#i have zero experience w any of this and i hate it all

[lixbf]

why am i more nervous now that the place where i applied for a job said theyll send me an email response within the week than i was when i originally applied for the job

[butchhazard]

my trans to radfem story. started off as a response to another post i saw but i kind of just kept rambling and now it’s its own thing lol. i was always a bit nervous to share my personal experience out of fear of being judged but i think a lot of people will be able to relate to my perspective. or keep sending me hate if you want it’s all the same to me atp 👯

in the same vein of always seeking out arguments against my own views i frequently look at trans blogs and the amount of projection they do about “TERFs” is astounding. especially claiming that radical feminists have no sense of “kinship” with other women and that we think being a woman is all about suffering and hating yourself. they literally only believe this last part because we’re the only group of people who are honest about misogyny. the “kinship” thing is especially crazy because i WAS trans for *8 years* and during that time almost every single one of my friends was trans as well. i had zero solidarity or kinship with other women and believed them to be completely unrelatable because i was “different”.

the one time i felt brave enough to confide in my closest friend of 10+ years (who later dumped me like trash for becoming a feminist) that i was uncomfortable with penises and only wanted to be with “people with vaginas” she looked at me like i was crazy and told me, “that’s weird. I don’t feel that way. You probably shouldn’t say that.”

eventually i did cave into the pressure of being “inclusive” and put myself in many dangerous situations where men were able to take advantage of me and abuse me. at one point i truly believed i had more in common with TIMs than with “queer cis women” and had come to the conclusion that cis women were dangerous. did this MRA rhetoric serve to strengthen my female friendships like TRAs are somehow claiming it did or did it just make me the perfect victim??? (being male-identified in this way made me a horrible friend not only to other women but to myself as well.)

meanwhile i peaked as a radfem towards the end of 2021, when i was 22. i was staying at a women’s college w/ my ex. for 2 weeks we both felt completely insane and like we had just stepped into another reality. suddenly our lives became so much clearer. we were sobbing constantly just reflecting how misogyny and male violence had affected not only our lives, but the lives of our mothers, sisters, and friends. i was horrified to speak to any of my trans friends about feminism because of the “TERFs are nazis” shit we had been conditioned into believing, but i literally believed that i owed them the truth as a friend who cared and was concerned for their safety. i also naively believed that since *i* realized the TERF propaganda was a complete lie and that radical feminism was not only empowering but life-giving, they would feel the same. nope! they called my ideas brilliant and “galaxy brained” to my face and then turned around and told everyone else i was now dangerous. everyone cut me off from their life as punishment for daring to think differently. i was completely devastated. the friendships that i held so close to my heart for years and years meant nothing to them. this hurt especially because i was starting to realize just how easily they would forgive their male friends for worse, including things like disrespecting them in public or physically assaulting a woman. these were lesser crimes than being a female-identified woman.

meanwhile, around the same time, rumors of our cancelation had been going around the college and another feminist actually reached out to us. she called us her sisters and introduced us to other likeminded women who were so intelligent, supportive, gnc but proudly female. we were all the same yet so different, and different viewpoints were encouraged instead of suppressed. i was learning more about the world and my place in it every single day. for the first time in my life, i felt purpose. every since i was a little girl i had this foreboding sense that other people knew something i didn’t and that i was always “missing a piece of the puzzle”. that feeling disappeared after i became a radical feminist. 

since then, almost every feminist woman I’ve met has been such an inspiration to me, regardless of whether i like her or not. it’s actually funny that TRAs claim we have no sense of “kinship” as if women’s lands and festivals aren’t the ultimate expression of friendship and solidarity lol. i’m constantly floored especially by how kind and generous older women are to me, and how easily women my age accept me if i just allow them to. i love being a woman, i love other women, and i know that other women love me.

women in general do have a solidarity/kinship problem but this is simply not true of lesbian feminists and other radical feminists as a community. other women are our strength and lifeblood. after my ex and i broke up (it was messy girl) i wanted so badly to hate her but i literally couldn’t because i still loved her as a woman even if i didn’t love her as a partner anymore. to this day i would probably struggle to come up with a woman i actually “hate” bc it’s just not in my nature any more. my anons literally can’t relate lol 

yes radfems as a group aren’t perfect and we are generally “angry” but so are TRAs. the main difference is we direct our anger outwards rather than inwards. when i was 23 i submitted a letter to Lesbian Connection that included this paragraph that still sums up my views of being a TIF vs radfem completely:

“Realizing that my femaleness was the only thing that determined my gender– that I was born a woman and would die a woman despite not conforming to made up standards created by and for men, liberated me from the chains of believing I had been “born in the wrong body” and needed plastic surgery to fix myself. I was never born wrong and the fault never lay with me– it lay with the patriarchal society we all live in which forces females and males into incredibly limiting boxes.”

[jjaysontodd]

The only reason people keep saying “Jason fanon copies Helena canon” is because they mad their fav isn’t well known.

Most of Jason fanon traits is based on his robin days. He’s been written as an anti hero and villain and has a lot of characterisation. His writing is inconsistent. So what’s wrong if people write him based on how they view him. It’s called fanon for a reason and expecting people to pick up your fav while you are hating Jason is ludicrous. The morale superiority some people have just because their fav is not well known or a woman is ridiculous.

I used to nod my head to this take because I felt like “hey Jason is a guy and Helena/Mia are women whose stories been stolen” like I wanted to be politically correct and I thought this was right. But fuck this. Why do they get to have those traits only? Is it a crime if someone thinks it’s rationale for Jason’s character to take this trope. Fanon is meant to write wtv fuck u the want that isn’t in canon and half the time they aren’t far- fetched.

Jason has always looked out for women and children during his robin days and even as red hood sometimes. Sure it’s inconsistent but it’s without a doubt people do that simply because they know his character. He is from the crime alley and his mother was a drug addict. People hc him being an English teacher simply because he has shown to be interested in literature. He was from the streets so it isn’t far fetched and even implied in a comic (during Mia’s interaction in arrow) that he might have done child prostitution to get by. It’s fanon people are allowed to explore possibilities. How does him having such experiences invalidate your fav’s experiences? Is it wrong that such a strong and big guy had such experiences? Maybe people write that so they can cope with such experiences since they relate to him more. Are these experiences only for your favs? That’s ridiculous.

I don’t get why people are mad at a fanon characterisation that has its roots in comics. The guy hasn’t been written well at all and people in fanon write their take on him. One you have never read Jason as Robin or redhood. 2 you think you’re justified to hate Jason simply because “poor Helena, Jason takes her place”.

Dc has so many characters and some characters are bound to be similar in some ways.

