#it seems like it's mostly tiktok but i've seen people on here say it too

[iracundiias]

why are there so many people saying that dae-ho was probably the one who cuffed gi-hun to the bed? did we watch the same show???

[yuenthevoices]

Okay so I haven't seen Transformers One yet (just had midterms) but honestly from the bits i've seen of it - from movie clips on tiktok to some of the hilarious promo stuff they have Bee do - i'm ABSOLUTELY in love with it. some of my favorite stuff i've seen are the little, more niche details i don't see enough of that really show how much care has actually been put into the movie. don't worry, no spoilers for the actual movie - mostly about official promo clips and such.

for example, i saw a bit of an interview where it's said the animation team all grew up with transformers, and were even fighting to animate their favs. there was also another interview i saw where someone - i believe a story boarder/director - seemed genuinely pretty sad that they couldn't do the Megatron gladiator and Orion Pax archivist backstories because it would make the movie too long. like, there is just so much genuine love for the franchise that makes the movie so good and so interesting its crazy like ahduaogeuaisahe

alright alright so enough of my rant i know some of y'all are here for the x reader stuff soooo here's some TF One headcanons! also do keep in mind that this is from my very limited knowledge of the movie characters so prob oc? if they were to somehow meet humans

B-127 (Badassatron)

first off, he's such a silly guy and so adhd coded

but honestly, as a human, be just a bit careful around him, seeing as he accidentally knife-handed quite a few people, and some on purpose

he'd either be as clumsy as he is with his friends that he built, or would literally be too scared to get within touching distance of a human

if you want to get closer to him, honestly just listen to him - with some small input here and there to show you're listening - and he'd want to hang around you a lot more

really, just be nice, don't baby him, and let him yap as much as he wants - bonus points if you sometimes yap to him as well, i'm sure he'd be a great listening, with a lot of input from him, of course

Elita One

honestly, i wish i knew or could tell more about her, but any clips or trailers i've seen her in are pretty limited glimpses into her character

the trait i see the most from these glimpses however, is how she's ambitious and diligent

she'd probably respect you a great deal if you're as ambitious and diligent as she is, and would probably be a bit proud if you compliment her work ethic as well

i think she'd like someone who matches her, aiming for higher goals with the work and strength to prove it - especially since you're a human

bonus points if you can kick ass as well

D-16

similar case to Elita, except i think i have a bit more to go off of, considering how much he shows up in promo trailers and stuff

honestly, kinda hard for me to say?

again, i think he'd appreciate someone similar to him, considering how much time he spends with orion, it'd be a nice change of pace

someone who won't take bs, maybe a teeny bit of malicious compliance, and someone who doesn't try to hide their opinions

considering how mush shit miners seem to take from those who can transform, seeing someone else - especially some smaller, squisher being - being proactive and not taking shit, he'd probably be interested

Orion Pax

ok so only doing orion pax and not optimus prime because in total i've only seen like 3 clips of him as optimus soooo yea

i could see him with a jokester kind of person, but also with a more calm caretaker kind of person as well

being a jokester with him would be fun, and he'd probably have no problem with carrying you around to places for plans

being a calm caretaker would possibly be a little more stressful, but still fun with him nonetheless

either way, he'd still be somewhat careful, keeping in mind that he is much larger and sturdier than humans are

just don't play dead on him please, he'd genuinely freak out and run you over to D-16 and ask him what's wrong (D-16 probably won't find it nearly as funny lol)

[zabiume]

Hii! I hope I'm not being annoying by asking this, but I really enjoy reading your posts about Orihime so here goes; Recently I've seen a lot of people (that hate Orihime) act as if the fan service and sexualization of her is somehow her fault. Not to mention they seem to think it's a completly valid reason to hate her as well. And what confuses me even more is that the majority of these people claim that they care about female characters and hate when they get sexualized, but then as soon as they see a female character that is (unfortunately) sexualized they just reduce her down to her body anyway and say that the only purpose she serves is to be there for fan service. Even when she's so much more than her body! And that might be the case for some female characters but that's definitely not the case with Orihime. So like do they care or not? Anyways this is mostly from tiktok (I know you told me not to take them seriously the last time I sent an ask... but I can't help it😭) But I know reading your reply will probably restore the braincells I lost from dealing with these people!!!!

i've talked a little about this on my blog before, but i couldn't find the ask, so i think it's a good opportunity to discuss it again with a little nuance this time.

i know a lot of orihime fans are not going to like hearing this, but one of the reasons kubo draws her the way he does is blatantly for fanservice. it's not so bad in some areas (SS arc-FB arc for instance), but it's quite egregious in others (that one hideous calender spread, her TYBW outfit, etc). i've seen people defend this by saying that lots of people in real life do have big boobs, and i wholeheartedly agree, but fiction is not real life. as you said, orihime is not real, so everything about her is a choice an author had to make. kubo isn't drawing her that way for body positivity reasons, he's doing it for his and his male-oriented audience's enjoyment. i think the reason we, as orihime fans, feel so defensive of her, is because she was hated on far too much over far too little for so long, in ways that were really mean-spirited, unfair and yes, misogynistic. some of the criticisms leveled towards her were extremely unwarranted. however, the inverse of this is that you can never discuss any questionable parts of her character without people getting too defensive of kubo. which. is not a great look.

BUT. the real problem here is that it's treated as an exclusively orihime thing, when, in fact, it's not. every female character in bleach has been a "victim" of sexualization, to some degree. TYBW was especially hard to stomach in that respect. harribel's torture in hueco mundo, the disturbing interactions between urahara and yoruichi in god of thunder, masaki and rukia being naked without either of their consent (and masaki having no problem with this at all, while the men around rukia make disturbing remarks about it), the fatphobia that underlies hikifune's entire power structure, the transmisogyny against giselle being played for laughs. even BEFORE TYBW, we had an emotionally poignant moment between rangiku and orihime, where rangiku was naked for no reason. fan service is abundant throughout bleach, so it's a little disappointing that the conversation only ever pivots back to orihime. even outside of fan service, there are several moments where female characters have taken a hit so their male counterparts thrive. karin was introduced as a shinigami,,,,,and then never returned to the scene of action. ichigo got a whole 23-and-me breakdown of his genetics, but does yuzu even know her mother was a quincy? several female characters existed only to die and fuel the Man Pain of their loved ones. we know nothing about katagiri, except for that she lived to serve ryuuken.

these are just a FEW examples. i'm sure if we sat down to list all of them, we'd notice that this is a pattern, and not kubo turning his Misogyny Switch on only when he's writing/drawing orihime. i assume she's the only one getting singled out because her panel time increased dramatically over the years compared to the other female characters, but also. i think it's easier for a lot of bleach fans to narrow all these problems down to orihime so they can pretend bleach as a whole doesn't have problems. if orihime is the only one who "deserves better" then we don't have to talk about anyone else, we can just put her under the microscope and act like kubo exclusively forgets to be a good writer when he's writing her, but he's decent with everyone else. orihime needs to be perfect and meet every standard, but other female (and even male!) characters can get away with the bare minimum because they're well-loved by the fanbase, and, more importantly: none of those girls are in the way of beloved ships the way orihime is (since she's a canon love interest that's so deeply embedded into most of ichigo's major moments that she can't just be ignored or written off).

despite it all, orihime has still managed to retain interest and has a LOT of great character moments, just like the other bleach characters. none of this goalpost-pushing is new. as megan thee stallion once wisely said:

[UPDATE: i found the older ask. i say the same stuff there that i do here, but here's the link anyway]

[northopalshore]

Hi💗. My Libra (early degree) moon and Virgo rising is squared by my Sagittarius Pluto and it’s been tricky to handle throughout my life but it’s definitely more complicated when almost my whole generation (gen z) has their Pluto squaring my rising and moon too. There’s often themes of invasiveness, possessiveness, and jealousy. I want to know how the Pluto people think of me from their perspective. Even though I’m a Scorpio, it’s still a lot as if I’m not supposed to be around people my age.

