#inspired to pandemic memes

[kanekocribs]

KANEKO'S CRIB NOTES LXVI: A RACIST (?) METAPHOR FOR VENGEANCE

I'll be honest with you all, we're running out of cribs. Who knows what the landscape will look like next year. Only one thing is for sure: Kaneko's bare, spooky carcass will be on full display at least once more by our fine friends at Colopl.

LEPRECHAUN: An often controversial design because "why is an Irish fairy clad in a Union Jack boot, isn't that a bit insensitive to Ireland? "; however, Eirikr puts that argument to rest with an exhaustive look into the design's context. And yeah, Leprechaun's "scandalous" boot is clearly cribbed from the one used by the Spice Girls' Geri Halliwell.

HOMO GORLEO: There are two things to say about Metaphor's human designs. The first is that most seem to be inspired by the works of Dutch artist Hieronymus Bosch, like Gorleo here, which iterates on a figure found on the center panel of Bosch's The Garden of Earthly Delights triptych.

HOMO AVADES: The second thing we can say about the Metaphor humans is that we're frustrated by the lack of transparency regarding who designed them. One would assume that would be Shigenori Soejima, but Atlus has been less than forthright about something so apparently obvious. For the time being, we'll just have to credit them to "Studio Zero Art Team." Avades itself is at least more clearly adapted from the central figure of the the right panel of Bosch's Garden.

NYAMI NYAMI: We've made light of Doi in the past for over-relying on Wikipedia as a source for things, and, hey, it happened again for Vengeance's Nyami Nyami, this time an image of a wood carving of the deity used on the JP Wikipedia page that Doi clearly saw while researching and used as a reference, not that we're faulting him for it!

AMABIE: A design actually borne out of Atlus piggybacking on a Japanese Amabie meme during the Covid-19 pandemic, Doi's Amabie is based on a 19th century woodblock print that's the genesis for virtually all modern depictions of her.

[weirdly-specific-but-ok]

i made a meme that kind of violates the geneva convention for you.

When it was quarantine, sure Crowley napped a lot, but also: what if it was DIY time. Presenting to you... the Hand Sataniser, inspired by someone's actual typo during the pandemic. It involved one canva graphic, a lot of text adjustment, unnecessarily complicated disasters with hex codes and colour theory, and voila.

AND YES, THIS MEME PARTIALLY VIOLATES THE GENEVA CONVENTION BY USE OF THE RED CROSS SYMBOL. BUT I HAVE EVADED THAT BY SAYING NO CROSS (IT'S A DEMONIC PUN SEE I'M FUNNY) ANYWAY THAT IS THE LEVEL OF COMMITMENT I HAVE AS GOOD OMENS MASCOT.

Cheers to @arkytiorlecter who said "It's never a war crime the first time!"

Cheers to @orpiknight who started this, then kindly informed me that I was violating the Geneva Convention and then happily proclaimed, "Asmi's an international criminal."

If the reason I finally violate the Geneva Convention is a Crowley meme, then so be it. Such is my passion for the cause. Appreciate me. Uplift me. Enable me. My KoFi is linked in the pinned post. Yes, that last part was a joke. Do you really want to fund an international war criminal?

(no, btw, the answer is typically no)

[vivmaek]

THE PLUTO IN SAGITTARIUS GENERATION Born at the start of Globalization, November 10, 1995 - January 25, 2008

I’ve been talking a lot of shit on here about the Pluto in Sagittarius generation. And while I still think my irritations are justified (lol,) I gotta make it up by doing a complete breakdown. After all, this is the generation I belong to. 

1995: NASA's Galileo spacecraft arrives at Jupiter

With Pluto in Sagittarius, this is a generation full of creatives, visionaries, academics, philosophers and rebels. We’re all about big ideas and moral philosophy. We’ve had the internet within our fingertips our entire lives, an unlimited database of knowledge and social interconnectivity.

We have a lot in common with the Pluto in Leo generation (Baby Boomers,) being that both generations are ruled by fire signs. However what differentiates us is that the Pluto in Leo generation is focused on the self (Sun,) and the Pluto in Sagittarius generation is focused on the collective (Jupiter.) We project a sense of optimism despite having such large ambitions. This will serve as an inspiration for future generations. 

Most of us have parents belonging to the Pluto in the Libra Generation. They raised us with values centered on equality and justice. 

We grew up amongst explosive world events: First Internet Meme (1996), Google (1998), Columbine (1998), The Second Congo War (1998), Kosovo Genocide (1999), Launch of International Space Station (2000), 9/11 (2001), Invasion of Iraq (2003), Darfur (2003), Boxing Day Tsunami (2004), Facebook (2004), London Bombings (2005), iPhone (2007), America's first black President (2008), Global Economic Downturn (2008).

Pluto in Capricorn frames our coming of age story. Our teenage years were harsh and depressing. It was an isolating experience that did not involve much fun. For many people born with a Sagittarius Pluto, their adolescence is defined by a Global Pandemic in which all movement was restricted. These years also put into focus old frameworks that must be destroyed and cast aside.

The Pluto In Scorpio Generation is coming through and uprooting all these frameworks before passing the torch onto us. We will be the ones to come up with blueprints for new ideologies and ways of thinking. We’re aiming forward and casting an arrow for future generations to follow. 

Past events that occurred while Pluto was in Sagittarius: The Burning of the Library of Alexandria (272), first novel published in Japan (1010), Sorbonne founded (1257), first use of eyeglasses (1268), Columbus sets sail (1502), the birth of Nostradamus (1503), invention of sign language (1749), the first encyclopedia (1751).  

Past figures born while Pluto was in Sagittarius: Constantine I (272), Dante Aligheri (1265), Goethe (1749), James Madison (1751), Alexander Hamilton (1755), Marie Antoinette (1755), Mozart (1756,) William Blake (1757), Robespierre (1758).

[pastafossa]

Happy Birthday and a merry 6 years to TRT! 🎂 🎁 🎈 🎉 🍰

🕯 🕯 🕯 🕯 🕯 🕯

Some FUN TRIVIA FACTS:

TRT's sun sign is VIRGO and its moon sign is LEO!

After 6 years, its current wordcount is 932k words. If you put that in size 12 arial font, single-spaced, this would come to about 2000 pages, and even more if the pages were the usual mass market paperback size!

TRT is now 40 in cat years!

The Man in the White Coat is my tribute to the Mad Scientist trope common in scifi, which is one of my favorite genres!

It is old enough developmentally to tie its shoes! Keep going, TRT!

Ciro is partially inspired by John Marcone from The Dresden Files!

TRT shares a birthday with literary great Agatha Christie! Maybe I'll introduce poison-based murder into the fic in her honor...

The idea of seeing threads came to me after seeing a meme about red threads tying soul mates together. Everything that came after - the other threads, the thread world, how it works, is unique to TRT!

TRT is now longer than War and Peace, and Crime and Punishment combined! So if you've read all of TRT so far, then you have the perfect middle finger to anyone who tries to say you can't focus on longer stories!

The inciting penguin documentary that Foggy drunkenly watched (which led to him declaring Matt and Jane 'penguins') was about Adelie penguins specifically!

