#i just don't feel like there's an audience most of the time for me and it feels a little sad talking into the void haha

[nqueso-emergency]

hey queso! how are you?

How have you managed your expectations for the show? I sometimes have hope, or think that I have to let go, but most of the time a shadow of disappointment, and the idea of ​​continuing to be disappointed, haunts me. I still love the show, and I love Buck, and I hope his bi arc doesn't get erased regardless of who he ends up with, but I still can't rewatch it as I used to do, and I need Buck to talk about his bisexuality, and also talk about what he took away from Tommy's breakup speech, about his experience and how he feels about what they went through on that six months... It all seems too important to be a "Tommy dumped me, I'll be backing it out of my system and move on."

Deep down I want so badly to believe that at the end of this season Tommy will return not just for closure in their relationship, but for second chance love, but I fear the show won't go there. And I end up thinking that I would be content with a good last Tommy appearance. I want this season to end soon, I guess...

Hey! I'm doing good! ❤️

The most important thing that I try to remember is that this show does not revolve solely around romantic ships.

The stuff that Buddie fans want and are expecting would absolutely make 911 into The Buddie Show, which is a direction the show will never take. At the heart of it, 911 is about the job of a first responder.

And that's why I think Oliver said he was shocked that the show is exploring Buck's feelings because we only really get them at surface level. We've never had Buck admit he loves someone. We've never fully seen Buck emotional when it comes to relationships.

But it seems like we're about to, and yes, that shift has some people believing the last 7 years they spent chained to a pole is finally going to pay off, but I don't see that. It's blatantly clear that Ryan has no interest in playing Eddie as queer. NOT THAT HE DOESN'T WANT TO PLAY A QUEER CHARACTER... JUST NOT EDDIE.

So, for the show to make the break-up between Buck and Tommy revolve around both wanting more... the show has to explain the reasoning.

If Buck had been the one to breakup with Tommy, they wouldn't have to bring him back because Buck is the main character, and we see everything through him. But because they made Tommy breakup with Buck... we, the audience, are left just as confused as the main character, and that isn't something that typically happens unless there's more to find out and learn.

[just-sg]

You can enjoy media in spite of parts you hate. "I really wish [game] didn't [do X], but the story overall is great and the gameplay is really engaging."

You can enjoy media that disappointed you. "I hoped they would handle the [X] plotline better, but I guess it wasn't a dealbreaker." "I had hope for a while my ship would become canon, and feel kind of cheated that it didn't, but my irritation at that specific part doesn't ruin the entire series for me." or "I wish they dealt with the actual implications and ramifications of this thing that could have been a serious topic, but I understand the focus was on other things."

You can enjoy fictional events that you would find reprehensible in real life, in the same way one might be fascinated by a trainwreck. "Oh yeah all these characters are fucking awful people. It's horrifying. Anyway which war criminal is your favorite?"

You can enjoy media, especially games, as a venting outlet. This is not limited to FPS games or stuff like GTA, though it's always been wild to me that murder is one of the most easily accepted "it's just fiction" crimes. Sometimes ripping through countless fictional characters is actively helpful for staying calm and being nice to real people.

You can write and roleplay and consume stories that deal with horrible topics as cautionary tales. Sometimes it's specifically discouraging people. Which do you think is more effective: a story showing the brutal downfall of a fictional drug addict who slowly destroys their own life, or a stand-alone poster that says "Don't do drugs"? On the flip side, which makes for a more engaging longterm story: the brutal downfall or a wholesome story of someone going through rehab and never struggling with their recovery? For that matter, which is most likely to elicit sympathy for real life struggles?

You can enjoy stuff in an escapist way or for personal comfort. "This isn't how it works in real life, and I understand that pretending it did would be neglectful/harmful or at least risky in a real situation. However, in my little fantasy, what if it didn't suck actually?" (Ex: No Disney Princess Movies aren't problematic for failing to talk about the power imbalance between the royal and the commoner, etc.)

That's not to say "it's just fiction" can't go too far. Is it genuinely advocating for something? (Not just talking about it At All.) Is it being presented in a way that's insensitive to its audience? Is it pushing harmful stereotypes? In an RP or video game with other players, is it ignoring their feelings and boundaries? Ask questions like that instead of assuming the worst of everyone at all times.

This isn't really about tabletop RPGs as such, but it is about a topic I've seen floating around recently in the RPG space, that of moral purity in what you enjoy.

There seems to be this idea that if the things you enjoy aren't morally pure, that somehow reflects poorly on you. So you need to twist your brain into a pretzel to make the movies you watch or the games you play sufficiently progressive or reflective of your identity or else your enjoyment of them is somehow not valid or makes you a bad person.

