#i did not expect to get into them because the fans i’ve seen on social media are just like

[justalittlebluetiefling]

I have started making a new playlist (something I almost always do when I find a new obsession) and it’s hard to keep making it because I’m not done with the source material yet and I am not about to search for spoilers so it’s just so much guesswork right now.

[steddieunderdogfics]

This week's writer spotlight feature is: @lexirosewrites! They have forty-four Stranger Things and forty-three Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson works on archive of our own!!

An anonymous nominator recommends the following works by lexirosewrites:

24-Hour Diner

On Thin Ice

And the Sun will Rise

Bandaids for the Heart

Waking Up In Vegas

A/B/O isn't for everyone, but Lexi writes it in a way that it IS. I've always been a fan of the trope, but Lexi writes A/B/O in a way that expands beyond the basics. They've expanded their universes to play with common A/B/O themes in ways I've never seen -- each one feels fresh and exciting. And yes, they're popular in their own right, but they have so many hidden gems!! I just adore them and the work they've done beyond the tropes and tags. They put so much work into their stories and building their community, pushing through all the fandom bullshit to bring joy to their bubble of fandom. They're easily my go-to author rec for anyone getting into steddie and/or A/B/O and they deserve all of the love!! And if you're seeing this Lexi, thank you for continuing to create and share your beautiful ideas with us. ♥ - anonymous

Below the cut, @lexirosewrites answered some questions about their writing process and some of their recommended work!

Why do you write Steddie?

I love the chemistry that Steve and Eddie have. They’re two people who make no sense together and yet they make so much sense together? They have a good mix of parental issues and they’re on opposite sides of the social spectrum, which makes for a lot of fun exploring their relationship.

What’s your favorite trope to READ?

I’m a sucker for soulmate fics. They’re my true weakness in life.

What’s your favorite trope to WRITE?

I love to write about mutual pining. I enjoy making it clear that both parties are pining and suffering under the delusion that their feelings are unrequited.

What’s your favorite Steddie fic?

This is such a hard question. I don’t read as much as I used to, but the one I reread the most is “Consummate Professional” by Eddywow for sure. It’s just a cute fic and the smut is A+ as well!

Is there a trope you’re excited to explore in a future work but haven’t yet?

I’ve worked through most of my favorite tropes at this point, but I’m excitedly planning a timeloop fic set in the omegaverse.

What is your writing process like?

It’s a bit of a mess, truthfully. I start with unorganized bullet points to brainstorm things I think will happen in the fic and slowly arrange that into a real plot with actual events and not just some loose threads of a story. Then, I just go chapter by chapter to put them in order and make changes as necessary after that.

Do you have any writing quirks?

I write omegaverse fics almost exclusively. Which I’d say probably qualifies as a quirk! I also just have a habit of writing recurring themes in many of my works. For the most part, they all have angst, lots of pining and miscommunication, and a perfectly cozy happy ending with a big bow on it.

Do you prefer posting when you’ve finished writing or on a schedule?

Oh, I hate waiting. The moment a chapter or fic is done and someone has at least skimmed it over for big issues, it gets formatted and posted. The only times I wait are for events like the Big Bang or a gift for someone’s birthday!

Which fic are you most proud of?

“Bandaids for the Heart” is the work closest to my heart because I’m a nurse and I got to use my love for nursing to write about my job and craft a whole story out of it. I’m very proud of how it turned out and the fact that I finished it despite some personal challenges along the way.

How did you get the idea for 24-Hour Diner?

I actually got an ask on tumblr with the prompt that inspired me to write it!

When writing 24-Hour Diner, what was something you didn’t expect?

I actually have a longer Mafia AU fic and I was worried they’d end up being too similar, but I enjoyed finding little ways to distinguish it as its own fic.

What inspired On Thin Ice?

I love to ice skate and a friend in my discord server was gushing about HexieWrites’ “Carve Your Name Into My Chest,” which made me want to explore my figure skating background.

What was your favorite part to write from On Thin Ice?

There’s a scene where Steve gets injured and Eddie has to carry him off the rink. Every story has at least one “that’s the scene I really want to write!” and that was the one for this fic. I love some good hurt/comfort!

Do you have a favorite scene and/or line from any of your fics?

That’s so hard to narrow down, but I’d have to say that it’s a scene from my fic “Bad Beat,” where Steddie are at prom and Eddie pulls out a granola bar from his tux pocket because he knows Steve likes them… even as Steve is fully planning on pranking him for a bet. It’s a heartbreaking scene and I think about it a lot.

Do you have any upcoming projects or fics you’d like to share/promote?

I’ve got lots of upcoming fics, but I can’t share most of the titles yet since they’re gifts! However, I have a The Greatest Showman inspired fic called “A Million Dreams” that’s getting posted in early January!

Outside of these questions, Is there anything YOU would like to add?

I’m honestly so grateful to have the support that I do for how niche most of my fics are. Most people in the Steddie community have been incredibly kind to me and I really appreciate it, even if omegaverse isn’t their cup of tea. I’m just here to have fun and make new friends!

Thank you to our author, @lexirosewrites, and our nominator! See more of @lexirosewrites' work featured on our page throughout the day!

Writer's Spotlight is every Wednesday! Want to nominate an author? You can nominate them here!

[apieceofmi]

STRANGERS… or not

Noah Sebastian x Reader

Summary: a stranger in a train that captive her heart, never seen him again… but his face was familiar, maybe that was more than just a connection, maybe she already saw him somewhere. A lot of research and… oh, yeah, she really sees his face before, her and millions of people… it's just sad that he seems so untouchable. Right?

Author’s note: Okay, so part 2 was unexpected, but It's here!! And now I have a few more ideas for this same couple and context… I think there are more coming. Anyway, hope you like it! xx

Part One (You don't have to necessarily read the first part to understand this one, it's up to you)

__________________________________________________________

Just when I thought that my chances are over, I found him. The stranger I’ve met in a train coming back from my hometown months ago, talked for hours and I left without knowing his name.

I took the same train and visit my parents more times than is good for my mental health, I sat there and wait for him, but got nothing. Then I searched in social media, everywhere I could think of, but it is so difficult to search for something - someone in this case - that you know nothing about. I have an image in my mind, the sound of a laugh, and nothing more. We shared so much that day, but as the days passed it seemed like nothing. Then, when I gave up and convinced myself that I was making it bigger than it should have been, when I accepted that it had become just a great memory, exactly how I wanted it, I found him.

Screaming in my phone, I'm not the only one that think he's a cool guy. I feel kind of stupid when I realize that he's not just an ordinary person, and that's probably why I thought I already knew him that day on the train.

Not a surprise, just me romanticizing my life again.

And maybe that is the reason why I'm doing it again, because I swear that I feel something more around this - him. In my delusion mind, you don't meet someone by chance. You don't screw up the chance you have to really know someone when you feel a special connection with them. Not like I did. Maybe that's the reason that I feel the necessity to just see him again. I don't know what I expect of this, and maybe I should just let it go, but I have friends that are delusional like me, and they support me with this crazy feeling… So, yeah, I listened to all of his band's albums and came to a show - just because it was in my city. It's not like I fight for tickets when I found out that they would be here. Not at all. 

Everything was good, and I was already feeling that coming to the show was the closure that I need to this history when my friend Anna, that came with me, grab my hand while we're exiting the venue.

“Let's wait outside. I know some fans do it, sometimes they stop to take pictures and talk to them.”

I get nervous immediately. I've already seen him, discovered who he is and for me that's enough, I don't have the courage to be in front of him again. I don't want him to think that I'm stalking him and make this role thing uncomfortable. It was supposed to be something nice, just it. Actually, it was just supposed to be a memory. Everything that happened after I left that day shouldn't have happened, I didn't say my name because I didn't want anything to happen. I'm going further than I should, I'm exceeding the limit I drew for myself. It's more than enough.

“No! We can't wait for them!” I protest, thinking in an excuse when Anna looks at me, her eyes narrow, knowing me well enough. “I have to work in the morning.”

“You can miss one rehearsal.”

“I have class tomorrow. I can't miss it, I'm the teacher.” I say, but Anna doesn't take me serious, she knows that I'm having a meltdown right now. “What if they don't even came out? We’re just going to lose time waiting here.”

Squeezing my hand, she smiles at me.

“Then at least you tried.”

So we wait, talk with some people that are waiting there too and it's cool. It's nice. But I can't stop feeling that I'm doing something wrong being here. I don't know, betraying the universe, maybe? I made my choice that day and just because I regret it now, can I just switch sides? 

Uh, no, I don't think so. 

Maybe it's supposed to be just like it was, some nice exchange in the train between strangers. Maybe it supposed for me not saying my name.

I'm almost given up and going home when I see them coming in our direction. Anna has a big smile in her face, her eyes shinning, and I almost can hear her saying - he's here! He's here! - but I just look at her and then at him approaching the others, and I freeze, taking a step back. 

There's another member of the band with him - with I know now that his name is Nicholas - and they start to talking with the little crowed waiting for them. I stay in the corner with Anna, without a clue to how to start this interaction without being a weirdo.

I'm still considering running out of here when his eyes catch me one time. Two times. A little frowning in his face in the third time. What if he doesn't remember me? 

“I know you” he says, his eyes studying mine, coming closer.

“We met at…” But I don't need to finish when his faces changes. He recognizes me. 

“Yes, I remember” he smiles. “You found me.”

I let out a small nervous breath, forcing it into a weak smile.

“It took long enough, but yes. I did found you.”

There’s a grin that won't leave his lips, and I cannot stop staring at it. 

“What's your name?” Yeah, here's the million dollars question.

I finally tell him my name, answering the question I should have answered months ago when I had the opportunity, then had to beg the universe for another chance.

“Well, I’m Noah” he says next.

“Nice to meet you.” I chuckled nervously.

I already know his name, but him saying it to me feels more legit. I think I can finally stop referring to this man in my mind as him or the stranger.

He finally has a name.

“You liked the show?” Noah asks.

“Yes! It was so great!” I rejoiced. “You guys are so talented! I was shocked when I was listening the albums, I'm just… I became a fan.”