Jane has a leather jacket because I love leather jackets and think all badass characters should have a leather jacket! And so you should you! EVERYONE DESERVES A COOL LEATHER JACKET.

The long hiatus between Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 was because I had life things pop up. During that hiatus, I realized the plotline/ending needed some work, so I spent those two years outlining, and I also wound up doing a bunch of additional novel writing classes just because I wanted to learn. A lot of this wound up influencing TRT!

The grey threads are one of the only threads that no one has solved yet!

There are absolutely some bad people working for Cyrus James. There is also a guy named Kyle. He is there not for Evil Purposes (tm) but instead because this was the only place he could work that would allow him to pay off his student loans.

When I started TRT, I thought maybe 5 people total would read it. I was told five people total would read it by some shitty people. So I wrote it expecting five total people would read it, and told myself at least I'd enjoy it, and I could use it to learn. In other words: I had ZERO idea TRT would take off like this. None. Nada. Zip. AND LOOK AT US NOW, BABY. FUCK THE HATERS, 6 YEARS AND GOIN' STRONG.

Based on my outline, we're a bit over halfway to the end!

I hope you enjoyed these TRT funfacts. And I hope you know: this fic isn't just me. It's you, too. This fic has become so much larger than just me. It's the TRT playlist you've sent songs in for that keeps me inspired when writing. It's the fanart I look at to give me a boost. It's your sweet comments and likes and kudos and messages that encourage me when I'm sick or depressed. It's the people who've made friends over this fic, or who've been inspired to write fic themselves, adding beautiful works to the community that we all use to keep going. It's all of this love for both TRT and Matt, and I'm so happy that I've been able to contribute in at least a small way in keeping Charlie!Daredevil love alive even after the show's been gone for years now. I love you all so, so goddamn much. I love this fandom. I love TRT with all my heart. Thank you so much for being a part of these past six years through cancelations, through your high school and college years and beyond, through my ups and downs of moving and sickness and fiberglass and pandemic craziness, through late night chapter drops and wild twists and turns.

And I hope the next few years as we enter the second half of this story are just as amazing!

[neverniko101]

I was so very much wondering what inspired you to start your blog? Or post your art and ideas? Are you afraid someone's going to steel your art pass it off as there own? I want to start my own comics and ideas but I don't habe the courage. What inspired you to do it?

(Sorry if that sounded like I'm interrogating you I'm not)

Nw, I love questions!!!

I’ve been posting for the past three years on my general YT account, which I started because I was bored back during the pandemic and taught myself how to animate since I loved animation memes so much. About a year ago (crazy it’s been that long), I decided that I had left the UTMV fandom for a stupid reason (I thought others would think I’m cringe) and wanted to get back into it. My main idea was the Krxkentale comic, which I began despite having zero idea what I was doing. It was a starting point, tho, and from there I made my Horror!Dreamtale AU and started making friends on tumblr..

So yeah, my advice would be to just start posting!! You have to start somewhere, can’t get better if you don’t practice. Even if you think your past work is or will be “bad” or “cringe”, that’s just a sign of growth.

Also, try to make friends!! Comment on other’s posts, reblog with tags or comments, send asks!!!! The Fandom is so much better when you have people to share it with :))

And as for people stealing your art— that does happen, but not as much as you’re worried about. Always watermark your art!!!!!!!!!! And don’t let other people scare you into not posting your creations. That includes yourself, lmao. You got this!!!!!!!!!

[srisrisriddd]

Happy SunDay FunDay

Brain AND Heart

Anxiety , Trauma , Bad News , Pandemic , Setbacks

Cartoon Comic Anime Meme Philosophy Inspiration Of

Bhagwan Sri Sri Sri Dr Devang H Dattani ji

Infinite SriSriSri DDD

Posted By TheBlissCity

See The Photo For Fun Joy Joke

 #Comic , #Cartoon , #SunDay , #FunDay , #Joy , #Joke , #Art , #Laugh , #Pun  , #Smile , #Happiness , #Humour , #Funny , #Comedy , #Drawing , #Animation  , #Life , #Philosophy , #Motivation , #Laughter , #Jokes , #Enlightenment , #Enlightened , #Comics, #Anime , #anxiety , #brain , #heart , #funny , #Memes , #Anime

[eazy-peazy54]

My problem with the Will Wood fandom, (a.k.a touch grass, a.k.a stan culture can suck it) (an essay.)

This one is LONG and a DOOZY, so buckle up if you like to read.

just want to clarify, i do NOT hate the will wood fandom in itself. AT ALL. I love you guys (/p)

i just dislike the people who say weird and creepy shit. if that doesnt apply to you, cool! but tell the people who do that shit to knock it off.

NO DISCOURSE IN THE REBLOGS I WILL ATTACK YOU

One HUGE gripe I have with the Will Wood fandom is how some of you guys treat Will Wood like (and this is literally the only way I can put this that isn't too serious) some all-powerful deity of knowledge that you would kill AND die for. In this essay, I will explain why [some of] you are fucking creeps.

Will Wood. Where do I begin. For the very few who are unaware, Will Wood is a singer-songwriter who makes very strange avant garde whatchamacallit evil jazz/swing music. He has been known as Will Wood since 2015, where he released his first album, Everything Is A Lot, under the name Will Wood and the Tapeworms.

Me personally, I first heard of him from the song Dr. Sunshine Is Dead, from the good old days of 2018 animation meme Youtube.

Ever since the inevitable Tiktokification of the song I / Me / Myself, from The Normal Album, the Will Wood fandom has become... well.. full of children. I have no place to speak, of course, because I myself, am a teenager, but I'm talking like. 11-14 year olds.

11-14 year olds who are all fucking INSANE.

Will Wood has been put in what I like to call;

The Holy Trinity.

This being the big three artists who the mentally ill queers (like me) listen to.

Lemon Demon, Tally Hall, and of course, Will Wood.

Being in this holy trinity has both done him good, and bad. On the positive side, yay!! More streams, more plays, more people to appreciate the craft, and more people who like the music! On the negative side, now you have an army of children listening to adult music, interacting with adult music and music videos, who are willing to do ANYTHING to get your attention, because they are young and don't know much better.

And here, stuck in the middle of it all, is poor William.

Stuck as a straight "gay icon," in a sea of twelve year olds.

Well shit.

---

Leading to the second part of my half-essay.

2020. The year shit changed for Will Wood. The Normal Album was released, and people found themselves relating to I / Me / Myself, as stated before. Then this "new," unheard of fandom was kind of birthed upon Tiktok. They were treating him like fucking jesus.

Which is weird.

They were sad, gay, looking for answers, and found them in Will's music. Which is like. Cool!

But when people were saying that he was trans, and then switched up and said he was making fun of trans people?

Yeah. Not that cool actually.

Coming back to the present now, Will has stated how weird these kids are.

In a response from a AMA for In Case I Make It on the official Will Wood subreddit, (I know. Ew, gross, Reddit, but this post was what inspired me to make this in the first place, so,) Will says this:

---

"When I was living in the sticks along the Delaware during the pandemic, I had this weird sort of mystical thing going on inside my head that was trying connect dots in my life and turn meaningless nothing things into signs that I would die.

