#honestly i get the frustration about people memeing more than they are talking about the list but the list is REALLY not surprising

[sexygaywizard]

Literally unironically seen some posts like "wow the no fly list seems pretty islamophobic I can't believe this was happening" girl what world have you been living in

[nerdestiwrites]

predator and prey chapter eight (hazbin hotel reader insert)

You were glad that the next meeting you had would be much easier, much more transactional. An exchange of goods, perhaps some small talk thrown in, but it really shouldn’t take longer than just a few minutes at most. You needed the short interaction just to decompress from the stress that had built up in your shoulders and neck from having to deal with the grumpy old cannibal woman. It honestly was a surprise that the woman hadn’t been killed yet by her pissing off the wrong person at the wrong time.

Carmillas domain was halfway across the city, so you scheduled a car to come pick you up. You had no energy to make the walk across the city while having to deal with potentially stupid demons wanting to try their luck with you just because you were unsuspecting and unknown. So as soon as the car pulled up, you opened the door to the back seat and slipped inside, letting your entire body practically melt into the seat. The door closed and the car went down the road, taking a U-turn and heading back towards Carmillas. 

Your phone had been going off, text after text, for the past ten minutes and you tried your best to just ignore it. It was when the text alerts just wouldn’t stop that you finally grabbed the device from your pocket and unlocked it with a frustrated groan. The cause of the insistent noise had been from two different people, though one was the main culprit. Charlie had been texting you, asking where you had gone, if you were coming back, what you might want for dinner, and if you’d be back for dinner.

A long sigh escaped you as you started to regret giving the princess your number. You couldn’t remember the last time you had someone text you that much, even when you were still alive. Even when you or your friends had gotten drunk, it wasn’t by text that you’d spam one another, it was always with stupid Tiktok videos or memes. So many questions had been so draining. You responded and hoped that would stop the incoming texts.

You: hey sorry for disappearing! just had a few things to do today. i’ll be back later tonight, and i’ll eat whatever is provided or i can make my own dinner.

Charlie: Hi! Okay! Im so happy to hear you’re coming back!!! 

Charlie: Everyone decided on pizza tonight so I’m ordering three large pizzas!

Charlie: You missed our activities today.

Charlie: That’s okay though!!! I’ll go over everything with you when you get back!!!

Charlie: Its super simple today! Just learning how to be emotionally available and vulnerable to be able to create stronger bonds with friends!

Charlie: Wanted to tell you so you weren’t worried about what it could be!

Responding to the texts had just invited more from the woman and you pulled at your face as you let the phone slip from your fingers to fall to the seat. The text notifications came to a halt just a few moments later but you didn’t pick your phone back up. Instead, you used the rest of the car ride to stare out the window as you passed by different buildings in different stages of disarray. Even most of the ‘nice’ buildings in most of the city had something wrong with them. 

As the car pulled to a stop, you grabbed the phone and exited with a polite thank you to the driver. Even if the demon didn’t have a choice in being your chauffeur you still had your manners. You stood outside of Carmillas warehouse, seeing her two daughters already standing outside waiting for your arrival. 

You hadn’t had much interaction with the two women, they were nearly just as busy as their mother was making it difficult to get a meeting with any of the three women. This had been a rare occasion that you had gotten a meeting on such a short notice. The two younger Carmines were the ones to make deliveries, especially when someone ordered in bulk. Carmilla only met with those ‘worthy’ of meeting, other Overlords, or potential upcoming overlords. You were surprised to see the two for just a simple sheet of metal.

As you approached, Odette met you, holding the small box that had the metal you had purchased. “I’m surprised my mom let you purchase just a sheet of metal. With everything going on, we’re pretty busy with orders on angelic weapons and angelic steel-tipped ammunition.”

You gave a small shrug as an answer. They didn’t need to know that you weren’t the one to actually place the order. Other people with more power behind their names that were under your favors had placed the order to ensure you’d get as much as you needed. “Just have one of those faces. People just love doing what I want.”

Clara looked over the clipboard she held and gave Odette a nod, showing that the payment had already been made. Odette handed over the sleek box to you and you gingerly took it into your hands. You opened the box and looked it over curiously. It was a small square, one foot by one foot, and it glinted under the light. Your fingers traced over the smooth surface briefly before you closed the box and held it under your arm, placing your hand out for Odette to shake. “It is a pleasure doing business with you and your mom. Tell her I said thanks.” 

Clara nodded and Odette shook your hand before the two of them quickly went back into the warehouse. Not much for conversation pass business, not that you minded. You returned to the car, placed the box down on the seat beside you, and gave the driver the next location. 

It was located outside of the city in a district people rarely wanted to travel to due to the distance and the dangers. The surrounding lands were littered with landmines, old bombs that could explode at any moment if the breeze went the wrong direction or someone sneezed too hard, traps that would send those into spike pits or trapped until the person who set them up came to collect them.

The demon who you were going to see wasn’t one to be trifled with, so most just left them alone. A mad scientist who had died during one of their experiments got sent to Hell and immediately began their research and experiments again without a second thought. This had been their second chance after all, to get it right this time. Except now there wasn’t anyone actively trying to stop them. This was Hell, where people didn’t care if sinners went missing or ended up mutilated beyond recognition.

The car stopped at the gate, not daring to drive further down the driveway that led up to the broken-down, seemingly abandoned building. Deceivingly so. You walked up the driveway, stepping over broken shrapnel, over a tripwire, and jumped across a small pothole. It had been a while since you’ve been this way, there were more holes in the ground than you remembered.

As you approached, the door opened, and out stepped a demon. They had goggles on their head, a blue and gold coat with an intricate design mixed with electronics, and two horns upon their head, one shorter than the other. “You have it!” They clapped their hands together and motioned you forward. You walked toward them and held the box out, letting the demon grab it rather harshly from your hands and open it. The steel was taken out and the box was discarded like it hadn’t even been there in the first place. They whistled once as they held it upwards, “Didn’t think you’d be able to get this much! Costs me an arm and a leg for half of this.”

“Well, it wasn’t cheap. How long until you have your results?” You questioned as you placed your hands into your pockets. The demon turned and began to walk back into the building and as you went to follow, they stopped you. 

They turned and gave a pointed look. “Ah, no, You’ve got some Voxtech on you. Either leave it outside or you’re not coming in.” 

You frowned before grumbling. “It’s got a VPN-”

“Nope! Nope nope nope. I’m not having that egomaniac asshole inside my lab. Maybe the next time you visit you can come in, when you’re not carrying Voxtech. I’ll text you the results later. Toodles!” The door slammed shut behind the demon. 

You were left standing outside the abandoned-looking building, the piece of angelic steel gone as it had been taken from the demon, and no idea when you’d get any sort of results back. The only solace that you had was that the other had to give you results if they wanted out of the deal they had made years prior. You never needed their service until then. When you had first texted them they had been surprised to hear from you. That surprise turned to annoyance and frustration when you reminded them of the deal, the favor they owed. When you told them the favor, they were more agreeable. 

That was the thing, you got favors from people for specific reasons. Some were just because they needed something and eventually you’d need something back, but others, others were planned. This particular demon had been planned. You knew that one day you’d need their specific expertise for something, so you waited until they needed something. An act of desperation. You had delivered and now you were turning in that favor. 

You returned to the car and told the driver to drop you off at the hotel. The itinerary you had for the day had been completed early as you had expected both the interaction with the Carmine daughters and with this demon to take longer. You’d be back long before dinner, enough time to potentially participate in the bonding exercises that the princess had planned. That alone made you debate if you wanted to return then or later. If you returned in time, that would give you points with the princess. You’d say you tried your hardest to return and she would definitely appreciate that. Or you could take your time returning to the hotel, maybe stop and see Velvette and talk with her about the Overlord meeting, and get more information about that.

You decided to go back to the hotel, not changing the address that you had told your driver in the beginning. If you decided later that whatever activity the princess had decided to come up with was too much, you could always make up a small lie about having plans or being tired or something to get out of doing whatever she had planned.

-----

A/N: did i delete this chapter six times? yes. did I finish writing this chapter while tipsy? also yes. so sorry if it doesn't make any sense!

tags: @luleck @rl800 @literalzxmbie @rapunzelbro

[wolf-among-mechs]

MW5: Clans

Having messed around with Mechwarrior 5 Clans for a bit I think I can throw out a pretty strong recommendation for it for anyone still uncertain. The TLDR: I enjoy it plenty, lore and gameplay. The cutscenes and characters are pretty good.

I apparently made a review of it because I felt like talking about it into the void. With largely positive things to say about it. Bunch of stuff I honestly want to hear other people's opinions on too.

It is quite back to the old days in Mechwarrior 4 with characters and opinions and how it flows with the fights. While I enjoyed MW5 Mercs, it is kindof lacking in that department though as the DLCs pile on you get a lot more of it or at least attempts that aren't halfbad. Good effort has gone into making the people sound right, with accents and affects. Like yes, the clanners talk as they're supposed to. When one of your team uses a contraction every clanner outside your star immediatly lose their shit. Not in the meme sense but it they might as well have said c*nt next to a bunch of americans in terms of foulness spoken out loud.

The story following the smoke jaguars during Operation Revival is interesting considering they commit the worst war crime during the invasion and also kindof continually fumble the ball against the Combine. Your star, five lone mechs against the inner sphere, are part of the proceedings and the different characters in the star interact, sometimes disagree or just give each other shit. Got a nice team atmosphere. It introduces stuff and concepts among the clans quite nicely so even if you're not familiar with them you'll pick up what they're on about.

