#in case anyone wants to blacklist it for any reason

[michanvalentine]

I read an anonymous post that said something along the lines of: "I know people who started hating a character because of the fandom—don’t let others determine what you like or don’t like." It struck me because I saw a bit of myself in it—that’s exactly what I’ve felt too, to some extent.

When I first landed on Tumblr, not long ago, I had no idea what Baldur’s Gate 3 was. Or who Astarion was, obviously. I played it for the first time just a year ago, and fresh from that experience, I started sharing my thoughts here on the platform. Completely unaware. Unaware of the internal wars, unaware of what apparently are some sort of taboos—literally unspeakable unless you want to end up on someone’s blacklist. Or even get verbally attacked. As if someone’s personal experience could somehow diminish someone else’s.

And so it happened that, despite never having interacted with certain users, despite never—and I stress NEVER—posting anything in the "opposing" conversations to undermine anyone’s points or, worse, to judge in any way the person expressing them, I was attacked and insulted for the content of my posts by people who sympathize with AA. Just like that. Out of nowhere. With no warning or preparation on my part. Without me giving a single damn about how they chose to play, how they interpreted the game or the character, or how they appreciated something vastly different from what I personally enjoyed. Which is not only valid but obvious, because fortunately, we’re not all the same.

Of course, not everyone who supports AA acts this way—there are plenty of thoughtful, respectful fans on both sides.

At that point, I had to dig deeper and found out how much bitterness has existed for a while now between the two sides: AA vs Spawn Astarion.

The thing is, it’s hard to stay indifferent when you feel attacked. It’s almost an automatic, physiological response. It’s simply human. And when you keep reading more and more, even blatant absurdities that attack (and judge) those who choose to play Astarion’s redemption arc—because in that case Tav is supposedly an abuser who enjoys his powerlessness (just to name one)—well, it’s only natural to start hardening. Not just toward the fandom, unfortunately, but also toward the character. He starts feeling annoying, almost unbearable. Because, due to a whole set of associations and neural connections your brain makes automatically, that character becomes tied to a whole web of unpleasant emotions and sensations, mostly stemming from interactions with those who champion one ending or the other. Even more so because of how those interactions are handled—interactions that could be polite, healthy, and enlightening.

And reading that comment above, it pissed me off. Because damn, the anon was right! That I prefer Astarion’s radiant hopeful ending is no secret—I think it’s the healthiest choice for him for a whole bunch of reasons I’ve already gone on and on about to the point of exhaustion, because I find his romance more suited to my preferences (and I truly wish the best to those who feel differently, it's still a matter of fantasy, after all), and because I tend to play a good and pure hero most of the time. Or morally grey characters who get into trouble and have some fun, but in the end always make the right choice—for the greater good.

But damn it, I’ve never hated AA. I don’t want to hate AA! I want to play him freely as a villainous companion and enjoy him whenever I feel like being evil too—and I want to do that without having to tie him to all the unpleasantness surrounding him! I hate the idea that someone or something might influence my experience, the way I play, the way I express myself, or the way I view something. It’s just not fair!

[erzvolnes]

i know i feel Worse because i haven't really Eaten in a couple of days (ive nibbled on some crackers bc that's all i Trust) and if i ate id probably feel better but i am So Scared to put Food in my Body i just Know it's gonna make me sicker and cause me 8 hours of Pain as soon as i eat anything substantial.

[thaliagrayce]

i've been talking abt my voltron playlists and @iveofficiallygonemad asked to hear them and i want to share with anybody who wants!! i know they're not perfect, i'm working on them & trying to make them better. if you have any recommendations for any of them, let me know!! there's like A Lot and i want to give a lil explanation for most of them, so i'm putting them under the cut ^-^

SO first i have my favorite one <3 it's just. all of them. it's the whole team. it's a mess and it's a bunch of different genres because it's them fighting over the aux cord on a road trip. it's them trying to make each other laugh or annoy each other or play something catchy enough it will infect everyone in the vicinity with brain worms.

Hunk: i'm pretty happy with my Hunk playlist! chill vibes. he strikes me as the kind of guy who listens to calm music to try to find his own calm, and that's what i got here :)

Pidge: this is messier and less cohesive than my usual playlist because frankly i think pidge would have a shit taste in music. all over the board. this is a mix of meme songs and 8-bit covers and vocaloid and stuff that i think pidge would genuinely connect with, and i think pidge listens to all their music on shuffle without any regards for genre or mood because they're a gremlin. nobody gives pidge sole control of the aux.

Coran hears 80's music for the first time and loses his mind. He thinks ABBA is humanity's single greatest achievement.

Lance: i have ideas about where I'm going with this but haven't really settled yet. Lance seems like the kind of boy that loves to dance (is that canon? i forgot) so most of these are Bops That Make You Move in some way or another. he likes to present an upbeat face to the world, so there's no angsting in this playlist! we are clinging to the things that make us happy with both hands until our knuckles turn white!

Keith: i'm gonna be honest. i made him a playlist but i honestly don't think he cares about music very much. it's very important to some people! he's just not one of them! i haven't cracked this playlist open in a while but i'm pretty sure it's full of songs that i think he would conceivably train/work out to.

Shiro: this playlist involves the dumbest headcanon i have for shiro that has just not left me alone since i first thought of it. most of the playlist reflects the fact that he had an emo phase in middle school (that one isn't a headcanon, you just have to look at him to know) but BUT there are a few songs on here that are on here because. little known fact. he also went through a Twilight phase that he told nobody about. (keith knows. keith was there.) he has the entire twilight soundtrack memorized. he moved past the story but the music stays forever. he used to daydream about slow dancing to Flightless Bird, American Mouth. the first time Coran mentions that they have to avoid a place because there's a supermassive black hole there, he has to bite his tongue in order to keep a straight face. do NOT ask me why i believe this so wholeheartedly.