This was happening around the same time I was dealing with getting actual public attention for the first time, and was living in an area where nobody wore masks, and was living with people who were at risk of serious covid complications if they caught it. Also for most of it I was the dreaded 27, and having been a bit of a junkie in my younger years and an idiot with a barely-treated psychiatric wreck in my brain for most of the ones following it, it was not unlike me to assume I'd die young.

It just seemed too perfect.

As I was dealing with the reception of the normal album (my first truly scathing reviews, I/Me/Myself "discourse," being the subject of conversation on a larger scale) which was beyond what I was prepared for psychologically in terms of its scope and type, my anxious rumination started to veer toward genuine paranoia.

I started thinking that I would die by my own hand or be murdered by one of these crazed Will Wood fans in the dead of night. So I didn't sleep like ever, I lost a bunch of weight and couldn't gain it back for a while, I freaked out a whole bunch and I'm surprised looking back I never lost my sobriety or whatever.

Since it started to look more and more like cosmic fact that I was doomed, I started to feel greater and greater desperation to get out these songs that I had been quietly writing over the previous year or two. Songs I'd written while going through a big breakup and wrestling with rotten parts of me that were finally accessible due to my finally being properly medicated and dealing with the real shit in therapy. And then songs I'd written as I went through these changes."

---

Obviously that is a lot to unpack for a Tumblr essay, but since you’re this far, you probably read it all already.

“Stans,” as most would call them, and “Stan Culture” as a whole, is just a huge wreck. Everyone is always fighting someone. We know this. We all do. Stans scare artists. 

I want you to think. Think of the artists who are inspired by Will Wood. The ones who want to cater out their music to the Will Wood fans. Imagine if you will, those artists seeing that AMA post, seeing the crazed fans, seeing the relentless sexualization, the jokes about serious issues, like Will’s past drug use, seeing all of this and thinking:

“Is it really worth it?

Is it really worth all of this to make music and put myself out there?”

Now, that may make you uncomfortable, but it's the honest truth. And it's happened to so many people, and so many artists. 

---

And now a message to the disgraced kids who managed to latch on to Will Wood’s music.

Treating a musical artist like a god is not gonna help anyone. I’d know. I’ve seen it happen multiple times, to multiple artists. 

I guess what I’m trying to say is think before posting on the internet. Think to yourself; would I say this to the artist's face? Could someone see this and think differently of me? Is this just weird to say in general?

Remember that these people are real people. Will Wood is a real person. With real thoughts. real feelings. a life to live. He's not just some music making machine. He’s not just some silly character. He’s not just some whimsical guy who we can all project onto.

Will Wood is a real person, and everyone should treat him that way. 

Thank you for reading.

(I will edit this essay if I think of anything else to add. That or I'll just reblog it.)

[therealalexhera]

Musings on: Walker Creek

Walker Creek is a project I haven't thought about in a while. Well, that's not true. It's a project that I haven't consciously thought about in a while, but it sure does cross my mind more often than you'd expect. And today is its fourth anniversary, so I feel like taking a trip down memory lane.

I grew up with the Slenderverse. I don't think that's really new information for anyone who keeps up with my work -- but I believe it was 2011 or 2012 when I first stumbled upon Marble Hornets and Slenderman, and fell in love with found footage, immersive storytelling, and horror (my only prior exposure to horror had been the original Alien and 'Blink' from Doctor Who). Marble Hornets and EverymanHYBRID were what pushed me into filmmaking and especially into ARGs from a young age. I proceeded to spend years wanting to make an ARG, until finally, mid-pandemic in October of 2020, I decided that there was no time like the present, and I spent basically all day every day for the following 14 months working on the project. What started out as, let's be real, a very Local58/Gemini Home Entertainment inspired analog horror series, turned into a sprawling transmedia horror project. 100 episodes, 7 websites, and a feature film finale later, in November 2021, I finally finished it. Walker Creek isn't a Slenderverse series, technically, but it's not just an analog horror series either. Nowadays, when I look back at its style and its inspirations... I know it's basically a Slenderverse series in every way except the presence of Slenderman. But one of the things I like about it is that it is also an analog horror series. It is also a web ARG harkening back to many of my favorites from the 2000s and early 2010s. Like most of my projects, I spent a few years observing what other artists were doing, and then synthesized everything I liked about it into a project of my own.

My feelings about it are complicated sometimes, though. On one hand, Walker Creek is a project I feel incredibly proud of; a project that is so vast I can't even comprehend how I accomplished it with so few resources. A project that gave me my first and second feature films, two online friends, a space to experiment as an artist and find my voice as a storyteller for the first time, and a foothold in the ARG & indie film space. Walker Creek was never 'popular', but I can't say it was anything other than a success; I grew an audience from nothing (by self-promoting as 'adamtheargguy' on Reddit - yes I'll finally admit that was me), gathered a dedicated base of players for the ARG elements, and genuinely impacted people. One of the most stunning aspects of that project to me was how much Walker Creek mattered to the diehard ~10 players who kept up with it 24/7, investing themselves in the story, making friends with the characters, making memes of me and my friends from the videos, and even moderating a Discord server (which, occasionally, still has people who send messages every once in a while). Inversely, it's also wild to think about how much that community mattered to me while it was running. There's a reason I came back to do a little mini anniversary sequel ARG in October 2022 (though nobody really knows about it!) and it wasn't because Walker Creek needed a story continuation; it was to celebrate the community. Walker Creek was a story and a playerbase for me to interact with, but it was also a social outlet. I think, for as much 'roleplaying' there was in the character accounts, there was a lot of the real me in there too. And as mentioned above, I am still friends with two of the people from that community; one of my most recent reminders of Walker Creek was one of them asking to name a character of theirs after a character in Walker Creek. And beyond that, Walker Creek spun off in so many other directions too. I have a Trailhead research post on the Night Mind Index about Walker Creek, and a video on his channel about that post (and even though I hoped for it for the entire duration of the project, NightMind never covered the series... but from my perspective now, I think being spotlighted in his Trailhead research project is actually way cooler). Also Nexpo watched the series and Wendigoon said he was going to make a video about the series and then just... didn't? LOL. God, I haven't thought about those things in ages. It's funny how big all of it felt at the time, and how inconsequential it seems in retrospect. It hasn't even been that long. I mean, I still remember the day that Walker Creek gave me probably the most important development in my career - in late November 2021, when I was invited into a Discord server with a bunch of major ARG creators because of the 'Making Of' documentary I made about the series. It was the moment where I finally felt like I was part of the ARG creator community. Without all of that, I might never have made The History of Analog Horror, or Slenderverse: A Documentary Film Series, or What I Remember, or my other unannounced projects. That's why Walker Creek still got a reference in the Slenderverse doc series, and in my upcoming feature. It's a core part of my journey as a creator, of the development of my skills as a filmmaker, and even of my knowledge base as an ARG historian/researcher.

And yet at the same time -- the 'other hand' I've been trying to get to for the last paragraph: I feel a dissonance with Walker Creek. A feeling of dread sinks in every time someone tells me that they watched Walker Creek, or the 'Making of' documentary that accompanied it. From time to time, I go back and rewatch bits of my old projects just for fun, but I never rewatch any of Walker Creek or the documentary about it. Hell, there's a part of me that thinks I might not even going to publish this blog post when I get to the end of writing it. I'm here because there's a part of me that doesn't want to forget it, yet another, stronger part has an intense aversion to revisiting it. There is so much that I would cringe at, yes, but beyond that, there are so many of my personal feelings bleeding through and so much to be reminded of regarding what was happening behind the scenes with all the former friends I made that project with.

