#i feel like if this was in 2020 i would look at the thread and go ‘ew cringe lets shame those posters’ but now im like ‘let them cook idc’

[kdsburneraccount]

[cleolinda]

AITA for banning my husband and father in law from the delivery room due to their intensely stressful/creepy behavior during my pregnancy?

There’s a famous Reddit post from 2020 where a pregnant woman wrote that her husband and father-in-law were a little too comfortable with their certainty that she was absolutely going to die in childbirth just like her husband’s late mother. It was to the point where her FIL was insisting that she go ahead and put all her clothes into storage, because she was obviously going to die in the hospital and it would save them the grief of packing up her things afterwards. Like. It was WILD.

When I tell my husband [that she feels suspicious of her FIL], he calls me paranoid, but I feel like my FIL WANTS me to die; his whole life identity for the past 35 years has been “amazing single dad” (never dated or had close friends or even hobbies really), and it seems like he’s looking forward to being able to guide my husband through what he went through. At this point, I’d honestly be happy to never see my FIL again, and I certainly don’t want him in the delivery room, especially since he told me he was “putting [his] foot down” about me not being “allowed” to have an epidural…. My husband, in addition to backing his dad on everything, acts like my due date is my death date, and has completely pulled away from me.

The commenters (and me, honestly) were convinced that the husband and FIL were either going to kill her outright to fulfill this expectation, or just make decisions about her care that might conveniently let her die.

And then she never posted again.

Over the last four years, people have frequently mentioned that post, always leading to a thread of people saying, “Oh god, I still worry about that woman.” I did too. It became one of those famous unresolved posts that people always wondered about.

Until yesterday, when someone on r/BestOfRedditorUpdates dug up a 2022 update she had posted on a different account:

TLDR; I had a beautiful and healthy baby girl, and I divorced my ex-husband. I lived, obviously.

She writes that she put her foot down about having her own mother in the delivery room rather than her FIL (!), and she WOULD be getting an epidural. Her husband lost his shit. And in his outburst, he let slip--

I admittedly lost my temper, and told him that I wasn’t going to die- it wasn’t my fault his father’s trauma wormed it’s way into his head, and that he needed to fix it without taking it out on me. He yelled at me that he didn’t need therapy. That caught me a little off guard; I asked him why he went to his therapist and was given advice about my death if he felt he didn’t need it. His expression gave it away, and he caved not long after. It turns out there was no therapist. It was just his dad. During the times he was supposed to be at therapy, he was with his dad. I’m still fuming.

And that was when she got the fuck out.

I’ll wrap this up- I’ve got an adorable little toddler tugging at my leg atm. I’m alive, I’m happy, and I’ve got my baby in my arms. Life is good.

I truly never thought we'd see a resolution to this, and I feel like there's probably a good number of people who remember it, so I thought you might want to know.

ETA: Brilliantly, I put the link in at the top; here it is again for convenience.

[curlicuecal]

playing science telephone

Hi folks. Let's play a fun game today called "unravelling bad science communication back to its source."

Journey with me.

Saw a comment going around on a tumblr thread that "sometimes the life expectancy of autism is cited in the 30s"

That number seemed..... strange. The commenter DID go on to say that that was "situational on people being awful and not… anything autism actually does", but you know what? Still a strange number. I feel compelled to fact check.

Quick Google "autism life expectancy" pulls up quite a few websites bandying around the number 39. Which is ~technically~ within the 30s, but already higher than the tumblr factoid would suggest. But, guess what. This number still sounds strange to me.

Most of the websites presenting this factoid present themselves as official autism resources and organizations (for parents, etc), and most of them vaguely wave towards "studies."

Ex: "Above And Beyond Therapy" has a whole article on "Does Autism Affect Life Expectancy" and states:

The link implies that it will take you to the "research studies" being referenced, but it in fact takes you to another random autism resource group called.... Songbird Care?

And on that website we find the factoid again:

Ooh, look. Now they've added the word "some". The average lifespan for SOME autistic people. Which the next group erased from the fact. The message shifts further.

And we have slightly more information about the study! (Which has also shifted from "studies" to a singular "study"). And we have another link!

Wonderfully, this link actually takes us to the actual peer-reviewed 2020 study being discussed. [x]

And here, just by reading the abstract, we find the most important information of all.

This study followed a cohort of adolescent and adult autistic people across a 20 year time period. Within that time period, 6.4% of the cohort died. Within that 6.4%, the average age of death was 39 years.

So this number is VERY MUCH not the average age of death for autistic people, or even the average age of death for the cohort of autistic people in that study. It is the average age of death IF you died young and within the 20 year period of the study (n=26), and also we don't even know the average starting age of participants without digging into earlier papers, except that it was 10 or older. (If you're curious, the researchers in the study suggested reduced self-sufficiency to be among the biggest risk factors for the early mortality group.)

But the number in the study has been removed from it's context, gradually modified and spread around the web, and modified some more, until it is pretty much a nonsense number that everyone is citing from everyone else.

There ARE two other numbers that pop up semi-frequently:

One cites the life expectancy at 58. I will leave finding the context for that number as an exercise for the audience, since none of the places I saw it gave a direct citation for where they were getting it.

And then, probably the best and most relevant number floating around out there (and the least frequently cited) draws from a 2023 study of over 17,000 UK people with an autism diagnosis, across 30 years. [x] This study estimated life expectancies between 70 and 77 years, varying with sex and presence/absence of a learning disability. (As compared to the UK 80-83 average for the population as a whole.)

This is a set of numbers that makes way more sense and is backed by way better data, but isn't quite as snappy a soundbite to pass around the internet. I'm gonna pass it around anyway, because I feel bad about how many scared internet people I stumbled across while doing this search.

People on quora like "I'm autistic, can I live past 38"-- honey, YES. omg.

---

tl;dr, when someone gives you a number out of context, consider that the context is probably important

also, make an amateur fact checker's life easier and CITE YOUR SOURCES

[aftgficrec]

favourite fics featuring halloween? (thank you guys for all your work!)

Here are some spooktacular fics for you! You may notice we often point out where a fic has been recced before. If you like the theme or mood of a fic, chances are you will find more like it in the ask where it was featured. -A

previous recs:

Staff Recs Oct 2020 Halloween/Spookiness here

Staff Recs Oct 2021 - Halloween here

Staff Recs Oct 2021 - More Halloween: Costumes, Fluff & Crack here

foxes in a haunted house here

supernatural compilation here

autumnal/spooky fics here

Flavors of Fall by NikNak22 [Rated E, 146194 Words, Complete, 2022]

Previously recced here

…Neil’s not the only one with secrets in this town. Everyone seems to have something they’ve kept hidden in the dark. And as soon as one thread gets pulled, they all seem to come unraveled… Featuring second chances, making mistakes, budding relationships, and as many fall shenanigans as possible – welcome to the smalltown world of Palmetto!

tw: implied/referenced rape/noncon, tw: panic attacks, tw: homophobia, tw: violence, tw: implied/referenced child abuse, tw: self harm, tw: animal abuse

Fang and Stake by darkbluebox [Rated T, 2658 Words, Complete, 2020]

Previously recced here

For most hunters, it would have been a wet dream: his quarry beaten, bleeding, trapped and prone before him. He might as well have been holding a stake on a silver platter. If it had been any other vampire in the world, Andrew wouldn’t have hesitated to drive the splintering chunk of wood through his chest and be done with it. Unfortunately, Neil wasn’t any other vampire.

tw: blood, tw: implied/referenced abuse

swing me your bones by sundowne [Rated T, 3447 Words, Complete, 2022]

Ditched parties, neglected movies, cold cocoa.