Helena is already an amazing character so why does hating Jason your way of promoting her? She doesn’t need to be compared tf. Some people just hate on Jason and read zero comics on her. Somehow people have made themselves believe Jason is the reason why Helena isn’t popular. Jason is popular because he’s a bad victim not a model one and people relate to that. A lot of people DO NOT WANT HIM to be Helena. They prefer him as a villain. I’m deadass done w anyone who tries to pretend he can’t have any of these traits. It’s not about the traits, it’s about who and why they have it. So comparing gets you nowhere.

Lastly, let’s be honest Jason fans don’t read any other comics or works besides Jason. So how would they copy a character they don’t know exist?

[hughiecampbelle]

Dating Jordan And Having The Power Of Perfection Would Include:

Requested: Hey❤️!! Since your request are open I wanted to request something w/ Jordan Li. Jordan and Reader are dating & reader’s power of being perfect. Sorry if it’s too complicated and I do absolutely love your writing! - anon

A/N: I had this book as a kid where this family had powers and the mums was perfection and idk, it's so nostalgic 💕 I did make it a little darker so it's more in line with the universe. Thank you for requesting my love! I hope you like it! Feedback is always appreciated 💜💜💜

At first, Jordan hated you

The two of you were in constant fight to secure the second place/third place spots

Because of your abilities, you had perfect grades, perfect essays, perfect technique in fighting and training

You weren't exceptionally strong or indestructible, but you always knew the perfect way to take down your opponent

At events, your clothes and hair and jokes and words, everything was perfect.

You were the perfect face of God U besides Golden Boy

Your powers were non-threatening and would probably win you several jobs after graduation that others could only dream of - many of them for Vought

They could always use someone like you

You and Jordan met through Luke. When he said you were perfect, they thought he was kidding. When they met you, they realized who you were, and it instantly clicked: you weren't just good at what you did, it was impeccable

Because you were in constant fight for second place, because it was almost daily that your places changed and swapped, they thought of you as competition

It isn't until a gala do they see you as a person instead of a set of statistics and characteristics they have to be better than

You're all smiles talking to a group of older men, laughing when you should, making fun of them just enough so that they don't feel threatened. When they leave, you drop the facade, taking a drink off a silver platter and sitting beside them. Jordan notices this change, scooting closer to you, trying to sound nonchalant

"I didn't know you could have rough nights." They joke

You try to play it off, coming up with the perfect excuse, but they say you, they knew better than to believe you

You and Jordan bond over your equally terrible night: they open up about their parents wanting them to be one way when they're much happier as they are. You tell them about the growing pressures of your perfection

In elementary school it was a bit of a joke: you were a straight A student, you were good at whatever you tried no matter the experience level, you made friends easily. Your parents joked you were the best child they could ask for

When middle school hit, things started to change. The powers had been there since you were a baby (you rarely cried, you ate everything and never spit up, you were happy and easy and bubbly) but now you were old enough to realize you were different from everyone else. You picked up instruments you'd never touched before and was able to play them perfectly. Sports you had zero interest or experience in came easy to you. You tried to fail tests and mess up speeches and start fights, but something in you took over, something controlled you and made you do and say the right thing

By high school you weren't studying for tests or doing any of your course readings. You joined every club and extracurricular, showing up only when necessary. You slept through classes and tried to party as much as possible, but your body rejected every bad choice you put it through: you aced tests, you were exceptional in all your activities, even the alcohol you drank wouldn't touch you. You were always perfectly sober

You wanted so badly to fail, but it went against your nature

You weren't surprised when you got into God U. You had the best GPA, you wore so many chords at your graduation you lost count, you were exhausted from perfection. You needed a change and you hoped college would be that change

Jordan hadn't realized how confining perfection could be

You couldn't help but answer questions in class, your arm shot up, the words came out compulsively. There was no controlling it

After this, they see you so much more different than they initially thought

Jordan seeks you out after that, losing their typically cold exterior for a nicer, softer one

They used to blame you for their shortcomings, but now they realize it's quite literally out of your control

Hanging out more with Jordan

They kind of insert themselves into your life more, finding you between classes, switching seats to be near you, offering to help you with your physical combat. It's kind of a silly excuse, but they'd do anything to get to know you better

Despite not needing their help in combat, you say yes anyways

You love watching them switch between their powers

That is kind of your first unofficial date and, afterwards, they ask you out on a real one

You are, of course, perfect and they can't help but fall for you

Luke is the first to ask if you're dating or not

When you didn't have classes with Jordan, you had them with Luke, who couldn't help but notice the change in Jordan

They used to get so annoyed when he brought you up. Now? Now they were all smiles

Andre definitely made fun of the both of you (nicknaming you The Perfect Couple)

It earned him a punch in the arm, but there was no denying your perfection

Cate was glad to have another couple in the friend group

Eventually meeting Jordan's parents who love you instantly

"Y/n is pretty perfect." They say, only half-joking

Studying together all the time, your dates are pretty academia focused. When you're not worrying about grades and still fighting for the second place slot, Jordan is showing you off at the clubs in your teeny tiny, skin tight outfits

Despite being perfectly sober, you can still have a good time

They can't keep their hands off you when you dance together

Jordan isn't big on PDA, but they get jealous sooo easily and that's when they become handsy

Because you're perfect in every way, you find that a lot of people develop crushes on you. You make sure Jordan knows they're the only one for you

You love how driven they are, how passionate they are

You've never minded their powers and always want them in whatever form they take

To you, they are perfect. Yours might be compulsive, but they're all natural

Jordan comes to you with almost anything

When they see what Brink does to Luke, they keep it a secret, not wanting your perspective of them change because they'd rather stick with their mentor than their friend

You know nothing about what's going on the school. To you, everything is perfectly normal

[techramonic]

Descent to Death and Destruction: A comprehensive analysis of “Zero-day”

Disclaimer: This post is not meant to glorify or romanticize the film and the event it is based on. My heart goes out to all affected by these types of events, thank you.

“I am become death, destroyer of worlds.” a phrase originating from a portion of Lord Krishna’s dialogue from the Bhagavad Gita. With an archaic English structure, formed using the auxiliary verb “am” instead of “have”, forming a poetic expression that transcends grammatical correctness.

Saying “I am Death” emphasizes embodying death itself, a state of destruction, but it negates the process of becoming. Conversely, “I have become Death” focuses on the process of becoming but nullifies the state of already being. However, by saying “I am become Death,” you actively encapsulate both the process of undergoing and the current state of becoming. This means you have undergone and become one with creation and annihilation.

This concept can be applied to analyze the characters of “Zero Day,” the fictionalized troubled teenagers Andre Kriegman and Calvin Gabriel, who meticulously plan a school massacre. Throughout the film, each character undergoes a transformation fueled by hatred.

Firstly, Andre exemplifies the process of becoming and the active presence of becoming itself. Plagued with suppressed temperamental issues, Andre undergoes a plethora of emotions like any teenager has over the world and the uncontrollable circumstances that affect him. Yet two remain most prominent — anger and hate.