It's shocking, in a way, how distant it feels to me despite how recently it concluded, a mere three years ago. In the intervening time, I've made so much more material, grown so much as a filmmaker, and have gone through so many seismic shifts in my life and my perspective as both an artist and as a human being. Like let's be real, I still thought I was cis when I made that series! But more than that, I've now gone from an amateur with almost zero experience to an indie filmmaker funding my own films and building a career, now with eight features under my belt (six released, two in post production). It's quite literally a different era of my life -- and it's not like that's something that's hard to conceptualize; I even said something almost identical at the end of the 'Making Of' doc... but it doesn't always feel like the end of an era when you're in it. Chapters in real life don't start and end cleanly like in a book. There's bleed. And so, as much as Walker Creek 'ended' in November 2021, it didn't feel like it was over in those next few months, when I was adjusting to no longer living in that imagined world every single day. It didn't feel like it was over when I made The History of Analog Horror, since I was literally using Walker Creek & its companion doc as a foundation to get resources and as the basis for exploring my own inspirations. I guess in retrospect, that doc was a bit of a personal sendoff for Walker Creek -- a full circle moment where I got to finally bridge my work and the work of those that inspired me into a single project. I was able to get some distance from it with that, but even then... it didn't feel completely over in December 2022 when I was writing scripts for a spiritual successor ARG taking place in the same world. It didn't feel completely over in February 2023 when I did an interview for the Ludic Society and, unexpectedly, half of the interview was about Walker Creek.

I think now though -- and part of the reason I'm writing this post -- is it does feel over. I don't know when that happened. I wish I knew what that exact moment was. But I just know that now, after my identity and life has changed so much, and after spending two years on the Slenderverse series, while simultaneously spending the past year working on my found footage feature, and now working on a new doc series and another feature screenplay, there's so much distance between me and Walker Creek. And yet, as I said, I don't want to fully let it go. My found footage feature has a reference to it, as will my next screenplay, as will the webseries I'm working on (Grimoire), as will my next doc series, probably. It's a weird feeling and Walker Creek feels weird to think about, but I'm so glad it happened. Its DNA is present in every project I do, because I wouldn't have been set on my current path without it. Even if its now only in indirect ways, pretty much everything I do has built off of Walker Creek in some way. Even my email signoff, 'kind regards', comes from a character in Walker Creek. And in the end, I think all of this is why I'm not really able to shake Walker Creek, even if it feels over, or distant, or dissonant to my current self. And one day, maybe I'll be able to revisit it properly.

One final note: today is the 4th anniversary of the series, but in-universe, yesterday, October 23rd, was the 'Harvest Festival' (chosen because it's the same date as the bombs dropping in the Fallout universe). So... happy (late) Harvest Festival to anyone still hanging around from that era who remembers why the Harvest Festival is important. And for one final deep cut reference... long live Yvrisil.

Kind Regards,

Alex Hera

[andthisisdia]

🫧Hi🫧

Name: call me Dia💎

Age: I was born in 2002 and I'm too lazy to update my age every year💅

Nationality: Italian (English is not my first language so I might make some grammatical errors)

🏳️‍🌈: I'm a bisexual and demisexual/demiromantic girl (I use she/her pronouns)

MBTI: ENTJ (Don't stereotype me. I'm just really into doing things right and I like to have a plan for everything. I always try to find a solution to people's problems)

Something about me: I'm autistic and borderline 🪐 and I'm very extroverted, I like to socialize and meet new people. So if we have any interests in common, feel free to write to me🌌 (Read the continuation to find out more about me and what I post, it's important. Thank you)

(I made this edit using picsart stickers that represent my interests and something about me)

🎮Favorite video games:

•League of Legends (I play on the European server)

•Wildrift

•Valorant (I don't play it that much because I'm not very good)

•Overwatch

•Team Fortress 2 (my hyper fixation, I need to talk to other tf2 fans. I'm going crazy, I don't know who to talk to about it, I'm afraid of appearing boring to my friends who aren't fans😭😭😭)

•Life is strange (this game made me realize I'm not straight)

•Detroit Become Human

•Danganronpa (I discovered this thanks to tik tok during the pandemic. It was very trendy at the time)

•The last of us

•The Sims 3/4 (I never had the chance to play the previous ones)

🍿My favorite TV series are:

•Shameless

•Love, Death & Robots

•Bojack Horseman

•Arcane

•She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

•Ever After High

🎼Singers I like:

•Madison Beer

•Mitski

•Ariana Grande

•Ashnikko

•Kali Uchis

•Girl in Red

•Marina and the diamonds

•KDA ("Akali that girl, 'kali go grr 'Kali don't stop, 'kali don't skrt 'Kali got a job, 'kali go to work 뜨거워 언제나 don't get burnt" 🗣🗣🗣)

•Gorillaz

•Queen

•Molchat Doma

•Arctic Monkeys

•Mother Mother

•Jack Stauber

•Cavetown

•TV girl

•Bo Burnham

I actually listen to a lot of artists but I don't remember them all c:

🫧Things I like:

•Lost media

•Liminal space

•Dreamcore

•Nostalgiacore

•History of cinema (especially animated films)

•Psychology (and all other branches of this science. I also love anthropology and sociology)

•Travel and discover new places

•Everything that has to do with creativity (Drawing, writing stories and fanfiction, creating things like accessories for your clothes and such very cute things. I really admire people who can repaint dolls)

•Having fun (going out with my friends, watching films - if they're trashy films it's even better -, sending each other memes and tik tok videos and things like that)

🪷Hobby:

•Cosplay (Especially cosplaying my comfort characters)

•Drawing (I haven't drawn seriously since 2020. I'm waiting for inspiration)

•Collecting dolls (I love Monster High, Ever After High, Rainbow High and L.O.L O.M.G. I also collect Funko pops and figures from other brands. I also have many books and comics -which I have to finish reading because there are too many-)🧸

•Roleplay (Doing roleplay with me means that I have already organized the whole plot. But I also listen to the other person's ideas)

•Find out about the topics that interest me (Most of the time they have to do with culture. I'm a very curious person and I love to inform myself)

💿What I post on Tumblr:

•Things about my fandom

•Positivity (Especially mental health or pride posts about being a member of the LGBT community. Be yourself🌈Be unique)

•Aesthetics

•Vent

•My posts are tagged "Dia's post"

🦦Other random things:

•My favorite musicals are Heathers and Ride The Cyclone (the name of my blog is a mix between two of these songs)

•I'm terrible with numbers and sometimes I read the wrong words (I have a learning disability -be patient-)

•In my blog there are posts about Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss BUT IT'S NOT A SPECIAL INTEREST OF MINE. I recognize that they are two series with a lot of plot holes and nonsense. But it still reminds me of time spent with my friends. I actually like hearing people analyze and criticize it. I'm fond of the character of Vaggie and I like the ship between Sir Pentious and Cherri Bomb but as I wrote before: it's no longer a special interest of mine. I am neutral towards them

