#it rubbed me the total wrong way

[gojohatemail]

I’m not saying you have to love Laios, I’m not saying you have to even like him, but a lot of the things people say about him are just incredibly mean or straight up ableist. Yes he’s a fictional character but many people, including my self, strongly relate to him due to autism and trauma. Things you say about him being weird or insane or unhinged or stupid or now people are calling him a psychopath?????? Autistic people see these and they won’t hurt the fake anime knight but they do hurt me and other people with autism.

[helpimstuckposting]

Broke: it’s desires, not fears

Woke: it’s both, there’s more entities than TMA

Bespoke: there were never multiple entities to begin with and the reason all of the entities needed to come together to start the apocalypse is because there’s only One Entity that the avatars can’t agree on how to worship correctly

[jq37]

Just to throw my two cents on the Rat Grinder discourse: They weren't worth the Intrepid Heroes' time. We didn't get the full picture of what's going on with the Grinders until the last quarter of the season. Before that they were just this other clique that hate the main characters, so in-character why would the Bad Kids bother giving them so much attention when they've got so much of their own crap going on. Kristens quest to get Cassandra back and her presidential campaign, Gorgugs courseload, Riz's million and one plates that he's been spinning all season, Adaines financial problems, Figs curse and her doubts about what she wants to do with her life. Fabian's the only one who might have had the time, but he had to be Maximum Legend. There genuinely was no time or even an incentive on the IH's side to develop the Rat Grinders characters.

I still think it's fucked up that these teenagers got taken advantage of by adults they trusted, but we didn't learn any of that until we only had two roleplay episodes left. Too little too late to even try anything diplomatic even if they didn't spend all their time after the Last Stand in hiding.

And a thing about Ivy that no one is roasting her about and really should: An elven archer? Really? Wow, never seen that before.

Yeah totally. Like, from a meta level, I see where the players themselves could have been more curious about the Rat Grinders. There are obvious plot threads that could have been teased out there (though, in fairness to the cast, the adult manipulation aspect didn't become clear until way later in the season--the rivalry and foil aspects were more obvious). This final confrontation could look really different if they'd played that all the way out all season.

But in character? The Bad Kids really didn't have a good reason to waste time on the Rat Grinders. They came into this school year already burnt out from their Night Yorb quest and wanting a break. But they don't get that because they immediately are beset by problems they have to deal with--Kristen's god is on death's door from neglect and she's on the brink of expulsion, Riz is running himself ragged trying to boost his resume for college, Fig is having a whole ass existential crisis, Adaine is struggling with money issues she doesn't want to talk about, Gorgug is taking FOUR YEARS of school at the same time, and Fabian is multiclassing and dealing with his empty house/not having parental support (or Cathilda's support) for the first time. They are dealing with SO MUCH high stakes, personal stuff before the plot even kicks in. And, mechanics-wise, this is represented with the downtime system that means that any time they spend on the RG's is time they can't spend on something that matters more to them. IMO, not prioritizing your haters is actually pretty mature. Like, they weren't proactively using their free time to bully them or anything (except for arguably Fig). They were snippy with them when they crossed their paths and that was it. As opposed to the Rat Grinders who literally had to be told by Jace to stop antagonizing the Bad Kids (though they must have been pretty ineffectual at it because the Bad Kids hardly noticed, which I bet stung considering they were so obsessed).

And also, it's not like they didn't try at all with the Rat Grinders. Early Insight checks on Kipperlilly just got, "This is a polished steel orb of a personality" which doesn't sound very worth interacting with in a sympathetic way if at all and then the next big thing they learn is that she had hated Riz since Freshman Year and that she wants Riz and Kristen dead. And that's AFTER we saw her smile and kill her party cleric. In their position I'm not spending further time trying to empathize with this person, I have made my judgement and it's up to the Jawbones of the world to find if there's something in there to be rehabilitated.

And that's not the only case. Adaine straight up saved Ruben from disintegration during the Frosty Folk battle when she easily could have saved the spell slot, but that didn't soften him towards the Bad Kids any. Adaine also was really keen to Scry on the Rat Grinders to find out what was happening at their meetings. But, in scene at least, she was never able to do that so we never got a scene of them, huddled together, clearly unsure about the path they're on but not feeling like they can walk it back or say no to the authority figures in their lives. She didn't get anything humanizing that would cause her to rethink their position on them the way that she did with Aelwyn for instance. So why would they think they're anything but gleeful co-conspirators?

Hell, the one RG Adaine was even slightly curious about was Oisin and now we know that he was feigning interest in her which, man, can you imagine how much worse that would have felt if she'd actually taken the bait and pursued him beyond just thinking he was cute? Of course, it's possible that her interacting with him more along with some good charm rolls could have changed the narrative in some way but we can only go off of what we know to be true in canon and those facts are (1) He tried to get closer to Adaine while actively planning the downfall of her and her friends, (2) he (along with Ivy) was mean to Buddy behind his back while tricking him into a plan that would force him to go against his religious beliefs, and (3) he called his KVX related dragon ancestors to try to kill the Bad Kids and endanger the entire student body population. Three strikes, you're out. If I'm a Bad Kid I'm not super interested in whatever else is going on with him. And again, literally all of Adaine's friends (except Riz) gave her help to do an Insight check on him during their confrontation in the hallway so she was looking for something there worth engaging with, but she didn't get much.

