trailer REALLY didn't help but word of mouth probably will.

So while that's the most I can give without spoilers, I invite you to join me under the cut as I dive into WHY this film is so great, it's characters, ambiguities, great design choices, and the mistep or two. let's call him act 1 bumblebee. It's all under the cut with FULL SPOILERS. Seirously the film relies heavily on a twist about halfway in that while experinced fans and those experinced with fiction can probably see coming, though the marketing did a good job not telegraphing it, is still not something I want to be a dick and spoil outright So join me under the cut, till all are one.

What's Old is New:

Transformers One is the first animated transformers movie in decades: While I really CAN'T explain the 90's as Beast Wars seemed super popular when I was a kid, from the 2000's onward Hasbro largely dubbed anime of the transformers, and once we got to the live action films in the late 2000's through the 2010s Paramount made so much money hand over fist with each entry despite being "they gave devistator truck nuts" levels of baffling and "what seems to be standard micheal bay" levels of racist, they likely felt no need to inovate. If the movies are making them enough money to scrooge mcduck every time one comes out, there's no real reason to fight that if your a studio executive. The cartoons could simply take a queue or two from the films, as both animated and prime did and still make them money.

One comes in during this cash flow: looking into it on wikipedia, I genuinely tried looking elsewhere and couldn't find much, One came about after Age of Exctinction, with Parmount setting up a writers room to pitch sequel ideas. The films title animated nature and basic premise as a prequel came from that.. then as far as I can gather sat on the shelf as they still had binload of money.

Then the last knight happened ,an incoherent mess that had Anthony Hopkins have violent sexual tension with C3PO yet did nothing with it, so naturally it failed at the box office. This lead to Bay steping back from the franchise as a director

And lead to One being dusted off after Bumblebee's success. While the live action films continued with the ehtastic Rise of the Beasts and a GI Joe vs Transformers movie on the horizon, it's clear Parmount saw two things: putting all their transforming eggs in one transforming basket probably wasn't the best idea and animation was making bank post spider-verse. So One was dusted off. It just needed a director. Weirdly despite expresssing intrest in doing it Travis Knight, director of Kubo and the Two Strings, Bumblebee and longtime Laika animator, wasn't tapped.

Instead Parmount went with long time pixar animator and Toy Story 4 director Josh Cooley. And cooley ended up being the perfect man for the job: he looked at the script and while he liked the concept he'd been pitched, a prequel focusing on a younger optimus and megatron and their brotherly friendship destegrating into a forever war, he found the script was a bit lighter in tone and wanted to get a tone.

Cooley was a fan of the G1 Cartoon, and in one interview recounted seeing the film as a kid and being blown away by the scope opening on unicron eating a planet. He loved the spectacle of it and wanted to bring that to one, comparing it to epics like ben hur or the tend commandments; big bombastic stories with a very human core, a relationship breaking down at it's core. Cooley also had a great approach to adapting it:he clearly loves the franchise with his reaction to various animators and storyboarders sneaking in their faviorite autobots for cameos simply being

Cooley knew how to adapt the film: honor it's legacy, with plenty of nods to transformers history, but not be beholden to it going for a style that was a mix of g1 astetics but with an art deco sensiblity. Notably his decision not to have orion pax wear the optimus mask a ton was for good reason: instead of just being change for change's sake, it was to let him emote more. It's the same reason Peter Cullen wasn't chosen: Cooley utterly adores cullen but got that this optimus.. isn't him yet. The films about Optimus growing into being a leader and thus needed another tone. More on that later but these interviews gave me even more respect than the film itself already had, showing a man who knew how to adapt something well.

Visually the film is a treat: the animation is done by industrial light and magic, who did the films and who have only done three animated films. To my suprise i'd not only seen them all but one of them wasn't the clone wars. You'd think but no, Lucasfilm outsourced. No instead they did the animation for Rango, also with paramount under nick and Strange Magic, and both films have some impressive animation. I mean the designs for strange magic are questionable, as are a lot of things in that very dumb very fun movie, but it's clear they were just as good at making a fully animated world as they were making animated parts of a live action one. It's been almost a decade since strange magic, but they haven't lost a step.

As a result One looks gorgoeous: we've seen pre war cybertron before, but the big budget means we can see it as a gorgeous gleaming futuristic city with icacon, it' sbucolic surface and it's full glory once the planet is restored at the end. It adds emotoinal weight as the war will likely leave this planet a ravaged cold wreck as usual, but we ge tto see that beauty first. Even with the unlimited budget of comics the cybertron of the idw comics, while not bad looking is a pretty generic city. Here we get a gleaming metropolis that fully takes adantage of the fact some of it's citzens can transform, cramped quarters and mines. It makes cybertron feel truly alive and fils me with the kind of joy and wonder I missed from sci fi. This big colorfulspectacle that dosen't shy away from darker themes or moments, but despite the darkness of it's world, the corruption, the lines, and the tragic destiny that awaits there's a sense of hope. I loved Dune Part 2, still one of my faviorite films of the year and one of the best films i've seen, but it also follows it's characters tragic downfall as he's forced on the path of the chosen one wether he likes it or not and no matter how many genocides he's going to do walking that path. It's nice ot have a thetrical space where you can have a tragic yet hopeful story abotu robots in the same space as a tragic tale of a charsmatic leader's villian origin story. That I can have the kind of fun and thrill I had with star wars before disney decided to make the most pandering film in existance with rise of skywalker and still make no one happy, be a kid again for 90 minutes while still having the intresting stories nd characters that engage me as an adult is nice.