•I'm an atheist

•I am very interested in the meaning (and world) of dreams

‼️ Sometimes I also reposted something related to when I feel down. Unfortunately I have a lot of trauma but I'm trying to move forward and get better‼️

🔞I'm a girl from 2002 so I have young adult maturity‼️I want to talk to people my own age. You can follow me if you like my "aesthetic fandom stuff" but i would like to talk to people my age🔞

🧜‍♀️Comfort characters:

•Jinx (League of legends/Arcane. She is my main and for certain things I see myself in her)

•Seraphine (League of Legends. didn't like her at first but I love her gameplay. And I think she has the best skins -along with Jinx, of course-)

•Evelynn (League of Legends. She's a Goddess)

•Chloe Price (Life is strange. She made me understand that I like women too. I love this punk)

•Sunset Shimmer (Equestria Girls. She is one of the few ENTJs to be a positive character. I really like how her character has evolved)

•Reagan Ridley (Inside Job. We are very similar in certain things)

•Entrapta (She ra. I love this chaotic neutral autistic scientist princess. Again, I see myself in her)

•Kotori Minami (Love Live! When I was in middle school this was my favorite anime)

•Dia Kurosawa (Love Live! Sunshine. Love Live is an anime that accompanied me as I grew up. I'm very fond of it)

❕️I'm looking for young adult people like me (young adult means being over 18 and under 30). I have no problem with NSFW (I prefer artistic nudity) and I have no problem with swearing. I have a certain maturity so I want to interact with people like that.❕️

‼️ This is my safe space🗣 SO DO NOT INTERACT WITH ME IF YOU ARE: racist, homophobic, ableist, transphobic and against the LGBT community, do not interact if you are a pedophile and if you harm animals.Don't fetishize queer people. We are people, not nsfw categories. And don't romanticize the Mafia. Be kind and open-minded. Don't interact if you are against feminism (which I remind you, means gender equality), don't interact if you are people with ideas of hatred and discrimination. No ignorant people about mental health or what is happening in the world, because we are in 2024 and we need to have a minimum of culture. If you think abortion is murder, I would say you can also go elsewhere because I support women's rights and human rights in general. In general, don't interact if you are a person with bad ideas (that kind of bad ideas. Go away)‼️

🌟Talk to me if you are a normal person (and if you're nice and send funny memes. Or if you want to talk about some fandom in common or something. We can also play some video games together or talk about philosophical things like "what's the point of life?" or things like "do aliens exist?")🌟

[xanthippe74]

The mood this year, as this header photo demonstrates, was Le Tired. Just physically and emotionally slogging along. Brain stuck on perpetual static. A pull-the-covers-over-my-head sort of year. I read a few books, watched a lot of shows, found new songs to listen to on repeat, and spent way too much time futzing around on Tumblr.

But that's not what this post is about! This is to remind myself that I did accomplish writer-ly things this year, even if it didn't feel like it sometimes. So here's my 2023 Fandom Year in Review:

Drarry

🐈 A Dreadful Invasion (of the Feline Persuasion) rated G | 6K words

Most of the time, it’s easy for Harry to forget that Draco Malfoy is his next-door neighbour—until the night Malfoy seemingly goes round the twist in his back garden. Of course Harry has to investigate. A birthday gift for @caroll-in.

🍷 Under the Table rated T, 4K words

A string of nearly-insufferable dinner parties has made Draco acquainted with Harry Potter’s completely insufferable, social-climbing boyfriend. But tonight it seems like Potter’s finally had enough, and Draco’s more than happy to watch it all play out from across the table.

Microfics: Different  |  Thalassophile  |  Role play  | Careless |  Mama’s Gun  |  Raven  |  You Should Probably Leave  |  Afraid of the Dark  |  Eerie

WIP progress: I added about 25K to my Drarry retelling of Howl's Moving Castle. The working title is "Skybound" and it will be about 55 to 60K words when complete (by spring 2024, god help me!). Featuring: lots of banter, secret identities, adventures and misadventures in a floating house, a plucky house-elf, and (of course) a fire demon who wants to make a bargain.

9-1-1 fics, HP recs, and 2023 highlights under the cut!

9-1-1/Buddie

🌧️ It pours, man it pours rated T | 11K words

An endless rainstorm. A head-on collision on a dark canyon road. Eddie and Buck find themselves stranded with a woman in labor after they’re cut off from the rest of the 118 by a flash flood. With the fate of their team unknown, can they weather the night ahead—and mend the rift Buck caused by trying to kiss his best friend?

💣 A Few Good Pranks rated T | 4K words

The firefighters of the 118 decide to give Bobby a turn at pranking them after seeing how disappointed he was to be left out. And since two heads are better than one, why not three? Or four? If only they could figure out who's pranking and who isn't, and who the intended victim is. It's all in good fun, though—as long as everyone is too distracted to notice that Buck and Eddie keep sneaking off alone.

❤️‍🩹Let It Be Me rated T | 1.8K words

After another Buckley Family reunion-turned-disaster, Buck makes a decision about his parents. Of course the 118 has his back. Or, Bobby employs some LAFD equipment to help Buck out—and tell him something he needs to hear.

Episode codas/fix-it ficlets: 1x01 | 1x03 | 2x01 | 2x03 | 6x10 | 6x11 | 6x12 | 6x13 | 6x15

WIP progress: First chapter of a season 3/canon divergence Buddie fic. Featuring: angst with a happy ending, a secret marriage of convenience, and pandemic bed sharing.

HP Rec List

I was inspired by this post to rec twelve favorite fan works from 2023 in twelve days in December. It actually took fourteen days, but I did it!

💖 12 Favorites from 2023 💖

(after posting those twelve, of course I thought of a few more faves that I missed. I'll try to share them soon!)

2023 Highlights

I'm so very grateful for the wonderful, funny, imaginative people here who shared their creative works, the memes that made them laugh, photos of their pets, gif sets of shows I didn't know I needed to watch, and insights into the characters we love. You all got me through the year, honestly.

I had a good time doodling some Halloween treats for Inbox Trick-or-Treating. I hope it will become an annual Tumblr event! Thanks to the folks who rang my doorbell that night and the other blogs who gave out treats.

I truly treasured every kudos, comment, and rec I received this year. I was also very fortunate to receive a few special gifts:

����️ EllaMcSmellBella recorded a Podfic of "Spooked in Salem," my Drarry 'Round the World fic.

🎙️ Spades/bumblingbees recorded a Podfic of "Crimson Neon."

📕 @cheriecherishchen wrote a lovely rec for "Vortex" and designed gorgeous book covers for that fic and its sequel, "Riptide."

✏️ @saijordison drew this incredible piece of art for "Riptide."

And finally, if you read all the way to the end of this post, I'm grateful for YOU. 😁

Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year and an excellent 2024!

[myriadxofxmuses]

WIP MEME FOR WRITERS !!

Fill out the form for your current WIP and tag your fellow writers to share the fun!

TAGGED BY: @heartxshaped-bruises (tysm <3)

TAGGING: @homelander-rp-blog , @lunarruled , @patwrites , @pcrfectillusicn , @reevezs (Idk if anyone has w.i.p.s, but I like all your stuff here and was curious.)

