#ill be going to dashcon 2

[newreleaf]

I'm going to dash con 2.

Road trip playlist:

[wolfkitty42]

Oh, so this is who I got on the quiz!

I too am a local cryptid, CREATIVE FREEDOM VISION CREW REFERENCE?!?!, don't like wearing socks to bed, love art and go by Mel online........

And I'm currently painted gray. Send help.

(this cosplay is unfinished please allow it some wiggle room to have unpainted horns and the blue shirt i just wanted to practice makeup tbh)

Introducing Mel Encholy of the Cirque du Dash

Thank you to everyone who responded to our last survey asking for volunteers! We've gotten a ton of amazing applications, and we'll be reaching out soon.

Just in time for spooky month, we're happy to introduce to you to the spookiest member of the Cirque du Dash! Mel Encholy is the troupe's contortionist, and we hope you'll love them as much as we do!

[ALT TEXT] An Image of a clown in all purple, wearing a jester's hat. They stand on a blue background next to the following text: Mel Encholy (Any Pronouns | Contortionist) We really don’t know much about Mel’s heritage, they just sort of showed up on the circus’ doorstep and has stuck around ever since. When she’s not moonlighting as your local cryptid, Mel can be found in deep Wikipedia rabbit holes or the corners of your vision after one too many Benadryl. He’s an artistic soul, and his passion can drive him to great (dubiously ethical) lengths in the name of creative freedom. But at the end of the day, Mel always enjoys a nice sharpie bath to decompress.

Likes: Mellon Collie (Smashing Pumpkins), frog, rereading Homestuck for the 37th time this year.

Dislikes: Gambling, Wearing socks to bed, the Minecraft Movie trailer (2024), The Hat Man.

[lilbot64]

I wont lie

I kinda want to go to dashcon 2

They either learned and the con is gonna be mid or even fun

OR

Ill have a lot of stories to tell (:

But for real it'll probably be a very barebones con but I cant stop thinking about it

I got about a year to think on it

[verminvamp]

Me prayinG foR mY lifE thaT dashcoN 2 won’T bE wheN iM iN schooL anD thaT ilL somehoW havE enougH moneY tO gO tO usA @,..,@:

@dashcon-two

[vsa-pieldepapel]

Your Kris grill post is very based. In honor of autism awareness day, do you have autistic headcanons for them and/or for any other Deltarune characters you hc as autistic? Like, the characters’ special interests, stims, etc? Go wild.

Only kris, really - ralseis social awkwardness gives me autist energy that can be funny to jest about but I pin it more on him being alone for most of his life. I like to think susie may have undiagnosed adhd, inspired by my husband who got his diagnosis this year (birds of a feather kek) and thats why her academic performance is so shit. I remember I made a very stupid drawing that does not reflect my actual takes on the characters about it as a joke lmfao

Okay disclaimer I grew up being an autist on a 3rd world country and many of the attitudes muricans on tumblr dot com have about it are alienating as fuck. I think the site romanticises and makes being an autist funny (not new, Ive been on tumbly since 2013 and saw it even pre dashcon), especially the teens and Its not. Especially when youre a girl and a tomboy like I am and you could cover it up just well enough No one can figure how fucked up you are, but not well enough to ever be respected by teachers or peers as an equal kek. I don’t like to share my history with it but it is for the most part very negative and self acceptance a struggle So im sorry, Ralsei^2 this answer may not be happy or generally positive- I’m in therapy to assess these things about myself but they are open wounds as of now

So. Kris

I’ve said in some kriselle post I see kris as xx chromosome/afab/whatever the socially accepted term is (I cant keep up with these language changes and policies because oh shit, imma fucking autist, that on top of that doesn’t even live near the same cultural context as the USA lmao) that is, in part, because of that too. My takes on it are rather simple

-kris is seen as the town weirdo because of their unusual behaviour and demeanour associated with being on the spectrum

-the little quirks like the spinning/jiggle jiggle/ball of junk/overt gestures when ACTing/putting stuff on the ground and patting it when you drop it/ etc are overcompensation for this aka kris is a bit of a social clown to compensate for their social deficits (real)

-toriel is kind of a tiger mom but kris can cover up their weirdness well enough they’re seen as “quirky” instead of anyone ever thinking to look into it (projecting there hard lmao) which is also why alphys tries to emphasise they’re “normal”

-the reason kris rarely talks or is said to be quiet (in canon, I make them talk lmao) is because they go mute under certain circumstances and generally suck at verbal communication