We Were Closer Than Brothers

This quote's been glued to my brain since I first read it in Powers of X, this perfect summation of the disolution of xavier and magento's friendship and why the two were forever at odds. There's a simple gap in who they are, who they want to be that can't be crossed.

And it's that kind of eternally recurring conflict that drives the film. It's one I never realized just how common it is yet so timeless and malleable it's been done a lot. In addition to x-men, both in the comics and the reboot/prequel films, Nartuo and She Ra and the Princess of power both tell the story of two people who are closer than family, but whose lives, egos and core beliefs pull them apart. Granted only one of these takes the obvious route of "and now kiss" but I digress. This is a tale as old as time, the tale of two people who genuinely truly love each other, as family or more. ANd it's one that works really well with these two characters.

This isn't the first version of Transformers to have Optimus and Megatron as former friends: The War for Cybertron Trilogy and Prime both use this idea, as we discussed earlier this month Transformers Cyberverse teased it and the IDW comics i've covered had something close to this: the idea that Pax agress with Megatron that cybertron needs to change and for the better.. but they simply can't agree.

One however gets the time needed to really dig into this: the two aren't just friends.. their best friends. Possibly more but that's left open for interprtation. And in the good way not "QUICK WE NEED TO MAKE THE FILM LESS GAY BECAUSE WE WANT MORE MONEY BECAUSE THAT'S HOW WE THINK THAT'S WORKS. "cooley saw the two as brothers , while it's just as easy to see the two as having feelings for one another. I tend to go towards the latter, with D-16 like he tends to do repressing it and the point being moot by the end as that bridge is burnt beyond recognition.

Transformers One sti feels queer coded, something I noticed pointed out on tv tropes but is hard to ignore once you notice it: it's a story about two young robots one whose proud of who he is and wants to buck the corrupt system they were both born into , the other who keeps his head down and mouth shut, both of whom find out a part of them was kept form them by said system and are allowed to be who they are. It's really not hard to read into that, especailly when the main antagonist is literally stealing a part of who they are. Which is not subtle but the fact a family film is saying this at all and in a way that's hard to ignore is fucking amazing.

Circling back to that first part it's how the two react to the world they live in that defines Pax and D-16 long before they become the bots we all know and love. The world of cybertron is one where a good chunk are seemingly born without cogs, forced to work in mines or other hard labor for hours on end, and all for the glory of their leader Sentinel Prime, played by John Hamm in glorious smarm. The queer coding is hard to tell if it's intentional.. but the film's commentary on how soceites are often built to keep one class, often containg people of color, queer people and others society deems "other", down to profit the rich.

It also shows how those in power create cults of personality: Sentinel gets all this hard work by projecting a show of being this loved glorious figure, going on quests for his people every few days. John Hamm does a damn good job showing just WHY cybertron hangs on his word. In the IDW continuity, Sentinel really didn't hide what a bastard he was beyond what he had to. Here... they all love him and he leaves the dirty work to his minons. They get to bully the lower class and do whatever they please, and he gets the adoration while likely condoning their bullshit because he's just as much of a monster as they are, he just gets to hide it.

It's their reactions to this inequality that define our heroes: Orion is a dreamer. You've seen the type in animation before: he wants a better world, keeps striving and wants his big shot at being someone. But One nicely grounds this: where his now.. is a dangeorus life of mining being bullied constantly and where his heroic act of saving a coworker get shis boss Elita One demoted. It's a world where he can't even look at the past glories of cybertron and it's 13 primes without having to dodge security. Orion senses something is off and that the world can be better. He's an optimist.

What I like though is this isn't without consequence: elita did get demoted and resents him for it, D-16, his best friend, quitely resents him for having to bail him out. He has the heart of Optimus Prime, wanting to try for the best for everybody and wanting to take D-16with him as he gets up in the world... but he lacks the patience he'll gain in time, rushing into things, dragging others with him and generally not thinking before he acts. His actions get a friend demoted and later get him and his best friend sent to the depths.

D-16 on the otherhand.. just wants to keep his head down. Respect authority even if it's unfair, slowly get promoted.. work his way up. The thing is... the system isn't really BUILT to help bots. At most he'll be leading a shift. And while there's nothing wrong with that, as there is in real life blue collar work, he also wants to ignore that there's something.. off with the world. That maybe he dosent' HAVE to be a miner if he dosen't want to or wait centuries to get promoted. He's quick to see the benefits when Pax drags him into thei iacon grand prix.. but just as quick to panic, worrying any slip will get him sent back down. He's resigned that their stuck where they are. And look i'm not saying class disparity is easily sovled in the real world. It's not. But you can still fight for change where you are.