𝄞⨾𓍢ִ໋ Hello!

It's definitely hard lol. Pluto in Sagittarius; can have a very big ego. That mostly why you see our generation being "less serious" but at the same time humourous, then at the same time pretentious know-it-alls. There is always someone here that believes they are better & more knowledgeable. *Cough* TikTok *cough* commentary. Mostly because most of us are still quite immature (regardless of age) but believe we aren't. I know all gen Zs can struggle with their image & god complex.

You, though are a part of this collective mess & I believe have similar tendencies as well, aren't comfortable with this as both your moon & rising are very idealistic & both perfectionist. You want to be seen as perfect (however you imagine that being).

Scorpios aren't really immune to "toxic plutonic energy" without the proper understanding or maturity they tend to.. "bite back".

I don't mean to seem harsh, but ego is something we all have. That pride and the desire to be something that we imagine in our heads can be quite fatal to anyone. Virgos tend to think "I can do better" but don't think it's only Virgos lol.

It's tough not to care or be jealous when someone else is doing the thing you associated with your identity "better than you" or if they wear things a way that you would (your ideal look). Especially since the media, regardless of the time frame is meant to push perfection to the audience. We naturally want to be viewed as special or desirable. Someone that others praise above the "rest". Whether by looking "different " (purposefully going against the beauty standard) or trying to be the pinnacle of it.

That's why it hurts when we are trying to move past that. We can either face the root cause of the problem; our pride & ego or continue to feed that hunger for acceptance or individuality.

It can take years, & decades even to really disconnect with that pride & to some degree, I believe we are never truly able to get rid of it.

₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑ . ₊ ⊹ .₊๋‧₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑ . ₊ ⊹ .₊๋‧₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑ . ₊ ⊹ .₊๋‧₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑ ⊹ .₊๋‧₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑

I'm saying this from experience; ego death is the most excruciating, time consuming, late night breakdown causing change of ones life. It's easier said than done 10x, but once it's over and you accept the reality and your flaws, everything will feel like a breeze. You are born a new with.. a clear mind & heart. I've never felt lighter my whole life lol. As I said before , I am enlightened. This is coming from a 9th house Sagittarius Stellium you know? The worst God complex assholes in the universe. (I can legally say that because I am one hehe).

(I feel like the only thing that could beat that is a Virgo 9th house Stellium)

₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑ . ₊ ⊹ .₊๋‧₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑ . ₊ ⊹ .₊๋‧₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑ . ₊ ⊹ .₊๋‧₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑ ⊹ .₊๋‧₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑

Hope this helps! I've definitely yapped too much lol.

[clairelsonao3]

Any Writers tried BookTok?

As some of you know, at some point in the New Year, I plan to self-publish a romance ebook. Over the next few months, I hope to start putting some more infrastructure in place to promote it for when the time comes to send out arcs, etc. I already have friends and supporters on Tumblr and A03, which is a great start. But of course, everyone says BookTok is the place to be, especially for romance writers. But I'm hesitating for a few reasons, which are:

Will I get canceled? To make a long story short, the book deals with topics that are not only dark but could be seen as controversial -- and are liable to be attacked by people who don't care that the book is the exact opposite of what they think it is and simply like canceling things based on certain phrases in titles, blurbs or loglines. Tumblr and Ao3, with a few unfortunate exceptions, have been mostly, blissfully free of these people, but BookTok strikes me as someplace that might have a lot of them. Idk, maybe I'm wrong. And if someone does try to cancel me, will I be able to handle it by simply refusing to engage?

I don't want to and can't really show my face for mostly professional reasons. (I like my face just fine, just not for TikTok!) I can use my own voice and, like, my hands or, something, but face is a no-go. Will I be severely hurting my chances of getting any eyeballs on my posts?

Is the culture toxic or likely to harm my mental health? No amount of promotion is worth something that's going to traumatize or hurt me (see above about cancellation). And if my work and/or my characters are hurt, I'm hurt. I've encountered toxicity on social media before and have largely stepped away from it, with Tumblr being the main exception because the community here is so wonderful.

Will it be too much of a time commitment? I know they suggest posting once a day, which seems like a lot, especially if it involves creating and editing original posts. And really anything that's going to take more than, say, 20 minutes out of my day (unless of course I really enjoy it, like I do Tumblr) is too much of a time commitment, in my opinion.

So, that said, I would love to hear from anyone who has experience with BookTok, especially writers of romance and ESPECIALLY writers of "dark," edgy, and/or controversial romance. Should I just try it for, say, a few weeks and see how I like it? (I have never used TikTok before, ever, so it would mostly just be getting a feel for it). Is that even possible?

Thank you for any opinions, anecdotes, or nuggets of wisdom anyone can offer!

[utilitymonstermash]

On the Matter of the TikTok Ban

There's a lot of motte-and-bailey stuff going around about the TikTok ban. (And I probably have some out-group homogeneity bias too.) For the record I'm mostly against the ban but am more sympathetic to some arguments than others. I thought I'd break down some of the reasons and why I think they are weak.

Probably the biggest umbrella reason for supporting a TikTok ban is espionage. Senator Cotton called it a "spy app."

The biggest, baddest version of the espionage argument I've heard is the app itself is hacking our phones. "Hacking" in that the app is going outside of its sandbox and collecting data not normally available to it. This would be a huge bombshell if true. However, I've seen no real evidence backing this claim. It seems like criminal law would be a great vector for tackling this. As far as I can tell we haven't seen a warrant served against ByteDance US offices. Even if criminal justice is too slow and we need more immediate relief over such a threat, making some evidence public would bolster that argument.

The weaker form of the espionage act is TikTok engages in surveillance capitalism and sells or gives the results to folks we don't like (Chinese Intelligence). This one feels like a nothing burger. I guess it is possible TikTok lacks the strong moral fiber of folks like Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai, and Evan Spiegel. It seems like the data is already out there. It transits a wide network of entities via multiple real time market places. I guess it would be marginally better if Chinese Intelligence would have to spend more to place ads and get data that way. It seems like the real solution to data privacy is a combination of technical safeguards to make less data available and strong legal protections (where again one can build a legal case) and not just naming and banning unpopular actors.

After espionage, the next most common justification I hear for TikTok is that it boosts Chinese soft power by spreading anti-American memes and/or social contagions that make American children unwell. I'll deal specifically with mental wellness in the next section and focus on Anti-American memes here.

As far as I can tell, the USG is a big booster of anti-America memes at home via how domestic status games and politics intersect into the arts world and into NEA funding. I suspect that the content NEA has funded over the past 50 years has a net negative valence on American history. I'd suggest the USG stop doing that if they are concerned about Anti-America memes.

I'm sure part of this must be my filter bubble, but very little I've seen on TikTok is overtly Anti-America. NYT's The 1619 Project sends much more of an America is a nation founded on sin and needs to atone message than anything I've ever seen on TikTok.

Beyond content that makes people overtly hate America, TikTok has been accused of promoting content that makes Americans unwell: social contagion, lionizing bad behavior, etc. The classic version of this is anorexia/bulimia content and pro-shoplifting content (looking at you Tumblr). A more modern right-wing take on this is pro-trans content being a social contagion (for the purposes of this post I will assume it is, sorry Trans friends and readers).

