#i should make some kind of introductions to these guys if only to myself

[thatlittledandere]

Okay, so this is late (again), but for the "Not So Nice" OC Asks: how about 4, 13, 21, 25, 36, and 42 for Keiichi, Shiro, and/or Minta (or whoever you feel like talking about)~ ^^

[EDIT: FUCK ok I scrolled to the bottom of my drafts and this has been buried in there for SEVEN YEARS. And I see some things have changed since then so I���m just. Gonna release this into the wild as-is. No edits past these brackets not even in tags. wOW. Vintage.]

ok this is gonna be LONG so here’s a cut (and here’s the meme)

4. Describe their worst nightmare.

(I’m treating this as a “biggest fear” question I couldn’t tell the difference)

Keiichi: Being abandoned by the people who mean the most to him

Shiro: His loved ones getting hurt and 

Minta: Being seen as weak

13. Which of the 7 Deadly Sins best describes them?

Keiichi:

Shiro: Many would say lust because of his skirt-chasing reputation but really it’s pretty far away from the truth

Minta: Pride. She wants to feel be seen as strong, powerful, independent and mature so she won’t ask for help or show vulnerability very easily or to very many.

21. What is something that causes them great anxiety?

Keiichi: At the point on the timeline I’m imagining here Keiichi’s biggest anxiety is being outed as gay. It’ll be fine eventually, I promise. He’ll have more reason to anxiety later on and oh boy those things are the things I feast on.

Shiro: He’s afraid he’s generally an unlikable person and Keiichi and Minta are just so used to him that they’ve learnt to tolerate him.

Minta:

25. Have they ever been betrayed by someone they thought they could trust?

Keiichi: Oh, honey, he doesn’t trust like that. Keiichi trusts three (3) people in his life: Shiro, Minta and his mom. Amd they have all earned his trust fair and square and that isn’t the kind of hurt I’m planning on

Shiro: Oh sweetie YES. I mean he doesn’t look at it that way but I do and I am God so ye. What Shitzuko pulled was definitely betrayal, whatever it was that she pulled.

Minta: Also yes. Her ex boyfriend (or… future or current one… listen I operate on at least four points on the timeline simultaneously) was a fuckboy and deserved to go after his lil stunt.

36. Are they in control of their emotions, or are their emotions in control of them?

Keiichi: At least he thinks he’s got them on check. And I don’t enough about emotions to dispute it.

Shiro: Shiro is a man of emotion.

Minta:

42. Are they comfortable with where they are in life?

Keiichi: He tries to convince himself he is

Shiro: Mostly yeah! He’d like a girlfriend and would love it if he didn’t need to worry for Keiichi so much (he doesn’t need to he just doesn’t understand the concept of introverts) but mostly he doesn’t have anything to complain about. A sunshine child

Minta: She’s got her own demons too but doesn’t acknowledge them even to the the extent Keiichi does;;

Thinking of answers I noticed Minta really doesn’t have a lot going on for her… I gotta work on that. She used to be my favorite to draw (and I guess she still is) but golly did she lose in personality what she gained in attention.

[bendyartistic]

Be Aware of alexbstudios. (Part 2) TW: uh.. slur, sui mention.

Recently I've been requested by some people to make another awareness post about Alex, and what has been going on since I made my last callout. So.. let's take a look. I'm gonna be honest I have been paying little to no attention to him at all since my post up until this point, didn't think I'd have to.

Ever since I made it, Alex has been talking about me a lot more, and it feels much more obsessive in a way. I think it's funny but also pretty weird considering some of the things he's said about me. Eugh.

Anyways let's get to the stuff from after my callout to the present. This is just a rundown of everything, and there is some stuff I skipped since I didn't feel it was worth mentioning. Once my post had been made, a lot of people went over and said stuff to him (Though I didn't encourage that behavior, I only wanted to make my post so people knew about him, I'm not covering those unless it's important in this.) Little afterwards he made this... post. Erh, are you stalking me and other people?? ALSO don't say the r slur man, like what.

I find it really creepy that he has this list, and has notes along with them about why/who they are. Also why'd he spell my partners name like that? 💀 Next a little after that he reblogged someone's art and introduction saying this. (I don't want to really @ people in this, nor get anyone involved unless they asked to be.)

I still don't understand how Alex views me, but saying this in a reblog no less is so strange. Reblogging another post, saying this with it...

You're right Alex, I didn't need you in my life, yet here we are. Unfortunately. Besides that, no, 12 year old's should NOT be on Tumblr at all, even with restrictions, said restriction should be having the app blocked from their device.

I'm just gonna.. move on from that. Alex reblogged an art post, where he proceeded to @ over 50 people, myself included, saying "surely you can see the problem". I can't fit the entire thing sadly. I don't get what the point in these posts are honestly, besides annoy everyone. He's done it before as well. He got into a small bit of beef with a handful of folk not too long ago, which I got @'ed in at some point I think, didn't really pay much attention to it. Basically the original post is someone talking about art supplies and asking what one's other people use, which I personally think was a very neat post. Alex comes around though for some reason going off on nonsense. Hello? Who invited you!? (Again, censoring names cuz I don't want to get ppl involved.)

I'm honestly kind of wondering why he even showed up. He pretty soon after made this dumb post as if it could have some effect on the situation.. uh?

I guess mark your calendars guys for this date, where we have to immediately forget everything and forgive him! /j And there's this response he gave to an anon responding to his ✨patience✨ post.

Dunno, so far it hasn't because he's still talking about it, so clearly he hasn't gotten over it enough to let it blow over.

He's giving me those like.. stupid sigma edit vibes sometimes. Y'know what I'm talking about? Yeah. Also I'm not sure what to say about this really, but it's pretty funny.

Context for this next one: You and the person on your lockscreen fight god..? That's a weird one.

Wdym racist though? 🤨 Genuinely kinda curious about that. Btw wouldn't that make you like.. 9?? On a different note, I saw him previously talk about this "friend" he has going to a mental hospital, but I know nothing about it, nor do I really want to, however reblogging on an art post saying this feels off. Think the emotes are what do it.

Don't joke about mental hospitals at all, I shouldn't have to explain why. I'm going to move on from all the short stuff now because I do wanna start talking instead of making short joking comments.

Alex made this post, and so it begins with him talking about me again, eh?

Alex, you're already doomed. I can't put it any other way but from what I've seen maybe only 1 or 2 people even like you. The rest either hate you or want to avoid you at all cost, and I don't blame them at all considering you act like a fool and make everyone uncomfortable.

For my thoughts on you? I don't like you, never did. I just have to put up with you because this is the internet, and you'll probably never truly leave me alone like I once hoped. It's a shame honestly that you cannot follow a simple request from anyone. Don't think I don't know about your planned "response post" you're making, I'm still waiting for it. I don't know what good it's gonna do you though. Personally I don't care if you make one, I'd just read it to see the stuff you make up in it lol. (Edit: He decided to stop working on it after seeing this post lol.)

Enough of my rambling, I should continue with this so I can stop talking about him sooner. Regrettably I had to actually look up what this was about, I felt.. iffy reading it.

Saying gyatt right afterwards wasn't funny. At all. I'm quite upset now. There was absolutely no reason for that.

I was gonna be reasonable and say something genuine but I don't feel like it anymore, this ruined my mood. All I have to say is as much as I dislike you, don't actually do that. Sadly moving to the next nonsensical thing, he made a poll post asking this. (It's still ongoing btw)

Are people like.. forced into giving a reason? Like if I for example chose Bendy, am I immediately supposed to state my reasons? What if I don't want to, are we being held at gunpoint? What's up with that? I'm too lazy to interact with the post, I don't really feel like it anyways even if I wasn't lazy. Which one would you choose though lol I'm going to be serious now again cause this last thing is really just.. what the fuck. Palestine related 🍉, someone asking for help came to Alex, and this was his response to it...

MY GOD Alex. Did you really have to respond to that in this immature, insensitive fucking manner? Could it have not been in one of your stupid rambling posts. It should've been. I'm sorry to the person and I'm sorry I had to read it. You're pretty sick honestly. You need help.

That's it. I'm done.

In conclusion:

Alex is still the same and is still never going to change probably. He still shouldn't be here and I believe he really should get off now more than ever. If not I fear what else he might do next.

All I can really tell you folks is please, DNI with Alex, just leave him alone and block him. You're again not obligated to, but I am suggesting it if you want to be left alone by him. And hey, maybe you'll make it onto his dumb creepy list too, who knows. Alright, I'm finished, I stayed up way too late for this... I'm tired. Cya.

Reblogs are much appreciated, it helps spread the word, thanks.

[zivazivc]

What kind of nu metal music fits Les's band?

