#idk its complicated but i definitely will not be participating in this

[goodnightwindy]

just got the tumblr blackout post on my dash again ugh

[glitterincandles]

smiling friends as discord mods ; ☆

crazy ass idea

— glep (8/10 discord mod)

actions ☆

i think of him as the social media manager of the company and if mr. boss trusts him that much to maintain a positive image of the company online then being a discord mod would be a breeze

can control some semi-complicated stuff in the server like role-setting with reactions and unlocking different channels by reacting to a message, definitely improves this function if he thinks its faulty

^^^ any technical difficulties within the server are

takes being a discord mod pretty seriously yet he has the ability to be lighthearted about it sometimes

often mass bans people over spamming or any other offense without alerting everyone else, so like no context banning

^^^ ppl initially had a problem with it but then they lightened up a little when they noticed that those mass bans actually improved the server

^^^^ he still scares the shit out of everyone though

always online and monitoring the server

profile ☆

has definitely splurged money on discord nitro and those discord profile decor and effects

his profile would be decked tf out and follow a purple/green aesthetic

^^^ he has the clyde invaders icon skin and his account profile is purple

^^^^ idk if he has an anime girl pfp or not bc on one hand he would definitely have one but on the other hand he'd have a profile pic of a character he likes from a game.

one thing's for sure tho is that he never felt the need to change his discord profile picture unless he was in a server made for his job then he'd just change that server's profile pic to put his face and that's it lol

discord username is probably like theamazingGlep69 or something

his discord bio is definitely a random video game quote and that's it

his spotify, xbox, and steam account are the only things connected to his discord

extras ☆

always energized by those gamer-advertised energy drinks

^^^ no specific preference for like g-fuel or gamer supps or something he just grabs whatever he can get his grimy little hands on

selectively sends friend requests to people and never accepts friend requests from randos

^^^ in fact he INSISTS on being the one sending the friend requests to people instead of it being the other way around

^^^^ as a result he has less than 15 people on his friends list and he's happy with it

he definitely unadds ppl he hasn't spoken to in a while though to keep it ~fresh~ or something

— mr. boss (6/10 discord mod)

actions ☆

ok so like

he isn't TERRIBLE at modding he knows the basics

he's just very... lax. he's the type to not see anything wrong with spamming or other similar offenses just because he genuinely doesn't think it's a big deal

^^^ he'd be like oh what theyre just expressing themself idk

^^^^ or like when it comes to random ppl dming mods he'd be like idk what if they just wanted to ask a question but were too shy to do it in the main server YKWIM?????

he already lets his employees do what they want during their shifts so it wouldn't be very different in a discord server

because it's online, he already doesn't take it very seriously lol he'd just find any chaos amusing

it's like a giant group chat!!!!

BUT DESPITE ALL THAT, he's really good at organizing server events like giveaways and movie/game nights

he'd always make sure to make the events fun and accessible for everyone

as a result most of the server usually participates in the events

he's just not good at... moderation in general

he also doesn't enjoy the banning/warning ppl aspect bc it makes him feel really bad

profile ☆

he has an anime girl pfp and/or has matching pfps with ppl for a certain amount of time ONLY if they match his profile theme

his profile is a cutesy kawaii light pink anime girl aesthetic

^^^ he'd have the cat ears icon skin and his profile would be pink

^^^^ an evil part of me wants to say he has a sailor moon pfp

yes he also has discord nitro

what else will he do with the money he earns

he has cutesy kaomojis in his bio too and probably has the initial of someone in a text heart like < b 3 (b for brittney LOL)

only his spotify is connected to his profile

extras ☆

also brittney was his discord kitten

^^^ they had matching anime couple pfps

^^^^ they'd always vc

^^^^^ have fallen asleep on vc once

he uses cringe text faces like uwu or owo just bc he knows everyone hates it

^^^ he thrives off of the negativity idk

everyone in a server he moderates would probably feel the safest dming him out of every other mod

^^^ his dms r always open

ok so i know that he has normal ass headphones but hear me out. give him pink cat ear headphones. it's perfect

he has more than the usual amt of discord friends

he always has aesthetic ass discord statuses

has his online status set as idle bc its cuter

— allan red (7/10 discord mod)

actions ☆

he's the mod that everyone complains abt

definitely rewrites the rules and makes sure they're enforced at all times

he's the typa person to call someone out if they break the rules in any capacity

"@/feetlicker Please change your name, that is not appropriate"

"@/charlienipples No memes in general chat, go to #meme-channel."

unlike glep though, he gives a lot of context as to why he'd ban someone

^^^ maybe 2 much context

^^^^ in fact he very rarely bans ppl, the most he sends out is a very detailed warning in dms

always types in full sentences

most server members are afraid of dming him actually he's sorta intimidating

he definitely keeps the server in order but his reputation is just not the best

but he is very confrontational so if someone is causing a problem he isn't afraid of getting it dealt with

he's usually tagged during disputes bc he's level-headed enough to deal with them and offers good points

^^^ that doesn't stop others from thinking he's annoying though :((

very misunderstood but has good intentions

he has a set schedule on when he logs in and moderates, then gives himself free time

so basically he isn’t online all day

profile ☆

he’d have one of those blank discord profiles

like he’d make it normal-ish but he wouldn’t care too much abt sparkly text themes or connecting any of his other socials to it

uses a picture of himself as his icon and has a matching red background that is randomly generated by discord

^^^ (he didn’t pay for discord nitro)

^^^^ (everyone point and laugh)

^^^^^ (he just doesn’t find it necessary since he isn’t online THAT often)

his username is either his full name or a very absurd npc name (like scaryantelopes2536) theres no in-between

he never has a status set

clean profile but its boring to look at basically

extras ☆

takes online status very literally— if he doesn’t want to be disturbed, he puts dnd, if he’s online, he sets it as online, etc etc (so surprisingly very honest)

his profile pic looks professionally done in a studio then unfortunately it got very pixelated as a result of discord itself so its kinda funny looking

his friends list is only the 4 other ppl from smiling friends

doesn’t know or like brainrot or modern internet slang so when ppl say skibidi toilet or sigma rizz he genuinely has to get up and walk around outside to stay sane

is usually the one being trolled/pranked

IS the one that cringes at mr. boss using uwu or owo

— charlie dompler (5/10 discord mod)

actions ☆

HE'S THE TYPE TO be really good at it first then he'd lose interest

he'd get a high from it bruh

just the idea of having power would be enough to get him rolling

for the first couple months he'd be all up in the server channels being hella active

he'd stay up all night just moderating bc its exciting to give someone a warning if they act up or whatever

^^^ if he gets sleepy he drinks an energy drink

*someone fucks up in a server* "Ooh, oooh-- this is my favorite part, man. Watch, watch." *sends a 2 word dm to the person that just says 'warning One'* "Oh, haha! that--that was so fun."

yea he'd be riding on dopamine hits of doing good for the server

since he'd be sleep deprived he'd misspell a lot and send short answers so if someone asks why they were banned he'd give very short answers

"hey why was i banned lol" "bad" "what" "yeah"

i don't think he'd do much in the server other than moderate and make new channels

then he gets bored.

uh oh

all of a sudden he's very relaxed about everything so he would probably stop moderating so much

he would probably be doing the bare minimum now lol

5/10 bc he goes in and out of caring and not caring so i guess sometimes he's pretty good

discord is probably one of the only socials he is really active on

he would give himself dumbass roles just bc

profile ☆

some sort of meme/cursed profile icon with flaming sword icon skin

would definitely have an orange-themed profile in general bc he thinks its a color with an unfair reputation

every social he has will be linked to his damn profile

has a dumbass username

^^^ probably one of the only one of the 5 who doesn't use his real name on discord

