#is it like when we had to infect each other to get direct messages lmao

[animentality]

HA! I got polls immediately.

Sucks to SUCK and have a small peepee :PPPP

[ichayalovesyou]

SNW Episodes Ranked

Subjectively by me on a curve because holy shit what a great first season. With a little vignette with my thoughts for each!

1. Children of The Comet 11/10

Everything I love about Star Trek while also giving us a solid ‘up yours’ to the critical flaws in the Prime Directive. A benevolent singing comet that can see the future? That’s some peak optimistic sci-fi stuff! It also had baby Cadet Uhura getting her time to shine as a linguist and a beautiful singer. I remember saying when the show was announced the thing I wanted most was to see the origins of Spock and Uhura’s friendship/jam sessions and this episode DELIVERED. Good shit!! No notes!

2. The Elysian Kingdom 10/10

Don’t get me wrong I am absolutely in love with Discovery and darker Treks but one thing I did miss was TOS campiness and oh BOY this episode fit the bill. I will never emotionally recover from this ridiculous, beautifully costumed, heart wrenching episode! Anson Mount getting to play a snivelling coward! Christina Chong playing a pretty pretty princess! Hot wizards! Badass women with swords and bows! A beautiful message about letting go and letting your kids become who they want to be! I love it!

3. Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach 9.5/10

Sexy times and societal allegories! Nothing like a Star Trek episode that’s a hot one-night-stand one minute and then a school shootings (among other applicable faux “for the children” arguments) allegory the next. I love Star Trek episodes that give you an existential crisis and also being weirdly horny, it’s what this franchise is all about! My only gripe is that, if it weren’t for the fact there are tons of real situations that make you go “why do you have a machine that eats babies on purpose?! Is the vacation spot really that worth it? Really???” Majalis has an implausibility to it if you don’t remind yourself of things that piss you off lol.

4. A Quality of Mercy 9/10

Hoo boy I love my Captain Pike content and this episode FED meeeeeeeee! I think at least part of why I love this episode so much is that it makes me feel very smug and vindicated because I correctly predicted a lot of it lmao. I knew they wouldn’t break off into an alternate timeline and it felt like a ‘screw you, be a little patient’ to some of the more… belligerent, TOS purists. I am absolutely rabid over the pure-grade father/son Pike & Spock content from this episode. It probably would’ve been my favorite if I didn’t feel like they gave us Kirk too soon and that Ortegas filling in for Stiles dialogue felt very weird and out of place for her. Other than that it was great!!!

5. The Ghosts of Illyria 8.75/10

I love funky plague episodes! The whole light thing was really really clever and fun to watch. There were lots of little moments that I liked about this episode like Pike going full hen peck dad mode when the ghosts accidentally hurt Spock. Hemmer going full mad scientist after getting infected and promptly getting stunned and carried to sickbay by Una. You could hear queer women everywhere drop trou at that scene. SNW loves poking holes in the questionable moral declarations of older treks, and this one did so with the Illyrians and genetic manipulation! Loved it! Would’ve been a bit better if they let the dread of Una getting caught stew longer imo.

6. Memento Mori 8.5/10

The Gorn are back! In this episode they were a pretty cool unseen enemy (I only wish they’d stayed that way *sigh*), gotta love that submarine drama! The cinematography in this episode really stuck out to me, I think this and Elysian Kingdom have the best visual directing in the show to date. I am also an absolutely massive angst monger so I loved all the La’an, Spock, Una, and Pike angst we got out of this cinematic bad boy! I also loved Hemmer and Uhura in this episode, I cherish every bit of his screentime considering the fate that later befalls him.

7. The Serene Squall 8.3/10

Pirates! Pronouns! Messy relationship drama that begins to explain why Chapel is Like That (tm) in TOS! Pike wearing an apron over his tactical armor! A direct criticism of people who believe their internal version of Spock is the only one true Spock! FRICKIN SYBOK ACTUALLY MATTERS FINALLY :D! There’s a lot to love about this episode but it kinda felt like it tried to have too many tones at once and fell short on all of them in the struggle. It also raises a question about Vulcan divorce, I figure either the Skype divorce they did was crap the fiancés made up on the fly, or there’s something special about the nature of T’Pring’s adultery that leads to Kalifee. I guess we’ll see!