First of all I gotta clarify that I sent this ask myself because I accidentally lost the original through constant editing and drafting. I realize I could just make a regular text post but I'm quirky like that, and a question is a nice little attention grabber for those who are interested.

Anyway...

It's hard to point at one song and say this is their sound, because A: I'm picky, B: the band's style changes over time, and C: I don't know what I'm doing lmao

This answer is very long uhh I don't seem to be able to form short responses, mi scusi 😅

Back at home the brothers' music and then also the first year on the road with Flea the band sounds like the albums Music and especially Grassroots by 311. (Grassroots is such a banger of an album, I listen to it all the time, really recommend.)

Hed's the main influence on the band's sound because he's the main vocalist, songwriter and overall the most invested in the band succeeding (Les's main concern is making ends meet, and Flea is just enjoying the ride lol). At the start Hed and Les have had basically no contact with Rock Trolls so even though they're both more metal/punk than regular rock, their "rock side" is softer at this point. Hed also grew up with hip hop because of his peers so there's a lot of rapping in his lyrics. And he also incorporates reggae into his style a lot because of his favorite uncle, Kymani (one of the guys who live with Ish) who is a Reggae Troll. Hed is pretty much a sponge when it comes to music, much like Floyd. The closest I can come to describing his genre is a fusion of Rap Metal and Reggae Rock which are both already fusion genres jskksdjsk

(The band 311 has two singers and oddly they both sound like Hed and Les to me. SA Martinez (the higher of the two voices) sounds 100%, exactly like how I've imagined Hed's voice in my head. For Les I have a different voice claim because Les's personal style of music is much different from the band, but Nick Hexum (the lead vocalist here) is still in the second place when it comes to voice alone. Imagine my enthusiastic surprise finding voices for both brothers in the same band 😄)

examples from the two albums:

...

While driving around and performing small gigs they come in contact with the alternative and nu metal scene and meet a lot of Rock Trolls (mostly various Metal Trolls) and other mixed trolls, and in the following couple of years their sound gradually becomes heavier (Hed rediscovers screamo lol) and they go from rock to metal.

A year into their "touring" is also around the time Hed meets and starts dating Liv and gets her to join the band. Liv's genre has the heaviest sound of all of them (Industrial/EBM), which influences Hed and the band too. And with Liv on the drums, Hed takes over DJ-ing and is also able to put more focus on the vocals, which also makes Les step down and only sing backing vocals with the rest of the band if needed.

The band in this era sounds like the album Revolution by Insolence and to some degree Introduction to Mayhem by Primer 55.

examples from the albums:

...

Two years into the bands existence is when Floyd runs into them. At first he's more just standing there, observing their practices and performances warily, because he's had bad experiences with Rock Trolls in his one year alone and metal music still kinda freaks him out at this point. But he soon starts joining in in melodic parts and then it progresses into him singing longer and longer segments because he has the strongest vocals of everyone. And once he saves enough of his earnings for a guitar he starts playing the rhythm guitar too. (The guitar he took with him when he left the Troll Tree got stolen before he met the band.)

I guess I should clarify: Flea is the lead guitarist, Les is the bassist, and Liv and Hed switch on the drums and DJ-ing depending on the track. At one point they also get a keyboard.

It's also not that long before Hed and Floyd start actively writing songs together, sharing each others notes, and they start to split the singing parts more evenly. Hed even teaches Floyd screamo techniques, because he thinks Floyd has a great voice for them (He is correct, Floyd has a mean scream 😁).

During this time the band still pretty much sounds like Revolution by Insolence but with more melodic singing parts from Floyd (and screaming/shouting lmao). I think Verge of Umbra is another good band to compare, it sounds more clean and Floydy but still Hedy. (Man, I should write scientific research papers skjdkjf)

↑↑↑ song with the lyrics from the drawing at the top

From here on out I'm a bit unsure how the band's sound develops, but I'm pretty sure Floyd would unintentionally infect them with a mild case of radio friendliness (Pop trolls can't help their in your face nature lmao 😞). So for now I'm stopping here...

This took me days of searching and writing so I would appreciate to hear any thoughts you have if you've come this far and given some of the songs a listen. :)

[creamedh0ney]

☀️Hey Sunshine ☀️

I thought I'd introduce myself! I wasn't sure how to make a nice looking introduction but I figure I'll just go for it and add if I need to!

First of all, you can call me Andy. My name changes sometimes in real life but Andy is a pretty safe, gender neutral one to use for me.

🌻Basics About Me🌻

Big Age: 18!

Little Age: 1-6

Gender Identity: Genderfluid

Pronouns I use: she/he/they/it/xe (depends on the time, but use what you'd like)

Sexuality: Pansexual

Other Stuff: I am autistic, I have c-ptsd and chronic pain - Please be patient with me!

🪁Hobbies🪁

Drawing (with sidewalk chalk, chalk pastels, pencil, marker, crayon, anything really!)

Gardening (though I'm not good at it yet)

Biking

Volleyball (just for fun though, I'd rather not do anything competitively)

Baking

Writing (poetry, fantasy or romance stories, essays)

Reading (fantasy, romance, classics, poetry, fanfiction, science nonfiction)

Watching anime/animated TV shows

Shopping

Listening to music

🧸Interests/Things I Like🧸

Shows(some of these are not agere or sfw necessarily!): Hazbin Hotel, Helluva Boss, Banana Fish, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Sesame Street, Owl House, Ouran High-school Host Club, Gravity Falls, Haikyu, Strawberry Shortcake, Wild Kratts, X-Men, Amazing Spiderman

Movies/Studios: Disney (specifically Tangled and other princess movies), Studio Ghibli, Tim Burton movies (specifically Coraline and Edward Scissorhands)

Toys/Toy Type Things: Dolls (porcelain or rag- not creepy ones or anything, just normal), Stuffed Animals, Calico Critters, Barbies, Littlest Pet Shops, Animal Figures (specifically schleich), Play Food, Play Dough, Lego

Games: Stardew Valley, Slime Rancher, Minecraft, Genshin Impact, Sims, Roblox (I like Fashion Famous and Royale High specifically), Animal Jam, Fall Guys, Star Stable, Pokémon (though I've only played it on other people's consoles)

Other:

Animals (of all kinds!! I adore any and all, but if you reallyyy wanna know specifics, I can yap for AGES!)

Clowns! I have been for a very long time, I adore them!

Anything pink or yellow! Those are my favorite colors ever!

Nostalgia is a very big theme in my interests, there's something so very special about it!

Musicals!! Specifically Hamilton and Epic!!!!

🎀BYF/Things You Should Know🎀

- I'm gonna be posting randomly, there's not really a set time. I may post a TON in a day, or I may not post for weeks. Please be patient and respectful of my time!

- I prefer cursing to a veryy very small amount. The occasional d-word or s-word is okay. I curse a lot outside of regression - which I'm working on - so I don't kind, but this is a safe space for me and many others. Please be respectful of that in your language choices.

- If I post something which is triggering to you and don't post a trigger warning, it is completely okay to let me know! Tell me to post a warning! Please! It doesn't harm me at all to edit and add a tw.

- Adding onto the one above, I may post something and come across as too blunt or may not word things correctly. Let. Me. Know. I want to know if I come across as rude or if my intention isn't clear. That's important to me.

🧼DNI🧼

Basic DNI (homophobes, racists, misogynists, etc.)

NSFW/K!nk

Accounts featuring g0re, S/H, e/d, and the like

Anti agere (obviously)/ Anti Furry / Anti Neopronouns (idk if there are terms for that, please let me know if there are, but you know what I mean for now!)

Basically, don't be a jerk! I want to be as friendly and welcoming as possible, but that means keeping this space safe, respectful and kind. This is my blog and that means upholding my rules. Thank you so much for understanding!!

[mari-lair]

the recent chapter was decent, but when I realised akane wasn't the yoshiro after convincing myself he was for a month i had to close the tab stare at the ground and like. process for a few seconds. how i wish he had been... i did enjoy mirai trying to save his life though, and teru recognising that they hadn't been going to their full strength because maybe they didn't care about the yoshiro, because as you said, they had been presented at a higher level and we didn't see that in chapter 109

I always had doubts about him being the Yorishiro, with Akane having 2 bodies and the supernatural one already being stabbed in the chest before, so even that reveal was more of a "oh, okay. Makes sense" feeling.

It's... kind of sad... my experience with this chapter. With this arc.

The only thing I like is Mirai saving Akane, and how rich with character quirks, values, and experiences, Akane's fight with Tsukasa is, it goes beyond just his judo skills (and Elise will talk about it when she has the time) But I'll be honest, I have no hope for this arc, no wish to think about it and theorize it or anything.

