#idc about the fans and i would rather not interact with them ever.

[xxcherrycherixx]

Never seen she-ra but I wanna hear the rant

Ok so

While she0ra as a show seems to have a pretty sweet goal of normalising people and relationships that aren’t the norm, it does something that i cant forgive.

It normalises abuse.

While it constantly shows us that shad0w weavers abuse is bad, it somehow then completely tries to erase all of catr0as abuse of ad0ra.

Cat0ra abused ador0a. Theres nothing you can say against that. She abused her emotionally, verbally and physically. She took every encounter after their split as a chance to hurt ad0ra as much as she could and enjoyed it. She tried to literally kill ad0ra, all because she ‘left’

Now i love toxic yuri and toxic yaoi and just some good angst in general, and if catrad0ra was just a non canon toxic ship i would probably eat the fuck out of it (ok maybe not, i do have some other issues with the show. *cough* the ableism *cough*)

But the ship is made canon. Cat0ra’s abuse is basically immediately erased by the writers with a shitty ‘redemption arc’ just because they wanted their catrad0ra. Cat0ra is suddenly the perfect girlfriend and wont ever lash out at ad0ra ever again, the two live happily ever after!

Thats not how it works. And that shouldn’t be how you portray that it works to children.

She0ra is a kids show. That is my biggest fucking issue here, if it was a show aimed for adults i wouldn’t give a fuck as much. But this is a show aimed to kids, and they basically just teach the audience that its actually a good idea to keep trying to fix your abuser because maybe it will change them and you can be happy together 💀

When the real lesson they should have taught is that its good to move on from someone who hurt you, that you can and will find other people who care about you without hurting you when you do something they dont like. The best ending would have had ad0ra realising how far this has gone and cutting cat0ra out of her life completely.

The canon ending completely disregards ad0ras trauma, it slaps you in the face and says ‘you thought any of that affected her? Haha she’s she0ra! Why would abuse ever affect her. You’re an idiot for worrying. Abuse? When? I dont remember abuse, shut up and watch her kiss her abuse- i mean her childhood friend 🙃’ it acts like this is the best ending for ad0ra, that this is the relationship she should have. But all i can think about is how she’s likely going to be abused again, what if she decides to break up? Do you really think cat0ra will just say “oh ok, thats fine im sorry it didnt work out” no. This is the woman who spiralled out of control and tried to destroy the world and kill everyone because ad0ra ‘left’ her once before, if ad0ra tried to break up with her its very likely cat0ra will lash out at her again.

Catr0a has a pattern of explosive anger and abuse, dont act like that suddenly has disappeared because shes with ad0ra now.

But the fans and the writers do act like that. They champion the ship as healthy and good representation, they somehow ignore all the abuse ad0ra suffers because they want their lesbians. I kind of understand why it was so big back when the show came out, we had hardly any representation and we clinged onto any we could get. But we have more now, we have representation thats good and healthy- why are people still treating catr0dora as good representation?

Its gross. Its really fucking gross. All i can think about is the young sapphics who watched the show and took away the lesson that they should accept and ‘help heal’ their abusers. It doesnt help that sapphics and other queer people get stuck in abusive relationships quite badly, especially those in areas where the queer community isn’t as large. ‘What if i break up with them and cant find another woman who likes women? I will be alone forever’ while im thankfully not in any abusive relationships, im currently seeing a girl who i don’t really feel a strong connection with. That “if i break up i will be alone” is very much a thought that goes in my head, i dont know other queer women, i dont know queer women who would want to be with me. And so i stick with her, because who else is there for me?

That is what i hate. The normalisation of abuse taught to a group who are already predisposed to accepting abuse.

Anyway support canon wlw ships that actively dont teach abuse is fine-

[my-pjo-stuff]

Opinions on lukercy? *asks deviously*

I mean...idc? Like, Lukercy ain't really my cup of tea- but it's not like I hate it or something. I don't rly do PJO ships besides Thaluke- and even there I'm just as good with them being platonic. So Lukercy, like any PJO ship, is just sort of ...there, at least for me. But I genuinely love the shippers! Like even if I personally don't ship it the guys that do are some of the chillest, most respectful non-toxic fans in this fandom. Which...okay tbf the bar is in literal hell- but I do genuinely mean it! To share a little anecdote here- So when I first read the PJO books I had this series up on my main where I posted my thoughts and reactions to the chapters. This obviously attracted some older fans who talked with me and commented, all really nice and innocent stuff. Thing was, I was always very pro-Luke ever since TLT. I genuinely loved the guy- to the point where he unironically was the main draw to the books for me. In comparison, I didn't really care for Percy and CHB people, as I found them rather bland compared to the TA demigods all things considered.

Which- out of context that is nothing bad! Absolutely not- it turned into one though when someone at some point asked my thoughts on Percy/Percabeth. I replied to them with the things I said above, that I find them rather bland compared to Luke and that I don't rly care too much for them. And MAN when I tell you that reaction was WIIILLDDD. They went on like an 8 messages rant in the notify section of that post about how I "just don't get it" and "Am so unfair" and just "judge characters on the amount of trauma they have" 💀 Genuinly that is a forever PJO fandom core memory now. They even demanded me to talk about and dig into Percy like I did with Luke because they "knew that I could do it since I did it with Luke". That shit was crazy- they sounded like my teacher wanting me to write more in a poem analysis or sum T-T Fr the only reason I didn't block them then and there was bc previously they were pretty active with my posts and nice to me- had that user been a stranger they would have been blocked SO fast. After that they just interacted less and less with my stuff and I haven't spotted them in my notes since lmao. So yeah, that's my fun story of how a Percabeth Shipper/Percy fan basically demanded that I go and analyze their favs just bc I could do it, and they wanted me to. And, well- say what you want but that certainly never happened with any Lukercy shippers XD Some of my oldest PJO mutuals and friends are Lukercy shippers actually, genuinely great ppl! I think all the hate you guys get is just genuinely weird af like??? It's a fictional ship between two fictional characters, calm down man. Yes I can see how some ppl might be uncomfortable with it and would prefer to just block the tag and users who like it entirely- but it ain't that deep. Go outside. Hug your family. Get some hobbies. IDK just stop treating a fictional yaoi ship like the plague itself. At this point it just straight up borders on weird how worked up some ppl get XD I do read some fics and like some art, mostly bc, again, a good amount of nice mutuals of mine ship it and I'm just supporting their work. TL:DR : Not my cup of tea, but I love the guys who ship it and never had one single bad experience with them. As opposed to everyone else. Also ppl should stop hating on it so much and just move on if they don't like it.

[karouvas]

arguing over how the godly DNA thing does/doesn’t impact shipping in pjoverse (aside from like, actual siblings obviously) is actually the stupidest thing ever. Just accept that the explanation was half assed / not written in a logical well thought out way but that we as a fandom have no choice but to accept it at face value and see it as a situation that isn’t analogous to the real world. I would say it’s similar to consuming paranormal media where all the main relationships are paranormal x immortal and you have to accept that as a trope of the genre / norm of the world rather than argue about 100 yr age gap vs 2000 year or something, when neither is appropriate and neither is analogous to like a teen show romanticizing a student-teacher relationship in a school setting which is technically less of a gap but sooo much more harmful in how it influences/relates to situations that happen just like that every day in reality (and this isn’t about ships with immortal x mortal like that in this verse necessarily since there are very few of them/it is not the norm, so I get people being uncomfortable with them (I Hate C*leo but my reasons for hating them aren’t necessarily that one)). There’s a false equivalency in trying to make demigod relationships out to be analogous to real life ones in that way and I haven’t seen one argument about this that isn’t blatantly just someone disliking a specific ship and trying to badmouth it and in doing so coming off as a hypocrite.

Like let’s see, ‘shipping Jasicois Disgusting idc what Rick says about DNA people are going to hell for shipping First Cousins 1!1’ okay… do you feel that way about Jercy? If you say yes you also hate that for the same reason do you feel that way about Pipabeth because Athena and Artemis are both daughters of Zeus making them ‘first cousins’ too (and here’s where I think you start losing people because in reality a lot of these arguments are based around the mlm ships but ignore the wlw ones because fandom has a very 2d way of interacting with ships like Pipabeth a lot of the time where sure a fan will say they Like the ship but they’ve never in reality ever given actual thought to their dynamic enough to notice this (also applies to things like arguing about a 1.5 year age gap for other ships like Jasico/Valdangelo maybe Jercy if they actually remember their 1.5 age difference but not being able to catch that Annabeth is also 1.5 years older than Piper because again it’s usually transparent when people haven’t actually payed the attention the female characters and f/f dynamics they pretend to, also 1.5 years is not a serious age gap like 3+ years is when it comes to ya/middle grade but this isn’t about that) And if you are taking the stance that what Rick said about godly DNA is like, a lie (when it is fantasy world-building albeit poorly constructed but still world-building) how are you going to ship Any of the demigods together if your answer is like amount of distances the family tree that’s also a bizarre/weird take because do you think shipping second cousins would be better/less gross/less harmful? Like by ‘Gods do have DNA actually’ logic Zeus is Athena’s father and Poseidon is Zeus’s brother so that makes Poseidon Annabeth’s great uncle and Percy Annabeth’s (As a die-hard Percabeth can’t believe I have to actually type this out to make a point I hate ya’ll for making me have to think about it this much 🤮🤢) Uncle ???!! Similar with Nico to Will and Hazel to Frank. Do you still believe what you originally spoke about? Like unless the take you have is that no demigods are shippable / you hate all ships between them the way these takes operate is Clearly not actually about like activism it’s because you dislike a ship and want to put it down/make it seem like other people should not ship it, be serious, and in the process you actually made everything much weirder and grosser than it needed to be in the first place. 