Sugar & Spice (and everything... nice?) by Willow_bird [Rated T, 7468 Words, Complete, AFTG Exchange Fall 2020]

Previously recced here

“I’m not going as Tombo.” He’d end up looking like Where’s Waldo if he’d been a short angry bodybuilder and no one wanted that. Renee’s little smile hinted at her having a similar visual. “I think I may have something that would require few changes to what you’re wearing now and would be minimal hassle altogether.” Andrew accompanies Renee to a Halloween party, allowing his best friend to dictate his costume because he really couldn’t be paid to care. Then he gets there, and yeah, his crush is wearing the exact same costume. Feelings happen.

deadly encounters by jeanyvesmoreau [Rated T, 4012 Words, Complete, AFTG Halloween Zine 2022, Locked]

Neil, trying to avoid Halloween celebrations once again, finds his way into the dark corner of a bar. There, he meets Andrew. Or, how Neil Josten discovers vampires are real after hundreds of years he's been alive.

tw: violence, tw: blood

Cryptid Serial Killer Witch Man by attfna [Rated M, 17008 Words, Complete, 2020]

Previously recced here

Just a story about your typical, spooky cryptic and his curious gardener.

tw: scars, tw: explicit sexual content

open season by nomadicdeer (someonestolemycoffee) [Rated G, 2287 Words, Complete, 2017]

Previously recced here

Dan declares open season just before Halloween. Featuring andreil kisses, misuse of brussel sprouts, Matt in lingerie, and more.

5 times realisation struck Neil & 1 time he acted on it by alex_wh0 [Rated T, 7503 Words, Complete, AFTG Fall Exchange 2020]

Previously recced here

"Neil looked across the room at Andrew and felt a surge of affection so intense that it stuck in his throat. He wondered how someone who had rolled out of bed barely an hour ago could have the audacity to make him feel like this." or Five times Neil Josten had a realisation and one time he did something about it.

if you're just tuning in walk into the light by orphan_account [Rated T, 8824 Words, Complete, 2020]

Previously recced here

Andrew runs a small shop in Palmetto with his brother. It's monotonous. He takes care of his plants, makes tinctures, provides minimal customer service, and teases Kevin for his heart eyes over Aaron. It's boring, but it's good. And then Wymack hires someone new, and some things change.

The endless mental math required to simply survive. by melbopo [Rated T, 17400 Words, Complete, 2021]

Free booze and candy at Seth's expense for his frat's Halloween party on Friday? Say no more, Andrew will be there, mandatory costume and all. Perhaps Matt's new Exy loving stray will even occupy Kevin for the whole night so he doesn't give Andrew inane lectures about wasting talent and potential on intramural teams, leaving him to drink his free alcohol in blissful peace. Really, the simple mental math checks out in his favor on this one. ~~~~ (alternative title: Andrew Minyard and his acquaintances [that are actually his friends])

tw: homophobia

aaron's lament by nanatsuyu [Rated T, 9061 Words, Complete, AFTG Fall Exchange 2021, Locked]

Previously recced here

It's the first holiday Katelyn and Aaron have hosted in their own apartment. Katelyn thinks it'll be fun. Aaron thinks there are far too many people in his home.

An Unpleasant Surprise by justdk [Rated T, 3689 Words, Complete, 2018]

Previously recced here

Neil's visit to the haunted house is not fun. At all.

tw: panic attacks

best thing by exactly13percent_OLD (hymbeaux) [Rated M, 4117 Words, Complete, 2019]

Previously recced here

Aaron has 48 hours off. Kevin has a party to attend. They both have unanswered questions.

firsts by exactly13percent_OLD (hymbeaux) [Rated G, 6270 Words, Complete, 2019]

Previously recced here

Andrew and Neil have fostered Clara and Riley for a little over a year. It's their first Halloween. It's taken a while for both kids to become comfortable, and tonight is for them.

Say something, say yes by DeyaAmaya [Rated T, 2851 Words, Complete, 2018]

Previously recced here

'I can't leave. I need to say goodbye to your son. I can't leave like this.' Mary smiles. Andrew feels a shiver down his spine. Her lips don't move, but he can hear her voice clear as a bell. 'You're not saying goodbye to him.'

tw: major character injury

House To Haunt by moonix [Rated M, 65356 Words, Complete, 2023, Locked]

This fic is a choose your own adventure game! Follow Kevin as he explores an abandoned mansion with a Fox companion of your choice. You can discover different parts of the mansion, learn about its previous owners' history, romance Kevin's companion, collect interesting items, solve puzzles, rescue Kevin and his friends from a variety of sticky situations... and then do it all over again! !!Please make sure to read the instructions at the beginning before you start playing!!

Something Out of Nothing by Aquared46 [Rated E, 20831 Words, Complete, AFTG Fall Exchange 2024]

Fox’s Hollow had attracted tourists for decades with its haunted history and Halloween festivals. A resident for many years, Andrew doesn't believe in ghosts or hauntings, but when his workplace is being investigated by ghosthunters, he spends his early hours with a man far more intriguing and haunted than a ghost could ever be.

tw: implied/referenced self harm, tw: implied/referenced torture

it's almost halloween by reaching_my_summit [Rated T, 2677 Words, Complete, 2017]

the Foxes celebrate halloween together at Eden's. someone flirts with Andrew. Neil is not about that.

do you like scary movies? by Ominous, Stjosten [Rated T, 22519 Words, Complete, 2020]

Previously recced here

To say Andrew has never seen the benefit in the make-believe would be a lie. However, he finds less and less use for it as he grows older. He especially fails to see the benefits of anything from the horror genre; he’s made plenty of his own mistakes, has seen more than enough to terrify him in his life. He doesn’t need to rely on jump scares and idiotic protagonists. But when he meets Neil, self-proclaimed horror archivist, he finds that maybe he never gave the genre the credit it was due, and he ends up thanking the dull movies eventually… They lead him to Neil, the realest thing he’s ever known.

pumpkin heads by moonix [Rated T, 4278 Words, Complete, 2023, Locked]

Tonight is the night. Halloween, Andrew and Neil's last night working at the pumpkin patch, and the night Andrew is finally going to ask Kevin out. If only they could find Kevin... (Based on the graphic novel Pumpkin Heads, but you don't need to have read it to understand the fic.)

Andrew Minyard Loves Fall (and will fight anyone who doesn’t) by mareofthesky [Rated G, 11074 Words, Complete, 2022]

Andrew is trying to enjoy his favorite season in peace, but a certain Mystery Man keeps popping up out of nowhere. With a long string of aliases, an infuriating mouth, and striking features, he's managed to catch Andrew's attention in a way that not many can. Andrew can't seem to get the menace out of his head, but he's beginning to think he doesn't want to.

NB: author’s fall spotify playlist here

skylight by djhedy [Rated T, 5560 words, Complete, AFTG Fall Exchange 2020]

Previously recced here

neil moves to a pro team, a new apartment, in a new city, and is held up by his friends. and by a series of mysterious gifts left on his doormat.

What if We Held Hands in our Pyjama Pants by transjorts [Rated T, 9301 Words, Complete, 2021]

A very soft, autumn-themed high school au in which Andrew, Aaron and Nicky are the new kids and Neil accidentally catches feelings.

tw: dysphoria, tw: transphobia, tw: implied/referenced child abuse

Art

aftghalloweenzine cosplay by @foxy-exy

your favorite emotional support sapphics art by @kashjsnsndnan

Renison as Witch and vampire art by @pria-png

adoptive!Bee halloween and happy halloween! art by @deklo

andreil halloween costumes art by @manekkii-art

andreil halloween costumes art by @lunapiq

All family together art by @kurra

the foxes in their costumes art by @jojen-hewitt

Neil and Andrew in Eden’s outfits + Halloween art by @fabulousmisfits

happy halloween, foxes art by @jeannemaybedarc

Put ‘em up and Neil costume comic art by @emry-stars-art

Halloween party… art by @stiigex

Halloween andreil makeup meme art by @jesperandwylansittinginnatree

AngelJean and DevilJeremy art by @blablablabel

[maxillness]

╰┈➤Sailor Song || LS18 x male!driver!reader

Warnings: 18+, angst, unprotected sex, anal, anal fingering, first time, sub!lance

Wordcount: 1.8k

He’s always seen Lance in the rightest way. Ever since he joined F1 back in 2020 which was four years ago

He knew he liked Lance, no doubt there but, he knew about Lance’s religion and his beliefs, so he never dared to say anything

He and Lance were close. They weren’t best friends, but they were close

Lance had a bad race, he always had, but this was especially bad. Logan had fucking beat him

He knocked on the door of Lances hotel door. A few seconds went by before Lance opened up for him

The door was barely closed before Lance fell into his arms, hugging him tightly. Lance’s hair was soft against the side of his neck

His hands caressed the back of Lance softly, not saying anything, just being there for him