-has a fixation with knives and, on a wider spectrum, with smithing/metalwork

-likes bath bombs because of the smell and warm water

-noelle confides her own quirks with them because she just sees them as “quirky” but that gives her the confidence to

-susie and kris become such good friends in one day because autism/adhd solidarity that I have experienced myself irl (kinda crack headcanon here)

That’s it really. This ask was so hard to answer and I feel very cringey and afraid posting it but oh well autism awareness day etc etc if it gets too bad ill just delete the post

[duhragonball]

I’m posting this video as a reminder to myself to sit down and watch it when I’ve got an hour and forty-five minutes to spare.   My understanding is that it explains the “pro vs. anti” thing that I’ve seen people talk about, but never in enough detail that I could figure out what the thing was that people were supposed to be for or against.  

I’ve been a huge nerd for over thirty years now, and it always feels like I’m just close enough to some big argument that I hear about it, but I’m never close enough to actually know what the hell it’s about.  I will hear people say, “Oh, the fandom is so toxic”, and I have no idea what they’re talking about, because it’s usually a bunch of stuff that went down where I never would have been able to see it.    I don’t know if that makes me smart for staying out of these controversies, or clueless for being so unaware of them.  

This has always been my approach: if I like a thing enough, I might devote some of my internet presence to that thing.   I don’t really see myself as part of the “Dragon Ball fandom” any more than I’m a part of the “wrestling fandom” or the “chemistry fandom.”  If I ever started a Star Wars blog, that would only mean I was bored enough to do it.   It would not mean that I had entered the “Star Wars fandom,” something I presumably did in 1980.

The “wrestling fandom” has this shibboleth called “the IWC”.   I think it dates back to the 90s, when fans using the internet could talk about backstage politics and openly acknowledge that the matches were fake.  This led to terms like “internet wrestling community”, to distinguish these kinds of fans from the mainstream.   It’s 2021, and everyone and their mother is on the internet now, but for some reason people still talk about “the IWC”, and blaming “them” for everything that’s wrong and toxic in professional wrestling.   If only those keyboard warriors would go outside and touch some grass, and let the real wrestling fans enjoy the product.  

I think there’s a similar phenomenon in other "fandoms” , where the public perception of it is shaped by vocal minorities: the most toxic fans, the most well-known fans, or the most communal fans, the ones who make an active effort to band together under a common banner, for better or worse.   They just don’t have a name for their boogeyman, like “the IWC”, a name that falls apart under scrutiny.   If everyone’s using the internet, then it’s silly to blame an “internet community” for making things worse.  

So maybe the term “fandom” has reached a similar obsolescence.   In theory, it should only mean “people who like (x)”, but in practice it seems to mean “people who make it their business to be part of the fandom.”   But it seems like the only way to be that big a contributor is to be really popular, or tribalist, or toxic, or some combination of the three. 

I remember writing a thing about Dashcon after it happened, and I was mostly like “What the hell was that supposed to be?”  I don’t think I even knew about Dashcon until it happened, and I was like “Oh, I could have gone to this,” and then I realized I had no idea what it was trying to be.   I always thought of my online presence as a way to share hobbies, talk about favorite TV shows, that sort of thing.   The Dashcon crowd seemed to think they were making “Tumblr University” a real thing, like they were trying to start a cult and not enough people showed up.   Not everyone who watches Xena is qualified or inclined to organize XenaCon ‘97.  

Maybe I should have just started watching Sarah Z’s video in the time it’s taken me to write this, but I’m kind of in the groove so I’m going to keep going.   I want to follow this line of thought.   “Popular, toxic, and tribalist” seems to work well as three categories of fandom problems, as I’ve seen them.

1) A “big name fan” goes too far, or gets too big for their britches, and people turn on them en masse.   Think Logan Paul filming a dead body in Japan.  There’s smaller versions of that all the time.  

2) Entitled assholes harass someone over one thing or another. Twitter has really opened my eyes regarding the sheer gall of some people when it comes to art theft, reposting without credit, etc.   They will not only double down on their perceived right to screw over content creators, but they will then turn on the same creators for daring to stand up for themselves.  This also extends to professionals as well, like when Vic Mignogna’s fanbase decided to turn into his personal army against Funimation and the voice actors listed in his ill-advised defamation lawsuit.  