Fig was fully doing CIA, MKUltra, Fantasy Geneva Convention violations on Ruben to try see if she could get information or flip him. I think she did it in an objectively insane way so I'm not entirely shocked that it didn't yield the exact results she was looking for. But she never found the smoking gun (or whatever the opposite of that is) in his head that would absolve him/show the Rat Grinders were being controlled and her messing with his dreams never flared his conscience enough to make him try to break free (as far as we know) which is what I assume she was going for. If I was Ruben looking for a way out but scared of the repercussions, I might go to Adaine who saved me from certain death earlier the same year and has helped saved the world 3 times with her party and their friends in high (and low) places. Maybe that's what Fig thought might happen but it didn't so from Fig's POV? Gave him a chance. Time to start blasting. And again, at that age, if I walked in to the first day of class and the first thing this random boy does is sneer at me and flaunt his musical success, I'm popping up on his Nemesis Alert at that moment. Doubly so after he tries to trick me and my friends into doing drugs so we get expelled. I'm surprised she tried at all with him.

Fabian absolutely tried to interact with Ivy--in large part for self interested reasons of course, but that doesn't change that he did it. And she came across as callous and unkind from the jump. Their final conversation before the latest episode is the one where she talks about wearing Mazey like a sweater and then says that Fabian missed his chance with her before stalking off. That's a pretty open and shut interaction. No way 17 year old me is like, "Hmm, but why is she acting so mean? Perhaps I should examine that more closely to further understand her." Nah, I've decided she sucks.

And Kristen has tried with Buddy literally up until the last moment. She rolled an Insight check on him right before the fight started and she got a 1. She got nothing from him.

Mary Ann is actually the only Rat Grinder who hasn't done anything to make a bad impression on the Bad Kids--the only thing she did was have a really good Bloodrush tryout. So no reason to hate her specifically (and, in fact, she is also the only Rat Grinder that at least half of them are positively obsessed with), but no reason to explore her further. And Kristen still tried giving her a stuffed animal and her response was that she already had that one and that she was going to give it away. What are they supposed to do with that?

Even when they tried, they didn't get information that was worth chasing when they were so busy and had to manage their free time. Gorgug didn't even slot in downtime to talk to his bio parents when they visited. Why would he spend any time on Mary Ann to figure out her deal? Maybe if they were given more explicit opportunities to interact with them in passing. If Mary Ann was shown at Bloodrush Games. If during class time Oisin tried to interact with Adaine. If Kristen ran into Buddy and Bucky talking. If any of their forays into talking to them or looking into them yielded anything actionable or that piqued their interest--they opened the door for Brennan to give them something more than once. But they never got anything that was worth investing more of their limited time into.

(And also, they didn't learn that Porter was involved until WAY into the last quarter of the episodes. Which absolutely could have changed things since, as far as they knew the RG's were working alone to raise this god which isn't crazy for them to think because Kristen literally did that last year and it was of her own free will. If they knew early that the RG's were smaller players in Porter's plot then maybe they would have been in more of a rescue mindset--especially since Fig has always mistrusted him--but that's not information they had and by the time they got it, the RG's were in deep hiding, like you said.)

And so, coming into the last few episodes, that's who the Rat Grinders are to the Bad Kids. A group of kids who they first heard about in the context of, "they famously hate you," even though they'd never interacted before. A group of kids who they already thought sucked even before they tried to kill the entire study body an hour ago. A group of kids who are trying to doom all of Elmville to eternal rage and who are willing and ready to kill them to do it.

With that context, yeah I think their actions are pretty understandable.

(Also, lmao. Yeah, I think calling Ivy basic would probably hurt her more than most things you could say to her.)

[sanasanakun]

The weed is making me courageous so I think my biggest unpopular opinion for Bg3 is I don’t think Astarion is sexy or cute or anything at all really. He’s just there. Like he’s just a dude with an attitude problem lol like I keep seeing people compare the man to a renaissance painting like he’s fucking Lestat. Dude wishes he was Lestat lmao he’s just some white man with high cheekbones 😂😂

[jasonsbruce]

someone saved my fic "slipping mask" as a bookmark noting that they're all out of character and now i never want to publish anything ever again 🤠

[ramblingsunleashed]

i don’t like the Oilers… and not because they got a goal

[ratcandy]

hello abled person writing a character with a disability. i see you are considering "curing" their disability in your story. before you make that choice, consider: why do you want to do that. what compels you to make that story choice. why would it be necessary. what is the narrative significance of doing that. what message do you believe you may be sending by doing that.

answer correctly or i'm opening the trap door beneath your feet and you're going into the spike pit

[yogfan14]

I feel like I'm the only one that doesn't like Yunli?? Like she's so over-the-top full of herself and she comes off to me as extremely arrogant and rude. Not fitting for a future general of the Zhuming. And like. I get that their customs are different from ship to ship but that's no excuse for her to be so rude and disrespectful to the Luofu's customs and culture.