I think it does a pretty nice job of showing things from the Clans perspective of Operation Revival and how they are completely unprepared for the Inner Sphere and continually frustrated with it and things just going increasingly awry. There's a few beats that I think could've been done better certainly but I think it's good drama and a fun time in that regard. I could go more into what I think of the depictions of the clans in the game but that's basically some nerding out about the larger battletech universe and stuff. After turtle bay I kinda had that feeling that I've had in the past when a game makes you a culprit of a war crime or something terrible. A special kind of disgust made all the more visceral as you see the people, the resistance, in Turtle bay reacting to the bombing. Then everything blowing up.

Another thing that I quite like of this depiction is that the inner sphere does put up some serious resistance. Stuff doesn't roll over. They put up some serious fights. More often than not this is called dishonourable because the inner sphere descends into trickery and lies even though aforementioned trickery and lies are often extremely basic ambushes or "send more mechs to the fight." It is funny to contrast with Mercs where this just is how the Inner sphere fights. That said the clanners do eventually learn that they will set traps and ambush and attempt to fight unfair. Very often sending tons of mechs and people into the meat grinder in so doing. Some of the fights do get pretty intense and hard. You also get to see Comstar be Comstar. Wearing their space wizard garbs and being a manipulative force that will never tell you the truth.

The maps while feeling a bit more lived in than most of what Mercs managed to do, are kindof cramped and not great half the time for the kindof long range shooting matches more than half your equipment is good for, not helped that even with the added control to your lance or star mates you still have to be the one to step into the breach. Luckily there's many things you can do to fit that problem. I kindof wish that the star command screen had a pause function so that you could assign targets or at least go into bullet time. Because by the time the enemies show up. They're usually ontop of you so that's not really time to get your map out and play mechcommander. The fact it doesn't pause or slow down so you can set attacks or even give things preferences such as "maybe don't waste all your ammo on the fricking Locust when it will fall over from a stiff breeze" is honestly kindof baffling. Especialy how exciting it otherwise looks and how much detailing you can do with the Star mates XP and omnipods for their mechs. Which is not quite like tabletop omnipod but makes more sense than those omnipods.

Because of the tight maps the AI will more often than not walk in front of you when you're trying to hose something down way more often than they did in mercs. And they will complain about it when you invariably remove all thier back armor by mistake. You get used to it.

The fights feel pretty good honestly. Good challenging combat maps. They got a lot more field repair bays around compared to MW5:mercs. Which... I think I only remember 2? And were introduced like they were going to be more common in the campaign. Which holy shit, you're going to need those repair bays. You get to visit some really varied battlefields, a Star League depot, a cave system, cities and country side. Lots of mountain passes. Deserts and even do battle on a space port.

There's boss battles now. With various levels of canonicity. I don't know if we needed those but I see the point of them. They are usually there to give some variety to shooting stuff after waves of mechs and vehicles and vtols. You can also shoot down shilones now. I'd say aerospace fighters but it's all shilones.

All in all. If you enjoy mechwarrior, if you enjoy battletech. Chances are Mechwarrior 5 clans will have you eating well.

[sssammich]

4?

lol oh ho ho ho i see what you're doing

ask meme

4. Share a dark thought? (Go on, vent a little)

IM GONNA VENT (this is behind oh well i had to get my feelings bubbling up)

honestly i hate canon or bust. it literally kills the joy and sucks the fun out of fandom. and even the source material itself. maybe it's just me being older and having been in fandom for literal decades, but like this crusade for Canon or Nothing At All is just so fucking bad and is just overall detrimental to engaging with the source material, with fanworks, and even just each other!!!

about to just drop everything under the cut because it's long and incoherent

like, okay. yes, do i want representation? sure. do i want stories written for queer characters deserving of story arcs equal or better than what the straights typically get? yeah of course im not a monster. but like, people don't even know how to handle the representation they do get. and then have the gall to ask for perfection when it does show up. that's the burden to bear of being the Chosen Ones is that the weight of expectations is heavier than, like, side character three. so i get it. i get all of that. i want the good things also. i want the ladies kissing ladies on television etc etc

but that's not what im talking about. im talking about the people who literally will just sour the well with their desire that if their Ship isn't canon then it's time to ruin the playground because if i'm not having fun no one can be having fun. and that's literally so terrible and bad and also makes everyone not like being there any more. you shat on their sandbox, you burned down the monkeybars. like, it's not fun there anymore. but the problem there (other than it's annoying and destructive), is that it just further puts fanworks under the agenda of Pushing for Canon Truth instead of, like, a fun thing to share and do with your community.

another caveat here: OF COURSE fandoms have been doing both of those things this whole time, but it just always feels like when i see a push for "make X canon" (X being a ship, 99% of the time), it almost doesn't care about just enjoying yourself??? making a ship canon can be and is important in the larger landscape of media, culture, and representation. yes yes, i'm with you. but i think especially in fandom spaces if canon is not there, then what else is left? is such a bad take.

the rare pairs are there. the multiships. but not even just ships, but dynamics between characters. there are probably other strong contenders for the piece of media that irrevocably changed the landscape of fan/media relations, but since i *was* in the glee fandom, i'm gonna blame that one. i think the nature of how glee essentially opened access to the actors, to the producers, to the showrunners that had direct impact on the source material's canon kinda set up the groundwork for how the rest of media would evolve for the next decade. the ship wars and the ship polls were kinda insane back then. idk if it's still insane now because i've retired from my 'fandom city apartment' to my 'fandom small coastal town bungalo' and just minding my business. all that to say that even as a shipper, 90% of fandom conversations when it comes to Canon is literally just the pursuit of making their two white men (or women) kiss.

which means that we lose out on actual conversations and discussions around character development, dynamics with others as foils or as antagonists, and the larger implication in the plot of the whole thing.

i know the desire for canonifying two characters with insane chemistry and with storylines that lead to romance were they cast as one heterosexual male and one heterosexual female comes from the unfairness and frustration that if it's already right there, why not just fucking do it? listen we're all fighting an uphill battle for equality across the board, so any step forward is gonna be met with a step back, if not more. so like, i'm cognizant of this. so i get why. but when the entire persona that someone displays is just to push for wanting a ship to be Canon above all else, that's when it breaks down for me.

i doubt im making any sense at this point so im just gonna close this out by saying that yeah, i want similar things at the end of the day. i also want the two women with insane chemistry and whose storylines beat for beat match that of a heterosexual pairing had they been cast as such. but canon is not my business, i have nothing to do with that. because i don't make my fun at the doll shop where i bought my barbies. that's not the appropriate place for me to play. i make my fun in the sandbox where i stick the barbies' heads in the sand, as a treat.

[campgender]

Hi, my friend has a chronic illness that flares up sometimes and we've been wanting to hang out but it has gotten cancelled a couple times lately bc of her not feeling well enough on the day. I want to ask her how she feels cuz I care abt her a lot and want an update but 1, I don't want her to feel pressured or like I'm asking just to ask can we hang out now, and not bc I care abt how she's feeling (does that make sense? I may be overthinking this) and 2, I genuinely wanna know how she's doing but idk what to say if she responds with her not being better, sometimes u don't feel better and that's ok but I always want to offer comfort somehow or just convey my friendship? but I feel the same everytime and don't want to sound repetitive ?

Any thoughts?

this is really kind of you & it means so much to me that you want to support your friend & are putting so much thought into it! my response is inherently based in my own experience to an extent & everybody’s different, but a lot if not all of this is stuff i’ve heard regularly from other chronically ill people. of course, don’t say anything you don’t mean – if some of this isn’t the case for you, just adapt accordingly :)

i understand worrying about being repetitive but i think that’s totally okay to do! for one thing, it can be difficult to remember things period when you’re ill, especially during a flare, & for another, internalized + societal ableism is a hell of a force. it never hurts to have a reminder that not everyone is trying to force ableist expectations onto you + your friendship & that someone cares about you!

i think you can definitely tell your friend pretty much what you told me! like, “hey, it’s okay if you aren’t feeling up for responding but i just wanted to check on you! not trying to pressure you to hang out or anything, i just care about you & how you’re doing”

honestly the most important + supportive thing people have ever told me is that it’s okay if the answer is “bad.” i’m literally like surprised pikachu meme every time somebody offers to let me vent about having a rough time & then it helps me just to talk about it. it’s really socially unacceptable to talk about chronic pain & a lot of people get frustrated when you’re complaining about the same thing & there’s not really anything they can do, so just the opportunity to be like “yeah shit fucking sucks right now” means a lot.

obv the appropriateness of this depends on the person & their relationship to disability but most of the time i’m very like, radical acceptance / embracing / etc about the fact that i’m probably just gonna get sicker, so sometimes when i’m having a rough time emotionally & am like “what if i’m this bad for the rest of my life” my gf (who doesn’t have chronic pain / chronic illness) will say something like “then i can’t wait to be there with you ❤️” & it’s more meaningful to me than i can begin to put into words.

again everybody’s different but for me one of the biggest things is when disability stuff just… isn’t a big deal to the other person. which, it’s totally okay for you to need support from others when someone you care about is going through a hard time & when things change! but abled people are constantly horrified about like, every aspect of my life, so being able to talk casually about symptoms & somebody mirror the mood / tone i set – laugh if i’m joking, be upset about the ableism i experience & not my body itself if i’m complaining about people being weird about it, taking things as they come – is so affirming.

other things that have been helpful + meaningful for me are friends sending me notes, stickers, & art in the mail – having something tangible can make me feel more “real” & part of the world, something i struggle with due to being homebound – & peer support around medical neglect, which often just looks like talking to someone after a doctor’s appointment & them reaffirming my reality / experiences & saying i didn’t deserve to be treated that way.

oh one other change in language i’ve made over time & probably picked up from a few other ill people in my life is a sort of realistic encouragement – there’s not necessarily anything wrong with “i hope you feel better soon!” because like, i get that the message is well-intentioned, but it can be awkward & difficult to receive when you don’t know if that’s gonna happen. instead, i try to tell people something like “i hope you get a bit of relief soon” or “i hope things are a little easier tomorrow.” a 7/10 pain day may be horrifying for most people, but when you’ve had a streak of 9s, it can be a much-needed taking the edge off, & i try to make space for that breadth of experience in my language.

i’ve answered a few similar questions before so i’ll add my “asks” & “faq” tags on my chronic illness blog in the reblogs if you want to browse! much love to you & your friend and feel free to lmk if you have any other questions 💓💓

[lilac-melody]

I was rewatching the Southern Raiders so I can re-evaluate how I can write Zuko and Katara’s dynamic and honestly, I forgot how angry this episode makes me. I forgot how angry I get when I remember how people genuinely wished harm upon Katara as a character because of her rightful frustration.