His meticulous planning creates a new layer of detachment, an approach that sees purpose in destruction due to the inherent lack of purpose other than vengeance. With constant efforts to alienate himself because he has already actively experienced it his whole life, Andre’s sense of identity develops from being victimized into being the perpetrator, a role distinct as a mere harbinger of death. Andre sees this as the foremost desirable identity, the immortalization of oneself as a destroyer. From the constant detachment from the world because of the understanding that no one has the capability to understand him, even if he does not understand himself, he undergoes the metamorphosis of becoming destruction itself. When he does finally become it, he has achieved a sense of purpose.

In contrast, we observe the opposite with Cal, where he does not focus on the process of becoming death but rather being death itself. There is complacency in trusting Andre’s plan with an underlying ideology of fulfilling his purpose, death. Death that is all-encompassing, both for those around him and himself — where this destruction not only consumes others but ultimately himself. Unlike Andre’s active pursuit of purpose, Cal is well aware of the fact that he does not have one, and with that, he accepts what Andre has to offer, believing it will give him one. As the film progresses, he embraces the role of the destroyer, indicating a loss of his former self and the complete adoption of his new, destructive identity. In following Andre, he unconsciously gains the purpose of a destroyer, however, it is still void for him to ever have one, hence why he killed himself after the event. Ultimately, this portrays his loss of sense of self in trying to find a sense of self.

In the context of Andre and Calvin, they do not simply perform an act of destruction; they become embodiments of destruction itself. This transformation is not a fleeting moment but an irreversible process leading to the massacre. The parallels between the phrase and their characters suggest their disconnection from normalcy and humanity. Andre and Cal are now unrecognizable, stripped of the humanity and identity they ever had; they are now “Death,” signifying a complete and terrifying metamorphosis.

This movie exemplifies the psychological impacts and effects of being mentally disturbed and unable to be helped. Where people experience a trauma so deeply nestled within them that it hinders them from recognizing the idea of getting better and moving on. They remain in perpetual limbo, filled with self-deprecation and hatred of others. Though the traumas they have faced are not easy to cope with, the denial of change and empathy intensifies the destruction felt by their torment and ultimately allows it to consume them whole.

They are now met with the very destruction they are affected by and consumed by it whole. Now having simultaneously become death and are death at this very point on.

They are become death.

[apollos-boyfriend]

haii could you give me a summary of c!purpleds characterization ???

oughhh i always struggle w questions like these because for me it has become almost second nature but. i will try my best (≧∀≦ゞ fellow cpurpled enjoyers feel free to chime in with ur own suggestions if u so wish

purpled is selfish. this feels like a pretty obvious aspect of his character but Oh the amount of people i’ve seen get it wrong. he does not feel guilt over his selfishness. he will take and take until there’s no more left to steal, and he will blame the other party for his loss. he’s a survivalist before all else, a businessman before a person, and he’s proud of it. he’s manipulative and cunning and, honestly, a total asshole most of the time. it’s part of his charm

he’s been used. a lot. being used is kind of a key aspect of his character and his behavior. i think it’s important to note though that his experiences are never portrayed in a way where he’s meant to be pitied. his story is more focused on rage, on revenge, on a burning anger that will burn everything in its path. his story is tragic, yes, but he Refuses to let it be a tragedy (he is not consciously making this choice, which i’ll go into later)

he’s VERY prideful. he’s good at a lot of things and he knows it. i think a lot of people see his character type of smug, confident asshole and jump to the conclusion that it’s a front for him to cover up his insecurities but. i cannot stress enough. he is Genuinely Just Like That. he is almost fully incapable of self-doubt. if he ever encounters a situation where he has fucked up he will instantly find a way to shift that blame to others. he’s hot shit, he knows it, and he WILL make it everyone’s problem

something i think is really important is that, when it comes to seeing others, he sees most people at a neutral. he has very few people he strongly likes or dislikes, and is more uninterested and unconcerned with most people. he looks down on them, but not in a negative way, per se. that’s just how purpled sees people. if they can’t provide him with something, they’re unimportant to him. it’s not personal, it’s just fact. quackity is the only person purpled has a true hatred towards, as well as technically tommy, but that was more as a one-sided rivalry, and much, much lesser. it’s worth noting he did NOT hate slime, seeing him as a nuisance at best. he only attacked slime because he knew it’d be the way to hurt quackity the most, he held no real animosity towards him otherwise. ponk, hannah, jack manifold, tubbo, and technically boomer are the only people i’d really classify of being people purpled enjoys being around/sees on the same level as him

i know a lot of these points are somewhat bleak and serious, but he does have a silly side!! he likes pranks and scams. his best friend is his dog, who he regularly talks to as if he was another person. he has a flair for the dramatics and likes showing off, even if doing so is risky, and even if no one but him will see it

this is less of a character analysis but he talks like if you introduced an angry victorian orphan to youtube shorts. he has a very specific cadence of more sophisticated, verbose language mixed with modern-day slang and memes. it’s. very strange. i really can’t begin to properly describe it

there is zero self-awareness in that boy. he cannot see past his anger and spite and realize possible mistakes. 95% of what i’ve mentioned here he is completely unaware of. he can’t see his flaws, he can’t realize his wants, yet he always sees himself as on the right and on top. he is playing 4D chess completely unaware that everyone else is playing checkers, and is prone to unintentionally self-sabotaging himself due to being unable to recognize his true wants. he has 0 self-awareness of any of this. the way i write purpled is to make it Blatantly Obvious to the reader that his mindset and worldview is wrong, but make him completely blind to these points. he should not know things are wrong, but the reader should be able to pick up on it

[blvckentropy]

DS FINALE | 3/3

*Richie takes a deep breath*

Richie: Hello ladies

All: Hello

Richie: I want to start out by saying you all look absolutely stunning

All: Thank you!

Kierra: But why we all here?

Thalia: Wasn't there a winner?

Richie: Yes....this decision took a toll on me, so much I almost ran from it. But knew that wouldn't be fair to either of you

Richie: I can't make this decision w/o getting this off my chest

Richie: Kierra, you are amazing inside and out. I really enjoy spending my time w/ you especially. Any sim would be lucky to have you in their life and I'm lucky to have you apart of mines

Thalia, I felt a connection between us the moment I saw you. You took my breath away with your beauty, I still have trouble talking to you without getting sidetracked

Andrea, even though you're not on my team. Something about us makes sense. I felt like I was betraying my brother in some way, but he made it clear to me today that he wants the best for me. And I think that's you

Richie: Unfortunately, I can only pick one you. But can't deny what my heart wants. This girl feels right in every type of way. The longer I'm around her, the more I see my future with her. And hope the feeling mutual...

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Richie: Andrea, I may stumble over sweet phrases, yet my heart sings only for you. Tell me your heart beats in time with mine, for I cherish the moment I fell under your spell

Andrea: Me? OMG are you for real?!