I am here for terukaneaoi and the way Aoi hasn't shown up even as a small panel since the clock was frozen is... very telling... Akane's 'betrayal' with Teru also saddens me, for the more I look at it, the more clear it becomes that it is a tool, not a conflict they planned as a means to clash ideals, learn more about each other, or strengthen/restructure bonds (like Aoikane in chap 69 or Kou and Teru in chap 87). When Aidairo does want to create character conflict, they are amazing at it! Which makes Akane and teru feel... that much weirder.

I never expected Teru to jump and try to help Akane, he is handcuffed and without his sword, but I did expect him to have some kind of thought about the situation while he watched Akane be beaten up in front of him.

We get no reaction panel about what he thought of the fight. At all. Akane isn't in immediate danger when we do see his thoughts but it still feels... Strange to frame chapter 108 in a way that highlights how much Akane's betrayal affects Teru on a personal level, to make chap 109's gag revolve around Teru being THAT angry with Akane and then... Make Teru not spare Akane a single thought.

Teru even takes into consideration Nene's lifespan, but absolutely nothing about Akane. No cursing him. No "oh he did almost die like I wished for, idk how to feel a bout that". No "it feels strange to not be able to do anything, just watch". No, "I guess he is a clock keeper not the boy i thought I knew". No "i'm glad he is not dead". Not even "he should have died", as cruel as it sounds, it would still make way more sense than just... Nothing.

He doesn't even refer to Akane by name.

Teru is someone who has taken things personally since his very introduction, unused to change and prioritizing his relationships over his duties (not exorcising Hanako so Kou doesn't get mad at him. Putting the intire school at risk cause Tiara wanted him to clean up a mokke in chap 39. Letting Akane punch him in chap 71, etc-)

He is pathetic and unexperienced when he takes things personally, he wants to be reliable and admired, he doesn't know how to handle not getting what he wants (especially with Akane, who always obeys). Even when he tries to be detached his pathetic nature still show up. It had been consistent.

But the guy that locked himself in his bedroom and hid under the covers for a whole day after his fight with Kou seemingly got over Akane betraying him in what must have been 1 hour without talking about it ? I know Akane is not as important to Teru as his family but it's insane that he got over it without even thinking about it or being able to move in any way to let his frustrations out.

The worst part is that even when I suspend my disbelief and go along with the idea that Teru "isn't taking things personally anymore and is in professional mode cause the situation is dire!" it still makes no sense.

Akane's betrayal should have filled his head with questions about the situation, about what changed, but Teru never even tried to connect his vague talk with Akane with the clock keepers seemingly being nerfed.

Why 'now?' feels like an important question. One that should stick, but Teru ignores it.

Which again. Goes agaisnt what is established of his opinion of Akane.

Why would he neglect the words of a colleague he considers wise? Of someone he is treating as fully part of the clock keepers now? Someone he always wanted to hear his opinions before even in his 'professional and smart' mode? Someone whose opinions we have been told he doesn't dismiss even when what Akane says clashes with his upbringing as an exorcist? I am just supposed to assume he is treating Akane as any other supernatural now? Is the betrayal an insta 'everything that has been established no longer applies' free card...?

So yeah, sure... This is a big improvement from chapter 109 but it has the same core problem as chapter 109, at least to me: Aidairo has no interest in exploring Teru as a character in this arc. Aidairo wants the spotlight fully on the broadcasting club, and they will tweak his character whenever it's convenient to set the stage. Just like Nene had turned into a kid with minimal agency, Teru has become a presence that doesn't ask questions, unless said questions will move the plot.

Feelings will also be reduced to what moves the plot, we don't need to know how he feels about being in a position with no power, no sword, and minimal knowledge for the first time in this manga. There is so much they can explore completely disconnected from Akane, despite putting a spotlight on their relationship in chap 108, but there is nothing for Teru's character.

Even when Tsukasa points at Nene, whom he isn't angry at, he has no reaction. He does not care about this guy targeting the little baby girl after witnessing Akane be dragged on the floor.

Of course he doesn't. This isn't about him, is a Hanako set up, Teru can't have even a panel of spotlight on him that is about his character, can't bring attention to his fall out with Akane, less the reader get any expectative from it, or take space in a manga that currently isn't about him.

Teru is a tool first, and a character second in this arc. Chapter 109 stuck him in a dumb gag box. Chapter 110 stuck him in a smart guy exposition box. His personality is picked apart when it is convenient not when it makes sense for a character that has been molded for 100 chapters.

I don't care about this plot. I care about my favorite characters, and how they would react to the circumstances the plot been put on. That's my priority. It isn't Aidairo's. Even if Teru does have a relevant role later, it's still clear that exploring his character isn't Aidairo's priority in this arc.

I told chapter 109 to make me care about the arc, and chapter 110 is way better but not enough to make me care. Which is very sad, I wish it did :(

...This was already a depressing enough answer as it is, I don't want to talk about it.

[king-midas-fortnite]

Hello. I assume there is little need for introduction, but I am Midas. I've recently returned from a brief..."sabbatical", shall we call it, in the Underworld.

My daughter, Jules thought it would be a good idea to keep a blog. Not sure why. Something about venting feelings, connecting with other people not in my crew, etc. Not exactly things I find very high priority, but I suppose it can't kill me. I'd know better than anyone what can, after all. And perhaps it'll make keeping tabs on people of interest easier...

Feel free to reach out, if you wish. Message me, tag me, whatever the case may be. I'll do my best to be active here. Whatever it takes to make my daughter happy. However, I am a busy man. Apologies if I miss anything.

((Keep reading for rules and notes!))

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

Rules and guidelines for interacting!

1. This blog is run by an adult. I am 26, my main is @snippydippy. Please keep this in mind when interacting with me. I ask that minors please consider a different Midas.

I will use (()) to indicate when I'm speaking out of character in any posts!

2. I don't mind NSFW content myself, but may not answer questions or reblog content pertaining to sexually explicit topics to keep things relatively appropriate.

3. This blog may contain ship content, it may not. I have ships I like, they may not be the ones you do. While my version of Midas is cis, he's not straight (bi king). If this bothers you, I don't know what to tell you.

4. My DMs and asks will always be open! Please don't be shy, Midas won't bite. I'm down to RP in the reblogs with anyone! However, DM roleplays for other adults only, please.

5. This blog will always be skewed towards a more serious vibe. I take my characterization of Midas very seriously (more so than I probably should for a FN character lol). You won't find much in the way of him being a silly guy. Even if I find it funny, if I don't think a situation would be in character for my version of him, it won't happen.

That's it as far as my rules go aside from the obvious "don't be a dick" sentiments that I feel I shouldn't have to say. Thank you for reading them! Next are just a couple notes on my headcanons for Midas.

-Midas has some control over his Golden Touch. I think of the curse in a way that is similar to chronic pains. Some days, it is manageable, and he can touch whatever he'd like without issue. Some days, it is bad. He has to avoid people, can't eat, and struggles getting through mundane tasks without frustration.

I believe his curse may also be in part tied to his emotions. Any intense anger, sadness, or other strong feelings will make it harder to control the Touch, and it does cause him some amount of pain when it's out of control. (Doing mental gymnastics to explain why Fortnite itself isn't consistent with his power.)

-Jules means everything to Midas. He will do absolutely anything in his power to keep his daughter safe and to keep his relationship with her in good standing. He's wronged her in the past, and is doing all he can to make up for those actions and lost time.

-His time in the underworld changed him a bit. He's less cold to the people close to him. He allows more feeling than pure calculation into his thought processes, but a stranger may not be able to tell. Midas is a relatively closed off man. He does not wear his emotions on his sleeve, and doesn't often make friends without some kind of benefit to be had from the relationship. Be it power or connections. However, the friendships he does have mean a great deal to him. He is quick to provide aid in any way he can to those he cares about.

Another thing about his imprisonment in Hell: Time in the underworld was experienced differently. While we may have waited four years for Midas to return, for him it was much, much longer. Now that he is back, he is determined to never be put in chains ever again.

-My version of him obviously has not left the island after returning from the underworld, instead opting to stay as his curiosity for how things have changed has gotten the better of him. He wants to keep up with the power struggles, and find a way to insert himself back into them.

This blog is semi-independent! Some lore is shared with @perseus-ihatemydad-fortnite in that he helped Midas escape from the Underworld. As well as most often being seen interacting with @kado-fortnite and @valeria-fortnite

Tags I'll use!

#Midas Answers -For asks answered in character

#Midas Posts -For interactions in character

#Gold Reserves -In-character reblogs of art, aesthetic posts, etc.