Lance pulled slightly back, his hands softly on the others waist, their faces inches apart

He looked down at Lances lips before he quickly looked up into his eyes again

Lance cleared his throat before stepping back and turning his back to his friend “I’m sorry I just dumped on you”

“It’s okay. I knew you needed it” He sighed, stuffing his hands into his pockets

“Would you… Would you stay with me tonight? I don’t feel like going out” Lance asked softly as he turned back around

“Yeah. Sure. I can do that” He nodded softly, stepping slightly closer to Lance

The night just started with laying in the bed, staring up at the ceiling or into the others back, but as Lance fell asleep, he moved to lay on top of him, his head on his chest, his dark hair a mess

His hand started caressing Lances back again, softly, trying to not wake him up again

His hand threaded through Lances hair. It was soft. Messy, but soft. The soft strands surrounding his rough fingers

The things he could do to the pretty boy laying on his chest if he would only let him

It’s safe to say, he didn’t get any sleep that night

Lance apologised too many times to count when he woke up, still on his friend’s chest. He assured him just as many times that it was okay

After that night, Lance had gotten closer with him, more comfortable

He wouldn’t apologise for accidentally touching him anymore. He wouldn’t apologise for falling asleep on him or waking up on him anymore

They stood together up against the side of the Aston Martin hospitality, talking about everything and nothing

They stood close, closer than they would’ve before

Their faces were inches apart, lances speech stopping to breath heavily in the new found closeness

Lance leaned slightly in, but quickly stepped back again. He turned his back to him, biting his bottom lip softly “I can’t” He almost whispered

“I know” He nodded “Can I just tell you what I would do if you could?” Lance didn’t answer, so he kept going

“I would love you like none ever have. I would make you breakfast in bed every day. I would scratch your scalp while you sleep because I know you love it and it makes you feel at home. I would be there when you need an escape, and I-… I would love you” He would lie if he said he hadn’t practised that speech

Lance sighed softly before he turned back around “I can’t” He spoke softly, tears glazing over his eyes

He nodded softly, looking down into the ground “I understand”

“No, you don’t understand. I can’t choose” Lance said, making him look up from the ground “I can’t choose between loving you and my religion and beliefs. I wanna love you, I do love you, but that means that I betray my religion. But, if I choose my religion, I have to go around with the pain of loving someone I can’t be with” A tear rolled down his pale cheek

“It’s okay. I understand that you want to choose your religion. I understand that” He said softly, wiping away Lance’s tear

“No, I-i… I don’t want to choose my religion, but I can’t not choose it. It feels wrong” He shook his head slightly “But… I need to choose”

He nodded slightly “Find and tell me when you do?” He asked softly

“Mhm. Yes, of course” He nodded

Abu Dhabi. Everybody was out celebrating after the race. He hadn’t really seen Lance since their conversation

He went to go to the bathroom. He got back out from the bathroom but were pressed softly up against the wall

“I choose you” Lance said softly, his face barely inches away from his

“Lance-“ “Would you please do the things you said you’d do to me?” Lance almost begged “Won’t you kiss me on the mouth and love me like a sailor? And when you get a taste, can you tell me what’s my flavour? I do believe in god, but I also believe that you’re my saviour”

He sighed slightly, but smiled as he took Lances jaw into his hand, leaning in to kiss him softly

“Alcohol. You taste like alcohol” He answered with a slight chuckle

Lance kissed him again, a little more tenderly “And peanuts” He chuckled again

“Shut up” Lance said softly, pushing him further back into the wall, kissing him eagerly, slightly messy and wet

His hand went into Lances hair, tugging at it softly, pulling him away from the kiss “You’re inexperienced” It wasn’t a question

He chuckled slightly when Lance went all red, hiding in the crook of his neck “It’s alright. Means I can teach you” He smirked slightly, kissing Lances shoulder

“Would you? Teach me?” Lance asked softly, leaning back to look at him

“I’ll teach you and take real good care of you” He smiled, taking Lances hand, guiding him out of the hallway and towards the exit

He guided Lance to the bed, kissing his lips, jaw and neck. Everywhere he could reach

He pushed Lance softly down against the bed, positioning his body between the taller man’s legs

“Y/N” Lance pushed slightly at his chest “Is it… Is it gonna hurt?” God, his eyes were so fucking pretty and mesmerising to look at

“I promise you, love; it’s not gonna hurt even a tiny bit. It’s gonna be uncomfortable, but not hurt” He said softly, caressing Lances jaw “You trust me?”

Lance nodded softly “I trust you” He said softly

He helped Lance to sit up, removing his shirt, throwing it to the floor somewhere

He kissed down Lances torso, feeling him squirm under his lips

He lingered his lips on Lances abdomen while he worked on getting his jeans and boxer briefs down his pale legs

He felt the muscles of Lances abdomen twitch under his touch, whimpers and whines coming out of Lances puffy lips

He lowered himself, softly kissing Lances pale thighs, leaving wet trails

“Please. ‘S torture” Lance panted, tucking at the others shirt

He stood back up on his knees between Lances legs, getting rid of his own shirt before unbuckling his belt, getting rid of his pants and boxer briefs

He leaned over, taking the lube from the nightstand before leaning back “You sure you want this, baby? You can say no and I won’t be mad” He said softly, caressing his waist

“No. No, I want this” He said, nodding his head slightly

“You can always tell me to stop. You understand?” He poured some lube on his fingers, warming it up

“Mhm. Understand” Lance said, his breath hitching slightly

“Good” He spread Lances legs, pressing a finger against his hole, making him hiss slightly “Relax, baby. It’ll be less uncomfortable” He tried soothing him

Lance gripped onto his biceps, digging his nails into his skin as he pushed in his finger

He waited a little bit before slowly moving his finger in and out of Lance, his actions drawing out whimpers and whines from the Canadian

When Lance was loose enough, he pushed in another finger slowly “You okay?” He asked softly when he heard Lance hiss slightly

“Mhm. F-fine” He nodded, eyes shut closed

“Good. I don’t want to hurt you. Ever” He said, leaning down to kiss him softly, slowly moving his fingers again

“I know-“ Lances sentence were cut short by a loud moan when he curled his fingers up to hit Lances prostate

“Good?” He chuckled slightly

“Mhm. So good” He nodded rapidly “Again. Please?” He whimper softly

He got what he wanted, fingers curled up against his prostate again and again and again, loud moans falling from his lips, his thighs and abdomen squirming

He pulled out his fingers slowly, causing Lance to whine at the emptiness “No, no, no. Please. I-I was so close” He whined

“I’m sorry, baby. I just wanted to be inside you as you came” He cooed, pouring lube on his own cock, stroking himself a few times before lining himself up with Lance

He pushed into Lance slowly, stopping every few inches, getting him adjusted before pushing in further

When he had pushed all the way in, he placed Lances legs around his hips, giving him better access to hit his prostate when he slowly started moving

He took Lances hands, intertwining their fingers, holding his hands above his head softly, slowly and softly fucking into him, loving the way Lance’s moans sounded right by his ear

Lances skin was smooth against his own. Sweaty, but smooth

“S’ good. Feel so good” Lance panted between his loud moans

“So do you, my love. Clenching so good around me” He groaned, his fingers tighter in between Lance’s

“P-please. ’M close” Lance moaned his face scrunched up in pleasure

“I know, baby. I know” He took one of his hand out of Lance’s, his hand going around his neglected cock

It only took a few strokes for Lance to be coming all over his hand and own chest, his name rolling off his tongue like a prayer

The feeling of Lance clenching down around him felt too good to hold back

After a nice and warm shower, they were both clothed again, somewhat at least. They both laid in bed, Lance’s hands behind his head, looking up into the ceiling while he was propped up on his elbow, his other hand tracing the ink on his left ribcage

“What does it mean?” He asked softly, his fingers ghosting the ink

“Fortune Favours The Bold” He answered with a slight smile

“Meaning?” He asked with a curious expression

“One should act boldly and bravely to accomplish greatness” He answered with a soft sigh “Nothing good will happen unless you have the heart and courage to take chances” He added once he saw he was still confused

“That’s what you did? Get the courage to take a chance?” He asked smiling softly

“I guess you can say that” He chuckled softly, turning to look at him

“Not to be selfish or anything, but I’m glad you chose me” He smiled slightly

“I’m glad I did too”

[morlock-holmes]

A Review of John McWhorter's Woke Racism

While I was reading through White Fragility @limeadeislife recommended I might check out John McWhorter's book, or maybe more of an extended pamphlet, Woke Racism: How A New Religion Has Betrayed Black America especially because I was looking at White Fragility through the lens of how it resembles what I understand about certain right-wing Christian cultures.