The smile in Noah’s lips grows and the shy look in his eyes makes strange things happen in my stomach. I really hope that's not butterflies. It's like something frozen at the moment, at the same time suddenly I'm well aware of the people still around us, hoping for a little more time with the members of the band they came to see. 

Noah gives me a little embrace, catching me off guard when I hear his voice so close.

“You found me, now it's my time” he whispers in my ear.

“I follow you” I replied, the words coming out my mouth like it's an urgency. 

“Great.” he says, stepping back and giving attention to the person next to us.

I look around for Anna, who I didn't even see leaving, she's back at my side in a second.

“How it was?” she asks as we leave. 

“He said he's going to find me” I chuckle. “ I think on social media? I don't know.”

“It would be suspicious if he asked for your number in front of everyone.” She considers. “Or even invite you for, I don't know… their bus” Anna makes a funny face, giving me a side look. “I wouldn’t let you leave with him like that anyway, he’s cute and talented, but he’s still a man.”

I laugh, loving her a little more for taking care of me.

“I wouldn’t abandon you like that.” I say. “Thank you for coming with me.”

"Of course. As if I would miss the chance to help my best friend meet her train crush, who happened to be a fucking rock star." She rolls her eyes, getting into the car.

“It don't even make sense.” I let out a disbelief laugh. “Did you see how many people were there today? This is like impossible, he's famous, a celebrity, I'm not the kind of person…”

“Stop it right now.” She interrupts me. “He's a person just like you are. Yes, he's talented and is in a band that obviously is getting bigger every second, but it doesn't mean anything. He's human. You're human. It's all we need.”

“You're right, I'm thinking too much again.” I say, starting the car. “At least I tried.”

I'm already home getting ready to sleep when a notification came on my phone. A message on Instagram from an account with a peculiar profile pic. I don't make a ceremony and open it right away.

“I can't believe that I spend two hours talking with you that day and don't ask your name first thing!” 

“I swear, I'm not like this in normal situations”

“You got me nervous”

I bite my bottom lip, trying to stop myself from smiling.

“I'm sorry for not saying my name when you asked. I regret it every day since I left.” 

“Two fools”

“How did you found me? I tried to look for you but get nothing”

“Well, I'm not as popular as you”

“A video of the band randomly appeared on my timeline, I think I talked about the guy on the train so much to my friends that the algorithm took pity on me and threw it in my face.”

“For once social media did something right”

“So… You're going to stay in town or…?”

“No. We already left”

“I didn't want to expose you out there earlier, but if you get me your number, I can let you know when I'm around?”

“I'll understand if you don't want to, my life can be a little crazy sometimes.”

There's no hesitation in my answer.

“I really want to know better the guy that I met on the train three months ago and can't stop wondering about, so… Yes, If that's okay for you.”

“Great. I've searched for you in every city that we go to since that day, can't wait to properly get to know you too, stranger.”

So I sent my number.

And God, I should have known I was in trouble the moment I got that first message from him. As the days went by, I realized that I was crazy to think that Noah was untouchable just because of what he does for a living, he has become the funniest and sweetest person I know.

We're definitely not strangers anymore.

Not when we talk every day now.

Not when I learned all his favorites.

Not when I’m counting days to see Noah in person again.

[thecrispydemon]

My Personal Elm Street:What Freddy Krueger and a Nightmare on Elm Street Taught Me about Myself

TW: brief mentions of rape, and abuse

When I was a kid I wasn’t allowed to watch Horror movies, however I’ve always had a fascination with dark things. When I went to the library I often read books about macabre topics such as, ghosts, and urban legends.

I would ask my classmates, or family members about horror movies they’ve seen, because I was afraid to watch them myself. One day, I was in my third grade classroom sitting with some of the other kids, I don’t remember how we began talking about horror, but I learned about iconic figures like Micheal, Jason, Chucky, but the one that made me the most uneasy was Freddy Krueger.

I remember lying awake at night, thinking about him, the burnt face, the glove with soldered razors, but worst of all was the idea of falling asleep and never waking up. Eventually I reached a point where I was tired of being afraid. Before I fell asleep I’d imagine going to meet him. I envisioned myself walking through a forest with serpentine trees poking out of the fog. The trail lead me to some decrepit cabin, and just behind the door he’d be there. The bright, ratty red and green sweater stood out from the rotting grey wood of the cabin. I don’t remember what was said, what I do recall is that I talked to him as if he were a friend, as if he were a misunderstood soul. Of course I knew this wasn’t the case, it was more about psychological comfort. I did this until my fear of him faded, once I accomplished that, so did his presence in my life, until much later, where he impacted me in a way I didn’t expect.

I started watching horror my freshmen year of high school, since I’m slow at watching new things, I didn’t watch a Nightmare on Elm Street until my senior year. The film peaked my interest, so I decided to watch the sequels. My passion for the franchise was cemented when I watched the second film, Freddy’s Revenge.

Have you ever heard a song that gave you chills the first time you heard it? As if the notes resonated off of something deep within? That was my experience watching Freddy’s Revenge, though I didn’t get chills I still felt that deep resonance. I felt a magnetic pull towards Freddy, like a reflection in a funhouse mirror, a reflection of you, but it isn’t. For a long time I couldn’t figure out why. In the beginning I thought I was experiencing another hyper-fixation, similar to ones I’ve had in the past.

For a year I spent my time learning about the franchise, reading, watching interviews, anything I could get my hands on I consumed. Despite my passion, there was a part of me that was anxious I was doing something socially unacceptable, or that I was liking something “the wrong way”, because Freddy is insinuated to be a child predator. I had a gut feeling that what I was experiencing was more passionate than just about being a fan. I felt like he was a part of my essence. I wouldn’t describe myself as a spiritual person, but something that is ingrained in your psyche, that is apart of your being. and I was afraid what people would think if they found out. I tried to convince myself to not feel the way I did, by imposing rules upon myself. I saw videos, and comments about how it’s “problematic” to simply like Freddy, which legitimized my fears. Despite my anxiety I kept on engaging with the series because it gave me a sense of comfort, and reassurance, ironically enough.

Eventually I wanted Freddy to be my next cosplay project. I gathered all of the things I needed, and on Halloween I woke up early to begin the several hours of makeup. I set to work, layering on latex, my face slowly morphing into his. When I was finished I was overcome with euphoria. As the sun began to set trick-r-treaters made their way through the neighborhood, I stood outside handing out candy. I wasn’t seen as my usual self, instead I was treated as if I was him. There was a level of authenticity that I felt. It’s like a suppressed part of me got to finally come to the surface.

While I learned about the franchise I found the fandom, which was a huge turning point for me. I found others with a similar passion, and they all seemed like average people. My worries about enjoying a “problematic” character lifted. However this did not address all of the emotions I was experiencing, because a lot of people didn’t experience the same intimate connection with Freddy as I did.

I wasn’t completely overcome with shame, due to spending time with my thoughts I determined that I don’t have malevolent tendencies, nor was it the cause for my connection with Freddy, instead it was examining his personality, motivations, and backstory that gave me insight.

From being a product of rape Freddy was mocked and socially isolated from his peers he was passed around several orphanages until being “adopted” by an abusive alcoholic. People treated him as evil by default. All throughout his life he’s only seen cruelty and pain. My life thus far has never been nearly as tragic, but being outcasted, and socially isolated is something that deeply resonates with me. Due to having physical disabilities, being queer, not to mention having undiagnosed ADHD made social connection that much harder. Overall I just couldn’t assimilate socially in school. Since I was undiagnosed, my ADHD symptoms were perceived as me being purposely difficult, like I was bad by default and needed to be “corrected”. Over time this led me to attain a strong sense of independence, and fierce internal rage. I became more vigilant and suspicious of others, in turn it made being vulnerable difficult. Though I wasn’t abused, I see some his fears in myself such as being afraid of being vulnerable, or asking for help out of fear of being seen as “weak”. Additionally having a burning determination in our goals.

Although there are nuances between how Freddy and I perceive the world, and how we treat others. To me he not only represents my darker nature, but my passion, individualism, and tenacity. Accepting him as apart of my identity has given me the strength to take up space in the world, that I deserve to be seen, respected, and to not allow myself to be taken advantage of. Throughout my journey I was afraid that my passionate connection to Freddy said something negative about my morality, or that I was endorsing his actions, but on closer examination I realized that I’ve learned a lot about myself. It’s easy to take a dichotomous view on morality, especially when it comes to fiction. The one takeaway I want to share, is to encourage others to examine their relationship with fiction, and what connects with them, because it’s not always the hero that we learn from.

[welcome-to-green-hills]

Personally, while I think it’s a weird choice, I think a voice actor ,and actor in general is only as good as the writer, and director, I think as long as the story works, as the the powerful moments are directed and written and kept powerful and meaningful then the VA and actors will do their best. I ain’t 100% but I think a actor is only as good as the thing their acting for. If that makes sense.

I think that these asks are supposed to go together. If not, I’m sorry for the assumption. I’m reading them as if they’re supposed to be the same ask, but sent salt a different time…

Hey Hon!❤️✨

I can completely understand where you’re coming from. I do, I promise. I appreciate you sharing your thoughts with me.

The reveal did feel a bit underwhelming. Like you, I think we were expecting a little teaser of sorts. With Idris Elba, we did get the poster reveal and him actively sharing his excitement. (If you’ve ever seen him do interviews about Knuckles, you can 110% see that he loves the guy a lot). Since Keanu Reeves doesn’t have a social media outlet, I think that we were hoping for something from the main SCU Twitter account to promote it. It felt a bit odd to hear it from a Hollywood reporter, then having other entertainment news outlets confirm the authenticity.

I think that part of the divide that I’m seeing is that we didn’t have the hype of the reveal that came with it. We had a blast with Idris as “Knuckles” because he actively participated in fan engagement.

Like you, I believe that we need to wait a little bit longer before we make a final judgement call. I was very careful about that last night. We don’t have all of the details of how this will play out. I’d hate to make an assumption about something until I’m able to see the full picture. And with the announcement made, I’m sure that the SCU account will share something fun😁

For those of you who are overjoyed, I’m so happy for you! I truly am! I can’t even begin to imagine how excited you are for your dream actor to appear in SCU. “Exhilaration” isn’t a strong enough word to describe the hype that you’re creating. I’ve greatly enjoyed seeing the celebrations all over Twitter, Instagram, and here. And thank you very much for sharing your thoughts and excitement with me! Let’s be respectful of others—regardless of where they stand with their beliefs/views of the casting choice���and continue to have fun!