8. Spock Amok 8.2/10

Nothing will ever be as delightfully funny as Elysian Kingdom imo but this episode certainly had a lot of fun moments. I’m here for Spock relationship drama and him getting to punch a racist bitch as a treat. Enterprise Bingo is an absolute gold mine of fanfic opportunity and I’m super here for the cute Una and La’an friendship that feels like it runs parallel to Pike and Spock’s in some ways. It was also really nice to get Chapel confirmed as bi (and gives me hope for OTHER queer confirmations about certain legacy characters we know). The biggest reason this episode is as low as it is is simply just that other episodes had more going for them that I personally enjoy.

9. Strange New Worlds 8/10

This is probably my third favorite pilot right below DS9 and VOY’s pilots. That being said it does have trademark pilot issues, a lot of characters to set up and very little time to do it. On top of having to explain What Pike’s Deal Is to new audiences who haven’t seen Discovery. Which they did an okay job with, but it does lose some of its punch and nuance if you haven’t seen at least the clip pertaining to that vision from Through The Valley of Shadiws. It criticizes the Prime Directive’s frustrating lack of nuance the way Children of The Comet does which is a win in my book. Good episode but definitely suffers from too-many-things-to-do disease.

10. All Those Who Wander 7/10

Ah yes, the one I have the most complicated opinions about. It’s a good story, even if it borrows heavily from Alien and not in the narratively potent way LUWSCR does from Those Who Walk Away From Omelas. Horror in Star Trek is kinda hit or miss since Trek’s usual motif is to learn about the unknown rather than fear it. I don’t particularly love the Gorn babies being discount xenomorphs. But hey, if we can befriend the Borg after them being nightmarish and pretty exclusively enemies for so long there’s hope for Gorn too, even if we don’t see it in SNW. I did absolutely adore La’an’s character growth and the show not glazing over M’Benga “losing” his daughter, that was really enjoyable to see. Hemmer had a good send off even if I wish he could stay longer, but then again, we never did see a body…

[loyalflutist]

Back to Back Gifting (F!Byleth x Edelgard)

Challenge: Edeleth Twitter Week (09/29/2019 - 10/05/2019) Day 3: Back to Back

A/N: Might as well make this comical to an extent. It’s a nice little break from writing angst and inflicting pain on either Edelgard or Byleth, lmao. Also, I’m starting to burn out from this challenge, but... this serves as a good creative training to maintaining imagination, improv writing, speedy typing, and, most importantly, being able to share one’s love for the OTP.

----

Gifts are pleasant. Whether it be for a special occasion or a simple act of kindness, a pleasant fuzzy sensation would spread throughout one’s beating heart. The effects would amplify by tenfold if it was geared towards the receiver’s likes. Although there are few exceptions, such as Byleth, who would barely crack anything more than a simple nod or smile, many find it near impossible to shove the giddy reaction to the back burner.

“My teacher…”

Scarlet carnations. Varying flowers bloomed all-year-round, yet this species was one of her favorites. It’s a shame it only grows under rare conditions… The fact that her professor took the time out of her day to handpick this uncommon blossom tickles her fancy. Edelgard held the singular plant close to her chest, her lilac hues sparkling. A tinge of red discoloration occurred on her cheeks as a genuine toothy grin broke out.

“Thank you.”

Byleth returned a smile of her own and, after caressing her girlfriend’s face, pecked her lips.

“Anything for you, El.”

The next day lazily transitioned into their present. At the monastery, for once, Rhea had nothing for the students of Black Eagle. Every month they were given a special operation to attend to thanks to their fearsome authority and raw strength. However, this month’s tasks were handed off to both Hanneman and the Blue Lions. One would expect the students and elder professor to be disgruntled. Fortunately, they showcased the complete opposite, Dimitri valiantly taking charge of their responsibilities.

“I would love to give you some time to relax, Professor,” Dimitri cautiously reeled his wooden lance back. At the training ground, the young prince crouched, beads of sweat crawled down on the side of his face. He moistened his lips, the older female adjusting her offensive posture with the wooden sword. “I think it’s fair that we take turns with these missions.”

It was a blessing in disguise. Were the stars and planets aligned?