I'm not entirely sure how to approach McWhorter's book.

On the one hand, unlike Robin DiAngelo, McWhorter can put together a cogent argument in the format of "A leads to B, which suggests C" which DiAngelo never bothers to do, which means the book is both a breath of fresh air after White Fragility but also that I found myself wanting to argue with some of his tangential political views about, say, education, just because they were coherent enough to argue against.

But in terms of the central thesis, the book is, openly, aimed at left-wing centrist types who find people like DiAngelo utterly inexplicable, and less directly at members of DiAngelo's ideology who are starting to question the dogma.

In fact, I did enjoy this roasting of White Fragility

"Robin DiAngelo's White Fragility, for example, reads in the present tense like a bizarre exercise in mind control created by someone bent on manipulation and getting paid. That's a misinterpretation: It is a work-book based on principles foundational in seminars of critical race theory, which its author sincerely believes in, promoting it out of a sense of benevolent mission."

I both feel that I should, for consistancy's sake explain why this invocation of Critical Race Theory doesn't bother me too much while at the same time feeling that this would be a boring tangent of interest only to a handful of people who are constantly annoyed with me.

But this leads to my big issue with the book, which is that it is very "101". This book is aimed at me eight years ago; by 2020 I had already deprogrammed myself and if you are reading this tumblr you already think this stuff is obnoxious nonsense as well, and you'll be very familiar with most of McWhorter's arguments (Including his trade school advocacy and belief in ending the war on drugs). You already read about and were outraged by the egregious examples he cites.

There's room for a deeper book about all this stuff, which delves more deeply into both the history of ideas and the culture of the religion that McWhorter sees.

The Ideology With No Name

McWhorter doesn't actually use the word "Woke" in the book. He says he finds it dismissive, and the phenomenon is serious, but I also do get the feeling that he knows that a bunch of the people shrieking about "wokeness" are as mendacious and dishonest as DiAngelo and her ilk.

There's a silly bit in White Fragility where DiAngelo writes:

"[Charles W.] Mills describes white supremacy as 'the unnamed politcal system that has made the world what is is today.'"

Which... Like. You named it in that sentence.

In fact, one of the major propaganda victories of DiAngelo et al has been to assert that they do not have an ideology, that they are merely anti-racist, and that any anti-racist movement or person obviously agrees with them, and anybody who disagrees is disagreeing with anti-racism as such.

So there just isn't an agreed upon name for the particular thread DiAngelo is part of.

McWhorter calls the ideology "Third Wave Anti-racism" and the people who follow the ideology, "The Elect" after an essayist named Joseph Bottum who I have not yet read.

Basically, McWhorter sees third wave anti-racism as a religious movement rather than a political movement, and I also agree that it has a lot in common with Right Wing American Protestantism in particular. I thought I might just go over some of the parallels, some of these are things McWhorter goes over in his book, some are my own thoughts or expansions of my own thoughts based on things he says.

Anti-Racism is the Gospel, by which I mean "The Good News". There is a strain in American missionary work that professes to be baffled that anybody rejects the Gospels. The Gospels are obviously true, and obviously good. The fact that Jesus Christ died for your sins and rose from the dead is as obviously true as the fact that the sky is blue. And so anybody rejecting the Gospel is pathologized the same way that you would pathologize someone who insisted that nobody has ever seen a blue sky. You can't admit that maybe the Gospels could be false, or that the evidence for them is anything less then overwhelming, so you invent psychological reasons for why non-believers insist on saying things that are obviously false. DiAngelo specifically is like this, she constantly acts baffled that anybody would respond to her wisdom with anything other then sheer gratitude. White Fragility asks the question, "Given that everything I, Robin DiAngelo, say about race is true and helpful, why do people get so angry when I say it?" It sounds like I am exaggerating but I promise she says this in almost the same words in the introduction to the book, which I'd quote if I hadn't already returned it to the library.

Racism is Original Sin, This is so obvious that basically everybody who is opposed to third-wave antiracism has picked up on it. It's held that every white person is inherently racist, and we can't ever stop being racist, we can only acknowledge our racism and attempt to minimize the damage. But something that I think has been talked about less is that this can be used to enforce hierarchies. Something that happens often in Christian circles is that when a leader of the community is found doing something corrupt or bad, the response is, "Of course, it just goes to show you that every one of us can sin, but the leader has repented his sin and been forgiven by Jesus Christ, so if you don't forgive him as well it shows how unchristian you are." Meanwhile, if you are found to be sinning, well, doesn't it say something very bad about you that you let yourself do this despite the community looking our for you? A similar thing happens with this "We're all a little bit racist" two-step. DiAngelo's racism is the unfortunate problem with being raised in a racist society; your racism is evidence that you haven't done the work.

Your everyday life is the battleground between God and Satan One of the reasons Christianity appeals to people is that it elevates the everyday struggles into amazing battles for the universe. Your decision about whether to masturbate while thinking of that hot barista is actually a demon from another plane of existence locked in a deadly battle for your soul with the creator of the entire universe. As much as third-wave Antiracists talk about systemic racism, in practice they are really heavily focused on inter-personal racism. DiAngelo specifically professes that once enough white people have healed our internal racism, systemic racism will sort of... disappear in an act of pure white person will. Whether you talk over Monique from HR is elevated from petty office drama to a very battle for the soul of America and the fate of her minorities.

Have you heard the good news? One of the silliest tropes in American Christian media is when our Christian heroes run into people who have never thought about Christianity and don't know anything about the bible. Of course, that idea is absurd; Christianity is one of the major political forces in America, it's basically impossible to be ignorant of it, but because it doesn't have a hegemony, it's adherents often pretend that it has no power at all and only a tiny elect even know about it. Third-Wave Anti-racism constantly does the same thing, asserting that Whites just don't think about race or racism even as millions of them rush out to buy White Fragility. Because Third-Wave Antiracism does not have a hegemony in the US, this is taken as evidence that it is utterly powerless and nobody has even heard of it, even though that is patently absurd.

I've Done Everything The Bible Says, even the stuff that contradicts the other stuff! McWhorter points out that often, third-wave anti-racists will applaud both of two entirely contradictory opinions: e.g. if whites move out of minority neighborhoods, that's white flight and evidence of white racism. If whites move into minority neighborhoods, that's gentrification and evidence of white racism. From outside, this looks like, and frankly is, pure hypocrisy. But what it does in practice, and I say this from inside experience, is build out a social hierarchy. On the lowest rungs (The ones I used to occupy) are the people who actually believe this. We are surrounded both by obvious contradictions and by friends, coworkers, and celebrities telling us that actually all this makes perfect sense, and we assume everybody else just has access to a secret knowledge that allows them to resolve these apparent contradictions. What I very slowly learned, which lead to my conversion from the culture, was that this is not the case. You don't actually figure out some crazy third way out of that dilemma, you just move to the all-white suburb because you just had a kid and you're worried about crime, and then you occasionally publicly confess how guilty you are that you did it, and that it just shows how far we have to go. The people on the highest rung are, from what I can see, people who are so utterly lacking in self-awareness and so incapable of putting together a logical argument that they simply don't understand the contradictions in their own world-view, and just confidently do whatever.

Man, I've tried to write this a couple of times and it feels like it gets away from me.

One last trope in Christian media is the unbeliever who doesn't know anything about Christianity, but he reads the bible and then comes away with the exact political beliefs of a 21st century right-wing Evangelical. Which is of course absurd; the idea that you could reconstruct Evangelical beliefs on gun control or border security by reading the Bible is patently insane, but there is a cultural bonding ritual that comes from explaining how actually all of modern day Republican politics actually comes from the bible. People who don't get it are the outgroup, people who do are the in group.

I thought about this a lot while reading White Fragility. The ideas in it are not complex; rather, they are contradictory (Or at the very least, in extreme tension with each other) and explained incredibly badly.

