#im baffled genuinely cannot understand this.

[americankimchi]

the way im sitting here thinking about how i wouldve rewritten veilguard in a way that's feasible wrt worldstates + actually shipping the game out in a realistic timeframe.... i'm fully sympathetic to the game devs because the thought of having to integrate three entire games of branching choices is a daunting prospect even from a narrative standpoint, nevermind figuring out how to express it in a game. there's no way i can think of where the end result would've been satisfactory to everyone, so i can understand from a purely practical standpoint why they did what they did for veilguard.

that being said:

i seriously disapprove of the way that everything done pre-veilguard was wiped off the face of thedas. like, sure, keeping track of minutia that has no bearing on the story beyond the moment itself is kind of stupid. like why would my rook care if the HoF reclaimed king cailan's armor. that makes no sense. but including the extremely pertinent world history defining events wouldn't have been too big a stretch, and honestly should have stayed in the game. it gives the world depth. it gives the world life. for example establishing whether the HoF survived via dark ritual vs. went down in a blaze of glory during the 5th blight, ritual be damned, seems kind of pertinent, especially in a game dealing with the consequences of the blight. i didn't expect or even want a cameo of the HoF, but perhaps a single nod via codex entry (or throwaway voice line from morrigan) to the game that kickstarted the ENTIRE franchise isn't outside the scope of expectations when crafting a sequel to it.

honestly i think the way they handled the hawke vs. corypheus situation in inquisition was the perfect solution to it. there was a significant portion of those who played da2 that didn't bother with the dlc prior to playing inquisition and were baffled when that connection was established in game. the 'default' state of inquisition was that hawke fought corypheus. why didn't they just do that for veilguard?

like yes, having a 'default' worldstate would've rankled feathers, but it's a significant improvement over not having one at ALL.

"but cindy," you might say, "we did have worldstates. we got to pick the inquisitor's appearance, what they did with the inquisition, who they romanced, and their intentions wrt resolving the solas situation!"

yes, that's true. and the only impact those choices had was a few lines of dialogue here and there. flavor text. pretty pathetic to reduce a 70+ hour game to just a few lines, but at least it was something. which is why i don't understand why they didn't do the same for dao and da2. it's stupid to expect a cameo from both the HoF or hawke and honestly if that happened i'd be pissed because it would be stealing the spotlight from rook in favor of shoehorning in nostalgia bait, but letters? codex entries? lines of dialogue? all fully doable. if they wanted to take down the keep, at least reinstate the 'default' worldstate where the dalish warden died in dao. we KNOW it exists. why not just reuse it?

ESPECIALLY since the main antagonist in veilguard is solas. he has so much guilt tied to the blight, the elves, and the veil. there's such a rich opportunity for story telling there and i genuinely cannot believe they didn't attempt to bring it up even once.

OR the conflict between the mages and the templars, a massive mainstay from all three previous games... just done away with? not even a footnote? there are some people who don't even know what a circle is, through no fault of their own! the game doesn't take the time to establish crucial pieces of world lore! and for what? do first-time players even know what a divine is? andraste? arlathan and tevinter and the bloody history therein?

they don't need to rehash EVERYTHING, but why on earth does the fourth entry in a video game series feel so disconnected from the previous three? if that was going to be the case, why not just set it even further in the future, after solas has already won and the veil is torn down and history matters only in that nobody remembers it anymore?

a post-apocalyptic version of thedas where the worldstates prior to solas tearing down the veil doesn't matter because that thedas doesn't exist anymore. that would've satisfied me. it would've been a bitter satisfaction, but i would've understood it. who cares who rules orlais if orlais no longer exists?

genuinely i don't understand why they made dragon age veilguard the way they did. it's like they tried to do a remake before the original version was even out. who was this game even made for? first-timers, obviously, as the game itself is enjoyable from a purely fantasy game perspective, but as the latest installment in a series that started in 2009? really? where did all that history go?

it's funny, because at the end of veilguard the only choice that really has any staying power is the one about solas. i can't think about any other decision made that would have any tangible effect on any sequels. on the world, i mean. characters are another story.

anyways, long story short: i hope they're a little more respectful to long-time fans in the next one. if there is a next one. i hope there is, but i won't hold my breath.

[abrahamvanhelsings]

so apparently at the 2028 olympics in los angeles the marine stadium doesn't have space for 2000 metres rowing races (the olympic and world championship standard) and their solution is. to shorten the race with 500 metres to make it 1500. ??????