It's hard to say TikTok promotes this content any more than Instagram. It's possible that being owned by Evil Chinese Corporation boosts these categories beyond market demand for it, but has anyone actually proved that out. Up until about a week ago (long after the TikTok ban process started), Meta (Instagram) was one of the most pro-LGBTQ (and specifically pro-trans) big businesses on Earth. Or maybe TikTok's sin is being insufficiently pro-queer (a la Red Book).

I saw quite a bit of pro-trans and pro-queer content on TikTok, a tiny bit of pro-shoplifting content, and quite a bit of anti-cop content peaking in 2021 and declining from there. On the flip side, I saw a ton of pro-natalist content (beautiful moms, beautiful babies, heartwarming parenting videos). I also saw a ton of fitness content. I didn't see any eating disorder content but probably am not in the right demos for that.

Outside of a few banned content categories, it doesn't seem like TikTok is putting its thumb on the scale to make Americans unwell by showing them maladaptive strategies.

Aside from the content itself, some argue that the app’s design creates dopamine-driven addiction for both adults and children. It has been called Digital Fentanyl somewhat hyperbolically. (I've never seen someone passed out on the street at midday scrolling TikTok, but maybe their phones get scooped up too quickly). I’m somewhat sympathetic to this concern, but divestment (the USG’s preferred remedy) doesn’t really address it. It also doesn't seem like TikTok is the sole offender here, Instagram is a huge app with similar patterns. I'm not sure why Mark Zuckerberg profiting off this addiction is substantially better than ByteDance. It seems like a better remedy to scrolling addiction are things exclusion lists, age limits, parental controls, and if it really has to come down to it, rules about interfaces and content, rather than rules about ownership.

Outside of any app content, sometimes I see banning TikTok promoted as retaliation for China providing insufficient market access to its country by western companies. I am actually pretty sympathetic to this argument. China puts up big barriers to the access to its markets by outside companies, often requiring the use of joint-ventures with Chinese companies with Chinese staff which act as defacto technology transfer programs.

I think this is a bit ham-fisted towards that approach but ultimately not unreasonable. Instagram has a product not unlike TikTok, that ultimately degrades into a video scroller. YouTube Shorts is also awfully similar to TikTok. These apps seem to struggle with GTM and network access and not technology though. There's hardly any technology TikTok has that they lack. In terms of stealing technology, robbing part of a drone company, or part of Hauwei would give a bigger boon. In terms of local apps vs foreign apps, I think better localization and a sense of Chinese patriotism have given Chinese companies a leg up in their domestic markets, while an off putting censorship regime has caused foreign companies to stumble (only in the past decade have we really been able to begin to catch up on political taboos).

It's pretty clear that China is for the Chinese people. It doesn't reflect this perfectly, but a supermajority of Chinese seem to believe this. But “Who is America for?” is much less clear; it sometimes feels like it’s just for USD holders. I don't think it's really clear to Americans why Instagram winning is in their best interest. In fact Instagram's owners and staff weigh in on a lot of domestic disputes that ByteDance seems disinterested in.

I think in a healthier country, the local good-enough product would win. When was the last time "buy American" was anything but a punchline for rubes? We've dissolved the ties that bind us and are playing too many zero sum games at home.

As Sam Hyde puts it: "Wouldn't that be interesting if China makes it to Mars first. It would be great for Humanity why don't we do it. Let's do it. China makes it to Mars before America does that sound like fun? It's just humans; they're just interchangeable economic units. Why wouldn't we want that? I think we do do."

Lastly, resistance to divestment (choosing to dissolve rather than sell) has been used as a cudgel to "prove" that TikTok is up to something nefarious. I don't really buy it. This is an iterated game and there are a lot of players with their own agendas. If TikTok sells, it's open season to start swallowing-up Chinese foreign subsidiaries left and right. Making the US shut it down, makes US lawmakers pay a heavy price in terms of popularity for killing such a popular app. Meanwhile there are a bunch of staff at ByteDance Corporate (in China) who will likely circulate through a number of Chinese companies, who may be better off being viewed as standing up to America than capitulating. Sometimes it’s better not to pay the Danegeld.

[iraprince]

Heyo! Any advice on struggling to get your art seen in the world? I feel like no matter how much I post, or what I post, people never see it or seem to like it. I love art and am pursuing it as a career (hence why Im getting a degree in it currently lmao) but its kind of disheartening to work really hard on something, post it, and no one sees it.

oh, man. i'm afraid for this one i don't feel like i have a lot of solid advice. having a large-ish following online feels like something that kind of just, like, Happened to me, mostly on accident/in ways outside of my control, and even if i had some ideas on how to potentially replicate those gains i don't think they'd work consistently. (also, a lot of my large jumps in follower count came from mental health related work going viral bc it's #relatable; this is something i have complicated feelings about and it's absolutely not a viable, like, "strategy" or something that i would recommend, in the way that ppl can say like, "fanart gets attention!" or stuff like that.)

so, i don't have advice for how to actually GET those eyes on your art; i can maybe help with making ppl more likely to STAY once they do find you, and how to build a following that will actually help you maintain a living from your work -- bc i have TONS of peers w a following a fraction of the size of mine who get more jobs than me, are doing cooler/more "professional" stuff than me, etc! (heads up that most of my experience is on twitter; i know less than nothing about places like instagram + tiktok, and while tumblr functions very differently from twitter i feel like i handle things mostly the same here, aside from doing less personal posting/being less talkative and not 'networking' or following many people).

SCROLLING BACK UP TO ADD A SPOILER ALERT: AS ALWAYS I HAVE SAID "HAHA IDK I DON'T REALLY HAVE ANY ADVICE" AND THEN PROCEEDED TO TYPE A FULL ESSAY. IF YOU ARE ON DESKTOP YOU CAN HIT THE 'J' KEY TO SKIP THIS POST. IF YOU'RE ON MOBILE, I'M SORRY

a very important thing, especially professionally: it HAS to be easy to see what you do. (this is easier here on tumblr, where u can have a designated art tag etc, than on twitter, which is an awful website that sucks. <- guy who makes all his money on twitter) this means, like -- if i see something from you and get curious and click your profile, it should only take one more click to quickly see at least SOME of your art. on a professional account, it's probably best for your icon to be your own work, something snappy and memorable and eye-catching that reads well at a small size; people shouldn't have to dig for 20 minutes before they can start browsing your art. on twitter, this means TRY not to gunk up your media tab with a ton of reaction images/screencaps of your gacha pulls/etc; on here, it means make your art tag easy to find; on any website, a portfolio link, prominently displayed, is the best bet. (i am still working on that one myself lmao and i've been working professionally full time for a few years now so like, there are outliers and wiggle room on all of this).

next! it's great when your audience finds you, but you have to find them, too. find artists who do similar stuff to you and get into their stuff -- sincerely, not just as "networking." (like only do this with ppl whose stuff you actually think is cool, not just trying to get in mutuals with everyone you see in hopes of a bump, obviously.) get interested in other indie artists, find the people who are working/publishing in the spaces that are exciting and aspirational for you, and support them! i don't want it to sound cynical when i say there's a kind of give-and-take built into this; the point is not "well, if i reblog/retweet a bunch of YOUR stuff, maybe you'll feel obligated to boost mine in return," but that when you find other artists/creatives who are on the same wavelength as you, you will naturally stumble into pools of people who want to support art like yours, and you and your newfound peers will help each other when you hype each other's stuff up and direct followers to each other! (again re: things going differently on dif websites: this is twitter-specific for me, bc i use my tumblr as a gallery/portfolio. that doesn't mean it doesn't happen here tho! it can and does happen everywhere!)