Allura's playlist sucks right now. I think it's because in my heart of hearts i know that, were she on earth today, she would go fucking nuts for taylor swift. i have ambivalent feelings for taylor swift. i cannot do allura justice like this. if you see my vision and have recs as to what might actually fit her, PLEASE.

Klance: i haven't done it yet but i'm gonna go through this and sort it to be a sort of progression of their relationship, starting with the more combative Rivalry songs, then slipping into "oh shit oh shit" songs, then maybe ending on the more lighthearted purely romantic songs <3

(i have two songs in a shallura playlist which does not at all encapsulate how much i'm obsessed with them. the tiny cop inside my head is just constantly screaming at me that i'm going to get yelled at for liking shallura. i am going to kill the cop inside my head.)

[jesncin]

"Constantine: Distorted Illusions" Sure Did Distort My Illusions

When it comes to transformative art I always say, "changes are fine, it's what you say and do with those changes that I'm interested in." This is cape media, they're always reimagining things to tell new stories. So any notion of "accuracy" feels like non-starter arguments for me when discussing a text as nebulous as cape comics. That being said, what does cursed YA graphic novel "Constantine: Distorted Illusions" do with the many changes it makes to Hellblazer lore? Because I'm seeing all these surface level illusions (heheh) to Hellblazer but huge changes are made that undermine the radically punk text of the source material.

Bullet point review of thoughts below, sorry for exposing yall to ken doll Johnstantine again lmao, I just want a meta that goes beyond "I hate that he's pretty":

Let's get this out of the way, the writing is bad. I don't want anyone saying "it's because it's YA/for teens!" because there are fantastic YA graphic novels out there, heck even within DC that's the case (Girl Taking Over, read it). I've read middle grade graphic novels with stronger writing than this. The MG Constantine graphic novel is easily better.

The dialogue is generic and the character voices are not indistinct (if Kami Garcia believes that making John say "Bloody" and "brilliant" and "toss" makes him British, she is mistaken), the relationships are superficial and lack depth, the plot arguably doesn't start until over halfway through the story. I'd argue the story only really starts when Mucuous Membrane gets blacklisted from performing and John decides to summon a spirit for revenge. Otherwise the beginning half is such a drag of nothing.

The art. Compliment sandwich: It's a very appealing style that teens especially will really like. Isaac Goodheart's clearly very skilled in drawing fashion and hairstyles- which again, teens will love.

The not good art: it's the part where, in pursuit of making all the characters look model-level attractive, that it disrupts the momentum of the storytelling. John especially is drawn to be so handsome-squidward that he's rendered with these duck lips in every panel, it's haunting.

Like he's threatening to kiss the reader at any second (and I did not consent). But it isn't limited to John- all the characters have a "supermodel stiffness" that gets in the way of their acting. When someone is devastated, they can't ugly cry- they still have to look hot so they can't fully emote. It makes it hard to treat any emotional beat seriously when the characters are posing for a magazine cover every minute. Some pages felt more like pin ups than truly composing a moment for storytelling reasons. In their quest to make these characters hot, it made me incapable of connecting with them- because they're not emoting like people.

Second end of compliment sandwich for art: The colors are good (props to Ruth Reymond) and some of the layouts are inspired! The painterly pages especially look very cool.

I think Distorted Illusions' biggest sin and what makes it so antithetically Hellblazer (and not in the good way- I'm all for re-imaginings that challenge the source material) is this groveling to authority figures. OG Hellblazer is a punk text- John is a born and raised punk from the 80s to 90s, hates the rich and tricks Gods, Demons, and Devils with his wits. He humiliates beings of authority, proving how their pride gets the better of them. But in Distorted Illusions, John has to apologize and ask for help not just from his dad Thomas (canonically abusive in the og canon text)- but his stepdad and a magician he failed to apprentice under. They all come to help him after he apologizes for being reckless.

In contrast, the Hellblazer middle grade graphic novel "The Mystery of The Meanest Teacher- a Johnny Constantine Graphic Novel" actually understood this! Even for a graphic novel I would consider to be the most safe and commercial way to pitch Hellblazer to kids (it's comedic, plays it safe- sets the story in America, lighthearted), it is still inherently an anti-authority narrative. The plot there was for John and his friend to uncover why their teacher is targeting them as magic-user kids. Johnny uses his smarts to outsmart authority. It's a communal effort with similarly marginalized friends against a bigger threat.

Distorted Illusions on the other hand has John dawdle around in America for a while before he eventually messes up and has to come crying to his dad, stepdad, and teacher for help. A whole coven of magic users of authority just exorcize a demon out of John's hospitalized friend. There wasn't even any smarts involved. No trickery. They just "do powerful magic that John can't do because he doesn't train" and leave. Frankly, with the state of the writing, I don't think Garcia is clever enough to think of a classic Constantine silver tongued solution.

What I do think both the MG and YA graphic novel (and to an extent all of DC!Johnstantine) misunderstand about og Hellblazer is that,,, magic isn't inherently special in the world of Hellblazer. Sure John is from a bloodline of Laughing Magicians but there's plenty of Constantines that don't practice magic. One of the things that surprised me when reading the very first issue of Hellblazer was Gary Lester (John's Mucous Membrane band member and friend) performing an exorcism pretty casually. Tons of characters either dabble in occultish stuff or are experts, but it's framed as something anyone can do.

But then what makes John special then? I thought magic was his power? Well no, it never was. It was his smarts. And I believe that's key to keep in mind. Hellblazer is an anti-genre superhero text- no one person is picked to be exceptional. Anyone in Hellblazer can do magic. John's power is mundane but that's why he's a compelling character. It says anyone, even a working class drunkard can overcome powerful obstacles. When John is "a special birth magic boy" as a means to fit him into some kind of Harry Potter mold, it misses the point for me.