And like listen… you can just hate a ship! There are always some valid criticisms of ships/dynamics I’m including ones I personally ship in this. You can State your actual reasons for not liking the ship instead of this hypocritical faux-activism. For example I personally dislike Jercy as a ship because I think it’s overrated and boring compared to more interesting dynamics, their relationship could have been a good one but almost all their interactions in the books involved this weird toxic masculinity macho bs that seemed ooc for both of them and I didn’t enjoy reading about them together much. But I’m not going to try and tell Jercy shippers that shipping Jercy is problematic and terrible because they’re cousins or a toxic relationship or something because I have a functioning brain thank you very much! People can go for what I don’t personally like. See it’s very simple. You don’t even have to have reasons like I gave! You can just not vibe with something.

*P*rcicos dni this is not about you! No I don’t think the cousins argument holds weight there anymore than for other ships but their age gap + power imbalance Is troubling in a real world context in a way that doesn’t apply to other ships I mentioned ( Frazel similar in age gap but not in power dynamics, and I dislike Frazel too) the combination of 3.5ish years age gap + Nico having idolized Percy to an unhealthy degree for years/since he was a ten year old child + Percy very much views Nico as a child in his narration in pjo and that means he would never look at him in a romantic light at any point in the future, if you think otherwise you just don’t care or get Percy’s characterization frankly. I don’t support relationships that have such a troubling imbalance in a real world context. (It should go without saying L*kabeth L*kercy Th*labeth and dynamics with super egregious imbalances like that dni again not about you).

Most of the really irritating stuff I’ve seen about this is on twt I just felt the need to write all this out here 

[musclesandhammering]

Loki (2021) Positivity from an Anti

Ok so all of my mutuals know I’m extremely anti-Loki (2021), anti-sylki, and anti-sylvie. But at a certain point, even we antis get tired of all the negativity. So! Here’s some Loki series commentary in the opposite direction! This is a list of all the things about the show that I loved :)

Also adding a disclaimer that all of this is just my opinion and some of my fellow antis (or even people who liked the show) might disagree, and that’s fine! I’ve been planning this post for awhile. I always say in my other posts that I don’t entirely hate the show and I wanted to be a little more specific about what I think are its good aspects. Feel free to leave your thoughts!

• Mobius is a gem (Owen Wilson owns my whole heart) and his relationship with Loki is so so great. He’s not one-dimensional at all, he has conflicted loyalty and is morally complex, and he has the tragic backstory- which makes him a perfect choice for eventually becoming Loki’s first genuine friend.

• The casting was really really great. Lots of women and people of color. Most of the female actresses (as well as the males) are over 30, which isn’t very common and is fantastic!

• Superb acting all around. I can’t think of a single scene where the actors under or oversold it.

• Beautiful set design, incredible cgi, and gorgeous cinematography overall. It looked more like a movie than a tv show, which is really good.

• Kang being the big bad was a huge plus for me. Johnathan Majors was perfect in the role, his vibes were immaculate, and I was honestly pretty worried that the man behind the curtain would end up being another Loki variant, which imo would’ve been boring and predictable and counter-productive, so it was a big relief when that didn’t happen.

• I like that it sets up a bunch of future marvel movies, rather than being contained to its own little world. It gives it more importance and (hopefully) will encourage writers to not just toss Loki’s character aside in future projects.

• All the Loki variants were delightful. All of them except Sylvie. Kid Loki has my heart. Boastful Loki is a fashion icon. Alligator Loki is a savage. President Loki is the superior variant. Classic Loki became my fav character in less than half an episode.

• It showed some more variety in Loki’s magic. A lot of his powers we’ve seen before, but it feels like they were portrayed a bit more blatantly in the show. The energy blasts, the telekinesis, the teleportation… Outstanding.

• It also implied that Loki has the potential to be waaaay more powerful than he knows he is right now, which? Yes.

• Some of the quotes- and the themes behind them- are just profound as hell. Such as:

“I think we’re stronger than we realise.”

“It’s never too late to change.”

“You can be whoever you wanna be, even someone good.”

“We’re Lokis. We survive. It’s what we do.”

“Loki, God of Outcasts.”

“The universe wants to break free, that’s why it manifests chaos.”

• Technically Loki was Marvel’s first canon lgbt (bi) character, which is a win. His genderfluidity is also technically canon, even if it wasn’t really acknowledged on-screen.

• There were a lot of throwback references to Thor 1, Avengers, and Thor The Dark World. Which I loved.

• Sylvie’s so pretty. Her hair and makeup and costume were all perfect.

• Big fan of Loki finally getting Laevateinn.

• Sufficiently slutty imagery, courtesy of a female director (Loki in a collar, kneeling to Sif, President Loki looking down into the bunker, the hair flips)

• The music was Excellent Wonderful and Superb.

• I love that Loki being a good singer is now canon.

• I love that Asgardians having their own language is now canon (even if it’s basically just Icelandic).

• I also love that they disproved all of those “Loki was a shy nerdy wallflower pre-canon” theories in Episode 3. The drinking/eating/singing scene was fun, if a bit wacky.

• There’s a million different reasons why Loki does what he does, especially in regards to the New York attack (I’m literally writing a huge meta on them), but somehow I never considered that Loki being desperate for control was one of them. It makes a lot of sense, and I always love getting new insights into his motivations.

• I love that Loki finally outright acknowledged that he doesn’t enjoy hurting people. We Been Knew™️ but it’s still nice to hear it out loud from his own mouth.

• The TVA outfit wasn’t as hideous as some people make it out to be. It could’ve been A Look, even. You know, if he’d just accessorised a little better. And kept the jacket on. And not gotten sweaty. And not gotten dirty. And maybe had at least one other costume change… But it had potential, though!!

• Even though I despise the Obvious One, I did actually like some of the other romance crumbs they tossed us (sifki, Loki x the flight attendant).

• The whole DB Cooper thing was iconic idc idc.

• Loki’s hyper sort of overly excited puppy attitude in episode 2 was actually pretty refreshing and funny (for awhile). And now I can headcanon him as adhd, yeehaw.

• “We’re all villains here.” That quote was iconic, my favourite one in the show. And the entire theme that it summarised was really great as well. When you think about it, every single main character in this series has been the villain at one point or another. I mean, I know all marvel characters do bad things etc, but none of the Heroes are ever narratively categorised as Bad. This show did just that with all of them, though. . Loki was framed as the psychopath that attacked New York. Sylvie was framed as the murderous fugitive. The TVA/Ravonna/Mobius were framed as the murderous fascists. Kang was framed as the crazy totalitarian. It’s made clear that all the Loki variants were the villains of their stories.

However, every single main character in the series is also framed as the Hero at a certain point. Loki is framed as the main protagonist who throws a wrench in the TVA’s dastardly plans. Sylvie is framed as the persevering freedom fighter who wants to take down the fascists. The TVA/Mobius/Ravonna are framed as the ones who maintain order for the greater good. Kang is framed as the weird but ultimately benevolent wise man who’s just trying to prevent something worse from happening. The Loki variants are framed as generous allies who befriend the main character and help him on his journey.

Everyone in this equation is openly acknowledged by the narrative to be morally corrupt, but not entirely morally bankrupt. There are no Straightforward Hero Figures (like the Avengers) in this entire scenario at all, and that makes for a super interesting dynamic that marvel has never done before. So yes: “We’re all villains here.” But also: “No one bad is ever truly bad, and no one good is ever truly good.” I loved that.

• Even if it wasn’t really enough imo, I still treasure the crumbs we got of Loki being competent and capable (him putting the collar on B-15, him figuring out Sylvie’s hiding place, him teaching himself to enchant on the fly while fighting a giant cloud beast of eldritch proportions).

• I love that B-15 was the one who stepped in and saved the day in Episode 4, when we all thought it was gonna be Mobius. What a queen.

• Marvel usually has a bit of a problem with creating compelling and memorable side characters. But aside from Sylvie, I genuinely got attached to every single character in this show. Like Casey, C-20? I was seriously emotionally invested in them and they were only in like 2 episodes. Wtf.

• Introducing the TVA storyline in the Loki series specifically was a really good move. I’m not saying they executed it well, just that it had a ton of potential. A lot of people have wondered why marvel even thought to put those two (the TVA and Loki) together, when they had literally nothing to do with each other, nothing in common, and essentially no connection at all. But when you think about it, it’s a really interesting twist on both of those stories. Forcing the embodiment of destructive chaos and the pillar of rigid order to interact could make for some seriously entertaining and compelling television. And as far as meshing these two completely unrelated entities together goes, I thought they did it pretty well- at least just the bare bones of the story (loki being arrested by the TVA and being one of their most common variants).

So that’s it! If you guys (fellow antis) wanna add stuff you liked, feel free. If anyone wants to discuss (or debate) my list, feel free to do that too!