Richie: Yes, I am but I hope there's no hard feelings ladies. I feel guilty

Kierra: Don't be, though it hurts a little, I seen the way you two look at each other. This was a great experience. I can't wait to have something similar

Thalia: Same. I think at some point it was clear that connection was mostly physical, from both parties but I don't regret a moment. Congrats to you two

Richie: Thank you, I appreciate and cherish the time we had as well. I wish the best of luck to you both.

He holds out his hand towards Andrea

Richie: What you say Andrea, do you and Ms. Tilly want to spend forever together?

Andrea: *laugh* I thought you never ask sweet cheeks

---------------------------------------------------------

Andrea: How long you practiced that speech handsome?

Richie: You hate it?

Andrea: Never but I have something else on my mind

She grabs his face for a long smooch

@foxsimthings Thank you so much for Thalia. She a stunning sim and was a hoot to have. She kept me on my toes especially every time she interrupted the other sims 🤣 She was very delightful to have and I'm honor to have this experience w/ her 💛

@invisiblequeen Your girl came close and ngl I was rooting for Kierra from the beginning (no shade to the others). Unfortunately, when she caught Rich w/ Andrea, her bar took a hefty toll. But I loved every bit of her. She was definitely what you describe through and through because there was not moment she wasn't gardening and around those animals lol She may have not won the battle, but she won the house. I think I'm leaving it in good hands 💚

@havenroyals CHILEEEEEEEEE! this girl right here.... I literally have no words yet so much. She was a gem to tell you the truth. She and her hat (Ms. Tilly) had me on the ropes lmaooo I never smiled nor laughed so hard in my life. She really had me enjoying the game like gameplay wise. It's one thing, I thought she'd would hit it off with one of the boys but to have them both and a side piece! I don't think I could have written a better love triangle/throuple. You guys don't believe me when I say I really did nothing! She came in and made her own rules. I placed her R-bar on zero twice and she always managed to fill it halfway with Richie. It was sealed at the start, I tried to sway her, but she wasn't going. Anyways, thank you again and congrats! I think Richie got his hands full. *last bit is for Drea 💀*

[los-ninos-tortugas]

I’d love your thoughts on…Bayverse tmnt.

This has languished in my inbox for far too long. Quite honestly I was gonna try to come up with some sort of funny meme answer to this and drew up completely blank so instead I'm gonna do sincerity,

It's... it's bad but I still kinda love it? In a weird way? These movies give me weird emotions because I did genuinely enjoy watching them but I'm also very aware that there's... Stuff going on. I've definitely taken my fair share of pot shots at these movies in the past because it's funny, But after seeing this behind the scenes video I do think there's something kind of interesting to talk about; how much thought went into this... for it to still come out pretty mid. Which probably sounds a little mean, and not for nothing I do commend the crews insistence on using a practical set and effects where they could because honestly yeah, it does look awesome. And overall I do think the movies have pretty impressive visuals and the action sequences are a lot of fun but I don't think those things can really save these movies from the weaknesses that just come out of the script itself.

Now I'm not gonna lie it's been a hot minute since I watched these movies so I'm kinda going off my memory here. Could I have taken the time to rewatch them before answering this? Probably. But I didn't so here we go.

The Turtles:

I actually don't really hate their designs? I have a very vivid memory of people making a big stink about how they looked when the first movie came out back in 2014, although back then I wasn't a fan so it all just kinda went over my head. I'm still not a fan of them having lips as opposed to beaks but that's really the only part where I kinda draw the line. I weirdly kinda liked that they tower over all the humans and that their physicality matches just how strong they are in this movie. Their first fight scene is so chaotic because you can't see them yet (again, their ability to sneak around so effectively in spite of their size also adds to the impression they make) but enemies are just flying. Karai is quickly losing control of the situation, Foot Clan grunts are getting thrown into the walls and cracking the subway tile with the force with which they're thrown. The way the scene builds the anticipation for the reveal is really well done in my opinion. Do the turtles look like teenagers? No. Absolutely not. And admittedly this did give me a little bit of cognitive dissonance because I kinda kept forgetting that they are kids with the exception of a few scenes. But they do look like mutants so points for that I guess. And it's pretty cool to see what elements from these turtles seemed to end up carrying over to Rise and Mutant Mayhem. Stuff like the tech on Donnie's shell and his glasses. Raph's bandana, and the turtles wearing more clothes overall. The fact that they're purpose made science experiments this time rather than the result of an accident. Like as much as Bayverse gets kinda treated like the black sheep of the turtle iterations it would be unfair to say it had zero influence on what came after.

These turtles in particular are also really riding the coattails of the superhero movie genre back before we all got tired of it. I feel like unlike a lot of the other iterations-- and while TMNT does kinda fall under the superhero umbrella from their comic origins they also kind of originated their own specific subgenre within that that has a very specific... TMNT-ness to it if you know what I mean (i.e. street sharks, battle toads, gargoyles if you really squint)-- these versions of the turtles are more like straight up superheroes than any other version. They're literally bulletproof, they have super strength, speed, and agility. They can survive in hostile environments that would otherwise kill normal humans- really they might as well have slapped capes on them. There's also this weird cartoony-ness to them. Like they specifically operate on cartoon logic while the rest of the world still operates on regular real world logic. It does take me out of it a bit when it does happen.

As far as personalities go (and this is where my memory gets a bit foggy so bear with me here) Raph and Donnie stand out to me the most and I think that's because they both end up being really empathetic characters. The first movie actually kinda becomes Raph's movie and he gets a lot of screentime and character development. The second movie is definitely a bit more Leo focused but I think it's split a little more evenly overall between all of them. But Raph and Donnie are definitely my favorites in this version. Leo is a bit bland in my opinion. At least compared with other versions I've seen. Maybe on another rewatch I would reassess that but for now he just seems like he's kinda there. He's the leader and that's his job. (Again, the BTS video does more to explore his personality than I think the movies really do, so it's like, how did all this thought go into this for it to still not show through?) I feel like the writers just didn't know what to do with Mikey. He gets a bit more development and character in the second movie (the line delivery on the "we aren't monsters" scene comes to mind. Real gut punch every time) but in the first one he's unfortunately just kind of annoying.

Master Splinter:

Oh is Splinter here? Coulda fooled me. I've said it before and I'll say it again, his one purpose is to provide exposition and then exit the plot as quickly as possible when he is no longer useful. Yes he gets critically injured in the first movie and I feel like it's supposed to raise the stakes- it does not. I do not care about him even a little.