This allows us to identify the in-group and out-group; our in-group are the people who are already so familiar with her ideas that they can take her rambling nonsense and explain that actually it's a bunch of simple, correct ideas (I can absolutely do this, by the way), while being confused or hostile marks you as a member of the out-group.

I may just make a different post about the other thing I wanted to talk about, which is how this stuff is different for black and white people.

McWhorter and a couple of other people I talked to reminded me that there were foot washing ceremonies during some of the George Floyd protests, and I just want to remind you all that any white person who washes the feet of a black protestor is symbolically casting themselves as Jesus Christ.

[narujenreacts]

Will Murder Drones get a Season 2?

Alrighty. So, after GLITCH's post yesterday of Digital Circus that also mentioned "We're also working hard on Murder Drones & will be releasing final episodes soon!", which sent a lot of the fandom (including yours truly) into a panic that this meant these are the final episodes for the SERIES and not the 1st season. However, that felt off to me since GLITCH has been promoting MD as Season 1 and not a short series, which, if it had always intended to be only 8 episodes, it would've been. That's just how it goes in the industry for online series. And I believe GLITCH wouldn't make that kind of mistake in marketing. It'd be different too if it was only promoted as Season 1 for the teaser, but it's been that way up until that Digital Circus post. Hell, here are some of the things Kevin and Liam said during GlitchX:

"I remember when we were coming up with the, uh, this is like way before when, you know, Murder Drones was really, like we were really going for a smaller, smaller show-" - Kevin

"The whole oil thing that was getting set up in the pilot, that was gonna be like a MASSIVE sort of plot thread throughout the season." - Kevin

"Because in terms of importance to kind of where I want the story to go, it just ended up being less relevant." - Liam

"We, um, did the opposite of that. I think the series as it progressed, which I think is - it is intentional, I would say. We have gone from, I think, supremely silly to supremely kind of self-serious." - Liam

"There's so many dog easter eggs if you go and watch through the entire season." - Kevin

"We are announcing the finale of the season." - Kevin

With everything they said, none of it sounds like Murder Drones was intended to be a single season series. Now, this leaves two questions myself and I'm sure some of you have, "Why haven't they announced a S2 yet then and why are they barely posting MD?" I decided to enter analyzation mode and went digging through GLITCH's Twitter and YouTube. What I found was that this isn't GLITCH's first time handling their series like this.

Meta Runner Season 1 (Animated Movie Cut) was released on Aug 28, 2020 and in the description Season 2 was immediately announced since they already had it done.

Meta Runner Season 2 - EP 1: Hard Reset released Oct 16, 2020. The final episode for S2, "EP 10: Fatal Error" was released Dec 18, 2020 and there was no mention of the 3rd and final season.

Want to know when they announced it? Not until Nov 29, 2021. Over a YEAR later.

And before that they barely posted anything of MR. At first it was Sunset Paradise, and then once that series was about to conclude they started posting about MD. A lot. Way more than they have for DC. And when they announced S3 for MR they didn't even mention it was the series finale! That wasn't announced until May 6, 2022, 6 months after S3 was even announced.

However, once they did they made it VERY clear it was the final season. 99% of their posts of MR after that mentioned it was the final season.

So, to conclude my thoughts. I don't think we should be worried. I wouldn't suggest getting our hopes up TOO high, because despite GLITCH handling MD the same way they did MR, there's always the chance MD doesn't get a second season. That way we're not deeply disappointed if it doesn't, but after looking into it I personally feel a lot more confident MD will get a S2. Just be prepared that if GLITCH doesn't say anything, it could be up to a year before they do, but if MR fans could hold out for as long as they did, we can too. Don't forget either GLITCH isn't only working on the first season of DC. They're also working on the pilot for Gaslight District.

[gabby-msr]

As a more recent fan of the x files (first watch in 2020), can I just thank every single person who has ever contributed to this online fandom, especially when it comes to fic archives?

It took me a while to find today's fandom in 2020 so at first I kind of just wandered around the internet and found so much.

I remember distinctly reading about Gossamer on a reddit thread so I looked it up and to this day I don't think I can explain in words the feeling of complete euphoria that overcame me as I explored the site and discovered endless pages of fanfiction. I loved reading fics that were submitted there, as many came with comment thanking betas, about their lives, and also their thoughts about the show as it aired. I felt like I'd found my people (a little too late). People cared (and still care) so much about the fics, enough to have had fandom awards, and really put in the work to keep these stories around.

There is something really special about reading a fic from 1997 from a writer who had no idea how the show would turn out, in 2023.

While Gossamer isn't exactly AO3, it has story categories, divided into themes (romance, adventure), and then again, sorted by the 1st letter of the title. And then there was the possibility to sort by spoilers. And sort by author and date, and a search function. Fic ratings and even ship tags.

It's so impressive. I'm in awe.

And I know lots of fics were lost because some websites purged content in many fandoms, and it has probably happened to us too, but we still have so many stories on Gossamer and other smaller archives.

Thanks to you, the stories have survived and new people get to read them. Some are fandom classics now. And some of us out there do read them, years later.

[raapija]

Xan we get anything slightly angsty from the pookie au 🥺 theyre too content

Thank you for the prompt <3 I'm sorry for the late response. The amount of times I've started to write something, deleted it, started again, deleted, started, deleted... ugh... But now I've finally settled for this. I struggle to write angsty stuff, but I hope you like this one. It became a lot sadder than I anticipated...

This is inspired by this post, so give it a quick glance before reading.

this is set in 2020

summary: Lance calls Fernando after a tough day and it turns even worse.

warnings: angst, self-doubt, lance having a breakdown and fernando not helping

Lance sat on the edge of his bed. The clock on his hotel room wall was too loud. It made his ears tingle with each tick, driving him mad. He got up, went to pick the clock off the wall and pulled the batteries out. He carefully laid them onto a small table and then returned to sit on the bed, now cross-legged and looking down at his phone.

The black screen of his iphone taunted him, begged for him to pick it up. It was beautifully laid on the red satin cover of the bed. Lance fought between calling and not calling. Maybe he should just go for a run to clear his mind, but the idea of hearing Fernando's voice... He needed it right now. The race had been a total fluke, finishing dead last and he had rushed through the media pen to get back to his hotel. Everyone was staring at him again.

Lance grabbed the phone, taking a while before unlocking the screen and going to find Fernando's number. It was under 'Nano ♥', like it had been for years. The emoji at the end pulled on his heartstrings.

"Cariño?"

Lance sighed when he heard Fernando pick up.

"Lancito? You okay?"

"Yeah, uh..." Lance hurried to answer. He picked on a loose thread on a seam on his joggers. The words were harder to find than usual.

"I miss you." he got out. He let his head hang down, gripping his hair and squeezing his eyes shut.

"I miss you too, baby."

"I love you." Lance added, his voice barely audible. Tears started to fall down, staining the satin under him a dark shade of burgundy. He gripped his hair tighter, so hard it hurt.

"Yo también te quiero, cariño."

Fernando's voice was so smooth, so calm. A stark contrast to Lance's sobbing, which became louder and he had to hold a hand over his mouth to keep them inside.

"Don't cry. I hate hearing you cry."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry either."

"I'm sorry..." Lance whispered. He was always apologizing. Whatever it was. Especially to Fernando.

"What is it, churri? What is making you sad?"

"I had a bad race. They're writing stories about me again."

"Don't look at those. They don't know you."

"I feel like everyone's staring at me. Like they hate me."

"That's not true."

Lance wiped the tears off his face, taking a couple deep breaths to calm down. He sniffled, and then continued: "I know it's not true, but everyone else doesn't. My family, my friends, the guys on the grid... To them that's real."

"No, don't think like that. Your family loves you, your friends love you. I love you."

The word 'love' was losing meaning over distant phone calls. Lance hated it, hated it to his core. He wished Fernando would just come back and hold him. Touch him. Even be there to just look at him.

"Where are you right now?" Lance asked. He knew Fernando was in the Middle-East, doing some sort of a rally raid. He had so many things going on, that Lance struggled to keep up. It felt like Fernando was grabbing at everything he possibly could, finding ways to keep himself occupied instead of coming home, instead of staying still.

"Somewhere, always somewhere."

"But never here."