[wildpeachfarm]

Hi Moku!

It’s been a while. Hope you’ve been well!

I only want to say something once (and then move on) about the events that transpired yesterday on the bird app (still glad it’s deleted off of my phone though).

Dream continues to prove time and time again why he’s a better person than me, and probably 99% of CCs. I would not have forgiven this man for attempting to ruin my career and slander my name. I wouldn’t have even approached him directly; my legal team would have done it, if I were in dreams shoes.

If you were to ask me why I am a fan of Dream, I’d say it’s because he’s produces good content and it brought me closer to my brother. If you were to ask me on a deeper level, it’s because this man is kindness and empathy personified. I thought I possessed empathy, but this man has enough for the whole world. Seeing a person continue to get beat down as hard as he has by not only fellow ccs, but other fandoms, and haters of himself- watching that- makes me indescribably upset on his behalf. But seeing him continue to rise above makes me realize just how much growth I still have to do as a human. (And he’s doing all his maturing publicly; I’m just a mere fan who does all of my maturing in private.).

If you asked me on a deeper level why I’m a fan, it’s because in all the time I’ve been on the internet, I’ve never seen someone so unapologetically themselves. I’ve never met the man, but from what I’ve heard, he’s even sweeter in person. Online culture can be cringe and when your career is based off performing well online, sometimes you can get caught up in it. Dreams never strayed from who he is. He’s always been empathetic but now he’s incredibly more so because he just wants us all to be loved. And it’s more than admirable, and if I found a word that means more than that, I’d insert it.

Anyway. Enough Dream love posting, even though I could go on for all of ever.

I rarely reply on Reddit, more of a lurker on most social forum apps now. But I replied yesterday. Cause as a victim of grooming, abuse, and SA I am so exhausted from seeing all this “I know something about Person A that you don’t know but I’m not going to reveal it cause the ‘victims’ aren’t ready” bullshit. It does nothing except for piss off actual victims. Parading around potential victims and would-be abusers but never actually releasing anything makes you just as bad as the person you’re claiming is despicable. You’re showing victims you don’t care about them and would instead protect their abuser in favor of some interaction on your account. And that’s exactly the reason why some people don’t speak up.

Never in my life have I seen people go “I’m going to publicly allude to there being victims of Person A (without releasing proof) to see how the public responds” until I joined this fandom . Motherfucker, you got clowned on by everyone including one of dreams biggest ops. All you did was show victims that should they come forward, they can expect that same response. This takes away from the legitimacy of true victims and helps actual abusers (or whatever the nature of the crime is) keep getting away with being horrible people.

That is if there are any victims, and this time there weren’t. And haven’t been. And as this man quickly found out, people are still trying to spread false information to take Dream down cause they can’t handle that he’s not a despicable human who’s done criminally offensive shit. Why those people would want there to be victims explains everything about who they are as people.

To his latest statement, I’m glad this turned out positive. But again, I would not have been so kind if I was in Dreams position. This man claiming he had nothing to gain from this when his entire career is commentary makes me laugh. He absolutely had something to gain from this. Dream is still a giant creator (Twitter isn’t where his fandom is, contrary to other CCs and antis beliefs). Taking him down would make you the hero of Twitter (I’m saying Twitter cause on YT Dre keeps thriving), and riding off the George/Caiti situation, it would have been monumental (again, all true if this man wasn’t talking out of his ass). He absolutely had a million things to gain from saying what he did. You can’t convince me otherwise.

And his shock at dreams empathy is incredible.“Yeah sorry I tried to ruin your career bro. This is probably where I get sued, right?” ‘No, dude, it’s all good. I’m here to clear up any misinformation. Just want us all to get along.’ Is how I imagine that went. Incredible that not everyone possesses the same kind of malice those bad faith actors sending him that shit did. Or even himself for trying to ruin someone’s career over baseless shit sent by people who clearly have a bias against Dream.

I am once again begging people to talk to each other. I feel like everyone forgets the DM button exists on every app. And with how few people use it, it’s probably all dusty and covered in spider webs. This situation was resolved cause Dream reached out and they talked it out like the adults that they are. Amazingly, this whole situation could have been avoided if Slander or Zander or whatever the fuck his name is just talked directly to Dream first. We wouldn’t have even known more people were trying to spread shit, cause it would have already been resolved (though I’m not dumb and know people are still trying to do so. Brighton Bastards, looking at you).

I understand Dream wanting us to leave this man alone, and I will. I want no part in whatever he’s doing. He could completely change his whole approach around and suddenly be a better person, and I literally would not care. Cause I am not Dream, so I have nothing personally invested in being respectful to this man. But I’ll leave him because for my own victim hood, I couldn’t trust this man with my food never mind supporting me when I needed it.

I will not be praising him for “doing the right thing”, though I am glad he apologized both publicly and hopefully privately. Had he done the right thing before boldly making those claims, we wouldn’t be here. You don’t get to try to ruin someone’s career off of baseless shit and then backtrack when you’re corrected and expect people to praise you. Congratulations, you chose to be a decent human this one time. Now continue to do so.

To wrap this up, I am glad he apologized. I am glad he said he’d be taking a better approach to future situations should there be any (not just with Dream but with other CCs too). I am still saddened that Dream has to continuously reach out to these bad faith actors cause they don’t care to fact check things (when it’s literally their job to do so).

Dream, never change. I know the fandom says they want Nightmare to return, but your kindness is why we love you.

Zander, thanks for apologizing. Hopefully you mature from this and I don’t have to do this again-coming from the empathic part of me. From the victim side, fuck you for adding on to why it’s hard for victims to come forward.

I didn’t mean for this to get so long, but I greatly appreciate you reading it. I will be moving on now. Maybe back to Dream love posting. I like that, that makes me happy.

Hope your Sunday goes well!

-L :)

L omg hi it's been ages! Hope you're doing well ^^

and yeah this is all very true and well-said; Dream is a whole new standard for empathy and understanding in the face of harassment and misinformation and slander. I am slowly learning to understand him and I also feel like I am maturing more alongside him because I really thought I was empathetic to people before, but Dream knocks it out of the park every single time and leaves me speechless.

I agree that Zander should not be applauded for doing the normal thing and privately communicating and publicly apologizing after constantly creating issues. But I am glad it happened nonetheless because maybe this will inspire more people to chat with dream before coming out with vague shit that ALWAYS turns out to be untrue.

Another good turning point for the fandom that I hope wakes people up to just how ridiculous and convoluted things become when private communication amongst people is not promoted in the face of potential drama/controversy

[gacha-incels]

Do you think they'll get mad over this in Hoyo's new game or am I making a stretch

the one that just came out right? my friend sent me this one earlier today to post here lol I think it’s from some in universe social media

I’m not totally sure but based on the circumstances regarding what they got angry at earlier I don’t think so. in regards to why it happened before, for Genshin Impact, there is a significant amount of these male gacha players (we’ve seen this in china & SK but also to a lesser extent worldwide) who do not like that it’s an extremely successful mixed sex gacha where the male characters are designed to pander to female players. there’s been a lot posted and written on this blog and across the web about how men do not want women playing games and coming into their “playground”- we saw this most explosively in the west during the “gamergate” fiasco. You typically don’t see this happening in all-male gachas like ensemble stars because the game is marketed as “for women” to begin with, male gamers don’t see this as “their territory” that you have intruded on. I’ve seen posts by these men bemoaning the “unsexy” newer female Genshin character designs and saying “what are they doing to our game?” so you see they have this type of attitude. Genshin had a very long stretch of time where only limited male characters were released back to back which I believe ended with the character Lyney being released- this was one of the first Genshin-related Korean incel freakouts that made waves in the west because of how ridiculous it was. they didn’t like that he was sexualized in the same way female characters were sexualized, they didn’t like all the male banners, they thought he looked gay etc.

this is a similar problem they have with a lot of the Honkai Star Rail male character outfits that have boob windows which female characters will typically have, this is a huge point of contention for them, I remember seeing them absolutely seething that the free 5-star from that game was a male with more than the usual amount of skin showing, I think the screenshots might be on this blog somewhere. they have had huge meltdowns about these cleave windows it’s absolutely ridiculous to read. you can scroll earlier in this blog to the post about the “if there’s male characters in the game don’t play” movement to see more about this. The second freak out over Furina’s designer happened only when they found out a Korean woman designed her. The company was further targeted during this time because they did not take down the animations Studio Ppuri had made for them like the little pissant coward company Nexon did.

The new game doesn’t really have the same “baggage” as these other 2 and doesn’t seem to market towards a female audience as much so I don’t expect something like that to blow up, but who knows. these guys are getting bolder, people are getting extremely like idk sports-fan or kpop-fan tier heated over Wuthering Waves/Kuro Games VS Mihoyo for whatever reason, I’ve read some crazy rumors about Tencent…. lol. but that’s my best guess on how to read the situation and the recent history behind some of this

[beardedmrbean]

Nunya I feel like I’m losing my mind. Horrible acts that have been caught on tape, BY HAMAS, uploaded to the internet, once again, BY HAMAS. Syrians desperately trying to show the world that most of the videos in “Gaza” are actually videos of Syrians. Jew haters openly using slurs and hateful rhetoric about how Jews are evil and they all need to die, stated openly on social media. Evidence Jewish presence in the Middle East for centuries, corroborated by multiple countries. Non Israeli Jews being targeted, with video evidence in other countries. And yet???? I can’t even hide myself away in my usual fandom spaces to take my mind off things because apparently I share spaces with people who state that even thinking of showing sympathy for Israelis makes you evil and you should just die. Just the sheer vitriol I’ve been seeing pales to any I’ve seen before. They’re bloodthirsty and can’t even see it.

Ya this one is far more extreme than even the last one a couple years back where a family was finally evicted from a home that had been purchased by a Jewish family back when the area was still part of the Ottoman Empire, even had the old pre WW1 receipts for that one, still got a bunch of rockets fired at Israel and lots o hate crimes against Jews not in Israel.