April O'Neil:

Okay I'm conflicted because I love Megan Fox and I really think she tried her best with what she was given to work with. The movie almost did a good- there was kind of a weird but self aware joke about April wanting to be a real journalist and pursue more hard hitting stories but the news network very obviously hired her to put her on television to objectify her and have her do puff pieces and boost their ratings because she's attractive. And I'm like "wow that's actually some really self aware commentary on how Megan Fox has been treated by the industry and by Michael Bay in particular it's really cool that they put that in a movie produced by him- oh nevermind there it is they're objectifying her for the rest of the movie." Which is really unfortunate because the way she plays this kind of more manic and slightly unhinged version of April who is maybe not super socially aware is very funny (cue April slapping a conspiracy board and presenting it as serious evidence to her boss). I think her having a connection to the turtles pre-mutation is a pretty cool play on their origin since usually after being dropped in the sewer they cease to have any connection to the kid that bought them from the pet store. But having April and the turtles remember each other is honestly kinda sweet. (Along with the fact that she gave them their names.)

Casey Jones;

Fuck that guy. That's not Casey Jones because Casey Jones is not a goddamn cop.

Vern:

Exists.

The Bad Guys:

Eric Sacks: Okay I haven't seen anyone else point this out but it's driving me nuts. Has anyone else noticed that this guy's origin story is just The Karate Kid but if he turned out evil? Like he tells the story and I literally had to pause the movie because it blew my mind that they just Did That. I was just going "that's just the plot of The Karate Kid. He just explained the plot of The Karate Kid in this movie as his origin story, they just stole it. AND IT"S THE FUCKING JAIDEN SMITH VERSION NO LESS WTF???" Like is it just me? Am I crazy? They fucking did this earnestly and it's driving me up the goddamn wall.

The Shredder: Motivations, what are those? Crime? Money? I guess? If someone could tell me what the hell this man's actual motivations and goals were in this movie I'd appreciate it because I have no idea. This character has zero personality, I can remember zero of his lines, his costume is dope as hell. I don't understand why he's here except that maybe the writers were contractually obligated to put him in the movie. He's literally The bad guy in all the turtleverse how is he so goddamn unmemorable in this movie??? And in the second one? Sir I feel like you should have more of a reaction to finding out extradimensional aliens are real than going "Okay we work for this guy now." and then proceed to tear apart the fabric of reality for him based on like a two minute conversation. What were you hoping to get out of this arrangement, I know the movie probably said it but like everything else that has to do with the antagonists I cannot remember.

Karai: Is here. I guess. Also just way too cool with learning that mutants and aliens are a thing, never reacts to anything. I'm sure she has lines in these movies, could I tell you anything she said or anything she did that would be indicitave of her having a character or a personality? Nope. She exists to be a henchwoman and that's about it.

Bebop and Rocksteady: Probably the only memorable villains in all of these movies, and that's only because they're funny.

General Krang: Why did they even bother dude. Disappointment.

Honestly after writing this I might go rewatch these movies, because this has just reminded me that their whole deal is kind of wild to be honest. And I probably could go on even more but this has already gotten pretty long. Thanks for the ask and I'm sorry it took so so long. But it was fun to do this kind of break down, and I kinda wanna do more in the future with other tmnt stuff, idk I'll see where that goes or not.

Thanks for reading <3

[phoenixspencer]

Hello! I love your gifs! How do you make yours so clear and high quality/What's your process? <3

Hi!! Thank you so much!! I've never really had to explain out my process to anyone and I don't know how much detail you need, but I'll try my best and try to be as thorough as possible just in case!!

For my D:BH gifs, the process starts out with recording my own game play. I have a gaming computer that already had the GeForce Experience app downloaded, so I use that to record my game play. It records at 1920 × 1080p, 60 frames per second, so the files can get... rather large 😅 The video of my playthrough of the Russian Roulette chapter (~11 minutes long) was just under 4 GB. So its not light...

From there, I figure out what in particular I want to gif (for the timestamp roulette series, I let a random number generator figure out whereabouts I'm looking). Once I know that, I open up VLC and use it to isolate that particular shot + a little more on either end.

After I have the shot(s) I want to gif isolated, I open up Photoshop. I use "File" > "Import" > "Video Frames to Layers" and choose the video I want. You can do this straight from the video of your playthough, but I find that the shorter the video is, the easier it is to work with in this step. I trim my video more, to about a click or two outside of the specific shot I want. Like so:

From there I delete any extraneous frames from the "timeline" section that comes up.

Then is cropping: my go-to crop uses the "W x H x Resolution" option - I put 540 px in the first box, 300 px in the second and leave the third blank.

After that, I have an action in Photoshop that does the next steps for me (to make things quicker), but what it does is sets the frame rate (which will have to be done again after saving the gif because Photoshop hates everyone apparently), converts all the layers into a single object, and sharpens the gif. I've only been gif-ing for about a year and a half, and before that I had exactly zero experience with Photoshop at all, so all the numbers from these steps are still the same as the numbers I pulled from the tutorial I used when trying to figure everything out. For those, you can look at this absolutely AMAZING tutorial, by hayaosmiyazaki, specifically steps 7. gif speed and 8. sharpening.

From there, I start adjusting the colors. From what I've noticed, I seem to do a good bit less color adjustment than some, or maybe even most, other gif makers. It's honestly all about personal preference, so play around with it and find what you like! I personally like to stick as close as possible to the original colors, while still brightening the image up enough to make it clearer and more legible. So, for a majority of my gifs, I only apply an "Exposure" layer, a "Brightness/Contrast" layer, and a "Hue/Saturation" layer (from the "Layer" > "New Adjustment Layer" menu.) The numbers here change dependent upon the lighting in the shot.

For example, here's a before and after of this shot I just did so I could type this out and make sure I got every step 😅 For this one, I did Exposure +1.0 (no change to Offset or Gamma Correction), Brightness +20, Contrast +10, and Saturation +5 (no change to Hue or Lightness).

Once I'm satisfied with my coloring, I go to "File" > "Export" > "Save for Web (Legacy)". I watch the gif there to make sure it looks how I want, maybe go back and do a few tweaks to the coloring if I'm not quite happy, check the file size and then save it!

Tumblr's maximum file size is 10MB so if your gif is over that, you won't be able to use it on tumblr - in order to fix that, you may have to delete a few more frames. Or you can crop it to so there's less pixels in the "Save for Web" pop-up by changing the numbers in the "Image Size" section

And now, once I have my gif named and saved. I go back to "File" > "Open" and open up that gif. From there, I go to the little three lines icon in the top right corner of my "Timeline" section, click "Select All Frames" and then click the three dots on one of the frames and change the frame delay. For my DBH gifs, I do 0.02 seconds cause it looks best to me. Depending on how many frames per second your recording software does/what you personally like speed wise, this may be different for you. This is also different for gifs from live action or other media (for those, I prefer 0.05 seconds - it looks the most realistic to me.)

Then, I just save again, overriding the file from before I changed the speed, and voila! That's my process!

I hope this helps; if you have any more questions, my ask box is always open!! And again, thank you so so much 🥰 I'm so glad you like my gifs!!