Eventaully though Optimus finds his shot, one that Megatron tries to resisit.. but ultimately can't: what seems to be the matrix. Taking along Elita, who gets dragged along and only agrees if she can arrest their asses if this fails, and B, a bot they find in the depths of waste management, our heroes trek heroically across the planets dangerous surface and duck a quintesson ship.

And the World Screams, Kiss Me Son of God

And it's here.. where the film gets flipped on his head. Now i'll grant the twist isn't super groundbreaking. Having the seemingly nice authority figure turn out to be an asshole is old hat, the film's marketing tried at first to hide the fact Megatron would turn evil till they realized they kinda marketed it bad, it's pretty easy to suspect sentinel. It dosen't help on my end that the previous versions I know are a genocidal racist monster man whose horrible managing of cybertron helped create the decepticons, and a smug prick who needs to be thrown into the sun.

But it works well as Sentinel Prime.. works as a symbol for systemic corruption. The primes were 12 noble people chosen by primus for their character and who ruled justly. Now granted it is iffy having your creator god whose also the planet pick your rulers, but Pax's ascendance later makes it very clear Primus choose not just by destiny but by character. Sentinel claimed he was one and the last survivor after they beat out the quintessons. One's universe uses mostly chunks of the g1 backstory: Primus created transformer kind and became the planet as in the comics, but the Quintessons are still key, just as adversaries rather than a monsterous race that created the transformers as slaves before they rebelled, though still keeping parts of that in spirit. The 13 primes from war for cybertron and prime are added in creating a perfect precursor.

Sentinel however betrayed them, selling them out to the quintessons to become god emperor of cybertron with the mining class born entirely of his own greed, stripping them of their t cogs and indocrinating them. And tha'ts what makes this scary: part of why Sentinel's plan works so well.. is indocrination. To most of Cybertron this is just how things always were. The few people who know gladly keep up the lie. By creating a system he can control, sentinel has guaranteed few will rebel because they have no reason to doubt him. Like any good dictator he's set himself up as the be all end all and as a god unto himself so his people don't question and those like optimus who do are struck down.

Even when Alpha Trion last of the primes played wonderfully by Laurence Fishburne tells them all of this and in a truly beautiful and horrific sequence shows it to them using some dust he controls, only pax and Bumblebee truly digest it. It makes sense for both. Pax has ALWAYS questioned his place in the world so while he's mildly skeptical at worst, for him, someone whose broken into the archives to learn, constantly pushed against the system, finding out "Oh your life is a lie".. is freeing. It's finding out the horrible sytem that hates what you are is wrong. It's where the queer coding comes in finding out no your not wrong.. it's the people who said you not being you were horrible. For Pax this is what he's always wawited for: a mentor who truly respects all he did to get here, a purpose in freeing cybertron, a true world.

For B when we meet him he's spent his life being constantly kicked down rungs for his screw ups, abandoned by Cybertron to it's depths and happy just to have friends. Finding out "oh yeah your leader is a lie and you get to be badass now" is just.. nice. B is just kinda there for the ride. Honestly Bumblebee is just kinda there in the movie. Keegan Michael Key does a great job as the character especially in the second act when he gets to react to the more horrific things going on , but for the first he's just the annoying comic relife. The Badassatron gag gets old FAST and the trailers did not help. The trailers also didn't help focusing entirely on the comedy, which helps offset things and makes the more dramatic and often violent second act work. We get ot know these characters and there world... then see what happens after the curtains lifted and they see what there world always was.

This plays into Elita who i've glanced over, and who dosen't take it well, having to see Sentinel directly selling out to the quintissons to belivie it. Elita did her job, played the system, tried to get out.. and finds out it was rigged the whole time. Elita as we see her is tough, but fair.. wanting to arrest our heroes when they escape to the surface.. but willing to go with them when stranded as if they ARE right she gets what she wants and if their wrong they've agreed to be arrested anyways. Yet when her world turns upside down her response to it is shock.. then acceptance. The world is bad, how can we fix this? She goes with Optimus plan, though dosen't go loyally pointing out it MIGHT not work.. but it's their best option: expose sentinel to the public and hope it turns them.

This... is where D-16 shifts entirely. And his actor Brian Tyree Henry is easily the standout of the cast. No question. We see D-16 as someone who truly belivied in the system and the primes: he's a huge Megatronius Prime fanboy, who in most realities ends up being a tratiorus monster and basically satan.. but here.. is a good person and the strongest of the primes. He respected sentinel, utterly in awe to help him find the matrix, which was said to be lost. So instead he finds out everything he belivied in is a lie and takes it hte hardest: elita was annoyed with the system enough it took light convincing, pax was never for it and B is just happy to be included. But for D... this was everything. This was his LIFE. He rages at Pax for taking them on this adventure, for everything he loved and worshipped being relveaed a lie. Finding out what his life was, or rather what he likely expected it was but refused to admit to himself breaks him.