#Gold Encounter -For interactions between other characters that are meant to be read as happening in-person/privately

#Journal Entries - For uh. For Journal Entries lol. These are, in a meta sense, private to him. They are for interactions that happen on the Discord server rather than Tumblr for reader convenience.

- 👑 for anon messages

#Shut your trap snippy -For posts like these that include me talking OOC (I know, long tag. It's just what I've been using on my main blog for years to tag my own garbage lol)

Screenshot in this post and my header are from @corvidazed 💛

Thank you for getting all the way down here! I hope our interactions are fun!

[sonicexelle-junkary]

you know adding romance in your stories like hungryhero make it a bit awkward generally romance is something that a story go forward but for it I have the impression that it there to be there. You said yourself that after starting is new diet sonic pretty much doesn’t care about anyone except few people (and that doesn’t include shadow) plus if you really wanted to include sonadow in the story you could’ve have a few comic about sonic and shadow but instead you do drawing of them being close but that doesn’t make sense seeing how thier relationship goes it make really awkward ( this isn’t to meant to be a criticism but I just want to tell what brother me) and that all even though you will probably continue what you were doing with them and that I just you to acknowledge your fault

My introduction to ships in my AU’s really are more just guilty pleasures to myself. A lot of the romance/ships I do bring into the AU’s don’t really serve purpose to bring the plot forward because they aren’t supposed to. Romance is not the focus in these kinds of AU’s, I just put them in because it’s fun. I think only like three of my AU’s have ships, and really only one of them has any weight to it (being the House Party AU). The other two are both just a joke and not cannon (COTH), and just because it’s in my headcannons/personal preferences (HungryHero.EXE).

The House Party AU is based on old horror/slasher films and it follows a lot of those plot points (albeit given a bit of a twist to it), so yes there will be some romance or ‘sexual’ tension between some characters because that’s how a lot of those kinds of stories go.

While HungryHero.EXE takes after my headcannons, I don’t exactly like forcefully fitting characters into certain things unless that was established day one of brainstorming. The AU takes after every game published by the Sonic Team, so any (romantic) relationship with any character is mostly ambiguous prior to the events of HungryHero.EXE (being the very first part of the series).

Plus, believe it or not, Sonic is a shy guy when it comes to sharing his more romantic emotions. He’s the kind of guy who is more with actions than words, and he’s not that much into PDA. As I said, HungryHero.EXE is half based in cannon, so I wanted to keep Sonic as close to his cannon self as I can.

And as I said before, I don’t think that shipping or romance should be the main focus, or something to drive the plot forward in a story. Like, a lot of times people just have a lover but they don’t do much in the story anyways. Romance and relationships are just a part of life, I don’t think that they should always be the focus in stories, even if they are part of it.

[justatalkingface]

I saw a few anons mention Hori's other works in the past and I noticed something when I read them myself. Every main character of his works are nice, kind characters that have tragic backstories that make people want to root for them:

Oumagadoki Doubutsuen introduces a female protagonist who was laughed at by literally everyone at school for being so clumsy, she couldn't do anything right without hurting herself. Her working part time at the zoo (owned by the rabbit guy) not only helps her, but it reveals she has a deep knowledge and understanding of animals. Sensei No Bulge introduces a boy, who cares for the many homeless children younger than him, get roped into acting as the prince's body double because the two look alike. This end up revealing that the boy has what it takes to lead through his kindness and taking the lessons taught to him.

However, these two (plus Izuku) NEVER have their backstories explored after the introduction of it. We never get a deeper look as to WHY the girl is so clumsy, or how her passion for animals came to be. Nor do we get to see any more of her school life after that. We never learn more about the boy that explores his kind and willingness to help others. And, once again, he doesn't go back to check up on those homeless children.

But we DO get focus of the rabbit guy, who is literally abusive to the zoo animals and a jerk to the girl. Don't worry, it's revealed that the rabbit guy was a child turned into an anthropomorphic rabbit by a rabbit guardian as punishment for abusing a rabbit in the woods. Which apparently made him stay stuck in his (horrible) child mentality. We DO get focus on the jerk mentor/bodyguard who is teaching the boy. But when it came to learning some backstory? It's the a$$ hole of a prince who we get the backstory of! After he's KILLED! And it turns out that HE'S THE FAKE AND THE BOY IS THE REAL PRINCE!

Every. Time. Hori puts his focus on characters who are jerks (though, the other two aren't as bad as BnHA's jerks.), while the main character is relugated to taking care of everyone problems and being their mandatory support rock. The main character is always neglected, and never explored. The pattern just grew worse due to BnHA not being cancelled like the previous two mangas, and was allowed to continue for this long without any kind of self-awareness or an editor intervening.

...You know, I get the feeling, sometimes, that to Hori, the story is just a vessel to put his favorite characters in.

Like. 'Loser kid gets gud' is quintessential shonen, in the most basic of ways; and so that basic plot is there so MHA can be written and sold. Izuku, as he is now, exists to support MHA's existence more than anything.... but it feels sometimes like MHA itself is a stage that exists so he can play with his favorite toys characters on them.

There's Bakugou, obviously; always angry, always unrealistically loved, allowed to rampage with abandon throughout the DnD board that is MHA.

There's also Mirko, though; I don't remember where, but I seem to remember she's basiclly in the form of Hori's ideal woman or some bullshit? And, of course, the way he tortures her is infamous, and with that context... it's like he's playing out a fantasy.

Bakugou is the impulsive, angry, consequence-free prodigy he always wanted to be, maybe, and Mirko is, god help us, his fetish? Mineta is his perverted desires, and all the attractive women in skimpy outfits are just...fan service, for him as much as everyone else.

When you look it at that way, it feels like he made the setting, established the basics, then just... lost interest in the broader context of it, and just decided to double down on whatever specific elements he liked, and that's why certain things are so deeply invested in, like Mirko's torture porn and Bakugou's deep feelings and why we should totally like him, and how we should all forgive Endeavour already, since all the cool kids are doing it.

At the same time, though, the demands of the setting itself, and the important characters supporting them are still there: All Might, All For One, One For All, and Izuku. They're still in the story, and still massively important to the broader plot of the manga, and they have to be told. Hori can't just switch it to the Bakugou channel when this is, explicitly, Izuku's story... but he can stop focusing on it as much. So, as time passed, Izuku was less and less in focus, but he still did the checklist of whatever major parts he was supposed to play in the first place to move the plot along.

The only time it feels like he gets any focus anymore is when Hori can draw him out all edgy and dramatic, those moments when he's least like Izuku and most EPIC AND COOL, with serious Spiderman vibes with Black Whip, because Hori apparently loves Spiderman, and to some extent Izuku is his Spiderman wish fulfillment, but... as soon as he's talking about his feelings, or not wearing his costume, or basiclly doing anything that isn't fighting? Izuku is just kind of... skipped over, like someone's fast forwarding past their least favorite parts of a show.

That same logic can apply to OFA, who we know shit all about, even though this is one of the most important characters in the lore and the story is almost over, about All Might, who was been turned into this bumbling fool who can't even tie his own shoes, and AFO, who is probably the only person passing Izuku on the, 'I exist only support the plot' scale. AFO has just turned into Hori's' excuse for everything that has gone wrong these days; he's a multi-purpose answer that allows him to push forward the story without having to have any logic behind it at all beyond, 'AFO did it, I don't have to explain shit'.

(Someone get that 'it's magic' meme and slap AFO's mask on it.)

And that kinda energy, even if that isn't exactly what is happening, is part of the reason MHA is so... boring these days. Everything that happens seems so contrived and predictable, and it just isn't... fun anymore, or interesting. There's no depth to it, no life, just hollow tropes being executed by characters who no longer resemble who they used to be.

It used to be that I waited eagerly for each chapter to come out, that I was on the edge of my seat as Izuku struggled to establish himself and beat the odds, but now I can barely be assed to see if it updates. I can call most of the major story notes without even thinking about it at this point, and so far I've been pretty spot on in a broad sense, though a lot of them still need to play out, and when they do happen, I just want to groan more than anything.

[iocainesmoothie]

Been playing ffxiv, paid to skip HW but really enjoyed stormblood, saw emet-selch for the first time.

I'm very impressed that his first introduction to the player was to be shot and rag dolled down the stairs, it immediately differentiates him from the other ascians who just say ominous and vague nonsense that never amounts to anything. It was almost more sinister, because it really illustrates the point that the ascians are noncorporeal horrors piloting a meat puppet.

Also very minor detail but I noticed even back in stormblood, instead of writing a boring talk quest as "go talk to so-and-so", instead they say "go meet SOMEONE at such-and-such place". Like it's so very minor, but instead of straight up telling me who you're going to meet they just sorta hint and say how excited that person is to see you again.