Hers and Sokka’s mother was killed, and it’s only Katara who wants closure. Because Sokka, many episodes ago (”The Runaway”), stated that whenever he thinks about his mother, he can’t remember her face, he can only think of Katara’s. This means that he was able to get over her death, because he had someone who was there who took on all of their mother’s responsibilities.

Katara, meanwhile, had no one. She, an 8 year old girl, took on the cooking, cleaning, sewing, acting as a mother to her older brother, and always looked out for everyone in the gaang by the age of 14. And when does she ever get a “thank you” or anything? Hell, in the episode “The Desert”, she’s the only one who focuses on getting everyone out. Aang is sulking (and she’s still supportive of him), Toph can’t “see” properly and is down, and Sokka is drunk off of cactus juice.

Yet Katara was treated like shit in the episode. She not once got onto Aang for taking his frustration out on anyone, yet he screamed at her “What are you doing?!” when he yelled that he was doing his best.

Also, Water Tribes have major gender roles, and it shows us explicitly that Sokka is closer to their dad than Katara is (not to say Katara doesn’t love him of course, but Katara even lets Sokka go see Hakoda while she stayed behind in Ba Sing Se) and Katara was obviously closer with her mother.

So, pray tell, why no one except Zuko supported Katara? Why did Aang compare losing an animal and losing his culture to Katara losing her mother? None of these are the same. For one, Appa was still alive, and two, a mother is something irreplaceable. Katara losing her mother is what shaped her into who she is today, and Aang got over the loss of his culture because the plot needed him to.

For all that Katara has done for the group, one would assume that they would support her. But no- Sokka told her “she was my mother too, but Aang might be right” (which, again, I point out that Sokka was able to process and get over his grief, while Katara never had a true outlet for hers. She was able to talk about it, but that’s not the same as processing grief), and Aang got all preachy, showing he didn’t trust her not to kill him, despite supposedly “loving her” and being her “best friend”.

The lack of empathy and sympathy from Aang and Sokka is honestly infuriating. And the fandom is only worse.

Did yall also forget Katara is literally 14 years old? Can you seriously tell me that you would be emotionally stable if you were 8, lost a parent you were close with, and found out you can get closure by finding that parent’s killer after they literally reshaped your entire childhood? Everyone processes trauma differently, and it’s especially hard on a teenager.

People literally have more sympathy for Sokka losing Yue, a girl he knew for, what, two days max? Than Katara losing her mother.

The Katara lost her mother memes were never funny. And the hatred for Katara specifically for this episode is really old, tiring, and hypocritical.

[eww-y-tho]

Every Single Thing I Have Ever Shipped!

Okay, let me be clear with a disclaimer that this has been throughout my entire life, and obviously, media targeted towards children that are mentioned are most definitely in the past.

I have them formatted with a small chunk of info as to why I ship/shipped them. I sorted them in order of how weird I think they are, from plain vanilla to the esoteric. I am also going to have a checkmark [✅] signifier that will indicate whether I've read fics for the ship or not.

This is a long one, so turn away while you still can, because "keep reading" will kill you unless you're actually invested, which, I don't know why you would be.

Also, this couldn't possibly be everything I have ever shipped. But it's as much as I could possibly think of.

Heartstopper

Nick Nelson/Charlie Spring ✅

I love these two, and even though I figured out most of the things about my sexuality before Heartopper graced my screen, Nick Nelson still had a very similar, albeit not identical, journey of discovery to mine, which makes me even more attached. 

Elle Argent/Tao Xu ✅

They are so adorable. I love what their relationship represents and their dynamic in the sense of their attachment to each other. Like most people, I think I got a bit frustrated on their first date scene, but it was understandable, so that’s just a small gripe I have.

Darcy Olsson/Tara Jones ✅

I already made a post talking about how I felt about the foil between Darcy and B*n, but my opinion boils down to ‘the girlboss is slaying despite her situation,’ and I think Tara is an amazing girlfriend for her and they genuinely made me cry.

Bridgerton

Colin Bridgerton/Penelope Featherington ✅

Bruh. Just look at my acc.

Supernatural

Dean Winchester/Castiel ✅

I could not be more late to Destiel and the queerbaiting was murderous, but I still love the ship. They also trigger my religious trauma sometimes but I never claimed to value my mental health, so yeah.

Samuel Winchester/Eileen Leahy ✅

C’mon, she was the only fit that I loved for Sam other than Jess. She could not be any cuter with him and I just think they’re adorable af. Another reason to hate 15x20.

Shadowhunters

Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood ✅

Are you joking? How could I watch this show and not ship it? They’ve made me straight-up sob on multiple occasions. The immortality thing does depress me, but I can live with it.

Simon Lewis/Isabelle Lightwood ✅

God, when I tell you this ship single-handedly revived my interest in the nerd/hot person trope I am not lying. They’re honestly too perfect for each other sometimes.

Lord of the Rings

Frodo Baggins/Samwise Gamgee

“Sam.” But meme aside, I was fighting tears by the end. Honestly, I love their dynamic as it is, but I could still see a romantic reading.

Aragorn/Arwen Undómiel

Fuck, they got me so invested it’s not even funny. I felt less attached to them than I could’ve been but I still loved the dynamic and rooted for them so much.

Star Wars

Anakin Skywalker/Padmé Amidala

I think everyone loves this ship as a tragedy to some degree, even if you hate the prequels. Plus Clone Wars just made me sad af all over again so they deserve a spot on the list.

Star Trek

James Kirk/Spock ✅

Okay, you got me, I never watched an ounce of Star Trek besides Spirk content. And even from a peripheral view knowing that Kirk is supposed to be a lady's man, they’re still gay beyond reason.

The Nanny

Fran Fine/Maxwell Sheffield

This show was my childhood, I think I started watching it with my family when I was under 10. Anyway, I feel like they were a slow burn done correctly. Wholesome as all hell, plus Fran is an amazing character and I love how she integrated herself into the family the right way.

C. C. Babcock/Niles

You cannot deny that the “I loathe you” kiss was perfect. They hated each other for so long, and I get the dislike of that aspect to the relationship, but they still made them believable without squashing their pre-established chemistry.

H20: Just Add Water

Cleo Sertori/Lewis McCartney

I cannot believe that Sea Change and the episode where Lewis left made me cry. I must’ve watched Sea Change like 50 million times because it was just peak cinema to me, but I couldn’t watch Lewis leaving again because it crushed my soul so violently. The moment when he came back with that sweeping camera motion made me audibly gasp and kick my legs. It was that bad. 

Rikki Chadwick/Zane Bennett

I’m really sad they didn’t work it out in the end, although I completely understand Rikki and I wouldn’t want to go back to Zayne myself. Although it did seem like Zayne was trying to make things right with her in the last episode? But Mako Mermaids didn’t show her with Zayne, so I’m inclined to believe they never made up.

Yuri On Ice

Yuri Katsuki/Victor Nikiforov ✅

When I tell you I fully screamed at the kiss scene AND the proposal, I am not lying. They were just the ship you freak out over, you know?

Yuri Plisetsky/Otabek Altin ✅

Welcome To The Madness made me open my third eye. I didn’t ship them before then, even though I did think they would be good together. 

Free!

Makoto Tachibana/Haruka Nanase ✅

This was my OTP ride-or-die for a solid year. I’m still very fond of the ship because I joined the fandom just when the war was ending so I didn’t experience a lot of toxicity.

Rei Ryugazaki/Nagisa Hazuki ✅

These two were perpetually second place, but I still adored the dynamic and was obsessed with two specific fics for ages.

Rin Matsuoka/Sousuke Yamazaki ✅

Is perpetually in third place. I’m not as invested in this ship, but a fic would get +5 points if it was a side pairing, you know? That vibe.

Kuroko No Basket

Tetsuya Kuroko/Taiga Kagami

I’ll be honest, I only like this ship by aesthetics alone, and I haven't seen enough of this show to really get into the fandom, because, you know, I dropped off of sports anime. I still like how they look, but I just don’t care about them enough.

Pirates of the Caribbean

Elizabeth Swann/Will Turner

Like, I don’t think I need to explain myself here. The sheer sexual energy present in this ship is suffocating. 