[logarto]

I agree with your thread on how burda fans interact with pathologic as a complex narrative about indigenous people and the town as a whole but I feel like it's just as superficial to say that people have to ignore "textual evidence" to ship artemy and daniil (especially in pathologic classic hd). I mean I guess they would if they wanted them to be a cute and sweet marvel-like ship but otherwise...

let me just preface this by saying this is the only ask that ive recieved im likely to answer on this subject bc its neither trying to antagonise me for things i didnt actually say OR trying to blindly praise me, and it reads much more like someone trying to actually have discussion rather than. idk. cause drama. so ty for that. my answers a bit long so ive put it under the cut :)

i agree that to some extent its more plausible and marginally less “problematic” in patho1, but only just. i wasnt fully explaining my pov in that particular thread bc it was part of a larger rant that i didnt expect to blow up, and also like. its twitter. its hard to be eloquent and precise there. but my feelings are ppl who ship those characters pretty much never ever actually want to examine the fact that dankovsky is intolerant, and his role as a character in both games, but especially patho2, is to be the outsider academic who believes that because of his education adn intellect he knows more than the locals, even though thats explicitly not true and in his route he learns the least about the town and therefore though he comes to his own conclusions that make a certain amount of sense within the frame of what he learns, we as the players know that hes only understood a fraction of the truth, and therefore his choice is at least questionable if not outright wrong. people dont want to to look at that.

from what ive seen, people dont want to discuss the complexities of what it would mean for someone like that to enter a relationship with a member of the kin. they dont want to talk about dankovskys racism (because thats what it is, he frequently microaggressions artemy in both games, but as you say, especially in patho2). they get flattened down into the typical “antagonistic ship” where its just two men who argue and kiss and argue and kiss forever. THATS what i find frustrating. i wont lie, id still find the ship deeply distasteful even if that WAS acknowledged, but that would be my own personal taste and not whats happening now which imo, is ignoring huge parts of the message of the game, which are to do with the complexities of how indigenous people become assimilated into a culture and used and chewed up. thats imo what the vlads storyline is representing; just because one is explicitly racist and the other is passively racist, that doesnt mean one of them is right. in the same way, just because dankovsky is a doctor whos trying to heal people, that doesnt mean he doesnt have his own prejudices.

anyway. jsut wnat to finish by saying idc about shipping in general in pathologic. i dont “get” it by any means, its admittedly kind weird to me to focus on that when theres so much other stuff going on, but its ultimately pretty harmless and i wouldnt rag on anyone for indulging. its just this ship that really aggravates me because its so harmful, ESPECIALLY bc its what people who know nothing abt patho primarily see. a huge number of my friends who had NO IDEA that colonialism and the kin are one of the core themes of pathologic 2, because all they see is ship art of dankovsky adn artemy kissing in fields or whatever.

[lunarfly]

Defending Harmione against some arguments Romione shippers use:

1. "Harry found Hermione boring."

Ok, I see where this is coming from. There is a scene in GoF where Harry thinks that Hermione isn't the same as Ron, and that having Hermione as his best friend would mean much more studying and much less having fun. But that doesn't mean he thought Hermione was boring, he just found studying and hanging out in the library boring, and since Hermione spent most of her time studying in the library, Harry didn't have as much fun. Now, don't get me wrong, I LOVE Romione but I hate it when Romione shippers use that scene as an argument against Harmione, because Ron found it just as (if not more) boring to study at the library as Harry did! So it's completely unfair.

2. "Harry found Hermione unattractive."

Firstly, people's looks and attractiveness don't determine whether you like the person or not, you don't have to think the person is stunning to fall in love with them. Secondly, Harry didn't find her unattractive, he literally says he doesn't think she's ugly. And when Hermione was at the ball, Harry found her so pretty that his jaw dropped. He didn't expect her to look that pretty, and that's a bit sad, but once he did realize it was her, his opinion on her looks kinda changed and he started to see her as an actually beautiful girl ever since.

3. "Harry is too short-tempered for Hermione."

I've seen some Romione shippers say this, and I've been shocked every time I have. In OoTP, when Harry was having a hard time, was getting upset about everything and was yelling constantly, Hermione was the one person to handle it well and calm him down. She was the one to deal with him, she was the one who understood him best, knew exactly how he was feeling. If you don't remember, you can reread OoTP, and pay more attention to those moments, it will be clear afterwards. *Quick note though, Luna was the second person who understood Harry well, and Harry didn't have trouble talking to her, which is why I admire their pure friendship. 🥺

4. "Harry and Hermione barely even talked when Ron wasn't around."

No, that's not true. The thing is, Harry spent more time with Ron, obviously, because he shared a room with him, took the same classes with him and etcetera, and he was more similar to Ron as well, so it would have been easier to talk to him about things like Quidditch and studying. But when he was with Hermione, most of the time Ron was there too, and they discussed the most important things together, they wouldn't talk about their plans without Ron, they always included each other(🥺🥺🥺). And just like that, he barely had any time without Hermione. But when he did, (ex. GoF) he DOES talked to her about anything, and Hermione had no problem understanding him. If you've noticed (reread OoTP if you haven't), whenever Harry had a problem, he always went up to Hermione to get advice. And so many Romione shippers also use the scene from The Deathly Hallows against Harmione, when they're so shocked about Ron leaving them that they can't do anything alone and don't talk. They say it's because Harry and Hermione can't get along, and they need Ron to do something together, but that's not true at all. Actually, Harry was always the bridge to Hermione and Ron, but, forgetting about that, when Ron left them, they were so sad and miserable, that they lost all confidence, sadness took over them, and Harry didn't know what to say to Hermione, as he was very bad at comforting people, but you can tell he was paying lots of attention to her. That's why they didn't talk or interact much. And if you remember, right before Ron left, there's a paragraph talking about how Harry and Hermione were the only ones talking and Ron was sitting in the background, complaining about food. Please get the facts right before you say something. <3

5. "Their relationship would be so boring."

Ok, I don't fully understand what you mean by this. If you mean it would be boring for the audience, then you're not a real fan of Hermione. If you'd rather read about her crying over Ron for your own entertainment than have her happy but "boring", you can't call yourself a real fan of her, sorry, I don't make the rules.

But, if you mean that Harry and Hermione would be bored in the relationship, then let me say something against that. If you think they wouldn't be able to have a conversation with each other, then you need to reread my point number 4. If you're saying they wouldn't be able to interact and have fun together, then you're straight up lying. They've spent their entire lives together, they grew up together, went through all of the adventures together (including Ron too of course, but Hermione was also there when Ron wasn't, but I can't blame Ron), they've literally lived together so idk how you'd expect them to be bored. If there's something Ron and Hermione could do to have fun and not be "bored" that Harry and Hermione couldn't, name it, because I'm really curious. Yes, Ron was very funny, he has made Harry and Hermione laugh a few times throughout the series (and I love him for that), but jokes aren't all it takes to keep a strong relationship.

That is all I'm going to cover for today, there's so many more reasonable arguments against them that I'll fight against in the future, but, for now, that's it. I mostly see Romione or Dr*rry shippers say these, but others say them as well. As for Drarry, it's pure toxicity, basically the LGBT version of Dr*mione. As for Romione, it's an amazing ship. I love it so much, I'll defend Ron over Draco and I won't accept Ron bashing for anything, not even for Harmione. He deserves better than Draco stans coming at him for nothing. Romione is pure, Ron would do anything for Hermione, and vice versa. And the same things happen with Harry & Hermione. That's why these ships are so similar and I love them both very very very much. <3

Also, I'm putting this post under the Romione tag because I have also defended Ron in this, and I truly love Romione, so please don't be offended by that. 🥺 As for the Dramione/Drarry tag, y'all can be offended as much as you want. IDC.

[comradegeorge]

THANK YOU. This fandom doesn't know how to treat women(hannah, minx to take a few names. and we all know happened with maia🙂) Dream, sapnap q and karl recently tuned into one of her streams i think? The 4 of them AT THE SAME TIME. And what makes it worse is that she was crying on stream and talking about her mental health while idiots in chat kept spamming about George.

Plus they keep making gf jokes..... they need to stop fueling the flames they're pissing me off.

And George isnt off the hook either. I'm literally a solo but the mf left the gee bit in his video and expected what? Does he not know his fanbase? If they are truly talking or whatever he should be the ensuring shes not getting hate/negative attention. Fuck him dude. All of them need to realise the influence they have over their fanbase, they legit act like children. They're responsible for their communities and for their fans/stans idc about people who say otherwise.

I really hope the situation doesn't blow up. So many people know about this, and like **twt is spreading this around even more.

Sorry for ranting lol. This has been pissing me off ever since that video came out. I'll never forget how this fandom treated maia. Ever. And gee doesn't deserve that.

under the cut because i rambled a lot. tldr like fandom like cc (hates women)

holy shit yeah. i didnt watch her stream when i found out that dream, callahan, karl and sapnap were all watching so i was only caught up on the fact that they were There. but then i watched her vod after and she was crying about her mental health and it seemed to be a particularly hard stream for her. (dream+karl+callahan apparently left before she started crying, but sapnap stayed the whole time) i saw geenf deniers say the boys were just there to make fun of the rumors or the fandom, and i was like ?? you would rather believe that they're (or at least sapnap is) jerks who would deliberately lead people to her stream just to talk about george when she's clearly very vulnerable? rather than entertain the thought that there might be something even slightly romantic going on and they were checking up on her as george's friend/s? dude

if they're dating, then they brought attention to a relationship that clearly isn't ready to be super public yet. which okay, fine, at least we can brush it off as lighthearted teasing between a gf and her bf's friends, right? and at least you can /maybe/ assume that both parties are communicating and are fine with it. but if they're not dating, then they're deliberately letting a female streamer get harassed. they know what their fandom is like. one of the few times george tweeted something serious was when he was telling off fans for being mean during loh (?). dream has tweeted about fans being embarrassing when females interact with the dream team. it is very very easy to check gee's indirects and see george stans calling her ugly, or saying that her voice is annoying, or comparing geenf to dnf. whether or not gee and george are dating, no one can deny that dteam know how much hate gee is getting and how easily it is to see. by fueling the gf rumors (almost every stream, mind you), they are without a doubt making it worse. and they either know this, or they're incredibly stupid.

in the case of george leaving it in his extras video, i think he shoud have just been more careful during editing? like maybe he thought by completely removing it it would have been more suspicious? idk. i think it was irresponsible of him. but also (assuming george didn't code that in himself) dreamnap + karl most likely knew that was in the code and they obviously knew george was recording a video.

i honestly dont know if george should address the specific rumors because addressing it directly might bring even More unwanted attention to it, you know? personally i think the best he's doing right now is adamantly denying he has a gf. but then All his friends say hes a liar, circling back to them fueling the gf rumors.