So let me say this as an anarchist who believes that ACAB isn't just a means of transportation: I love shows like Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger and Kamen Rider Drive, and my favourite Sierra adventure game series is Police Quest. And those are absolutely all copaganda.

And how does that reflect morally on me? I no way whatsoever.

None of them are queer, either, and that doesn't make me any less so.

I hope I've helped some of you feel less weird about enjoying what you enjoy.

[entities-of-posts]

When I try to sleep, whenever I close my eyes I see visions of like. People staring straight at me. Watching them do stuff and hoping they don't notice me. Empty, dimly-lit, dilapidated rooms that might not be so empty. I think one time I saw a mouth with rotted bloody teeth. Usually they're somewhere that seems to be long abandoned.

It feels less like I'm just seeing things and more like I'm being shown something real, and they can see me back. Sometimes I open my eyes because I feel like they're going to reach me, in my real body, somehow, and I don't want to know what would happen if they managed it

It’s dangerous business to be a prophet. Most things don’t appreciate an audience.

[lemotmo]

My god give this to me!!!!

Q. Do you think they might actually go the unrequited route? I mean not permanently but do you think they might let Buck pine for a few episodes before Eddie has his realization moment?

A. I personally don't see them going this route. That doesn't mean they won't, but I just don't see the show putting the audience in the position of having to watch Buck pine for someone who isn't an option for him. The audience is pretty protective when it comes to Buck, I mean we love him most but we beg for them to drop a car on top of him, lol. The audience in general is pretty protective of him. They've watched him grow up so watching him set himself up for heartbreak is just not something I think the show will do. That route also puts Eddie in an unfair situation with the audience. Doesn't mean they won't do it. Doesn't mean they can't do it and do it really successfully. I just don't personally see it happening that way.

I still think we're going to get a fairly mutual realization, maybe not in the same episode but back to back episodes at least. I think neither one will tell the other for fear that the feelings aren't reciprocated. So I think we'll kind of get mutual pinning. I think Buck will confide in Maddie about his feelings. I'm not sure if Eddie will tell someone or if we'll just see Eddie's realization moment. I think one or both of them will have some kind of accident or incident on the job where one or both of them believe they're dying and they don't want to die without the other knowing how they feel. Oliver talking about an overnight shoot in the rain pretty much reinforces my belief in that. Rain is just such a Buddie thing on this show. And I don't see Tim being able to resist the big dramatic 'I love you ' where they're concerned. It's been 7 years in the making so I don't see it being a quiet moment. I think the show will go all in for the drama of it all. And they will get their quiet moment together after the fact.

I will say that I've seen a couple of posts and received a couple of asks urging people to remain skeptical because queerbaiting is very real and often intentionally used by shows to attract viewers. That is absolutely true but this show has never intentionally, verbally and openly queerbaited before. And Oliver doesn't talk about it a lot for fear of being accused of misleading people. Oliver would simply not do that. He's bent over backwards for 7 years to make sure he never even accidentally said something that could get him accused of doing that. I simply do not believe Tim, the show and especially Oliver would knowingly and deliberately bait like that. Ryan has been just as careful to try and avoid doing anything like that. I just don't believe that's what's happening here. For gods sake people let yourselves be excited.

Thank you Nonny! Much appreciated!

This was made and posted after the Oliver interview!

Nope, an unrequited storyline isn't going to happen. I'm even more convinced that this won't happen than Ali.

It wouldn't make sense in the grand scheme of things. We've seen that Eddie has started to look for joy, right at the moment when Buck will realise he is in love with him. For years now Eddie's relationships with women have fizzled out because he never felt that he could fully commit for some reason. Yet they keep showing us the close bond he has with his best friend.

No uhuh, Buck is going to figure it out and Eddie is going to come to some conclusions of his own while in El Paso. It will take them some time to actually act upon their feelings, because that is how these stories go. But the end-result will always be fully realised canon Buddie.

I also firmly believe that there is no queerbait going on here. They are too upfront about it.

Believe what you see this time. Allow yourself to believe it.

Heads up! For anyone who is giving me the shifty eyes for reposting Ali's updates instead of reblogging. Read this.

Remember, no hate in comments, reblogs or inboxes. Let's keep it civil and respectful. Thank you.

If you are interested in more of Ali’s posts, you can find all of her posts so far under the tag: anonymous blog I love.