Hunger Games

Katniss Everdeen/Peeta Mallark ✅

Oh my god, where to begin? I love these two, they were my Bella and Edward if that comparison makes sense. Except for a better relationship in every single way, no biggie. Personally, that quote is a bit overused to explain their relationship, but it still made me shrivel into a prune.

Finnick Odair/Annie Cresta

The only person I would want Finnick with other than myself. They gave cute, wholesome, true love and just passed the vibe check with flying colours.

Merlin

Merlin/Arthur Pendragon ✅

Again, another ship I love even though I haven’t watched the source material. I do remember watching the ‘two hours of merthur scenes’ YouTube video a few years before I got into the fandom, so It’s been in my peripheral view for a while.

My Hero Academia

Arcane

Jayce Talis/Viktor ✅

Like- okay. They just hit different; I binge watched s2 with my sister, and the entire time, I was wondering who the mage guy was. Meanwhile, she was trying to convince me that Jayce is actually the villain because of obvious reasons, and she started being whiney when I was like, "I still don't see why." and then, when he was chatting with AU Viktor in ep 7, I had the lightbulb moment and was like "IS THAT VIKTOR?" and she TROLLED ME, she just went "nah" and I believed her like the good sister I am. Anyway, jayvik has my whole heart. THEIR SOULS ARE INTERTWINED IN THE ASTRAL PLANE.

Oof, I don’t like MHA anymore because it was just too toxic, and this ship used to be the OTP after Free!, but like, it’s fallen in the ranks super hard. 

Izuku Midoriya/Bakugo Katsuki ✅

Shōta Aizawa/Hizashi Yamada ✅

They were the subtle one that I shipped because why wouldn’t you, you know? They were beyond cute in their scenes together, and I loved the perpetual teasing.

BTS

Jeon Jeongguk/Kim Taehyung ✅

My OTP for two years after MHA, I used to be pretty crazy about them. I realized that these were people and it started to feel gross so I fell off the ship pretty quickly after that.

Kim Seokjin/Kim Namjoon ✅

Again, my youthful mind just reduced them to mom and dad and I didn’t think about it until I got more into fandom politics.

Min Yoongi/Jung Hoseok/Park Jimin ✅

I would ship them in any configuration, I liked all of them, although I did have a preference for Yoonmin.

Dan and Phil

Daniel Howell/Philip Lester ✅

DON’T KILL ME, I WAS A TWEEN. I wasn’t insane about it, but I read some fics and watched ‘Moments That Hit Different’ videos once they both came out. I know they haven’t confirmed anything, and I am respectful of that. I still watch them and I’m glad they’re in a better place now. 

DC

Batman/Joker ✅

Judging by the posts I have already made, you can tell I’m very passionate about this one. But it’s honestly more of a guilty pleasure ship than anything else. I don’t like that I like them.

Harley Quinn/Poison Ivy ✅

They’re another story. Cuties indeed. I love them. I think their relationship is very interesting although it can also cross into toxic territory.

Telltale: Batman

Bruce Wayne/John Doe ✅

I’m singling these two out because they’re just unique from the rest of the ship in a way I can’t explain. Like… If normal Batjokes yearning levels were dialled up 10x more.

Marvel

Venom/Eddie Brock ✅

It’s just a hot ship, sorry. Not to mention their really weird relationship with each other and the fact that they HAVE CHILDREN. Plus I love the cute Venom blob fanart.

Peter Parker/Wade Wilson

I just think they’re an amazing dynamic, with the whole team-up comic and subsequent moments together.

Detroit: Become Human

Simon/Markus ✅

Even if the cut romance path with Simon is just a rumour, I feel like we were robbed of some great LGBTQ representation. “Our hearts are compatible” will make my heart clench to this day.

Hank Anderson/Connor ✅

Another one I’m not too proud of, in retrospect, although I still do see some romantic tones to the relationship. But the fics were great, not gonna lie.

Kara/Luther ✅

I love them in a found family way, but I can see them being together in a hypothetical future together in Canada scenario.

Tales of Zestiria

Sorey/Mikleo ✅

Boi, another ship I feel very strongly about. Objectively, they are canon and I’m going to continue to believe they are. I love their shared dream and I think the foundation of their relationship is very precious.

Rose/Alisha ✅

Super cute. They honestly feel stronger in The X, but the DLC did also make me ship them.

She-Ra

Catra/Adora ✅

I understand the arguments against this ship, that it’s kind of toxic and all that, but I just don’t care. They literally feel like soulmates and I just vibe with this dynamic. A perfect kiss, and a great ending.

Sailor Moon

Haruka Tenou/Michiru Kaiou

I only watched the first few episodes of the original Sailor Moon and the ending with my sister for my birthday, so this is another ship that I haven’t seen. But I still love them from what I’ve been exposed to and I hate that they were reduced to friends with the English dub.

Cardcaptor Sakura

Touya Kinomoto/Yukito Tsukishiro

Again, a peripheral ship where I didn’t watch or see Cardcaptor Sakura, but I mean, they’re adorable and canon. Not much else to say about it.

Attack On Titan

Ymir/Krista Lenz ✅

Let me break this down before everyone hates me. I love Ymir and Krista. Ymir was really the push she needed to become her own person and I love that arc. But I’m also a firm believer in bisexuality existing, headcanons are fine, and that it’s okay to move on from past loves.

Eren Yeager/Historia Reiss ✅

I was kind of cringe during this era, and I did think they were endgame, which is why the ending tainted my opinion of the show overall. I fell off the show pretty shortly after the manga finished. But sometimes I will revisit these two to torture myself for some reason. I’m sure Destiel and Merthur shippers can concur.

Erwin Smith/Levi Ackerman ✅

You know, I loved the fake Ackerman lore that Eren came up with because it was an interesting literary device and at least confirmed this ship slightly. They felt very gay in a weird way.

Armin Arlert/Annie Leonhart ✅

It’s funny, I shipped them before Annie was revived and fell off the ship once they became canon. It felt really strange, but the way the relationship played out felt just contrived and fake afterward.

Haikyu!

Hinata Shoyo/Kageyama Tobio ✅

Ya’ll, symbolism at its finest. I’m not sure what happened to their relationship after watching season 3, which is when I dropped the show because I lost interest in sports anime in general.

Daichi Sawamura/Koshi Sugawara ✅

Oof, another mom and dad ship that I appreciated a lot. It was another constant +5 if it was a side pairing in a fic.

Seraph Of The End

Mikaela Hyakuya/Yuichiro Hyakuya ✅

(For anyone that’s alarmed and doesn’t know, they’re not actually related.)  They’re very frustrating for me because they are so aesthetic, and they are honestly quite close to canon. But I just think there are certain aspects to the relationships that I don’t like, like Mika’s obsessive behaviours toward Yuu. Just reminds me of Eremika.

The Betrayal Knows My Name

Sakurai Giou/Luka Crosszeria

Okay, the one thing that I actually love about this ship is the reincarnation aspect to it because it really drives home how in love they are with each other. Yuki will always love Luka even if he doesn’t remember him, and Luka will love Yuki no matter what form he takes. Very deep.

God Of War: Ragnarok

Atreus/Angrboda ✅

I don’t understand why a lot of people didn’t like this relationship. They were very cute and gave me some Rapunzel/Flynn Rider vibes, especially in the very beginning. And I can see them in a very cute, mutually supportive romance.

Last Of Us Part 1

Ellie Williams/Riley Abel

I refuse to have my adolescence destroyed by part 2 after I saw the smallest clip of Joel dying, so I’m sticking to Left Behind. I was sobbing by the end of that DLC. Also, the show handled THAT scene perfectly. Loved it.

Last Of Us Part 2

(so. I decided to bite the bullet as soon as I wrote that. and I watched a playthrough.)

Ellie Williams/Dina

Okay. Listen. I would love it if they got back together in that theory with the bracelet. But I also see a poetic parallel to Tommy and Maria. Tommy kept disrespecting Maria and putting himself in danger, and it's clear that that's the main reason for them taking a break. There might be a chance to get back together, but it would take a lotta time.

My Little Pony

Fluttershy/Discord ✅

I am shooketh at the implications of the last episode. They were my favourite ship in MLP, and I am sad to share the cringe that I watched Bride and Daughter of Discord when that was around. But the whole paper bag thing during the epilogue made me implode, I’m so happy they ended up semi-canon.

Rainbow Dash/Apple Jack

They did have many moments that left me in a chokehold when I was in my older childhood years, but I fell off MLP for a solid 5 years before hearing the rumours on the grapevine that they became canon. And they are super close, you can tell.

Undertale

Undyne/Alphys ✅

These iconic chaotic lesbians made me squeal at Undyne’s cheek kiss in the end credits. I love practically every single one of their scenes together.

RG 1/RG 2 ✅

They literally made me blush during their boss fight. Raw dude bro love that turned into something more. Something deeper.

Lightning Point

Zoey/Kiki

I’m pretty sure no one in existence knows what this show is, but lemme tell you, Zoey and Kiki just gave me the vibe of an alien couple on a little adventure that gets trapped on Earth. I don’t remember the ending, but I do remember how cute they were. 

Life Is Strange

Chloe Price/Maxine Caulfield

Despite the bad rep this ship has gotten over the years, I would still sacrifice Arcadia Bay at any opportunity. Their kiss was truly a magical moment.

Stanley Parable

Narrator/Stanley

The Not Stanley ending still breaks my heart when I watch it, and Ultra Deluxe just expanded on their relationship so well. They give “I hate to love you and love to hate you” vibes.