“I’m not sure, kiddo, but you should seriously take this opportunity to enjoy yourself.” Jeralt shrugged his shoulders and shook his head after hearing his daughter’s question. Soon, he playfully tapped the back of his hand on Byleth’s head. “Don’t overwork yourself. You should go spend some time with Lady Edelgard.”

And so, she took his advice to heart. Both Dimitri and Jeralt encouraged the teal-haired to recharge for the upcoming month. Besides, the two knew very well that she and Edelgard should spend some private moments with one another. Romance had no place in times of conflict. Everyone knew that. Yet this rare tranquil moment offered repose to their tired and weary souls. The Black Eagles were able to kick back and revert to their childish natures. As for these two, Byleth and Edelgard immediately gobbled up this scarce time for each other.

What better way than to provide another surprise present to Edelgard’s doorstep?

“These are so pretty…”

Scarlet carnations. This time, there was not one, but five of them. A small band neatly clumped the botanical organism as the noble glanced down at the vermillion depths. She brought them up close, gave it a whiff, and beamed. They not only smelled lovely, but they were also as healthy as they could be.

“I must say, I’m surprised you managed to grow these here on monastery’s ground.”

“It takes time and patience.”

Or could it be from luck? Whatever it was, the house leader treasured these scarlet carnations in her bedroom.

Students that shuffled by her opened bedroom would spot the precious flowers resting in a simple vase. It’s a bold proclamation from the future emperor that her professor had bestowed a wonderful gift to her life. Every single time Edelgard returns to her dormitory, she would always leap onto her bed, sink her elbows into the mattress, rest her chin on the palm of her hands, and stare in awe at the carnations. Both of her feet would occasionally tap and bump their toes with each other as she daydreams about her girlfriend.

‘ It would be wonderful if they were a common flower… Though its rarity is a part of its charm. ‘

The days began to crawl onward at a snail-like pace. Lectures were conducted on weekdays, seminars were hosted on the weekends, hobbies were pursued, and bonding activities were played out. However…

“U-Um… Byleth?”

Scarlet carnations… again. And— wait a minute, are there other flowers mixed into the bouquet? Edelgard lowered the carefully wrapped present in her grip, her brows horizontally straightened as she stared at Byleth. Gifting is a pleasant event in one’s life. However, there is such a thing as one too many gifts… and it so just happens to be from the older female. Sweat flew out of the house leader’s head as stars twinkled from Byleth’s direction. The corner of Edelgard’s mouth twitched.

“…thank you for the flowers.”

This was the tenth time Byleth had given her these blossoms. Though they are her favorite, isn’t this an overkill? Other floral species mingled in too. That doubled the overkill. Her shoulders slumped and a resigned sigh slipped out. When her instructor’s features offered subtle hints of puzzlement, Edelgard immediately piped in with a tiny smile.

“I think these are plenty. I hope you do understand that there is only so much room I have for them.”

It appears that her message has been relayed appropriately. The scarlet carnations came no more afterward. Edelgard will miss the one-sided gifting from her older girlfriend… Although it was a joyful time spent, realistically-speaking, this was applying pressure on the receiver’s end.

“Byleth...”

Dear goodness, the flowers stopped coming, but randomized gifts were provided to the girl in its stead. Everything ranging from vital instruments for documentations and a map of Fodlan to obscure items about fishing and leisure activities was thrust to Edelgard. Edelgard was unsure of how to take it all in, especially with a How-To textbook on “making friends with your enemies” she received just now. She gulped and hugged the worn hardcopy.

“Byleth, I think these gifts are fabulous, but you know I don’t need most of them.”

“?”

“I’m being serious.”

“…”

Disappointment scrawled all over Byleth’s facial features. Perhaps it was too much of an overkill… Gifting is an act of making another person happy. She had done so with other students, but perhaps even more so with her girlfriend. What the socially awkward woman had forgotten was the importance of gifting. Having it done every single day for the past 20 days might have led her action with a negative connotation. There was also the hassle Edelgard had to bear too. Right now, her bedroom is cluttered. Claude would always loudly whistle whenever he peeked into her opened room.

“Never knew you were such a hoarder, Edelgard.”

“I am not!”

“You sure about that?”

“Ugh, Claude, just get out of here.”