it is really not a competition. i know that SOMETIMES it is in like, a really nitty-gritty numbers sense; people only have so much money to spare, they will make choices about whose patreon they can afford/what comic to buy/etc, that's true. but to me that's not competition. people who are sincerely into your stuff will hang on until they can afford it; maybe that means someone follows you for two whole years before the planets align and they have the budget/opportunity to commission you. by hanging out in similar circles you are not taking potential business or opportunities away from anyone else, nor are you risking leading your own audience to Someone They'll Like Better; you're just offering more options, and the internet is VAST and endless, and EVENTUALLY people will show up who are into YOUR STUFF, SPECIFICALLY. helping each other is never going to stifle or delay that!!

and my final chunk of advice is the one i give constantly that everyone is probably super sick of hearing but i just seriously seriously believe in it, even tho i know it's slow to pay off and hard to follow: keep doing exactly what you want to. keep doing it!!! you have to!!! yes, i mean the stuff that's getting like, 2 likes and 0 reblogs! the stuff that 'nobody likes!'

earlier i mentioned i have gotten big follower bumps from like adhd comics and stuff like that going viral. the thing is that, from a professional standpoint: my follower count has like, more than quintupled from where it was at a few years ago; my patreon income has absolutely NOT quintupled lmfao. it has less than doubled, over that same period of like... i wanna say over 4 years. that's still good, i'm grateful for it, and i owe a lot of it to the sheer numbers game (the more ppl see ur work, the more likely it is you'll reach someone who decides to support you), but there is absolutely not an actual direct correlation between numbers and career success/stability.

where there IS a direct correlation is between "people who give a shit about the art i really truly love making" and "people who like my art enough to support me professionally." HUGE chunks of the followers i get any time something goes viral slough off over time; there's nothing wrong with that, they just follow me bc something was funny/interesting and end up realizing my work's not actually their thing. but the ppl who follow me bc they're into all the stuff i post most consistently, the stuff i care about and am passionate about, stick around. and i would not have found them if i wasn't posting the shit i care about!

out there there are people who will be 100% crazy about the stuff that is 100% what you want to make. it's like actually statistically impossible for there not to be. the more niche your thing is, the longer it will take to find them, but they absolutely exist. but if you give up before you find them -- if you start saying, "well, i'll put in 50% of this idea that i love, but the other 50% is too weird and nobody's gonna like it and it'll flop" -- well, in that case, you can only ever find the ppl who are 50% into what you do. don't fuck yourself like that!! you cannot deny yourself the possibility (the INEVITABILITY!!! IMO!!!!!) of finding the people who will 100% get what you're doing.

so: on a pragmatic level, i'm sure there will be ppl who disagree with me on this, and who think it's absolutely mandatory to do fanart as a crowd draw or learn about algorithms and posting times and get on tiktok and do the visibility grind and everything and that it's stupid and irresponsible to tell people not to. i'm sure it's also easy to point out that i'm speaking from a place where i now have more eyes on my stuff than i know what to fucking do with so maybe i'm just totally out of touch and being naive or something. but for me the most important part of doing art now, ESPECIALLY as a career, is to keep loving it and to believe in what i'm doing and to build an audience that cares about the same things i do. and i think it is really really vital to make that your top priority. bc if you don't, then even if you DO crack the code to suddenly getting tons of notes on everything etc -- will you even keep wanting to do it?

this job is hard. it's lonely, in my experience; i spend so much time sitting in front of my computer alone. it's unstable, which is stressful and can be frightening. it's emotionally taxing, for me, because art is so important to me that it's hard to set boundaries and separate my identity from it and actually treat it like a job. it has taken me a long time to find success doing this; maybe i could have gotten there faster if i had tried to find ways to draw an audience specifically, but i think if i had somehow managed to get a big patreon following/tons of commissioners/etc by doing something formulaic or doing stuff that specifically gets tons of attention, but isn't what's natural for me -- i don't think i would have lasted very long that way. this is already hard and complicated enough; i don't think it's sustainable to give up any unnecessary ground on doing exactly what you're passionate about, bc at least in my case, that's mandatory for this even being a livable career for me. i would burn out and decide to do something else very quickly if the only way to succeed was to chase numbers/engagement.

doing it this way is very slow. if i hadn't been able to lean on family/my wife while starting up, i would have had to have a day job for much longer (like, years, probably) while saving up and preparing to go full time; for as long as you struggle to get traction, it may mean going full time has to be on the backburner. but the thing is that there's nothing wrong with that, it's the reality for the vast majority of us (from what i've seen) -- and you'll eventually build a career that can last way longer, i think.

okay oh my god i'm done. sorry about that. like i said this job is pretty lonely and i sit here all day and think about this stuff and then generally do not talk about it with anyone until somebody asks me about it and then i repeat myself at length again. like i did here. anyway have a good night sincerely and i hope some part of this was helpful!!!

[arikihalloween]

why do you follow artsy bug back on tiktok I thought you didnt support problematic and disgusting pppl

Did you check my following on tiktok and then came back here to specifically ask me about this ? That's kinda weird /lh

I saw that Bug made a return with new boundaries, and clear indications that they've learned from their mistakes and is trying to to better

So I followed again to see the developpement

But also, it seems you didn't follow what has been going on and the new infos on that specific situation

For one, it has been proven J and Bug merely enabled K's behavior, and most of the instances were situational and due mostly from a lack of boundary from what I've seen

There was no ill intent whatsoever and things were taken too far out of personal bias against all the creators involved (including K)

So as far as I know

J and B didn't groom, they made a mistake which was to enable a 17yo who approached them with nsfw (it was mostly Java btw, Bug was barely in those vocals to begin with)

Mind you, all the parties involved were like, 17, 18 and 19, which is still in the middle zone of teen and adult and as such, they'll make immature mistakes (you don't received the world's wisdom upon reaching 18 yk)

It's hypocritical to hold them to an impossible standard and try to keep the water muddy about what really happened by reducing them to "unredeemable disgusting problematic people"

And what really happened, again, was two immature young adults with a minor in their friend circle, being approached by said minor with nsfw, and failing to keep their boundaries clear

And they got called out. And made the right moves. Which was to apologize, cut contact with the minor, and improve themselves so the mistake won't happen again.

I'll still hold both Bug and Java accountable for their mistakes, I still don't follow Java and only refollowed Bug on tiktok to see their evolution, because Bug took visible actions to change and second chances are a thing, you know ? If Bug does something problematic again, I'll unfollow and probably block.

If musicboxtune has been allowed a second chance from people after being called out for trying to talk nsfw on call while actual children were present, being a shitty person, stealing ideas and forcing people to nsfw rp with them, why can't Bug be given a second chance after a bad joke and accidentally enabling someone they thought would turn 18 a month or two later ?

Bug showed improvements, I want to see if they'll keep those improvements.

Now typing this all out, I realise it's the first time I voice all my thoughts on the matter publicly

From day 1, from the first doc by Exposer, I felt something was off. The screenshots are weirdly cropped and there was only claims about the vocals. And as the situation unfold, it became abundantly clear that what actually happened wasn't important

It all felt like a weird power play, trying to ruin someone's reputation to rise by stepping on the crumbles

As soon as someone would get called out, I'd see 3-4 replies about people saying they'd take the ocs/AUs or advertising their own version of a concept

Right of the top of my head I can think of 5-6 people who stole either Java's or Bug's OCs

Not just AUs, OCs.