Ace Attorney

Phoenix Wright/Miles Edgeworth ✅

Oh come on, anyone who doesn’t ship them confuses me. They have the backstory, they have the revealed, close relationship, and everybody acknowledges the subtext. This ship feels so similar to the Destiel situation rabbit hole, honestly. And it’s also incredibly frustrating.

Little Nightmares 2

Six/Mono

Kind of crazy, considering the end of the game, but I thought that their dynamic was very poetic and tragic. Personally, I don’t think that Six was malicious when she let go of Mono, I think she just recognized Mono was The Thin Man and wanted to prevent him from becoming himself in the future.

Mario

Bowser/Luigi ✅

I love how this ship exploded so quickly and I just love the duality of the ship. It’s either very good smut or the cutest diabetes-inducing sugary fluff.

Scream

Billy Loomis/Stu Macher

Textbook queercoding. I’m sorry, that back hug still makes me shiver. They truly felt threatening and scary which is an especially difficult emotion to get from me.

60 Parsecs

Baby Bronco/Emmet Ellis

I have Markiplier’s video of his playthrough of this game to thank for me shipping them. I couldn’t stop laughing when he was like ”You were elevated, de-elevated, ascended, descended, repeatedly.” He made me ship them so quickly it was actually insane.

Sims 4

Malcolm Landgraab/Cassandra Goth

It’s a weird ship that I found from someone else, but I do love the idea of a Romeo/Juliet situation with these two. Except that they’re both rich. And Malcom is an asshole. Who cares though, that can be fixed in post with a little thing called MC Command Center.

Kim Possible

Kim Possible/Ron Stoppable ✅

This show opened my scope for multishipping. To this day, this is the only time where I ship two things at once with the same level of love. Anyway, Ron was just such a dumbass and I love them.

Kim Possible/Shego ✅

COME ON NOW. They were the first jerk of a pull start to the discovery of my sexuality. Also very cute, I love their storyline together. I find it easier to believe Shego was in love with Kim, but it’s still a very solid ship.

Ever After High

Apple White/Darling Charming ✅

I know people make a huge drama over it, but I also can’t get over the fact that Darling’s kiss breaks the curse. But even then, their small moments do make me think that the story might’ve been gearing up in that direction. I’m not sure, though.

Raven Queen/Dexter Charming

These two are miscommunication gold. And I hate it. But I love it. They are less compelling than the other ships that I enjoy from this show, but I still like them together a lot.

Rosabella Beauty/Daring Charming

I don’t know, I’m just a sucker for a good Beauty and the Beast story, plus this is the only relationship that gave Daring even a modicum of character development, in my eyes at least.

South Park

Craig Tucker/Tweek Tweak ✅

This ship is wild. Like, I love it so much, but I honestly think it came out of nowhere. Their unique energy just gives me life, the ball of stress next to a cool bean.

Thumbelina

Thumbelina/Cornelius

Ok. SO CORNELIUS' VOICE- "AND I'LL NEVER LET YOU FALL-"

Me and my mom had a moment where we were both sobbing when Thumbelina got her wings. Like everytime we watched this movie. Like 15 times. One of them last week. Yeah, this one hits different.

Sesame Street

Bert/Ernie

CLASSIC HUSBANDS. How could you not ship these literal LGBTQ icons? They say they aren’t in a sexual relationship, but does that matter? No. I love them as Bert and Ernie, two puppets in love.

Henry Stickmin Collection

Henry Stickmin/Charles Calvin ✅

I refuse to talk about the Valiant Hero ending. I’ve never seen such a strong marriage between bro and mance, and their scenes together are always fun.

Reginald Copperbottom/Right Hand Man ✅

I’m just saying that the amount at which Right Hand Man protects Reginald is sus beyond normal proportions. Also the level of trust? “Reg?” It feels absurdly gay.

West of Loathing

Player/Gary

This is one of the weirdest things I’ve ever shipped, considering one of them is just the player character. But Gary is so cute! I love him so much! Any playthroughs where they go with Gary make me so happy.

Dream Daddy

Player/Craig

Another player character, but this one tugs my heartstrings differently. I know a lot of people think Craig is the most bland. Honestly, I just think everyone else is super messy. Like I’m not about to get with the youth minister, my religious trauma did not crush me for this.

VeggieTales

Bob the Tomato/Larry the Cucumber

I actually heard this isn’t too crazy of a ship, but I swear, if you grew up as a Christian queer and watched VeggieTales, you felt the vibes. Like Bert and Ernie, tbh. But also, a scroll of the fics indicates gratuitous smut that I am not down for.

Tom and Jerry

Tom/Jerry

I love the fanart of human Tom and Jerry, but if you think about their relationship, I would say they’re almost as fucked up as Batjokes. They care about each other, but they also inadvertently or purposefully almost kill each other. Love them tho.

Magic School Bus

Carlos Ramon/Phoebe Terese

A wtf ship. But hear me out. I was a literal child and saw a very adorable relationship dynamic that made my heart squeeze. That’s it.

Clifford

Emily Elizabeth/Jetta Handover

Okay. I know what you’re thinking. “What the fuck’s wrong with you?” I know. Another wtf ship. But they were cute, no denying that. I love how Jetta’s character developed and the friendship these two managed to cultivate together. And again, I WAS A CHILD. 

Greek Mythology

Hades/Persephone

I love them. They scream love in such a unique way, and they trigger my arranged marriage turned love story guilty pleasure. Also, we love the fact that Persephone has equal authority to Hades.

Achilles/Patroclus

Have you ever seen anything as gay as these two? They are true mythological tragedy icons at their finest and are just peak masculine love.

Babylonian Mythology

Gilgamesh/Enkidu

More gay tragedy. This one actually makes me emotional, though. Who knew we could find that much of the first story known, have it be major character death and enemies to lovers, on top of being gay af?

Bible

David/Jonathan

Is it heresy? Yes. Is it assuming things? Yes. Is it benefiting from a dodgy translation? Yes. Do have any fucks to give? No. Besides, I have no respect for the Bible. They are gay.

[letmetellyouaboutmyfeels]

re the “can’t wait to see what you write next” comments, i commented that on a fic bc i also follow you here and you’ve talked about the halloween fics you’re working on, i meant to express excitement about those as well as what you’ve already written. sorry if it’s annoying!

Hello dear, your excitement isn't annoying! I love that people are excited, and that they express it.

My frustration was directed at people who were commenting on one of my very recent fics, who made it clear they were new to my writing and the fic they were commenting on is the first they've read, and they want to see what I put out next.

I'll get a little more specific than I did in my post:

I've had a flood of new readers in the last few months who have come to one fic or another from a recommendation on TikTok or Twitter. They read that one fic, and no other fic. They then say they want to see something new from me. I know all this because they tell me so (where they come from/how they found the fic, that this is the first/only fic of mine, etc).

I try to be kind and patient because I appreciate people reading any of my works, and I don't want to police readers and make them feel they owe me or tell anyone how to comment or set rules or something. But it does get frustrating that these people waited for the algorithm on their other app to present my fic to them, and then don't make any effort to check out any of my other work before making requests or asking for more. Ao3 is an archive, it won't feed you anything, and it honestly makes me scared for people and the future that these readers seem incapable of just clicking my name to look through my fic.

I will say that this is also why commenting on an author's fics are important - I've found out people are recommending my fics all over the place and not a single one of them has told me they liked it to my face. Someone could be a long time reader and I'd have no idea.

(I understand leaving comments can be nervewracking! It's just frustrating to me that people will find the words to talk so kindly about my fic but only where I can't see it.)

I'd also like to say I've seen an uptick in people apologizing for reading older fics of mine? Do you guys also apologize for reading Lord of the Rings (published in the 1950s) or Dracula (published 1897) or The Hunger Games (published 2008)? Fics are like books in that they are meant to be read and enjoyed at any time. You are never "late" to a fic and it's not weird, cringe, or upsetting to read older fics, and if that's the reason you're not reading my older work, get over yourself and go forth, read whatever you damn well please! I read some great smut from 2007 the other day. Had a fun time.

Anyway, that's what I'm talking about in this post. It's a very specific, "a meme is dead in a week," art-is-"content," algorithm-driven mindset and it's deeply concerning to me. Not for myself as a writer, although the experience is frustrating and disheartening, but for the minds of humanity.

I'm very glad you're excited for my Halloween fics and that you enjoy my work dear, thank you. I hope when I post them that they live up to expectations. ❤️

[missroserose]

13 books meme

@introvertia tagged me in this (thank you, lovely, you're such a positive influence on my reading consistency <3) So let's talk books!

1) The Last book I read:

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell. Absolutely destroyed me—90's science fiction, examining the paradoxes of faith and the difficulties of cross-culture exploration, seasoned with a hefty dose of grief and frustrated desire. Might as well have been written for me.

2) A book I recommend:

The Wicked & The Divine, by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie. A sprawling examination of the celebrity-industrial complex, cultural and individual objectification, and the dark side of fandom culture. Well worth reading through in its entirety.

3) A book that I couldn’t put down:

Starling House, by Alix E. Harrow. I'm a sucker for a fierce and driven heroine who makes things happen by sheer force of will, despite the odds being against her. Between that and the deliciously spooky atmosphere, I adored this book.

4) A book I’ve read twice (or more):

<i>Good Omens</i>, by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. Hardly an original answer on this website, but it's a classic for a reason <3

5) A book on my TBR:

Victor Lavalle's The Changeling, thanks to @introvertia's recommendation. I know nothing about it but I'm looking forward to reading it!