The growth of her clutter came to a complete stop after she spoke to her professor. Days began to tick by as the gifts that once occurred on a daily basis cease to exist. Edelgard rolled on her mattress, her fingers scrunching the vermillion blanket within her grasp upon stopping on her side. She narrowed her eyes. It would be a lie to say that she did not miss Byleth’s frequent presents. Edelgard never had anyone reward nor selflessly provide a gift in her entire life. When they did, it was because of a birthday celebration. Nothing more, nothing less. Byleth was the first one to break that mold.

“Um… I hope you like it.”

Another gift. This time, Byleth imparted a teddy bear to the young lady. The stuffed animal was large enough to comfortable hug without sacrificing quality. Byleth shifted her feet as she murmured,

“I made it myself.”

Edelgard examined the creature. She tilted her head, stared at it some more, and twinkled.

“This is well-made. It reminds me of you.”

Then, she pressed her lips on the tip of the bear’s nose. Byleth’s face became as red as a beet from witnessing the intimate action. Her girlfriend mentioned that the stuffed animal reminded her of Byleth… What was that supposed to mean?

Whatever it was, Byleth was at least grateful that her gift went through. The sight of Edelgard’s cheery disposition was contagious; it would even infect members from the other houses. This viral infection came to attach itself to the professor too. She began to tear down her emotional stunted growth and let its wings fly for freedom of expression after spending the majority of her spare time with the Adrestian Empire’s princess. (Sothis seems pleased with the progression.)

Byleth reached over to rub Edelgard’s head. The white-haired immediately caved into the warmth and nuzzled as if she were a cat. This made Byleth chuckle.

“Since we’re almost at the end of the month, I think you have room for one more present.”

“?”

The plushie dropped to the ground. Edelgard’s eyes nearly boggled out of its sockets when her teacher retracted her hand and began to strip her armor. Granted, they were inside the noble’s dormitory. There was no one out in the hallway nor was anyone planning to return back to this second floor for a long while. When the student rushed to slam the door shut, Byleth had begun to peel off her tights. Redness boiled over Edelgard’s face as she tried to form a coherent sentence.

“W-What do you think you’re doing?!”

“I’ve saved the best present for you.”

To make her point even more obvious, Byleth pointed at herself. This caused a mini-mushroom explosion to implode over Edelgard’s head.

“#$*%&#$@!!!”

The back-to-back gifting had not prepared her for the rest of today. Byleth was always so unpredictable... Not that she minded, of course.

[cobythinks]

Analysis of the Sanders Sides Fandom as a ‘Discourse Community’

LMAO I didn’t think this many people would REALLY want to read it but here we go. Before you read, you need to know that ‘Discourse Community’ was defined for the assignment by ‘a group of people with similar interests that talk about those interests.’ so the idea of “discourse” that I actually try to avoid isn’t mentioned a lot in this essay haha.

@thatsthat24 and @thejoanglebook I blame you for this but it is a good kind of blame

The prompt from my teacher:

“For this assignment, you will write an essay to me and your fellow English 1010 classmates about a time when you successfully joined a rhetorical discourse community.”

So... here’s the essay? Reading this is so freaking weird writing it was wild guys oh my GOD

(some will be below the cut because it’s a pretty long one... lol)

The Sanders Sides Fandom, which I've been a part of for two years, is a group of people who all watch and enjoy the Youtube series ‘Sanders Sides’. Thomas Sanders is a Youtuber who makes the series he called 'Sanders Sides' where he split his (Sanders) personality into different chunks (aka ‘Sides’) to help explain himself better, acting out the different chunks as individual characters. His videos help explain psychology and mental health, as well as provide comedy and fun music. A lot of the content is contributed to by his good friend Joan, who helps write the scripts and music for the videos. I discovered the community after a reference to another fandom I was in at that time was made in a video, and I’ve been watching ever since. I only really started contributing to the community about a year ago, but it’s a welcoming place where art and thoughts are appreciated.

I soon found that most of its discourse involves the messages, and always includes the characters, who at this point include Logic, Creativity, Morality, Anxiety, Deceit, and Thomas himself. The 'Fanders' (Fan+Sanders) discuss the most recent videos and the messages they send, as well as develop headcanons (beliefs, theories, etc.) and stories of their own based on the characters and what they represent.

