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i-want-my-iwtv · 3 years ago

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Greetings! I have been following these novels for many years and there is something that makes me uneasy about other fans and not so fans.

What do you think that in 2021 there are still people who deny homosexual romantic relationships in VC?

It always amazed me that this aspect of the story was in doubt for some, even when Loustat (and others) exists.

The worst thing is that this doesn't happen with straight ships like Lestat / Akasha, there are no crazy arguments or doubts about the "romantic attraction" between them, is extremely hypocritical. I know the author is also responsible for the confusion due to her past actions, but the source material should speak for itself...

valid thought or simple homophobia in disguise? Will the new television series clear up the doubts?

Sorry to ask anonymously but internet discussions scare me 🙇‍♀️

Hello!

I have to say right at the start that you're right that internet discussions can get scary, and your being on Anon could be bait for an argument. I talked this over with @monstersinthecosmos and others, and I’m going to respond as if this is a good faith question, for the sake of other ppl who might be too shy to ask.

Short answer: Have your own opinions. Even the author can't tell you what to think. If you want to find others who share your opinion, hopefully they're out there. Go to the #vampire chronicles tag. Find ppl through fanfic/fanart/etc. of ships you like and strike up a conversation!

I tried to be brief below but a novel-length essay could be written in response to this. I don’t presume to be the authority on anything, I’m a fandom old, and this blog is generally about reducing stress, considering different perspectives, Ship and Let Ship, promoting fanworks and enjoying each other’s company as it relates to this book series, and other non-VC things that catch my eye. I’m not a paid spokesperson for Anne Rice or anyone else. BUT, I do think that the author’s comments are relevant at times, so I’ll be including some from her.

I’ll also tag @annabellioncourt and @gothiccharmschool, if they would like to weigh in on any of this. (These two, and @monstersinthecosmos, are also welcome to edit my post for length if they would like to do so, if you want to edit my post, please ask permission privately first, off anon).

OK now for the long answer. THIS GOT LENGTHY. Get a drink and settle in. Or scroll past.

Trigger warnings for talking about homophobia and “gal pals” meme later on.

(Hit the jump for this, cut for length.)

I have been following these novels for many years and there is something that makes me uneasy about other fans and not so fans.

If your impression is that there is evidence of homosexual romantic relationships, I agree with you! Perhaps it’s more complicated than that (other terminology like pansexuality, bisexuality, etc.), but still, I don’t think that validates us as “real” fans. Ppl disagree about books and characters all the time. We have a very contentious character (who shall not be named)(and there’s really more than one, let’s be honest) who some readers absolutely adore and make fanart/fanfic/meta of, and who other readers absolutely detest with such a passion I wonder if they don’t get pleasure from just hating them. Holding a certain opinion about a character or the story doesn’t disqualify you as being a fan, IMO. I might not personally want to interact with someone for my own reasons, but that’s a personal preference, which we can all have.

What do you think that in 2021 there are still people who deny homosexual romantic relationships in VC? It always amazed me that this aspect of the story was in doubt for some, even when Loustat (and others) exists.

I think that in 2021 there are still people who doubt/deny homosexual romantic relationships in real life. For a lot of reasons. For VC:

A lot of more mainstream/casual fans only saw the movies, so their experience might be influenced by the movies, in which Lestat/Jesse and Lestat/Akasha is a legit ship, and his turning at the hands of [REDACTED MALE CHARACTER] was non-consensual.

Or these mainstream/casual fans read the books a really long time ago, and don’t remember them well, the first few of these books are 30-46 yrs old

Adding on to #2, some writers, possibly including Anne Rice, had limitations. She had editors back then, and listened to them.

The lack of explicit penetrative sex scenes for the vampires in canon (or it’s just not very pleasurable, see Pandora...). If you require that for a relationship to be a real homosexual romantic relationship, you’re possibly being aphobic, though; ace relationships exist as well.

Adding on to #4, she was capable of writing explicitly sexual books, but she did it under a pseudonym “A.N. Roquelaure” between 1983-2015, 3/4 of them published between ‘83-85.