This one though, this absolutely boggles my mind how it's gone. Sneak attack during a Jewish holiday isn't unheard of Yom Kippur war being a thing, but that was a organized attack that went after military targets, this was more like if instead of attacking the naval yard Japan just went on a bombing and shooting spree across all the Hawaiian islands they could specifically targeting civilian areas.

Then to cap it all off the international community coming round and telling the US to make a measured response to that kind of thing.

As mask off moments go, I didn't think the massacre of innocents who have zero military value, the rape, murder, and desecration of civilians that's occurred and been broadcast by the people perpetrating it could ever be met with anything other than revulsion from anyone, but instead we're getting what we've gotten.

There's the people that have been waiting in the wings for this to happen so they could go and fan the flames of the hate they've been hanging on to and watch them spread which is going to explain why some things have gone as far as they have.

Folks that may have been on the fence or fairly ignorant about the goings on there other than every once in a while they start shooting at each other for a while getting a healthy dose of lies fed to them, like the esteemed congresswoman omar retweeting that picture from the syrian gas attack on their own people and saying it's palesteinan children.

AFAIK she hasn't acknowledged the fact that she did that either.

Those girls sobbing at their school because people are chanting a chant that is a literal call to the genocide of the whole of the Jewish people (Zionists or not they want you dead) and people laughing at them.

found myself in a Catholic subreddit, where I managed to be fairly disgusted at my fellow Christians making cracks about going in and doing another military crusade to reclaim the holy land and kick out the unbelievers

Deus Vult joke is one thing, going into detail after making it is another.

Old guy that stabbed the 6 year old palestenian migrant here in the US 26 times killing him, that's been roundly condemned and is being rightly investigated as a hate crime, why no similar outrage over the infants who were murdered in Israel from these people?

What people are giving a pass to is insane,

I'm on record many times saying that criticism of Israel and its government is not inherently Antisemitic, it gets there when you apply a different stricter set of rules on them than you do other governments.

Never expected to see a 180 on that with palestine and war crimes, where people would excuse them because of who they were war criming.

Then we get people mad that Israel isn't providing electricity and water to the people that are trying to kill them, how dare they not make killing Jews easier on hamass.

It's lunacy

I'm gonna keep praying for you, and everyone really because even some of the people in gaza don't want this I imagine, gonna keep trying to push out as much verifiable information as I can and moral support I don't know, I'll just be here doin what I can from my little keyboard, whatever that is, trying to see if I can put a little balm on the wounds in the form of a smile or I don't know.

I want all the hate to stop.

I will say there's a certain irony in having the support for the Jewish state be seen as a right wing position, afaik most Jewish Americans have voted blue for a long long time, even the Zionists.

There's a few of the Jewish subreddits that have gone private, most of them by now I'd wager actually if you're over there too that might be a good refuge for you and others, this is all so pervasive I can't think of too many places that aren't going to be hit by it.

I'm sorry I can't be more help, I wish I could.

[olberic]

ranking anime i’ve watched in 2023:

as expected, here’s this year’s top 10 for how much i personally enjoyed the anime i’ve watched this year. ive watched more than this, but god i watched so many bad ones…. even number 10 sucks but everything else was worse. sad!

as always thank u gifmakers for ur service 🫡 the world would be nothing without u all

10. the legendary hero is dead! (2023)

dont watch this show. it sucks and its bad. hey. come here. hold my hand. now lets just watch and enjoy the OP ok? don't worry about the rest.

9. my daughter left the nest and returned as an s-rank adventurer (2023)

i have to admit this show charmed me. its not the best thing ive ever seen but its nice. comfy. yknow? i haven't finished it but it's enjoyable. can't rank it higher until i finish it

8. sabikui bisco (2022)

if it werent for the positively nonsensical jump in the middle of the show and the way theres just like. a lot of gaps? it’d rank higher. it’s a very cool premise for a show and i like the bisco/milo dynamic, and [SISTER] is fun as hell. it didnt wow me though overall, and while i enjoyed it i was hoping for more.

7. trigun stampede (2023)

im sorry trigun stans i simply didnt love it. i see the appeal i really do but it just didnt hook me. i really liked the animation and the storyline. im intrigued by whatever the fuck is going on with those plants and yall have said theres a tallgirl in the next season? so i’ll keep watching. i just didnt love it

6. that time i got reincarnated as a slime (2019-2021)

in contrast to #7, i can see why this show is weak HOWEVER i just enjoyed it. i like it. huge fan of how much gender the protag has. i love how they get new powers. i enjoy that it can be interpreted as an extremely bisexual show. it was well paced and the slime diaries OVA was a great addition. a lot of the characters really stuck with me too and its like. idk. one of my favourite isekais i guess

5. buddy daddies (2023)

this should rank higher. its so fun. its SO fun. its silly and it doesnt take itself seriously. i laughed in every episode. the dynamic between the guys is great. the dynamics between them and the kid is great. just a really solid show if you can stand the queerbaiting. i dont even care

4. bocchi the rock! (2022)

the bocchi side of tumblr is right this show rules. i like how real bocchi’s social anxiety feels (literally how it felt when i had it). the characters are entertaining, the show’s well done, they even have solid music (which band-based shows dont always do right!). its really funny and its really earnest and its a joy to watch

3. demon slayer: swordsmith village arc (2023)

i included the entertainment district arc in last year’s list so this arc makes the cut. im always late getting around to watch the new stuff and i dont want to read the manga but god DAMN does this show hit different. incredible fight scenes. i loved everything they did for the hashira backstories. i love whatever the fuck is up with genya. it even gave me some akaza to sustain me for the next year or whatever. ik this show gets overhyped but its normal hyped. to me.

2. frieren: beyond journey's end (2023)

oughhh frieren… ive only known this show for a few months but it means to much to me… i dont even wanna talk about it because its so good i just wanna watch it again. go watch frieren if you havent already its anime of the decade. to me

1. gundam: the witch from mercury (2022-2023)

ive never seen a gundam before but i will be watched them after this! what can be said about it that hasnt already been said on this site. the romance storyline is impeccable, the fights are awesome, the moral questions it posed were excellently covered. by the end of the first episode i was speechless. by the end of the last episode i'd cried like 4 times over the course of the show. this thing made me cry to happy birthday. what the fuck

[chicken-delight]

 god it so fucked up that I can’t just record a audio post of me talking and post it here but my thoughts are too intense to have to think about it and then type it out so I’m just saying it into my voice text thingy on my phone.

 people who complain about Bob Dylan‘s concerts being lame don’t get Bob Dylan. I was talking about this to one of my buddies a couple weeks ago and I was saying like something something something Bob Dylan live something something something and he was like yeah but have you seen Bob Dylan live before and I was like yeah twice and it was great. I loved it and he said oh really? and I was like yeah… I know people are haters, but Bob Dylan has never promised his fans the show that they expect to see. He’s always doing the opposite of what people expect him to do. He’s never gonna play the hits. Shows for him are like the ultimate artistic expression for. It doesn’t matter if you like it. you are the one who paid to see him right. And I understand like some artists, do feel the need to give the crowd what they want because they did pay for it and that is just on a basis by basis sort of deal. I personally don’t care what their outlook on it is. They are the artist and you are the spectator. there’s a certain power dynamic in that and the artist always wins. Great art has never been made by doing what the spectator wants to see, here, experience, etc..

 yeah, maybe his voice is gone. But he’s in his fucking 80s. Like what the fuck. You’re asking too much of him. Also Rough and Rowdy Ways is one of the greatest Bob Dylan albums. The sound is great. The band he has is great. The songwriting is superb, and the voice that he has now fits perfectly with the music. He is making right now. And I think it is so fun to watch him bang on the piano and for his band to just be tight and know what they’re doing. and I love how he would come out from behind the piano after every song and pose and then go back and play another song. i saw a man comfortable with what he is doing. and thats what matters.

And now that I’m just on a roll, I feel as though people who dislike Bob Dylan have a superiority complex about it even though they think that Bob Dylan fans have a superiority complex about liking Bob Dylan. every person, at least of my generation that I’ve talk to who is into him has a very personal complicated relationship with his music. It’s not just easy listening. And yeah, Boomers just like Bob Dylan because he’s Bob Dylan sometimes and dont think about it. But I feel like anyone l who goes after a Popular artistp like this just is doing it to make themselves feel cool and different. And they said that it doesn’t make them feel: different but it does. And I understand that and I think everybody has one artist that they are like I don’t get it. I’m just on another level. Like Taylor Swift. also I don’t give a fuck. There are so many layers to this artist as there is to any artist, but especially Bob Dylan where you can’t listen to one album or one song etc. and decide you don’t like it forever and write it off. he has a different sound and he evolves just like every other artist. Leave some room for potential here like it doesn’t have to sit right with you in the moment but it’s, very juvenile to be like I don’t like his voice I don’t like the harmonica, but also like you don’t have to like him even if you do listen to all the fucking albums like it doesn’t matter and it shouldn’t matter stop thinking about it. and I know everyone was talking about whoever it was who was comparing Bruce to Bob Dylan. And I don’t even care if Bruce would think that that’s a lame opinion to think he’s better than Bob. It’s never fair to compare artists to artists,  the only arena where you can do that is, if you’re joking or if it’s a lighthearted conversation. I think the world we live in right now with social media, and Paris social relationships has sort of stripped away the sacredness of the art someone makes, and then decides to put out into the world. it’s so deeply entangled with their being even if it’s a silly song or even if it’s not autobiographical. Art comes from the deepest part of your soul. You wouldn’t want to compare souls. Anyways. This took up my entire 30 minute lunch break. I have to pee.

[saltwatersweets]

How did you get into dsmp, when did it start, who are your favs, who do you dislike, any hot takes, what did you think of the finale, what species do you hc the characters

1. i started watching dreams content early april 2020, at a little before 3 mil subscribers! i started watching dteam clips not too long after and so knew about the dream smp’s existence early early on, before there was lore. however i only used youtube at the time and didn’t even know there was lore at all until i saw sad-ist’s first dsmp animation (i have been a fan of hers since i was around twelve or thirteen; its funny that the dsmp introduced a lot of people to sad-ist but for me sad-ist introduced me to the dsmp!) a couple months later when lore started really picking up i started posting more about it on social media.