^^^^ he would change his dn every once in a while JUST BC to be funny or something

its so stupid he would call himself the Poo Meister after letting a smooth one out

he's always on DND

uses his discord status to ask someone to play a game w him

extras ☆

he joins random meme servers just for the emotes

he's already a discord mod for like 3 servers rn and he's given up

he has a lot of online friends which is why he doesn't use his real name

he's always in a vc with someone

he's very very social online (i bet he has a popular twitter gimmick account too)

he made his current discord account when he was really young and he just stuck with the same one

he adds all the bots to servers he moderates bc he thinks he has amazing taste

— pim pimling (7/10 discord mod)

actions ☆

he would be the one doing all of the accouncements and questions of the day

he takes those jobs so serious

he types with caps on and uses encouraging gifs and emoticons (yes emojis too)

he never really moderates, he's the one just announcing things tbh he has a lot to say

even when he conveys bad news he'd do a little :P at the end just to soften the blow

(he's also the one who usually kindly lets people know why a certain mod banned them just in case said mod doesn't wanna elaborate)

his positivity pisses ppl off sometimes

don't shoot the messenger

he just logs in every morning, and writes a whole paragraph in announcements to wish everyone a happy day! then he types up the question of the day and logs off until the night

pim pimling is a very busy man

checks his notifs throughout the day tho (just in casies)

he just spreads positivity

one of the most important people in the server he's in at all times

he does intimidate ppl sometimes just bc of his role but he does try to be as not-intimidating as possible

if he's confronted on anything he does wrong he is quick to take responsibility for his actions

^^^ doesn't depend on the person's role, like if he bans someone's friend and the person pleads their case, he's very quick to apologize

^^^^ might cause him to be perceived as someone with no backbone but he's just very empathetic and understanding

profile ☆

his icon is definitely a picture of his face, probably some sort of cute selfie

similar to allan, he uses his full name in his discord dn and user

he does have nitro but he only uses it to change his discord background to a picture of nature

his bio would be long as shit. "Hi! (grin) I'm Pim Pimling and I'm 34 years old!" etc etc etc

^^^ definitely overshares in his bio too

has no socials attached to his profile at all

very straightforward profile

he uses his status a LOT to say the most random things?!>>W "Currently eating a bowl of cereal!"

extras ☆

he has a lot of people on his friends list bc despite everything ppl do have a soft spot for him

he had discord for a while like charlie did but he only ever used it to text friends and thats it

really interactive and responds quickly to dms

his dms r very open

he loves emoji reactions so much

he helps mr. boss with server events a lot

^^^ he also participates in every one

he likes using video calls in a vc

hallo ^w^ i just want to end this off by saying i now have an ask box to submit any headcanon requests if needed!! yayy

[lazylogic]

Okay, here are some words, yes it's long

This drawing started as "homework" my therapist gave me to try and draw myself more, just to like...have more of a sense of self, but it kinda turned into somewhat of a vent doodle because I was feeling gloomy yesterday. I think I'd like to make an alternate version of this that's much more cozy and colorful when I'm feeling better, though. Now...updates? Or I guess a ramble, rant, whining, whatever: I'm still not 100% on coming back to posting art, and on top of there really not being any good art site to post on (FA is fine but I know it has its own issues, I just subsist on nostalgia), every single social media platform now seems like a dumpster fire - way more than they already were - that I don't wanna go back to, so I'm not sure if or when I'm gonna change anything anytime soon. I'm already bad at being social in communities but I super do not know where to turn right now if I wanted to be "present online" again. Way back in the day, Twitter and Tumblr were actually fun, but it's all long since become stressful and anxiety-inducing. And at this point, it really doesn't seem like it's gonna ever improve. Frankly, I do kinda prefer living under a rock anyway, but there's definitely part of me that still misses the positive and warm interactions I used to have with people online. Unfortunately, I still feel like there's really no part of the internet anymore where I feel like I belong, or even want to be. This is all very possibly my gloomy mood at the time of posting and seasonal depression talking, but I really just don't feel motivated to post, participate, or interact online much anymore. Partly a good thing, I think, because I have a lot of fun working on my website and hanging out in the small web community, away from the centralized web. But I know it's also partly due to my bad, chronic habit of isolation - because right now I'm not even interacting with said small web community. I'm just talking to my friends on Discord and Telegram, which typically is all I need. But idk, maybe it's FOMO, maybe it's just another art angst wave, but I miss having a place to go for art...just not the way it's been for the past 6 years or so. I wanna be here, for people to know I'm still alive, but at the same time I don't wanna be here and I don't want to be perceived at all. This feeling changes constantly. I don't know why I'm saying all this and I think I just need to stop thinking about it entirely. Ultimately, the internet is really not important in life and there are countless other things about life that I should focus on. I have a life full of love and precious things, and that is really the most important thing. The fact that I'm an artist who decided to start posting online so many years ago just makes this complicated. Being an artist makes me neurotic, and I'm also just so fucking overwhelmed with the way the world is right now that everything feels like an alien place, online and offline.

And I just care about people too much. I wanna give back to the people who always showed me kindness and support online, just for them to know that they've all been remembered and seen and I'm thankful for them. I think that's why this is such a floundering issue for me. I still think that I'm better off not being an artist online, at least most of the time. But idk. I think I'm just doomed to always have overthinking, neurotic turmoil over stupid shit. Time to stop thinking! At the very least, art IS starting to be fun again, so there's that. I absolutely do better when I'm drawing without worrying about perception and opinions. I think the problem arises when I start bringing commissions into the mix...I hate marketing myself, but you have to do that to have any hope of getting clients, so I should either not do comms at all or just not try to rely on it for income. Damn this shit was easier when I was a teenager with no bills drawing people's fursonas for $30

[catty-words]

Oh! The mustache thing and David. Okay, okay. It still feels kinda weird to say someone is racist over this, but yeah, now that you point it out I see it. I had a childhood friend who got in a foreign exchange student program for a year in high school and when she came back she told us how since the gringos couldnt say her name properly they just defaulted to calling her "Brazil" 😑

I feel a bit called out about twitter, even if its true and I'm only there cuz I'm an addict being held hostage. I've also curated my fandom experience, but I was really needing more info and saw stuff that bummed me out while researching 🥲🥲 I dont mind seeing people criticize characters cuz like we are all entitled to our opinion even if I disagree, but I guess it kinda shocked me still. I guess I forgot about how in some ship wars I participated in when I was 13 some people would call the other characters rapists and stuff after being away from typical fandom toxicity for so long lol.

About the tone shift: yeah I did, but it didnt feel "drastic", just different. In a bad way. Like one of the first metas I read talked about how Devi lacked autonomy in season two and I was like YES THAT WAS WHAT I WAS THINKING even thought not really I was just "wait why is this feeling a bit off... weird... let me play the next episode and just hope is merely a vibe" I dont hate season 2 as much as you seem to, however season 1 and 3 are indeed superior. Season 3 is my favorite out of the three because I really like how the characters matured. A favorite episode is probably 1x10, like the scene of Nalini with dr. Ryan moves me, then Ben driving cackles me up, then I back to being moved by them spreading Mohan ashes with beautiful day playing, then boys like you as "you stayed" and benvi kiss and paxton calling and back to the kiss and I'm like OMG WHAT IS SHE GOING TO DO I HAVE CLASS TOMORROW AND ITS ALMOST TWO BUT FUCK I NEED TO KEEP WATCHING THIS. I always feel like that when I'm rewatching even if it's not two am and I dont have class the next day lmao

You are going to think I'm super horny but probably "why don’t you show me the bitty spark you’ve been saving for his mattress?". It's the one I reread the most after all. The awkwardness of the situation?? Their great characterization??? Devi having no idea of what to do with Ben of all people making her feel like that??? Fab and Eleanor still unsure about him at school and being cutely protective of Devi??? Ugh, just kill me already (please dont)

"you're gonna fall (but i'll catch you)" is also great! I love to read adults au for shows about hs characters and hs aus for shows about adult characters idk why but there are not enough adult aus for nhie in my opinion and yours is my fave!!! Plus Ben being so into stories is adorable as someone who really sees herself in Abed Nadir. Plus the way is not just about their romance but also Devi dealing with grief and her complicated relationship with her mother and self destructive tendencies and... ugh I just love it.