General diversity representation thoughts time. It's apparent that with any adaptation of old source material that "this time it's those characters again but more diverse" and sometimes those changes inform the characters (Girl Taking Over, my beloved) and other times it's diversity paint and the characters are interchangeable with their original counterparts (MAWS, my behated). For Distorted Illusions' case, this means adding more women, characters of color, and John being just a bit more outwardly bi (he just says a guy is hot and ended a relationship with a guy named "Liam" who we never see. It's scraps).

I'm torn here because as a reader of color who loves og Hellblazer but also occasionally finds it a frustrating read from its outdated portrayal of characters of color and general racism/colonialism plots, I turn to the more modern Hellblazer stories like maybe Spirit World or even Distorted Illusions for what I hoped are stories that handled characters of color better. Instead I end up annoyed because while og Hellblazer had outdated writing, those characters of colors' identity mattered to the history and context of the story. Their identities were politicized and therefore not interchangeable with whiteness.

Distorted Illusions wants you to praise it. "Look John has gal pals now! His best friend is a girl! His stepdad is a Black man, his mentor is a Black woman, and his love interest is a brown girl! Also John is definitely bi in this!" But if I changed all these characters to be white or straight people would the story really change that much? Were their identities integral to the narrative or who they are as people? Because they sure would be in og Hellblazer, even if sometimes poorly done- they certainly were trying.

And how diverse were those changes anyway? Distorted Illusions is already a pathetically un-punk text with how it grovels at authority, but we're in an era where there's more queer characters than ever- and yet we're still terrified of having mainline bi characters say the word "bisexual". John doesn't say he's bi in Distorted Illusions. He keeps saying he's punk, but unlike his friend Slaughter, he's not given outfits nearly as punk as him (John still has to look commercially attractive after all). He can't even wear his gay right earring. You're telling me a text from the 80s and 90s isn't afraid to say gay, lesbian, queen, f-g, and AIDS but comics in the modern day think calling a guy "hot" is enough? I'm tired. It's cowardice. Who needs the Don't Say Gay bill if we're already doing the censorship ourselves?

There's other insidious changes too. John's mom is alive (didn't die from childbirth like in canon) because I guess John needs more women in his life. Okay. Where's Cheryl (John's big sister) then? Why are we trying to fit John into a nuclear family structure so much? They live in this aesthetic cozy house because I guess the lower-working class upbringing og Hellblazer John grew up in just isn't aesthetic enough. John's bio dad, Thomas Constantine, isn't an amputee. He has two arms. Oh, but don't worry we have a magic user authority wizard woman in the end who is a wheel chair user. We did our disability rep quota! Because disability rep is only limited to what DC fandom recognizes as Oracle!Barbara.

It's transparent that while these are all more superficially diverse changes, they're all so palatably safe. John has gal pals because his occasional misogynist outbursts in his og Hellblazer run is just too messy. John doesn't have a single parent for most of his life, swapping households in extended family member's homes because that's too messy. What's the point then though? These changes don't challenge or innovate Hellblazer. All they're doing is fitting John into a commercial box.

And that's my general feelings towards Distorted Illusions. It's a continuing trend of superficial aesthetics that try to frame itself as more progressive than the original source material but falls flat on its handsome squidward face. It's easy to make fun of this book, the writing is bad, the yassification of John, and the "inaccuracies to Hellblazer" are all beaten like a dead horse. But there's other insidious stuff in Distorted Illusions' mediocrity. And it's worth examining as much as any other Hellblazer text.

[mediumtires]

Oh I have so much sympathy for both their PR teams but like at least Red Bull's team get to look at Christian and think "This is your own fault you bastard"

I'm just sitting here imagining the mercedes PR team (and then also like Bono and James and all the other Mercedes people who love Toto) having to watch him on that first day in after the news breaks. The PR team desperately wanting to be able to give him space because his husband has just *allegedly (but from Toto’s demeanour it's clear to them it's true) cheated on him in a misconduct case but they have to deal with it. And ugh I am picturing the Mercedes support network, and Lewis coming in like "I'm sorry my leaving is making this worse" and I feel so bad for Toto after this chapter. Sobbing, thank you.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH YESSSSSSS YES YES THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!

one thing i miss about locking in on a single pov is that i don’t really get to tell Toto’s story, only ever really through christian’s eyes. and that’s sure a choice i made for reasons HOWEVER.

i think there is something to exactly what you described. the implications of it all. we can only assume, we can only guess, we’re presented with christian’s side only and he’s busy fucking whining and crying and hating himself over the choices he has made, but we don’t get insight into toto’s side of the story at all. we don’t get to see his life fall apart. we don’t get to experience the stifling silence that fills the mercedes motor home when he shows up to testing on day 1. we don’t get to look behind closed doors, we don’t get to see how he brushes every single kind word off, how he physically throws himself into his work and refuses to talk about this very real situation that is happening in front of everyone. just like singapore, only this time he’s alone in it. once again, things are happening to him, against his will.

i absolutely love the idea of the mercedes support network. it would be a very quiet support network, because toto wouldn’t accept any obvious help, or support. but they’d be right there, standing right in his back, by his side, shielding him best as they could. Bradley would offer to do more media duties, James A and Andrew too. Marketing quietly being told to come up with as much distracting bullshit as they can, and to not comment on this, anywhere, ever, especially not on social media. PR immediately blacklisting certain journalists, putting together a catalogue of blacklisted questions. them having to actually call up Red Bull to coordinate.

it’s a hot fucking mess and all the while, toto is just quiet. doesn’t say a word about it, to anyone, not to the press, not to anyone else. there’s rumours going around mercedes that his inner circle knows the details of what went down, but nothing gets confirmed or denied, people are, not unkindly but fairly sternly, being told to concentrate on the season ahead. no distractions.