[ducktracy]

proper reupload in the high quality this fantastic segment so deserves; eagle pig and duck bias notwithstanding, this will forever be my favorite variant of the fabled switcheroo (and a reminder that Daffy was first at his own game!) the committal on behalf of both characters--especially the sincerity of Daffy's feigned sincerity--really sets it apart

[lupins-hehim-pussy]

I wanna know ur Fontaine msq criticisms 👁️👁️👂I’m all ears

I'm not sure if you wanted me to talk about this secretly or publicly but! Here I go!

The TLDR: Fontaine MSQ aestheticised prison, poverty, child abuse, the justice system/court and didn't properly address any of it.

More:

Focalors/Furina has way too much of a sympathetic angle for a dictator who's lets people drown with her inaction.

Neuvillette feels Bad for sentencing some people to death/prison, but that's it. He's one of the most powerful people in Fontaine. If he felt like there are systemic injustices, I.E sending an abused Child to prison, he should be the first person to DO something about it, not just cry and be sad so the audience can be like aw, that's complex character writing isn't it? No it's not! And guilt doesn't absolve you!!!!!!! (These are stuff we deal with in OTCOJ read my fic now /j)

Meropide has children in it, both Sentenced there (Wriothesley) and BORN THERE (Lanoire), and this is just a quirk of the place. Not only that, Meropide accepts prisoners of all genders and crimes. There are abusers and abuse victims in one place. Do you know how bad that is? How much potential for crimes to happen in a place like that— oh wait, Meropide isn't under Fontaine's jurisdiction. If you are assaulted as an inmate it literally means nothing to the court.

Wriothesley had no qualifications when he took over. Depending on how long he lived on the streets, how old he was when he killed his parents, how old he was when he was first taken in by the orphanage, etc, the man might never have more than 4–5 years of formal education. Sigewinne probably had to teach him how to write reports. And do Meropide's spreadsheets. Edit because I forgot to elaborate on this one: This isn't a point brought up anywhere, which is bad, because when poverty and incarceration robs you of a proper education (and the rights to vote in many places too, too, by the way), it reduces your prospects for jobs, reduces many people's ability to get a home etc etc. Wriothesley was just, narratively, Given his position.

Meropide is an industrialized prison, and they portray this as a good thing. Prisoners are paid in coupons for their labour, and this is also portrayed as a good thing.

The One-Meal-A-Day reform was something Paimon gushed about being so great of a perk, that people might want to go to jail for food (could be interesting and reflective of systemic poverty if MHY had brains, but they don't, so I was just Pissed because essentially all Paimon wanted to say was "Prison isn't so bad, but still don't go to prison guys! Prison labour is really hard!"). By the way, in most real-world prisons they are obligated to feed you three meals a day. Because that's how much food a human needs. MHY went with one meal just so they can say "if you want to eat more, you have to work." And then the welfare meal is a goddamn gacha. So imagine you're a starving child who's too weak to work in the fucking robot assembly line, and you wander up for your first meal in 24 hours, only to luck in with a shit one. I'd kill myself.

They wrote Wriothesley, who's a victim of the system, into a guy who's say shit like "I'm the Duke I can do whatever I want" for a cool moment where he choke-slams an inmate (I know he was a bad guy. But also, in copaganda when cops are violent/disregarding protocols, they are always only portrayed to do that against bad guys, so what does our critical thinking tells us about this one?) They wrote Wriothesley, who was an inmate of a prison so bad, so notorious that it is the literal boogeyman of Fontaine, that has a legal (???) fighting pit, with an administrator who abuses his position to be unreasonable, to willingly stay in the place and become an Administrator who would choke-slam an inmate while saying a cool line about how he has the power to do whatever he wants. They wrote him, the guy who had to be fed on the streets by melusines, to think one-meal-a-day was a good enough reform (while he spends god-knows how much on his boat). This wasn't a victim-turns-into-abuser narrative either, they want all this to be seen as positive character growth.

And then, the final kicker is, they gloss over his entire abuse. You can only read about these shit in his profile, which most people don't because they don't Have Him or doesn't care to unlock it/read it online, and they jammed his entire backstory into a flaccid info-dump at the end of his character story quest. This man isn't Allowed to feel abused and neglected and show any reaction to it within the narrative of Fontaine itself, because if they actually Gave Weight to what happened to him, they'd have to confront THE FUCKING JUSTICE SYSTEM they had NO PLANS on criticising. I don't think they ever explicitly said the fucking Crime-Theatre nonsense was Bad either.

I could go on, but this is already so long. But yeah, I hope this gave you an idea.