[toxycodone]

i understand its all joaks and its lighthearted out of love for this character but it is a little sad to see things like laios being a minimum wage worker and having no friends being described as him being a loser when theyre extremely common autistic experiences 💔 because to be honest i think youre really cool and a great writer and i would like to interact more but it makes me go, is that what you would think of me? my life situation’s not too different from that. anyways i hope you have a nice day <3

no not at all I genuinely like being mean to Laios so take everything I say about him with the world's biggest effing grain of salt because I am just. mean to him in particular lol. i like to kick him when he's down. (evil and mean but to blonde men in particular)

but like. i am not cool at all. like...........ill put it under the cut but yeah.

real shit under the cut bc this ask is making me think! im gonna be real w u nonnie

tl:dr if u dont wanna see whats under the cut:

this ask kinda makes me think bc. i think im really mean to laios too bc he reminds me of myself beforehand (zero self confidence and suicidal idealization) sigh and I really hate being reminded of that. so. again. im really biased when it comes to him specifically and that doesn't apply to you or any of my followers.

and for what its worth i am sorry for making you feel that way.

but also. i gotta say I can 100% relate to him and you. this time last year I was working at Starbucks ( i could only tolerate 4 hour shifts bc i would get overstimulated and my coworkers lowkey hated me.) and had like. 1 friend from high school and the years before that I spent turbo online being constantly pushed out of friend groups bc i could NEVER get anything right socially. I swear the first 23 years of my life I never lived. i went thru hs and college as a fucking. like. creature I felt like i couldnt connect w anyone because I was too tormented by adhd + autism and i was INSANELY depressed and coping w lack of control by having an eating disorder and being doped the fuck up on stimulants. (MY PCP gave me 56 mg of concerta and 5mg booster of adderall i was fucking tweaking on the daily </3)

but like. i started going to therapy and a psychiatrist who made me quit cold turkey for my own good and we started treating my depression and debilitating anxiety (i was convinced a stranger was living in my house in secret but also that everyone in public who saw me was revolted by me and genuinely wanted me to kill myself jkdhsfskdjh i told you i was tweaking)

anyways. i was a druggie with no goal in life and living in my own head and now like. i can look at myself in the mirror and not think "hey. this fat ugly piece of shit should genuinely die" and now people in real life LIKE me. I have friends. multiple friend groups, actually. WITH NOT JUST ND PEOPLE. LIKE, A LOT OF THEM ARE NEUROTYPICAL. And i am very open about being autistic with them and i dont have to mask.

and they still like me! and invite me places! and genuinely want to hang out with me! and they think im smart and get uncomfortable when I say im stupid or too autistic to like. be able to be in public.

it still feels like a dream and in my mind im like "they actually are gonna drop you and make fun of you for thinking they were ever your friends" or like "theyre just doing this bc of the stupid buddy system shit or they think you're a pet this is highschool all over again"

but even tho im haunted by this. its....I can say with confidence its not true.

anyways. i know people say this shit all the time but I will say you are very capable of love and not a loser or anything like that. the thing you're missing out on is the right people. i didnt believe this for most of my life and tried to get myself killed because of it but im glad I didn't because it is genuinely true.

i have spent the last <1 year of my life genuinely being alive. and i wouldn't trade it for anything. idk if thats a sign for anyone yeah. take it

[finalgirlbee]

ugh i hate to say it but i think im sort of "aging out" of the se/lfs/hip community, not that I believe there's an age limit at all but I find myself not really having much in common with really anyone in the community bc of the age differences (most ppl seem to be late teens-early 20s and im nearly 30)

also the hoops that you need to jump through to be "accepted" are insane. dont watch any "problematic" media, dont ship with any "problematic" characters, if your ships arent sanitized surface-level uwu smol bean cutesy love all the time you're "perpetuating toxic relationships," you get baselessly accused of "copying" others ocs and inserts if you ship w/ the same character BUT WE ARE BOTH WORKING WITH THE SAME SOURCE MATERIAL BABE THERE ARE BOUND TO BE SIMILARITIES HERE AND THERE!!!

like holy shit i remember when this used to be fun but now it feels like there's constantly a big "community watch program" and if you dare to explore a realistic, nuanced relationship between two grown adults there is a very real chance a 20 year old with zero real-life relationship experience is going to call you an abuser or some other absolutely bizarre made-up accusation

im just tired! im tired and its not fun anymore

[uselessheretic]

weighing in on the "should you interact with anti izzy posts or not" because i love to talk to myself:

i don't think it's a black and white thing tbh. more than anything, i think people should seriously examine their motivations for responding to hateful posts in that at times it can be a bit self harming. especially if you find yourself seeking out conflict, or are spending more time in fandom responding to negativity rather than doing things that make you happy.

one thing i think izzy fans do well is maintain a balance of ensuring their fandom experience is predominantly focused on things that spark joy. which happens to mostly be sexualizing that old man. for a lot of izzy stans, if you scroll through their twitter/tumblr, it'll be more about liking him as a character than generic izcourse. when it comes to izzy discourse, it kinda has flashes across izzy side of fandom where people respond in short bursts before largely just moving on. can't say the same about izzy haters.

when it comes to responding to things, i largely think there's not a point in direct interaction, however, i wouldn't say it's completely without merit. sometimes i'll respond to long "meta" in the izzy tag literally just because if i have to see your bullshit take then you have to deal with mine as well. that's the tradeoff for being obnoxious in the izzy tag.

i think there can be value in correcting misinformation or refusing to allow the narrative to be controlled completely by izzy haters. "here's why izzy is racist" is annoying and i don't think the main people perpetuating this will ever admit they're wrong. Still, at the same time a lot of these posts are full of misinformation. this misinfo gets parroted throughout fandom and that's bad. "donkey is a slur against polynesians" is a good example. it's not. that was made up on tumblr. every polynesian person i've ever seen comment on this has all said that they have never encountered this as a slur irl. find me a single source outside of tumblr that says "donkey is a slur against polynesians" for fucking real.

the issue with this though is what constitutes as harassment. disagreement doesn't equate to harassment. responding to someone's meta isn't harassment. izzy haters purposefully position disagreement against them as harassment and instances of bigoted behavior. i remember someone once listing an example of how izzy stans are racist as "made fun of a post about how izzy is homophobic." the poster was white. the person who made fun of it was me, a black fan. this isn't racism. at most this is me being a bitch.

i don't think that necessarily means that you should never interact, disagree, vague, or screencap random bullshit. i do think you need to be intentional as well as firm. it will only harm you more if you concede to allowing people to describe your actions as abusive when you know for a fact that they are not. words like harassment, racism, homophobia, stalking, abuse, etc all have meaning. they have definitions and while there can be gray areas when it comes to certain things, the limitations for what constitutes as abusive does not change just because you've arbitrarily decided that you are the good guy in this interaction.

overall, i think there can be times when having conversation, even ones of disagreement, has value. i don't think everybody with a shitty opinion is a malicious actor who needs to be discarded immediately. that said, there are groups in fandom who have demonstrated time and time again to have zero ability to self reflect and are overall narcissistic, self obsessed, navel gazing folks deadset on defending their ignorance to the death. there isn't any use in direct engagement. all it does is feed a perpetual victim mentality and gives them the attention they so desperately crave.

also? while we're here? keep receipts. i'm not even joking. screencap shit when you do have a direct confrontation. if you criticize someone's meta make sure you have their exact words. when someone insults you keep that on hand. people straight up lie on here and when they do shit like say "izzy bought ed as a slave" or "you can go send izzy stans hate for all i care" or "i'm not being passive aggressive, i'm being aggressive" hold them to that. if not for any other reason other than the fact that it's kinda funny watching them lie on their mother that they never actually said this and clearly this was a misinterpretation that only occurred because they are 12 years old and super sleepy when they wrote this and didn't actually mean it like that :((

[atlasira]

I LOVE how obvious it is Dorius wants you to find him in Chapter 5. His actions contradict everything he says.