[twiixr4kidz]

PRAYING YOU GIVE US SOME THE EVIL EXES X A DUMBASS S/O PLEASEEEE

Like they're so dumb it's not a joke- like imagine Roxy asking her s/o about the menu at a restaurant they're going to and they go "babe....I'm a lesbian." And it takes a full FIVE MINUTES for them to figure out what she meant

OMG YES i am a certified dumbass so this was very easy to write

matthew patel:

listen....... he gets it

he isn't the sharpest tool in the shed

it's like when you're around each other, your brain cells disappear

most discussions end in the two of you looking at each other, very confused, whatever conversation you were having being long forgotten

he doesn't mind re-explaining thinsg to you if you don't understand them

he thinks it's kinda cute honestly

lucas lee:

he is the himbo-est himbo to ever himbo

honestly most of ramona's exes are dumb but in different endearing ways

i can tell you for a fact that he'll tease you for one thing and then proceed to do it immediately after without even realizing

OR HE'LL TRY TO LIKE SHOW YOU WHAT YOU WERE DOING WRONG AND HOW TO FIX IT AND THEN HE MESSES IT UP HIMSELF LMFAO

"babe, that's not how you do a kickflip. THIS is." (he bails and breaks his board)

todd ingram:

todd is probably one of the most confused people you will ever meet

sometimes you say things that completely baffle him

im talking something so dumb his jaw is hanging wide open and he's rendered completely fucking speechless

and you're confused as to why HE'S confused because you thought you explained what you were saying really well

but you very much did not

there are so many conversations you have with him that are cut short because he doesn't know how to respond

"hon... look at me... what?" "huh?" "did you hear a word you just said?" "wait... what did i say?"

roxie richter:

she thinks it's cute!!!

most of the time

other times, she's genuinely concerned for your sanity

"so... whatcha wanna eat?" "babe, im a lesbian" "...what?" "what do you mean what?" "i know... you're a lesbian... i was asking about the food..." "OH"

you cannot hear apparently

she thinks it's funny whenever you do that thing where you hear her but you don't process what she said so you go "what" and then you cut her off when she tries to explain cuz you finally have an answer

she thinks it's HILARIOUS

kyle katayanagi:

he thinks it's hysterical

like you know this motherfucker is the ultimate tease

you don't know the answer to a question? you say something that sounds dumber than you intended it to?

you know damn well he's getting on your case about it

and honestly he loves it

he knows he's smart but he's fascinated by your sheer stupidity

he doesn't mind explaining things to you either

but you aren't getting out of an explanation without him calling you, and i mean this in the most affectionate way possible, a dumbass

ken katayanagi:

he's ALSO very fascinated with the fact that none of your millions of brain cells work

even when it comes to what he thinks is a simple concept, it takes a lot of explaining for you to understand

this is explaining that he doesn't mind doing

maybe his knowledge is just a little TOO advanced

he can never tell if he's the one whose too smart or if it's just your natural dumbness

it confuses him

he's enamored

literally say one dumbass thing around him and he's gonna have you pinned to a wall in the most intense makeout session of your life

gideon graves:

listen... gideon isn't as much of a douche as everyone makes him out to be

he thinks you being dumb is adorable

something about his weird thing for control and how he loves to explain things to you

he doesn't wanna control in a toxic way, let me just get that out there

he just loves how you never seem to know what's going on

god he loves it HE LOVES IT

[pixelprofligate]

this is another Fallout London post. more of a rant but still:

because GOD this is really not good. maybe im just like really critical of stuff but so much of the mod just doesnt add up to...anything? most of the quests are uninteresting or outright present you with dialogue options that outright contradict themselves or basic established lore of the world they've set up, so many locations are near empty and boring as hell to try and explore, with a SIGNIFICANT number of the marked locations having literally nothing to find in them, some of them actually having nothing in them at all, there's tons of NPCs, both generic and some named that have, and i dont mean this hyperbolically, literally no dialogue at all, the mods full of things that are just wrong about britian, like posters calling the tower bridge london bridge, the combat encounters are regularly boring because all the factions are functionally the same in terms of equipment, lots of the weapons you can use have blatantly anachronistic modifications like actual real modern day attachments, all of the "new enemies" are just model swaps that use the same skeleton and movesets and often the same exact sounds as base fallout 4 enemies and often aren't even properly rigged for the skeletons they used (like the fucking assaultron replacement that just constantly clips thru its own model anytime it moves at all because they gave it a skirt it was never built to have), and on top of all of it, the mod itself just breaks all the time. there were multiple times quests couldn't progress because NPCs just didn't say the line of dialogue they were suppose to, completely softlocking their quests (this happened with every single main faction at least once), and to top it off most of the assets actually used in this mod weren't even made for it, most come from the Capital Wasteland Project, but even things like the terminals and most of the guns are just straight up from other mods. also, multiple terminal entries were just outright written by AI. and im not saying that like "oh theyre just poorly written so i assume its AI" i mean the lead dev in their discord fucking confirmed it and said he had no clue it happened. like i get a lot of people worked really hard on this, and i dont want to shit on them, but to call this mod "one of the best things fallout has seen in years" i think is a massive disservice to everything else fallout related weve seen since even 76 came out. this mod is a mess of ideas that rarely add up to anything interesting, with a story that gives you no real reason to care or engage with it, that leads to a fight that fucking sucks so much the final battle is terrible (you're forced into a melee fight with a weapon that isn't any of yours on a tiny catwalk where you have to beat the same guy TWICE in a row, and then he gets great mouse detectived), and ultimately never feels fulfilling. it does so little actually interesting with the factions it made or the area its set in and the fact people absolutely adore this mod fucking baffles me. this mod is not good. i genuinely want to know what people like about this because i cannot understand a single aspect of it, ESPECIALLY the people saying this is better than like, base Fallout 4 itself.