2. i think youre asking for fave characters, in which case im pretty basic. top five are likely gonna have to be 1) c!dream, 2) c!quackity, 3) c!sam, 4) c!tommy, and then i’d say c!techno, c!niki, and c!tubbo are all tied for fifth!

3. i wouldnt say i outright dislike any characters. i personally never really cared for c!schlatt and i especially havent really cared much for c!wilbur since like, the election arc. nothing against them personally, or fans of those characters, they just dont really interest me personally. that might change soon though!!

(this ended up being so long so more under the cut 💀)

4. i suppose my only real hot take is that again, the justification for what c!dream went through during prison arc can easily be used to justify what c!tommy went through during exile arc; i believe there are certain things that no one can deserve to go through and torture/manipulation like that are two of those things. i’ve already said that before but its really my only lore hot take i’d say i can word well (i have a lot of thoughts in my head and never have ANY idea how to word them 😭)

as for any hot takes regarding ccs, i wouldnt say i have any big ones either but they might put me in hot water with some people anyway LOL. i believe that everyone should be given chances to change for the better and that a person having bigoted views in the past because of how they were raised and no longer having them in the present is a Good Thing!! no one should be expected to be perfect for their entire lives. positive change is always good i think and it should be encouraged, for any cc and person in general. finally regarding any friendships in the dsmp that are broken now, i dont want to blame one single person in any friendship. we don’t know what fully happened behind the scenes and nor should we ever - its private.

5. this question ended up being perfect timing because i JUST caught up on the finale like two hours ago 😭 havent watched all the full streams but have seen the major clips so i could understand what happened. i was actually just about to post about it, but i loved it!! i’m a big c!discduo apologist and enjoy how it handled both their characters. c!tommy did do bad things (though that doesnt mean he deserved the bad things done to him)!! c!dream did a Lot of bad things (though that doesn’t mean HE deserved the bad things done to him)!!

i thought the way it handled their characters was pretty good for a minecraft roleplay and i find the fact that it caused so much discourse (especially about someone who from what i know wasnt even a main writer for it?) pretty stupid lmao. especially when i see tommy fans saying the finale sucked when from what i know tommy was one of the people who had a huge part in writing it?? lmao 😭 (not hating on tommy or his fans i just think its funny). i think that expecting a perfect and neat story of abuse on a MINECRAFT ROLEPLAY full of a bunch of minecraft streamers in their teens/early twenties was asking for disappointment.

i think the finale ended up being really profound especially with the irl stuff going on at the time (and what was to come in the future). how broken friendships played such a huge role on the server and just a year or so later many of the irl friendships would be broken. one thing that especially got to me was how much of a point was made that immortality wasnt right and it was important to live your life and enjoy it with the people you love while you can; that the best things are temporary because you can appreciate them. it was a natural evolution of c!dreams character of course (a necromancer who wanted his world to go back to how it used to be) but the fact that the finale streams happened only a few months after techno’s actual passing was not lost on me.

as for the final couple minutes themselves, i am a little conflicted. i would have loved the story to end with everyone keeping their memories and the idea that they’ll have to figure out how to live after doing everything theyve done; how to make peace with everyone WITH their memories. i’m not sure how season 2 would have gone but the fact is that we’ll never get a season 2 and that this is the ending we’re left with. especially how in a way c!dreams plan to “reset” the server seemed to come to fruition; i think it would have been a better ending for his and the other characters if again they had to live with their memories of what theyd done and try to move on like that. it wasnt really the type of ending that i was hoping the dsmp would have, but i think it served its purpose well. love the c!discduo being friends though!! and i also love seeing fics that take place during “season 2” and after the nuke went off, those always end up being super interesting to me.

6. any of my species headcanons are EXTREMELY basic lmao. duck hybrid c!quackity, creeper hybrid c!sam, goat hybrid c!tubbo, etc etc. i have no big headcanons i’d say - i totally see c!tommy and c!dream as both being 100% human though. i’d say thats my only real headcanon regarding hybrids and species. ive got a lot of headcanons but not too much about that specifically.

[divine-knight-hand]

My Paracosm's Tumblr Dashboard Simulator!!! ❤️‍🔥

Except none of you know my paras, nor am I going to give any context for these. *womp womp*

But, I basically saw this post and decided “Hey, lemme do that!” and then I did that.

Also, a good portion of my paras are primparas, but my fictparas will be glaringly obvious, so, yeah. If you know them, you know them. 🤷‍♀️

I spent way too long on this, lmao... Welp, enjoy! 😌

TW: some humor involving brief mentions of suicide, death, and doxxing

🔥 not-ember-blade Follow

Remind me again why our boss is asking us to make these social media accounts? Isn’t our whole thing, I dunno, subtlety?

💧 sweetest-otaku Follow

Well, with a user like that, I don’t think you’re doing very good at that, anyways… 😬

🔥 not-ember-blade Follow

Let’s not hash out the technical stuff 😅

(1,258 notes)

❤️ a-random-fan Follow

Anyone else ever think about how not-ember-blade and sweetest-otaku were born to contradict each other? Like, how do sisters with conflicting powers learn to not only co-exist, but thrive while working together? Especially when everyone expects them to tear each other apart? Truly, it’s wonderful to see…

🔥 not-ember-blade Follow

Dude, what the fuck? We’ve been past that. Find a new philosophy, Socrates- 💀

#and to everyone who still thinks me and my sister are gonna duke it out #stfu

(947 notes)

🐺 alpha-machine Follow

So, not-ember-blade… What’s the status on that date? 😏

🔥 not-ember-blade Follow

My sister had to physically restrain me from typing “kys” before lecturing me on the importance of a “respectful no”.

💧 sweetest-otaku Follow

Well, it almost worked… 😅

#also please rethink the wording of your tags #I’m not even going to repost them #they’re really vulgar…

(236 notes)

💍 iron-wife Follow

mischief-incarnate, you didn’t happen to put itching powder in alpha-machine’s closet after his latest post, did you???

🐍 mischief-incarnate Follow

Do I look like I’m only capable of mere party tricks to you? Of course not! That foul mutt has magic to thank for any discomfort he may be experiencing. Magic woven into each and every thread, in fact~

🔥 not-ember-blade Follow

Every day, I fall more and more in love with you 😩

#marriage when?

(2,479 notes)

🪞 mirror-mirror Follow

Crippling anxiety? I barely know her! (Lying)

💄 hopeless-hottie Follow

What does this mean?

💄 hopeless-hottie Follow

Hello?

💄 hopeless-hottie Follow

HELLO?!

#can someone go check if she’s okay? #I’m starting to get concerned…

(174 notes)

🔥 not-ember-blade Follow

Can y’all stop asking me if arachni-kid is my son? It’s not even true, and his aunt is starting to ask questions…

💧 sweetest-otaku Follow

One time, I saw you make him a Hot Pocket, kiss him on the forehead, and wish him luck on a test he was studying for.

🕷️ arachni-kid Follow

A test I passed, by the way! I forgot to tell you. 😅

🔥 not-ember-blade Follow

Awwwww! I knew you could do it, kiddo! I’m so proud of you! 🥹

(1,892 notes)

💄 hopelessness-hottie Follow

Look, not-ember-blade! It’s you!

🔥 not-ember-blade Follow

I’m… pi?

🔦 endangered-observer Follow

Maybe she’s saying you are what you eat? 😅

🐍 mischief-incarnate Follow

I’ve not once seen her consume this mathematical notation…

💧 sweetest-otaku Follow

You summoned all three of them and they still didn’t get it 😭

🪞 mirror-mirror Follow

That’s because they all share one brain cell 🤣

(2,437 notes)

🧹 friendly-maiden Follow

As much as I enjoy serving the new queen and princess, can I have not-ember-blade and sweet-otaku back? Please?

💧 sweetest-otaku Follow

Awww! We miss you, too! 🥺

#Please come visit sometime #okay?

(173 notes)

🪞 mirror-mirror Follow

Everyone talking about possibly making a poll to decide who the best sister is between not-ember-blade and sweetest-otaku clearly wasn’t here for the violent discourse that one poll between mischief-incarnate and thunderous-hero, and it shows… 👀

💧 sweetest-otaku Follow

Didn’t mischief-incarnate dox someone for telling people to vote against him?

🔥 not-ember-blade Follow

No, no… That was me… 😶

#but can you blame me? #the bitch had it coming #spreading that harmful propaganda

(2,347 notes)

🍳 wary-chef Follow

Just saw someone cooking without measuring their ingredients. They should lose their cooking priviliges.

🔥 not-ember-blade Follow

You rn:

💧 sweetest-otaku Follow

I was gonna tell you to stop bullying my boyfriend, but- 😭

(1,482 notes)

⚡ thunderous-hero Follow

What are these "fan cams" that people keep talking about?

💧 sweetest-otaku Follow

Oh! You mean, those edits of us? I wonder how everyone got all that footage of us...

#It's actually a little creepy #How do they do it?

(3,487 notes)

🔦 endangered-observer Follow

Who... Who sent me this song?

🔥 not-ember-blade Follow

I know I shouldn't laugh, but... HA!!!