(WORKING) TITLE? Tbh, I have no idea. on a title yet. But I have technically two w.i.p.s that I need to get going on.

GENRE? Thriller, pschological, smidge of horror, romance, crime/apocalypse, hopelessness, bio-sci-fi.

THEMES? self-acceptance, love, obsession, prison/captivity /solitude, survival, founf family, science

MOODBOARD / AESTHETIC?

FIRST LINE / LAST LINE / FAVORITE LINE? Don't have one yet. 😳

CURRENT WORD COUNT? 0 I only have the ideas rn. And lots of bulleted lists for each.

ANY INSPIRATIONS? I'm high-key obsessed with the psychology of serial killers. So that plays a big part in the first w.i.p. I have. And for the other, it is common knowledge that I would love for the shit to hit the fan so the apocalypse would start. I'm a fucking weirdo who adores that kind of life - even though I know for a fact there would be more struggle for a lot of convienient things currently. So, for that one, I have it starting with as a biological pandemic, wiping out a majority of the world's population.

PLAYLIST / THEME SONG(S)? These are songs that I listen to in order to get into the head space for trying to get things started.

For my apocalyptic one:

The End of the World

Eleanor Rigby

Lost it all

For the serial killer one:

You're the one that I want

Comfortably Numb

The Wolf in your Darkest Room

ANY TRIGGER WARNINGS? Murder, death, prison, sexism, violence, abuse, torture, disease, panic, loss, etc.

[poindexters-labratory]

Could you explain the premise (or anything else you'd like to share) of The Abyss to me, to the perspective of one who knows basically nothing about creepypasta? ;-; like I know the names of the more known characters and that's it lol. it sounds cool and I'd like to know a little more though, if you feel ok with that :0

Of course!!

Creepypasta is an Internet term that's similar to copypasta, copypasta being a wall of text that would copy and pasted to troll or meme people. A creepypasta is the same premise, but it's a horror story. A lot of memorable characters came out these stories for better or for worse. Characters like The Slenderman, Jeff the Killer, The Rake, etc.

Then there's Marble Hornets, which is a web-series inspired by The Slenderman, and it's really awesome, I would recommend it to those who haven't watched it. I most recently was able to finish up all the seasons and it really is amazing to watch.

So, I was a fandom creepypasta kid in middle school, so I was very attached to the softer interpretations of these characters. There was more comedy to the short narratives that were told with them, I also found them to be used more as vigilante characters.

There was an aspect that I really feel spoke to a lot of younger people, which was that someone was coming for them, to help them and take them from the situation that was out of their control. I know that was true for me, even though I didn't necessarily need saving, I knew that there were people who needed help. Help that at eleven years old, I couldn't provide. As a helpless and outcasted kid, these characters, however silly it may seem, helped with feeling seen and understood.

Anyway, that's sort of what The Abyss takes inspiration from, added on top that I think I can make a story out of anything. I started working on it at the peak of the pandemic, so I probably also felt helpless in that situation as well, not to mention that's when my tics got to the point where it was debilitating.

Anway, context aside, I'll explain what The Abyss has going on at this point in time (the story has been changed so many times, that's why I say that).

So, it's mainly taking the big creepypasta fandom idea that all the creepypastas live together in a mansion with The Slenderman and expanding on it. For The Abyss, it's turned the mansion into whole another dimension. This dimension has been dubbed The Abyss (you can see where the title comes from).

It's a place for nature's freaks and society's rejects. They're used for the agenda of nature's biggest freak and mystery, The Tall Man, The Slenderman, The Boss, The Operator, whatever It's called. Most of the individuals who seek refuge under It don't know It like the people that work directly under It. Most of the people there can be compared to being in military reserves. They will be called upon if they are needed.

So far, the characters that get called on (mostly by Briar) from the reserves are Ben (BENDrowned), Cody (X-Virus), Anthony (OC), and Jeffrey (Jeff the Killer) (but Jeff just kinda joined on his own accord).

There are other characters that were pulled out of the reserves by The Slenderman are OCs and a few other canonical characters, such as Kagekao, Bloody Painter, Laughing Jack, and more once I start actual progress on plot and such.

Then there are the people who work directly under the command of The Slenderman. These are the Proxies. They communicate with It telepathically in the form of visions and nightmares and do whatever job It needs done. They get a brand in the shape of the 'No Eyes'/Operator symbol from Marble Hornets somewhere on their body and are forever at the mercy of The Tall Man.

These characters shown here are Roque (Rocky), Briar-Rose (Briar), and Toby (Firecracker) (I'll explain why he's not Ticci Toby some other time).

Other characters that are Proxies include characters like Natalie (Clockwork), and whoever else I'll put in that category.

Then there are the characters who exist outside of The Abyss, like Eyeless Jack.

That would be Homicidal Lui, Jane the Killer, Nina the Killer, and most importantly Tim Wright.

The plot starting out will be a crossover/continuation of Marble Hornets, following Tim as he goes cross country getting hunted down and stalked by members of The Abyss. Tim was a very important asset for The Slenderman because of his ability to spread The Sickness. Too important to lose. It has been tracking him down for however many years and now it's gotten to the point where It has to start using Its Proxies and Reserves to get this one guy.

If anyone would like to learn about the characters as individuals, just send an ask and I'll be more than happy to talk about them :3!!

[ablatheringblatherskite]

random question inspired by my general disdain for The Holidays™: what's Christmas like in the Philippines? I'm extremely fed up with how most Americans celebrate it so I'd be super interested to hear about how another culture does it. :D (if you don't mind, of course!) Feel free to infodump as much or as little as you like :)))

WAAAAA I'd love to!! Also that's totally understandable OOF, but yes I'd gladly talk about it!!!

So I hope this doesn't come as a disappointment but the Philippines is a pretty Americanized country, but of course there are still many key differences in our traditions! For one, which you might have heard LOL, we start preparing for Christmas all the way in September (as in, Christmas decorations start going up already, and Christmas music starts playing in the malls). Generally we don't celebrate Thanksgiving since it's an American holiday and we don't care as much about Halloween, so it's not like a WHOLE THING like it is in America (I was surprised to learn how big of a deal it is over there LOL!).

We have this celebrity who's also a beloved Filipino meme, Jose Mari Chan, who basically is like, the harbinger of Christmas here. Like months in advance we'll have memes pop up occasionally saying stuff like "Ready na ba kayo?" (are you ready yet??) and things like that LOL. Here's some of my favorite examples:

("I'm just warming up")

(explanation and translation: we have a famous Filipino Christmas song that starts with, "Whenever I see girls and boys selling lanterns on the street...", which is what Jose Mari Chan is starting to sing LOL, then the guard is saying, "Sir, seniors aren't allowed to go out." (this was made during pandemic times HAHAHA)

And a personal favorite:

LOLLL

Also since the majority of the Philippines is Catholic that plays a huge factor in it too. Another tradition that's mainly Catholic (so I haven't ever actually participated in it) is called simbang gabi, which is basically nine days of mass before Christmas. Then on Christmas Eve the final mass is called Misa da Gallo. It's basically a way for everyone to prepare for Christmas!