And that.. unleashes his rage. You get the sense D-16 has a lot of supressed anger: constantly having to tow the line, to clean up after his best friend, to keep his head down.. and finding out it was all for nothing and said friend is the reason he knows this.. unelashes every rage. Every thought he had to keep in every bit of it at once... and he wants Sentinel dead: not brought to justice, not heroically brought down for corruption: DRAGGED THROUGH THE STREETS IN CHAINS TO THE DEPTHS OF THE MINES AND TORN APART. Orion wants justice, he wants revenge.

The film also does a good job not making d-16 just.. evil. He's full of rage, he lashes out at orion.. but you still side with him despite knowing where this angers gonna take him. The system is broken, horrible and nightmarish. Like the IDW megatron, D-16 has EVERY reason to think it needs to burn. Yet you get why Pax wants the softer touch at first: he dosen't care about sentinel fuck that guy but burning it to the ground gets other people caugh tin the fire. Neither is entirley wrong: sentinel probably does need to die, but a brutal execution dosen't help anyone. And as pax can do doing so won't fill the void in his chest. Getting the t-cogs for the literal voids in their chest dosen't either.

The film dosen't entirely stop the lighthearted stuff: We get that great seuqnece form the trailers where our quartet try to transform and end up stuck mid way. It's both a neat idea, as i'ts essentially waking up a whole part of your body you could not use, and fun, based on Cooley's own experinces as a kid where for the more complex transformers they'd end up in a half transformed pile.

But the core is clear... and while the divide between D and Pax deepends as we meet the High Guard

Choked Out

So our heroes are kidnapped by the High Guard, the future decepticons. The High Guard were the primes loyal and noble enforcers but have spent the last however long it's been turned into a rebellion against sentinel, barely scraping by. Granted their also lead by Starscream which has never gone well and there's no giant gun to shoot him with nor volcano to throw him in so their kinda stuck.

I do love Starscream here played by the one and only Steve Buschemi who gets Sceamers smugness and arrogance right while adding in a dash of bloodthirst and class. The High Guard has devovled into a might makes right hellscape. And it's this hellscape.. that finishes creating megatron. I belivie had b had time to process or think , he MIGHT of not become megatron. It's likely why Alpha Trion still trusted him.. though as Brotoman pointed out when we discussed the film it could just as easily be that trion didn't care and wanted D-16 to go on a blood rampage. This still puts him above the G1 version whose only menoring to optimius was bringing him back form the dead like jesus after four robots from the future wondered in.

But the high guard share his views: wanting to burn it down, wanting to use brute force, resenting the rest of cybertron. It's all there. And the high guard are the army he needs to pull off his goals, as he's grown to resent optimus and Bee and Elita are firmly on his side.

So in a fit of Irony it's starscream who helps fully cement the creation of megatron. Megs is annoyed at their postering, doing seemingly nothing and done with their shit. He plans to just fuck off if their not going to do anything. Starscream as usual for him takes this as a challenge. And as usual across space and time megatron's response is exactly as good for starscream as you'd expect.

Megatron fucks him up so bad his VOICE changes. Yeah in this continuity Starscream's whiny voice.. is because megatron choked him out. And Starscream was into it asking for more. Was it a love of violence or is starscream discovering he's a sub?

But it's the point to me where D-16.. is gone. He hasn't turned full villian yet.. but he's found himself surronded by likeminded bots whose reaction to them choking out tehir leader is FUCK YEAH! YOU GET EM MEGS. I grant spending at least a decade around starscream is probably a lot for anyone, but it's still nicely horrifying and I like this barbarian portrayl of the decepticons: that they too started from a good place but having to constantly fight while being seen as traitors and being isoilated casued all their warrior instincts to go to a whole lord of the flies situation.

Megatron dosen't get to bask in his new horde or a nearly destroyed starscream who only lives because Orion is there.. and D makes it VERY clear this won't happen again. The mercy thing. Instead Sentinel kidnaps most of them with only Orion and Elita escaping.

You've Found my Breaking Point, Congradulations

So our two heroes are now seperated.. and while it was clear what path D-16 was on, it's Orion's turn to cement his. Oriion.. is not doing so good

He feels this is all his fault, that his constant diving into stuff hurt people and while before he was able to brush it off, the elita one situation REALLY wasn't his fault, enlisting megatron in the race was an attempt to help them, and even ending up in the cybertron's bowels, he figured Sentinel would come from them. Every reckless action and unintended consequence was just a step up. And he wasn't entirely wrong, his actions were well meaning.. but it's here he finally gets the downside and what makes his earlier character work: that relization that yes, he meant well, yes he wasn't wrong.. but he was still dragging everyone along with him when they kept telling him no and while in the long run, even with what he's about ot become, d-18's better for it, Orion finally gets that he can't just keep assuming people will be better off or he knows what's better.