[seventh-district]

again and again i find myself lamenting that audio roleplay isn't taken more seriously by some people. like yeah, they often have a romantic element, and by nature they usually directly involve/address the listener- and i totally get that those things aren't to everyone's taste. no art or entertainment is universally appealing, and that's okay! but.. it still makes me a lil sad that the "cringe" reputation of asmr/audio rp precedes it. there's a whole lot of talent and creativity being poured into these audios by so many people that i feel goes unrecognized and/or disrespected simply due to the medium that the stories are being told through.

[femme-foucault]

Ranking of 7 Best Picture Nominees at Oscars That I Have Seen(So Far)

I have not seen A Complete Unknown, Nickel Boys, or I'm Still Here. I plan on seeing I'm Still Here. I unfortunately missed Nickel Boys during its short run. I don't want to see ACU because I like Bob Dylan.

In terms of how much I enjoyed them:

Anora

The Brutalist

Wicked

Conclave

Dune Pt 2

HUGE GAP IN QUALITY

6. Emilia Perez (which I didn't finish).

SPECIAL RECOGNITION "AWARD": The Substance, which is a technically "good" movie in the sense that it was effective in getting the exact emotion out of me that I think they were going for, but I can't say I "enjoyed" it because I'm squeamish and had to skip a lot of scenes in the film so technically I didn't "finish" this one either, though that last shot was GREAT.

So I couldn't finish Emilia Perez because it sucked, but I couldn't watch all of The Substance because I think that movie worked exactly as it was intended.

[backpackingspace]

an incomplete list of things I thought were pretty obvious bc I'm feeling petty

The jedi being about processing your emotions and grief and being able to work through the feelings in a healthy way

Odysseus being a rape victim

[kalashtars]

they really mean it when they say "your idols will always disappoint you". shit's got me fucked up.

[13eyond13]

how did I forgor Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) when I had to list my favourite movies here recently

[velvetvexations]

Putting it like that I wonder how much Calamity might've directly inspired Suvi.

Rewatching through EXU Calamity and I just want to give big props to Marisha and Aabria for going so hard on the “rip to that other guy but I’m different” vibes that the Age of Arcanum was overflowing with.

The ladies find a letter written in plain and simple language that essentially says “Wizards can’t be trusted with knowledge because they’re too ambitious so I won’t tell you what the tree does” and immediately went “well maybe not those ambitious wizards but we’re totally different ambitious wizards who definitely know what we’re doing and are so much better and cooler that we’ll definitely be able to handle what we find!”

The arrogance, the drama, the self-centered hubris of it all—god I wish we had more time with these two ego-maniacs!

[mytumblogforgames]

Missing expectations by 50% lol. It's almost like making a fourth game in a franchise (and only direct sequel) without leveraging and relying on the franchise material that came before it leaves an audience feeling extraordinarily....meh. Why would I recommend this to someone who knows the world, and the older games, and wants that same experience of building a setting? On the other hand though, why would I recommend to someone new that they get involved in a franchise that has just decided to abandon all the previous material? Aside from the extreme disappointment they'd feel getting back to 4 after playing the others (if they even get the itch from the game itself, which could be a long shot considering it gives you no incentive for curiosity and would be relying on the strength of the setting itself, which is admittedly huge!!! and why the result we got here is so damn disappointing...), we all now know that Nothing Matters. What incentive is there to continue? What will they get next? Another excruciatingly limiting title that parades itself around as a "role playing" game while actually offering only a painfully narrow character with virtually no branching choices, and has little to no reactivity?

If I wanna watch a movie while I play my videogames, I'll play a quantic dreams title, thanks. Rug pulling an RPG is crazy lol. We can TELL when it's a lie, we're literally playing the game. Love to see a "she would not fucking say that" and it's my own player character lmao. And the rated M game is fun little jaunt where we all say "thank you for saying that," never have real interparty conflict (or really, any high stakes at all), can't express ourselves in any way other than Valid and Supportive, spend a not insignificant amount of dialogue ensuring we all know our pirates are good ethical hero folks, don't ever even get to sympathize with the villain because this is a rated M game and it very serious and not at all a Disney movie, and oh, you'll never guess this, but the rated M game is completely sexless -- we just blink at each other in three different convos before we go 😟😳🥹 I love you!!! My hero!! Like it isn't about the sex itself, it's about the willingness to be, idk, gross or uncomfortable etc (and in this case pacing lol). This game feels like it's hiding things preemptively so as to avoid causing "offense" like it's...pearl clutchy to me, in a way, or at least, trying to ensure that pearl clutcher is the most comfortable they can possibly be. And like I'm sorry but idc about them, this isn't about them, this is dragon age lol. Rated M for Misinformation smdh...