It still feels kinda weird to say someone is racist over this, but yeah, now that you point it out I see it. - i think the disconnect comes from the way fandom uses words like 'racist' to build cases about how it's Objectively Wrong for anyone to like a certain character, whereas the word itself applies to a whole spectrum of behavior and morality. like, it shouldn't actually be that uncomfortable to admit that ben can be and is sometimes racist, he is a walking definition of privilege. him internalizing racist sentiment should hardly be surprising. but it also doesn't make him irredeemable scum. he's obviously a really caring character, as well.

on a related note, yikes @ those students who committed micro-aggressions to your childhood friend. as they get further and further into their life, may they reflect and do better rather than double-down.

I dont mind seeing people criticize characters cuz like we are all entitled to our opinion even if I disagree, but I guess it kinda shocked me still. I guess I forgot about how in some ship wars I participated in when I was 13 some people would call the other characters rapists and stuff after being away from typical fandom toxicity for so long lol. - i get it, i get it. for me, there need exist a gaping divide between exposing myself to critical or even harsh reads of characters i love and/or identify with for the sake of refining my own read of the text and giving the time of day to people who aren't engaging sincerely with the text. protect yourself in the echo-chamber!

About the tone shift: yeah I did, but it didnt feel "drastic", just different. In a bad way. - VINDICATION

but jfgdf - I dont hate season 2 as much as you seem to - i feel compelled to clarify that it's not that i hate season two, not really. it's more that the season let me down and then, by nature of netflix shows' release schedules being what they are, forced me to sit with that disappointment for over a year. it's that i love season one SO MUCH, i couldn't reconcile how much i didn't vibe with season two. on paper, you're right, the tone difference is not drastic, but the emotional response it elicited in me definitely was.

and I'm like OMG WHAT IS SHE GOING TO DO I HAVE CLASS TOMORROW AND ITS ALMOST TWO BUT FUCK I NEED TO KEEP WATCHING THIS. I always feel like that when I'm rewatching even if it's not two am and I dont have class the next day lmao - i love you for this, and 1.10 is such a valid choice she really is That Bitch

You are going to think I'm super horny but probably "why don’t you show me the bitty spark you’ve been saving for his mattress?". - first of all, embrace the horny within. it's important to the show that you do, we're in the spirit of the source material here! second of all, this choice makes me really happy because i love that fic and generally speaking, people are a little shier about giving feedback on smut but, like, that's hands down some of my best writing (both for d/b and more generally). so. thank you.

Fab and Eleanor still unsure about him at school and being cutely protective of Devi??? - you may already know that i'm writing a long-form follow-up with 'bitty spark' acting as the prologue since it sounds like you picked through my blog a bit and i feel like i never shut up about the sequel BUT ANYWAY one of the best parts about it is ben finding himself enmeshed in the girl squad, if i do say so myself. (x)

I love to read adults au for shows about hs characters and hs aus for shows about adult characters idk why but there are not enough adult aus for nhie in my opinion and yours is my fave!!! - okay, well now i'm going to think about you every time i read an adult AU for a high school show or a high school AU for an adult show.

thank you for fueling my vanity and for stopping by my askbox in the first place!

[wanderlustqueen-writes]

@nuri148 thanks for the tag, linda 💕☺️

I'm not very good at sorting my preferences, so I don't think I can do a "top 10" thing either. Here goes:

10 films that I love (in no particular order!)

The One I Love (2014): a troubled couple rents a summer house as part of a couple's therapy experience. The name of the movie in Portuguese is very romcom-y, something like "Complications of Love" so when I saw it on TV I thought it was just a rom-com, and BOY WAS I WRONG! This one is definitely a wild ride and, to this day, I still don't know if I love it or am just really disturbed by it. 

Arrival (2016): aliens arrive on earth and a linguist tries to learn how to communicate with them. This movie is very dear to my heart, not only for the overall quality and amazing turns but because it is a bit of a twist in science fiction. I'm so used to sci-fi movies revolving solely around STEM, it's refreshing to see one centered on human sciences.

Nope (2022): science fiction meets horror meets western. This movie is definitely unique and so well done, from the screenplay to the acting and the PHOTOGRAPHY, not to mention the symbolism. As Isabela Boscov said, Nope has as many layers as the viewer (no pun intended) wants to dig for. It's a gift that keeps on giving. I've seen it three times since its release, and I'm ready for a fourth.

Interstellar (2014): eye-opening, mind-blowing, heart-shattering. Time really is relative because these three hours feel like mere minutes! 

Bridget Jones's Diary (2001): I'm a sucker for a good romantic comedy, and Bridget Jones's Diary has the best elements of the genre: a relatable protagonist? Check! Compelling plot (pride and prejudice retelling)? Check! Ridiculous moments? Check! The movie is FUN like few are. 

Peter Pan (2003): this is a childhood favorite. I watched this version of Peter Pan every day for like a year when I was younger. I used to dream about leaving everything behind and going to Neverland, swimming in an ocean of stars (escapism much?)

The Pacifier (2005): Another childhood film! Vin Diesel, a US Navy Agent, is assigned to protect (read: babysit) the children of a government scientist. I don't have an explanation for this, except for IT'S FUN! I rented the DVD at least 20 times! 

Music and Lyrics (2007): have I mentioned I'm a sucker for romantic comedies? This one has an unusual setting and pairs two actors I really like, Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore, but the best part is the music! I love this soundtrack, especially "PoP! Goes my heart" and "Way Back into Love".

Twilight (2008): I was twelve when I first read the book and watched the movie, and it was my first contact with fandom, so this already makes Twilight very dear to me. But this movie also has such vibes! Whenever it's rainy, I find myself craving that atmosphere, missing the soundtrack and that weird blue filter. Idk, it just takes me back to simpler times.

Pride & Prejudice (2005): such a lovely adaptation! There's something so charming about this movie that makes me want to watch it again whenever I see a gifset on Tumblr (which is pretty often lol).

Some of these are childhood favorites I haven't seen in a while, so I don't know how well they hold up today.

@this-is-krikkit @scienter @a-king-named-lear I would love to hear about your favorite films, but only If you wish to participate. This is a 100% pressure-free tag 😉

[allieswithbenefits]

what do you mean by "its complicated" in the ride the cyclone section of your interests??

oh uh so we have a couple of rtc fictives and i think all three of them feel kind of weird about the source material and the fandom (we haven't interacted with the fandom much tho) especially because of the ableism stuff. we used forearm crutches when we had more mobility and i remember being really upset when ricky yeeted the crutches bc i didn't even know that was part of the story. obviously there's nuance there but it just feels weird to some of us, but obviously it's still really important and we do still like it a lot

our ricky (and somebody else idk) participated in a focus group a couple weeks ago for wait in the wings's next video which is about ride the cyclone. it was good, it was specifically about disability in the show and we definitely did not all agree but i'm still glad we got to do it. looking forward to that video

[skeletalsepulchre]

proship started in The Old Times (tm) as a way of saying you were, well, "pro-shipping", ie; up for shipping couples that weren't necessarily canon, or couples that were much rarer/unusual pairings. in some really niche spaces it may still be used this way, but by and large its changed in definition quite a bit.

nowadays, most of the time, "proship" is used to refer to people who explicitly "ship" things considered "taboo" by the average internet user; incest, pedophilia, abusive dynamics, etc. it's often used to try and obfuscate what they actually mean, since using those words has a certain...well, stigma. since they're bad.

i don't know exactly how this shift happened, but it's happened within my last like, 13 or so years of being online in real time. my best guess would be it sorta evolved in conjunction with the presumed opposite term-- "antiship" or just "anti" for short

now, most people who are Against Proship stuff dont call themselves anti or antiship, because its just sorta....being normal. but the term did originate way back when-- just in more specific contexts

see, while saying "proshipping" broadly had a solid definition, most people wouldnt say they were "anti-shipping", it would usually be "anti [ship]", like anti-kacchako or whathaveyou, for a much more harmless comparison.