Granted he takes this as

But Elita has changed. She's seen the good that's happened from it and encourages pax... she also rubs in that she's smarter than him, true, but also that as annoying as he could be to her... he had one thing she didn't, that d-16 didn't... hope. He never gave up, just fell into the system. He never stopped beliving in a better world even after finding out it was a lie. He dosen't try to stop sentinel just because "what else am I going to do" or "revenge" he's doing this because he WANTS a better world for everyone. To lift people up. He dragged d-16 into this not because he was blind, but because he wanted to help him. He wanted them both to see the sun. To build tommorow together. And maybe make out a little. His methods weren't great, but he was always trying to do the right thing.

So with that Pax isn't back to his old self he's better, and thinks out his plan for a second.. and it's a brilliant one, for once not just winging it but thinking it out: they need to take down sentinel. They can't broadcast his misdeeds for now, but they can at least stop him. They dont' have enough of an army as only half the guard escaped, so it's time to split up: Elita will lead the rest of the elite guard to free their captured brethren, Orion will go rally the miners who already trust and look up to him. Shockwave asks "Wait why would I do that" and get sa cup of punch in the face as his answer, while Soundwaves like "eh why the fuck not. " I do love shockwave in this film, he's just a pathetic butt monkey aand sounds like bluster blaster. It's glorious.

Meanwhile Megatron gets some MORE trauma. He refuses to bend the knee for Sentinel. Sentinel's plan is to frame the guard as destrutive rebels and megatron as one. And he has a chilling line I love: "The truth is whatever I say it is: it's the truth and i'ts chilling and Hamm does a fantastic job going from egotistical ass to chilling dictator at the drop of a hat, never dropping the smarm. Sentinel is the perfect vilian for this film: a legit threat and meance.. but also someone clearly there to be the starter villian: someone who unites our heroes at first but gets the fuck out of the way for the emotional climax. It makes the whole 'Oh no the heroes idol is evil" twist we've seen a lot. A lotttt, go down smother as while he's evil enough that his final takedown is satisfying, he's not so menacing or compelling you feel he's wasted. He's just comeplling enough

He's also a massive dick and upon seeing Megatron's sticker, he's been wearing a decal of megatronus, he rips it off.. and fucking BRANDS megatron. Yeah there's.. some racial stuff buried in here that as a white dumbass i'm not qualified to talk about. But it is brutal as hell.

SO while Team Elita crashes a train into a buildling to start the climax, because Elita is the best and I wish I had more to say about her other than she's the most badass one there is and Scarlett Johnasen is having a LOT of fun playing her, Orion goes to inspire a line of cameos. There are a LOT with Ironhide and Arcee being the most prominent.

The Miners are chafing under the strips not helped by Dreadwing, their supervisor and the dickbag who demoted Elita earlier and who in general is a bullying asshat. So naturally Optimus easily deals with him with a punch to the face. It's a nice moment that says a lot with just one punch: Optimus has problems FAR BIGGER than one petty asshole and has grown, literally and metaphorcially past him.

Orion having a t-cog and easily taking out the local bully is enough to get everyone to listen and he gives his first true rousing speech, revealing the truth, admitting they dont' have much reason to belivie him, but beliving ther'es something better.. there has to be and Sentinel has no right ot take it: So with mining equipment and jetpacks, our hero leads the future autobots. AI am a bit iffy about all the autobots being in one group and the decipticons in another, but the sequel could help flesh it out and I get they only had 90 minute sto pack a lot in. One is VERY overstuffed and takes place over maybe two days tops. A lot happens.. but it all feels resonable and well set up: D-16 changes entirely but it's hard to say megatron wasn't lurking under the surfance and a LOT of trauma in less than a day didn't change him. Likewise Optimus and Megatron rising as leaders.. makes perfect sense; The Guard had spent years hiding and stewing and suddenly a new kid comes along with more o fa vision than ducking and weaving and easily chokes out the guy who was likely only leader because he killed a few people who said no to that. He then refuses to bow to sentinel despite knowing what this might means an dkeeps getting up.

Meanwhile Optimus leads not through badassery.. but hope. He puts his dreamer nature to good use and instead of inspiring his troops thorugh violence, inspires them. And because Oriion was already a decent guy who instead of being seen as a weird outcast, was seen as a guy who did what they wished they could, a nice turn of that usual "never accepted weirdo" thing we get, because he was simply a good perosn.. people listen.

So here comes the climax.

Throw My Better Self Overboard, Shoot At Him When He Comes Up for Air

So we get our big climactic battle as our untied rebel forces eat the rich while Elita squares off with Airachnid. I hadn't brought up Airachnid because her plot relevance for most of the movie is to stand around and look menacing, being Sentinel's liutiennt. And I like how they went for something diffrent: true to the name she's part modern helicopter, part spider and usies her spider legs to brutally tear into foes, leaping on them and tearing them to shreds. While the rest of Sentinels mooks, various mass produced drones ala the ones Megatron has in prime, go down easily when fighting Alpha trion she took him down and let sentinel finish him off later because of course he wanted to gloat.