[see]

so since i'm a few months away from being a legal adult and my favorite show is a kids show and i just talked a lot about kids shows and the like, i might as well (briefly) talk about how realism factors into ninjago

the season that i've seen people say is the most steeped in realism is season 8, which is funny, because s8 isn't at all more realistic than any other season, it's just the darkest. i'm honestly really glad the writers of this show would rather take off one of their body parts than ever listen to anyone's perceptions of their show, because if they knew s8 was so heavily regarded for its "realism" they'd probably make a lot of seasons similar in theming. thank god the furthest extent tommy goes to to interact with his fans is searching up "jaya" every month and looking through the most recent tweets.

but ninjago has always had a very interesting way of handling their realism and staying on top of how realistic they portray this world. these characters have semi-realistic character arcs that, while they never last for more than a season, often match how humans act. ninjago doesn't tend to make watchers suspend their disbelief too far while also fundamentally being geared towards kids.

one case of realism implemented in ninjago i want to specifically cite is a good chunk of episodes in the middle of the fire chapter (i don't want to find the exact ones idc that much). in these episodes, ninjago city is getting torn apart in its regular fashion, and we get to witness it through the eyes of the regular modern day citizen rather than that of the ninja (thus, realistically). the wreckage is actually very devastating, but it's leveled out by the fact that it's being handled alongside jokes and overall people just. persisting. realistically, ninjago city's been torn apart like. 9 or so times now? of course these people aren't going to be too phased by it, and it's genuinely very well done and fun to watch.

it also seems the writers are very well aware of their target audience and what should and shouldn't be shown to them, as this (below) is said about the exact events i just talked about

[macklives]

i dont technically hardcore ship kids buuuut i will say “fuck thats hecking cute” to any and all pairings and join in on the fun wholesome content. for example, if you give me fanart, give me fics, give me headcanons, then im already sold on how adorable that specific pairing will be bc theres now some quality content to explore. as long as its not toxic, disgusting or impractical.

god okay, get motherfucking ready guys.

now, i may rant a bit on the matter to further explain my point of view on shipping in this comic and how i will go around it lol. sorry for the long note. there’s a tldr at the end.

honestly, idc who gets together, bc i just want the kids to be happy and if the pairing is happy together, thats all that matters to me. i just dont like taking shipping to the extreme, yknow. (which means having nsfw stuff for kids and flipping out if one ship is canon when another really should be. similar to many other fandoms who have those problems and i just.. dont get why?) anyways, thats not to say i will freak out if a cute pairing of mine becomes canon and especially if the rep is nice. and honestly? ill probably freak out for any canon ship as long as its healthy and theyre both happy - as ive mentioned. keep in mind im still a fan lmao, i will prob participate in the recurring ship talk and discourse bc ugh it can be so fucking cute.

anyways, regarding what we have now, i honestly like all pairings atm (obviously between the kids only and not some cursed ones ive heard about which i refuse to get into). all their interactions are so unique and cute and quite adorable. davejade is wholesome. johnrose is valid. i also like jaderose, daverose and johndave. which technically is almost every possible pairing lmfao. sometimes my opinion can vary, sometimes things could happen to make my view on that specific pairing to change. and sometimes new people come into the picture which allows me to explore more potential candidates that i think would be better for that characters rather than just having a ship to progress the plot further. if that makes sense. it always depends, doesnt it? (so keep in mind you can ask me if i ever have changed my opinion on a specific ship, character, ect in the future)

and of course, there’s a big difference between who i think are going to get together and who i wouldnt mind getting together despite canonical evidence that it wont happen. which i wont get into unless yall want me to talk about in depth who likes who and how it will probably impact the relationships of the characters vs how it should be.. well, not “fixed”, but what could be another alternative if a specific relationship seems to have its downfalls. 

however, i doubt there’s going to be any “endgame” ships bc homestuck is more prone to story telling than romance. it’s a webcomic for plot and probable character growth rather than making people’s ships come true. meaning shipping is a concept that andrew will give you, and he will give you all types of interaction so you’re free to ship what you want. however, he’ll leave it open without giving us an ultimate pairing. which is where i think this comic will go. i may be wrong. but it seems the most likely situation.

so shipping is all fun and games but things happen, not everything becomes canon and even if i have theories on future relationships, i will only analyze what we were given and not necessarily based on non-canonical evidence. so as much as i like crackships (and boy do i have fun in crackships, lets be real), because this is a liveblog, i wont be able to get into depth with false claims on a ship if there’s literally nothing to go on. however, pls expect joke ships to happen. if i say cake #42 wants to be with john’s fake arms, so be it. that was a fun time on the discord, man. i love joking around but then again, they are just jokes. im not actually shipping them. its similar to how i view dave and AT. they got married duh. yet thats a joke. something i will bring up again, but that never means im serious about it. (besides imp soap opera. thats becoming massively real now, isnt it. a liveblog inside joke that got way out of hand and is now canon.)

anyways, romance is a nice bonus treat for everyone as they read a webcomic which is not centered around it. and of course ill analyse the possibilities of what we could get and how characters will go through it based on their personalities and past experiences, but i dont think itll become a main part of homestuck as of now. perhaps something.. could happen in the future? and ill keep my hopes of some pairings getting together. but, overall, i will be happy with whatever we get and i refuse to bitch about how some ship is better than the other and be mad at homestuck in its entirety. because andy here is not trying to portray a romcom, he’s making an actual story.

wow, i kind of went off a little on what you were trying to ask in the first place, but i feel this was a nice place to get that out there and explain how ill perceive shipping in homestuck. all so i wont have to explain this for the future when characters potentially start getting together. which is to say, ill enjoy shipping characters on my hs experience, hell, ill even participate in it, but they are 13 and i have my limits.

cool. i feel like i just wrote a philosophy book.

tldr; shipping is a nice gateway in a fandom, i like pretty much anything as long as its not toxic and theyre happy together. expect character/relationship analyses in the future. 

[dancinginmydressinthesun]

3 for the unusualish asks💞

Oh I will girl ( you should have NOT give me that number right after the bold type season finale)

I cannot rant about Taylor bc everythings good and I’m living for that so lets just go with my favourite show and how fucked up everything is, I am usually not someone who voices their opinion too much especially on here bc thats just not the type of person I am but anyway 

The Bold Type has been my favourite tv show and if you have never seen it I still recommend you do bc overall its still a damn good show dont get me wrong if it does not seem like that (there are several reasons to watch it and I want it to become more popular so pls do)

Well, I started watching it right at the beginning, June/July last year when the first episode aired and BOI it blew me away, like, i did not expect anything major BUT lemme just say it destroys every other show its just that good (I love the girls it focuses on individually and together, the boss is full perfection, the main ship (a bi girl of colour and a proud muslim lesbian) was breathtaking, the storylines were on point and emotional and it just idk maybe they set the bars too high)

So the second season started airing beginnign of june and you know, I WAS worried before that they could not keep up but I had SO MUCH faith (but it also seems like the writers were kind of replaced and man that shows) the first few episodes were fire alright which is even worse bc i had lost all my worries and knew I was gonna be fed the whole season but little did I know …

You know I really hate complaining too much about something about a tv show that is there to enjoy and make me happy so I’ll stop thinking about it after this post but I do get the frustration so much (but death threats and bashing the whole show is not helpful whoops I said it) 

Just a few short notes on things that anger me a little (I’m probably forgetting thigns but anyway):

1. Jane (she is one of the three main girls) I really like(d) Jane a lot and I feel like I can identify with her, we are very much alike in many ways and this especially showed in season 1. I dont “hate” her at all after this season, not even dislike her, but she they used her for almost all (?) the controversial topics as the one who makes rude and subtle offensive comments, which is not bad in itself bc she learned from it mostly all the time and apologizes but it was just too often and much for me. in the first season Jane seemed at least trying to be more understanding even when she could not really and she was relatable with her concerns and her feelings and this was not really the case for me this season. I felt like she did not own up enough for some mistakes and it did not give me this tbt feeling of happiness and goodness and wholesomeness I had after every damn episode last season????

2. Screen Time (Jacqueline/Alex/Adena) You could probably talk about everyone of them in detail now but I dont have the energy - let me just say Adena and Jacqueline are my favourite characters so maybe I am biased and I know that this whole post need to be edited probably after I rewatch the season bc I can easier give feedback when everything is fresh in my mind but you know, all we fans wanted was to have backstorys (and bc he didnt really get one either this probably applies to Oliver too) not even much, just maybe like the episode in season 1 when we got to learn more about Jacquelines family and her past in general (still crying), it was so well-written bc it was not just something thrown in there but integrated in the storyline, it had purpose, it was emotional, it gave insight into her character and I honestly saw her with different eyes after that (and loved her even more), now those 3 or 4 just are really pushed to the sides. You dont see Adena without Kat really or talking about her character without it being about her sexuality and Kat (oh hey a gay one complaining about that??  yes bc even tho I answer I am gay after someone asks me “how are you” theres more to a person and especially to someone as interesting as Adena. I love hearing non heteros talk about their love life and everything surrounding it but at least then let Adena talk about how her coming out was, what she finds interesting in other women, if she ever struggled with it (i know they tried to cover some things but naah idk i just expected more) or just talk about something else, let us see her going to the movies with friends, a childhood throwback when she was in art class, let her talk about what she likes about some types of art. AND HER WHOLE CULTURE? I am a white western woman and I never see muslim representation on tv and I feel like still havent? i forgot at some point?! there are so many non-white people watching it hoping to be represented and ofc you cannot please everyone but now it just feels like Adena is just a proud lesbian you know. And Alex? what who was that again?