I don’t think he’s made up his mind whether he’ll truly try to force Bright to stay or let her go. He has no idea what to do. He’s panicking to extreme levels, and this is felt in how chaotic his words and actions come off.

You can show him the sigils Raze revealed to you. At the time, Dorius tells you to never use them. Regardless, he knows you know them. And after allying with Ari, he knows you know a witch who can activate portals. He knows these things. You can also choose to not conceal the amulet, so he can see everything you’re doing. He can see when you enter in the sigils and activate the portal to his lair.

And yet he does nothing when you get there. Not only that, but Bright’s heart is restored immediately upon arrival. He claims it was a mistake.

He says he didn’t expect Bright to seek him out, but he never took any precautions to ensure it. He didn’t have to tell us when he stole Bright’s heart. He could’ve killed Ari then and there, and instantly teleported Bright to his lair to keep her there forever. She’d have no way to escape. He did neither of these things, instead exposing his actions and leaving Ari and Bright free and unscathed.

The door to Raze’s prison room was unlocked and easily opened. Dorius says he did not want you to see the child, but again he took no precautions to make sure that didn’t happen. No wards, no magic, no anything. He simply stands in the room, at the scene of the crime ready to confess.

Afterwards, he kidnaps Ari and flees. It feels like an emergency, but no matter how long you take to get there, you’re still able to find them at the end of that hall, waiting. Not only that, but this is Dorius’ domain. He had to have known that room was a dead end. He knew there would be nowhere to go. He claims it was unintentional, and yet he stood there waiting for you.

Dorius is unhinged at this point of the story. Ari was right in that once he got Bright’s heart, he had no need to lie anymore. But I don’t think he actually wanted to control Bright, not like Rivera and Brash. No, he wanted her loyalty. Due to his past, his believes the two to be synonymous, but they are not and a small part of him is aware of that. This is reflected in how contradictory he behaves.

What I’m trying to say is: I believe Dorius subconsciously wanted a confrontation with Bright. He wanted to be chased after, exposed, questioned, and fought. He claims to already know Bright either hates him or will hate him, but I don’t think he genuinely knows whether either are true. And so he is desperate for a confrontation to see what she’ll do. Who, in the end, she will choose. Him or Raze.

Because there is also no way Bright could’ve truly won that fight against him. Not only did she need to use her speed which she was still an amateur at, but they were in his lair!! He has not only the home field advantage, but also the upper hand in experience and power. There is zero way Bright could’ve actually won against him, except if he allowed her to.

And once she has him on the ground, it’s even described that he concedes, waiting and watching to see what the conclusion of their relationship will come to.

This entire series of events is a clash of selfishness and selflessness.

It is selfless because, subconsciously, Dorius wants Bright to know the truth. He wants to be seen for who he is and what he’s done. He loses his mind terrified of what will happen when she finds out, but he allows her to see it all anyway.

It is selfish because, despite the horror of his actions, he wants her to choose him anyway. He wants Raze’s promised life and he wants Bright. He displays Orchid’s gifts, that she left for the real Raze, on a precious alter. After everything is said and done, he chooses to still claim Raze’s name for his own.

He wants to be Raze and he wants everything that was promised to Raze, but at the same time he wants to know if “Dorius” is worthy of being Raze. This why he allows Bright to learn the truth, but still puts back on the mask if you do end up choosing him.

Because they both know he is not Raze, but Bright, who he has chosen to be his judge, jury, and executioner, has found him worthy of Raze’s life, so it’s fine. Everything that’s happened up to this point is fine. His own mother’s death, his experimentation as a child, murdering Orchid, the screams of the young boy in his living room. It’s all fine because he’s Raze and that’s all that matters.

[twoa-plus]

i mentioned a while ago making a rotai au but i haven’t read rotai in like forever and the idea is still half baked so i’m just gonna throw out everything i have so far and either come up with more ideas bit by bit or take suggestions if u guys have any !! sorry for inactivity in the mc/mcd community btw social anxiety’s been beating my ass lmao

SO. au time. everything in the very beginning of the book is the same, but when archie gets to the top of that weird mountain and finds the orb he’s like “oh those are terrible vibes no thanks” and just Leaves (once the spiders are gone ofc). yes i did just make up this whole au bc i thought it would be funny how can u tell. anyways, no longer having a tribe, he just kinda runs off into the woods and does his own thing. we love a foraging king. also strong independent archie supremacy (i’ve always headcanoned him as an adult and a pretty competent one at that, just wanna play around w/ the idea of him being left alone for once). does he have funky animal friends? what weapons does he use? has he figured out agriculture? who knows! certainly not i

someone else gets the orb. is it thord, is a walda, is it goddamn karl, i have no idea. either way bad things happen and must be stopped but archie doesn’t really care he’s just chilling

at some point this random hero comes across him and, being the weirdo she is, is like “oh look. a lone illager. youre my friend now :)”. if anyone remembers me posting violet in the discord server this is her BUT i wanna change her name bc there’s already a lot of cool canon and fanon characters w/ v names and i don’t wanna like. copy anyone lmao. anyways she’s like “surely u have to be lonely out here :(“ and he’s like “no actually i’m pretty alright” and she’s like “nah. we’re leaving :)” and that’s that. he does go back to his weird little treehouse or whatever eventually i just like the idea of him getting dragged around against his will to help fight against evil or whatever LMAO. definitely the most helpful of the protags here in terms of combat skills (again. competent archie supremacy. they never said he was bad at fighting he just didn’t like it), but the whole time he’s just like “yes i am going to teach you how to use a sword and yes i am going to hate every second of it. die” (they are besties)

third protag is yumi bc i like her. hero drags archie to the closest village she can find, archie nearly gets sent into the stratosphere by an iron golem, and yumi comes out like “sorry broski my bad lol”. somehow she ends up agreeing to help them idk why i haven’t thought abt it that much (she is insanely difficult for me to write i still do not even have a consistent design for her). “isn’t violence against, like, villager code or whatever?” “well, technically, I’M not the one doing the violence-” *gestures vaguely to army of iron golems*

anyways that’s pretty much it. world’s bravest villager, illager who Does Not Want To Be Here, and a hero who has no clue what she’s doing, bless her soul

if anyone has suggestions lemme know lol. also i wanna make it more fantasy-ish bc i love fantasy so dw abt sticking to canon worldbuilding. this is all for funsies i have zero prior storytelling experience lmao