So while the final battle goes down to the two female robots of importance duking it out, it still works as it makes sense: Elita has quickly become the autobots bruiser and Optimus second in command, and Sentinel is busy gloating to his captives. Rather than the cliched "well the women must fight because a man punching her would be too mucH" it feels like a fight between each sides seconds that's also brutal and well done.

Orion however has a plan and while he and an ungreatful B-17 fight Sentinel, who reveals he took Megatronius cog, he has elita grab airachnid as she showed off her creepy camera head before... and thus he realizes she has incriminating footage. So while Bumblbee finds he has knife hands and helps clear the way, our heroes team up.. kinda.

I also have to give it to the fighting here: Something Cooley made sure to include was transforming. In most continuites the transforming is used maybe to ram a fucker and most fighting is as the robots. Here ther'es a lot of transforming in combat: Ariachind uses her alt mode to gain advantage as it can fly nad elita's can't. Sentinel uses his massive jet form's firepower to even the odds before diving back into bot mode. D-16 RAMS into the fucker with his tank mode, uses it frequently for blasting and easily switches back into combat. It's fluid, gorgeous and really takes advantage of the trasnforming to turn every fight into a spectacle.

While D-16 fights Sentinel, Orion inacts his plan: hyjack the radio tower and er.. slam Airachnids face into the console therebye getting the footage he needs.

Sentinel's outed as a bad guy, everythin'gs fine? right? right? Right D-16.. whose inching towards sentinel and... oh... oh no.

So Orion rushes to prevent his friend from doing a murder, whiel Sentinel pathetically crawls away. He begs him not to do this, that this isn't the right way.. but it won't work this time. Pax says the wrong thing: "Don't be like sentinel". He threatnes pax to move and pax instead jumps int he way.. and is shot , barely alive. And thus.. two bots die... D-16 throws Orion Pax into the core of the planet "I'm done saving you". One wanted war, to keep raging forever against a planet that wronged him the other wanted to fix tha tplanet and restore it. In the end it was two roads that simply HAD to diverge but damn do they make it painful. You see just how much these two meant, how much good they acomplished..b ut ultimately B-17 can't let go of his rage and pain.. and he shoudln't.. not entirely. He can still feel hurt and rageful.. but it's in trying to tear the rest of the world down where he failed.

Sometimes the world DOES need to burn, but if you don't think about the people who get hurt, then your in the wrong.

Where You Go Once You Arrive, Where We Go Once We Arrive

The next scene.. is the films best... a truly striking back and forth series of cuts as we see the true ascendance, the birth of megatron and optimus prime given all the gravitas 40 years of stories, conuities and tellings of these two's clash.

Megatron gives a firey horrifying speech as he rips Sentinel in half. The film is unflinching with hit's violence. It did have to cut around things.. but all that did was have cooley let your mind fill in the gaps. For a family film, this is fucking brutal, and it all crecnedoes with a bot getting ripped in half. likely being robots gave them some leeway, but it's still horrifying to see. I don't feel bad for sentinel he fucking deserved it but Megatron giving him a mortal kombat fatality then going on to scream about he's going to burn iacon down, destroy every last person loyal to sentinel to burn the world no matter who gets hurt... it underlines Optimus point. While Sentinel defeintly deserved to die, this dosen't fix anything. This dosen't change iacon for the better, it just replaces a tyrant who made the trains run on time and again deserved his mortal kombat fatality, with one who thinks he's doing the right thing while killing as many people as he has to to do it. Neither version of this is good but Megatron is too blinded by trauma to see that and thus has become something almost as bad as what left.

Thankfully as Megatron rises... so too does another. As he falls into the core, his body dead.... Orion Pax meets the primes, all 12 showing up.. with Alpha Trion himself anointing our hero. This could easily be iffy: chosen one narratives aren't nearly as common these days for a reason and this is the same year where Dune Part 2 showed just how bad that could go based on a book all the way back in the 60s, just taking out the racisim and sexism.

So instead Orion Pax becomes robot jesus this time not because destiny says so.. but simply because he acted well. He acted nobly, selfishless and laid his life down and thus he not only rises from the dead but gets an upgrade: a cool ax ehe does the thor thing with , which had to be intetional, able to take out a hudnered bad guys with swords or at least all three main decipticons with only megatron giving him trouble.

So before our climactic breakup, le'ts talk about primus. Some consider the idea Primus is a two faced prick: he made the matrix of leadership, the source of cybertron's energon in this continuity and why they have to mine without it, not feel so good and go away into dust robbing sentinel of it.