3. the storylines - sooo first of all, I liked the storylines more than most people probably from what I have seen on the tag. I think some of them were hard to put in just one episode and try to talk about everything important and still have  show going on, which is why it did not work all the time  have less storylines but make them work would be better. I really did appreciate that they tried to have a lot of stuff covered and they tried to put different points in there but there were a lot of het relationship and other drama stuff to be shown so the storys were often pushed too hard to the sides. this I say having the gun episode in mind the most i felt really unsatisfied after it and I was really looking forward to it bc i think its important and brave for them to talk about it (anyway watch one day at a time, the episode on the same matter is pure gold) . idk its alright its not the same feeling its less spectacular but I’ll stop whining about that now.

4. KADENA - I’ll try to be objective here , i do get that you cannot have a happy relationship without anything going on for 10 episodes (ok you can I would love that but maybe its less wise when it comes to viewers idk?? i stan unpopular shows so who am I to know) BUT come on, not like this?? they started of as PERFECT alright and then it all went downhill, you know cheating and stuff idk, I am not happy with it, could be more original, could be less meh but whatever I was like “ ok I’lll roll with it maybe its gonna bring a new light in this, let them grow, let them learn” but man idk. it was all a mess and once they made up and everything was fine (after 3 epsiodes of pure stress for my weak heart) after 5 minutes there was something new? almost any interaction was either them arguing or making up. I liekd their conversations mostly I really did but I was tired of drama all the time, after this season I’ll just say it: If they want to continue it like that until the end of season 3 I’d rather have them not together anymore. its no fun, its stress for them and even more for me and it would not seem realistic when they make them endgame at the very last minute (which I assume they will bc they promote it like that) without using multiple episodes and time passing to really let them grow in the relationship, without that it would just feel like one day after the finale of season 3 they would have somethng else coming up to fuck them up again. I was really baffled with the finale bc I WAS NOT expecting that they really wouldnt resolve it at all let us suffer like this (I remember that Nikohl i think said that it would be like that but someone else also said recently that it really feels like a finale and that the fans would feel assured but excited for the next season but excuse me? tbt fans who are happy about that end are great. would love to meet one one day. but where they at?? suttard fans all 3 of you I am happy for you honestly. and for sutton. richard idc. i am bitter tho. 

I STILL HAVE SO MUCH HOPE FOR SEASON 3 (pls let the old writers come back, listen to the fans, there are not too many instead of trying to make it more appealing to the general public what about pleasing us again with friendship, gayness, depth and happiness?)

(& remember: I.love.this.show. i do. I would recommend it even when there would only be season 2. but it would not be my fave anymore. its like as if taylor would have the same albums with the same music, same career, same backstory BUT her not really caring about her fans. I would still love her as an artist so freaking much. but would I jump off building for her?? naah maybe if there were a balcony and a pool who knows 

Thanks for coming to my TED talk 

[jungkooks-sweet-potatoes]

BTS ASKS

How and when did you get into BTS? Youtube recommended me their debut mv in 2013

Did you make new friends thanks to BTS? HELL YEAH! But only lately I've met some really nice ARMYs, the 2013-2014 I only found Exo-Ls (no offense they were really nice and I learned a lot form them)

Has Bangtan influenced your life in any other way? Well actually yes... A LOT, when they released N.O (which talks about following your dreams and just do whatever you want without minding others I bet y’all know) I was about to choose my degree (College) and I was about to study Law do to my parents pressure, but I wasn’t what I really wanted :( Anyway trough that song they gave me the strength to confront my parent and tell them that Law wasn’t what I wanted and they acceped it pretty well, RN I am studying Graphic Design and I absolutely love it and I owe it to them and their music :)

Top 10 Songs? This is turture (not in order): Ma City, N.O, Silver Spoon, Spine Breaker, Not Today, Lost, Cypher pt.3 (killer), Born Singer, Autumn Leaves and Bulletproof pt.1 (these are the first ones that came to my mind this question is too difficult 4 mah mind)

Favorite album? Wings YNWA, this may sound basic ‘cuz its the last one but, I think that in this album they have experimented with their voices and worked really hard to do something that wasn’t their thing (like Vs high pitched song) and all ‘cuz they love ARMYs and they wanted to show us a whole new and better BTS!!

Favorite lyrics? N.O

School trilogy, HYYH era or WINGS? Wings

Which Cypher part do you like best? Pt 3

Your favorite AGUST D and RM track? I really love RM but Agust D was LIT 

Your favorite cover of BTS? (Doesn’t matter if it’s one of Jungkook, Taehyung, Jin, etc.) Jungkooks If You (by BigBang) almost brought me to tears OMG so angelic and precious

Is there any BTS song that has a special meaning for you? N.O

Your favorite live performance? Can’t choose, but MAMAs ones were absolutely amazing

Your bias? Jungkook is the most similar to me in age and personality but I have 7 bias that kill me daily :’)

Your favorite ships/interactions? Vmin is an example of friendship goals and I really admire them for this :)

Favorite fansite(s)? Omg too many, and this time I really cannot choose 😩

What is your favorite hair color for each member?  Jin - Blonde/Pink Suga - Black J-Hope - White RapMon - Purple/Pastel pink Jimin - Black V - White (reminds me of Kaneki) or Red Jungkook - Light Brown (I would like to see a Silver Haired Kookie 👀)

Whose fashion style do you like the most? Suga, all black discreet clothes 

Which member matches with your personality the most? Kookie, except for the spot think... I am lazy af or V

Who do you think would be your best friend in BTS? V

Which member caught your attention first? Kookie

Name the feature you like the most about each member! Jin - Face shape Suga - Lips J-Hope - cheekbone RapMon - Dimples Jimin - Jawline V - Face in general Jungkook - Eyes and face in general

Your favorite photo of each member? I 👏🏼 JUST 👏🏼 CAN’T 👏🏼

What immediately comes to your mind when you think of Jin? Worldwide handsome 😂

What immediately comes to your mind when you think of Yoongi? Savage

What immediately comes to your mind when you think of Namjoon? That video where he's trying to put on his new sunglasses but breaks them

What immediately comes to your mind when you think of Hoseok? His smile when I see him smiling I start smiling too, Sunshine powers

What immediately comes to your mind when you think of Jimin? Mochi and cute

What immediately comes to your mind when you think of Taehyung? Wired and random faces

What immediately comes to your mind when you think of Jungkook? MEME

Rank the dance line in terms of favorite dancing style! J-hope, he can dance to anything to more rough to more sensual love it Kookie, Like a rough and sexy way of dance like, “I’m coming to you” Jimin, sensual like “Come to me”

Rank the vocal line in terms of favorite singing style! No, this is a big no for me :) Like I really cannot do it I love all their voices I would just put them all in 1st place

Rank the rap line in terms of favorite rap style! Same as before :)

Who’d win in a dance battle? Jin or Namjoon? Jin has improved A LOT in these years and I love RM but he is a wood stick 😂

Jungkook’s thighs, abs, arms or veins? FUCK! EVERY 👏🏼 SINGLE 👏🏼 THING 👏🏼 

Holly, Soonshim, Micky or Rapmon? Soonshim, I rather big dogs

American Hustle Life, Rookie King, Bangtan Gayo or RUN BTS? Bangtan Gayo and Run BTS

What variety show do you want BTS to be featured in? Knowing Bros

What accessory would you bring for a fansign and for which member? Food, Catalan food, Here is where I live and I would like them to taste our traditional food :)

Have you ever been to a fansign or concert of BTS? NO 😭😭

Have you ever sent a fan letter? Yeah... I used to twit them at the very beginning... they answered me one time and I was happy for a fucking moth :) 

Did you ever join a fansite’s birthday project? Yeah! If I am not too busy I try to

Are you a member of the fancafe? Nope, ain’t got no money

Do you talk openly about BTS in front of friends and family?  HELL YEAH!! they are sick of me

If you were given the chance to say one sentence to all of them, what would you tell them? Just Thank you, because they changed my life and gave me the strength to be who I really am and to follow my dreams, tell them that I am extremely grateful to them and that just as their music has helped it has helped so many other ppl, so yeah that Thanks and keep going because they are aswome and one of the best things that has ever happened to me

If money, distance and the like weren’t a problem, what kind of gift would you give them to their birthday? Dunno, whatever they would need at that moment

What subunit would you look the most forward to? V, Jin and J-hope

Do you prefer Hip-Hop BTS or the more Pop-ish BTS? Hip-Hop BTS

Do you watch their appearances on shows live or do you wait for subs? I watch it live and then the one with subs, I just keep smiling at the screen like an idiot 😭😂

What kind of concept would you like to see in the future? Idc or more like idk I think they will do every concept okay because they work really hard

Your thoughts on BigHit? It’s not bad... like yeah the typical more lines to Jin or more merit to J-hope, but its a good company, I'd just ask BigHit to leave BTS alone for a while they haven't had a long break since 2015 and I think they deserve it and need it so.. thats it 

[fluffynexu]

tagged by @redandpointy

rules: 1. answer the questions given by the previous person 2. write 11 new questions 3. tag 11 people 

1: Favorite Game? i don’t actually play a lot of games xU (it’s the Curse). so anything i Can play is by default a fav. x) swtor, pokemon, wow...... i think that’s it? >,<

2: What was the first Fanfic you ever read? The first you ever wrote? (if you write them) Can you still find it? i have no idea what the first fic i ever read was. god that was such a long time ago. i don’t even remember the fandom lol. i..... think i tried to write a ygo fic back in like.... middle school/hs? >,> don’t judge me hehe.

3: What is one talent you wish you had? i wish i could draw. *sigh*

4: First movie you can remember seeing? How old were you? i think it was the lion king. i was... gosh... 5? 6? ._.

5: Book you go back to re-read? none, i’m too lazy. ^-^; i’ve read plenty of books and like most of them. but never felt the urge to re-read any of them.

6: The meme you just don’t get. someone had to explain the anish kapoor thing to me lol.