Mechanically it's the exact same boring quest format, and maybe I don't otherwise even care about that character, but even that tiny bit of speculating who it is and the implication that they have any kind of emotional response AT ALL is already elevating the writing.

I get the majority of quest text boils down to telling the player to go to X or talk to Y or collect Z and there's only so many ways to do that, and clarity of communication is always top priority, but in something long format like an mmo where the player has likely plugged in a hundred hours already you can kinda assume they've been trained to expect a certain order of events and can play with the format a bit.

Also the last duty of sb was one of those "everyone shows up at the big battle as npcs and cheers at you to go on to the big boss while they hold back reinforcements" fights and it's very anime but honestly it always works on me.

Been leveling up dark knight, but I bought the level 80 warrior boost because I hate playing with other people and I wanted to solo a bunch of the main scenario raids instead of queueing. Also I'm playing dark knight because aesthetics, and tanking for a group is too much responsibility for me.

Honestly dk kinda sucks compared to paladin and warrior, way less mitigation and self healing, and though it feels like I'm doing more damage it's still not as much as a pure dps.

Also bought a bunch of clothes on the shop in a moment of weakness, but now my outfit is so cool I don't want to change into anything else! And I kinda miss wearing vanilla gear and seeing your outfit change as you pick up upgrades. Oh well atleast I'm cute and it avoids those awkward moments when a piece from a new set doesn't fit with your current fit.

Ffxiv clothing designs are so gorgeous, even the shitty low-level vanilla garbage is kinda cute. Ppl who buy store stuff obviously look good but I have way more respect for the glamours I see where people just got really creative with in-game items. The graphics are like 10 years out of date but the hair and clothes and faces are still miles better than some of biowares stuff (guys I love you I'm on your side let's figure this out you can't just make everyone bald)

Also I've noticed the cuts scene cameras do a trick anime does a lot to cut down animation costs, the framing and panning and angles do a LOT of the work when they otherwise can't get these limited models to emote that much. Or else they just fully cut away and let a sound effect imply an action took place and your brain just fills in the difference.

Anyway I'm addicted and am probably wasting a lot of time on things I should be doing instead but it's nice to have something to hyper fixate on for a while, and I haven't even started SB or EW and I've heard they're both life changing so maybe I'll just glut myself until I've wrung all the dopamine I can out of it.

Also I've realized there is such a jump in writing quality in SB that I'm only really emotionally attached to lyse and hien and the general, the rest of the scions are all kind of... idk unlikable?? They're all the same kind of snarky but not really funny, and speak intelligently but not really with any character or having much to say. Allisae being maybe the exception but I feel like she doesn't get much screen time compared to her brother.

It was very touching that she's the tough prickly one, but very honestly tells you she feels alone and sadly asks you not to leave her in a moment of vulnerability before the fight where she reaches for your hand desperately before her soul is teleported away. Like damn yeah this is manipulative but you got me! I'm invested now!

Also that little crystal cat boy was in arr and I never finished/paid attention to his quest line so idk how he ended up i SB, guess I'll find out.

[cloudy-em]

we'll make it work - spencer reid x fem!reader

i've had a really busy week and i'm in need of some relaxing time. i find writing generally pretty relaxing. this one may not be too good because this is more of a vent post and living vicariously through my writing as opposed to putting thought into it, but i figured i'd post anyways. feel free to view my pinned post (mobile or desktop) or click the compass icon (desktop) for my masterlist + all of my important links :)

Spencer had invited me to join the team for dinner at Rossi's after I had complained about not being social enough. As a CIA agent who is often sent abroad to consume and collect news sources from various countries and analyze them, having a social life isn't exactly my top priority.

Spencer and I had meant a couple of years ago at a bookstore when he'd turned a corner too quickly, accidently pushing me into a shelf. We had a good laugh about it and ended up talking for hours when he realized I held a copy of Any Human Heart. We remained friends, and my partner and I had even helped Spencer's team catch an unsub when she tried to leave the US and go to Budapest. We only grew closer from there. It's funny how the simplest mistakes can bring people together.

I had yet to meet Spencer's team officially; the Budapest situation ended with my partner and I returning the unsub to the US and simply handing her off to Spencer's team. There was no time or need for introductions.

As Spencer and I walked up to Rossi's rather extravagant front door, I found myself growing nervous. This team was like a family, and I was going to be the one weird tagalong.

Spencer rang the doorbell, and a beaming blonde wearing a bright pink dress opened the door. Her appearance alone made me smile - she looked like she was kind and happy, and she reminded me of the dolls I'd see in shop windows.

"Spencer's here!" she turned to yell into the house before waving her hands wildly to invite us in. As she shut and locked the door behind us, she turned to me and smiled. "My name's Penelope, and you must be Y/N! Spencer talks about you all. the. time. I'm so glad to finally meet you. Come on, let's go meet the rest of the team!" she all but grabbed my hand and dragged me towards a large kitchen, where the rest of the team stood nursing white wine as an older gentleman instructed them on cooking pasta.

"-remember, we always salt your pasta water before boiling it. The water should be salty like the sea! Now that it's been seven minutes, we can remove and drain the pasta," he paused, demonstrating the step he had previously narrated.

The rest of the team nodded. Penelope cleared her throat, "Everyone, Spencer and Y/N are here!" the team smiled, turning to look at the both of us.

"Perfect timing," our chef for the evening said in a welcoming tone. "I'm almost done with the meal. Emily, would you pour the late arrivals their wine?"

A brunette smiled and nodded, gesturing for us to follow her further into the kitchen area. "I'm Emily," she introduced herself to me as she poured one glass of wine, holding it out for me to take before pouring another for Spencer. "I hope you guys had a good evening before coming here," she said, looking at Spencer with a facial expression I couldn't quite describe. Spencer quickly placed his hand on my back, making my cheeks heat up as he mumbled something about being introduced to the rest of the team. We made our rounds and I shook hands with Derek, JJ, and Hotch.

Rossi announced that dinner was ready and directed all of us to his dining room. The meal was delicious; nothing too fancy. It was comforting but still held the flair one would expect from a famous author. The table made small talk at first, discussing weekend plans before we got more comfortable and went more into detail about our personal lives. JJ talked about her husband and son, Hotch detailed his experience in teaching Jack how to hit a t-ball, and Derek said he thought his most recent hookup might be going somewhere. Before Spencer or I could even process what was happening, Penelope turned to the two of us, a curious smile splayed across her lips.

"So, how long have you two been dating?" she asked.

It wasn't that I found the idea of dating Spencer unappealing, in fact I found it incredibly appealing. I'd thought about it multiple times. We got along great, we went out together nearly every weekend we both had the time to do something, and we made each other laugh. It was more that the question was so blunt, it caught me off-guard. Thus, I inhaled my wine in shock, immediately choking and tearing up.

Spencer looked between Penelope and I in shock, like he was watching everything unfold three steps behind everyone else.

"Are you not going to help your choking girlfriend, loverboy?" Derek asked in a teasing tone.

Spencer quickly reached up to rub my back and help my body calm down from its response to having wine in the lungs before making a quiet, yet firm, statement.

"She's not my girlfriend."

I had to pretend it didn't hurt, but I'm sure in a room full of profilers, they could all see right through me. Spencer and I were friends, and I was thankful for that, but I had always hoped it might be something more. I took a deep breath, listening as the conversation shifted to make the atmosphere less awkward. I finished my meal and thanked Rossi, announcing that I was tired after my last flight from Geneva. I bid everyone a good night, put my plate in the sink, and found myself on the stairs on Rossi's front porch, turning around as I heard the door open behind me.

"Hey, I figured I'd walk you home," Spencer said, voice soft and unsure. I nodded silently as a sign that I was giving him permission to do so. We walked down the sidewalk together, the tension in my shoulders probably giving notice of my stress.

"What's up?" Spencer asked suddenly, but it sounded more like a statement. Like an, "I know something's up, so tell me before I figure it out for myself", although knowing him, he'd probably already figured it out. I shrugged. "Well, something changed at dinner. You were all smiles and conversation and then it's like a rubber band snapped," he let out a puff of air, signaling that he meant it in a light-hearted way.

I didn't answer.

"The team liked you," he paused. "Like, really liked you."

I got frustrated with his awkwardness; why couldn't he just say the words? He's glad we're friends, he's sorry they asked if we were dating, whatever. Rip the band-aid off.

"Yeah, I could tell, Spencer," I said, colder than intended. "They thought I was your girlfriend, that's how much they liked me. Self-fulfilling prophecy or whatever." Spencer tilted his head, confused.