6) A book I’ve put down:

The War of Art, by Steven Pressfield. I know that the accepted formula for self-help books is to present your one theory and explain why it solves every problem in the known universe, and I hate it, which is probably why I don't read a lot of self-help books. Needless to say, around the time this dude claimed that Hitler wouldn't have become a mass murderer if he'd followed the book's advice, I gave up in disgust.

7) A book on my wish list:

Honestly, I don't have many? I've been enjoying reading from the library, in part because my bedroom is already showing the strain of previous book-buying sprees.

8) A favorite book from childhood:

The Woman Who Rides Like a Man, by Tamora Pierce. I read the entire Alanna series numerous times but I think this was my favorite—I really loved seeing her come into her own independence and learn a new culture (and one that accepted her unusual gender presentation).

9) A book you would give to a friend:

Again, depends strongly on the friend...but I can think of more than a few who'd enjoy the old-school gothic fairytale setting and viciously driven heroine of A. G. Slatter's All the Murmuring Bones.

10) A book of Poetry or Lyrics you own:

Hm...does the script to Hedwig and the Angry Inch count?

11) A nonfiction book you own:

The Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson—they practically issue you a copy when you move to Chicago. (In fairness, it's a cracking read.)

12) What are you currently reading:

Skin Folk, a collection of short stories by Nalo Hopkinson. I'm also rereading (or re-listening to) Mike Carey's The Devil You Know, and enjoying it rather better this time around—I think the first time I tried it, almost ten years ago, I was expecting something more along the lines of The Dresden Files and wasn't quite old enough to appreciate the more emotionally battered and worn-down middle-aged protagonist. Now, being a decade older and having lived through a global pandemic and seen rather more of just how terrible people can be to each other...I think it's more my speed. And possibly good research for if I ever get my angel noir story off the ground.

13) What are you planning on reading next?

Definitely The Changeling.

Bonus Round Shelfie?

I'm at a library right now but I might add one later!

Tagging: @klove0511, @sirsparklepants, @emiliosandozsequence, @skybound2, @ihni, @callieb, @lord-angelfish, @redmyeyes, @misschinablue, and @sea-salted-wolverine—no pressure, obviously, but I'd be interested in your answers!

[kharmii]

not sure if you have noticed but there is someone in the submas tag whacking the beehive with some mean sounding posts and honestly I think it's hilarious and I'm all in for it.

The fandom bullies need to be pushed off their high horses and brought back to reality that they are just some rude bullies on the internet harrassing people for having a different opinion on fictional characters

And honestly the person is also right: they are frustrated because Ingo in LA took a lot of the shine off the original cast of the game. It is a tragedy he's there but it's also a shame the other cast gets sidelined so much.

And the fandom makes it difficult for others to enjoy the content. It's basically that bird meme with the crow being submas fandom being so obnoxious and loud the other part of the LA fandom gets totally overshadowed.

And I say this as a submas fan. I love the twins a lot. But the fandom is on the brink of becoming unbearable. At least the loud annoying obnoxious part, I actually think the "unpopular" side is much more calm, chill and friendly. And much less in your face.

The fandom needs to get down off their high horse and become a more calm fandom again.

I didn't get along with either side of the fandom, and truth be told, I think a lot of them are the same group of cowards and hypocrites playing politics. This fandom is smaller than I thought. Recently, someone on the crazytrain tag inadvertently let me in on the spice Twitter of one of the very first antis who blocked me. The twitter has 'Proshitters DNI' on their pinned post, (hurr durr durr, get it? Pro SHITTERS. How cleever..) and yet the whole blog is full of fat furries with top surgery scars. FOR SURE that person has a blankshipping side blog FOR SURE.

Side note: I'm into men, but Rule 63 isn't bad if the female version is hot. There's nothing grosser, however, than seeing a male character made into a fat gross furry with top surgery scars and a vagina. IDC about your trans representation. That's GROSS. IDG why trans is such a prevalent social contagion when it's represented in a way that makes me throw up in my mouth a lil like, ..ew..ew..ew..ew..EWWW!!1!1 Why would you wreck him like that?!

Nobody on earth wants to see that shit unless they are into that specific fetish. I doubt even trans males want to see that shit. Hey, you want to be a real male, right? That's the ideal right? Then represent yourself as an actual male and not a gross looking morbidly obese mutilated biological female with a rank dog's head. Fandom is supposed to be escapism, so spare me your harsh, repulsive reality.

Anyway, not only does that person have a side blog, but I'll bet they were on the blankshipping tag putting the most stupid of stupidest head canons out there, like 'RICH WIDOW OMEGAVERSE INGO, YO!!' Where Omega Ingo is yeeted to Hisui, and everybody assumes his alpha (his own brother) is dead because his werewolf bite mark is fading. Everybody in Hisui is pressuring him into choosing a new mate so he can crank out a litter of ass-puppies from his bunge-womb and save Hisuian society from a population crash (Omegaverse totally isn't dog-fucking, but like all the terminology is dog-related).

Almost everybody in the blankshipping tag was into Omegaverse or general werewolf bullshit, so don't even act like you don't know what I'm referencing unless you joined this fandom last week. Other than that, it was annoying when people would use their autism to be obnoxiously antisocial (I only want 'likes' or conversations in tags), or like when people had an issue with me reposting slim beautiful bishounen twins from Asian artists off Pixiv or Twitter. People have been doing that since Tumblr began, -there are entire blogs devoted to it- and yet it only became a problem when I started doing it.

*checks* I think I found the blog this ask was referencing. It's a fun blog because it gets people talking. That and Emmet month has the fanart picking up. My drafts are packed. There's a lot I disagree with though, like how Ingo overshadows the other characters and makes them less relevant. Actually, people being into the Train Twins might make the PLA characters MORE relevant. PLA might have been a forgettable game to some people, but love for submas angst made the other characters grow on them.

Also, they complain that the PLA tags on AO3 are either full of Train Clown fics or Volo x underaged Akari. In the absence of the twins, Volo x Akari would be the ONLY thing you'd see on AO3. You'd probably see even less of the other characters. The Volo betrayal might be the most interesting part of the game for most people. -So many people got taken in by how he pretended to be your friend, tried to get Giratina to kill you, then made you feel sorry for him at the end.

That last part was a guess, btw. I've read very little of both Submas and Volo fan fiction on AO3 outside of the specific ships I'm into, and I've read very little of those too. Most fan fiction comes across as dismal and unpleasant, so I make sure not to read it. That's the responsible thing to do. If you read something in a description you don't like, then don't read it. IE: Not once have I ever clicked on an Omegaverse after holding the bridge of my nose and reading the description of what it is. It's still fun to take the piss though, like....hey maybe people would write more Adaman x Irida -or- Commander Kamado x Beni if there wasn't so much RICH WIDOW INGO MAKES A NEST TO PLANT HIS ASS-PUPPIES INTO11!!1!!!

Art credit: ばた@bataabiiru Twitter.

[constellationcrowned]

Everyone needs to read this post please and thank you!!

Rather than make a poll about this ongoing issue that's impossible to parse bc I can't see who picked what specifically I'll do this another way: Help me help you by telling me why you don't actively interact. I post and reblog plenty of content all day every day that can be sent in, utilized, etc and it's crickets from ya'll all of the time and that's frustrating af and we need to work things out.

It'd be a different situation if I never offered stuff like calls or what have you; that'd be my bad and I'd need to work on being more proactive, but I'm already doing that and it goes nowhere. I'm constantly offering to help you guys---like right now, because I know the majority of you have read a post similar to this from me and you're gonna do it again---and I mean it every single time no matter how many times I offer it but on the flip side of things you guys need to actually take me up on what I'm offering.

I'm not offering to help merely for fun, you know? I'm offering to help because I understand that this shit can be difficult, it can be hard to talk to people, hard to interact with super niche fandoms and characters, and so on, and there's nothing wrong with having trouble but after a certain point if you continuously refuse to step out of your bubble or accept someone trying to help you the fear argument kinda loses validity, at least in regards to rp related stuff. I'm extending a hand and you need to fucking grab on because chances are the thing that's stopping you---be it you need help with the characters or the lore, you need me to type the first interaction, we need to have an ooc chat about what interests us, whatever it is---can be resolved but we need to fuckin communicate. I'm already meeting all of you halfway; honestly I've been meeting you guys more than halfway for awhile now, and now you need to step up and get in here.

Now does this mean that I'm going to stop offering to help, providing opportunities to interact through calls, memes, etc? Absolutely not. That would defeat the whole purpose and, again, I love offering such things and will continue to do so because it's not only part of what I need to do as a good rp partner I also enjoy doing so, plain and simple. All that I'm asking is that my mutuals (and yes, this applies to everyone, because even those who've followed me for months or years across multiple blogs fail to engage, it's not just newer folks) be more proactive in general. If I'm offering to help you or posting a call or whatever else? Engage. Ask questions. Send a meme. Tell me you want to interact even if you don't know how and we'll figure it out together. I'm tired of constantly chasing people or pulling proverbial teeth, especially when it's completely unnecessary. Communicate and engage with enthusiasm; both on your own and when I offer, and we'll be writing together in no time. Stop getting in your own way. Stop depriving yourselves. Let's have fun and actually fuckin write together.

[chilling-seavey]

Thank you for responding.