7: Do you have any Rare pair Ship(s)? What are they? Clones x Happiness and Long Life ;-;

8: Food/flavors you cannot stand? i love chocolate. i love mint. i do NOT like them mixed together. wtf..... oh, and mole. it would be perfectly fine if it didn’t mix that CHOCOLATE flavor into it. DX .....basically i’m finding out that i’m picky about what my chocolate interact with lol.

9: Dream job? veterinarian OR work for star wars in some way. idc. just let me help y’all fix things.

10: Do you RP? Who is your favorite OC? nah... too much of the Anxiety to properly RP >,< ofc i love my sweet tomato (since it seems that i can’t focus on more than 1 character at a time lol halp) but i love the Main Characters of my friends x)

11: Tell me about the thing you made/did/wrote/drew/watched/or read that you love and really wish people fan-flailed about but haven’t. i.... honestly don’t know. >_<

new questions

what’s your favorite cuisine style (ie. chinese, indian, italian, mexican, etc.) and why?

if you could live in any other time period, when and where would it be?

“Gif “or “Jif”? >,>

who’s your absolute Problematic fav?

would you rather be fluent in all the world’s languages or be good at every artistic medium?

favorite NON charismatic mega fauna animal?

what do you want to see more of from your favorite fandom?

best color for pastel to visually describe: soft?

which alien species, from any fandom, would you want to hook up with? >,< (bonus points for not being humanoid LOL xD)

favorite place to vacation?

what’s your favorite method of interacting with fandom? writing fics? drawing art? crafting things? etc.

tagging~

@spaceyquill @ronracer @semper-draca @riajade01 @earlploddington @starrypawz @shanjedi @ravenclawnerd @gerdavonrinnlingen @bionitelke @askshivanulegacy

[5hineesback]

Hi. 😄 1-22 lol. 💕

omg i have a deadline in 3 and a half hours i shouldnt be doin this now dkjfhkdfd

1. Who is your SHINee bias?

my egg taem

2. Bias wrecker?

answered~

3. Favorite era

answered~

4. Favorite song

picasso as i never stop saying

5. Favorite album

answered~

6. When did you become a fan?

july 21st 2012.... coincidentally also the first day internet war was performed

7. First song you heard

answered~

8. First impression

since my first impression was the lucifer mv i thought taemins hair was AMAZING and that they were just rly cool in general... i had no idea they’d turn out to be such losers. also since i searched shinee’s tumblr tag the same day internet war was performed, i saw all of the posts ppl were making about jongtae and stuff, and therefore i spent a good day or so genuinely thinking most/every member of shinee was publically out as gay....... then i learned about how homophobic the kpop industry is which shut that right down

9. What member caught your eye first?

taemin bcos hair. i googled “shinee long hair” to find out his name

10. Was there ever a song you didn’t like at first that had to grow on you?

tbh there’s more than one but black hole comes to mind, i... really didn’t like that at first. i still skip it often but it has grown on me a bit. and there are still songs i never listen to

11. Member you would like to have as a friend?

all of them??????? theyd all be so fun. but i’m going with jonghyun because it seems we have a lot in common. i want to talk to him about politics 

12. Member you would like to have as a brother?

answered~

13. 3 members + a fuck/marry/kill

my gay ass cant answer this and even if my ass wasnt gay i still dont wanna answer and u cant make me

14. Would you rather… (+ a scenario)

:)

15. Favorite MV

lucifer and tmwtd and colorful

16. Do you have a ship? If so what pairing?

everyone knows id die for 2min

17. Favorite solo activities (ex, Taemin’s solos (+Hit the Stage), Jjong solos, Onew DoTS, etc)

my top favourite solo activity is taemin’s get up stage at swc2 idk if that counts as a solo activity but idc

18. Which member do you see as boyfriend/husband material?

answered~

19. Is there another group you like to see interacting with SHINee?

sort of answered already but exid 

20. Any collaborations or solo activities you’d like to see?

answered~

21. Have you ever showed your non-kpop friends/family SHINee? If so, what video? If not, what video would you show them?

yep! i pretty much converted all my school friends and my sister to kpop, they like other groups and are not that interested in shinee but i did show them shinee to start with, i showed them lucifer, i showed one of them internet war, i showed a funny compilation, i cant rmb if theres anything else lmao 

22. Boys Over Flowers parody or Harry Potter parody?

both are incredible but harry potter all the way just because the boys hate it so much

thank u!!! now i have to get on with my work smdfsnfmsd

[sarcastic-doodle]

When the antis for KC come calling...

So, @morleybell got an ask on the above topic, and I wanted to reply to it,but it got too long so I thought I’d make it into its own post. So the question was what to reply to antis who claim Klaroline is abusive.

Here goes :

Not even in the fandom since s5(never in tumblr!tvd fandom like ever) but I do skim the tag every once in a while. Came across your post, loved the general gist of it, but would like to add some and clear up some stuff you passionately stated in bulk😆, if you don’t mind. I’ve been wanting to get this out for a long time.

I think the crux of this whole matter is an element which is called a ‘morally grey character’ ; you know the ones - not entirely a villian but too twisted to be a traditional hero. Obviously there are naysayers who say Klaus doesn’t fit into the mold of someone w/ grey morality, hey haters gonna hate but the jury’s still out on that one apparently even though it’s obvious. Moving On. More on this later.

• agree with the SC part. If one looks at the whole picture from the start, Caroline got shitted upon and shoved to side by the writers and her supposed ‘friends’ right from the start in favour of Elena even by stefan. The afterthought. The girl every new male addition to the cast(not all but close) hooked up with. The secondary character whose romantic plot usually has their fan going “uhmmm not exactly the one I’d choose for her. This is just settling” because hey!one needs to fill up the episode, right? Who cares if she was a second choice?

For me, Klaroline came in at that part of the plot, where I was just about tearing my hair apart because the MF gang were really pissing me off. Caroline was never a priority, everyone was willing to let her be collateral damage in this ever revolving war against elena, she was just supposed to accept that her best friend is dating her assaulter. I mean I get that she is the cornucopia of giving, but thats what friends are for! To make these givers realise that enough is enough, now think about yourself, make yourself a priority. The Caroline I fell in love with initially, the one with the big dreams, the one who wanted to live live to the fullest, explore the entire world because yes embracing vampirism gave her that opportunity….That Girl was entirely diminished by the end. There’s growing up and having responsibilities and then there’s having to grow up because of not-their-doing responsibilities. Klaus had come in a AT THAT CRUCIAL POINT. I remember thinking ‘yesss, she’s a priority for once’ also ‘idc if this relationship works out or not, but this one can be her ticket and reason to move out of that soul-sucking selfish town and friends’

• IT’S A SUPERNATURAL SHOW. This. Funny and irritating why people forget this. The show depicts them as these all encompassing, good in combat and strategy, well versed in lore of the centuries, sensual, blood-drinking vampires…I’m afraid that goes hand in hand with blood and sex and murder and deceit. If you want a century old virgin goody two shoes, I believe you’re in the wrong franchise. For this show, its not about who is good and who is bad, it’s about who is evil and who is more evil, and that too is relative on how you define evil/what you consider evil. Also what’s blatant in this fandom, is the hypocrisy. This is what I wanted to especially expound upon :

So what irritates me about the fans the most is their hypocrisy. Also the puritan fanaticism some have embraced and loudly preached. I wont even include DE and Damon in my arguments, i think they’ve been discussed at length by all (like it deserves to be) this is better explained with Stefan. When people say Klaus is a mass murderer and has killed soooo many people over the years, ergo klaus is evil but stefan is my innocent bae(not verbatim but the intent is obvious)…. conveniently forgetting the fact that stefan killed so many people too, went ripper twice, in his 300(?) yrs…had he lived as long as klaus lived…who know whether the number would have risen or not (hint : it will)Imagine living on and on for so many years, the world around you changing, civilisations changing,people you loved dying, but you’re set in stone. Immortality has been romanticised like all get go, but realistically I can’t imagine someone not going absolute nutters every once in a while whether or not you have a reason to keep living on. The show has shown only the positive sides of Stefan and his dealing with vampirism which in turn makes him appealing, but I can’t imagine someone with Stefan’s characterisation - the broodiness and the guilt - would live a long innocent life. Psychologically, something will always make him crack. I know I’m coming across as someone who hates Stefan which is simply not true. S1-3 Stefan and S1-4 Caroline were my absolute faves. Believe me, I only watched the show until then for these two. But I realised we do excuse his murders w/ - he didn’t want to, he feels guilty, he repented, it’s out of his control. But ultimately clinically speaking(with my inner stefan fan supressed)…There were dead bodies. Families mourned. Lives were taken. Stefan regretted it yes, but it doesn’t give them their life back. None of these vampire’s victims (Salvatore’s, Mikaelsons’,Forbes’) are coming back. Why do we not still hate stefan or any 'good side’ vampires for that, but love to do it to the Mikaelsons?

Second thing I mentioned was puritanism. Simply put, this goes in the good box ; this goes in the baaaad box. Some people differentiate characters like - this is a good person(can do no wrong) and this is a bad person(be suspicious of this one’s dealings ) from the initial interactions and context of the show. Characters on the 'Good’ side in the start, are reveled for doing 'a thing’ ; but if a potentially grey character from the 'Bad’ side does the same 'thing’ they are jeered upon for doing it. Am I saying don’t point out and jeer evil wrongdoings of evil characters? NO. I’m not trying to be apologist for villains, most deserve what we throw at them. BUT But but, in this case, on this show, is the line differentiating them really that clear? Are these 'good’ and 'bad’ characters exclusively on those sides? Like you mentioned, Kol is killed, Klaus retaliates. Had a sibling from the 'good ’ side been killed by the Mikaelsons, pretty sure they’d have retaliated the same way. We cheer one but jeer the other? Why? The deed is the same, cruel and inhuman on both accounts, yet we celebrate one and mourn other?