Lance felt like choking again. He missed him. Missed him so much it was killing him, tearing him apart. If he had known love could hurt you this much, he would've never let himself fall for Fernando.

"I'm tired of being in love and being alone."

"It's okay, I'll find you again."

"But you're so far away from me. You're always away. And I'm always alone."

"I love you, I'm coming back, lo prometo. Te amo."

Again. Love, love, love, echoing in Lance's ears. Two years. Two years Fernando had been away. They saw each other maybe once a month.

"I don't know how much longer I'll be able to wait."

There was a pause in Fernando's end, then a sigh, and Lance felt the tears start to well up in his eyes again.

"I'm trying."

"I need you."

"Cariño, I'm sorry. I promise I find a way back."

Empty promises. Fernando's specialty. Lance wanted to stab at him, right in the heart. A new emotion took over, anger.

"You sons miss you, too. Lando, Oscar and Carlos."

Another pause. His kids were always a way in. Lance took it as a chance to take control.

"You were there for all their life and then you go away like this. Why? Why now? You hold everyone together and now it's all falling apart. You say you love me, but you're never here to love me. You're away so much, it doesn't even feel like we're together anymore. Why?"

"I don't know..."

"Figure it out!" Lance cried. What he was about to say next tortured him, it felt like his soul was being ripped out of him. "I can't live like this. I've given you three years and you've given me nothing. Every day you just go further and further away. Like you want me to leave you."

"No. Never."

"It's what it feels like..." Lance choked out. He didn't even try to keep the tears in anymore. He was too tired of it all.

"You can not leave me. I love you. I find a way, I promise. Lance, you can't."

Lance gave out a pained groan at Fernando's pleading voice. He wanted to throw his phone at the wall. Wanted to scream at Fernando, hit him, kick him, make him understand how much it hurt.

"It's killing me. I give you chance after fucking chance. I'm done with it. I'll only give you one more. One more fucking... -If you don't come back, that's it. I won't ruin my whole life for you."

"I will."

"One chance."

"I promise, I will come to you. Lance, I promise. I lo-"

Lance hung up on him, gripping his phone tight and swinging his arm back to throw it, but he didn't. He instead crumbled down onto the bed, crying into the sheets. He wrapped his arms around himself to imagine it was someone else holding him.

Lance wanted him to come back, to knock on his door in the morning and hug him and kiss him. But a small part of him also wanted Fernando to stay away. That small part ate at him, growing bigger and bigger. Lance wanted to kill it; burn it with fire and never think of it ever again. But it became stronger every day, almost enough that it could take over. Only Fernando could make it go away. If he'd only come back.

[my-mt-heart]

Thoughts on TBOC 204

This was supposed to be it. The episode we all celebrated. The one that would make the setbacks worth it and set the stage for the proper Caryl spinoff we've been waiting for since it was first announced in 2020. Not only did it NOT achieve any of that, it was one of the most painful "Caryl" episodes to get through, even more so for me than "Find Me" in the flagship show. That's saying something. I couldn't bring myself to watch 204 a second time (the first time was pirated I must point out again), and frankly, I think a second watch would only make me look for the benefit of the doubt somewhere, which this episode doesn't deserve. The below is my gut reaction...

The reunion itself was sweet. I loved Carol's choked sob and Daryl's long pause as he tried to figure out if she was real. I loved the running, the crying, and the face touching. It was the best display of who Caryl are as a couple/duo and who McReedus are as acting partners in the whole season. But it's a gimmick. A far less impactful nod to the Terminus reunion that plays out in a vacuum. It doesn't allow for any character growth and it doesn't last long enough for the already reduced impact to hold.

Isabelle's death stifles Caryl's reunion, the one thing that fans were dying to see. Zabel couldn't let them have the space they deserved because even he knows the most organic next step would be Caryl going canon. So he interrupts it as quickly as he can at the expense of another female character's and female actress' dignity, which unfortunately also colors the rest of Caryl's arc together. They can't even have an arc to themselves, nor experience any growth because they have to react to that death. Nothing about Daryl's behavior in the aftermath suggests that Daryl "loves" Isabelle the way Zabel and his mouthpieces characters want us to believe, but it still looms large. For Carol, it means that "her Daryl" found (and lost) somebody else, which is heartbreaking not only for her but for her fans who watched her literally go the distance for this man. Meanwhile, Daryl's mind is occupied with concerns and/or guilt over Laurent being in danger/having nobody else that he doesn't even take the time to acknowledge just how fucking far Carol has come for him and how unfounded his fear of being forgotten was. On the contrary, he's the one who let himself forget about her.

What Carol said on the radio is another thread that gets upended because of Daryl's twisted priorities. As they're looking for Laurent, he asks her in passing about who came back as if he didn't spend all of S1 worrying about it. Carol says it was "a feeling," but when she starts to open up about her struggles, Daryl stops her because he picked up Laurent's trail. That's one of many times in just this one episode that Daryl treats Carol like shit, like he isn't even Daryl anymore because the real Daryl is always attentive, even if he's mad at her for something, he always worries about her, and he always tries to put her first.

Caryl are meant to parallel the old couple they meet up with, I realize that, and I also see the beats that are meant to make us wonder if there's something more between Caryl than friendship, particularly when Carol watches the couple dance and her eye wanders to Daryl very subtly and the beat where the man calls them out for acting like a literal "old married couple." But the parallels get murky and once again, they're eclipsed by Isabelle's death and what she may have meant to Daryl. I guess I'm really tired of parallels in general. Don't give me parallels to Caryl. Give me Caryl beats that move their relationship forward.

I'm sorry to say that I did not enjoy Caryl's banter this episode. It wasn't playful or cute. Most of the time, Daryl was just being a dick to Carol. I think the idea of Daryl having a new family raises her insecurities, and at one point she suggests that Daryl is afraid he'll end up like her, meaning he'll lose his child. Daryl's response is that he isn't afraid of that at all, but Norman's delivery is strange. I can't tell if he's being genuine or if he's mocking her.

Caryl's chemistry is definitely off, and I think some fans are not sure how to reconcile that with the annoyingly subtle "teases" of more. To me, the vibe reminds me of a divorced couple and I kept getting the impression that Daryl is hanging on to some resentment about whatever transpired between them before he left. I think there's a story there, but I do not believe Zabel and the other stooges are open to exploring it. We need a competent showrunner for that.

Daryl's line to Carol that "he never ever stopped trying to get home to her," packs a punch, but not in the way I was hoping. Instead of being Carol's man of honor who shows his devotion to her (something this woman needed), it feels dirty, like a husband who got caught cheating and tries to tell his wife that he was thinking about her the whole time. That sentiment is repeated when Carol hands him the wooden figurine that Judith made for him. My heart shattered for Carol in both of these scenes because she deserves the "only man to make her feel safe" and he just isn't there. I don't know who is, but it's not Daryl and it makes me sad for him too. I miss the real Daryl.

As always, Melissa puts on an incredible performance. So does Clemence. I'm glad they got to act together at least in one scene, but the story doesn't do either of them justice. It's misogynistic, it's hurtful, it's baffling. Where the fuck is the Caryl spinoff we were promised? This isn't it.

[whatiwillsay]

no, no one "made up tily" (regarding the gaylorswift reddit post)

just jumping on here to provide receipts about the roots of tily in the fandom

tily was first dicussed on the l chat as early as 2016!

here is a link to a thread discussing it back in 2016

from 2017:

from 2018:

here's a link to the 2018 thread for good measure so you can see it for yourself

and for good measure here is the first mention of tily on my blog

link (this post you can see is from September 14th 2020)

someone anoned me about it and encouraged that we look into it so we did. that's just how fandom spaces work 🤷‍♀️.

here is the oldest mention of lily Donaldson in our discord simply discussing people talking ab it on the l chat:

here is the oldest mention of tily:

here is that convo expanded:

just people genuinely being into it, being silly, and shipping it cause they look good together and it was a good vibe.

you'll see me there at the bottom (I'm camcake) saying "there's something to this lily ship!" that was just genuine. we were curious ab it. we did not "make anything up". we heard ab it and investigated it.

you'll see all of this dates back only to 2020 while the l chat posts go way back to 2016. I did not join the gaylor fandom until the summer of 2020. I have never posted in the l chat. tily is just a ship. just like any other ship. she was a female friend of taylor's that got a lil close with her for a period of time and some of taylor's "easter eggs" in songs seem like they could tie back to her. i did hear some well sourced tea that taylor was hooking up with someone on rep tour that matched lily's description BUT you have to take gossip like that with a huge grain of salt! while I think tily is a great ship with a lot fun moments and nice "clues" that point to lily, I would also be zero percent surprised if tily did not "happen" and they were only ever friends. as with ALL ships it is impossible to know for sure.

so to sum up 1. tily was first talked about way back in 2016 on the l chat and was discussed on and off for years after that well before I joined the fandom. 2. someone sent me an anon about tily in late summer of 2020 and that inspired us to research 3. we had convos ab it in discord in late summer of 2020 like any normal shipper/fandom friends would do.

feel free to spread this post far and wide.