[llamhigyn-y-dwr]

Hello there, people new to the Nick Fuentes side of Tumblr

The Nick Fuentes side of Tumblr as it now exists has informally existed since November of 2024 (there are things about him from before then, but that's when it really got going). As a result, there is a small community and subculture that has developed. In recent times, we have received more exposure and some more actual groypers and groypettes have found us on one end, but also some ideologically opposed Nick-haters on the other (and not always even in the same political direction, incidentally). Because I personally don't like catching people off guard, I think I will provide you all with some fair warnings before you decide to get more involved with this particular group (you can always make your own if we're too much for you):

(if you want to know about me and this blog specifically, this is my about)

This little community we have, known as the Nickstorians or Nickblr, that has developed is due to us being fascinated by Nick, not because we share most (or in some cases, any) of his views. Most of us are to the left of Nick. The views I've heard from the people who have been involved on and off have ranged from sort of normie Republican (US-variety Republican, not European Republican LOL which I need to specify because we are international) to very far leftist, like anarcho-syndicalists, as well as a variety of religious beliefs. We're more a fandom-type or even tabloid-esque discussion community than a political one. If you want a political debate, his is not the community for that. We occasionally earnest-post about our beliefs, but that's more relegated to our personal blogs.

There are a lot of inside jokes we have, ex: posting mpreg Nick (inspired by that one monologue he went on about how men should have babies with each other) every time he cancels a show. If that sort of thing weirds you out, but you still want to follow us for whatever reason, I would advise getting Tumblr Xkit and blacklisting certain words.

We have developed a lot of lingo to refer to different aspects of Nick, like Nexuality or Nickservations, not to mention all the ship names (more on that in the next section).

We make lots of references to Nick being romantically involved with his friends/colleagues. Most of us do not think these specific things for certain happened (my own analysis of the guys people claim he has had sex with , one of my rare earnest posts, mostly end with "this probably didn't happen" for any of those specific guys, in case anyone wants to accuse me of looking at his friendships with shipper goggles. Most people around here largely agree with that assessment), but because this is a fandomesque space, there are references to things like calling Jaden McNeil Nick's ex-boyfriend or saying Melina Goransson took his virginity. It's rarely meant in a serious way, but don't be shocked by that stuff. On that note, people say obscene things sometimes. A few of us have written literal erotic fanfiction. If you are part of the groyper movement, you probably don't want to read that, but that's tucked away on Archive of Our Own and Wattpad, so it won't be posted here. On the other end, a lot of us think Nick might be asexual, so there's that.

If you want to know more about Nick in relation to his perception by the community, I advise going through this little resouce list made by the incomparable @nazalieee:

You have all been warned. Good luck. Proceed if you wish.

[community under construction]

[deramin2]

Essek constantly gushing about his partner but pointedly not giving his name hits me so hard in the feels.

Two formative childhood experiences for me:

ONE

I was severely, mercilessly bullied as a child at every school I went to even if they're was no overlap of kids, and authority figures either ignored me or directly told me it was my fault. I was socially toxic. Any other kid who publicly associated with me was also targeted for harassment. I was best friends with a girl around the corner but because I was a couple years younger (in itself an invitation for bullying) and a parish, we could never let anyone know we were friends.

I've been told I should be upset at her for this, but it wasn't her fault. It was the other children who made it a fact that she would be harmed by publicly being my friend. She didn't make those rules, we were both just honest that it existed and there was nothing we could do to change that. The best we could do to survive was at least protect her. And that benefited me by actually having a friend.

So if we talked about each other it was"my friend." No names. No acknowledging we knew each other in public. No introductions to other friends. Keeping that divide up was necessary to survival. I had a couple friends on the same freak level as we and we were in fact targeted with additional harassment to get to the other person. It was a legitimate threat to live with. At some point I just stopped thinking it was ever necessary to reveal who my friends or family are unless it's both explicitly relevant and necessary.

TWO

I learned to use the internet in the late 1990s when anonymity was considered a best practice. Don't give out your age, sex, location, or other identifying information. You don't know who is on the other side of that screen or what they will do to you if they know. Sperate your online and offline worlds to protect yourself.

This helped reinforce experience one because clearly adults also acted like those kids and this just normal human behavior no one will ever put a stop to that you need to be on guard for at all times. Build in air gaps so if one of you is compromised it's harder for the perpetrator to get to other people you care about. Defending them through anonymity is a way of showing you love them.

Also since some family are searchable through have state government jobs that right-wing nut jobs chips target them for, I wanted to make sure they couldn't be connected to me as a queer trans disabled person active online. In case something I said led to them being targeted.

(This is correct advice, even though it flies in the face of modern online conventions. There are tons of malicious people on three internet who will target you and anyone you love if they decide to hurt you.)

RESULT

By default, I refer to people by their relationship to me, not their name. My friend, my partner, my parent, my family, someone I know, etc. Often I avoid gendering them to make it even harder to identify them. I have to consciously consider if the person I'm talking to has any reason to know my associate's name. Blacklist everyone, then whitelist exceptions.

I do this even if both people know each other because the specific association feels dangerous. Better to be viewed as acquaintances than a meaningful relationship that changes how either of us could be viewed. It's not even really a judgement on thinking the person is untrustworthy, I just don't want to spend any extra energy thinking about it. It doesn't even feel relevant because my relationship to this person fellas like it conveys more information that actually matters.

ESSEK

Essek knows both he and Caleb are being targeted by powerful people who have shown they will target loved ones to get to them. Additionally, tensions between the Empire and Dynasty are still high and it could very easily compromise how their own sides view them if it's known that they're romantically entangled with someone from the other side. It could also blow each other's cover and make their meeting places more vulnerable to attack. Especially if their enemies know they could hit both of them at once.

It's genuinely dangerous for their connection to be known, so they don't name names. It's not even a matter of whether Bell's Hells would intentionally misuse that information, but what they also could just let slip to the wrong person. It's not really worth the risk when "my partner" is all the information they actually need to understand him.

My guess is that Essek said "Bren" is hiss partner because they already know a Bren sent them to Astrid. And since Caleb no longer uses the name Bren it would be much harder to connect them. It would have caused more questions, more prying, and more risk to give no name for his partner when directly pressed. So he gives a truthful but less dangerous answer. The anonymity is an act of love.