[threestripeslider]

hi i know this was a few days ago but i just saw your post about the rottmnt fandom parentifying raph and i reckon you hit the nail on the head. esp since raph is literally 1-2 years older than his brothers????? this isn’t a case of “eldest sibling left to take care of far younger ones in lieu of responsible parent”, this is “eldest sibling looks out for slightly younger siblings because that’s just what siblings Do”, even if he’s leaning a bit on the overprotective side.

see that wouldnt bother me as much if it didnt come at the cost of erasing all of Raph‘s personality.

bc it probably is true that he picked up some slack, that he gained an overprotective streak in a clumsy attempt to help Splinter so he wouldnt have to worry as much. Splinter is no saint; depression and trauma changes people, you get lost in your head more often than not, some days you dont even wanna move, but you have to bc there are four little lives depending on you. but to take this part of Splinter and make it his whole personality completely erases the fact that he loves his sons fiercely and it is that love that keeps him from committing to their training fully since a lot of grievances are tied to his upbringing under the Hamato name.

obviously ppl are free to project and cope with media how they like, that ain’t any of my business and thats what fanworks are for, but it‘s gotten to the point that it‘s become such a widely accepted fanon that ppl perceive as canon and THAT is what grates on me. Raph looking out for his brothers and being worried about his father‘s increasing distance from them has somehow turned into „the bros call Raph Dad and Splinter doesnt care about them“ which is literally one of the WORST cases of media illiteracy i had to witness. it‘s like ppl cant accept that Splinter wasnt 100% perfect or 100% evil and literally just is an okay-ish parent who‘s trying his best and made a lot of mistakes but there is no question that he genuinely loves his kids very much.

[lovethatlaiduslow]

Finally met all 3 of my housemates and the sich is looking more dire by the second

[naeviaas]

hmmm no don't like the associations ppl are making with louis & armand's fight and tomshiv or the anatomy of a fall couple....

@hiriaeth mentioned seeing it first like a canary in a coal mine now i'm seeing it too

[krenenbaker]

Random question but what are your thoughts on other dorms? I know you’re a fan of octavinelle but I don’t know what you think of any of the others 😅

This definitely isn’t because I have more lil scenarios and brain rot that I could send you and I wanna make sure that you actually like the characters I can talk about

hjdfskldhajdsl PLEASE feel free to send me brainrotting and scenarios!! I will absolutely GOBBLE them up!!!

Okie dokie, for my opinions on the other dorms!

Yeah, I'm fairly clearly an Octavinelle fan - it's for sure my favourite dorm. I do really like the other dorms, too :)

I think that Heartslabyul may be my second favourite dorm, either that, or Pomefiore. I absolutely adore the combined weirdness and classiness of both of those dorms, and the chaotic dynamics of the dorm members (is it also because I'm kind of obsessed with the second and third years in Heartslabyul and Pomefiore? ... maybe... ^^ )

Scarabia is also great, both because I love Jamil, and because the spirit of the dorm really speaks to me. It also fascinates me how in the fandom, Scarabia is known as the 'party dorm', when that's solely Kalim's influence. I think that if he wasn't there, the Scarabia students would probably be known for being just as reserved and solitary as Ignihyde or Diasomnia students.

Diasomnia is so cool, and I am so excited to learn more about the Diasomnia students come Book 7!! I love the vibe of the dorm, and the found family of the main 4 lads is so sweet. Also, I love Silver, and Lilia is also growing on me as a character.

I don't relate as much to Savanaclaw, but I think that the characters in the dorm are fantastic! Leona is so interesting to look at and analyze. Ruggie is also curious, and such a wonderfully scheme-y individual. And Jack is such a sweetheart, and deserves so much more love.

Ignihyde is a curious dorm to me, and I am also looking forward to how Idia and Ortho will develop in the post-Book 6 storylines. I think this may be my least favourite of the dorms... but I don't dislike Ignihyde. I would definitely struggle in that dorm (specifically with all the tech :/ ), and I don't really enjoy Idia or Ortho as much as most of the other characters. I think they're both really interesting, complex characters, and I LOVE hearing theories about them! They just don't... I don't know, tickle my fancy as much as some of the other students / dorms?

so, even though I mostly talk about Octavinelle, I'm more than happy to talk about any of the dorms / characters!! ^w^

[happylandfill23]

just read something from like 2019 about someone (completely against the band's knowledge) making a richey edwards biopic and. im guessing it was shelved bc that was years ago now (wow that was years ago now......huh) but i think i just lost twenty years of my lifespan thinking about what that would've been like

[thissying]

.

[flutteringfable]

not only is venti not here, but yae miko IS. what the hell hyv its like u wanted to make an event that pisses off me specifically

[marcos-scorpion]

daniel ricciardo doing so well in the sprint race really makes my severe dislike for him harder to rationalise