#the whole polycule having daddy issues goes crazy

(1,450 notes)

[linktube]

no one is sending damien death threats. but the Palestinian fan is receiving them because of his actions. he should be embarrassed.

hope that person can move on from this with peace soon. he did try to patch things up in his own way at the end, and she seemed responsive to that. i wouldnt go with a public callout about this but thats just me, she had her own reasonings. i believe some content creator/comedian isnt worth troubling your hearth and mind about it in this way, but everbody has their own way of dealing with their feelings. (edit: i just learned he also blocked that fan who already accepted his messy apology. thats so maladaptive and just weird. what was the point of that conversation then? a very poorly done image management? thats icky) (some more messy maybe unrelated thoughts about nature of fans but especially his under the read more)

Him pointing out her followers were unnecessary and embarrassing (for him). He can’t be obtuse about his effect on fans anymore. You can’t just keep expecting and seeking positive feedback, and completely crumble when some people are not doing that. That’s a ticking time bomb which I was a little worried about in a while tbh. Im sure a lot of that was just the smosh fanbase, but i kinda want to say some stuff i noticed about his fans spesificly. His twitch community is so bizarrely “positivity” driven and even tho he over explains and states (something he does too much of. Really like he keeps restating things every stream. Reeks of trying to either convince yourself your followers or both of something that isn’t actually working that way. Or could be nervousness. Mixture of all. Who knows. It’s tiring to listen to tho that’s for sure lol) that’s not his goal the way he reacts and interacts with tips with messages attached completely enables this level of parasocialness where people are always getting this over simplified/generalized advice and support from him etc. one time I heard him calling his twitch streams a safe space -for him as well; that’s so profoundly stupid I had to recoil physically a little bit lol. I cannot emphasize enough how a fucking twitch stream cannot be “like a safe space” that’s bullshit. And I won’t read his intentions too much but that can totally be seen as manipulative -whether he knows this or not. Just an overal icky feelings I get from how twitch is built in general but his is definitely one of those where he is way to invested in the chat sometimes -to me. This is an illusion of a community and social interaction. I can’t see feeding this more and more, in the same way, being good for anybody. Btw everybody can partake in manipulative actions, this doesn’t have to define the whole of him. But people are free to dislike him for it, they have always been. I’m whatever about it. I’ve never liked him because I thought he was the most sweetest goodest bean with most pure intentions or some corny bullshit of that caliber lol. He is hot and can be entertaining. I enjoy his work. Some parts of him I find endearing some parts of him annoying etc. that’s about it :)

[englishbutter]

Mirage’s story trailer: analysing the narrative

Originally posted here. This is part of a series of posts/essays I’m importing over from Reddit to Tumblr, because I like them and I want to sort them so they don’t get lost in my general comment history.

General housecleaning preamble:

This was written in the 24 hours after the drop of Mirage’s story trailer on 12 June, 2023, in response to a whole lot of crap posted specifically on the subreddit and Twitter about “the story won’t be good because it’s just pandering to the old fans”. Which I don’t believe. I’ve used my narrative analysis skills to break down the trailer and have a stab at what might happen, and the TL;DR of this is, I think we’re in good hands. The impression I’m getting on the story from this two minute trailer is that we might be in for the best AC story in a good long while.

But I also want to emphasise a couple of things.

Firstly, all of this is just a guess as to what’s in store based on the information solely given in the trailer. At the point of writing this, I hadn’t seen any other information released by Ubi (and I honestly still haven’t paid much attention to it). So although my attitude towards Mirage’s story is pretty positive based off the trailer, it doesn’t guarantee that the final product will actually be good, because as we’ve known for years, Ubi are masters at the marketing game. Secondly, as was pointed out in one of the comments I recieved on the post, this breakdown doesn’t take into account acting and delivery a whole bunch. So even if my story guesses are solid and turn out to be in the right direction, if not nailing it on the head, the presentation of said drama can be ruined thorugh things like AI cutscenes, poor voice direction, etc., which the previous RPG titles are notorious for. Because I approached this breakdown as a novelist where you don’t need to worry about this stuff lol

And now, onto the post.

At first I was going to only talk about Mirage's story trailer and why it’s promising, actually, but then it spiralled into a big thing about AC’s narratives as a whole: An Analysis (Reddit post, 13 June, 2023)

Hi. Maybe you’ll remember me from hit posts like Assassin’s Creed isn't about Order vs. Chaos, or that one time I wrote a 165k book about Connor and Arno vs. Shay. Point is, I write a lot about Assassin’s Creed and its narrative, and I’m here to write more about it now that we have more information on Mirage’s story and why I think, despite so much negativity towards it, we’re going to be just fine, actually, and how we could be in for the most interesting Creed-story in a decade.

Buckle up, this is a long ‘un.

For years, we, as an online community across multiple platforms, have been talking about how “AC isn’t AC anymore”, and one of the topics that gets brought up repeatedly is the story. The narrative isn’t as good anymore; I want them to talk about the philosophy of the Creed just like they did in AC1; I want interesting characters who are themselves instead of these ‘choose your own adventure’ RPG games; etc. And it looks like, with the new drop of Mirage’s story trailer, we have what has been asked for.

Yet sadly, but unsurprisingly, I’ve seen many complaints across social media following the trailer drop saying that what we have been presented on the narrative is crap. It’s nostalgia bait. It’s just trying to trick us again. To which I say, “Huh?”

Look, I get it. I get that many people have been so burnt by the series that this response is akin to an automatic reflex to protect yourself from disappointment. I get the cynicism people are feeling because the last game’s marketing was focused on “returning to the roots” and it did not meet expectations. I get it because people want to go to the timeline where we have a game that is a direct improvement on Unity, or pulls more from Ghost of Tsushima. I get it. I have been there. I understand. I’m here to try and assure you that we seem to be in good hands for the story, at least.

I’m not going to talk about the gameplay (aside: Assassin Focus is friggin’ sick, nor is it a magic teleport à la Odyssey), or the graphics, or world design, or anything else. I’m going to leave that to people who are smarter than me in those areas, but narrative is what I’m smart in. So, let’s have a look together.

We’re going to be talking spoilers from here on out, but getting into detail about endgame Valhalla spoilers in relation to Mirage, which I will mark if you would like to remain unspoiled for that. Also, we’re going to be doing a lot of groundwork first before getting into the actual analysis of the trailer, because I need it to properly talk about the trailer in the context of the wider franchise. Thanks for your patience. I promise that, if not interesting, it’ll be worthwhile (high-five to fellow narrative nerds).

Okay!

First, we’ll go briefly back to the beginning of the series and so the game that started this giant love affair. AC1, and the Creed. I want to start here because the heart of the trailer is about Basim’s relationship to the Creed (which for now, we’ll just say is complex, further supported by what we know about him from Valhalla), and it also touches on what we the audience want and expect from explorations of the Creed, and why those expectations might not be the best approach to story.

There’s a gorgeous article I often point people towards regarding audience reception to Star Wars, written by the incredibly empathetic and smart Film Crit Hulk. The Beautiful, Ugly, and Possessive Hearts of Star Wars. Though I highly recommend reading this article, the reason I’m bringing it up now is that, in summary, it makes a deeply resonating point: we care so much for the things we love because of the way they spoke to us when we first fell in love with them. For Star Wars, it got many of us as children. Watching A New Hope for the first time might have imparted your love for Luke as a heroic Jedi Knight with his lightsabre, or the overwhelming arc of good vs. evil in the Rebels vs. the Empire, or it might be for the resonate message of hope, etc. Hulk calls this “the Core”, and the idea behind this is, it’s what drives the love for Star Wars in each individual. It’s the thing that captured your imagination about it above all else, and when that “Core” is challenged or damaged, then it makes people furious. It’s why there was such split reactions towards The Last Jedi. It’s why we’re currently in a Renaissance for the Prequel Trilogy, and why I’m expecting in ten years to see a similar resurgence of love for the Sequel Trilogy. And something similar has happened with Assassin’s Creed. We all love it for different reasons, be it its roots in historical adventure fiction, its particular flavour of a hyper-competent killer (and the and/or nature of sneak vs. battle master, which is more commonly divided by the fandom into stealth vs. combat), its gameplay functions (“classic” vs. RPG) … you see where this is going. We all have our own “Core” for AC, and Ubisoft has not been able to reconcile what I call the “classic Core” fans and the “RPG Core” fans.

Why are we talking about this again? Oh yeah, we were talking about the Creed in AC1 and how that relates to Mirage.

AC1’s focus on the Creed is praised by some to be thought provoking and driving Altaïr’s development, which is all true, but I feel many people get wrong as to why this works as it does, and ignore that for many, it did not work. See all the jokes about making Altaïr spin in circles in Al Mualim’s office as they’re waiting for him to shut up. So, in the second last bit of introduction for this essay, I want to briefly discuss character vs. plot writing.

Plot writing is where the story is being driven forward by the demands of plot. “Oh no! We have to stop the bomb from blowing the city up, and every action we shall be taking shall be focused on doing that!” The Avengers movies are good examples of this.

Character writing is when the decisions made by the characters are driving the plot. “Jane is hiding secrets from me, and so I’ll react in response to that.” This results in more drama-driven stories; stories about characters doing things because of other characters. This is stuff like Arcane (especially Arcane; my God that show is built like a Swiss clock) and House of the Dragon.

Then you have media which is a mix of both. Things like Into the Spiderverse (another Swiss clock uunf) is a mix. Miles and Peter have to go to Alchemax to steal the information on how to shut down the collider (a plot driven need, because Miles, trying to master his spider powers, has accidentally broken the USB that 1610 Peter Parker acquired to shut down the collider), but the heist goes horribly wrong because Miles is trying to help 616B Peter with Kingpin’s unexpected arrival but, again, doesn’t know how to use his powers (a character driven development).

There is not one formula that is better than the other. Different story techniques are different tools, much like how you’re not going to use a saw to hammer nails into wood. And we’ve had both kinds of writing in Assassin’s Creed before that work really well! AC2 is primarily plot-driven, Unity is primarily character driven, and AC3 is a mix of both. But Mirage’s story trailer is tickling all the right areas in my brain for a character story. We’ve established that the main conflict is within Basim’s relationship to the Creed, how it demands his unflinching loyalty to the hierarchy of the Brotherhood and yet preaches freedom at the same time.

I think people focus so specifically on “we want a good game talking about the philosophy of the Creed” because that goes back to their “Core”. It made me think, it made me care about Altaïr as a character, it made me invested in what was going on in the story. And this is great! But you also have to recognise that if you talk about just philosophy, it has the danger of steering straight into almost unwatchable/unretainable territory. Think of the scene in the second Matrix movie where Neo, Trinity, and Morpheus go to talk to the Merovingian at the restaurant. Most of that conversation was all about philosophy (causality, for those who would like the reminder), and most people found it boring to watch and didn’t remember most of it even directly after it was done. When you rewatch the scene, or you write out the dialogue and take time to analyse it, it’s really interesting! It’s thought provoking! But it’s not a good watching experience. What most people came away with from that scene was, “Did he just give that woman an orgasm via spiking her cake?” So how do you fix this? You dramatise it. And the AC1 team were successfully able to dramatise the philosophy in AC1 that it captured enough people’s imaginations to go on and spawn the other philosophical parts of AC later. Ezio’s actions in Revelations. Haytham’s conflict with Connor in AC3. Shay’s torn loyalties between duty and what is morally right in Rogue. The conflict between Arno and Germain (once you get through the … lack of presented information) in Unity.