[fulgurbugs]

share with us some of your silly headcanons :)

hehe i got two asks about headcanons so im gonna make yours an OT1 post and the other one an OT2 post….

Ok for OT1 here’s a random list of

Alfyn is genuinely a very good artist, he’s spent a lot of time practicing (at first just trying to emulate drawings of medicinal plants working on his ability to understand and identity them) but it ended up just becoming a hobby of his, and he’s pretty good at drawing from life, he can just sit somewhere and draw the scene in front of him or a pretty accurate portrait. this contrasts with his completely illegible handwriting. (tressa specifically finds this baffling as a neat handwriting haver and a…. decent-ish artist. she mostly just likes to doodle. she’s like how can you draw that good and write that bad. tressa they’re different brain areas alright. they don’t translate to each other)

ok. nonbinary tressa. is so real to me. i feel like she’s nonbinary in the way where she doesn’t care about the way she’s gendered, like whatever cis passing she just doesn’t give a fuck, but inwardly she’s like. gender i hardly know her. doesn’t give a fuck kind of thing (ME PROJECTING ALERT) but as she gets older she starts to just have a tendency towards more masculine ways of dressing, keeping her hair shorter, etc. light androgyny. it kind of isn’t at the forefront of her mind tho.

Therion has like, a select few party-trickish skills that he basically never pulls out because they’re objectively useless in a fight or his work or whatever. and you know. he hasn’t really had the opportunity (or outward desire) to like. ever pull out the fact he can juggle or “is this your card” some shit. this is part of the two wolves inside therion (the nobody look at me wolf) vs (the show-off wolf) so even he’s like i don’t even know why the hell i bothered to learn to do this kind of crap. (it’s because he’s got a theatrical streak.)

ok and also i was also thinking abt this a while back from the worst poker game post, but here’s a ranking of how good i think everyone is

1. Therion (cheats, but even when he doesn’t he’s really good)

2. Olberic (experienced player)

3. H’aanit (really good poker face)

4. Ophilia (often underestimated opponent, and she knows it and uses this to her advantage.)

5. Primrose (good but not great)

6. Cyrus (understands all the strategies, but cannot execute and often isn’t able to read his opponents as well)

7. Alfyn (he’s better at reading other people, but unfortunately is basically incapable of looking neutral himself)

8. Tressa (though she, like cyrus, understands the game and what she should be doing, she lacks the experience to be deceptive, is easy to cheat against, etc. but give her some time and eventually she’ll figure it out and rise in the ranks. she can be molded into a champion eventually and win all the money. just not yet.

Here a bonus doodle for this one

[spacelazarwolf]

im asking here (and im sorry to stress you) but why are SO MANY people on tumblr genuinely arguing sex based oppression is not real? am i stupid? did i miss something? i doubt this will get a genuine response from someone who believes that, but i just don't understand. How could anyone think that is not real? there is gender and sex based misogyny. i thought this was obvious? i genuinely try to at least understand the perspective of the people arguing but this i cannot wrap my head around.

it's an understandably sore topic for a lot of trans women and femmes because a lot of te/rfs and transphobes use it to deny them access to "womanhood" or "women's spaces" bc they think that experiencing a certain kind of sex based oppression is what makes a woman a woman. that's all bullshit.

but i will admit i am baffled that we've somehow come to the conclusion that oppression on the basis of being "female"/being assigned the social role of "woman" because of your genitals/being capable of giving birth/whatever language you want to use for whatever situation you're talking about/etc. doesn't exist.