Another big thing about Philippine Christmases (although I'm sure a bunch of other cultures do this too LOL including Americans), we a lot of the time celebrate Christmas with our extended families (both sides during different times if possible!), since, you know, family is very important to us!! Us younger ones will usually go around to the adults to "bless" them, or do "Mano po" (basically press the back of their hands to our foreheads which is like, a traditional sign of respect) to all the adults, and a lot of time we get angpao (money inside those little red Chinese folders) tee hee hee! And a lot of the time we get more specific gifts from our ninongs and ninangs (god fathers and god mothers) (yes sometimes we have multiple no I can't really explain why HAHA). And if we're blessed to have them, all the cousins hang out and do whatever we like while the adults mingle (sometimes we go to the bedroom of whichever cousin's family is hosting the gathering)—I have very fond memories of those times.

But I think one of the bigger differences is that we don't have our official celebration on Christmas morning—we actually celebrate the night before, on Christmas Eve! We like to prepare for our Noche Buena (also a Spanish tradition LOL, it's basically a special Holiday feast) for the whole day, then we wait for 12am to strike, then THAT'S when we start eating and playing games and of course opening presents. It's such a fun time and I've spent multiple Christmases up late until the sun rose reading my new books or something. From what I know most families here stay home during the rest of Christmas day resting and enjoying the time with their own families.

We also do Christmas caroling differently. Idk how it works in America but in the Philippines random groups of kids go around to houses to sing Christmas songs for money. Sometimes they have makeshift instruments, occasionally a guitar and tambourine. They aren't always that good HAHA but they do their best, and they have a lot of fun doing it (my siblings and I did it once!! It was a lot of fun).

We also have a traditional Christmas decoration, called the paról. It's basically these star-shaped paper lanterns, and they're beautiful!

We also may play games like Pinoy Henyo (similar to charades, basically a paper with a word is placed on yours or your teammates forehead and you/your teammate need to help them guess what the word is, answering questions like is it a person?? animal?? place?? etc., getting more specific until you figure out the word), Bring Me (basically you need to be the first to bring the item, for example: bring me a wallet! A lot of parents usually help the kids by giving their own things LOL), and Longest Line (basically you need to make the longest line only using things you're wearing) (yes some guys have taken off their shirts, sometimes people just lie down in the line LOL). It's a lot of fun.

So in conclusion, while, like with any country, we can also be prone to commercialism, Christmas is a lot of fun in the Philippines, at least for me!

Anddd that's mostly it I think!!! thank you so much for this ask!! I was really excited to answer when I got it lol!! I'm sorry it took a while tho, I wanted to let my friends check to see if what I said was accurate (because I am uncertain like that LOLL). I really enjoyed answering it too so thank you and I hope it was interesting!!!

[schleckermaul]

「 GET TO KNOW YOUR RP PARTNER! 」 ( repost, please don’t reblog )

「BASICS」

▐ NAME: luce ▐ PRONOUNS: they/it ▐ SEXUALITY: bi ▐ TAKEN OR SINGLE: taken 💕 ▐ FIVE FACTS:

i have a cat named edmund who is my entire world. we go on walks and i teach him tricks every now and then

unfortunately spend a lot of time playing o.verwatch. i started playing because of l.ifeweaver and got stuck. still playing l.ifeweaver tho

currently training my dying attention span back to being able to read again. i try to do poetry daily, but i'm also reading "song of the six realms" by judy i lin rn! the cover is beautiful and it's been a fun read till now

i used to go by atlas in rp circles! took a big break after the pandemic hit and switched over to luce bc it didn't sit right anymore

i have ocd so i get pretty obsessed about organization and how the blog looks. if u see me deleting posts, this is why

「EXPERIENCE」

▐ HOW LONG (YEARS/MONTHS): i'm 25 now so ... 11 years, with rping specifically ▐ PLATFORMS USED: coughs ▐ BEST EXPERIENCE: i hopped from hyperfixation to hyperfixation throughout the years, but my best time has always been writing break. my time in the c.ritical r.ole fandom was also pretty banger, until it kind of exploded at the end

「MUSE PREFERENCES」

▐ MALE/FEMALE/OTHER: i tend to transmasc beam my characters, that's kind of the trend for me ▐ FAVORITE FACECLAIM: oh man, generally speaking, anything from ph or vnc gets my vote, but i've been using gilbert for a long time! i'm also particularly fond of antoine de sade from vnc ▐ FLUFF, ANGST, OR SMUT: angst! as ur average ph enjoyer, i'm a big fan of tragedy ▐ PLOTS OR MEMES: both! i like plotting a little and then just seeing where it goes. occasionally i also like to go ham on a meme. in regards to memes, @/nobully has inspired me a lot! her meme replies are always so good ▐ LONG OR SHORT REPLIES: i ramble lmao. lots of things to say, though i try to balance out ... everything, while still giving enough space and engagement for the reply from my partners ▐ BEST TIME TO WRITE: late at night, usually. i also really like getting up a bit earlier to get some writing in when i'm excited about a thread ▐ ARE YOU LIKE YOUR MUSES: in some ways, but not in most. break in particular i've just written for a long time, so that writing him comes easily to me not because we're alike, but because i know him well. autism event and such (it's been years)

[crybabyddl]

Just finished my rewatch of jatp. My perfrct track record of not crying during Unsaid Emily remains untouched. I will say though, I was very close to shedding a tear this time. However, I didn’t even cry during Stand Tall! I always cry during Stand Tall!

Anyways, I couldn’t stop thinking about all the headcanons and theories that us tumblr fantoms created and the little easter eggs we discovered while watching and rewatching the series. It makes me really appreciative of the fact that we had a sense of community during a time where a lot of us were alone, scared, and uninspired. Just like Julie, I felt a renewed sense of purpose and hope. I think that a lot of people felt the same after watching the show. Julie and the Phantoms is what inspired me to learn the piano, the ukulele, and it led me to getting a guitar. When I learned how to play the chords for the soundtrack, I was playing those songs nonstop. It really helped me brave through the unsure feelings that came along with the pandemic. It made me forget my fears about the future.

I don’t feel as hopeful about things as I did back then, but JATP will always be a land-marking point in my life. It represents newfound joy, reignited passion, and abundant vivacity. As someone who loves and is extremely passionate about music, this silly little netflix show really hit me in the most sensitive places. And while I remember having a bout of serious depression after finishing the series, (along with intense rage that while I was dealing with my depression at its lowest point, the cast of jatp was living what felt like my dream) the lessons I learned from the show were far more significant. It literally brought music back into my life, no joke.

The friends I made because of JATP will always have a special place in my heart. A lot of them don’t use tumblr anymore, and I don’t use it nearly as much as I used to, but I’m still so grateful to have been introduced to such kind, accepting, and funny people. The stories, theories, headcanons, fanfictions, moodboards, inside jokes, memes, and fanart we created will always be remembered and cherished. I’m still pro-cheesecake, I’m still highly allergic to sleeves, and every time I see an unnecessary or fake zipper, I think of my fellow tumblr fantoms.