[mmj-snooze]

please read pinned before continuing.

[plaintext: (large) please read pinned before continuing.]

hey!! im an amateur editor whos mostly doing this for fun!! you can call me rock, or us as a whole jnp. more info on us personally here (link!)

im working on a carrd, but for now, just know that i dont have a dni, and ill block anyone freely. but as long as youre not a jerk you dont have anything to worry about lol

more info under cut

blacklist

[plaintext: (large and bold) blacklist]

anything jkr related

aything dream related

vivziepop

ships that are incestuous (not including fanon)

ships that are adult/minor (not including fanon)

childrens cartoons (i.e. bluey, doc mcstuffins, etc.) with the exception of Bubble Guppies (dont ask)

real people

whitelist

[plaintext: (large and bold) whitelist]

vocaloid

if you want me to do a cryptonloid, please specify if youd like pjsk art to be included, excluded, or if you dont care

project sekai

alien stage

milgram project

undertale/deltarune (not including aus/fanon)

in stars and time

k-on

bang dream

ocs are also allowed, but i go on a case-by-case basis, and you should provide detail in your request.

anything else is a gray area, and my opinion will likely fluctuate. i withhold the right to deny any request for any reason.

i specialize in icons and graphics, but i do anything. although i cant guarantee quality, especially if i dont know the character(s) or media. providing details can help negate this issue!!

this blog is still a wip, hopefully all of this will become a lot easier on the eye lol (and tts honestly). anyway, requests are open!!

[blind-fic-exchange]

Blind Fic Exchange

What It Is: This is a monthly event inspired by the Blind Date with a Book events that are sometimes done in bookstores and libraries. The idea is to try something new, maybe something you wouldn't normally read, as well as getting to recommend some fics that you really like.

How It Works: On the 1st of every month, sign-ups will open for anyone interested in participating. Sign up by sending an ask that includes the maximum rating you want to read and a list of anything you are NOT interested in reading that month, e.g. certain categories of relationships, triggers, tropes, etc. (You don't have to explain your list at all, and your list can change from month to month if you want. You're not necessarily saying you would NEVER read a fic that includes those things, just that you don't want to this time. For example, if you've been reading a lot of whump lately and just want something soft and gentle, you could put "whump" and/or "angst" on the list.)

Sign-ups will close at 11:59 p.m. Central Time (UTC-6) on the 13th of every month. On the 14th, I will randomly match up names from the list and let everyone know who their partners are. (For now, the plan is to tell everyone secretly so it will be a surprise, but if a lot of people sign up, that may change ^^') At that point, you will pick three fics for your fic-reading partner to choose from, abiding by their list of what they don't want to read. Ideally, these will be fics that you have NOT written yourself. The point of this event is to share good stories with each other, not self-promotion. Send links to the three stories to your partner, along with a vague description for each that doesn't give away the title, category, or characters in it. For example: "two characters stave off boredom during a long trip" or "deathbed confession of love" or "a dragon slayer is saved by a dragon and has to rethink his entire life."

When you receive your selection of fics, pick one that sounds interesting, and enjoy!

Do's and Don'ts:

DO try to send your fic recommendations in a timely manner as soon as you find out who your partner is. There's no hard-and-fast deadline, other than the end of the month, but please be courteous and give your partner time to read it.

DON'T try to slip in something from your partner's list for any reason. Even if you think it's silly they asked for no fics with mentions of marshmallows, that doesn't make it okay to send them your favorite story about people sitting around a campfire roasting marshmallows. If you end up reading someone's recommendation that has something you specifically asked not to be there, please feel free to reach out to me. Such violations will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis, because accidents happen, but do understand that if the determination is that it was deliberate, you WILL be blacklisted from participating in the future. This is supposed to be a fun event, so please don't jeopardize it.

DO remember to leave comments/kudos/etc. on the fic you read! Show some love to both the author and the person who recommended the fic!

DON'T hesitate to recommend a long chapterfic, nor feel obligated to read the whole thing in a certain time frame if you receive one. The general expectation should be that you will read at least the first chapter of whatever you're sent if you sign up for this event, but beyond that, it's up to you.

DO feel free to recommend incomplete fics (unless that goes against your person's preferences). We all know that one amazing fic that hasn't updated in five years, but is still worth a read. Just make sure you mention in your description that it's incomplete, in case that becomes a deciding factor.

That's all I can think of for now, but I may be adding to this later as things crop up. Please feel free to reach out with any questions, clarifications, or concerns! The official tag I'll be using will be #blind fic exchange

[some-teeth-in-a-trench-coat]

In case it's not obvious btw if you need any kind of content tagged for any reason let us know and we'll do our best. Chance of forgetting increases for things we post less about (therefore may go longer periods of time without reinforcing the memory) but we have a pretty good memory and never reblog or post anything without considering what tags might be appropriate.

We currently use "tw [x]", "cw [x]", and "[x] cw" for all blacklist tags, so you only need to block any one of them to hide posts on our blog. However, it is worth noting that the former two may eventually be phased out in favor of "[x] cw" exclusively. When this change happens, we will make an announcement and reblog it systematically over the course of a month to give all followers a fair good chance to see it and add the tag to their blacklist if needed.

We will not ask you why you want it tagged. We will not judge you for wanting it tagged. We will not tell anyone who asked to tag it.