Do yall even realise that after all of this, Java and Bug have leverage to sue a whole bunch of people for cyberharassement, defamation and plagiat ? Yall realise ocs fall under original content and thus copyright, don't you ?

The enabling of nsfw, with the proofs that are out now, would mostly rule in their favor imo, because K is shown lying about their age a few times, deflecting blame and even said themselves that they were enabled, not groomed

Speaking of K, don't get me wrong, I'm worried about them. From day 1 it was clear there was someone else influencing them, which wasn't J and B. There had to be someone that brought up the "grooming" idea and K went along with it. There had to be other people K showed the nsfw too, other adults who likely also enabled, possibly intentionally contrary to J and B

Hell, just last week, there was a whole drama on twitter during which it was found out that an ADULT 'friend' of K IMPERSONATED them and made a NSFW ACCOUNT to "GET CLOSER TO K"

Like, fr protect this kiddo ?? After everything that happened how the fuck did people not notice this kinda behavior around K right away ??

And this person wasn't Java, nor Bug.

Now that I'm at it rambling, doesn't it feel so easy to blame Java and Bug ? They were and probably still are popular artists, it's easy to talk about fame and power dynamic (even if on the internet it doesn't actually mean much especially on a scale like this case bfr)

Everyone scrambled to try to claim Java and Bug's ocs right after they got called out. People have been waiting for this. Java had already been in a drama the year before at this point and there was still clear resentment leftover from then.

I'm not saying it was all planned out, it feels absurd to believe this was all a conspiracy to get rid of some popular artists

What I am saying tho, is that it was easy to blame the two popular artists who already had resentment about them, and then muddy the water to hide the involvement of many in the situation

How come we never held accountable the other adults present in that same server who were also on call with Java and K ? They could've also said something to stop the enabling

How come we don't know who K sent nsfw to, aside from J ? How come aren't all of the people who followed that nsfw account held accountable either ?

I disgress sorry

I hope that gave some food for thoughts for you anon tho

As a last note, thank you for asking me about this /gen

Although a dm would've been preferable, I supposed you prefer your anonymity which is fine ig

If I follow someone really problematic, I prefer to be told and shown proof, and I'll unfollow (or block)

I got nothing to hide, hence why I'm not trynna sugarcoat my thoughts on the whole thing

I made my own choice on this matter with the various doc that have been made available

If you want to stop supporting me and my work, that's your choice

Have a good day/morning/afternoon/evening/night

[lostsneeze]

Some Blue Forum Thoughts

TLRDR: It's only going to get worse so keep being sweet to each other everyone, here and discord are gonna be all we have

While not the most active member, I was on the forum for a pretty long time, long enough to notice some of the ways it's changed that I've been thinking might have subtly eroded the culture it fosters. Way back in the day, the Sneezing In Media subforum was used mostly to hunt down clips of shows or movies on youtube and share alerts of when particular episodes were going to come on TV in various regions. Y'know, so you could set your VCR to record them, a thing people used to do.

Nowadays though, movie/show media is a lot easier to find. So instead it's a lot of questions about if clips of particular celebrity individuals sneezing at all exist, and shares of youtubers, streamers, clips off tiktok, etc. That's not surprising, the media landscape has changed a lot since like 20 years ago. But it's...kinda weird, right? Streamers aren't really like movie actors or show characters, celebrity-wise. And most people on TikTok are just, like, regular people.

Hey you know how we have a persistent problem in this community from creepy folks behaving with a deranged sense of entitlement towards the videos and wavs other people make, obsessively collecting them, and even harassing creators for more in perpetuity?

Somewhat of an aside, but if you've seen my age in bio you might've noticed I was talking about 20 years ago on the forum and thought to yourselves "hey wait a minute, wouldn't that have made you a..." YES! Minors used to just be allowed on the forum! Maybe most people know this but until relatively few years ago there was a "youth" subforum where only minors were allowed, and all explicitly 18+ stuff like talkin' about sex and drugs was relegated to the "adult" board. Anything else was just open to whoever. Minors could "interact" as is said here.

And that was an upgrade, btw. Those segregating boards didn't always exist, for much of the forum's lifespan you could just...be 13 years old. And post observations, like about your classmates, in the general board. And click on art topics with full frontal nudity (honor system not to!). And get DM'd by middle-aged adults. Pretty bad!

The point of that digression is to say that the staff, even though it's different people by now I'm sure, has a tradition of moving slowly on even fairly glaring community issues. If something's not technically immediately a problem for anyone, it's probably something they don't feel is their place to do something about, as long as they're taking care of the few "bad apples" or whatever.

Do you feel like it might be a problem, though? Does having an entire subforum dedicated to collating voyeuristic cam footage of strangers seem like it might be...bad? Like the kind of thing that normalizes, facilitates, even encourages specifically one of the worst types of people this community produces? I do, personally! I think it would be hard to prove the exact effect it has, and there's always going to be creepos, but it demonstrates a cultural attitude that I think is a bad omen. The kind of place that just lets that slide without examination or regulation, probably ends up letting a lot else slide too.

So just as I said in the tldr, let's all continue to be mindful about keeping this place a different kind of place than that!

[femdemon]

I hate intros. Here's your context.

So, let's start with the obvious stuff. What are things that we can consider "canon" to Mesmerizer? What things definitively happen in the video?

There are multiple moments in the video where Teto is either discreetly or overtly signaling to the viewer that she needs help. She blinks SOS in morse code, she does the American Sign Language sign for the word "help," she does the hand signal popularized by TikTok that indicates someone being in an abusive situation, and during the "quiz time" segment of the video, the first letter of each word spells out "help." I've also seen people say that the "quiz time" segment also spells out "SOS" using letters in the middle of the words, but I'm not certain about that one and I'm too lazy to go check for myself.

Now I'm going to address some theories I've seen online that I don't agree with. I've seen people say that Miku hung herself or was hanged. I don't subscribe to this theory because the only evidence for it is the fact that Miku, after being hypnotized, tilts her head at an awkward angle, sticks her tongue out, and her eyes go black. I don't think that alone is enough to say for sure that Miku died this way, or even that she dies at all. I don't see this being the case because it seems as though Teto's eyes are also darkening by the end of the song, so I don't think those are indications of anything except having been hypnotized.

I don't think Mesmerizer is telling a narrative story at all, frankly.

Some theorize that Mesmerizer is a metaphor for society and a criticism of the way we've been "hypnotized" by social media. I would say there's even less evidence for this theory (the best evidence I've seen is how the video is often vertical in a way that's reminiscent of reels and such, and that's about it), but I do think it's a metaphor for something.

My whole take on Mesmerizer is that it's a very broad metaphor, possibly something personal to the creator, and it just happens to fit a lot of different scenarios. In other words, I think it's up for interpretation.

My interpretation is this: Miku and Teto are being "hypnotized," i.e. fed propaganda, to accept sub-optimal conditions and pretend everything is great.

It doesn't take too much poking beneath the surface to see that Teto is trying to get help, but she's mostly doing so in ways that are meant to be subtle. She doesn't want to draw too much attention to herself, otherwise something bad could happen.

Meanwhile, Miku is totally oblivious until the very end, when she's been hypnotized.

The lyrics of the song frequently mention that reality is too harsh and upsetting to engage with. Pretend not to notice, you've got your hands full just living, it's unrewarding, in a bot-like cycle, it's pointless, give up, "if you stare directly at reality you'll end up going blind, so do it in moderation." It seems to me like hypnosis in this context means giving up on reality because it's too painful to bear. Miku is easily hypnotized, but Teto fights the hypnosis for a good amount of time. By the end of the song, it seems as though she might also have succumbed to the hypnosis.