3) Us versus them mentality.  I think “pro vs. anti” has something to do with shipping characters below a certain age range.   I got that impression once, but something tells me it’s kind of an amorphous argument, and I’ve seen people expand “age of consent” into all sorts of things.   Is it okay to “age up” a character?  What about two adults with a big age-gap?   What if a character just “looks” younger than they are?   What if some people?   Write creepy shit?   To cope?  I’m pretty sure a lot of this is just trying to find a hill to die on, a hill popular enough and noble enough to make it worth their while.  

Loyalty has been on my mind for a while.    This idea that if you support someone hard enough, long enough, they will reciprocate that support when you need it.   But it doesn’t always work that way.   You can put all this time and energy into a relationship and then it turns out the other person was taking you for granted the whole time.  For you, it might be a big deal, but they can take it or leave it.   It’s an imbalance, and it’s not a healthy one.

And all three of the above are examples of that imbalance.  These toxic movements always seem to center around some cult-of-personality, like an artist or a voice actor.   They might be a good person, and a group of people try to take them down out of spite, or for sport.   Or they might be a jerk, and they throw their weight around and people will defend them out of social inertia, or a misplaced sense of loyalty.   Or there might not be a BNF involved at all, and it’s just groups of people rallying around whatever flags they’ve made up for themselves.   They each try to demonize the other side to make themselves feel noble, a mutual admiration society.   But I think it always comes down to loyalty, this idea that if I just stick with this person or cause long enough, it’ll pay off later.   That’s why so many of those Capitol rioters thought Trump would pardon them, even though he didn’t even know their names.

That’s not a “fandom” issue.  That’s a human issue, and I’m not sure there’s a fix for that.  I’ll see people lament how terrible a particular fandom is, and I always think “I never hear about the good ones.”  I think that’s because there are no good or bad fandoms, only good or bad experiences.

In any event, I think I’ve reached the conclusion that loyalty isn’t something to be given lightly, since it isn’t always returned.   The hill you’re dying on can’t love you back, and sometimes the people dying on it with you aren’t that into you either.   

[thisideofthegalaxy]

what choices came before

part 6/6 of my bodhicassian week ficlet | Ao3 link [ or, from the beginning ] 1235 words | day 6: friends to lovers

thank you so much @bassianweek for creating and hosting this event, I have enjoyed all the new works and art and headcanons so much, it has been fantastic! thank you for making & bringing this together <3

They cleared the moon’s atmosphere, the mining facility spinning to a distant, coppery curve. The stars waned to ribbons of light as Cassian made the jump to hyperspace, K-2SO held tight to the flight controls as the shuttle creaked in protest.

“We’ve depleted most of our shield backup,” the droid informed him. One of his oculars was dimmed as a result of circuit rupture, there was a deep gouge in the metal plating at his chest. They’d barely reached lightspeed before Cassian had his field kit in hand, Kaytoo glancing up in surprise.

“Cassian...”

“Hold still,” Cassian interrupted. Standing gave him roughly the same height as Kay in the pilot’s seat, he could have the damaged wiring replaced before they were halfway to Yavin.

“Cassian-”

“Aren’t you supposed to be a security droid?” Cassian muttered, searching through his kit for a central fitting. “How’d those deathtroopers get round the back of the ship anyway?”

“Cassian,” said K-2, halting when Cassian fixed him with a glare.

“I’m not the one you need to talk to,” the droid said quietly.

Cassian drew a breath, swallowed. The coil of wires felt heavy in his hand, the ache at his temple creeping to the back of his throat.

“I feel like I’m about to be ill,” Cassian said warily, shot Kay an exasperated frown when the droid only twitched his head, amused.

“According to my core data on human behaviour,” K-2 intoned, gentler when Cassian leant into the chair beside him. “That for once sounds about right.”

Cassian couldn’t quite manage a smile, the corners of his mouth doing something uneven instead.

“I’m glad you’re safe, Cassian,” said Kaytoo, then turned back to the dashcon.

Slowly, Cassian made his way across the fuselage, knocked on the hatch before climbing down. Bodhi hadn’t moved from the cargo hold since takeoff.

Cassian was pretty sure he was the last person Bodhi wanted to see.

On the lower carrier, Cassian found Bodhi staring through one of the viewports. One arm was crossed vaguely across his chest, the other slack by his side. In his hand, his flight goggles were slung loosely from his fingers, bumped against the leg of his flight suit as he breathed out.

Cassian lowered his gaze to the floor.

“It’s alright,” Bodhi murmured, when Cassian didn’t approach. “I’m alright.”

Cassian squeezed his knuckles, wished he had the words to make anything he needed to say easier. Whatever stability Bodhi might’ve had with the Empire, that was no longer an option. There’d be no goodbyes, no chance to collect anything of personal value. Bodhi offered a small thread of a smile.