You can argue that the philosophy about the Creed has eaten itself to nothing in the last few games. That there’s nothing left to tell after fifteen years of the same damn thing. But I disagree.

The way to make the philosophy interesting isn’t to discuss the Creed as a concept of itself, which I see a lot of these requests asking for. We’d have wrung ourselves dry of that years ago if we did that. So, how do you fix that? How do you make it interesting whilst continuing to make a video game that is financially successful? You make it about character relationships to the Creed. On a narrative level, those possibilities are endless.

And Basim’s faceted relationship to the Creed looks to be shaping up as character and philosophy coming to mix. Which leads us finally to the last bit of groundwork to get into before the trailer stuff: Basim himself.

Valhalla spoilers below.

When we’re first introduced to Basim, all seems well on the surface. He’s a powerful figure in the Brotherhood, both as an experienced killer, a worldly traveller, and a teacher. Yet there’s something off about him; maybe it’s the lingering camera shots where he’s just standing a bit too off-puttingly. For someone so high up in the Brotherhood, he too seems awfully callous about Eivor having the Order’s secrets whilst not being a member, an attitude directly contrasted to Hytham who objects to Eivor’s schooling after just having met her. Basim’s also very closed about why he and Hytham have come to Norway. Basim talks big about how they’ve come to hunt down members of the Order of Ancients, but there’s certainly a sense he’s hiding information. That his friendship with Sigurd isn’t all that it seems, and that there’s a deeper arrangement going on that we are unaware of.

That arrangement, of course, being that Basim tries to help Sigurd unlock his godhood. Again, there’s a sense that Basim is hiding something. Why would he do this? And Eivor pushes back on it, but she’s helpless as she watches Basim and Sigurd go down the path of madness together, putting not just themselves at risk, but the clan, too.

At the end of the game, the truth comes out. Basim was using Sigurd to get to Odin, who he did not realise was reborn as Eivor until the climax. Why? Basim is the reincarnation of another Norse god, Loki, blood brother to Odin. And Odin imprisoned Loki’s son Fenrir for fear of prophecy. Now Loki-become-Basim wants revenge.

Basim in Valhalla is a man who has gone beyond being tied to the Creed and will only have it in his mouth and wear it as it suits him. He is unshackled, so to speak. He is his own agent, and we’ve had to take the entire game to notice that that was what was off about him when we first met. And one of the questions we should get answers to in Mirage was how he became the way he is.

End Valhalla spoilers.

Mirage takes us back twenty years before the start of Valhalla to a younger Basim. A street thief who is suffering from hallucinations and nightmares of a “djinn” that he alone endures. On a surface pass of this, I think it looks great. The trailer has a clear narrative throughline of Basim being saved by the Hidden Ones and joining them, but soon finding out that what was sweet at first bite, a promise of freedom, has turned somewhat sour. Basim is made by other characters throughout the trailer to question both his place in the Brotherhood, what they’re doing, and what he is, a question that cannot leave him alone as he continues to be haunted by his visions.

This throughline is fascinating to look at. You have a strong premise and strong conflict, and you can start to piece together the shape of what the story is going to be about. You know how I said before the trailer gives me a strong impression that this will be a character-driven narrative? Let’s dive into that. And we’ll talk about the Creed at the same time.

What I think looks strong narratively about this is you should be able to play Mirage without knowing how Basim’s story goes in Valhalla (there is another marked section of Valhalla spoilers later, but otherwise I’ll only be talking about the content of the trailer). This is because the narrative looks contained. We’re not introduced to Basim as a “you already know who this is because it’s a prequel!” character, but instead as a new character. He is a street thief, and he sucks at it because he’s just been caught by two guards and is about to be punished by them. But then! Shock and surprise! Basim is saved by a powerful warrior. She grabs him and tells him to follow her, we have to go! Basim has no choice but to do so as she clears an escape route without trouble. She leads him up to a leap of faith spot and gracefully jumps.

Basim, on the other hand, is clumsy and doesn’t know how to do a leap of faith. Off he falls into the river below. I actually went “Ouch!” upon watching the trailer for the first time because he lands in the water on his back. Painful! And not only does it lead into a classic shot of a person being swallowed by black waters, but it’s so perfect an illustration of a character who isn’t competent in the world they're about to enter, and, of course, what that world will turn them into soon.

It can also be symbolically read as death and rebirth.

After Basim has been dragged out of the water, we then cut to a campfire and have talk of the feather ritual. I was kind of shocked to see people reacting negatively to the inclusion of this. The most common criticism I’ve seen of this scene (this isn’t including the AI animated cutscenes or what have you) is that it’s nostalgia bait! It’s one of those pieces of marketing that is trying to trick you into buying this game! I think this take is the culmination of Internet-flavoured cynicism. Maybe these critics are right and marketing is part of the reason why this scene was included in the trailer, but narratively, this scene is excellent because it starts to put down the base of where Basim’s psychology starts. After Basim, obviously by himself, has been rescued by Roshan, this cut establishes camaraderie between members of the Brotherhood. A sense of community and belonging, which is something that Basim is painfully lacking. But the other thing it does is offers Basim purpose. If he can join this Brotherhood with its close connections and rituals, and if it gives him the power to save other powerless people like Roshan saved him (not only from death, but from a life of oppression and/or scratching by), then it is an opportunity to find himself, to be part of something greater.

Because the “job” of the first part of this trailer is to mythologise the Hidden Ones in Basim’s eyes and show his radicalisation to the Creed. It’s getting him to care so much about this that he pledges himself to the Hidden Ones and to put him in a position where, once he emerges from the bubble that is Alamut, the world starts chafing against his ideals when it doesn’t offer the simple existence presented at Alamut.

Radicalisation to the cause is actually what a lot of the other Assassin stories have been about. It’s Altaïr’s story, it’s Ezio's, it’s Edward’s. Arno suffers consequences for not being radicalised to the cause (expulsion from the Brotherhood for one). And for the reverse, Shay’s story is about his slow conversion from an Assassin, to a wayward lone wolf, to a Templar. It’s about why should these people take up these causes and devote their lives to something that won’t be remembered in the history books, and why they choose to become one of endless, lashing waves throwing themselves against the breakwall.

And Basim’s radicalisation is further cemented in the trailer by Roshan directing him to strike down the Order of Ancients. “The Order has held dominion over man and their empires for centuries,” she says as she hands Basim a feather. Go forth and kill.

Something that I’ve always wanted to see in an AC game is a character’s reaction to the first time they kill someone. From the top of my head, there are two times we’ve seen this talked about in the franchise, and one of them I don’t really count. The first is Shay’s reactions to killing his Templar targets at the beginning of Rogue. He isn’t happy about it, and it’s the first crack set that ends up with his defection. But this is the one I don’t count because Shay’s issue isn’t so much with the act of killing, but with the why behind the killing. The second time is in the novelisation of AC2, when Ezio kills the city guards who come to arrest him just after he’s claimed his father’s arms and armour. Ezio is completely shell shocked when this happens. He’s just killed someone. Oh my God, he’s killed someone. That has an impact. Taking a life is no small thing, and I would like to see the weight of that addressed for once in this franchise. And I do wonder, given the theme of this trailer, if we’ll finally have this. I hope so, because it seems that it’ll tie perfectly to Basim’s arc.

Because the arc is heading in a direction that only Rogue has really touched on. That being the crash from the high. What happens when you’re no longer a believer? What happens when you look back down the path of your life and reflect on the things that you’ve done … and you’re not sure of it?

What if you’ve got buyer’s remorse for this Creed?

You want AC philosophy? Well, here you go.

The trailer then cuts to a voiceover that introduces the main character conflict on the Brotherhood’s side. “Swallow your questions. Serve without complaint,” a woman says. Her name is Nehal, and she’s Basim’s childhood street rate friend. As such, they’re close to each other. Nehal’s talking about his relationship with Roshan and seems to be ranting to him about how Roshan treats him. Maybe Basim has been venting his frustrations about his teacher to her, and this woman is trying to help him. But there are two main points here that are important – Basim is having second thoughts about the Brotherhood, he’s frustrated with them (it’s unclear at this point if he has brought this frustrations up with Roshan yet), and secondly, his relationship with Nehal is important. They’re in each other’s corners, and it might feed more conflict into Basim and Roshan.

The trailer then goes further into establishing the conflict between Basim and the Hidden Ones. “Everything you do serves the Hidden Ones. That is a strange kind of freedom.” This is said by another important character, Ali. There is tension there. Basim is obviously having doubts about his role in the Brotherhood, and it’s not helped by other people feeding into it.

This conflict of interest is further hammered on with the rawest line in the trailer. “You are not the first to walk the shadows broken. Pour your pain into the Brotherhood.” On this note: Acting! I love Basim’s expression. Honestly, he has lots of good micro-expressions in this trailer, and I adore it. In this shot-reverse-shot, you have this deep anger and frustration in him that’s barely being held back. And this frustration is so compelling because it screams to me that Basim is trying to communicate with his teacher, perhaps by telling her about the djinn, perhaps by sharing his doubts with her about things that have happened either in the plot or his street rat backstory, but he’s being rebuffed. He is not finding help here. He is still alone. That’s going to pour more fuel onto the fire for certain. Because the other emotion I read in his body language here is this painful acknowledgement that he is not going to get the help, nor the understanding from Roshan that he needs. Because pour your pain into the Brotherhood sounds an awful lot like a deflection after she and Basim have had a fight about personal torments plaguing him.

And the tragic thing is: this is good advice for a lot of people who come to the Hidden Ones. They are made up of people who have been hurt by the imbalances of society, and that is a rage you can direct back towards helpful sources. But it’s not good advice for Basim, much like Yoda saying to Anakin, “Just turn off your emotions lol,” was terrible advice.

Oooh the drama’s cooking.

Almost to the end of the trailer!