[sepublic]

I’ve seen Dana say they got news of the shortening before writing Follies at the Coven Day Parade, but I’ve also heard that Knock, Knock, Knockin’ on Hooty’s Door was the first episode they wrote after learning about the shortening. I’m inclined to believe Dana, or perhaps the three prior episodes were already written, but then rewritten in response to the news.

If K3oHD is the threshold, then it’s fitting that so many developments occur for our core trio, like going back to basics. It sets the tone for how the rest of the show is essentially a speedrun of the original plans, with some things still needing to be left out to make room for what’s an abridged version of plans. It’s like the first episode of the new, compact version of TOH the writers had to do; Just as the show’s first episode was about the trio.

This does make me wonder how long it would’ve taken for Lumity to get together, for Harpy Eda to happen, and for King to unlock his roar if it weren’t for the shortening. What was s2e8 supposed to be like, what did the writers initially have in mind? Would it have still followed the same format of the previous season’s eight episode, with three plots for each member of the LEK trio?

As it stands, for how packed and efficient the episode is it still works; People still thought it was normal, same for Eclipse Lake and Yesterday’s Lie. That could point to what Dana said. I guess part of it is that we just see S2A as one batch, so it feels right to assume it was done that way and the shortening only began to take effect with S2B’s first episode, Follies at the Coven Day Parade.

I can see the Raeda breakup flashback still occurring because happening right after the episode we see Raine, and getting further context to Eda and Raine’s dynamic there, feels fitting; A way to add to the tragedy of Raine having to be left behind… Speaking of, knowing the shortening happened right after Eda’s Requiem makes me wonder if the bindings Kikimora placed on Raine were originally meant to have more relevance, but were left as one-note because of the shortening?

Whether it’s ER or K3oHD that it changed, would Raine have been actually brainwashed? Or just outright incapacitated before the writers decided they did not have time to do that AND have Raine return and do things, it’s one or the other. Maybe Darius and Eberwolf were genuine enemies in that episode, and would’ve had an arc during the show’s run of becoming rebels; But since storylines had to be downsized or even removed, this was ‘skipped’ by having it retroactively be the case from the start. And with them, you can at least believe they were always on the same side, whereas an abuser like Alador would have to be addressed because it’s not some one-off misunderstanding.

Man; This being the break, the dividing line, it makes you look differently on either episode on either side of that writing threshold. How they were both changed, one in hindsight and the other in the writing process, to reflect how they’re the transition between different phases of the show. In the end, it’s the same never ending list of questions and What-ifs that will haunt us over TOH, some reasoned inferences and a few confirmations, but ultimately no answers unless we kidnap the writers and make them talk or course.

And even they wouldn’t know fully how the show would’ve turned out in another timeline, because they were still figuring that out and how to fill in and organize the broad strokes when the cancellation arrived and they had to fight for the S3 specials. Because without those the ending would’ve felt very rushed and/or we would’ve missed out on a lot of the buildup and other arcs on the way there, which would also feel extra rushed if not absent. Alas…

Reminds me of how shortly after the cancellations news came, Dana admitted in a 2020 Reddit AMA that writing for S2 was fun, that putting together plot lines was like ‘weaving threads’. Considering how so many things have to come together so efficiently and converge, I can see what she meant. Dana did acknowledge that working within limitations proved to be fun in some ways, and gave the show things it otherwise may not have gotten (such as the Collector); She even planned a separate Choose Your Adventure project based on the audience’s input for her Patreon, before Dana had to cancel it to focus on her career.

[dommnics]

Tell me, please, how did you find your style in drawing characters?

Hi!

I really don't have an original answer haha! For me, what seemed to develop it was just being interested in different kinds of artists and art styles, adopting elements from them and playing with them in a way that I personally liked, and that just eventually became my style

Back when I thought I wanted to head into animation, I was adamant with myself on trying to replicate a mix of the conventional Disney look + Don Bluth's art style. This was 2012 for me where I only drew in that style:

And then I gradually transitioned into what I call my thin lips, thin noses, big ears era lol. It wasn't super conscious, but that's what I just thought looked nice and felt natural to draw at the time. At this point, I discovered the artist Phobs and their style really inspired and influenced a lot of how I drew features during that time. There's some Minkyu Lee influence in there, a bit of Ghibli, and mainly still influenced by animation.

I started getting more into video games later on in high school, and I feel like that started to bleed into my art style somehow.

When I got to university, I had really fallen into a rabbit hole of the world of graphic novels and comics which definitely influenced my style. I was (and still am) really inspired by artists like Babs Tarr, Jorge Jimenez, Jake Wyatt, Jen Wang, Dan Mora, Jeff Smith, Emily Carroll, Faith Erin Hicks, Jamie Hewlett, to name some. There's of course so much more, but I'm just recalling and working off the top of my head!

There was a point where I started drawing more fanart for live action properties (especially for the DC movies) and that also started to influence my style, because I remember I was more interested in leaning away from a heavily cartoony style and trying to give characters slightly more realistic sized features and proportions (but of course, still very stylized.)

But eventually I fell back into a heavier cartoony and stylized look for how I drew characters which is where I'm at these days, and I really attribute this to doing comic work. I worked on my first graphic novel (it's not out yet!) and I can literally see how it changed my style when I look at the first couple of pages vs how I was drawing by the end of the book. It really loosened me up in how I draw now because of how many pages I had to whip up in a month.

For example, this is how I was drawing one of the main characters when I initially pitched the graphic novel in 2020.

and now, he looks like this. Haha!

And ultimately, after looking through old art to find some examples for this, I love that I can still see every single influence and inspiration in how I draw today. I took some different turns along the years (I honestly had so many art style shifts on the way that I didn't even detail here because this thread would be gigantic), but I can see how everything led me to the style that I feel comfortable am happy drawing in today. And I'm sure it's going to continue to look different in two years time even.

[jtl-fics]

Time After Time:

Math Nerd AU

May 19th, 2020 (in the past future [before the reincarnation])

Math Nerd AU | Unusual Fic Asks

Neil was coming to accept that he wasn't going to die of old age as the doctors told him the recovery time for his twisted knee. He would need to do physical therapy before he could even have the surgery and then additional physical therapy afterwards.

It would take too long.

The Moriyamas would cut him as a useless thread. "Mr. Josten, you'll play again." The Doctor assures, "You will just-"

"Thank you Doctor, yes I understand." Neil interrupts. "Let's schedule a time to start the physical therapy." he says because a part of him feels spiteful. He knows how Ichirou works, knows that his death will look like a suicide.

People who are committing suicide don't make plans right? Maybe his death would be just enough to topple it all to the ground and save Kevin and Jean. He makes his appointment and hobbles out of his doctor's appointment to find Andrew in the waiting room.

He wonders how much longer he'll get to look at him.

He'll never actually be ready to stop.

Andrew's gaze snaps to him and Andrew has always been able to read him like a book. "It's too long?" he asks.

Neil laughs because, as usual, there was no point in hiding things from Andrew. "I've had my will ready for a while. I'm leaving-"

"Stop." Andrew raises his hand, "you aren't dying. Not before me. I'm older." Andrew argues.

Neil smiles and wishes to say the three words that bubble up in him but he wants them to be the last ones he says to Andrew if he can manage it. Saying them now would only make Andrew upset and possibly leave.

"Let's go home. I wanna see the cats." he says instead. It doesn't matter too much, his will spells out where everything is supposed to go. Andrew helps him into the car and puts his crutches in the backseat. They drive in silence and Neil finds himself looking at every black car with out of state licenses.