when proshipping moved towards its much more taboo connotation, "antis" or "antishippers" became a nebulous entity by which one could feel as if their free speech was being infringed, or something, because they had stopped using the label in reference to one specific thing. (and having an "out" group of oppressors is important to reinforce and justify the act of publicly participating in things that are taboo)

youll also see other dogwhistles or terms alongside our new breed of proshippers; things like Dead Dove Do Not Eat (DDDNE), which references that arrested development meme of the guy looking into a brown bag which says "dead dove do not eat" and says "i don't know what i expected", saying they're pro-paraphilia, having a dove emoji in their bio, comship (which is complicated shipping...i think? they make new shit up every day idk), calling people puritans, or comparing fandoms to purity culture, for some reason.

as mentioned before, the original, older definition just meant like, someone who wasn't staunch in thinking you HAD to only ship stuff that was canon. it's just become so widespread and rooted nowadays as shorthand for making "taboo" content that its a label even the well-intentioned should avoid, especially since fandom culture overall has become much friendlier to non-canon ships and the idea of sticking to canon has long since been discarded.

and as a disclaimer i dont think proshippers are the same as like, Actual Sex Offenders but the encouragement of both the creation and consumption of self-gratifying fantasies regarding those topics often allows sex offenders to shelter themselves within those communities and have access to both the content and potential victims ( theres much to be said about the contents accessibility to children but the fact minor "proshippers" exist at all is troubling.) ok thanks for coming to my ted talk

what does proship even mean? i see it thrown around all the time but the only description ive ever seen of it didnt sound like a bad thing, necessarily, (more like a net cast too wide to actually Mean anything) so i think i misunderstood the issue lol

generally people who ship literally anything it's almost only ever used by people who like weird shit like child/ adult or siblings whatever the fuck

[momowho34]

Here are some jewish myths you might still believe!!!!

(Pls read and reblog I’m tired of people echoing shit like this)

Jesus was not a rabbi. He lived a hundred years before rabbinic judaism even started to develop. Please stop saying this as if it lends him credence in our religion, because no. It doesn’t.

Yeah, Jesus was jewish, but he also rejected mainstream Judaism and hated it. Stop pretending he means anything to us. Idk if you guys have even read your own books, Matthew is like 60% about how the Pharisees are bad and wrong and evil for sticking to the traditions that have kept them alive for 100s of years. It’s also, y’know, historically inaccurate to the actual behavior of the Pharisees in that time period. Seriously man he is not ours and means nothing to us, keep your Jesus and stop trying to shoehorn him into judaism.

Our god is not yours “minus the Jesus.” In trinity terms; divide the Holy Spirit by the Father and then subtract the Son and that is a bare bones grasp of what god appears as for Jews.

Jews are not white as a whole. Are there white Jews? Yes. Are there jews who are literally every other skin tone? Also yes!! We are all over the place. India, numerous Middle Eastern countries, Morocco, Spain, and a lot more I can’t be bothered to list. You are actively hurting poc jews by pretending that all jews are European, holy shit stop doing that please!!! Most white jewish people are Ashkenazi, which is just one type of judaism.

Actually, the historical relationship between Jews and Muslims is a lot more complicated then you think it is. Sometimes we got along, sometimes we didn’t. Some would argue that Jews were treated better by Islamic caliphates in the Middle Ages then they were by Christian kingdoms. Stop trying to pretend we are and have always been “arch nemeses” or some fucking bullshit (that would be the Amalekites for us, actually, and not the Muslims) Also we’re honestly more similar to them when it comes to traditions then christians so like take that into account thanks

Hey guys listen to Romani when they talk about the Holocaust too!!!!! Please, they have a different experience/perspective and deserve to have their voices heard. Don’t pretend they don’t exist and that it didn’t effect them because uh.... it did. To a degree that I don’t think I can properly explain. Do not overlook them and then pretend it’s just because ur a “jewish ally” or whatever the fuck.

Stop pretending that we’re the same as Christianity. We aren’t. Stop stop stop holy shit stop. That’s not how any of this works at all. Christianity is so so so different, it takes like a handful of jewish beliefs and runs with them. Christianity is its own thing and so is Judaism, stoppp.

Not all Jews are zionists. some are explicitly anti-zionists. Not all zionists are anti-Semitic, but some of them are. Basically, jews aren’t inherently zionists and anti-Zionism isn’t inherently antisemitic. That being said, some people do use anti-Zionism as a cover for their anti-semitism. Watch out for those people, they’re not that hard to spot. That’s all I’m going to say about that, don’t want to start on this issue because it isn’t what this list is about.

Jews never actually lived by the literal laws of the Torah. We did not stone people. There is no archeological evidence of that and actually more evidence pointing to the opposite. jewish communities actually held capital punishment as being inherently immoral and was very very very rarely used in some communities. Understand that. Don’t ever say shit like “but the Jews used to live by the Bible too, and they stoned gay people!!!” No. No we didn’t. Ever. Nobody did that in ancient times.

Guess what, jews are not rich or greedy! what the fuck are you talking about??? Quit it please. This stereotype has literally been used since the Middle Ages to alienate Jews as a more privileged “other” that deserve their prosecution. Stop stop please stop, please!!!!! People actually believe this shit and commit hate crimes, stop, even as a sarcastic joke.

The Old Testament is not the same as the Torah/Tanakh. It’s just not? For one thing, the Old Testament is a translation of a cut down version of a translation of a different modified version, so no. Not the same. Also the books are ordered differently and the sections are mixed up.

God does not abandon the Jews in the Tanakh or the Old Testament for that matter. It’s like... sort of implicated to happen between the two testaments in Christianity. The Old Testament basically structured the books non-chronologically so that the last one would be Malachi because his prophecies are supposed to echo Jesus. We end the Tanakh on Nehemiah, and there is no “New Testament” for us because there’s only one and it ends at the end of the story.

Antisemitism is definitely still a thing. I don’t know who the fuck told you about this one? The Jews got treated like shit after the holocaust, and some of the few survivors 70 years later got reparations so now everybody’s acting like antisemitism doesn’t exist. It does. It really, really fucking does. Please listen to us.

Holocaust denial isn’t “a fringe conspiracy theory,” it’s genuinely awful and dangerous and hurts real people. I’m serious about this one, holocaust denial (and any genocide denial for that matter, whether it’s talking about the Armenian genocide or Holdomer or any others) is legit dangerous. Pay attention to it and have 0% tolerance for that shit

You are allowed to be invited to a jewish event if you’re not jewish! We literally do not care. Respectfully participating in traditions if you’re invited to is fine! The issue is when people take a jewish tradition and twist it into something for them. That’s a no-no, but getting invited to a seder/bar mitzvah/bris is fine. just show respect to traditions you see, even if you don’t entirely understand them. Do that and you’ll be fine.

Jews are a ridiculously diverse group of people with a lot of different beliefs! We all have vastly different ideas of fucking everything from god to the purpose of pomegranates (not a joke). Accept that we think differently form eachother and aren’t a monolith please

These are all the ones I could think of lol, jewish friends add more if you can think of some. Ok and encouraged to reblog for everyone.

[ignitesthestxrs]

Hello! I know you’ve left grishaverse behind. But the news of the second season has me comparing books vs show again. If you feel like it: what were your thoughts on the different characterization choices with Alina and the Darkling between both?

They just seemed like very different characters even though they were ostensibly doing the same stuff. And frankly I was pretty bummed out about it. I feel like they tried to make the Darkling more palatable, which kind of ended up seeming like they didn’t understand why he sucks? (like the discourse about making the winter fete scene more consensual when alllll the false pretenses kind of makes that consent pointless, she doesn’t know who she’s actually dealing with).

And just idk the whole thing with Alina being the cause for a bunch of people dying on the fold because she destroyed the reconnaissance/maps they had so she could be with Mal and the army. And… never addressing it or feeling bad about it lol.