[tonydaddingham]

hello! first of all i really, really love your metas and it's such a joy to read them ❤️ i'd be very interested to know what you think aziraphale's smile in the elevator meant? i've been a bit baffled by it for a long time and i just cannot come to a conclusion. sorry if this has been asked before/you've already written about it!

hi anon!!!💕 that's really kind of you to say, thank you!!!

so i did indeed answer a similar ask, but it was a while ago now, so ive just reread through to see if my opinion remains the same (oftentimes it frankly varies with the wind), and im still reasonably of the mindset that his smile is aziraphale coming up with a plan/doubling down on some kind of 'im not here to go along with your plan, im here to make a difference'.

now a lot of that conclusion does hinge on my personal thought that aziraphale is aware that metatron is trying to play him, that there is an unspoken threat or intimidation going on, and that aziraphale has just gone through the FF thinking he has no choice but to go back to heaven, lest he (and crowley, potentially) be put in danger if he doesn't. imo he's entered the FF with the mindset of 'making a difference', bc if he doesn't have a choice in the matter, he might as well go and instead further his own agenda whilst he's there. but do it with crowley, because they're on the same side.

essentially, i think aziraphale is speaking throughout the whole FF in a way that doesn't tip off the metatron that he's anything other than heaven's man, and also speaking in a way that doesn't alert crowley to the situation that they'd be in if aziraphale were to refuse the promotion. the blindside is that crowley understandably refuses to come with him, kisses him as a last-ditch attempt for him to stay, and leaves when aziraphale deals the killing blow - and the metatron drops the bombshell that is the second coming.

so when he's in the lift, you visibly see him start to panic - one last look at crowley, deep breath, and into the lift, all before he starts to breath heavily through his mouth, face lax in shock, etc. but as we hit the credits, he's stiffened up, gotten himself under controlled, and schooled his face.

frankly, i find these expressions way more alarming than the ending smile itself, but i genuinely think it's aziraphale running through everything he knows in his head, attempting to sift through possible ways in which he can make his first step, whilst keeping his expression as calm and collected as possible infront of the metatron. kinda like a game of chess - white has made its opening move, and he's running through all the different responses that could set the foundation for the entire match. i see aziraphale as a very capable analytical thinker, so - for me - this tracks.

and then it all culminates in one final moment:

his head tips back, his eyes actually move and flit around (as if he's had a eureka moment), and the tightness in his face - particularly around his eyes - relaxes. now, i don't necessarily think aziraphale suddenly has it all worked out, not at all, but whether it's him working out at least the first move he can make, or him simply steeling himself after a thorough pep-talk that he's going to see this farce through, either way - i see it as a dangerous smile. crowley told him in ep2 that he's an angel that goes along with heaven as far as he can, and aziraphale kinda knocked on the door of that at the end of s1 - enough to want nothing to do with them as we enter s2 - but i think this moment, and everything that just happened, just might be his actual tipping point.

[antiradqueer]

Idek like if this fits in this blog I don’t even use tumblr for the community; I use it for images and customization and whatnot but I’m accidentally 2 am doomscrolling and…

The transid stuff is truly baffling to me like it’s so beyond me. I dunno if it’s just a new breed of severe mental illness or if it’s just heaps of attention seeking. Either way from what I’ve seen it’s just plain. Just insane. I’m also confused as to what they even are? Are they trans identities as in genders? Or are they just throwing around the word trans because they’re privileged and just. Can?

Firstly, I am black and trans which comes with day to day struggles. I didn’t wake up and stretch and yawn and go yep I’m gonna be trans. If I had a choice, I wouldn’t be trans. I wouldn’t want to put myself through constant oppression just because of who I am and how I feel about my own body and how I want to present MYself. It’s painful and I wouldn’t wish it upon anyone. So WHY are these people deciding they want to make their lives harder? Fully, consciously deciding that they want to change themselves purposely. Now I’ve always known I was trans but I didn’t always identify as trans because it didn’t feel right or I was scared to be judged. You cannot choose who you are but you can choose how you label yourself (which I’ve seen some crazy harmful stuff but that’s a different story.) So the fact that these people are CHOOSING to identify in ways that harm others and erase the trans community just does not make any sense to me.

Now. On to “transrace.” This has got to be some of the most privileged shit I’ve ever heard of in my life. I could probably guarantee you that a fat majority of these radqueers are white. Let’s say there’s a person who is white, but is deciding they want to say they’re black. Firstly, why??? I understand cultural appreciation but why do you want to change who you are to pretend to be someone else because there’s a “desire”? A desire to what? Be discriminated against no matter what? Not be able to graduate/get a job because of your natural hair? So on and so forth? I just don’t understand. These people are begging to be oppressed. And for what. What do they gain.