"I'm not sure that's self-fulfilling prophecy, I mean you didn't convince yourself of something so much that you let it happen, they just assumed something that was incorrect-" he began to ramble.

"Shut up, Spencer! God, don't you see that I like you? That I've been hoping you'd just fucking ask me out? But we're both busy people who have hard lives and you're a genius who's fantastic and solves crimes, and I'm me who's essentially a walking database of foreign newspapers!" I let out some of my feelings, not even realizing what I'd said. "It wouldn't work out between us anyways because we're good friends and I appreciate that and I'd always hoped we'd be more but it's okay, I know it won't work, so let's just move on and sleep it off-"

"We'll make it work."

[feminismisstillahatemovement]

If I recall correctly you are on the 'trans/nonbinary identities are mental illness' wagon, and I wanted to know your perspective on why claims like that cause extremely negative reaction. I remember I used to react very negatively myself a year ago or so until I analysed that actually there is nothing wrong with mental illnesses to BEGIN with, so claims like that should not be hurtful? A thing I can think of is that term 'mental illness' automatically suggests need to 'heal' it, but that's also not true. For example autism and ADHD are also mental illnesses, but they are not supposed to be "healed", nor CAN be healed, it is just a different way of brain to work. Saying that about genders is also not supposed to automatically invite misgendering; again, mentally ill people often need accommodations and some of their requests and boundaries respected, and if someone refuses - THEY are kind of mean (if not straight up ableist), so many people would try to adapt just to be kind and accepting. So, respecting pronouns and name can also count as accommodating in this case, and if you don't do that then YOU are the bad guy here. Same as ignoring boundaries a mentally ill person vocalised makes YOU kinda mean. (of course utopia of everyone respecting everyone will never happen, but we always aspire to be kind and condemn the cynical individualists that refuse simply because)

I am just not sure why as soon as it is suggested for gender, all respect and validation for mental illnesses goes out the window. From what I've seen personally, the "opposition" is rarely ableist beyond using a single slur you know which one (and when they TRY to be, they get destroyed by their cis+het political associates that are autists or people on schizo spectrum. source: check 4Chan demographic). My only guess is crimes that have to do with trying to "fix" it and religious fanatics treating it as being possessed by a demon or something (happens to gays and lesbians too), but it seems like 1) this sort of people will be awful to others regardless of whether they think it is mental illness or not and 2) there is always a percentage that WILL go after more vulnerable ones - if not queer people then other demographics, and it is inherent flaw of humanity that cannot be a problem of only a concrete group. It is not 'society vs trans' issue, it is 'a percentage of society destined to be destructive and people who are weaker or different are the first targets' issue.

Again, not here to debate, and not asking you why you think these identities are mental illness, just questioning a logical error (if not a double standard) that I've been noticing regarding this claim and wonder what's your stance on why suggesting this is considered atrocious after all the (correct) claims that mentally ill people DO deserve love and respect. Like, why this claim is always seen as derogatory and never as value-neutral?

The thing is, I don't actually have any hard and fast rule or belief or explanation for the explosion of people identifying as transgender the past decade or two: it seems obvious a large proportion of the people - particularly teenage girls - are under the influence of social contagion, and another subsection of older males are autogynephiliacs who have found a way to come out of the closet and have their kink applauded instead of mocked by society for the first time.

But then there still remains the much smaller group of people within all that who really do have some sort of genuine gender dysphoria, and we still don't have any conclusive explanation for why that is: is it the brain misfiring and receiving conflicting information because of being exposed to too many of the opposite sex's hormones in the womb? Does it correlate to the introduction of the birth control pill? Would it be better treated the way we treat body dysmorphia, like anorexia or xenomelia, and try to help people find ways to come to terms with the body they see in the mirror, rather than encouraging them to hack bits off it?

I really don't know. Whatever is going on, it's clearly something that needs to be treated seriously, as a genuine medical issue, not a fetish or sexuality, which is why it is so odd it so quickly got bundled in with the LGB movement, where it clearly doesn't fit. I would say one of the reasons even discussing the phenomenon has become such a minefield is that it got wrongly included under that umbrella, which made questioning it as an 'identity' some kind of assault on sexual preference. Which is pretty twisted in itself, when you think about it; like treating bulimia as nothing more than an optional sexual fantasy.

The "ism" part of transgenderism is also a big problem, in that the arguments we are hearing "for" it every day emerged out of idiotic and short-sighted feminist theories back in the 1970s: the teaching that "gender is a social construct". This is not true - the basic gendered division of labor is universal across all societies and all periods of history - but it infiltrated academia, and from there got adopted by the far left as another one of the "identities" they could claim were being oppressed by western civilization, which they sought to destroy.

This is, of course, entirely the wrong way to approach a medical condition people are actively suffering with, but by politicizing transgenderism, it made questioning the narrative surrounding it a political act, and anyone doing so fair game for political attacks, which has had a hugely chilling effect on any open debate over how best to treat the people affected. Again: the worst possible way to treat vulnerable, real-life flesh and blood people seeking help.

Whether gender dysphoria is mental or biological or both in origin, I think that the people suffering from it deserve compassion and help and attempts at understanding. It must be an unimaginable nightmare to wake up each morning and see someone in the mirror you feel is not you. I wouldn't wish it on anyone, and neither would anyone genuinely living with it.

[fallout-lou-begas]

hi lou i was wondering if you had any recommednations as to where to start watching aew... ive only watched a little bit of wwe with some friends so i really have no idea if should start somewhere for Context or just dive right in with wrestling stuff lmao. but all of the pics of aew all out that im seeing are really really horny and it makes me think aew is up my alley. and i trust your opinions implicitly.

All Out 2024 is genuinely the most interested I've been in AEW in a long time because it was really struggling to retain me for the last couple of whiles, so I think my best answer to "where to start watching" is just "now"? like i seriously cannot stress enough how much it seemed like a major shaking off of a lot of funk that's kept me from watching live for a long time; maybe it's literally just because jericho wasn't on the card lmfao. i REALLY hope that they can keep up the momentum and it's not just a fluke, though

I don't consider myself particularly knowledgable or well-read about wrestling, I'm a admittedly a little myopic and maybe just a really horny dilettante, but what I recommend is finding a guy or a girl you like, and getting obsessed with them and looking through their backlog of matches just to see where it takes you, and maybe find other guys to get obsessed with through that. to be as brief as possible, here's just three of my own favorites and some pointers:

Kris Statlander: literally any of her pay-per-view matches after returning at double or nothing 2023. her whole history with Willow Nightingale especially is just amazing television, including their various tag team stints, like this personal favorite match against Mercedes Martinez & Diamante back when Collision. The reason that Kris and Willow clashing in a street fight at All Out was so significant was because these two are the street fight QUEENS, they've done 2-versus-2 street fights against the aforementioned Mercedes and Diamante, Julia Hart and Skye Blue, etc. before, and all of these are worth looking up.

Eddie Kingston: his journey through the Continental Classic tournament of late 2023 and early 2024 culminating in a grand finals match against Bryan Danielson at Revolution 2024 was something really goddamn special. The Stadium Stampede at All In 2023 is also lots of fun, he comes out bloody with a gas can and just looks sooooooo good

Bryan Danielson: he's world champion right now (incredible match against also-incredible previous champion swerve strickland at All In 2024) and obviously has no shortage of amazing matches across his very long history, but my introduction to live AEW was watching him TEAR through banger match after banger match on Dynamite from January to March 2023 (konosuke takeshita! bandido! timothy thatcher! brian cage! rush! literally so many different KINDS of wrestling) in the build-up to a 60-minute iron man match against then-champ, then-much-more-entertaining MJF at Revolution 2023, so check that out

Wait wait wait actually an honorable mention goes to FTR vs Bullet Club Gold 2-out-of-3-Falls, from July 15 2023, also from back when Collision was good. I love those wet freaks in the bang bang gang so much oh my god

[thessalian]

Thess vs Trigger Warnings

This may be a strange title for this one, but I promise you it's relevant. So: Neil Gaiman.

I haven't really said anything about the things that have been coming out about Neil Gaiman lately. I've reblogged a few things, but haven't put my tuppence in, as it were. I'll say this, though - I was a little bit put off by Neil Gaiman before any of this came out. Not because of most of his previous work, or anything he said or did as a person, exactly. It was because of a short story compilation of his titled Trigger Warning. Or, more specifically, the introduction to that compilation, because I haven't actually been able to bring myself to read the book, specifically because of the introduction.

Yeah, I am the sort of person who reads introductions. I write, so I'm interested in what writers think about the things they've written. I picked up Trigger Warning as an impulse buy when I went to Greenwich a few months ago, and read through half the introduction ... and then I had to put it down, because ... well. It's complicated, but I'll try to explain.