Sorry I realize this is more me talking at you and if you have no opinions either way, no worries. I just got annoyed about how much potential both the books and show had all over again.

is anything ever truly left behind? aka i am incapable of letting go of the things i loved once even if i have a complicated relationship with them now that really isn't love but more nostalgia for the love i once had that has long since expired--

yeah lol the characterisation in the show was: silly. on multiple fronts! definitely the ones you have mentioned!

Alina: didn't like, have a character in the show? you get such a sense of her personality in the book (grumpy cat) and she's defensive and self conscious and unconvinced of her own worth, and the whole point is that she grows into her powers? you get none of that work in the show, and none of the meaner/ruder sides of her personality. there's no...indication of what she wants or what she's working for (which tbf could come from the book, but the book has its first person pov to support her personality in a way that a show just can't do. we'll never get in her head the way a book can, so the show needed to give us SOMETHING).

the show really just felt like 'things happen to alina so much and she reacts like :O each time and sometimes makes a concentrating face'.

and the darkling LOL honestly they so aggressively missed the point of his character that he is simply a different person. like, they made a fundamental change to his motives and made it seem as though he's really in love with Alina at this point, which just categorically doesn't make any sense? the whole deal with the darkling in the first point is that he's using her, and that's a part of the tension in their relationship. this is an older man intentionally seducing a teenager lol it's Problematique and that's the point! it's supposed to be a problem! you haven't fixed anything by making it more ~genuine~ you've just made it weirder actually.

and yeah the absolute nonsense of trying to add consent to a scene that is non-consensual by its nature?? having the darkling like, ask more permission or having alina girlboss her way through the kiss like - it does nothing to change the fundamental issue with the scene, which is that the darkling is actively lying to alina and keeping things from her that would mean she would not make the choice to kiss him if she knew about them! you don't get points for asking politely when you're actively grooming someone to be obsessed with you lol

(and also, the darkling telling her his real name at his stage in their story? again, it's supposed to sell the fact that he has real affect for her, which i guess the show thinks makes everything more palatable, but it's senseless - what reason does this powerful ancient man have to be really affected by alina at this point? he tells her his name in the books as a manipulation tactic, but also not until a point where they've done real harm to each other and are caught in this mutual obsession like, it has weight and meaning at that point! in the show it just comes up as a random Thing like ok darkles)

the tHING WHERE ALINA GETS ALL HER FRIENDS KILLED like oh man that would have been a really good and interesting change to the books and to making alina more of an active participant in her own story if! it had ever! been addressed again! but we get no indication that this has any effect on her or the world state or the story beyond the episode it takes place in, it's silly.

i also think they did mal a real disservice in the show, and i adored show mal. but like, the whole point of mal in the first book is that he's just a dude, you know? he's a dude that alina loves, and who loves alina, but he has to learn that he'd do anything for her, you know? that's why his second book arc is important and interesting the way it is, and why his third book arc makes sense at all. they've taken all the teeth out of his story by making him adoringly devoted to alina without questioning her choices or decisions or doubting her in anyway. and it feels like they did that in order to counter the book fandom tendency to just virulently hate him without basis, which i get, but it does make for a less nuanced and interesting character for him.

but yeah overall i found the show a slog lol, i only got through it because i was watching with friends, and i don't know if we're going to do the second season to ourselves or not. we'll see i spose!

[angeloncewas]

i'm definitely more neutral when it comes to mcc games (i.e everyone debating build mart rn) but there's a difference between being bored/understimulated during an event and being overstimulated /nm

- inherently competitions put stress on viewers and participants, but specifically for build mart it has so many aspects that build on top of each other to make the game overwhelming

build mart has building/collecting/communicating going on at once, its fast paced stressful and there's often ppl talking all at once/on top of each other/not listening to each other plus things just not working out like the amount collected

alot happens in such a short period of time to the point where build mart also isn't an easy game to follow??

this is generally things that come to mind but i did want to say (even if i didnt explain it the best) that there are more reasons then build mart being boring/their streamer not liking it that i can understand ppl arguing against it

Sorry, I didn't mean to perfectly conflate them. I don't really get overstimulated (I am understimulated very often, sometimes I'll have 3 different things playing while I do something completely unrelated) so I don't quite know what all of that entails and was just trying to build off what I do know because it always feels a bit more complicated than just me being bored ?? idk.

Regardless, I appreciate the info, and I definitely see what you're saying. That could be what Dream meant by "intensity" - which surprised HBomb to hear - there's definitely a lot of moving parts and colors. I also agree that it has more to do with just "my streamer doesn't like it" in a lot of cases; I just don't see a solution, I guess ?

[not-so-superheroine]

this is a long shot.

for example, there are apparently only about 1000 Black American saints in Community of Christ.

i know like 2% of us. i've been in the church for 1.5 years. 3 if we count the time i was interacting, ( and later attending and participating and tithing) but not baptized and confirmed (complicated logistics).

we seek each other out for sure. but there isn't like...a hub. i could do something about this. i know that. but its a lot of work. if i do i am copy pasting the LDS one.

there are more Black american saints in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, just statistically. but idk percentage wise.

but there are none at the local LDS ward that i saw? wild. no local genesis services near me.

so i only interact with them through an FB group.

i may be the only Black latter day saint in my entire town. that's wild.

being unique gets boring as heck, and it's little lonely.

i see my congregation fam every sunday. which has 2 large black families + me. so it's not like i am totally bereft.

my white brothers and sisters here love me well too. i just know i be speaking and not being understood. sometimes even if i use the Bible, BoM, and D&C to translate. and they simply will be hurtful. loving as they are. sometimes seemingly out of nowhere.

its just something different, esp when interacting with my mission field as a whole.

i can be in a room and be the only one. that's scary but i've gotten used to it.

i've definitely been really tried b4. luckily i had 2 allies with me. but 2 out of how many. when a dude is like "ma'am. your skin of Blackness excludes you from Lehi's covenant." he was shaking, crying, and throwing up (turning bright red) bc he wasn't expecting actual colored people to be at the ecumenical BoM Perspectives forum, . a story i must share another day.

2 out of like 50. and both of them see me as a daughter figure. one married a WoC and has WoC as daughters. the other is his brother. (there are other people there who support me but 2 helped me challenge him and ask questions, even if we understood, to get him to day what he really meant. this man happened to be LDS.

i really am convicted of the restoration of the gospel, the unity of the saints, and the building of Zion.

but yeah. maybe we could have a zoom service once a month. and share events and news on an FB page. when i have the time to plan.

are there enough people on here to make #afrostake more than a personal tag?

rb for reach is appreciated if you have tumblrstake moots and are comfortable with rb-ing.

[ranboo5]

Some thoughts on kayfabe, bootwt/Ranboo enjoyers, being a h8r, and how I come off 

Okay so yeah, we’ve all been on the whole “every face is a mask” thing, etc etc, but like this blog is much more kayfabe and ‘sona’d than like, my main 

Like I have an actual like, narrative and persona I project on here (like I straight up have a sona, and she’s literally discourse personified), and I’m not. Sure how I end up feeling about that? It’s interesting 

Like I think it definitely comes from in part where this... is. Like I’ve mentioned I got into DSMP despite it being MCYT, etc., and while my opinion on MCYT as a whole has mellowed, I still don’t hold it in very high regard. It isn’t even cringe, it’s like, I have inherent moral reservations about the streamer complex overall, the complicity inherent in it, fundamental things about how it exists, and from that and also from like, some of the stuff I’ve seen both from streamers and especially from community, I do not feel like. Idk fully safe. The whole thing abt I Do Not Know You is like. Actually real; there are people in thsi community who look like Another Fan and would recognize myself as One Of Them and harbor attitudes I don’t want to associate with or genuinely feel unsafe around. It’s rare they’re actually malicious, but idk, the fear is very much there, and ig a lot of the more hostile points in my DNI and my loud disdain are. I’ve described it as poison dart frog coloration; they’re an attempt to curate my experience for me 