(pls keep reading guys it gives me whiplash when I academically explain Centhomas and I’m the one that wrote it)

For example, Ethos, Pathos, and Logos are incredibly important in the Sanders Sides Fandom because two of the characters, Morality and Logic, are based around Pathos (Morality) and Logos (Logic).  Themes from all three devices (ethos pathos and logos) are consistent throughout the series because the characters are always going back to question if Thomas is a good person, or in the right place in life, or if he understands things well enough to be who he wants to be. In fact, the exploration of Ethos and Pathos is so intense that Thomas and Joan (the main writers) refrain from watching content that explores similar ideas in order to keep from being influenced in their writing of the series. This impacts the fandom in such a way that every episode causes debate over what the right decision was, or what message they were trying to send, or even over which characters are good and bad (known in the fandom as ‘light sides’ and ‘dark sides’). While this is one of the main points of disagreement within the community, it is also one of the subjects that teaches the most about differing points of view and accepting disagreements, resulting in better collaborations between people who might not agree with each other.

While there are a lot of discussions about the series, some people prefer to take the characters into their own writing, this is called ‘fanfiction’. While fanfiction is as diverse and creative as the people writing it, a lot of them share the same inside jokes. For example, ‘infinitesimal’, ‘adultery’, puns in general, and mean nicknames (between Creativity and Anxiety) like ‘Emo Nightmare’, ‘Chemically Imbalanced Romance’, and ‘Knight in Dark Armor’ (to name a few). Each side also has a name. Creativity is Roman and his twin Remus, Logic is Logan, Morality is Patton, Anxiety is Virgil, and we have yet to learn Deceit's name. The joke of ‘infinitesimal’ is due to a moment when the Logic character misused the word, and the others made a large deal out of it. He thought it meant very big when infinitesimal actually means very small. ‘Adultery’ worries people - but it’s a running joke that the Morality character believes it to be the name of the process of becoming an adult. Outsiders find this worrying, but it really is a harmless joke. 

Other forms of lexis are fan-made. ‘Fanders’ know and despise ‘Centhomas’ a piece of art created by one such ‘Fander’ that is a centaur made entirely of photoshopped pictures of Thomas’s face. Phrases like ‘crayon theory’ and ‘rainbow theory’ are more or less avoided in the fandom today, as they were very intense theories about the direction of the series and the fate of all the characters. This caused quite a bit of stress particularly with the ‘crayon theory’ which predicted some kind of death or traumatic incident that would involve one of the characters. The ‘rainbow theory’ is more tame, simply a theory that assigns each side a color or the rainbow, and is used by some to estimate how many ‘dark sides’ exist, as they haven’t all been introduced yet. All of these, ‘Centhomas’, ‘crayon theory’, and ‘rainbow theory’, had or still have an incredible impact on the community, despite the fact that they didn’t originate from the actual creators (Thomas and Joan).

Something I found that's important to the community is growing the community to be as inclusive as possible. As Thomas Sanders is a gay creator and is an incredibly inclusive person himself,  the community tries it's best to accept everyone for who they are, which is one reason it was such a welcoming place for me.

Participation with fandoms, especially on social media, is pretty flaky. People can lose interest, or get other things they like as well. Some people make accounts specifically for their separate fandoms, with usernames that represent something in the fandom. When you have a username or a profile picture from Sanders Sides, it's implied you post content about it. There are some people whose blog changes fandoms, and you may follow them for another community and discover Sanders Sides as they get into it. There are varied reactions to blogs changing to Sanders Sides - some ‘infect’ the people following them, and some drive followers away. They always gain them back, though, after posting enough Sanders Sides content. This has had a strange impact on me, as I joined the fandom from posting mainly other things, but I found most of the impact to be positive rather than negative due to how loving most of the community is in comparison to some of the others I am a part of.

Since joining the fandom and starting to contribute to it via fanfiction and fanart, I’ve grown in many ways. My writing style and ability has developed greatly due to the large amount of theories and fanfiction I both read and write, and my drawing style has done the same. I’ve managed to create some good friendships, and learn from both the original Sanders Sides content and the content that the members of the community have created and will continue to create. 

In all, the Sanders Sides fandom is a place to learn more about yourself and others, and get to know other people who are similar to you and to develop your skills in order to contribute to the community. It’s not for everyone, but those in it find a welcoming and loving community, and some very interesting inside jokes.