I don’t think I’ll ever understand, but I also think I’m fine with that. I don’t partake in discourse and I’m all for ‘to each his own.’ While I am not for people ignoring genuine harm being done (like the paraphiles or whatever they’re called aka groomers??? pedos??? traffickers????) I don’t believe that in the long run, it will affect either side. However. Transid people really do need to stop; especially ones acting on it in their actual.. away from the screen lives. I saw a post about a transid that revolves around intrusive thoughts. I suffer from intense intrusive and impulsive thoughts that often cause me to fall into intense episodes of mood swings, anger, confusion, depression, and more. I would NEVER romanticize these thoughts and make an identity for them. If it’s a coping mechanism, sure do whatever helps. But don’t bring that shit to others. Don’t glorify violent thoughts and mock real identities. It’s sickening.

I digress. Im stepping fully away from social media after tonight, but it was nice to be able to write this out and process how backwards we are evolving. Honestly, I will be fine with completely wiping the idea of transids away from my brain and continuing to lead a normal life.

TLDR:: I’m black and trans and I find radqueers/transids sickening, privileged, and harmful. Just my little tangents and tidbits on this subject that is quite new to me.

Bonus! I saw a genuine radqueer transid identity that was called “transartstyle.” Where one desires to have a different art style.

…

Stay safe out there

absolutely great points, i can never really get into breaking down tranrace like you did so first of all thank you,

i do think that alot of the transid/abled etc. stuff is some kind of new either mental illness or some kinda coping mechanism (or hell maybe it just is privilege and attention seeking), something like biid in a way or maybe something even similar to munchausen syndrome but not exactly it either, still doesnt take the harm those lables do away theres other, less harmful lables out there.

thank you so much for your piece here, and hey, dont let radqueers ruin your time online, especially since you dont do online discourse n all, anyway thank you and stay safe

[nonplatonicsubtext]

12 / 16 / 23?

[ask game]

12. the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

already answered here

16. you can't understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)

this one's a broader one but like. okay i understand the impulse to Create self-insert fics, but the motivation behind Posting it is absolutely baffling to me, even before we get to other people reading it. like. im not gonna stop anyone but i genuinely just cannot comprehend why you would share that with other people and why other people apparently want to read it??

23. ship you've unwillingly come around to

blakerose. after reading pact while it was ongoing i did Not get blakerose but after a reread and some convincing arguments from a friend i really couldnt deny its power

[philsmeatylegss]

im jewish and went to a jewish school so there was quite a lot of focus on holocaust education. plus its pretty standard for jewish schools and youth groups to do poland trips for 16 or like 18ish year olds. most of us have met at least a couple survivors and almost every jewish family i know only lives in my country because they were displaced in the holocaust. it honestly baffles me that people outright deny any of that happened. like i understand people downplaying it because antisemites are just like that but saying it never happened? i don't get how people can genuinely believe that

It truly is such a complex tragedy that people who aren’t (or their ancestors weren’t) effected want to get over as quickly as possible. Before I started studying more deeply this past year, yeah, ofc I thought Holocaust denial was fucking stupid and insanely disrespectful, but now it infuriates me. People refuse to acknowledge that this was the first genocide. It was the first time that people were charged with genocide. It’s not a light topic. It’s not just a history lesson. As time passes, especially as living survivors are growing smaller and smaller by the day, it’s only going to get worse. It’s insanely insulting and even dangerous. The number of holocaust deniers is small, but, as I said, as survivors pass away, in ten years, that number will grow because there’s no living proof. That’s why I think millennials and gen z are especially responsible for teaching the next generations deeply about the holocaust. Talk about either our ancestors or survivors we have met that were very real people who had very real stories. I am so thankful my school brought in one (or two I can’t remember) survivors and a liberator.

This is off topic, but I’m fucking sick of people going “well what about Stalin or Mao? They killed way more people!” Yes, but their killings were indiscriminate, quick, and didn’t have long term campaigns and suffering. Many people think nazis just ruled in WWII. No! They ruled from 1933 and slowly introduced antisemitic aspects that enabled (most of) society to not only massacre innocent groups of people, Jewish people specifically, but to enjoy it as well. Millions were locked into chambers and suffocated or had to walk into incinerators. Millions were worked to death in horrid conditions treated worse than rabid animals. It is not the same. It is an especially foul atrocity that shouldn’t just be another history topic to glaze over. It’s honestly a topic I’m so passionate about and I was surprised how little I actually knew about it or how depraved it actually was. I went to Catholic school once a week throughout the school year for two hours from 1st grade to 8th grade and I cannot remember one instance where it was mentioned. I can remember hundreds of times when I was told non-Catholics, especially “the Jews” would burn in eternal hell for not recognizing Jesus as their messiah, but not a word about how anti-Catholic the holocaust was NOR the big role Catholicism played in it.