But also it makes Poe’s Law really difficult to deal with. Like, the image I project is intentionally abrasive and harsh, but I don’t want to. Actually be mean, and I hope that comes through in things like how I partake in rbing art, how I respond to asks, how my more thought out content is formatted and toned, but at the same time that requires, yk, looking past that abrasive image, and I don’t know how harsh it is fair to be so that it keeps myself safe without actually hurting anyone 

Like take just the Ranboo enjoyers joke. I have this running gag abt how like, I’m a Ranboo enjoyer against Ranboo enjoyers, and I try to make sure it isn’t. Too serious by being really exaggerated, stuff like “I’m the only one allowed to talk about Ranboo (character)” etc that lampshades how pretentious and elitist that is, calling myself out on it, etc., but I also like. Legitimately do distrust people depending on what their takes on Ranboo (character) are, and I’ve seen some deeply concerning shit out of the community irt how it treats its streamer sometimes, and I have genuinely no clue how to judge that accurately. I’m on the very cynical side, but I’m pretty sure I’m just overjudging how many people here are actually uncritically yikes, and like,,, in my attempts to scare people who I actually don’t want to talk to off, how much has Poe’s Law come to smack me? How much have I unintentionally contributed to like, legit cringe culture, and making fun of Bootwt etc for just enthusiastically liking our streamer? Because I don’t. Want to actually do that?? The ardent devotion his following’s always had is a huge reason for his growth and success as a streamer anyway and is basically a natural consequence of the nature of his appeal, and anyway, there’s nothing wrong inherently with that as long as it doesn’t get out of control 

But it does get out of control, a lot, and I’ve seen it happen, and it’s Not Great, and idk where that line goes 

There’s also the issue of. Idk Drama. Like I’m an argumentative and opinionated person but I’ve gone by strict rules here: I don’t go trawling for opinions, I don’t participate in dogpiles (I came close once and. Never again), I don’t message people, I don’t argue or reply unless they’re in the maintag, I try to give due credit, I always make sure I have a reason and goal before I reply other than “hmmm angy,” things like that. I am. Far from perfect in that regard but I try yk? And I don’t try to argue pointlessly or For The Sake Of Arguing, even though I certainly Like to argue, just straight up, I like discussion and debate for fun and for truthseeking and for horizon-broadening, but I still. Definitely think I am confrontational and potentially even the act of responding, even if I’m polite, can read as hostile. And then because I compound that and want to make that like, a warning so people who don’t want to see discourse threads don’t have to, I end up making a lot of frustrationposts -- and it’s not, like, fake or staged frustration, but it’s definitely a choice to post it as I do, and idk. Like, again, as much as I want to come off as harsh, I don’t want to actually be mean, and I know I have definitely effectually done so at least sometimes. How much defensive negativity is okay until it straight up contributes to real negativity? How much positivity does it take to put out and highlight to cut that effectively? Can that even be done? 

There’s also ofc the issue that Mr Live the streamer himself has said that accts branded around him shouldn’t get into drama, bc he doesn’t want his name attached to that; I’m 80% he was thinking of like, twt #cancellation drama, and I try... not to crit unproductively, but again, I definitely frustrationpost! And I try not to maintag it for that exact reason. Like. Takes I don’t stand by yk. But bc of what he’s said and also that like, I’ve seen my untagged posts get spread, and I’m weirdly rapidly climbing followers, idk, maybe it’s time to start watching my phrasing in those more? I don’t know, man, and I don’t want to just. Be negative unproductively. I don’t plan to be less outspoken abt stuff I legit think is an issue, nor do I plan to be like, more permissive, but just,,, idk

Man all of this is just. Graphite too comes to term with its responsibility irt the Eldritch deity of the online audience

So. As conclusion, if you’ve gotten to the end of this for some reason: Thank you for bearin w/ me for the post, and the blog. And know too that as much posturing as I do I do like it here as genuinely as I hate it here sometimes 

[nothorses]

Is it weird that I have complicated feelings on the shift from "transmisandry" to "transandrophobia"? On the one hand I get that the word misandry on its own has a lot of bad associations but on the other hand transmisandry as a phrase was the first word I heard to describe my particular experience of transphobia, and it seems like the community has only adopted "transandrophobia" to appease non-transmascs, who are making the same complaints about transandrophobia anyway. Idk

I think there’s definitely a point where as much as it’s frustrating, we have to adapt our language somewhat to make it palatable to folks who aren’t us. Ideally, our unique marginalization would already be taken seriously enough that people would see the word “transmisandry” and understand that regardless of the connotations of “misandry” to some folks, trans men are obviously a different group from cis men and the word has a different meaning when applied to our experiences. Unfortunately, the reason we’re having this conversation in the first place is because that’s not really true- people lump us in with our oppressors because it’s convenient for them to ignore the differences, because it forces them to look at transphobia as something greater than just misogyny, and as a system they benefit from and participate in. So like... as frustrating as it is, it makes sense to make a few concessions so that we can avoid some unnecessary arguments & misunderstandings when we’re trying to talk about this stuff. It sucks, but that’s kind of just the reality of the situation. Plenty of transmascs also have some discomfort with the word “misandry”, understandably! And some prefer it over “transandrophobia”, and some prefer neither, but like... this is all pretty new, we’re still trying to settle on a good word that communicates what we want it to. Some people are going to be uncomfortable no matter what, unfortunately, we just have to settle on the word that makes the most sense for us to use. I think it’ll happen, in time, if we keep talking about it.

[tfw-no-tennis]

mtmte liveblog issue 30

30 issues wow...forget the fact that I skipped like 5 issues of crossover event nonsense

another big ole swerve recap omg

this trial is so messsyyyyyyyyy lmao 

hvbajdfbahsjkfdbhjs starscream listening to meagtrons speech looking like ‘hmmmmmmm I may have miscalculated’ 

prowl looks pissed af meanwhile optimus just looks dead inside lmao

I mean. megatron kinda does have a point. this is like, the most biased, conflict of interests lookin trial of all time, in that all the major participants have some sort of long, complicated history with each other. what a mess

optimus, listening to megatron’s speech: wow this is worse than divorce court was

oh shit I totally forgot that those decepticons attacked the trial 

MAGNUS HAMMER AYYYYYY

a guy saying ‘objection!’ as optimus prime punches half his face off...that pretty much sums up idw op lmao 

op: oh thank god, I can punch shit now. I'm not cut out for this bureaucracy nonsense

megatron: thanks, random decepticon, for the attempted rescue, but I'm super old and I just want to nap so no thanks

random decepticon: wtf- [gets murdered by optimus prime]

I love op’s big ass antennae 

meanwhile, brainstorm goes to a bar and instead of buying anything, pulls out his own drink. I feel like that isn't allowed in most bars, or is at least frowned up vbsjdhfbhjdkfn. ily brainstorm 

also? big ass mood I was so broke last time I was on a barhopping vacation w/friends that I brought a cheap giantass bottle of mixed drink in my backpack and just drank that at all the bars lmao

WHIRLLLL I love his humansona sm. and also I love that whirl is into artsy french movies or w/e omg

brainstorm, drinking thru a wrist funnel: sorry I cant take my mask off rn it isn’t plot relevant yet

‘earthlets’ lmao

I love that rung is like, too pretentious to care that much about movies and would rather read earth books lol

and then bluestreak is like ‘yeah they have books...comic books’ can this man not read

I still cannot fuckign believe that the argument that got megatron out of a for-sure death sentence or w/e was ‘its not a war crime if we’re on the moon’ liiiiike what the actual hell lmao

also I love that, once again, we see magnus’s strict adherence to the law, technicalities and all

magnus: you cant really stop a trial and move it somewhere else where the laws are better suited to the outcome you desire

prowl: what are you, a cop? fuck off

also op being like ‘ok whatever all that doesn't matter...what DOES matter is that it would look bad for us to move the trial to cybertron in an obvious attempt to circumvent the rules, and public perception is what’s most important, fuck all that ‘morality’ bullshit’

meanwhile, rodimus is dead! and ambulon is also dead, which makes first aid sad, which makes ME sad

ayyy, rodimus is still alive! well, one rodimus is alive, at least 

rodimus and megatron really have the vibes of ‘stepfather and stepson forced to work together on a family road trip gone wrong after dad decided to sit this one out’ lmao

ah yes, ‘malaise’ the medical diagnostic term for ‘I don't feel so hot and idk why’ that practitioners like to throw under the ‘diagnostic notes’ section of lab orders to explain why they're ordering every blood test under the sun for a patient 