[starblaster]

i have some clarifying questions about your post about what it means not to encourage delusions, but i figured after like 5 years and who knows how many notes that you might have notifications off for it, so i thought it’d be better to ask here. i promise these questions are in good faith, but feel free to ignore if i am (albeit unintentionally) being disrespectful, making you uncomfortable, or if you’ve just already answered it or any other reason, naturally.

so my questions are: is it helpful to describe what you see when someone else is hallucinating or otherwise experiencing a delusion? is that challenging/arguing with the delusion, or just being honest? like, if they describe that they are seeing something that is not there, is it helpful or harmful to reply by neutrally describing how you see the empty space that they’re describing? also, is it helpful to ask about what someone is experiencing while they’re actively experiencing it? i noticed you said that outside of an active episode, that can feed into the delusion or hallucination, and that makes sense, but i wasn’t sure if it’s as good of an idea as it seems like it might be, to ask what someone is seeing at the very moment they’re seeing it.

thanks for reading this and double thanks if you answer it. i hope you’re having a good one rn

Describing your reality when the person having the delusion is experiencing a different state of reality from you, it may cause issues and it’s more likely than not it will feel like you’re challenging them… if I swear I’m seeing a guy following me and my friends say they don’t see or hear anything and they don’t think anyone is following me, this could be comforting or it could be triggering. Really, it depends on the person but, for the most part, this feels more like you’d be challenging them.

Why not try to focus on what they’re feeling, instead of which state of reality is ‘correct’? Validate the feelings they’re having and give them agency. Such as: “That sounds like it’s really making you feel scared. How would you feel about me walking with you to keep you company in case that guy follows you again?” as opposed to “Is that guy following you? Is the guy still following you? How about now? Is he following you now?” <- because that’s the kind of encouraging you want to avoid. Does that make sense?

Something you’ll need to understand is that “being honest” and “telling the truth” are subjective. A person experiencing a delusion that they are being gang-stalked and blacklisted from social services because everyone is out to get them… is telling the truth, that is the reality they’re experiencing right now.

Asking them what they’re experiencing is usually fine, but maybe try to do so in an open-ended way… like: “What’s been going on for you that’s been making you feel so afraid?” or “What makes you think that?”

In counseling, we have this thing called unconditional positive regard and I’ve found that using it in contexts outside of my relationship with counseling clients has been pretty helpful. Basically, the person experiencing the crisis or distress or delusion… their crisis or situation or state of reality is real, because it’s real to them. Trying to center the conversation on what they’re feeling is more likely to help. Totally fine to ask what they’re experiencing so you have context but it’s not necessary.

Also, I totally get the questions you’re asking, I wrote that post as an angry and 22 or 23 year old living with psychosis-insensitive family members at the time. The original post is not exactly the most coherent thing I could have written.

[diamondcitydarlin]

you know you can call beetlebabes shippers 'disturbed' and other offensive ableist terms all you want but yall (antis) are the ones obsessively crossposting in our tags with ragebait on a regular fucking basis like you're desperately sending off signal flares to get our attention and also telling us to 'kys'/unalive ourselves in the case of one blog and another that threatened IRL violence against anyone perceived to be a shipper in theaters when the second film came out. Those of you doing this seem to be under the false impression that you're morally superior to us, but I promise you the moment you start threatening physical violence and telling people to unalive themselves bc of fictional characters you instantly secure yourself as a hateful if not obsessive POS and I am genuinely concerned about the safety of others around you. What other shallow prejudices deputize you to enact violence and wish death on people? Are you going to physically assault someone because they're eating a sandwich you don't personally like? OR is this just the 2024 version of early 00's edgelord nonsense? (one of the people I'm talking about also alleges to support Palestine like?? SINCE WHEN DO YOU CARE ABOUT THE WELFARE OF OTHERS??? God forbid a Palestinian person ships Beetlebabes, guess they can just succumb then) Like, we're over here writing fanfics and drawing fanart and making up headcanons and living our best lives and yall are stewing in your filth pits SO BIG MAD THAT PEOPLE DON'T THINK THE SAME WAY YOU DO!! THEY SHOULD DIE ABOUT IT!! And some of yall come in saying all kinds of hateful shit and then cry about getting 'dogpiled' and how mean the beetlebabes shippers are for trying to engage in (frankly imo v diplomatic given how yall act) dialogue with you, as if that's worse than your bros over here threatening physical violence and telling people 'kys' over a fictional fucking ship in intentionally crossposted tags to harass us. Like my god the weaponized tears, cry me a fucking river lol. ('That's victim blaming!!' Is it?? Is it victim blaming if you go into the cheese lovers convention, knowing full-well you don't like cheese, start talking about how cheese sucks and anyone who likes it is 'disturbed' and the con-goers try to start a dialogue with you about it and/or politely tell you to leave?? THAT'S being a victim?? Telling the cheese lovers to unalive themselves or get physically assaulted IRL is totally fine tho, acceptable behavior!)

Once again, we know people don't ship this and think it's gross, despite anyone commenting 'FINALLY SOMEONE SAID IT' on your harassment post you are not the first person to say this, you are not going to change minds, censor your fucking tags bc no one cares but you and the other haters. Also, there is no justification for wishing harm on other people over differences in fictional storytelling preferences, you're just being a bad, hateful, violent person looking for an outlet that should consider some form of therapy before you end up in legal trouble from your edgelord threats and if you think I'm not serious then go ahead, fuck around and find out ig.

Like, just leave it and us alone, there is no reason to act like middle school mean girl bullies. Block it. Blacklist it. You literally don't have to see any of this shit, at this point yall are CHOOSING to because you're more obsessed with your hatred of it and getting the power microdose of harassing and threatening people than you are just enjoying what you do like and imo that's very tragic and should be more concerning to you than it apparently it is.

[the-commonplace-book]

Just a reminder to anyone who wants to get into acting or screenwriting to absolutely under no circumstances accept any offers (no matter how good) from any studio that is normally SAG-AFTRA and WGA approved until the strikes are over. Don't cross the picket line. The actors' and writers' unions are currently fighting for fair pay, fair contracts, and ethical working conditions.

Production companies within the AMPTP have started putting out casting calls and screenwriting calls to new talent to try and undermine the strikes. If you take these jobs you are actively helping them continue their unethical pay and treatment of entertainment industry workers and also, once the strikes are over (which they will eventually be), you will likely be blacklisted from the WGA and SAG-AFTRA in the future which will prevent you from acting or writing for future projects. Whether for ethical, financial, or career reasons, it's not worth it.