“We are messengers of justice, and not the final judges.” I’m going to have to think more on this, as I’m not sure how it relates to the trailer’s narrative throughline here right now, but I shall think on it. For now, I would say this is a calming line, a way to cool the heat the rest of the trailer has built up between Basim and the Brotherhood. We talked about radicalisation before, and this might be here to remind Basim that he needs to sit and calm down a moment before doing something stupid he’ll regret. What that might be, I’m not sure, but it might be taking action against the Brotherhood. Just a little treason.

And finally, to round this out, we come to the djinn. My God I’m so excited to see what happens with this, Ubi don’t let me down.

I talked before how I don’t think this is a Rogue situation where this questioning of the Creed is coming from Basim having moral thoughts about killing people. I think it comes from his conflict with the djinn. “He knows not what he is.”

The djinn is so interesting. I want to take a stab in the dark here about what the djinn’s narrative purpose here is as a devil on the shoulder, but I think it ties into Basim’s relationship with the Brotherhood. Basim is haunted by this terrifying shadow demon only he can see, and I’m sure if someone as powerful and confident as Roshan and the Hidden Ones came into your life talking about freedom, Basim might see it as a chance to finally escape this horrible thing in his head. To get away from the nightmares that he, tragically, has no chance of escaping. And the Creed can’t help him with that.

Valhalla spoilers once again.

In fact, the Hidden One’s work might only make the problem worse because it has been established in Valhalla that the consciousness of the reincarnated Precursors are brought about when their previous lives and their current lives come closer to each other. This was why Tyr awakened in Sigurd when Fulke cut off his arm. This is why Odin started to awaken in Eivor the more she stepped into a leadership role. And this same pattern starts awakening in Basim’s life earlier than Eivor and Sigurd’s did. Because Basim is a thief, he is a rogue, and as he becomes a Hidden One, he becomes a killer, all of which feeds into the bursting dam that is Loki’s life.

In light of this, I’m expecting that the problem of the djinn will only become worse the further we go on in the game, that we’ll be seeing it more and more until Basim is so far pulled down by it he might go to it to try and escape (“He in his madness prays for storms, and dreams that storms will bring him peace.”). Because it might end up being Roshan who is the final straw on the camel’s back. Not through any fault of her own, but because her leadership, her existence as Mentor, caps the concept of “freedom” the Hidden Ones represent. Basim can never be truly free if Roshan is there. Just like Loki could never truly be free until Odin was gone (remember from earlier, Basim is challenged by Ali asking about his “strange kind of freedom”. Freedom seems to be a massive theme of this story).

Mirage has been described by its devs as “a story of tragedy and madness”. What better way to do that than this?

End Valhalla spoilers.

“Have you not wondered at your nature?” I like how this cuts into the menacing shadowed-face shot as Basim rises, a hooded killer. Good silhouetting with the beaked hood as well! Woo! And if you’re not yet convinced about Basim’s wavering on the Creed, how much the djinn will be affecting his arc and his choices, the trailer song, How Villains Are Made by Madalen Duke, is practically screaming this theme aloud. Just look at the lyrics!

And that’s what I’ve got to say about the trailer, about AC’s narrative direction as a whole, and, for the first time in years, why I think we’ve got some good reasons to get excited about an AC story. It seems character driven, full of juicy, interpersonal conflict, and is the story of a young man who goes from a scrawny dude getting his arse kicked, to a powerful Hidden One, to someone who’s had the light beaten out of them by life, his fracturing mind, and deeply tragic circumstance. Some other bonus things from the trailer I would like to know about:

0:57, the silhouettes behind Basim in the White Room. Who are they? Also, the White Rooms once again looking awesome.

2:00, there’s a guy who comes out from behind the pulpit speaker. He seems to be Basim’s target here, as Basim only engages the hidden blade once this guy comes into view. I wonder if he’s an important target.

2:07, Basim and Nehal seem to be fleeing from Ali. Is this part of the story's conflict? Or is it only trailer editing?

2:09, a merchant looking guy backhands street thief Basim. This might be a representation of the “inciting incident” that landed Basim in his position at the beginning of the trailer. Note that how Roshan saves him in the announcement trailer vs. the story trailer take place in different locations. Same thing might be here for Basim stealing from others. (The room’s blue and orange lighting too is gorgeous.) I think that we see the djinn directly after this might be the first djinn cutscene in the game, based on Basim’s outfit.

The other thing that gives me hope that we could get this great story too is the game length. The devs have said the narrative will be about 15-20 hours, which is a fantastic length of time to explore a drama like is being promised in the trailer.

And, on top of that, if it’s relatively fun to play? I’m game.

[catsketgames]

This is more a question about creating than the games. I hope you don’t mind.

TL:DR; New potential fan artist wants to join the fun but is scared because internet How do you manage your internet safety and protect yourself when sharing art? Both your personal data and not letting sus people get to you, avoiding being harassed or doxed. Any tips?

I’ve broken an art block and started drawing some fan art through indie VNs but you do have to come off anon if you want to send a picture. (Understandable.) I also heard that on Tumblr the info in a picture you took yourself can accidentally show your location (metadata).

So because I’m a chicken I’ve recently missed two chances to submit an OC in a sick gender neutral outfit.

(Yes, this is enby uniform anon! I wanted to make an employee OC for Erebus, wearing the loose baggy culottes interpretation drawn by wormsonthebus. Also an MC for Robin, wearing the tight shorts fit from turnthepage. Maybe even have some ideas for some higher ups out of uniform.)

It sounds really paranoid. But over time I saw harassment of VN creators for having adult, taboo or ‘problematic’ content in their games even if they did nothing wrong. I have seen creators complain of creepy NSFW asks directed at the devs/artists themselves. That and other reasons have scared me off being involved in the indie VN fandoms too much, other than sending casual anon asks. But I have half baked ideas and crave validation!

At this point the solution might be creating a new dedicated blog with the asks off and learning how to properly wipe the exif data? So once I improved a bit I could feel more confident randomly gifting little bits of art.

If we’re talking Twisted Wonderland I would be Idia. Ideally the goal is to throw (pleasant, SFW, wanted and asked for!) fan art at the devs and run. Then watch from a safe distance to see how people enjoyed it. 🫥🫣

oh man. i don't really know. i'm not a good person to answer this. sometimes i just copy and paste a picture into paint tool sai and then save it myself rather than saving it to my computer then doing this and that.

i've been doing this online stuff with eyes on my work for a while, so i kind of know what to expect. when i get uncomfortable asks, i don't answer them. i try not to indulge. i think because this community has a much closer connection between fans and developers because of the necessity for their closeness, as well as the tumblr ask box, that makes it seem much rougher. when you're a developer who's super involved in their community, you sort of have an obligation to put forth how your community will act through your own actions.

the tldr for me is that: a lot of people aren't cut out for game development, especially when you're nose to nose with a community like this with little degrees of separation. i think a lot of people want for people to experience their ocs, but they aren't ready for projects in the scope they want and for the social side. that's why a lot of authors have PR teams. because shit is hard. this isn't shaming ANYONE, especially no one in particular, but it's why you hear about most beloved indie developers being radio silent.

if you ever want to send anything, people have sent links, like discord and whatever, and i've just saved and reuploaded it.

[heretherebedork]

Two points! First, I can’t fully blame a shoulder to cry on for not having a kiss considering it stars two members of the same band. Given how intense kpop member shipping can get and just the general culture of the industry I wasn’t expecting one. I also am still unclear how much say the boys had in taking the role given the abusive situation the group was in, but they seem to be happily promoting it now so that is good! I’ll give them more slack for not having a kiss than other shows, but I think it shows why casting two members of the same group may not be the best idea.

Second, the eighth sense!!!! I’m SOOO intrigued by this one and it has so much potential. I’m super excited about the longer run time and I’m hoping it’ll mean a lot more fleshing out of characters and motivations than the typical KBL. I have some predictions on what’s to come in the next couple episodes based on synopses I’ve seen and I’m interested to see exactly what’s going to go down. I’m also really intrigued by the ex girlfriend. You’re right Korea doesn’t tend to do the evil ex (but they did do the jealous classmate with a crush in light on me!), but we’ll see how far they go with it here. I’m really curious to see what she knows. Jae Won’s friends only mentioned girls when talking about him dating, but she seemed immediately jealous of Ji Hyun. It makes me wonder if Jae Won might’ve told her he likes guys while breaking up with her or something. KBL and BL in general does seem to be trending more towards having more characters who 1) are actually queer (a lot less “it’s just you”) and 2) have figured out their sexuality before the start of the story. I also think Ji Hyun’s little rainbow light in his dorm room is there for a reason as well. Anyway, I’m super excited to see where it all goes! I’m sensing a lot of angst coming our way lol.

Yeah, I understand why there isn't a kiss but I still find that it felt like a romance that needed a kiss and the story didn't work as completely as I'd like without the final kiss. I get it but I also find it a bit frustrating and I do think it speaks to the choice they made in casting and the way fans act and that... that I am not gonna talk about because it's just terrifying.

I am definitely intrigued by The Eighth Sense. It's doing a lot for me in terms of the characters and the story and the progress we're making already in terms of what we might be dealing with and what the story might be about.

I do strongly suspect that JaeWon is bi or gay and that his ex knows but she's the only one who knows... but it honestly might also be about the kind of attention he's paying to JiHyun and her own recognition of that kind of attention when it's turn to someone else so... it could go a lot of ways.

The synopsis definitely promises angst and I don't know what to expect. It feels like they're trying to walk a line between queer media and BL (which is a specific subgenre of queer romance) and that is a line that I... tread carefully with. Because I definitely like BL for what it is and the more the romance turns into a Realistic Queer Story the more I tend to struggle with the media as I consume it.

@absolutebl mentioned the idea of this ending sadly and the more realistic it gets... the more likely that is, honestly. And that scares me. Even bittersweet endings only work for me very occasionally. I like my sap and joy and unrealistic endings filled with fluff.

Yes, social commentary but also mostly fluff and tropes and sweetness.

So... I am definitely enjoying The Eighth Sense and Unintentional Love Story (just to add it here) but they are both walking lines that can change. I actually think ULS is a lot more on the BL side than Eighth Sense, tbh, but I love them both. This is a line that I like treading but then the line snaps and suddenly I am Not So Pleased.

Anyway!

I like the way KBL is going with the honest queerness in the show but I also know that my preference is for BL over more realistic queer media so... we shall see how the story goes!