I feel like it's an important detail that both Miku and Teto are wearing what look to be work uniforms. Miku is obviously dressed as a waitress, with the roller skates, the visor, and the maid-like dress and apron, and Teto's outfit reminds me somewhat of maybe what someone working in a movie theater or train station might wear. So, I'm extrapolating that to suggest the reality they're being hypnotized into ignoring the harshness that is the reality of capitalism. They have to give in to the hypnosis and not just pretend to enjoy their situation but actually believe that they truly do, because the consequences are severe.

That could just be me projecting, but the work attire seems relevant. Like I said before, you could apply this metaphor to a lot of things.

[mad-scientist-enthusiast]

This may piss some people off, but idrc.

Given recent events in the US I see a lot of violent rhetoric being pushed by leftists, and I feel like it's important to evaluate our own beliefs on utilitarianism.

In leftist spaces we generally combat the utilitarian beliefs that certain individuals are more important/have more value than others. There's a general acknowledgement that those in higher positions, or who hold more privilege are treated as if they do hold more value by our society, and that this is very flawed. We recognize the issues in assigning MORE worth to some people and not to others. And we like to think we personally wouldn't assign value to people, yet as soon as someone does something we don't agree with (morally or otherwise) we switch gears. I'm not saying to be nice to everyone that we disagree with, but I am saying that everyone, even those who have done the most vile and unforgivable things have an intrinsic value as a human being, and deserve to be treated like one. For example, we know that the American prison system is fucked and actively detains and strips the rights from the poor and disadvantaged. And generally, we don't seem to fault the individuals, looking instead to the system. We advocate for rehabilitation of prisoners because we still see them as humans worthy of life. But when someone does commit a crime that is seen as irredeemable, that changes. Then it's okay that their rights are taken. It's okay if we misgender them. Hell, it's even okay if they are killed, because they've lost that value to us now. Do you see where I am going with this?

Recently I've seen self-proclaimed leftists saying in TIKTOK COMMENTS that they would love to see someone go on a manhunt to kill Nex Bennedict's killers. And while I obviously do not condone their actions, I hope it doesn't sound crazy for me to say that I don't think this is right?? It's unfair that they killed Nex Bennedict, but it is also not fair of us to sentence these teenagers to death because we have determined that they have lost the ability to be valued as a human being. What they did is unforgivable, but that doesn't mean we should strip them of their humanity because of this.

As humans, our worth should not be equated to the worst thing we've ever done. We all have worth because we are human. Assigning worth to people based on anything else is such a slippery slope because it's so arbitrary of a concept. If we can agree that all killers lose their value and deserve to die, then we'd have to define what specific circumstances makes someone a "killer." Otherwise, that might include accidental killings or self defense. But even then, this ignores the possibility that people can and very often do change. How do we judge someone's worth on something we can't all agree upon? It hurts to say that a killer deserves the basic right to life when you know that their victim absolutely did too. But they deserve to live and exist just as much as we all do.

And yes, killing can be substituted in for anything here that we find ourselves devaluing others based upon. No one deserves death. No one's life is any more or less important than anyone else's.

I would like to specify that there IS nuance to this, and not every situation is just black and white. By violence I am mostly referring to the sentiment that some people deserve death or deserve to be killed. I am not referring to violence in general, or violence against oppressive systems/individuals as I am aware that social change is destructive and that sometimes that requires violence. I know that I specified self defense mentioning the broad definition of a killer, and that is regarding the fact that in some cases killing someone else is legally and/or societally just. That being said, even someone killed in self defense did not deserve to die.

These conversations are difficult to have because it's not something we really want to accept. There are some horrible people in the world who do horrible things. But they are human too.

[birdhaslostit]

Okay,

top Ghost songs in no particular order: a review

New fan here, and I’m trying to learn everything i can about these guys. I first heard them on TikTok, but it actually wasn’t Mary On a Cross. Most people seem to have found them through that. (There’s no shame in it though, that song kicks ass.) I don’t remember the first Ghost song I ever heard, but I do remember hearing about them every once in a while.

Cirice (Ceremony and Devotion ver.)

If it isn't the live version, I don't want it. You can feel the electricity of the crowd. The chanting and yelling, you can practically see people reaching out, clawing to touch the stage. The guitars are especially ominous and twangy in this version. Papa's little additions of "can you?" and "I wanna know" make me want to scream back like I'm actually there. The way he ends it on a HOWL of a note, with the added reverb of it being played live? I've left my body, I am no longer alive. My ex-catholic ass has never felt closer to god than I have while listening to the lyrics "can't you see that you're lost? Can't you see that you're lost without me?" Also, Terzo specifically playing this live? I've seen the videos. Absolute filth. Incredible. I would shit my pants if I saw it in person. Can I hear the rumble that's calling? Absolutely I can. It's shaking my floorboards from all the bass.

Jesus He Knows Me

I just need to start by saying that this music video is the filthiest thing I've ever seen. And. I. Love. It. I didn't even catch the Defroque pun until a few days later. This song and this video absolutely gut scummy televangelists, and it's the greatest thing I've seen in years. It was one of the first Ghost music videos I ever watched, if not the first. All over TikTok, I saw video after video of people going "don't watch this, it's terrible, it's insane, it's so disrespectful, it's so gross." And of course, I had to see it after seeing so many people tell me how gnarly it was. I knew I'd definitely seen worse, and I had to see it for myself. It was, in the biblical sense, Eve grasping for the fruit of the tree. I logged into Youtube, and my jaw was on the ground. I could talk about it for days. It ran through my head on loop afterwards, and just would not go away. I was absolutely shocked and amazed at the balls on these people to put it all out in the open like that, and to not only get away with it, but to make a poignant statement while doing it. They didn't just do this for the shock value, they did it because it's the truth. This thing fucking rules.

Rats

Oh my god, it's spooky Def Leppard! I love spooky Def Leppard! That guitar solo! Just listen to those layered harmonies on each "oh woah-oh." The music video? Exceptional in every way. It's like I'm watching an 80s MTV spectacle. The choreography is burned into my brain like I've stared at the sun for too long. It is extravagant in every way, and I love it.

Con Clavi Con Dio (Ceremony and Devotion ver.)

Again, if it isn't the live version, I don't want it. It hits infinitely different than it does in the studio version. Hearing the reverb of the vocals bouncing around the stadium, and everyone staying silent to listen to it like it's gospel... Outrageous. Hearing that first "Lucifer?" The Italian sections? I'm getting flashbacks of going to church, but instead I'm actually having a good time.

He Is

Now, as an ex-catholic, I wasn't really raised on the typical evangelical/protestant 'youth group Jesus rock.' My church was all old people, so it was mostly the traditional stuff. But I definitely have heard the genre enough to know it when I hear it, and this is it— but not shitty, and not about Jesus. If I heard this at a church during a vulnerable time in my life as a teen, I would've totally been on board. And the inherent layers to that fact cannot be understated. It's a perfect critique/parody, no notes.

Life Eternal

This hits me like a half-and-half blend between Cirice and He Is. It's got that yearning, reaching, almost loving feel to it that Cirice has, but the sugar-sweet churchy vibe of He Is that makes you forget the fact that it's being sung by the devil's favorite band. It also gives me almost Journey vibes? Like, listen to Open Arms, and then listen to this. I can't be the only one.