Don't cross the picket line. Support the strikes. Support the ethical treatment of entertainment industry professionals.

Writers' rooms have been shrinking while the speed and quantity of content they're being asked to produce has been increasing at a rapid rate. They're hiring writers to workshop, then laying them off with no pay or credit for their contributions to preliminary work. In some cases they're using AI to mimic writing styles to fill in the gaps. In some cases they're using AI and just hiring writer's to touch it up. Writers aren't being paid appropriate residuals for streaming service exclusive media, meaning they're getting paid pennies to begin with and then nothing after that no matter how popular shows are (while producers rake in millions).

Actors have been subject to unethical working conditions for ages, from verbal abuse to 24-hour shoots with little to no breaks to other poor working conditions that under the current SAG-AFTRA contracts with the AMPTP are now disallowed. The AMPTP is also pushing for a contract change that would allow production companies to hire actors for a day of filming to train AI, then use their likeness in perpetuity with no compensation for the use of their voice and likeness. Many actors are underpaid and overworked, struggling to make rent, on Food Stamps, and unable to afford health insurance. The AMPTP is pushing for new contracts that would even further exploit and already exploited workforce in a multibillion dollar industry as they line their own pockets.

Stand by the strikes. Don't cross the picket line.

For those who aren't connected to the industry professionally or recreationally, be patient as new shows come to a halt. Be patient as productions get shut down. There's decades of media backlog you can watch instead. No new show is worth the unethical treatment of those who make it. Your new shows can wait. Real people matter more than fictional ones.

[plushefemme]

✎ hello! ❤︎

✦ call me plushe :)

✦ high femme lesbian, she/her & he/him, white, 27

✦ femme4butch/stud ⚢

➹ my posts ➹ my pics ➹ my asks ➹ my audios ➹ my erotica ➹

✦ this is a kink/nsfw blog. MINORS & AGELESS BIOS DNI, i do not want you here!! i try to check my followers but i am overwhelmed & baffled by the sheer number of ppl following this blog, i do My Best™

✦ message to the (cis) straight men.... don't give me any reason to block you and we'll be fine. (sidenote to queer ppl: i will not rb anything with men dni in the caption. if you don't want me rbing your stuff pls just block me or ask me not to rb, no hard feelings)

✦ exploring my feeder side, i'm also a feedee/gainer (trying to gain... we'll see) and i'm into mutual gaining

✦ mostly soft queer feedism but add a little bit of ✨spice✨

✦ tags i use as a heads up/in case you wanna blacklist: burping, intox tw, drugs tw, alcohol tw, cnc tw, breeding, force feeding, pet play, manipulation tw

✦ this blog will NOT contain: harsh teasing/humiliation, misgendering kink, forced feminization, fatphobia kink, immobility, medfet, farting, scat, vore, emeto. no hate, just not my thing!

✦ i also tag fatphobia tw & ed mention but these rarely come up

✦ i follow from my sfw main blog. is a secret :)

✦ this blog aims to be a safe space for trans women and transfems, gnc folks, people of color, disabled people, as well as anyone recovering/recovered from an ed

✦ other things to note: 1) attraction to fat people is not a fetish. 2) if you don’t place the safety and wellbeing of fat people above all else then go away. 3) fat liberation always. 

thanks for reading, take good care!~

[raayllum]

It's hard to tell because it's only been some posts but you sound somewhat frustrated with pre-season discussions happening elsewhere for The Dragon Prince? In any case, I thought you might appreciate the note that some people certifiably do like Rayla and Callum as characters perfectly well (I know I do at least and have since the start)?

I'm sure you're aware of it already but it felt somewhat like it'd help you not feel like you're typing into a void of dissent for enjoying them and the show concurrently? Even if I'd disliked the time skip in some capacities (I didn't particularly, I thought Rayla had good instincts wanting proof of death etc she just perhaps should have taken more backup for higher success chances if at all possible) Stella's introduction would have won me over entirely anyway.

There's no shame in being easily charmed by adorable animal characters, after all! She really is cute and also useful in limited capacities, like Bait.

If you wanted an actual ask with the above I suppose that I'm intrigued how similarly you thought Bait and Stella functioned as extended powers/company of their respective people and in the group?

Mostly on twitter (which is a reason to stay off twitter) but, in all honesty, it's mostly because it's annoying to see people use ship names or main tags for their complaining (I have "tdp critical" blacklisted or whatever for a reason y'know). Like as someone who truly deeply loves every character and every part of the show, when Claudia or Terry or Aaravos or anyone else gets promo I'm thrilled and intrigued and theorizing. And there's a minimal but loud portion(s) of the fandom who are either currently expressing (or have a track record) of annoyance when Callum and Rayla, as main characters and as the show's consistently most developed dynamic (which, I want to stress, has been the case even in s1 and s2) dare to be main characters and have marketing, there's an uproar of complaining. (Again, not the majority, but still baffles me that it exists at all.)

It'd be like if I complained about ATLA being primarily about Aang, its main character, for the majority of the show's run because I thought Toph needed more of a character arc (she's the least developed of the gaang bc she comes in s2 and has a general self-acceptance arc that doesn't need a ton of steps, for ex).

Sometimes favourite characters are there to have minimal screentime, execute their story purpose, and highlight other characters' arcs. The divide between characters where that's generally understood (Gren, Lain, Tiadrin, Opeli) vs characters where it's not (Aaravos in S4/S5, Runaan) again irks me because of the inconsistency, and therefore bias accordingly affecting judgement. Which maybe isn't fair - most people, myself included, are in fandom as a hobby, and for some people that means not evaluating their biases and not wanting to adjust their expectations; I just can't imagine doing anything else

I think Bait mostly serves as emotional support to Ezran and a lil guy to Talk to for Callum (2x05, 4x02) when a human character wouldn't quite make sense or is gone (Rayla is his usual confidant, for example). Stella is more interesting to me from a structure standpoint as 1) a character connected to the Star arcanum who thus far doesn't really need to be, so I'm curious there and 2) a juxtaposition to post-timeskip Rayla's "we can't save everyone" that her big heart and soft insides is still there, and still something worth listening to.