What people instantly think when I say this, 'you’re probably a person who excuses abuse in real life too’'you believe this…you must be horrid in real life’….*shrugging* A. There is a clear divide between fiction and reality. one I have to actually live in and the other is entertainment. Damn sure I can differentiate between them. B. There is an actual sense is not automatically trusting the NiceGuy, everyone has flaws if you look hard enough, they’re gonna come out eventually I’d rather not be lulled in a false sense of security. I’m not saying The Mikaelsons are good people and they just need some lurrvvve and understanding. What I’m saying is the Mikaelsons are shitty. But so are the Salvatores. So is Elena. And sometimes so is Caroline. If its just fiction, isn’t it hypocritical thay we only hold few accountable, but excuse the behaviour of the rest?

When people say KC is 'abusive’ I always take in with the idea that it’s because Klaus is heartless mass murderer. Which he is. There’s no going around that. He IS NOT a good guy. That stabbing didn’t really make sense to me…why did he do it? But tyler’s mum yeah…if you can excuse the council for their behaviour, don’t be a hypocrite please when the favor is returned. On a completely different but still related note, this is similar to the bullying topic in HP. When it comes to being bullies for whatever reason, people easily excuse the marauders because ultimately they were on the 'light’ side. But draco is held accountable even though he was technically younger than james. But back on the topic at hand.

But KC? Like you provided the lines and to anyone who watched the show….Caroline was not impressed by him. Attracted to him?Sure. But she never acted on it at all until 5×11. She kept questioning his motives, was suspicious of his moves, never defended his actions, brought up his misdeeds to him when he tried to pretend to be a good guy, tried to sneakily gain favours from him utilising his interest in her, it goes on and on. You never hear a single praise for him from her lips (as far as I can remember) All she did was that she gave him a benefit of doubt. Try to understand his motives rather than just IDENTIFY. EVIL. KILL. Try to understand that someone who has lived this long, what goes on thay ancient head, did he ever want to be human? , how does he justify his misdeeds? But Was it enough? Well canonically, apparatently not.

And I get it. I’m not saying excuse the murders by the Mikaelson’s too. NO. I’m saying hold all of them responsible. Caroline. Stefan. Damon. Klaus. And then critic the characters after that. Don’t claim some sort of moral high ground when there isn’t any.

This show, these writers…when given enough screen time, they could redeem an irredeemable villain of their choosing. Seriously, for real. (Damon gets it but Katherine or Kai(this one would need toooo much work) doesnt) and people lap it up. Basically, it’s on the writers on who they choose to get to be the GoodGuy, which villian gets forgiveness for the misdeeds even though the other villains did the same thing. I don’t watch TO but I’m sure they gave 'reasons’ and 'backstory’ on why Klaus behaves the way he does. I mean if you think in a critical analysis sort of way, that is how a redemption arc works. You get to know the inner workings and history of the protag and what experiences made them the person they are, then it’s upto the audience whether or not they forgive them.

But I digress. What is the main point of this entirely too long rant, is that saying KC is abusive is just absurd. Not on this show, not in this context. If its klaus that is your problem, you better have a problem w/ the rest of the lot too. Also he is the one guy who was the only one who asked Caroline whether she would like the cure instead, didn’t use her solely to get to elena, prioritised her, didn’t think Caroline’s love to plan and shop and everything that does not scream stereotypical intelligent girl as shallow and superficial, gave her plenty opportunities to make something more out of her life if she wanted with or WITHOUT HIM. If she wanted to fly free alone for a decade or even a century or two, go for it as long she came back to him when she’s had her fill. Yeah, that just screams abusive and controlling to me😒

Bottom line anti kcs, I’m sorry you wanted this to be a black and white clear issue so you justify your hate. But it’s simply not. I’m not saying KC IS an angelic done-no-evil ship, but when ships all around are pirates, what’s another one,eh.

Also, might as well reiterate, I haven’t seen the show after 4×22, just kept up w/ the show from a lot of different shipper’s (SE, KC and SC shippers too unfortunately) blogs and my sister who watches the show, so I might be off w/ some of the facts. If any of them are blatantly obvious and it’s because I missed something crucial in the remaining seasons I’m tagging the people I’ve seen answering KC qs or were active in their KC defense so this post is refined @my-ownfairytale @klarolinedrabbles @jonsnowbitch

[fmservers]

Thoughts on Xiaomi’s eighth anniversary and inaugural month as a public company

Hans Tung Contributor

Hans Tung is a managing partner at GGV Capital.

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Consumer internet startups go mainstream outside of Silicon Valley

Converging consumer values in China and the U.S. are creating millennials without borders

Zara Zhang Contributor

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Zara Zhang is an investment analyst with GGV Capital and a blogger about China, tech, and food.

On August 16, Xiaomi celebrated the seventh anniversary of the release of its first phone, and the eighth anniversary of MIUI’s launch. As an early investor in Xiaomi in spring 2010 and a former board member of the company, I attended Xiaomi’s IPO in Hong Kong on July 9. I felt nostalgic and grateful, and marveled at how much Xiaomi — which seemed like a crazy idea to many back in January 2010 — has achieved over the past eight years.

Xiaomi’s business model is not the easiest to appreciate if you have never tried its products. Its holistic value proposition doesn’t have an easy equivalent in the US. I frequently get asked questions about how the company works and what justifies its valuation for each round over the years. Here’s my take on the five most asked questions:

Why is Xiaomi an “Internet company”? Isn’t it just a manufacturer of cheap smartphones with really low margin?

At first glance Xiaomi may seem like a hardware company, which traditionally has lower gross margins. But if you look at the company as a whole and how it engages with users, it’s much more – it’s an Internet company.

It is true that around 70% of Xiaomi’s revenue comes from smartphones, 20% comes from connected devices and lifestyle products, and 10% comes from Internet services in 2017. Yet, you can actually think of smartphones as Xiaomi’s customer acquisition tool for its Internet services.

Once users get a taste of Xiaomi through its smartphones, they fall in love with the brand’s superb design, ease of usage, quality, and amazing price-to-performance ratio, and are more likely to buy a Xiaomi smart TV next, then Xiaomi’s smart home appliances, and finally use Xiaomi’s apps. Over time, Xiaomi’s Internet service revenue will grow more rapidly than most people think.

As of March 2018, Xiaomi already had 38 apps with more than 10 million monthly active users, and 18 apps with more than 50 million monthly active users, including the Mi App Store, Mi Browser, Mi Music, and Mi Video apps. Rather than paying search engines to acquire users, Xiaomi is essentially getting paid for acquiring users through selling its smartphones. This allows Xiaomi to have a negative CAC (customer acquisition cost) for its Internet services.

Another under-appreciated pillar of Xiaomi’s growth is its “ecosystem strategy.” Xiaomi strategically invests in many startups as well as the many Internet services providers they work with, both in China and outside of China. Companies in the Xiaomi ecosystem include SmartMi (air purifiers), Zimi (power banks), Huami (Mi bands), Chun Mi (rice cookers), and 80-plus more.

Thanks to these prolific investments, you can find a wide variety of products in any Xiaomi store, from scooters to ukeleles (see below). As a result, every time consumers visit a Xiaomi store, they can find something new, and the frequency of store visits is a lot higher than typical smartphone brands, even Apple. 

Xiaomi’s users are often loyal to the brand because there are so many great Xiaomi ecosystem products consumers can buy. Over 1.4 million users already own more than five connected Xiaomi products (excluding smartphones and laptops). The rising middle class in China and other emerging markets trust, embrace, and identify with the Xiaomi brand – similar to how Muji and Uniqlo from Japan are loved by consumers worldwide. Overtime, as more users become “Mi fans”, Xiaomi’s Internet service revenue will grow, but there is a lagging effect, which many public investors don’t fully appreciate yet.

In addition, Xiaomi also invests in Internet service providers. It then preloads their content into its own apps, or preloads their apps into its own phones and smart TVs. For example, within the Mi Video app, you can access content from top Chinese video platforms like iQiyi and Youku Tudou, because Xiaomi was an investor in these companies. Xiaomi shares advertising and subscription revenue with these platforms, allowing it to rapidly grow its revenue from Internet services, which have extremely high margins.

What key factors made you want to invest in Xiaomi? In your opinion, what was the biggest risk about this investment?

I have known CEO and founder LEI Jun for almost 10 years. We first met when he became an angel investor in early 2008. When Lei Jun first told me about his idea for Xiaomi in January 2010 in Beijing, I listened to his pitch (there wasn’t even a PowerPoint) and it took about 90 minutes before I decided to invest. He used five arguments to convince me.

In the next 10 years, smartphones will replace laptops as the dominant way people interact with technology.

He believed that listening to consumers’ feedback and iterating on products rapidly based on that feedback are essential for success, especially for building customer loyalty. This is a different approach from the one that Apple, HTC, Samsung, Motorola, Nokia, etc. had at that time. He wanted to build a phone that is Android-based but with a localized wraparound “MIUI” so that users will feel it’s an OS that listens to them and can grow with them.

Internet companies have high margins and therefore are less likely to fully commit to a low margin business like hardware. Think Google and Amazon.

Ensure the price of the hardware is as low as possible so the company can grow market share and users. Sell the phones online, direct-to-consumer, bypass the middlemen, and past the enormous cost savings to consumers. Overtime, the company will monetize on Internet services.

Build a world-class team that has a combination of overseas returnees and locals.

The team he assembled was the only one that had experience in four out of the five areas that I considered to be critical to the success for his “triathlon model”:

E-commerce (via his second startup Joyo.com, which was sold to Amazon in 2004),

Software (via Kingsoft, where he was the CEO)

Internet services such as online gaming (via Kingsoft, where he was the CEO).