He already knew.

“Was it...” Bodhi’s voice wavered, he silently urged himself on. “...was it you who stole the cargo shipment? During the raid, I mean?”

Cassian looked up in case Bodhi needed to face him, considered what it was he was asking.

“No,” Cassian said slowly, watched as Bodhi’s stare flickered to the wall. “But it may as well have been. We staged the raid as a distraction, to get me in.”

Bodhi gave a quick nod, he seemed to have guessed something similar.

“Did you…” Bodhi ventured, and Cassian grimaced, his eyes stung as he tried keep his gaze level.

have help?

think you’d make it out?

...kill anyone along the way?

“Did you manage to take anything good?” Bodhi tried. The lightness in his tone didn’t quite come easy, but the intention behind it was there.

“If the resistance ever needs to dredge a swamp,” Cassian offered, a hand slung awkwardly into his pocket. “I’m sure twenty-three crates of excess rock cuttings will definitely come in handy.”

Something in his ribcage loosened as Bodhi gave a crooked smile.

“That’s why I had to get to Jedha,” Cassian said quietly. “At the very least, to see what’s being mined. No one generates that much debris unless they’re digging deep.”

Bodhi tucked his arms around his middle, troubled.

“They… the Empire… they don’t share information about classified cargo with pilots,” he started, and Cassian dipped his head. That he already knew.

“But they do with the scientists…. and engineers,” Bodhi continued. When he drew his hand from beneath his vest, Cassian saw in his palm a small, rough-cut crystal. It was jagged at one edge, looked to have been broken from a larger surface.

Perhaps in a hurry.

“Nak’tra?” breathed Cassian, the stalactite caverns of the Wookiee homeworld stirring in his memory.

“Kyber,” Bodhi said sadly. “It was stripped from the temple near where I grew up. I… I told a friend on Eadu once, that if I ever found a piece, I’d like to return it there.”

Cassian felt an unfamiliar pinch in his windpipe when Bodhi held the crystal out to him.

“This turned up where I sit in the canteen a few days later,” he murmured.

Cassian gazed at him, didn’t move. He’d long hardened himself to the conditions that forced men to choose the Empire, sometimes he couldn’t bring himself think of them as men.

It was strange to consider that in another part of the galaxy, an Imperial had risked more than his job to bring Bodhi hope.

“Keep it,” Cassian whispered. “For when you go home.”

Bodhi shook his head, a smile crumpling the corners of his mouth. He pressed the kyber into Cassian’s palm.

“My home has been lost for a long time,” he said, and though it was soft, his voice didn’t shake. “I want to help you make sure no one else loses theirs.”

They stood, Bodhi’s hand clasped over Cassian’s, the warmth of the crystal in between.

“There’s a place… a home, for you, in the Resistance,” Cassian said huskily. His heart was already sinking as Bodhi’s eyes followed down to his alliance-issue captain’s jacket, his insignia now clearly visible.

“As a defector,” Bodhi uttered, as though he hadn’t quite gotten used to the word.

“As someone fighting for what’s right,” Cassian answered, more feeling behind it than he intended.

“When I joined, I knew what the Empire was,” said Bodhi, his voice hollow in the empty carrier. “Not everything, or even most things. But what I did know should’ve stopped me.”

He looked to Cassian, his eyes raw and dry.

“...and it didn’t.”

The floor of the shuttle hummed beneath them, the dark beyond the viewport flaring, fading.

“The choice you’ve made,” Cassian said quietly, “doesn’t mean less on account of what choices came before.”

“It doesn’t undo them either,” said Bodhi, scrunched his fist into the Imperial emblem on his shoulder.

Cassian felt a weight beneath his lungs as he exhaled.

“That’s why you have to keep fighting,” said Cassian, no longer sure where the words were coming from. “And pushing. And trying. Until it means something.”

A tear slid from Cassian’s eye, he felt Bodhi’s fingers thread between the rougher clasp of his. When a sob knotted in his throat, Bodhi wrapped both arms around the taller man, his cheek soft where Cassian’s was scarred. Bodhi kissed him, slow and deep, Cassian stumbled on an incoherent sound. Bodhi kissed him again, gentler, Cassian cupped his hands to Bodhi’s jaw, brows leant together and Bodhi’s eyes reaching back for him.

“It already does,” said Bodhi, and whether through the Force, years spent being other people, the war or something just as intangible, Cassian found something of himself waiting in the pilot’s arms.

He didn’t let go.