[arolesbianism]

Everyday I see another youtube video or whatever say smth along the lines of "this character is badly written because they're unlikable/annoying/insert negative description here" and everyday I end up massively disappointed because I came here for analysis on the actual writing of a character not just a description of the feelings they made you experience

[ame-to-ame]

Rereading ayaka is in love with Hiroko senpai!!! Last time I read it I don't think it was finished/I didn't finish it but ack. Now I also want to be in love 😭😭😭

[jawnwicks]

Some of the most important parts for me:

“Friendships are built of repeated low-stakes interactions and returned bids for attention with slowly increasing intimacy over time.”

"Deeper friendships are formed with people from those kinds of groups when you do things with them outside of the context of the original interaction."

"Smalltalk is a social script of exchanging trivial conversation about non-personal topics in order to pass a brief period of time together.

This sort of conversation is about figuring out whether you want to get to know each other better, so it's kind of a behavioral test. It's assessing "can I have a pleasant, brief conversation with this person?" because people usually want to know if the answer to that question is "yes" before they share more details of their lives."

"If the person speaking responds to your sharing of personal information with a request for more information (asks about your sister) or by sharing some of their somewhat more personal information (roses are blooming) they might be interested in continuing to gradually share more information. If they respond with more smalltalk, they probably aren't interested in becoming closer friends ... [but] maybe at some point they'll share something with you and it'll be your turn to decide if you want to get to know them better."

"Once you've seen someone several times, you will begin to know little things about them. ... If you want to become friends with them, ask them about these things and offer information in return. Start casually and don't pry for more information, and be sure to share about yourself as well. Eventually you will get to the point that you can have a comfortable conversation on topics of shared interest for at least a few minutes."

"If they agree to meeting up for the thing, they are interested in continuing to develop the friendship. If they don't want to meet up then continue at the same level of interaction as before and perhaps later on down they line they'll ask you if you want to plan a meetup."

"Once you have hung out on purpose a few more times you've got two choices: set a regular meetup, or hang out elsewhere. Setting up a regular meetup is the relatively casual option here; it keeps things in the same location and keeps the context of the friendship the same while still increasing interactions and intensifying the relationship. You can have perfectly good, if somewhat casual friends, who you see regularly in one place and rarely outside of that place."

"Hanging out in a new place changes the context of the relationship; suggest a hangout in a place that makes sense for the mutual interests you've learned over the previous months of getting to know the person."

"If you’re talking about the weather as in the first example, but you mention where you grew up and what the weather was like, that can be inspiration for the other person to also talk about where they’re from! But, unlike with a question, if they don’t want to share that information they can usually dodge it without having to make it extremely obvious that that’s what they’re doing."

Wait, so you said that you can learn to trust others by building friendships, but how does one go about doing that? Wouldn't someone I don't know be creeped out or annoyed if I suddenly walked up and started talking to them?

Friendships are built of repeated low-stakes interactions and returned bids for attention with slowly increasing intimacy over time.

It takes a long time to make friends as an adult. People will probably think you're weird if you just walk up and start talking to them as though you are already their friend (people think it's weird when I do this, I try not to do this) but people won't think it's weird if you're someone they've seen a few times who says "hey" and then gradually has more conversations (consisting of more words) with them.

I cheat at forming adult friendships by joining groups where people meet regularly. If you're part of a radio club that meets once a week and you just join up to talk about radios, eventually those will be your radio friends.

If there's a hiking meetup near you and you go regularly, you will eventually have hiking friends.

Deeper friendships are formed with people from those kinds of groups when you do things with them outside of the context of the original interaction; if you go camping with your radio friend, that person is probably more friend than acquaintance. If you go to the movies with a hiking friend who likes the same horror movies as you do, that is deepening the friendship.

In, like 2011 Large Bastard decided he wanted more friends to do stuff with so he started a local radio meetup. These people started as strangers who shared an interest. Now they are people who give each other rides after surgery and help each other move and have started businesses together and have gone on many radio-based camping trips and have worked on each other's cars.

Finding a meetup or starting a meetup is genuinely the cheat-code for making friends.

This is also how making friendships at schools works - you're around a group of people very regularly and eventually you get to know them better and you start figuring out who you get along with and you start spending more time with those people.

If you want to do this in the most fast and dramatic way possible, join a band.

In 2020 I wrote something of a primer on how to turn low-stakes interactions with neighbors and acquaintances into more meaningful relationships; check the notes of this post over the next couple days, I'll dig up the link and share it in a reblog.