I don’t think I’ll ever truly “get over” Julie and the Phantoms. It was the first thing that truly resonated with my spirit as a new adult. I was 19 and had dropped out of college, feeling completely lost and like I had nothing going for me. Going into lockdown because of the pandemic didn’t help with any of that, and I was aimlessly, endlessly scrolling on social media, hoping to find meaning and purpose. And one day, my friend posted a clip on snapchat of what she was watching on netflix. The guy was cute and it looked like him and the girl he was next to had a nice connection so I asked what show it was. That’s how I discovered JATP, almost 2 weeks after its release. I also just have an unhealthy attachment to the show and the characters so I refuse to let this media that speaks to my soul die.

All that being said, we really deserved another season. I think it would cure me entirely, if I’m being honest. Even if it was just a little Christmas special where they decorate a tree and do those mini stories like filler episodes of a cartoon series. Hell, I’d settle for an animated JATP episode. I just think we all deserve it after what we’ve been through not only as a fandom, but as human beings. I will never forgive netflix for it’s terrible job at promoting, because they only failed when it came to this show specifically. They managed to keep every other show, even ones far less deserving of acclaim and attention, afloat during and after the pandemic. The only reason JATP managed to get anywhere was solely the cast, creators, and fans. Paul Becker was on fucking overdrive, churning out BTS videos WEEKLY. Fanfiction writers were bursting at the seams with multi-chapter series and one shots about every possible scenario. We got things trending on twitter during the two most chronically online years. Fanart was being shared like crazy, and we had the instagram fantoms so confused by the memes that they retaliated and claimed they were superior.

Meanwhile, tumblr was in its shadowbanning era, and fantoms were in the TRENCHES trying to get their content to reach beyond mutuals and taglists. We received barely any appreciation, except for when we trended on twitter asking to renew jatp and on tumblr for jatp appreciation week. Let’s not forget when we thought Owen had a secret tumblr and we all started accusing each other of being him. I will never forget when we all rallied to get Madi to 1 million followers because we didn’t want her to become overshadowed by the boys and all the attention they were getting. We all watched their instagram lives and I will always love the tumblr fantoms who made gifs of the cutest moments from those. Everyone saw me shamelessly simp over Charlie with facial hair wearing a santa onesie. We created a whole Carrie redemption arc out of thin air, we created origin stories for Rose and the Petal Pushers, and we forced the creators of JATP to give us the official last names of Reggie, Alex, and Flynn (This adventure SPECIFICALLY!!!) We were ruthless in our efforts to uncover their last names. We used breadcrumbs to make theories and speculations, only to end up begging in every comment section and dm inbox we could to get Reggie Peters, Alex Mercer, and eventually—though much, much later—Flynn Taylor. We gave Willie more crop tops, we basically storyboarded a second season, complete with episode titles and songs! We uncovered the Sunset Curve EP using the grainiest photos in existence, we created a loose timeline surrounding everyone’s birthdays, deaths, and significant events. We orchestrated a fucking CONCERT TOUR for this band. Oh, and let’s not forget when Kenny and the boys went to Hawaii. That Hawaii trip was so eventful for the fantoms, you have no idea how serious I’m being unless you were there for it. That was something unlike anything else for so many reasons. There’s a lot more, but that’s the stuff that came to mind immediately.

[denimbex1986]

'Barbie and Oppenheimer are more than just an internet meme that exploded into such virality that even the British PM (read: Tory scum) took part—it’s a triumphant return for cinema in a post-pandemic world obsessed with inflated budgets and diminishing returns. It came off the back of the live-action Little Mermaid remake, the lukewarm Indiana Jones legacy sequel, another in a long line of awful Fast and Furious movies, a pseudo-Michael Bay Transformers, and insulting multiversal escapade The Flash, which resurrected the dead with CGI. Cinema has never felt so downtrodden and hopeless, but Barbenheimer brought a semblance of optimism back… until CEOs everywhere immediately stomped it out.

Barbie is a perfect standalone movie, with a feminist story expertly weaving its way through the garish shades of pink in what is otherwise a two-hour-long advert for dolls. It sees stereotypical Barbie grow beyond the purpose of her creation to embrace her own agency, stepping into the real world to conquer the challenges of unchecked patriarchy. It’s a poignant narrative, despite the clear limitations of being a company-mandated franchise starter, but that’s ultimately what it is. Director Greta Gerwig might not be interested in sequels, but Mattel is. Going beyond that, it wants a cinematic universe for all its toys, greenlighting a Polly Pocket film, a “grounded and gritty” Hot Wheels movie, and a Spike Jonze-inspired Barney helmed by Daniel Kaluuya. The MCU and superheroes as a whole might seem to be on their way out, but we’re just swapping a sandbox of action figures for literal toys. I’m not sure which is worse.

Many declared Barbenheimer as the ‘return of cinema’ after months of expensive box office bombs. But a movie based around a ‘50s toy making $380 million in only five days was never going to send the message to CEOs that original ideas told by talented directors are what people want. Their eyes lit up with IP and dollar signs instead, the prospect of digging through their box of intellectual property to whip out the next gem overwhelming them. This is the Iron Man of the 2020s, kickstarting the next generation of cinema, and while we enjoyed the MCU in its heyday, look at where we are now. Superheroes dominate screenings, drowning out original ideas, and routinely suck the joy out of filmmaking with an abundance of green screens, needless CGI, and an overwhelming number of releases.

Oppenheimer is another piece of this puzzle. On its own, it’s an ambitious biopic about the horrors of American ingenuity in World War 2. I can’t see CEOs foaming at the mouth regarding franchise potential here, but out of spite toward Christopher Nolan, Warner Bros. placed Barbie’s release on the same day, inadvertently creating cinema history. Now, Oppenheimer joins Barbie’s legacy as a trendsetter in all the worst ways. We’re already seeing the impact of this, as Saw X has moved its release date to coincide with Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie, aiming to recreate the word-of-mouth marketing that saw Barbie and Oppenheimer thrive in a Summer where nothing else was. But again, this misses the point. It’s more akin to watching a meme get dragged out back on the Ellen show to be beaten with three baseball bats like a long-dead horse.

CEOs and companies are seeing Barbenheimer’s resounding social media-driven success and hoping to replicate it by launching their films on the same day as tonally opposite competitors. Saw X and Paw Patrol couldn’t be more different, aside from the likelihood of them both being awful. And that’s the stickler. Barbenheimer was so much more than ‘Haha look at two very different movies!’ It was two completely different films from award-winning, beloved directors with brilliant casts and something important to say. It wasn’t just bright pink vs black and white.

People would have been excited for Barbie and Oppenheimer independent of each other—sticking them together on the same date wasn’t what ignited the match. Yet that’s what the big corps are taking from the entire situation, so expect to see far more SawPatrols in the coming years, desperately trying to convince people to watch a double bill of two awful films. Sounds really appealing, eh?

Barbenheimer was a fun break from the bleak landscape of modern cinema, but it will go down as another blow to movies as a whole. Already Paramount has sworn off all non-IP properties for animation, only committing to churning out tried and tested formulas it considers safe films, while Mattel is busy scrambling to catch up with the MCU overnight. Only it’s doing so with a dollhouse full of tat. The coming years won’t see a renaissance of cinema thanks to Barbenheimer, it will see the next step in devolving franchise slop, the endgame being burnout on an unprecedented scale.'