First off, I’d like to mention the penalties. Max and Lando’s penalties were very different. Max got given a one-place-grid penalty, for a reason nobody has seen before. Lando got a penalty for something that’s common knowledge during a yellow flag. Max absolutely had the right to be upset at the FIA making up bullshit as an excuse to penalise him.

I also think Max was absolutely fine to mention what he said to the media. I wouldn’t say he’s attempting to paint George in a bad light, and rather exposing the fact he acts different behind closed doors. That’s a pretty valid thing to tell people, no? I, too, would talk out against someone I respected, if they tried to act like they didn’t care in front of the majority, but when it comes to the stewards, he switches up.

As for this part;

“Additionally, being able to have mature conversations online or interacting with other bloggers who want to discuss the implications of what happened this weekend doesn’t mean we are spreading hate.”

As someone who has been following this blog for quite some time, I find this pretty hypocritical, honestly. A recent example being the Charles/Carlos situation last race weekend. You reposted a meme in Charle’s defence— fine, do as you wish. I wouldn’t mind otherwise, but last weekend Charles’ words had very xenophobic undertones. Attacking his teammate’s language and insinuating he doesn’t understand the English language, all because he was pissed? Charles was pretty hateful last weekend, and I’d argue that spreading his words and agenda is feeding into the Carlos hate. Also to add on— I struggle to see how you are on Charles’ side on that issue, when he ran his own mouth to the media this week AND last week.

There’s also the reblog from last week, talking about how Lewis exudes energy of being a sore loser and not happy for anyone else. Arguably major George-bias from yourself, which is expected. But that’s reblogging hate, whether you meant it that way or not. You still done it.

There is a decent bit of hypocrisy on this blog, in my opinion. You have your preferences and opinions— that’s normal, that’s fine. But, when you preach about not wanting to see hate about your favourites, but proceed to hate on drivers you dislike (whether you do it intentionally or not), is extremely hypocritical.

For the penalties, I think everyone in their right mind is in agreement so I have no 'argument' here. The FIA has been in upheaval with these penalties and especially this weekend. The inconsistency drives me nuts and I'm sure the rest of us as fans agree yet alone the drivers. It seems to only be getting worse since the GPDA post too. Yeah, they all, Max included, have every right to be mad. That's not George's fault though, he's not the stewards or the FIA. All he can offer is his view and his opinion and, like we know, all these drivers are selfish mfs so he's going to be selfish about it. Max certainly has his moments with the same mindset as I'm sure every other driver has as well, whether we know of it or not.

I don't agree that Max was fine to say what he said and, honestly, that's a hill I'll die on. He could definitely express frustrations, mention disagreements, but going to the extend of 'fuck off with that' and 'I lost all respect' is very over the top.

I think there's nothing wrong with George or anyone acting differently on camera than behind closed doors. I always try to view this sport like a career...like a day at the office. The drivers being in front of the cameras is like me talking to my clients. I should be censoring myself, carrying myself politely, respectfully, maturely. I reflect the company for which I am hired. If I am super mad at my boss or a co-worker or anything, I'm not going to be bitching about it to my client. That's not right or appropriate. Hence, why George might 'appear more polite to the cameras'. He's carrying himself professionally.

On the other hand, if there is an issue between co-workers and our boss, that's where we can be more pushy, more ourselves, or whatever else. We want to fight for what we think is right; it's a private place away from our 'clients' or the public in this matter where we can do this. Of course, we don't know the extent of this specific situation because none of us were there, but I think Max laying all that out to dry on a public platform is still uncalled for. What happens in the stewards' space isn't publicized for a reason. That's their behind the scenes work. Their private discourse.

I don't see it like George being 'two faced' as Max seemed to imply and how some fans have seemed to take it. I understand it to be he composes himself professionally in front of his 'clients' to reflect the name of his company to the best of his ability, and, behind closed doors, he can fight a little more and be a bit more open and brash for what he wants to achieve. That's honestly incredibly mature of him to do.

Moving on to your next point here, I do see what you mean. I'm not going to claim myself to be a perfect person with a silly little tumblr blog that squeaky clean of faults. At the end of the day, I try my best to keep my reblogs of cruel negativity to a minimum and only try to reblog or comment statements that I feel have a solid basis.

The Lewis one, for instance, I feel has a basis. I respect Lewis as an incredible driver, one of the greatest in the sport, and outside of racing I think he's truly an amazing person. This season — since I've only been watching as of this season — I've only ever seen him act very poorly when his teammate or others do well. I find him to be very off-putting in these situations. That's not me going out of my way to say "oh Lewis SUCKS and I hate him and he should retire", that's not my intention at all, it's me agreeing that I think he has a tendency to act a bit like a sore loser. Similarly to this weekend, with the situation with Max, where I have reblogged things that mention his attitude in his interviews and how he has carried himself in a way that I don't agree with. That's not hate—at least not from my point of view—that's how I have perceived various situations. (Besides, I know George is obsessed with Lewis and is literally his #1 fan so me being George fan has nothing to do with my distaste of some of the things Lewis says or does!)

The Carlos stuff is a touchy subject, honestly, as people may know that Carlos is one of my two least favourite drivers on the grid. I have so much that I can say about him that I keep to dms with my friends because I don't want to post hate because I know a lot of people really love him and, honestly, I have better things to do than post negativity about people. That's not who I want to be.

Last weekend was a shit show, really. I do think Carlos could have carried himself differently in terms of team orders but that's his decision at the end of the day and ultimately not my call or my business. In the same breath, I do empathize with Charles' frustrations. Yes, his radio post-race was dramatic but it felt more like a direction to Carlos and the team than anything. Plus, I'm always a bit more lenient in regards to in-car radios from anyone since I know all of their adrenaline is through the roof. The Spanish comment, however, I do see your point here. Honestly, until you said it, I took it as a lighthearted joke that you might say amongst friends and I like to believe that's how Charles intended it but, again, who are we to know. We aren't him. So, okay, that is a fair point and it's why discourse like this is important because it allows us to see different point of views.

I didn't see much at all of the post-race stuff last weekend since it was 3am to me so I just went to sleep (lol) so I'm not sure what (if anything) was said by Charles post-race. Again, like I mentioned earlier, I'm always a bit more hesitant to judge what they say in the heat of the moment in car because those are adrenaline fueled strong feelings (I have had the same mindset through the whole season, especially with Max/Lando radio battles and things of the sort, and even some strange things George has come on the radio to say! Just because he's my favourite doens't make him 'perfect'). So, I'm not sure if Charles continued anything in the post-race interviews that was along the same lines or if it was more of his 'it was disappointing, we'll talk as a team' excuse to simply pacify the interviewers and get away.

Like I mentioned in my last reply too, my post about not wanting to see 'hate' is that of posts stemmed from pure unbridled slander that is cruel towards their person, their career, or anything of the sort to extreme amounts where it almost comes across as completely made up just to suit someone's own agenda. I still stand with my idea that I try my best to not reblog things of that sort. As mentioned above, there will sometimes be the odd thing I agree with in my own post-race feelings that I reblog but I always try to make sure that what I'm expressing through my reblogs has at least a basis of "fact" (for lack of a better word). i.e. Lewis acting like a sore loser after some races that I have in fact seen multiple instances of, or Max speaking in an interview in a way that speaks poorly of his counterparts that I don't agree with.

I appreciate you wanting to have this discussion and I am always willing to have such discussions where needed. At the same time, it's important to remember that I am still a random fan who runs a tumblr blog and I'm not going to be able to get everything right 100% of the time. If someone doesn't agree with what I post or you just don't like me for whatever reason that's your own to have, there is absolutely no harm in unfollowing or blocking. It's not personal and I understand that. I try my best to stay true to myself and to keep this blog a safe space regardless of who your favourite drivers are. Yes, sometimes I may reblog out of high emotions here or there, nevertheless I do try. I really do try.

[simply-trash5]

What's up? Sorry in advance since this is gonna be kinda long. If it isn't too much trouble, could I please get a Trigun Stampede matchup? multiple characters are okay, if you think it's fitting or necessary.

I'm 21, non-binary pansexual/romantic, and polyamorous (no preference for gender)

General personality stuff:

MBTI is INFP

Ennegram types 2, 4 and 8

Zodiac Taurus sun, pieces moon and rising

Not sure if appearance matters but- 5'3, chubby and kinda muscular, lots of scars on arms, chest, and legs. Fashion consists of graphic tees (with puns, memes, and trippy art) and jeans or shorts. I'll wear lots of different kinds of jewelry, and don't really have a set aesthetic.

Hobbies/likes- going to the gym, roller skating, playing video games, driving, listening to music (and singing along.. Badly), smoking weed, watching TV shows and movies, hanging out with friends, drawing, Writing, reading, going to museums/amusement parks, taking care of/watching animals

Positive traits: my friends have told me that I'm smart, funny/goofy, sarcastic, polite, thoughtful, strong, patient, trusting/trustworthy, empathetic and compassionate. My friends generally come to me for advice and I've been told I'm a good listener. I also like make myself useful (doing dishes, wiping down counters, laundry, etc) I'm passionate and very excitable and it makes me pretty talkative (when I want to be). Sociability depends on my mood. Sometimes I sit back and enjoy group dynamics, other times I participate more in conversation

Negative traits: tendency to be envious. I'm very self conscious/ insecure, and indecisive because of it. Bad habit of taking stuff personally and dwelling on issues that I should let go. can get annoyed/frustrated easily, especially if I'm overstimulated. also jumpy and gullible. Communication is very important to me in all my relationships, but when I get depressed, I tend to isolate.