Me... I think it wasn't the smartest move given Sentinel then created a slave race to do the job and it didn't really stop him.. but my take is that it was all primus COULD do. Primus did create the primes to guard cybertron, but that was right after becoming the planet and space god. My honest interpretation, one backed up by talking to brotoman is that primus isn't as fully cognizant without the matrix. In the war for cybertron duology, Primus created the matrix as a way for it to be with the rest of cybertron kind as it really coudln't commuincate outside it's core. If eel that's the same here: that it can only do so much and without the matrix as a conduit, all it could do was thrash blindly, hence the storms of the surface and the mines shifting horribly. THe mines woul dbe closer to cybertrons core, giving him more dexterity. Prime fell directly into a shaft leading down int oCybertron's bowels and into it's core, which gave Primus a chance to look him over, see what he did. If you notice primus doesn't even talk directly. He has to use alpha trion's ghost. Primus transformation into cybertron likely put him beyond most cybertronians and unlike say Unicron if he shows up, please let him show up, he can't go back and forth.

Now that's just my interpretation but it's something I like about the film: the world's well built and set up.. but it dosen't explain everything. It leaves some ambguity: where the primes as perfect as they seemed or was sentinel right to resent them, even if

Did Alpha Trion know the risks he was unleashing with megatron? We don't know, and tha'ts okay. And yes the sequels probably will clear some of this up if we get them, but it's still something really neat to think about.

For now we get an awesome fight with Optimus ending the thing by slicing Megatron's fusion canon. He commands him to leave: he tried to conquer cybertron, killed a man and broke Optimus' heart in the process. Megatron bitterly leaves setting up a sequel that please please please god let us have some form of sequel, and takes the gaurd with him.

This leaves optimus in charge, and their paths set: Optimus turns the miners into the autobots and gives them their cogs back, restoring cybertron.. and Megatron... brands his new peeps the decepticons. THey are not being being decieved and they will open cybertrons eyes and close optimus'. It's a truly painful but well done ending with both rising : Optimus prepares to hold off the quintsions.. and Megatron prepares to do what he planned to do in the first plac.e. burn it down. They were close but now... the war begins.

The One and Only One

Transformers One is a masterpiece, well worth a look in theaters. I'ts a feast ofr the eyes. But it's it' semotinal core that makes it: following two young men as one goes from reckless dreamer to real leader, with his voice lowering the right octaves, and the other going from a stickler for the rules to a radical planning to kill as many people as he has to to save cybertron from hitself. One is a heartfelt epic, with eye popping colors, great social commentary and a hell of an emotional core. This is the best of the transformers films i've seen, probably not a stretch to say the best given it lacks robot testicles or a man waving around a piece of paper saying he can fuck teenagers, but still a truly great film I hope Paramount gives a sequel even if it dosen't do gangbusters. In a year with maybe three animated films i've wanted to see theatrically, this was a welcome treat and is one of the best transformers stories. Go see it, thanks for reading and remmeber you can win if you dare.

[booasaur]

thank god for Cruz & Aaliyah cause the rest of 1x07 was a mess … could not take Joe’s speeches to Cruz seriously at all like hello you’re in the U.S. military you have no room to criticize anyone for terrorism or for funding terrorism…like the way Aaliyah’s dad is supposed to be the sole funder for what every terrorist attack since 9/11…be so serious. Taylor Sheridan couldn’t come up with a more realistic boogeyman for his propaganda…and that line Joe had about Aaliyah being in a burqa pumping out babies in a compound??????????? And the way Joe told Cruz to basically get over it and dedicate herself to the mission cause she doesn’t have the luxury of having emotions only for like the next scene to be Joe at home with her daughter having a heartfelt emotional moment like come on…this part wasn’t racist but it was certainly egregious. I’m so shocked Cruz & Aaliyah have been handled as well as they have. Very nervous for the finale, they’re the saving grace & emotional core of this show and hopefully Sheridan can recognize that

What do you mean, anon? The sexism, xenophobia, jingoism, racism, misogyny, Islamaphobia, the bizarre bit of anti-choice that somehow sneaked in? I mean, if you put it like that, yeahhh. :P

I've seen some people say that it's meant to actually show how both sides aren't good, but I don't know if that's really what they're trying to get across or succeeding at getting across. There are maybe SOME shades of it, but on the US side, it's shown as necessary, to fight how bad and evil the other guys are. Never mind that, yes, exactly, not only has the US hurt so many innocent people in real life, but literally what they're proposing as a very possible option IN the show is to bomb the wedding, killing hundreds of innocent people! Like, how is that not terrorism?

That video at the end, I was like, I bet real life terrorists have exactly that kind of video except of US drones on innocent people. And ONE guy funding all that is, of course, childish, so I'm really not in a place to hear people justify anything this show does as Realistic.

I honestly am also bewildered at how Cruz and Aaliyah are being done so well on this show and the only answer I have is the very depressing "it's so it can be ruined in the finale". That line of argument Joe took was RIDICULOUS. She just made Aaliyah even MORE into someone Cruz wants to rescue?? It was hilarious that even in the show, Joe's like, don't worry, I spoke to the Marine in her, she's fine, and then Cruz promptly turns off the transmitter and tries to ruin the mission.

People might be like, well then, if you think the show sucks in all these ways, why are you watching, and actually, I watch a lot of shows that I think suck in various ways! I started because of Zoe Saldana and Nicole Kidman and it being female-centric and it never stopped being that. I just didn't realize we'd have this high stakes f/f ship in the middle and now I'm even more caught. :o

Cruz and Aaliyah are absoLUTELY the heart of the show but I guess we'll see what Tay Shay wants to say about this story.