I Believe

I genuinely did not know this was a cover until like 5 minutes ago. This shit is so ethereal. Like, almost Enya-esque? There are so many layers to it, so many different parts you could focus on, so many different sounds blending into one gorgeous whole. How is it so heavenly even though it's being sung by a satanic pope? I'm levitating. I'm contemplating my existence in this universe. The original is not bad by any means, but I love this version 100 times more. This isn't just a cover, honestly. The song has been totally transformed. The atmospheres of the two versions are so vastly different that calling it 'just a cover' is doing it a disservice.

Darkness At The Heart Of My Love

The little guitar bit at the very start really surprised me, honestly. At first it sounded like... Renaissance fair-y? And then the vocals started. Ghost really keeps you on your toes. This is truly a pseudo-love ballad I can get into. If I was driving a car while this was playing, I would accidentally start speeding during the chorus. Again, strong 80s rock band vibes with this one. I keep thinking Keep on Loving You by REO Speedwagon. And the whispered parts that I had to google because I couldn't understand what they were saying? Once I found out, I was sold.

Square Hammer (Ceremony and Devotion ver.)

The reversed vocals at the start? That Scooby Doo-ass intro with the 60s-style organ? Again, I'm telling you, spooky Def Leppard! I love it! The live version of this is just incomparable to the studio version. The booming power behind this recording is nuts. It's like thunder and lightning, I've got chills. Am I on the square? Am I on the level? Fuck yes I am. Am I ready to swear right here, right now, before the devil? Give me a knife and point me to the nearest sacrificial goat.

Dance Macabre

Spooky stripper music. It's got a late 60s/early 70s vibe to it in a way that I can't fully explain. It might be the organ, it might be the vocal style, it might be the hook. The hook for sure sounds like something a boy band might pull, in a good way. Nothing occult enough to make the parents throw away all of their records, but enough to make your religious dad turn his nose up at it.

Kiss the Go-Goat

Jim Morrison, is that you? "You've been daddied by all the dudes that wanna dad / And all those dads never gave you the things you should've had" is the most insane line in this whole thing. He had no right. That's like a quadruple entendre. The balls on this man. And you already know I love a good blasphemous Latin section. With the smooches at the end? Be still, my heart. I just know people in 1969 were screaming and throwing panties onstage. It's just a fact.

Bonus list of songs I would shit my pants if they covered:

Personal Jesus by Depeche Mode

Specifically the Holier Than Thou Approach with Francois Kevorkian. Like what the fuck else would they do? It's like asking a fish to breathe water. It would be stupid if they didn't. Do it, cowards.

The Hairstyle of the Devil by Momus

I love New Wave. I just do. And I think that Ghost could really transform it into something spectacular in their own style. The lyrics are fascinating: "And when you meet me finally your horns will lock with mine / For the beast rules with rivalry / As the clock rules with time / Pleased to meet you, hope you've guessed my name." They could do so much with this.

Bloody Mary by Lady Gaga

A pretty obvious pick, I know, but you have to admit it would be incredible.

Talking In Your Sleep by The Romantics

They could make this so slutty and so spooky, y'all. Listen to the lyrics and tell me they wouldn't.

Pet Sematary by The Ramones

Again, on-brand.

The Stroke by Billy Squier

I mean, come on.

Fortune and Fame by Naked Eyes

I can't tell you why, but in my mind, it really fits.

[fru1typunch]

So, this post blew up fast (mostly because of @neil-gaiman reblogging it) and I noticed something interesting in the replies and reblogs.

Firstly, I was told on TikTok to "post that on Tumblr, that's where all the fandom discourse is!" So, I did, even though I don't use Tumblr too much.

And on here, I'm being told to "post that on Twitter, the fandom over there really needs to hear it!" Which, I had already posted it over there, but fine.

And over there, I was told "Nah, the TikTok fandom needs to hear this the most, they're crazy!" As if this ISN'T reposted from my TikTok account.

(Refer to the second paragraph to see what the folks on TikTok have to say. Continue cycling through each claim of where the "bad" fandom is until you go crazy.)

Equally amongst all platforms are variations of "I've heard of this happening but have never actually seen any discourse anywhere, are fandom members actually fighting over headcanons?" types of comments.

Conclusion; the idea that everyone is at each other's throats is blown way out of proportion, and it's a non-existent problem. My original post may seem like I'm saying disrespect is a huge problem in the fandom, but it actually started from me and a friend talking about how we like to see ourselves in certain characters in different ways. Stop pitting fandom against fandom; we're all in the SAME fandom no matter which site we're using. There's actually way less discourse than I think a lot of people let on. On the internet, the angry voices usually get the megaphones of mass destruction. They're only loud because you're making them be heard.

Remember that fandom is a family, and the Ineffable fandom is a fairly kind and open one at that. Just keep being respectful to one another, even if you disagree about little things like character headcanons. At the end of the day, which is more important to you; having the "right" headcanons, or having kindness?

(Also; use he/him pronouns when referring to me, thanks. And yes, I did intentionally match the text colors to my red and blue streaks of hair. Everything is meant.)

I was told to share my TikTok on respecting each other's Good Omens headcanons here on Tumblr so HERE;

now can we all just shut up and hold hands or something (since aziracrow can't anymore)

[castlebyersafterdark]

oooh so your man would be a good gauge of noah's apparent cringe levels! does he think he is cringe in a cute way, or not at all and just cute? is he just looking at him or does he follow/see what he does like his videos? then we can see whether people think noah is cringe for the way he acts or his whole vibe, you know? if he's just looking at still images i guess thats different to following him and seeing how he speaks about his character etc. for example many of noah's shoots dont look like him imo! or rather, they dont capture his adorkable nature. he looks very serious and too cool for school in lots of his pro shoots. thats prob the clothes and posing, but some people can never look that way no matter how they pose lol.

noah is a man with many sides and we love it.

I'm adding two older ones that got lost in the mix from 2 weeks ago I think?

First off, Z is so not a fandom guy. He's a "watches the show and thinks about it but that's it" kinda fan. A lot is distilled and simplified through me. Mostly I regale him with theories and sometimes an idea for a story I'm working on. The guy's not really online in the way I'm VERY online. Like I've off hand mentioned that people think FN might be an item and his reaction was a head nod and a "wow, good for them!" kinda thing. He's hysterical to me. I love my normie fiance.

But - rewatching the show and the osmosis from my antics - he's admitted he finds Noah adorable and really hot. He looooves Will. Will is his fave (and Eddie...) 🙄 So it's all surface level, he's not watching his tiktoks regularly, he's barely aware of all the shit that went on. Not his world and I like that we've got much different interests. Idk what that man does online but it's not what I'm doing, that much is true. Noah is just... really his type of guy. I know this. I'm with him. I know what he likes in prn and what he's attracted to, we're sending each other/showing each other stuff. It's fun. I'm not surprised that our boy Noah checks a lot of boxes and I really love that, truly hahaha. Maybe that's hard to understand the openness but we're lovers and besties simultaneously, it's so wonderful. I always want to know all of his thoughts. There's zero jealousy between us. Might be hard to understand, but what we've both been through... we have so much fun. There's no secrets. Why am I rambling? I can't help it with him!!!

Re: the question about "why does it seem taboo for gay men to discuss the emotions amongst each other?" and I think just to keep this one brief - it's very much what you're exposed to, it's very surface level online. I'll admit that - see how this devolved around here the last day or so, all talking about body parts and physical appearance? When typically I'm very sentimental and insightful? Haha. A lot online is a space to just riff and thirst and it's all very pointed based on where you're looking. Sure, of course on a sex forum or hyper-focused twitter pages or in the thirst comments on photos posted to social media - it's going to skew very shallow and superficial. Bodies are easier to talk about in casual passing. The internet is massive.