Online brand building (via the startup Vancl, where he was an angel investor)

Smartphone design (this is the area where his initial team did not have direct experience, but I was confident that he would hire the best talents in smartphone design given his 1 million Sina Weibo fans in 2010)

No one else had all these skills under one roof. This is why I thought Xiaomi might have the chance to do something very special.

However, for anyone who passed on Xiaomi early, it was very a reasonable and logical decision. In the history of mobile phone companies around the world, no startup had ever been successful. Some even predicted that for Xiaomi to succeed, Motorola, Ericsson, and Nokia would all have to fail. In 2010, that seemed a crazy idea. But the rest is history. 

What do you think of Xiaomi’s international expansion strategy?

Xiaomi did a great job in recruiting Hugo Barra, who was formerly an executive at Google Android, to join them as Head of International in 2013. Hugo’s experience lent credibility to Xiaomi, as he became the international face of the company for the next three to four years. He also recruited several young executives and country managers, mostly in their late 20s or early 30s back then, many of whom were first-generation Chinese Americans or Western educated immigrants. These executives have helped Xiaomi become a global company, and they all have a bright future ahead of them with more responsibilities to come. It’s really important to hire the right head of international and country managers to make it work.

Conversely, when US companies go to China, it’s harder to hire young millennials to spearhead the China business because the Chinese Internet space is a lot more difficult to navigate. But as there are more and more Gen Z and millennial consumers in China, American and international companies can take more chances, recruit young entrepreneurs to join them, and form an advisory board of industry veterans and investors around their China initiative.

How can Xiaomi expand into the US, given Huawei and ZTE’s troubled relationship with the US government and the recent trade tensions between the US and China?

In my opinion, the US market is not an immediate priority for Xiaomi today. Emerging markets, which include India, Southeast Asia, Eastern and Southern Europe, and Latin America, represent much bigger and immediate opportunities.

Xiaomi is already in 74 countries today. In the first quarter of 2018, over 36% of Xiaomi’s revenue came from markets outside of China. According to IDC, in Q4 2017, Xiaomi was among the top five smartphone brands in terms of unit shipments in 15 countries, including India (No. 1), Indonesia (No. 2), Russia, Poland, Greece, and Israel. Xiaomi also has plans to double down on markets in Latin America such as Mexico.

Why is this significant? Allow me to share a historical lesson. When Yahoo! Invested in Alibaba (another GGV portfolio company) in 2005, the world had 1 billion Internet users. Now, the world has 3.5 billion Internet users. Over the last 13 years, Alibaba’s valuation increased 100 times from $5 billion to $500 billion. The fact that China was the fastest growing market for Internet users during this period, coupled with Alibaba’s amazing ability to execute, turned the company into a growth miracle. In the next 12-13 years, the world will most likely grow to 5 billion Internet users. The world’s next 1 billion Internet users that will come online in the next decade – via affordable but high-quality smartphones – are outside of the US. They are in the 74 countries that Xiaomi is already in today. Going forward, Xiaomi is very well-positioned to take advantage of the next phase of growth through selling hardware, software, and bundled Internet services, as well as by investing in partner companies in those countries.

What do you think of Xiaomi’s IPO price?

I think Xiaomi is undervalued at HK$17 per share. Xiaomi’s was the world’s largest tech IPO since Alibaba’s in 2014 and it has a relatively complicated business model, so it might take time for public investors to understand and appreciate. I believe Xiaomi will deliver performance that beats expectations going forward.

If you look at the IPO price of HK$17 a share, Xiaomi was valued using a revenue multiple of 10x for its Internet services (a discount to Alibaba and Tencent), and 2x for its hardware-related revenue (an average multiple for one of China’s favorite brands), based on the 2017 numbers. So there is still a lot of potential for upside both in terms of operational growth and multiple expansions. I remember when Facebook went public in 2012, its share was priced at $38 and its first day of trading ended at $38.23. Obviously, six years later, Facebook is now worth about five times its valuation at IPO. Similarly, there’s a lot of room for Xiaomi to grow. 

I’d like to give a shoutout to other major early investors in Xiaomi, including Richard Liu of Morningside Venture Capital, Tuck Koh of ShunWei Capital, and Yuri Milner, Shou Zi Chew (now Xiaomi’s CFO) of DST Global. Their continued support has been instrumental to Xiaomi’s success.

For more on our take on Xiaomi, listen to the latest episode of the 996 Podcast where we discussed Xiaomi’s IPO and an earlier episode of the podcast where we interviewed Xiaomi’s cofounder Lin Bin. You can find the show on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, or SoundCloud. Just search “996” wherever else you listen to podcasts. You can also watch Hans discussing Xiaomi on CNBC and Bloomberg, or read his previous TechCrunch article “Xiaomi on Its 5th Birthday. 

To reach Hans and Zara directly, join the 996 listeners’ community via WeChat/Slack at 996.ggvc.com/community

They also run a biweekly email newsletter on tech trends in China. Subscribe at 996.ggvc.com.

Via Jonathan Shieber https://techcrunch.com

[ramialkarmi]

The Windows PC is cooler than its ever been before — here's how Microsoft made it happen (MSFT, AAPL)

The Windows PC is in the midst of something of a renaissance. 

PC manufacturers like Asus, Razer, HP and Dell have all picked up their game, delivering PCs that range from super-functional to just plain weird. Small companies like Eve are launching head-turning specialized devices for power users. Microsoft itself has even made a dent in the market with its own line of Surface PCs.

It's a far cry from "the clunky devices of the past," said Peter Han, Microsoft's vice president of partner devices and solutions.

Microsoft is taking credit for at least some of the Windows PC's resurgence. To help spur PC makers to release more more innovative designs, the company changed the way it interacts them, Han said. Rather than keeping all its research and treasure troves of data to itself, Microsoft had Han's engineering team start working directly with PC makers to build killer devices.

The payoff: A growing number of Windows PCs and tablets that can hold their own against those of Apple and other competitors. That new wave of devices is helping the PC attract a wider range of customers, even as the larger computer market undergoes a massive years-long contraction.

"We've had to learn together over a period of years," Han said. 

The fence

For a long time, Microsoft had a habit of working on Windows in a vacuum, said Ruston Panabaker, a vice president and 20-year veteran of the company. Microsoft would finish each version of the operating system, and "throw it over the fence" to partners to do with as they would, he said. 

That dynamic resulted in bland, indistinguishable PCs. While the Windows software is and has always been a high-margin business for Microsoft, PC manufacturing is a low-margin affair. That meant Windows PC makers largely invested in driving down the cost of manufacturing, rather than in cutting-edge product research or design.

"With Windows 10, we knew we couldn't do that," Panabaker said. 

Launched in July 2015, Windows 10 represented an effort to tie together the various users and uses of Microsoft's flagship operating system. It combined the mouse-and-keyboard interface of classic Windows with the touchscreen-friendliness and stylus features of Windows 8. And it added in the Cortana virtual assistant, Microsoft version of — and competitor to — Apple's Siri.

To be successful, Microsoft knew it had to work more closely with PC manufacturers to make sure its ambitions for Windows 10 were fully realized in their devices. As Microsoft discovered with its own Surface line, it's hard to make PCs and tablets that people really enjoy using.

So as Windows 10 entered into development, Microsoft opened its engineering labs to many of the top PC manufacturers. The company was hoping to work with PC makers and give them access to the resources they needed to build computers that would show off the best of the new operating system, Han said.

The quiet room

One example of how Microsoft worked with its partners was with Cortana, Panabaker said. To really take advantage of the virtual assistant, your computer needs a sensitive microphone so it can hear your commands and questions even when you are far away from your desk. Unfortunately, the microphone in Windows PCs was typically placed right next to the computers' fans or other moving parts, Panabaker said. That led to a lot of white noise that threw off Cortana's accuracy.

So Microsoft let manufacturers into its labs — including the quietest room in the world, located right on the company's Redmond campus — to do research on where they could best place microphones inside slim, fashionable laptops and tablets that would eliminate the white-noise problem. 

"We actually ended up redesigning a whole generation of PCs around Windows audio," Panabaker said.

But even though that initial engineering effort is long over, Microsoft is continuing to collaborate with its PC partners. The company shares data with computer makers about how people are actually using Windows, Han said. The manufacturers use that information to help improve their devices for the next go-round. It helps keep the PC makers more in-the-loop — and more gung-ho about supporting Windows 10. 

"Data has been a big liberator in the conversation," Han said.

Surface tension

It's undeniable that the relationship between Microsoft and PC manufacturers has changed in the last five years or so. Every time Microsoft has released a new Surface laptop, tablet, or PC, it's sparked fears in the industry that the creator of Windows was going to try to muscle out the companies building Windows-powered PCs.

But that's not how Microsoft sees it. The partner engineering program that started with Windows 10 actually "builds trust" with PC makers, Panabaker said. For his part, Han said he's worked to "compartmentalize" his team away from Surface, so no proprietary information goes from PC manufacturers to Microsoft or vice versa. 

"We have a decades-long relationship," Han said — and neither party is keen to jeopardize it. 

In the bigger picture sense, if partners were ever really upset over the Surface, they're probably over it by now, said Linn Huang, a research director at IDC. It probably helps that the Surface still accounts for a tiny sliver of overall PC sales.

"I think most of the ill feelings were experienced at the launch of the first Surface years ago, and the OEMs have gotten somewhat accustomed to seeing Microsoft as partner and competitor simultaneously," Huang said.

Which is good, because Han and the partner engineering team's next big initiative is to work on non-PC products such as smart speakers, connected home appliances, and anything else that might run Windows 10.

"Our universe is the thousands of device makers who make stuff," Han said.

SEE ALSO: Microsoft released two brand-new laptops this week, both killer Apple rivals — here's how to choose between them

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