I love medical terminology. ANYWAYS

BE NICE TO MY BOY MEGATRON. 

rodimus: listen I have to come to terms with the fact that there's another version of me right here, and he’s DEAD, which means we can’t fuck, which is super lame 

I firmly believe that rodimus would be team ‘hell yeah id have sex with my AU self’ tbh 

I find it interesting that megatron is often casting blame for his actions onto others - here, he says that rodimus made him realize he doesn’t want to stop doing stuff w/his life, and then says that starscream forced his hand w/the whole ‘luna 2 law’ thing, and previously he’s said how whirl beating him up in jail is what led to him abandoning pacifism - take responsibility for your actions and decisions dude!

though he goes on to say here that he resorted to violence because he realized that the system that was in place could withstand everything else he would have tried to use to change it, which is super interesting 

megatron: okay, yes, I MIGHT have murdered billions, but I could help find us a new planet, which would be baller, sooooo...how about you co-opt your lame son’s frat boy ship and put me in charge? 

op: sounds fair to me. now how about we do some more Big Speeches before I make you somebody else’s problem

vbhdjskfbhaskdjf the ‘team rodimus’ lineup setup reminds me so much of the ‘together we make the ______’ meme with the different members being like, ‘the power’ ‘the gay’ ‘the awesome’ ‘the guy with no ears’ hbvhjdkfbs

chromedome: if I do this I could die

rodimus: that sounds like a you problem bro

‘this one time’ YEA RIGHT c'mon cd honor your dead husband’s wishes

omfg I forgot abt brainstorms ‘early early warning system’ lmao

I love nautica soooo much oh man

ooooof drift :( :( oh no

dead future rodimus!! uh oh is right

rodimus, known himbo: I'm sure I can defeat the inevitability of future events! all I have to do is cut my own arm off!

tailgateeeee he’s so cute...I love that he can tell stories of his daring escapades, just like at the beginning of mtmte, but this time its actually TRUE

OH SHITTTT GETAWAY

he looks so fucking sinister there lmao how are we NOT supposed to realize he has bad intentions from the get-go

‘you’ll make a prime one day’ well, getaway, you’re right about that at least...

cyclonus in the bg like 🤨🤔 at getaway

seriously I cant get over how getaway has such a slimy kinda vibe to him, like specifically in his interactions w/tailgate - this is before things even really take off but I'm still like TG GET AWAY (lol) FROM THIS GUY

cyclonus: somebody flirting with my crush? better go stare out a window instead of communicating absolutely anything to said crush about my feelings!

honestly I feel like, while megatron renouncing the decepticons and becoming an autobot is certainly interesting, it would be equally interesting for him to remain a decepticon but try to change the philosophy of the movement 

like, I get why op had him give that speech - to prevent the cons from trying to free megs again/thinking that he was being coerced into things (ironic considered he WAS coerced into giving that speech) - but it’s kinda the easy way our for megatron - being able to completely abandon the decepticon cause and not deal with it at all, and start over anew as an autobot

it would've been a lot harder to remain a con and try to reform what he has broken in the decepticon movement - but I think that would've been really interesting

though from a writing logistics standpoint, I get why jro didn't go for that bc we don't get a lot of other decepticons in the cast for that to work, and also megatron still definitely DOES have to face down all his mistakes w/the decepticons w/the djd and overlord and whatnot

anyways. I cant believe that all megatron had to do to join the lost light was make ONE speech denouncing the decepticons. like, they should've at least had him do a tiktok dance too or something, just to make it a really tough deal

I love the rodpod vbhjfsdkfbjaskjndfj

ok but I still don't really get the logic of making megs CAPTAIN like ouch. poor rodimus 

I feel like making megs a bartender at swerves or st would've been WAY more useful in showing him humility or w/e. OR it would've made him evil again, which, fair, 

ratchet: don't worry, we’ll medically poison him, it’ll be fine

ok but rodimus is right, this is SO messy, op wants to prove his ex husband isn't 100% evil so he’s like ‘ill let my rebellious son deal with him’ lmao god. I love this setup so much, its so wild

ratchet is also right, rodimus’s fuckup definitely pales in comparison to megatrons All That 

OH BRUTALLLLLLLL when ratchet says the list is fake ‘because my name’s not on it’ FUCKING OUCHHHHH

‘only bad guys say ‘unhand me” rodimus ily

omfg ‘we’ve practiced this’ of course they've done evacuation drills...magnus ily

lmao it’s the panel where it looks like rodimus and megatron are doing karaoke or having some sort of rap battle

and the lost light is GONE! oh shit!!!!

and there closes issue 30! once again we’ve gotten a lot of setup and exposition - which, while definitely necessary, means I don't have too much to say

I will say, throwing megatron onto the lost light has definitely mixed things up, and it’s interesting to see new dynamics already forming

so, until next time!

[epersonae]

I thought I had reblogged an earlier iteration of this (I definitely saw @chocolatepot's addition yesterday) but apparently not; instead that thought went into a separate post about the effect of syndication on fandom?!

in any case, yes to everyone here, and I've been thinking about this in the context of my experience with the Adventure Zone fandom, and the end of the Balance campaign, and I came into that fandom at its peak. (for context for my TAZ pals: started listening in 2016, got caught up in the middle of Suffering Game)

and I think there's a point at which it does start to fade, however much people had the! energy! - and Balance had maybe one of the best most satisfying endings of anything ever, but with lots of space to play with ideas for post-canon, and it has a canon that has lots of internal space to play with. But even with all that, people do fade out and move on, and the energy can't ever be what it was at the peak.*

(something about not being able to live in peak life experiences forever, I guess)

BUT!

I think it becomes something more permanent, actually; there are people who I follow here who have more or less stayed mostly TAZ blogs and they have ups and down of activity, and people who moved on to other stuff, multiple other stuff, and then remain sleeper agents who can be reactivated lol. I am definitely one of said sleeper agents, and honestly that's how it is for a lot of my interests! The IWTV TV show reactivated the Anne Rice sleeper agent who goes all the way back to when I was like 15.

I still have unfinished fics for TAZ that maybe someday I'll go back to; I have several ideas/drafts for OFMD fic which have varying levels of likelihood of being written. Hell, I have a start of a Star Trek TOS/Star Trek II fic that I would love to find the motivation to eventually write.

And it really does all come back to maintaining the creative spark and joy even given less engagement (can I add that I hate the word "engagement" for this? I'm trying to think of it not in the sense of Content Creation, but in terms of community and participation) - and maybe it helps for me that I've never had anything get big? I started out toiling in the rarepair mines, and then for whatever reason (not much porn writing? never did a big AU? idk) have always been a small fry in OFMD. So then it's connecting with that handful of people for whom it matters to me that they're reading, and the joy of that connection, and the joy of creation, and the love of our source material.

* Balance finale was August 2017, I feel like the fandom vibes were pretty strong for at least another year? year and a half? it's complicated for me by the fact that first I had Major Life Events thru 2018 and 2019, and then also that when the pandemic started I completely stopped reading anything, even fic; my brain came to a complete and total halt. there's still at least three big fic that I was reading that I just quit completely in 2020.

I don't know if other fic writers are feeling this, but it feels like there's been such a noticable drop in engagement lately. I'm still relatively new to the game, I only started posting my fics in November last year and I've been very lucky in terms of engagement, but especially the past months or so things have just felt sooo slow. When I think about the difference in the amount of comments I got on my earlier fics and what I get now, and I add in how lean my kudos emails are starting to get compared to how they looked a few months back, it's hard not to let it become discouraging, and promoting your own fics can feel like pulling teeth at the best of times.