But in the real world, it's not like a total shallow horn fest 24/7. Normalcy. Maybe there is a line I refuse to acknowledge because I am the way I am, I know I'm a little different, but I wouldn't discredit guys as all being the way perception might skew. I admit I don't think most people in general are acting the way I and many fandom-focused people are online. I think the line is personality type - and I'm a romantic creative. I'm an artist. It's different. But... you're also right in that I am taking the time to talk about the emotional aspect as well.

For perspective, I've been an observer and participator in some forums (Reddit, mostly) and it's so interesting and touching that time and time again when the threads start as the question posed "What is your ultimate fantasy?" I've seen guys say filthy things, and then when someone speaks up and talks about desiring pure love and passion and companionship from a lover, wanting a husband, dreaming about marriage to their perfect guy?? The filth kinda takes a backseat. Love is the fantasy. It really makes me emotional when I see that. Listen. It's there. It's just harder to talk about and be vulnerable. I wear my heart on my sleeve, not everyone does and that's ok. The hearts are beating, they're just not as easily displayed. I don't know why, it's just my personality 😌

This ended up a lot less about reactions to the actors and more introspective but I needed to ramble I guess to offset the ridiculous of yesterday hahaha

[cinematricksbooksins]

Toxic Mean Girl Gatekeepers

I like TikTok as much as the next person. I won't lie when I say I also enjoy Booktok from time to time. While I haven't found the greatest of recommendations on there, I have found some fun mindless reads off an on. When I first started watching Booktok videos and lives, I thought it was a nice community. Don't get me wrong, there are some genuine and nice people on there. However, in more recent weeks I have seen nothing but toxic, hateful, mean girls attitude, and gatekeeping mindset within all of the drama. It almost feels unwelcoming in certain aspects.

I've seen booktokers belittle and make mocking videos over people of certain genders just getting into reading and wanting to share their journey. Mostly it's because these individuals get more views and followers in two videos than these seasoned booktokers have. It's not the posters fault, so why bully and gatekeep reading or even making book related content? At least they're reading! Books and reading should never be gatekept.

Another thing I've seen is readers and authors going after each other. Leave each other alone. If a reader didn't like your story or doesn't want to read your work it's not personal. They have their own tastes. For readers, authors can't win with them when it comes to certain topics or they've been belittled and bullied for asking people to leave any critiques and reviews of their books.

Don't even get me started on the lives. Like I said, there are plenty of nice and welcoming booktok lives. However, one I've seen for almost a year now has moved from being welcoming to having horrible toxic mean girl energy. They don't get many views. Normally their audience is 3-12 people. They used to engage with people like crazy in the comments. However, in more recent months, unless you have the followers to go live with them...they won't engage with you. It doesn't matter if you are a reader, author, or writer. No huge following...no engagement. This was sad for me. I used to engage with them, but now they won't even talk to me because I don't have the viewers. I'm not the only they've done this too either. People who have been here for over a year, supported them, engaged with them, are just cut off and ignored simply because of a follower count and lack of videos. Another issue is they claim to not want drama and to stand up for their indie authors and friends, but i have seen the cattiness between them or others that come on. I've seen the backhanded comments about authors they "refuse" to name and how they persuade each other to remove books and not buy books from people they deem "horrible". Yet, they refuse to say what the author did or who the author is. They've even texted about people in the live chat while on the live and laughed about it. I don't know, it comes across as very mean girl energy.

I don't know. Just a few things have been bothering me recently with seeing the toxic side of booktok for once. I'm not one to post. I barely have any videos up on my page as is because I'm just not one for content creating. Regardless, I thought about posting books I've been enjoying or books I bought that I can't wait to get to, but now...I just don't think I want to. I'd rather keep it to myself and not share than have a bombardment of bullies, mean girls, and gatekeepers. I get every clique on the app has these mentalities, but I've just been flooded with Booktok specifically recently and it makes me sad. Just when books were becoming popular again, it seems like its starting to die off because of all the drama. What are your thoughts on booktok? Has it become more toxic over the years?

[astralfern]

as Saturn gets ready for his next voyage...

Saturn highway by @/taudalpoi on IG. All of their work is exquisite

Everything feels like it'll be exponentially wired. Like an avalanche of karma has been inquired in us to understand our purpose.

Saturn entering Aquarius March of 2020:

We saw an exponential growth of occult interest and people becoming more spiritually aware. Psychic awareness kicked up to speed for the collective conscious and we have been isolated but online. Whether people were aware or not, we were entering a mental conditioning of becoming more self aware with ourselves, or the problems that have been silent for too long.

I downloaded TikTok (I felt like everyone did also), and that made connecting with others on a social media platform viable than any other platforms. This was also the beginning stage of changing how we think, in ways we think of how we get our news. People like to rely on Tik Tok for "real" news, as public news does not address what we are really needing to take care of in our society. News does play repetitive stories and I end up listening in a lil' anyways because my parents blast it in the living room. Mostly by my father. But the news is sadistic to say the least. But we can't ignore the fact that 'doom-scrolling' has its place on the app, and that it changes our outlook on ourselves and the way we go about things through trends that come and go quick. An example of this coming-and-going are the articles saying how much TikTok decreases your attention span.

Fast forward to 2022-now, we now see how social media has effected us. Sayings such as "chronically online" or my fave "touch some grass" have been going around, subjecting to the fact that some people have not gotten out of the habit of consoling the internet for every situation to play out in the way they have seen it through the screens. People have been reaching so hard to find a problem where there isn't, and it can be annoying. But it is the internet, we can thank the fact that everything is accessible now. Everyone's opinion feels like a righteous one, and people batter at the cages.

And a big honorable mention to the most riveting example of Saturn in Aquarius issssssssssss:

online classes! remotely working from home! and creating a generation of children who will have to deal with the beginning of a new era in technological changes! such as VR and AI (Pluto will have so much fun with this)

As Saturn goes into Pisces on March 7th 2023:

We are forced mentally to console with ourselves. take it as a spiritual incubation. We are still free to go outside of ourselves and create relationships, but mentally we will be swimming in these unconscious waters where we will see the repercussions of the actions we have taken. For ourselves, and others, we haven't been able to take the time to see who we are. WHY are we here?

WHAT WAS THE REASONNJNJN

I've had Cardi B saying this in my head since pisces season started, and I want to talk more about that in my next post about the season of pisces.

Saturn is the antithesis of letting you go short handed. It wants you to know the karma of your actions, and performs it from the people around you. Relationships will be a real kicker during this transit, we'll see why we keep holding on to certain people for god knows why (oh thank you Saturn for revealing that to me in a certain situation, now I'll just go figure myself out during this transit so I don't waste time crying over people that lacked care for me).

This will seem like a ruthless, scary, and what feels like a punishing time at first, but it's really not. I feel like this is more of a time to relinquish towards a womb-like state, and to fully master ourselves before trying to figure out everyone else. When was the lat time we thought for ourselves? Sure, there's work to be done and bills to pay. But what is happening is far greater than us and we will be seeing that through our creativity. What is something you've been wanting to manifest for a while? Whether you've thought it to be a silly nothing, or your ideal life, there is a reason for such a thought to be instilled. Perhaps before you were born, a soul transcendence took place to reach a higher plan to take the place of the last journey. Never give up on your dreams ✨♓️🪐