[fuckterfs-deactivated20221212]

Hello fellow tumblrinas of all genders or lack thereof, unless I messed something up with the post scheduling today is the third of june.

It is not often that I make serious posts myself, if something is serious and important I usually don't have the necessary know-how nor the time to make my own posts and just reblog posts about those topics, like recently the palestinian genocide or the fact that deserts shouldn't be turned into green forests or lawns, or anything to do with USanian politics. Some of you may have seen one or two of my posts about german politics such as the new Selbstbestimmungsgesetz that will allow trans people like me to change their legal name and gender without a million gates to get past first.

All this to say, this post is not about the most important thing in the world, but it is about something I know about and that is important to me.

About sixteen, soon seventeen years ago, VALVe released a class-based team shooter with a cartoony style that they not much later made free to play. Anyone, so long as they have a steam account, can download this game named Team Fortress 2, and start playing. In it, you can buy clothes, weapon skins, weapon sidegrades and silly dances for real money, and making any purchase enables voice chat and normal chat as well as fundamental game mechanics like calling for a medic. The nine classes are interesting to play and play against, and along with the unlockable sidegrade weapons this game provides lots of variety when it comes to play styles.

But in its current state I can't recommend you to try it.

There are two(ish) ways to play the main game modes:

Casual matchmaking, which is free, the option at the top of the menu and managed by VALVe on their game servers as well as "protected by VAC"

(competitive matchmaking, which if I recall correctly costs money and is mainly people who are pretty good at the game and not those playing for the first time)

Community servers, which are further down the list of ways to play and only accessible through a very unintuitive community server browser, they are usually moderated by real human moderators using a functional anti cheat

(there's also "Training" but it's not against other real players and tbh sucks)

If you start up the game you're most definitely going to start queueing into a casual match, let's say Capture the Flag, because it's on top of the list of gamemodes, but it doesn't really matter what game mode you choose.

And maybe half the time you're going to join a Double Cross match full of other players from all over the world, containing queer people, actual racists, trolls, and one or two people only typing in Cyrillic. These games are fun, you'll learn stuff about the game, about the classes, about how annoying snipers and spies can be, about how much fun it is to airblast an enemy into the abyss, about good spots to put a sentry and about bad spots to do so.

The rest of the time you will join a 2fort match where most people are named something like ESCAPETHEMATRIX, and you will learn about how free to play players can still hear their distorted voice chat music on loop, about how it feels to get headshot by a slow moving sniper who doesn't even look at you every time you leave spawn, about getting vote kicked by five bots and not being able to do anything about it.

Sometimes you're lucky. Sometimes the real players outnumber the bots and you can vote them out one by one.

But until that is done, unless that is done, the game is unplayable.

There are many problems with TF2. Two years ago, during the first #SAVETF2 event a lot of those problems were voiced. But that was part of the reason that attempt failed. There was too much focus on updates lacking content, weapon balance being less than perfect in some places, free to plays not being able to use core features of the game, so that most important problem, the bot crisis, hasn't been in focus enough. It's okay that the game is not getting update-sized updates like Minecraft or Fortnite are. It's okay that some unlockable weapons are pretty much always better than stock. Those are imperfections, but they don't make the game unplayable. Maybe the problem started with the name.

#FIXTF2

That's the name this time. And it's true, TF2 doesn't need saving, it's already broken. We demand that VALVe fix the biggest issue with TF2.

We want a functional anti cheat.

VAC aka VALVe Anti Cheat is supposed to prevent cheaters and bots from ruining the game. It has not done that for many years, and is, according to people with more technical knowledge than me, merely a suggestion, and not a real anti cheat software. Community servers have found ways to eliminate cheating and bots entirely in their games, without the funding of a billions-of-dollars company that makes a lot of money off of TF2.

Creators like Megascatterbomb have made efforts against the bot problem, compiling lists of bot accounts and publishing them, and while VALVe profits off the bot hosters, these bot hosters have harassed, doxxed and even framed him at local authorities for domestic terrorism. This man wanted to help keep his favorite game playable and instead he got investigated by the police for allegedly planning to bomb a university.

How do I know that VALVe profits off of those bot hosters? Well the bots use voice and text chat, meaning they have to have made a purchase for each account.

Some of you reading this might already know about all of this, some of you might have made your own post today, but others may not even know TF2 exists or thought the problems got solved two years ago because VALVe made one (1) twitter post.

If you haven't already, please sign the petition at https://save.tf/ , maybe get more info at https://fixtf2.tf/ where you can also find links to more informative youtube videos. The petition will be delivered to VALVe HQ along with the tens, possibly even hundreds of thousands of names belonging to people who signed.

Thank you for reading. It would be nice if you reblogged this, the only way we can get TF2 fixed and stop it from being abandoned is if lots of people know about this.