[rpcpositivitea]

narrowsgate has been repeatedly called out for transphobia and for platforming terfs. sappho recently kicked a bunch of trans members out of their server for opposing it. please don't platform them on positivetea and delete your positive posts. if you search tumblr, you'll find multiple posts about it.

narrowsgate, sappho, bastion, and scratch have all been blacklisted. further details below the cut.

trigger warnings are included for transphobia, bigotry, lesbophobia/homophobia, abuse, and suicidal ideation.

i took a few days to review this, and i appreciate your patience while i did so. given tumblr's unreliable search function, i made an effort to thoroughly look into the matter and also reached out to individuals i knew to have direct experience with the site. for transparency, i did not contact narrowsgate, its staff or members, or those who originally posted about the situation here on tumblr.

based on what i've found, i will be privatizing all posts related to narrowsgate except for this one. if anyone has clarifying information or direct proof for or against these allegations, my messages are open. however, i will only consider messages from people off anon in this matter. i understand this may be frustrating, but given the severity of these claims and the number of people corroborating them, i believe there is enough reason to blacklist narrowsgate on rpcpositivitea for the sake of community safety, at least for now. i am not deleting the posts but making them private, leaving room for reevaluation if credible information comes forward.

i want to reiterate: rpcpositivitea is a positivity blog. this space exists to uplift each other and share the joy in this hobby. i don't do gossip, harm, or call-outs, and i will never allow bigotry of any kind.

to be absolutely clear: there is nothing positive about transphobia.

at this moment in history, with escalating attacks on human rights in the united states and worldwide, silence is complicity. true allyship requires action, not passivity. we must be willing to stand up for one another. with this in mind, i can't sit back and wait for clarification to come to me. i have to act now for the safety of this community, which is why i am making this post public. agree or disagree, i will never be on the side of transphobia.

all of that said, i sincerely hope these allegations are a misunderstanding or stem from ignorance rather than intentional harm. if so, they can be addressed, bridges can be built, and people can learn. but if what has been alleged is true, then transphobia, in any form, has no place in our communities, individual or collective, or on this blog. in this situation, i am choosing safety over uncertainty, despite any hope i may have.

have a good day, rpc. let's all strive to do better, so posts like this don't have to keep being made.

—

edit, approximately eight hours later:

for now, the blacklist will remain in place, regardless of whether the site has been 'reclaimed.'

i've received a lot of submissions about this situation, and the volume and nature of these messages have left me feeling unsettled. the latest submission suggested that those accusing others of transphobia are actually manipulating things, committing lesbophobia and harassment, and using their identities to avoid accountability while trying to take over the site. the formal confirmation of that final point does complicate things as well.

i've also received reports that the two main people accusing others of transphobia have been guilty of these actions in the past, as well as other harm, abuse, and harassment. it's also been reported that they've previously used their identities to avoid responsibility, labeling others with transphobia to have their actions ignored while further harming the other party, though it's unclear whether that's the case in this situation or if sappho's actions actually fit that label. i'm only mentioning this for transparency, but let me be clear: everything shared with me has been contradictory, so please take it with a grain of salt. i just want to acknowledge why the blacklist has not only stood but extended, given the lack of clarity and severity of the allegations on both sides.

since this post went live, the new information has led me to blacklist not just sappho and narrowsgate, but also bastion and scratch. everything about this is unclear, and because of that, it doesn't feel right to remove them from the blacklist at this time. the reality is, this situation is messy and harmful, and while i hope everyone can heal and find peace, i now won't be removing them from the blacklist even if the site moves forward with bastion and scratch in charge instead of sappho. i've also privatized all posts about sappho, bastion, and scratch, as well as narrowsgate as i had already. it was incredibly sad to do this, considering many of them showed a longstanding friendship between the three, with them coming to me to raise one another up frequently. still, from what i've seen, both sides have their faults and there's been very little positivity to be found here.

the main point is that there's never an excuse for transphobia or any form of bigotry — but also, honestly, i'm not the rp police. i run a positivity blog, i don't have a personal stake in any of this and i'd much prefer to just stay out of it. so, that's where i'll leave it unless credible sources come forward off anon, as mentioned in the original post. keep in mind: off anon. the anon messages in my inbox currently will all be deleted shortly. this is because there's no credibility there. i'm sorry if this is upsetting, i really am.

my greatest hope in this situation is that everyone can move on, find peace, and heal. i hope this is the last time i have to edit this, as well.

lastly, i want to say good luck to everyone suffering through this and involved in any way. taking away the actions reported on both sides, underneath everything is a longstanding, seemingly deep friendship that was lost in a truly horrible way. that always comes with pain, which is then doubled considering how this has all transpired. i hope they all are taking some time for themselves and to mourn as it deserves.

additionally, given some of the things that have been submitted, i hope whoever is reading this knows that the world is better with them in it. i urge you to look up resources for dealing with suicidal thoughts if you are suffering through that. if others' actions are pushing you to feel an increase in those feelings, i am begging you to remove yourself from the situation entirely. block them, turn off your devices, go be around a loved one who can ground you and distract you or do whatever you need to do in order to survive. i love you, and i am so sorry you are dealing with these thoughts. please, don't listen to them. nothing is worth ending your life for and, as much as i love this hobby and focus on the joy here, that always includes rp. please seek help if you need it. i may not be a professional, so i will always recommend a hotline or chat service instead, but also my messages are open if you need someone to talk you through it. please do whatever it takes to keep yourself safe.