[baxieblur-turnip]

so it turns out you can break out of bounds before going to school in Pokémon scarlet (and violet, i assume). i have spent ~50 hours working on my Pokédex!! and we're mostly there, at around 350 i think? it's a great challenge, would reccomend! extended notes (yapping) under the cut :))

the best bits:

i caught a scyther early on because i adore scyther. at the time it was about level 18, now we're level 95 and proud!! my baby

i remembered trading was a thing, now version exclusives are accessible!! woo!

this challenge really forces you to solve problems in a creative way. lotta getting out of bounds (for example, getting to the other side of a river by throwing a Pokeball at a Pokémon on the other side) and it's wild looking at a mostly complete map like yeah. i did this. without koraidon :3

the shiny bisharp i found whilst grinding :D

gholdengo. this was a wild experience. i had such a time with this guy. it's so hard to reach the towers without koraidon, and the time is locked so i don't believe chest form gimmighoul even respawn. and yet, this was SO MUCH FUN??? it took forever and it was a bit painful, but it was a much appreciated break from the grinding. also chest form gimmighoul spawn in ruins sometimes btw

this run just has VIBES. hell yeah, we skipping school. i feel sorta bad for nemona though. legit just said 'yeah i will be right there' and fucked right off to complete my Pokédex, not returning for FOREVER. really brought new life to the game.

walking everywhere forces you to admire the scenery. it's questionable at best, but i cannot lie i enjoyed some of the sights. most of these things i brushed straight past going 728347 mph on my koraidon every other playthrough, so being forced to actually appreciate it was nice

the worst bits:

the GRINDING. w/out raids, you have to rely on the scarce candies you find around the place, and this does NOT do much. i live in Fury Falls now. i have a love/hate relationship with the pseudolegends.

getting gholdengo specifically. again. i cannot stress how long this took enough

no koraidon. walking around is SLOW as hell, OOB tricks are also SLOW (staring at a stupid fish hopping it'll swim a few metres the other way is. interesting), this game was built with using your ride in mind and definitely not just refusing to unlock it for the entirety of the pokedex

time is locked, as is weather. therefore i cannot access the few night/weather exclusive Pokémon :(

those step evolutions are EVIL and i hate them very much

these days the trade network is dead as hell, i cannot find a trade partner for my scyther, this is a cry for help

there are a few (very few) places you cannot access + this upsets me greatly. (haven't figured out how to reach part of Glaseado Mountain, the other side of the river/lake part, as well as all the ocean areas and for some fucking reason the top of the sunken tower near Alfornada. the goddamn ladder doesn't work. finally the second tower around the Casseroya lake is very much too high up.)

oh yeah also you can't do Area Zero obviously :P so no paradoxes for me

as of the time i am writing this, i have not actually finished the run. from memory, i am missing these:

finneon/lumineon because fish are annoying when you cannot swim

bruxish for the same reason

misdreavus/Mismagius and Honchkrow/murkrow because i think they're night exclusive

Scizor because the trades are annoying

palafin because i have no friends to evolve it with

Slowking because trades + i haven't found a king's rock yet

all the paradoxes because i cannot reach

kingambit because i can't seem to find any goddamn Leader's Crest bisharp

other starters because i can't seem to do picnics yet, so i don't have anything to trade for them.

a few Violet exclusives here and there because trades are a bit slow tbh

slakoth because for no real reason i cannot find it.

i think that's all :)

finally, my rulebook:

do Not enter the second fight with Nemona (where she shows you the tera thing, i think? she has a Pawmo and it's right outside the first Mezagoza entrance). no tutorial for us

only trade version exclusives for version exclusives in the pairs. this makes me feel like i am collecting them as close to normal as i can, not just begging for them on the trade network. this is very much personal preference

see how far i can get with the Pokédex! initially it was 'can i get out of the starting area' -> 'ooh!! how many pokecentres can i get out here' -> 'huh that's a lot. and my Pokédex is looking decent. soooooo' -> 'what the fuck where did those fifty hours go. uh anyway 350 Pokémon!!'

wow this is a long post whoopsies. ah well. i massively enjoyed rambling about this playthrough. if anyone else tries this, please tag me that'd be cool as hell :)) (and!! i can do tips if you want!!)

later i will edit to add a photo of some of my favourite Pokémon from this journey. for now, hope you like the challenge! :D

[nakedmonkey]

Yeah her writing is super fun but Dorn’s distaste for gnc lesbians is wild. All her protagonists have this delusional idea that the ‘typical’ lesbian is a butch woman that is over represented everywhere and it makes no sense like it’s such a dated homophobic idea…. Like you can turn in on any show w gay women and see 2 long haired, feminine straight woman hesitantly kissing like they’re being held at gunpoint 😭 Unless it’s something like the L Wird (which is literally one of its kind and even then) there are zero butches. Not even in books or movies. The most masc woman might have shirt shit but will be wearing lipgloss and eyeshadow lol. Idk where she gets this is idea like it’s so dated and odd. Also odd are her characters obsession with gay men. Feels pointed and lowkey misogynistic like I don’t get lesbians who live gay male culture but hate lesbians and think we’re boring like girl look within lmao

I SO agree, anon! I think at first reading her work, I couldn't figure out if she was giving her character these traits on purpose to make some sort of statement, like wow look at this mess of a girl and how much she hates her own identity, but the more I read, the more I feel like she is projecting her own views onto her stories, and it is a very strange, very dated way to view queerness. Purely from an anthropological approach, you can learn a lot from her books if you think about it. Particularly about mainstream entertainment and how heavily it influences cultural shifts within queer spaces.

I feel like there's a deeper conversation to have about shows like The L Word (a show Dorn constantly mentions in her work) and the damage it caused despite the good it did. Because I do feel the show did some good. Speaking from personal experience, it helped me embrace my lesbian identity for the first time in my life. It really stripped the negative connotations I associated with that word and I know it did the same for a lot of girls my age when it was originally airing. BUT it also alienated a lot of groups, it perpetuated so many harmful stereotypes about sapphics, and excluded any brand of sapphic that didn't fit into its very limited spectrum of lesbianism. Dorn's books are such a good example of the culture shows like the l word, and Will & Grace, created.

All that being said, you have a responsibility to yourself and your community, as a queer person, to educate yourself and unlearn problematic and harmful behavior, and Dorn needs to, as you said, look within and do that, because it's becoming pretty evident she's stuck in 2002 lol, or at the very least, her characters are.