The book is titled Trigger Warning, so it makes sense that the concept of trigger warnings in general would come up in the introduction. The thing is ... the tone was dismissive. On one level, he said he was "warming to" the concept of the trigger warning taken beyond stuff on the internet. On the other hand, he stated that he felt the only trigger warning anything adults are reading should need is "read at your own risk". Which on one level is kind of fair, but on the other ... how can you judge the risk if you don't have any specifics? Does he expect people to go through life constantly braced for things they literally cannot handle? That they should be braced for a panic attack every time they pick up a book?

I know this kind of thing fairly intimately, because I do actually have a trigger. Not just something that gives me the ick - an actual trigger of the PTSD variety. I have issues with the more culty sort of Christian faiths, because I was stuck in one for a little while. My father wanted me and my eventual-stepbrother out of the house on Sundays, and during the summer holidays, and basically all the time - even though I only saw him every second weekend and two weeks every summer, and my time with just my father was already hugely limited, which is another issue. Anyway, he sent us to a local Anglican church (Church of England, Episcopalian, take your pick) - for Sunday school, for day camp ... and, one year, for a two-week sleepaway camp. And it was hell. Prayers six times a day, and we're talking hellfire-and-brimstone here. When our tent group's counsellor had her day off, we ended up with this guy who spent the entire day preaching more hellfire and wound up telling each and every girl in our group why we were going to hell. Two of them? It was apparenly because they didn't speak English. Which is ridiculous and horrible because a) this was Montreal and a whole lot of people spoke French as their primary language, and b) JESUS DIDN'T SPEAK ENGLISH. I'm not even sure that English as we know it existed at that time. Anyway, the worst of it came one day when this little kid was having some serious hyperactivity issues, and he was being loud and disruptive and clearly upset by everything going on. They took him away, and we didn't see him for the rest of the day. But that night, I woke up and looked out our cabin window and there was a big bonfire lit outside ... and there that kid was, tied to a chair, with a bunch of the camp staff dressed in white sheets, waving crosses at him and apparently performing some kind of exorcism. The kid was probably scared out of his mind. I wasn't much better. I was too scared to talk to the counsellors about it, but I did sneak into the office and called my father - it was still my time with him, y'see. I tried to explain but I guess he thought I was lying or exaggerating, and he said it was just a few more days and to stick it out. So I did. Went back to his place after it was over, and when Mum called to find out how my first experience of sleepaway camp went, I said, "It was okay, I guess ... except for the exorcism". My mother went veeeeery quiet and asked me to explain exactly what I meant by that, and I told her, and in that tone that anyone who's ever had a mother knows: "...put. Your father. On. The phone." I went two rooms away and I could still hear her yelling at him down the phone. I never went back - not to the Sunday school, not to the day camp, and certainly not to the sleepaway camp.

I never trusted churches again either. Mum thought sleepaway camp was a great idea for me, since she was busiest in the summer months and didn't want me to get bored or lonely, and I freaked out about the camp she was talking about at first because it was a YMCA-run camp and even the word Christian sent me into a panic. (It turned out okay; we were promised it was non-demoninational, and I tried it for two weeks, and it was so much fun that I went all summer every summer for years after, but you get the point.) Touring Paris was ... less than fun because a lot of the things to see involved churches and I didn't even like going into Notre-Dame Cathedral - I got through that by telling myself it was more like a Disney exhibit than anything else, which I know is probably disrespectful but it was the only way I could cope. I've been doing better - while a couple of heavily religious types I knew at one point kind of reinforced my issues, a fair few others have taught me to at least not recoil at the first mention that someone is Christian. But some things will set me off and I can't entirely help it.

So when my then-boyfriend tried to get me to watch Carnivale, I was interested ... but I didn't know how heavily Southern Baptist Fervent God-Fearing Bible-Bashing whatever it was going to be until I sat down and was confronted by that kind of thing in the first few minutes. I left the room. I had to. I couldn't listen to that. It took awhile to calm down, and I did apologise, but I never watched it, even when the then-boyfriend reassured me that the narrative went past that after awhile. But by contrast, I did watch Midnight Mass. I knew from the name and the gifsets that it would be heavily about religion, and probably get a little culty, and it was triggering ... but I could handle it because I had known what I was in for and I was prepared for it. I had my trigger warning - not an overt one, but enough to know what I was letting myself in for and make the decision about whether or not I was willing to risk it. I knew to brace myself in a way I didn't for Carnivale.

So for someone to say that the only trigger warning adult fiction should need is "experience this at your own risk" ... it says things to me. It says that he doesn't understand how much specifics help. I can read about SA and murder, but I can't read about certain kinds of religious ... stuff. Other people would be fine with reading about cults but would be triggered by even a mention of SA. Or car accidents, or anything military, or even too many holes. You can't have a one-size-fits-all trigger warning because one size does not fit all. It seems unfair to expect everyone who has even the slightest bit of trauma to be constantly braced when they pick up a book, or switch on their TV, or whatever. We have to do that enough in the world. Sure, sometimes we read to confront things we can't cope with, because a book is a controlled environment and we can shut the book and walk away if we stop being able to cope. But we either have to know that the specific trigger is there, or we have to be peering carefully around every narrative corner every time we do this thing that is supposed to be entertainment, relaxation, and most of all escapism in case our trigger is lurking somewhere. And some people can't even do that because they may not even recognise that they have trauma or a phobia until they're confronted with it.

I guess it just suggested to me that Neil Gaiman was looking at trigger warnings the way a few too many people seem to these days - as something that exists to homogenise entertainment and keep it 'clean' or whatever. This seems to erase the people who have genuine trauma, who shouldn't be forced to be confronted with their trauma during their leisure time if they don't want to. And hell, even people who are just a bit squicked out by certain things - they deserve the chance to say, "Not right now; I'm not in a frame of mind where I want to deal with this". Why is that so hard to understand?

Anyway, he finished the introduction with, "This is your trigger warning - upsetting things will be in these stories". Yeah, fine; which ones?!? Again, it felt dismissive. It felt like, "If you're so sensitive, maybe you shouldn't be here", even after stating he was "warming to" the concept of trigger warnings outside of the internet. For someone who understands the power of words on that scale, that feels like a double-standard or a "I'm an ally to this cause but don't you dare apply this to me" bit of hypocrisy. He actually came out and stated, "I wonder if someone will slap a trigger warning on my books. I wonder if they should". YES, PROBABLY. And saying, "Fine, I'll do it myself - Here Be Triggers" is insufficient, and insultingly backhanded.

I liked to hope that he was offended about triggers because of the various things in his work that the alt-right tend to attack. Or that he was worried about any remarks about transphobia as seen in A Game Of You (which there was a little, though that was more a comment on the transphobia of Dianic Wicca and the world at large than his own views). But being told, "There is Triggering Stuff in here and that's all you really get" ... no. While he does do what some authors do - discusses the themes of each story in the pages following the introduction ... it wasn't enough.

So ... yeah, I was a little off Neil Gaiman as a person before ... all of this, frankly. It still surprised and horrified me, sure, but I guess it didn't hit as hard as it could have. That one thing just ... I guess I figured that if someone was so careless and dismissive about the potential for triggering trauma ... maybe he really would be willing to cause it if it benefitted him. It still makes me sad and horrified, but I'm not as shocked as I might have been, I guess?

I may never read Trigger Warning. But I am still going to watch the Sandman series on Netflix. There's more to that series than him anyway. A part of me wonders if Pratchett knew. I really hope that the answer to that is "no". Gaiman being a shithead I can take; but not Pratchett, please.

[hvoigt01]

I've been in the fandom for a few years now here on Tumblr, and I've had a few decently popular gallavich posts (when I remember that this app exists every few months haha), but I realized that I've never actually introduced myself on here. I saw this fun introduction post made by the amazing @callivich, so I thought I'd join in on the fun :)

Name: - Hannah

Age: - 22

What made you fall in love with Gallavich? - I feel like I started shameless completely blind to the ship. I started watching it because a bunch of my family members were watching it and talking about it during the covid quarantine time period, and I thought it seemed interesting, so I started watching it myself. I remember being shocked when they first hooked up, but never really having an opinion on Mickey until season three, and as you guys can probably tell by the username, I became obsessed haha. season 4 is when I really fell in love with the ship.

How long have you been a fan? - I kind of answered above but around summer 2020 during covid. The only season I watched live was 11, which maybe is a good thing because I don't think I could have handled season 5 or 7 in real time.