Diagnoses: depression, anxiety, PTSD, and ADHD

When I first meet people, I'm overly formal and will crack a few jokes, but once I'm familiar with someone, I cuss a lot and enjoy playful teasing, but I always encourage to set boundaries if they need to.

I collect a lot of stuff. I have a Ton of comfort items- my posters, stuffed animals, collectible figures, etc. I'm a big over thinker. I can be pretty independent and self sufficient (sometimes) but I'm also very very insecure and doubt myself a lot. Big on current events and media analysis. I've got lots of vocal stims and am pretty fidgety.

I show my love through acts of service and prefer words of affirmation. I enjoy doing things for my loved ones and making sure they can relax, feel safe, and be happy

I know this is pretty long, so I apologize if it's overwhelming. Please don't feel pressured to answer. Take care! 💛

First off—we honestly sound eerily similar. Like down to the mental health diagnosis’s and I’m also a Taurus sun. ☺️ so if ya wanna be friends✨✨😌

ANYWAY ON TO THE EVENT:

After careful consideration I’m putting you with both Vash and Nico!

I see you having a smoke sesh with Nico then talking with Vash about what’s going on in the world.

Both of these guys have some really awful trauma but they would both love nothing more than for you to talk with them about what’s bothering you! Vash would embrace your stimming, because let’s face it—he’s ADHD too. Nico would do everything he could to put all of your insecurities at ease by always telling you how beautiful and special you are to him.

Please shower them with love and expect it in return.

[swords-of-a-soilder]

Now I know undertale YouTube is a shit show filled with AI generated scripts and half baked conspiracy theory but one of the most L takes was that the fandom ruined sans because he's a meme

Which ok sure I can see where you're coming from, I don't agree but I get it!

But one of their arguments was "oh sans doesn't remember reset"

YES HE DOES, THAT'S LITERALLY CANNON!!

Okay maybe remember is a strong word but in his boss battle sans literally talks about how "we've been getting reports of universe fiiping left and right." whoever the fuck is included in that we aside it's proof sans is awear of the resets!!

Like out of all your arguments that's the most weak one because while you can make the argument he doesn't actually remember but rather is informed by the report that a reset has happened, that's still such a nitpick to be salty about.

And honestly its debatable he doesn't remember because there's the question of how can he tell exactly how many times you lost?

"oh he's just really good at reading faces" brother that's a stretch.. First of all that's never a thing sans anncounes like "oh I'm really good at reading faces" people just come to that conclusion because he mocks your lost by saying your face looks like the face of someone who lost [insert amount of times here] in a row

But that can just be an easy way to insult you because lord knows that strings worst than, "haha you already lost."

Like ok, maybe you can tell if someone died twice in a row from Just looking at them but odd numbers like 5 or 7 is so much more harder to tell and it makes a lot more sense that after a while he'll just stop counting.

Another thing how comes sans is the only one who knows your game stats (apart from flowely) how come sans knows when your cheating.

LIKE GUYS LISTEN I get frustration at the feeling a character is a little far from the source material but whenever people make this argument with undertale it always falls flat..

Sans is just as powerful as the fandom makes him out to be

Papyrus is annoyed by puns even if he makes a few he still dislikes them greatly

Mtt is flamboyant

Undyne is always looking for a fight

And WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT CHARA IS NOT A GOOD PERSON

Asriel literally tells you he didn't think they were a good person

"Oh but the player taught them how to kill!"

Why is killing the thing that awakens them??

The entire pacifist nor neutral route chara is no where to be seen, even after you do the pacifist route after they'll just kill everyone again.

Like you can like the character, I love chara but I'm so sick of the "chara being evil is a misrepresentation of the actual character!"

If you wanna give chara a more sad relatable story good on you, but getting anger at anything else.. ew.

The only character you could make this agurement with is Gaster but I don't even count him because WE KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IT.

Like stop I get some people have weird head Canons but if you're gonna complain about head Canons at least make sure it's not just a regular Canon.

[soybeeftacos]

Nine Years

Today is this little Netrunner blog's ninth year anniversary. Wow, times flies. I'd like to muse on the history of this blog a little here, but there's not much to say, really — it's more of an archive of my ups and downs with it, and thankfully mainly a lot of ups. When I'm not posting here much (like lately), it's because I've moved onto other things.

I honestly haven't even played the game in a bit, since around the holidays. We ran out of steam on playing card games before the holidays, at least a little bit, and I very intentionally disconnected myself from the only organized local group of guys still playing. It dawned on me that I was interested in playing with a group who wanted to organize events (casual, competitive, whatever) and with people who were interested in making their own decks. But these guys weren't that, to the point of even refusing free promo cards. It wasn't a good fit and they made me feel awkward to play with, so, well, life is too short to do that.

That's the problem with the game, as everyone knows. If you don't have a good local group of people to play with or connect with others in the community, it's hard to move forward. I have tried to reconnect with the community online, but frankly, that's gone nowhere as well. Everyone talks about how nice the Netrunner community is, but it's still extraordinarily cliquish and off-putting. I love the game, I've reached out to multiple people to play the game with online, but nothing's come of it.

So, I'm a little sad that my interest in the game is still pretty high but also there's just no time in the day to keep trying to locally organize a "dead game" or build an online playgroup when there are many other things I could be doing with myself. I've gone back to watching a lot of movies and hosting movies at the local Alamo. I've picked up other games to play with our family. I'm doing things other than optimizing my play and reading the same tired Slack memes from the same three Netrunner players over and over again.

I think the most off-putting thing is how playing online isn't much fun anymore. I got warned that I'd get banned from Jnet by the current World Champion — I got salty with him after losing to his smurf and then he hopped on his main account to threaten more severe sanctions. Yeah, that's what the site is for many now, just a good place for the elite players (read: twentysomethings with a lot of time on their hands) to smurf and clean up in games against us lesser randos.

The game is always the best when it's played in person. And the best times I've had with it have been when I was playing with paper, sitting across a table, having laughs and being frustrated in equal measure. That's what the game was designed to be, and that's what I'd love to get back to. There are a handful of players around here that will still play with me on occasion, and I'm thankful that they're still into it. I just got a new CO kit in the mail the other day and even if I'm not playing much, I hope I can organize a fun event for those guys and draw out other local players to join us.

Anyway, nine years. That's a long time! I'm thankful the game still exists and while I'm not the hugest fan of Null Signal, I'm thankful that they have put so much care and effort into the game. I'm excited to see what Rebellion Without Rehearsal might bring.

[oldmancopper]

Fall 2023 Course Evaluations - A Term

Just might be hitting my stride a bit with this 1000 level course... Only one student devoting all of their time and energy to providing excuses

What did you particularly LIKE about this course/lab? - Follows the game development process and all aspects of game development. A great intro to IMGD, with a great project - I enjoyed the research assignments that helped me discover more about what I am studying. - I liked how much experience the professor has in industry and how honest he was about what the industry is like - I liked how project focused the course was. The professor was usually a good time. - Making our game in Unity was enjoyable at times, frustrating at others, but it was overall satisfying to figure things out and see progress. - Provided a useful opportunity to learn Unity and was brutally honest about the climate around making games (though didn't really tell was what to do about, which, fair) - The subject matter was fun and the instructor did a good job explaining many practical ideas regarding the industry. - The transparency about the video game industry was good as well as the hands-on experience working with people

What did you particularly DISLIKE about this course/lab? - Honestly, nothing. The harsh reality of the game industry is a little jarring at first, and having to pickup Unity quickly is a bit rough, but the TA and professor are there for support - I did not like how long the lecture periods were without much class time dedicated for group work. I think allowing groups to connect during the lecture (maybe during a short break) could be beneficial to the students and the groups. - I just had communication issues with my group but other than that nope - The grading (based on memes) seemed silly but didn't particularly bother me - Though the professor was a good time, he did make some odd comments. The professor had us use Unity for our projects, which almost nobody had any experience with and the professor didn't teach us how to use it, he said that if we had questions to ask the TA on discord or go to the TA office hours. - Trying to figure out exactly what to do on some homework assignments was difficult. - What was taught in class was not correlated to what was the majority of the grade. Projects were 50% of the class but no C# or unity was taught in class. Students were expected to self teach or ask the SA.

Oh you sweet summer children, how the education system has failed you...

Can you suggest anything that the instructor could do to improve the quality of teaching? - Add more variety of assignments / use all of class time to teach - Exams as a way to improve attendance. I attended class regularly, but my group mates would often skip and I had a hard time reaching them outside of class. - In lectures, I would appreciate it if the specific things/examples that are talked about in class could be more clearly related to the main point/talking point - Nope - Not much honestly, it was a great class. - Possibly make lectures more accessible remotely, but the reasoning behind not doing so was explained and understandable - Teach Unity maybe, though I'm not sure time would permit.

Noted

Would you encourage a friend to take a course from this instructor? Why or why not? - Of course. This class was awesome. - Yes, it is a great introduction to the game industry. - Yes, though the lectures are quite boring, they teach important information about the industry. The project is also quite fun and gives a sense of accomplishment and pride. - Yes. If you're going into games, Unity (despite going to shit) is valuable to learn and the class is a very good introduction to the world of making games - Yes: Y______ is a chill teacher who will most likely give you all the opportunities for assignments you need, be it help or an extension. - Yes defiantly worth taking for the industry knowledge - Yup. - Yup. Good to take as you get an idea of what you are actually getting yourself into

Thank you. An excellent class. Course Evaluations MasterPost