He looks at his phone because there's no point in worrying. His fate was sealed the moment that Ohio player rammed into him. He hopes Andrew likes one of the options he listed in his will. He hopes he stays close to Andrew, hopes he can protect him from beyond.

He prepares texts for all of his friends as he goes. Most are just I love yous and some thanking them for being especially kind to him. His text to Matt a long note on how sorry he is that he won't get to watch his god daughter grow up. His note to Aaron to make sure that his daughters take after Katelyn when they're born.

They get home and Neil is glad to see that there are no cars in their driveway. It does not mean that Ichirou isn't there, but it gives him a bit more time to look at Andrew.

Andrew's jaw is tight as he pulled into their garage.

"I've had arrangements made and paid for Andrew. It's going-"

"Shut up." Andrew hisses and gets out of the car.

Neil's phone rings and he sees a familiar area code he looks as Andrew shuts the door as he enters the house.

He hits accept. 32 wasn't bad considering he never expected 20.

"Hello?" he asks.

"Wesninski." Ichirou greets and Neil lets his eyes close. "I hear you will not be able to pay me." he comments.

"It will be quite some time before I can work on the court again My Lord." he doesn't lie or try to hide it. "I understand what this means for our deal. May I-"

"I wish to strike a different deal." Ichirou interrupts and Neil blinks.

"You...wish to strike a different deal?" he asks.

"I am in need of someone with your certifications Wesninski." Ichirou says.

Neil's jaw tenses. He can't do his father's work. He'd rather just have Ichirou shoot him and let it be done.

"You have kept up to date with your CPA certification from what I understand?" Ichirou continues.

Neil blinks.

What?

[rainbowsky]

Anonymous asked: Serious question - Does this type of public fan behaviour not land the boys in troubles? [link redacted] Funny question - what will be DD’s reaction if he sees this bus? Will he feel shy or happily take pic and send to GG?

Hi Anon! ☺️

Fake, fan fiction, CPN.

Anon is talking about the bus and taxi that BXG had wrapped in GGDD graphics for the Tencent event last night.

This is something BXG do whenever there's a big event like this, especially ones there's a chance they'll both attend (these types of things are planned well in advance, long before BXG would know for sure whether GG would be attending).

One bus and a taxi is actually pretty low-key compared to some of the things BXG have done in the past. It's not unusual for them to do multiple buses, digital billboards, etc. and they even lit up the entire exterior of the arena with BXG graphics/slogans for Weibo Night a couple years ago.

Solos love to make it seem like turtles behavior is risky or dangerous, but I find that notion totally ridiculous. These are fan materials and all in good fun. Bystanders will immediately recognize it as such, and are unlikely to take it too seriously or get offended.

At the end of the day, GG and DD are the only ones with any power to put a stop to these things and they haven't, so I think that says everything we need to know. I've talked about that a bit in the past.

So, Anon, not to worry.

As for GG and DD's reaction to things like this, there has been some discussion of that in LRLG rumors in the past. I'm especially thinking of the light banners at Tencent 2020. You can read more about that event here.

Fake rumors are fake rumors, but I think it's a pretty safe bet that they and their teams find these things amusing and heart-warming. There are plenty of examples but here are just a few:

Back during DDU they filmed a segment where DD was driving with the other DDU brothers in the car. DD was driving by a group of BXG and honked at them (some were clowning that the pattern of his honking sounded like BJYXSZD because he was doing 7 fast honks, taking a pause and then 7 again).

One year for DD's birthday BXG hired a digital billboard truck to drive around the Hunan TV building all day (where DD was filming DDU). The truck was decked out in BXG graphics and with a loudspeaker blaring GG's voice from the BTS yelling "HAPPY BIRTHDAY WANG YIBO", and there were fan repos of DD, the other hosts and Hunan TV employees laughing and taking pictures.

GG was seen smiling at BXG balloons during his visit to Milan.

When DD was in LA his car was driving by a group of BXG who were standing on the streetcorner holding balloons and chanting BJYXSZD, and DD's assistant was filmed laughing and taking photos/video from inside the car.

There are countless examples of GG and DD appearing to look at and react to BJYX light banners and headbands.

I'm sure there are many more examples I could add, but you get the general idea. I think it only makes sense that GG and DD would find these things mostly cute, and appreciate the support.

Related posts:

Thread about GGDD and the supertopics. Original post here.

What turtles might mean to GGDD

Do you think they're aware of how fans interpret things?

Do you think GG and DD enjoy BXG fan works?

Can I also add that I found this light banner from last night's event especially hilarious:

[dessertgeek]

The Mari Lwyd Twitter saga (2020 - part three)

This is part of my efforts to transcribe @seananmcguire's holiday Mari Lwyd Twitter threads. The hashtag for now is #Mari Lwyd Project, the first post is here, the thread's source is here.

(Many thanks to @dor-min on finding and linking this one!)

There are a couple from this year that are short, and even single replies that Seanan likely didn't have time to reply to. So this is their collection! Authors will be linked in their comments as best I can.

CW for food, just in case.

Lorcan Murphy (Twitter): Alas were I only a mutual, Mari Lwyd I'd offer rhymes crucial. We'd barter o'er offering asked unpredictable Afore presenting a demanded varietal victual The dead from the living must bide dividual But this rhyme for the horse is purely volitional.

Seanan: Your rhyming's exquisite, So clean and refined. I'll grant you a visit, To seek cheese with rind, Or cheese that's been softened, Or processed or plain... When Mari Lwyd's summoned, She sings her refrain.

Cheese or beer! Cheese or beer! I know that you have it here!

Lorcan: Alas all my beer has been spilt in a pan And as unlikely it seems, my cheese melted and ran My flour and yeast in the oven to bake So I'm terrible short of scran you can take Bide if you can, I'll no make it a habit and I'll offer a pretzel and Welsh-German rabbit

---

Cassandra Khaw (Carrd / Twitter): A single wedge of manchego I do possess, Not a wedge nor a morsel more than that, If I was someone who had cheese in excess, I'd offer them to you, and have all your desires.

But lo, you bony equine, Such is all I can give: This lonely cheese of mine, I offer in tithe.

Seanan: To give when there's plenty Is glorious kind: But it's kinder by far When you've little but rind.

I am grateful to you, On this shortest of days, For your holiday spirit And generous ways.

---

The singles!

(I'm posting peoples' handles as I see them, will do my best here. If someone rhymed or made poetry and I couldn't find a 'do not repost' on their profile, I included it.)

John & Bucky: I’m just here to watch A skeletal horse seeking Cheese and wine through rhyme

Stephanie Annand: Alas! For the lack! Of cheese in my home; Will you accept yogurt As onward you roam?

Eleri: I have some ok parm, and a generic swiss A really good chevre would not go amiss This stupid pandemic has cut into my cheese-buying I'm afraid sharing these cheeses, the dead horse would send me flying.

Paige Wolf: Cheese and spiced wine You’ll definitely find; In my kitchen, I’ll fill up your cup!

Come in please, my friend! Time we will spend, In drinking and singing, Bottoms up!

warcabbit: Wassail, wassail? I give you mulled ale and a nice nutty cheese to boot.

It is the season Be kind without reason And generous with gifts and loot.

Stephanie Caitlyn: I do not have cheese, I only have curry, For when I did leave, It was in quite a hurry.

Into the headlights I peer like a deer, But with you I gladly will share my paneer.

Starry_Marie: I know there are many With rhymes that are better But one thing I do have - A large chunk of cheddar

@Chimaera.bsky.social: Oh Mare, at thy feet I lay Some Caveman Blue and olives today. Cambezola roasted with garlic cloves, Squeezed upon fine grilled bread loaves. A bit of Brie to melt your heart, A nutty Parm to fuel your start, Melted Gruyère to dip things in, & Queso fresco (you're looking thin)

Cake and Arsenic: Oh mari lywd, please don't feel down, With your big boney head, in your white cotton shroud, For you'll find that my larder is stocked full of cheese, And you're welcome to come and eat all that you please.

JLH: (not a mutual, but it seems fun and kinda inspired me) Dread equine I hear your call! And in my larder is a prize, A piece of asiago for your skeletal maw Please accept my gift and silence your cries.