This went really off topic lol. TLDR: agree

[captainimprobable]

Genuinely tho lately people who follow me have been freaking out when I reply to their comments or like their stuff and I'm like....like I understand that I have a reasonable amount of followers and I'm grateful for that but I am under NO impression that I'm any better or cooler than anyone with fewer followers? So when people are like "omg im a huge fan" im like...of what?????? genuinely, seriously, i do not understand where this idea that I'm cool or famous is coming from bc literally all i do??? is post skits about gay people kissing??? i cannot explain that to people irl without them thinking I'm fucking weird! Which is fair! But this is the first time in my life where being weird and creative is making people think better of me instead of worse???? I'm not like backhand bragging or anything i swear to god this is not me being like "omg....im soooo famous but i promise im just like other girls..." this is genuinely a)me being completely fucking BAFFLED when people treat me this way and b)lowkey kind of amazed that all the nerdy things that made people make fun of me now make people happy? And I want to make a video being like "guys literally do not treat me like im special bc there is NO REASON to do that" but I know itll come out like I'm bragging so i just sit here astounded and genuinely, truly, honored. Tiktok has changed my life in an insane amount of ways and Im so grateful to all the people who have made that possible! And I really want to do something for them but how do you do something for a big group of people all at once? I just want to explain this to them but I don't know how. idk. is this a dumb post???? jesus idk i feel stupid i just!!!!!!! dont know what i did to deserve such a kind group of people being so nice to me. That's all.

This tiktok follower made me an impsona and I need to show it EVERYWHERE look how cute it is wtf!!!!!!!

[steveharrington]

its so weird to me how steve in the show is like. no matter how much shit the other characters give him at the end of the day he does have a kind of natural leader quality to him and hes shown to be headstrong and to act fast on what he thinks is right and so much fanon content just makes him into this dumb subservient follower type who needs other people to make decisions for him and is constantly flustered and i just. do Not understand why. like this is literally a 180 twist from how he actually is in the show what are people even getting out of it at this point bc theyre interacting with a whole different character

say that!! the fandom has definitely flanderized steve to such an extreme degree that it’s become like painful. i know steve isn’t very book smart and it is funny to make jokes about him being a lil clueless sometimes but people exaggerate it so severely that they genuinely make it seem like he cannot function. AND!!! idc if this makes me sound like a dweeb im so sick of the “steve loses every fight” joke like let’s look at the material shall we!!! fight #1 with jonathan: yeah he lost. fight #2 with billy he was literally winning until billy smashed a plate against his head (the camera intentionally zoomed in on him reaching for the plate) and it baffles me that people interpreted that as like “oh haha steve can’t fight” when the point of that scene was that billy fights dirty because he’s an evil bitch! fight #3 with russians: HE WAS TIED UP??? and when steve fights monsters he simply wins every. fucking. time. took down the demogorgon with ease, escaped a pack of demodogs with ease, when everyone else was being overrun by the bats and couldn’t help him get the one off his neck, he bit into that bitch and freed himself WITH EASE!!! it’s just bizarre that he’s gained this reputation in the fandom of being helpless with no survival skills because that simply isn’t the case!! i know this issue isn’t exclusive to steve and fandoms tend to take little jokes and run with them until one aspect of a characters personality, whether it’s accurate or not, is all that’s talked about in regard to them. but i’m a steve girl and i hate it. like THAT is my babygirl and if you wanna talk about his flaws talk about how much of a bitch he is or how he’s insanely dramatic and needs attention or he’ll pass away

[pancakehouse]

heyy mads so actually i need more of your thoughts on amy/laurie and why you don’t understand people defending them…. i remember being kind of baffled by them when i read the book as a young teen so please <3 be a hater <3

hiii laura oh my god i will (gladly) be a hater it comes sooo naturally to me and we all rlly gotta be biting our tongues on here daily, don't we :-/

(pls ... if you are a passionate amy/laurie fan .. just close your eyes and keep scrolling babes i love you sooo much this post cannot hurt you i promise !!!)