I might be overly sensitive right now because I am home recovering from surgery and I'm just a bit raw emotionally and all, but I just keep thinking about this lately. I know the fandom is bound to become a bit less active over time, but it's hard not to let it bum me out a little bit.

[jamaisjoons]

(1/7) I'm sorry this is going to be super long, so if you actually answer this I'll be so thankful lol... idk how much experience you have in relationships and sexuality and whatnot but I just really need to ask someone about this and you seem super friendly and nice so I wanted to ask you, and if anyone else reading this ask wants to give me advice I'd love and appreciate that as well - I'll keep an eye on the comments 💜 So I've been in a relationship for over 5 years now. I want to preface

this ask is incredibly long and if therefore the rest, along with my response, is under the read more!

(2/7) this with saying that I'm not unhappy with my relationship overall. And I honestly do prioritize emotional connection over physical, but this is something that's been on my mind recently, especially since I started getting into reading fanfics and learning more about how diverse and explorative someone can be with sexuality. My current boyfriend was my first serious relationship so I never experienced anyone else sexually. And I know stories romanticize, dramatize, and exaggerate things

(3/7) so I don't expect that I should be able to experience my sex life exactly as its portrayed in the fictions I read. I've been generally content with my sex life with my boyfriend, while maybe not fully satisfied but content. But lately its been bothering me. I've always had a higher drive than him so I don't mind needing to... take care of myself most days and just have sex whenever he's up for it. (Although he gets whiny if I'm not up for it the day he is, which I guess is partly fair

(4/7) since there's only like 2 days a month I'm not horny lol). And I do tend to take quite a bit longer to uh... well, cum, than he does as well so I've never really taken any offense to him not trying super hard to get me there. Lately it has been bothering me though... he does give effort to it most of the time but gives up because he has trouble getting the right spots and/or it takes a long time (and yeah I chalk that up to female anatomy being more complicated than male so while it is

(5/7) disappointing, I excuse it because of that) But it bothers me because I feel like I try to push myself more to figure out what he likes and try different things out of my comfort zone more than he does for me. (i.e. I've recently started trying to get used to anal even though so far its painful and I haven't found pleasure in it yet because it's something he's always wanted to do). He also loves blow jobs and always wants one - kind of expects it and gets disappointed if I tell him I don't

(6/7) want to that day and sometimes (most of the time) tries to push it, even though I don't push him if he doesn't want to go down on me. I've more or less given up on trying to cum when we have sex, just kind of settled on enjoying it for a while and helping him and then finishing myself off after. I'll sometimes ask him to help afterwards, and he'll help with some stimulation like nipple play and stuff for a bit, but if he's already gotten his release I feel like he treats it like a chore.

(7/7) It's just been bothering me more and more lately. I'm worried about talking to him about it because idk if I'm just being needy or if he'll be offended or upset. And I don't really know how to fix it anyway so idk how to bring it up or any solutions to offer but since its been bothering me more I don't want to just leave it as it is. Do you have any advice for me? Also I'm SO SORRY for the novel and going probably too detailed into my sex life... I hope this wasn't bothersome or annoying!

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i’m gonna preface this with im not a professional and any advice i give is based on my own feelings and thoughts and based on experiences of my own and they won’t be the same as yours! please take caution reading/heeding any of my advice because really i’m not any different to you and i have no real qualifications for giving out sexual advice.

so honestly speaking, i have a fear of commitment and trust issues and as a result i don’t very often partake in committed relationships (i’ve been willingly and happily single for YEARS) - and my previous ones weren’t all that good either (my last two ended with cheating rip). but i’m happy to help in any way possible and it means a lot that you feel like you can speak to me about this!

Okay so, my first point is that sex is honestly diverse and yes its always mindblowing in fics, but in reality its not always the case. sometimes sex is bland, sometimes its really good, and sometimes you don’t really enjoy yourself (not in a bad or nonconsensual way, but more it doesn’t leave you as fulfilled as it could and it just feels,,,, meh for a lack of better word for it). that being said, considering you’ve been in a relationship for a long time and it’s your first and (i assume only? sexual partner) i can potentially see why its just been a case of contentment and not real fulfilment - especially, since it seems you haven’t really been communicating and taking each other’s feelings into consideration? well him more so than you.

Side point, he really shouldn’t be whining if you don’t want to have sex but as long as he’s not pressuring you into anything its fine - people tend to whine (i know i do sometimes too)

Okay so in terms of cumming, not everyone takes the same amount of time to cum. some really need lots of stimulation and stuff in order to really cum and others cum really quickly. its an individual thing - but you definitely seem like the former. That being said, just because you take longer to cum and the female anatomy is more complex (really its not t H A T hard) doesn’t mean he should give up - you work hard for him to make him cum and he should do the same for you. especially since you’ve been together for so long.

A lot of this seems that you’re actively trying more than he is (you’re not obligated to give him oral, especially if he doesn’t reciprocate and he definitely shouldn’t push it). In terms of anal, the human body is different from person to person and not everyone is wired the same. just because someone else enjoys anal doesn’t mean you will, and if it’s painful and you’re not enjoying it, perhaps it’s best to tell him to stop because you get nothing out of it. if he loves you, he’ll make the sacrifice even if he enjoys it (like you’ve been doing for him this entire time). If he’s cummed and he’s not actively wanting to make you cum - you need to call him out on it because it's not fair for him to orgasm and for you to work for it yourself. it’s downright selfish and bad sexual practices and more than anything its not okay and its not a healthy sex life.

I think my best advice right now is to actually talk and communicate with him. A good, healthy sexual relationship that satisfies both parties, can only and will only ever be possible through open communication. you’ve been together five years and you’ve said you’re happy with your relationship overall - which means that you’ve known each other long enough to openly communicate with each other about your likes/dislikes/things you want to try/how they can help. Thats the blanket one, but here are some things you can talk to him about:

In terms of making you cum - you know your body better than anyone else, so perhaps showing him what places are your erogenous zones may be an effective way. If you feel comfortable, sit in front of him and masturbate - show him what gets you off. Sometimes even have him participate - direct his hands to where you want him, tell him when something feels good, when something doesn’t feel so good. but communicate

Tell him that you always try for him and it’s upsetting and makes you feel unsatisfied when he doesn’t put in the same enthusiasm. in sexual relationships, there is compromise and sometimes you do things you don’t necessarily enjoy just as an act of love and care (one of my irls hated giving her boyfriend blowjobs but she used to do it because he enjoyed them and that's okay because she was willing to do it out of love. there were also things he compromised for her like how he never enjoyed wearing condoms because it didn’t feel as good but she didn’t want to go on birth control so he accepted it). There are clearly things you are willing to compromise on (anal) and so he should be doing the same for you

You’re both different people and have different sexual interests and what feels good for you. You should both put in effort to explore these together. Have an actual conversation with him - and if he doesn’t take your feelings, if he starts getting upset or offended, then that speaks more for him. but if he loves you, if he’s a good partner and boyfriend, he will actively listen to you and your feelings and try and understand them. without communication sex and relationships are nothing and you cannot be afraid to speak to him or not speak to him for fear of him reacting negatively.

also if he does reactively, maybe it’s worth considering if this relationship is worth going on with. sometimes people stay with each other because it’s all they know, because they’ve been together for a long time and they fear starting fresh. but that is not healthy. if something isn’t working, no matter how much time and effort you’ve put into it, it’s not worth staying and being unhappy and the best thing you can do is gather the courage to get up, leave and move on and find happiness somewhere else.

i think ? i’ve got most of my points across, but if there’s anything you need clarification on, please do feel free to message me again! but please remember my earlier disclaimer: i am in no way shape or form a professional and i have no qualifications in order to give you advice. these are just my thoughts/opinions/how i see things!!

anyway, i hope this helped! i’m so sorry it took so long to get back to you!