Favorite Gallavich moment/scene? - maybe basic, but I am obsessed with the prison reunion at the end of 9x06

Favorite Shameless character apart from Ian and Mickey? - I am a Sheila Jackson stan first and human 2nd. I missed her so much after she left

Do you write or draw or make edits? - I have 2 works on ao3 (same username), but I hate them both - some of my shitposts here on Tumblr are funny

Favorite type of Gallavich fics? - I am a sucker for some hurt/comfort and angst with a happy ending - other fics I enjoy include: jealousy, post canon (anything with husbands gallavich), fluffy smut, fix it fics - I like some AUs like high school/college, but tbh I don't read many AUs unless I find the plot super interesting

Favorite Gallavich quote? - The whole "I gotta worry, you're my husband" convo in that scene that they should not have deleted in season 11 - "I didn't know which Bs to get, so I just got all the fuckin Bs"

Anything else you’d like to share about yourself? - I was raised on a farm, which surprises people because I generally don't give off that vibe - I am one year away from getting my bachelors degree in bio engineering (nerd) - My favorite artists are Fall Out Boy, Doja Cat, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Tayor Swift

[myrskytuuli]

The promised military post.

Last weekend I spent three days doing a military introduction course for women hosted by the National Defence Training Association of Finland. The aim of the course was to give an overview of what military service is like in practice, for women who are on the fence whether to apply for military service or not. Since my biological clock is ticking, and I have a friend currently doing her military service, I got reccommended this course, which I galdly took in order to put to rest whether I should still quickly shoehorn myself to apply for the women’s voluntarily service or not, before I age out. 

(note that politically I still believe that mandatory service should be upheld for both sexes. Even after chosing not to serve my time, I do politically belive that someone should show up at my door and force me and every other woman in Finland to do some kind of crisis training service akin to what men have to do. but I digress.)

Great course. 100% reccomend MPK courses for anyone who is interested. Absolute kudos to everyone involved in creating and running it. Got exactly the experience I was looking for, and very amazing experiences and skills to go with it. They gave you a intense, full-packed, cut-through of the entire first three months (alokasaika) of the army experience. Obvioulsy in order to actually become somehow good at all of the things we went through, you would need the three months of repetition you get with actual service, but we compared notes with my friend and we did pretty much try everything you do during alokasaika.

Foot drills. making your bed. Taking care of your equipment. military rank and discpline. how to clean and oil your AR. Survival skills. Setting up a camp. how to handle a grenade. How to handle a shoulder-fired missile. How to use and set up military communication equipment. How to move with an AR. How to move in a formation. How to basically move as a soldier without fucking everything up. How to do basic emergency care on battle wounds. How to crawl to foxhole without killing yourself. How to spot an enemy from foliage. How to shield yourself from artillery. How to crawl without fucking over your AR. (How to create a parasocial relationship with your AR who is also your wife) how to shoot your AR without your shitty breathing technique getting in the way of your shot. etc. If that sounds like a lot- It’s because it was. we had a minute timetable and the only breaks were to eat and the couple minutes to drink water from time to time. The weather was abominable, so we were doing all of this while most of the time it was either raining sleet or hailing.

I really liked it. I love new experiences and this definitely was one. most of the skills were appliable to a life outside of military too. Outdoor survival, emergency care, how to use a compass, etc. not going to lie, learning how to use several different pretty gnarly weapons was cool too. Obviously I’m not good at any of them, but I have the knowhow in how to use an AR, grenade and an anti-tank missile. Not saying I would hit anything, but I know how to get all of them to work. And now I know intimately all the ways I’m very bad at shooting an automatic rifle. It’s hard you guys. (I don’t have the upper-body strenght)

Not a big fan of the army base life. Fuck foot drills, I understand why they exists, but fuck them. The same thing with all the army base decorum. as a teacher I genuinely do understand why you need to keep big masses on tight lines when moving from place A to B, but doing foot drills at 6 in the morning is just...well it just is. Doing foot drills 6 in the morning for a several months? Yeah, not sure if I have the headspace. Lot of things were annoying, and I would be lying if I said they weren’t a big reason for my decision to not apply. I can imagine that things that are kind of annoying now would become big fucking breaking points when you do them for a year. Like keeping count of all of your zippers being closed and your collar turned 24/7. But the real issue was that I simply do not have the physical stamina. If I wanted to keep up, I would have to not only keep up, but be better than the 18 year old men who I would be surrounded by and who would set the pace, and sister I was already struggling with the young girls. Yes, obviously, if I was very motivated I could spend the summer getting into shape before stepping into service next year, but I do not have the motivation to put mysefl through an extreme fitness glow up. And I’m still not sure if that would help at all with my knees, which were the real breaking point for me several times while crawling on the frozen ground.

So, I’ve given up the idea of doing a year of service. Maybe, if i was 7 years younger, I would have the fitness and the joints to do it. If I could travel back in time, I would probably tell myself who has just returned back from London to spend a year doing the service, because there are genuinely so many usefull skills you can pick up, but not now. I’m looking forwards to starting a new life in a new city with hopefully new academic ambitions and I don’t want to postpone those plans.

Anyway, super happy I went. Absolutely drained when I got out. (Three days non-stop physical activities, sleeping on frozen ground, doing those physical activities ankle-deep in snow, getting woken up for emergency drills when you sleep, you know, draining stuff) Had to really properly recover afterwards and caught a flu from being soaked most of the weekend, but you know, fun. I had fun. There is genuinely a part of me that is now very sad that I’m not doing the full service. the camradery of our group was amazing, and you do miss it. There were so many skills I would want to be actually good at. And you know. I wouldn’t want to be useless in a case of invasion. But for now, I have to be realistic and try to live my life and realise that I probably wouldn’t make it to the end of the service anyway, and even if I did, it would probably be like trade school where I would have been better off doing something else with the time anyway.

[northwest-cryptid]

Meet the Mabi Squad, I figure if new players have a few friendly faces they can recognize it might make it easier to approach people:

I guess if we're starting off introductions I best explain myself, that only seems fair. I'll try to keep these quick and snappy

Meet Akitovt, named after the Vtuber who plays the character. I'm extremely casual but well rounded with a focus on production now that I have most my advanced magic and melee worked out. More often than not you'll find my ass waiting around for someone to want to do something that I can tag along for. At this point I'm pretty much up for whatever but I'll always have a focus on getting my Engineering and Magic Craft ranked ever higher so I can make people gear.

Next up we have Galurre the Grandmaster Blacksmith and all around cool dude. This lad is known for his love of the moon, foxes, women, and his generosity and ever helpful nature but also for his absolute lust for destruction. I'm not joking this man terrifies me sometimes because he gets a little trigger happy with his alchemy and magics, but hey if you need some armor or a cool sword Galurre's your guy.

My partner and the leader of our guild Ryuchan might just be one of the most powerful among us if I'm being totally honest. She excels with magic, music, and cooking and can typically be found wearing yet another set of expensive fashion or dragging me along for a dungeon or shadow mission that she could easily handle on her own but I'm not going to complain about getting to spend more time with my wife, unless she tries to drop a meteor on me again then I won't have time to complain because I'll be too busy running away.

We also have Burlington, the newest arrival in Erinn who is our resident tailor and fisherman. They have a love for spiders and tend to focus on the production and gathering side of things over the fighting side of things but I've not seen them say no to being dragged into a dungeon or two. It's been a blast seeing them develop their skills and come into their own. I've never seen this lad not rocking their iconic beard.

Khiyo is an absolute wild card of a player who is rarely around but is always a pleasure to have in the party. The man's current mission is to make his Red Panda absolutely massive to which I've been repeatedly running the bean dungeon with him and making him a ton of tofu. Typically swapping between Archery and Knuckle skills with a high focus on Luck and speed he's an absolute monster with crit hits and combos because he refuses to let the game put him in the "You're an elf and you will play a squishy ranger character" box unless it's specifically to go Falcon and blast everything with Magic Missile, which is the kind of punk attitude we applaud around here. The lad often plays as a young elf but has been known to use transformation so you may encounter Khiyo without knowing it, or perhaps he might just be too fast for you to notice. He's such a rare encounter that I don't have many pictures of him so have a fairly outdated one

and of course we have the individual who's name never fails to amuse me; I will call them Peachy because they're a fellow Vtuber by the name. However their IGN is Dearesteachy because they didn't know you couldn't put capital letters in the middle of your name and didn't notice the lack of the P in Peachy. They tend to log in on even rarer occasion than Khiyo but are always a welcome inclusion to the squad; they focus primarily on the fashion aspects of Mabi with a love for dragons and fairies.

If you should ever encounter us in the wild don't be scared to come say hi, we're literally the most non-threatening group of players you'll ever meet I promise.