OKAY. so i feel like the whole amy/laurie vs jo/laurie debate has been widely discussed (both on The Internet and in my household lol) but for me it's less that i think he should've ended up w jo and more that i think acting like a/l truly love each other and totally definitely make sense is so stupid. it's soooo stupid laura i am rolling my eyes!! can you see me!!!

and the reason i think this! is because, essentially, Alcott uses the four sisters to like ... represent the few limited life paths that were avail to non-wealthy american women in the 19th century, right?

like meg marries the man who is able (if only just) to provide her a stable home. beth pursues her music (piano? if im remembering right) and is content to live her life at home, with her family. amy wants to (and eventually does) marry a wealthy, cultured man of ~Society who can give her a life above the one she was born into.

jo is the wildcard, ofc. the one who goes off-script for the normal young woman, and ofc who alcott views as a reflection of herself. we know that alcott wanted jo to remain unmarried and was strong-armed by publishers to put her w someone, but if she knew she'd have to, then my only explanation for it to not be laurie was to spite the predictable narrative and spite the readers lol.

the guy jo does end up w is so random and just .. makes no sense. if you're making sense of it, you are having to reach so far up your ass to do so! sorry to be crass!!! (rlly leaning into my hater-moment oops)

anyway - the way this connects to amy and laurie is this:

i do not believe (and i'm sure we are not meant to believe) that meg married for love. beth (</3) did not marry ofc. and it's impossible to believe jo married for love if the author intended her to be unmarried. that storyline doesn't exist to me now.

and amy is the sister that is represented as a bit vain; a bit entitled and spoiled in the way youngest children are allowed to be. from the start, it's clear she plans to marry for wealth. even if we're taking from gerwig's adaptation instead of solely the book, then amy still isn't really represented as particularly romantic (the whole 'i'm not a poet' scene) (also tbf it's been awhile since i read the book, but imo she romanticizes her life, yes, but not love itself).

LAURIE is the romantic, the most so, out of all the characters. i genuinely feel like this is the ONLY reason ppl latch onto amy/laurie and try so hard to rationalize it .. bc they can't bear to think of laurie in a marriage that was w his next-best-option rather than True Love (sorry.. by no means a dig at amy...but cmon guys ..)

because i also feel like the only thing laurie really wanted even more than to spend his life w jo, is to be apart of the march family. it was always clear he wanted that, just as it was always clear he loved jo from day 1! and so the only conclusion i was ever able to come from all this is that he loved jo for being jo and he loved amy for being a march sister.

ah god sorry this is SO anysmally long i am SO SO sorry laura dear!! so grateful to you for this opportunity to hate on them (read: cringe & take the romance out of) them as a couple!!! but there is simply no scenario where i can imagine knowing a boy has loved my sister his entire life and then MARRY him after ?? bc she rejected him ??!!! esp knowing amy and jo's history of shared drama. esp bc the entire story is one of sisterhood!

like bro that girl (amy) has mentally been your sister-in-law for a decade ... and now we're saying we LOVE her? puke vom i hate it it makes me cringe and twitchy and yuck. its so weird ppl !!!! so weird.

[dykeyote]

no because genuinely i think abt this a lot bc i cannot think of a time in which sydneys autism has impacted the plot in like ..... a Major way besides reversal of norms, and even in that case that was very much a plot influence that was limited mostly to that specific episode. i might be wrong and im not saying that sydney isnt good autism rep or that his autism isnt important just bc it isnt as Majorly plot-impacting, but comparing it to the Many times that sydneys bpd heavily impacts Major s1 plot points (it ties into how he reacts to jedidiah which is a major part of season one, how he behaves towards elijah which is a major part of season one - id go as far as to say season ones plot hinges on it) it baffles me that people talk abt sydney like hes Just autistic and never mention his bpd when his bpd is a major major aspect of his character that impacts several major plot points and autism is like . important to understanding his character sure but drastically less

it’s absolutely bizarre to me how people will just pretend sydney doesn’t have bpd. like even if it wasn’t word-of-god confirmed which it IS btw he is clearly written to be borderline

[randombubblegum]

i have so much to say about parx and fuck about it and i’m sorry but i’m unloading it on to you. so unfortunately:( i do like it. and even bigger unfortunately i think i’m really gonna like parx5. not in like a twitter stan awsten can do no wrong way but in a way that some of these lyrics are hitting for me the way they used to. i know a lot of them are like REALLY BAD but some of them are really tapping into the “unhealthy relationship all about sex” part of my life that has me Feeling It. and because of that fuck about it literally made me unhinged. because it’s SO different from how awsten used to write. and 90% of me knows it’s because he’s trying to reach this tik tok kind of clout where you have one Zinger of a line that goes viral and yadda yadda yadda. it’s the same thing he did for GH. he’s trying so hard to be down with the kids. but that other 10% of me really thinks this kind of writing (mainly in FAB and brainwashed) but this like overly sexual kind of writing really just shows how different he sees these girls than he did ciara. like DD and Ent had so many metaphors for sex that were coded in love that you wouldn’t catch it if you didn’t know. (also where i think the “awsten is a virgin” joke started) but it was because he loved her so much and so differently that sex wasn’t all there was. but with dog girl and song girl that’s really all they have. and the lyrics are a lot more explicit “i am having sex” because he doesn’t care about them beyond that. i mean “give me 3 days, 3 days alone” is a loooong way from “who needs space from across the country” and anyway i like to shit on the new music as much as the next person and i think his song writing has really gone downhill but every now and then there are still parts of that good shit in there, it’s just different because HE is different.

i am so sorry for this long as message but no one will discuss parx with me so alas, here i am. 😔💚

ok i gotta admit i was bristling by the middle of this ask but i think you make some good points actually LOL. points that make awsten look like a fucking douchebag asshole, but points none the less.

ent and dd DID have coded lyrics for sex in then!!! a lot of little lyrical nods up until fandom actually, and i think thats very natural for awsten to write. like That is how he chooses to write about sex, when he does at all. and in the relationships and feelings he was in at the time (ciara, but also the gr*ce breakup… and you know who was involved with that one…?) there WAS more than sex to make them emotionally impactful for him!!!! theres songs about the longing and chasing and aching and hurting and gutting and joy and anger about ciara over THREE albums!!!!!!!!

in contrast we know for a fact he never gave even half a shit about dog girl emotionally. its clear not only in his lyrics but in how he acted to her and what she said about him. truly i cannot imagine he feels anything deeper for song girl besides “shes hot, i bagged her like im supposed to, this is what men do, im performing heterosexuality correctly” and a dash of intense codependence on her end lol

BUT, and this is a huge but, this is giving him a LOT of credit that hes not just shitting ~toxic edgy~ lyrics out for tiktok, bc thats what tiktok likes. these lyrics and ways of writing are SO hateful to the actual girls hes talking about and SO unlike his literal entire personality up until now that its baffling. it doesnt feel like hes genuinely writing from his own experiences.

i can understand and sympathize with you liking these lyrics bc theyre personally relatable to you at this chaotic self destructive time in your life but that truly does not make them good or deep no matter how much benefit we give him by trying to assign them deeper meaning

[nessinborderland]

ok i just wanna point out, men have been making vile, disgusting cinema for DECADES that constantly has women at the focal point of brutal and sexual horror, if not psychological as well. The whole “im judging you for writing non-con” vibe from this anon is feeling a little “holier than thou”, like you’ve never watched a movie where a woman was unnecessarily raped, tortured and held against her for the “grasp of realness in film” by male authors, directors and writers anon.

It’s fanfiction, it’s completely made up, these characters cannot be injured or hurt.

Ness’s writing is important for this fandom. Unlike future writers for Gwinam, Ness has made him true to his character. Gwinam sexually harassed Eunji, he’s a fucking asshole, and literally anything happening in DBY and LIVEU is completely valid to his character. It wouldn’t be that wild, after knowing his character for him to do the things he has done or could do in future seasons or int he future of the fanfiction written about him. No one is condoning the actions, you think the bulk about of female followers and audience Ness has are truly drooling over someone that would genuinely do those things? No, we wouldn’t. The actor that plays him is attractive, same with Nirgai and a LOT of other male actors, in western AND international media.

Ness put PLENTY of warning tags on all her fics, if you do not like it, don’t read it or even, just not come onto Ness’s page.

Simple.

(Sorry for the long rant, but it’s been brewing in my belly for DAYS NESS)

It will always baffle me how ready people are to judge writers (especially female writers) for writing non con involving fictional characters. We don't write it cause we condone it or wish it would happen to ourselves or others. We write it for the darkness, the control, the taboo, etc. It's harmless fantasy. Still, we're the ones getting death/rape threats like we deserve it, like the people sending these threats aren't the ones doing actual harm to real life people.

You'll never hear me excuse all these bad character's behavior, and I always make sure to tag everything to the last detail. That's also why I like to write them as in character as I can. I'm aware they aren't good people, and that's why I like to write them. People will only read it cause they want to read it.

People are more than free to dislike, unfollow, block, and even bad talk me behind my back, but I'll never understand all the hate sent to my face. You're the ones hurting real people (possibly even survivors themselves) while I and other dark writers just...write. That's all.

All I do is share my work with others.

I literally did nothing to hurt any of you.