On including sex scenes, please read this bc ppl need to know that she had this experience bc of her sex scenes, Cry to Heaven was published in 1982, preceding TVL (1985):

BTW, just gonna leave this here re: Anne’s opinion of movie!QOTD, and I include it not to trample anyone who enjoyed it, so I’m sorry for that in advance, but I want to show that she didn’t buy into the changes they made to the original story:

To add on to #4, Anne has said her vampire characters do not have sexual relations with each other or with humans (although there are scenes where they simulate it as much as possible). Sorry these are such low-res old screencaps, I couldn’t find the original posts again to make a new ones:

I’d also say that Anne did come up with her own ideas about their physiology and origins, and I think she made the choice that they don’t have sex as yet another pleasurable thing (sunlight, food, wine) that her characters have to GIVE UP in order to have immortality. She implies that blood sharing is more intimate anyway.

But since we are talking about VC specifically, I would say that movie!IWTV went as far as it could to show Lestat/Louis were in a real romantic relationship given the limitations of that time period in 1994. I would hope that we can do better now.

The worst thing is that this doesn't happen with straight ships like Lestat / Akasha, there are no crazy arguments or doubts about the "romantic attraction" between them, is extremely hypocritical.

I haven't seen arguments doubting the romantic attraction between Lestat/Akasha, which might very well exist and I just haven't seen them, but according to Anne Rice, Lestat is bisexual (for all we know, Akasha may be bisexual, too, being married to a man does not prove an orientation). So that could be biphobic/panphobic to say that his being in a relationship with someone of the opposite gender is purely straight. There’s probably a whole discussion that could be had over the term “romantic attraction,” as well. Ppl can be attracted to ppl, without it being a complete relationship.

My opinion about Lestat/Akasha is that it was an abusive relationship, where she kidnapped him, kept him drugged and sleep-deprived, and love bombed him like a narcissist would, when she wasn’t threatening to hurt/kill his loved ones. It was portrayed in movie!QOTD as loving, I suppose, but that kind of manipulative relationship can look loving on the outside. From my reading, he was notably stressed at the big meeting with the coven, trying to broker a peace that would keep her from killing any of them.

As far as no one arguing about it, there is some fanart of Lestat/Akasha, but that’s to be expected from the QOTD movie, and bc ppl are fans of Aaliyah and Stuart Townsend.

I know the author is also responsible for the confusion due to her past actions, but the source material should speak for itself...

I think Anne Rice has always confirmed that her ships are not straight, and that fans SHOULD let the source material speak for itself:

She has also supported gay marriage rights, here’s one example:

And I think for some readers, the source material does speak for itself. There were hundreds of comments on this one post, but I chose 2 for brevity.

valid thought or simple homophobia in disguise?

I don’t think it’s necessarily homophobia when ppl say Lestat is straight when he’s with Akasha or in movie!QOTD, it’s their own interpretation. It’s certainly possible to ship Lestat/Akasha (or any other straight ship in VC) and NOT be homophobic. It’s also possible to be both a Lestat/Akasha and Louis/Lestat shipper:

Will the new television series clear up the doubts?

Probably not! If ppl aren’t buying it from canon or from the author herself, they’re going to keep shipping what they like. Even having explicit sex scenes isn’t enough to convince some ppl.

Whether or not they’re believable in the slightest, there are articles about “2 men can have sex and not be gay” online, and there’s the old meme:

Even being married and/or co-parenting/having a child isn’t enough.

^Just Gals being Pals (from the webcomic Book of Adam) by Adam ElIis @adamtotscomix

I haven’t read these but it was easy to find them:

I’m sorry I can’t end it on a hugely positive note, there’s too many landmines to step on. I’ll put this here again:

#vampire chronicles #anne rice #facebook #tw #triggering themes #possibly triggering #trigger warning #gal pals #homophobia #ask #anon #iwantmyiwtv has opinions #long post #lgbt #gay

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rnegitsune · 4 years ago

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Ok so I thought I'd put together some horror stories from my time as a babymetal fan bc of how drastic the shift in the fandom has been the past year or so. For context I got into babymetal in like june of 2014 (all 3 girls were still underage at the time, I was 22; when I first got into them I thought I would be considered an older fan lmao the naivete, the innocence of new fan me wow I know now I'm not at all in the older half of the fandom esp considering I was born the same decade as su and moa), and I made this blog in I think may of 2015.

I've had people say I should compile men being gross into a post and I just couldn't do that out of fear for my own mental health but this will be pretty close. These are all my experiences with this fandom over the years; I'm definitely missing some but what I do remember should do well to cover most of how this fandom used to be vs now. It's gonna be a lot and tw for men being gross about minors.

Back in my first year or so of this blog I on multiple occasions got dms from men asking to be friends. At the time my bio only said my name and my pronouns. I've always been cautious of dms so I'd ask their age and every single one was considerably older than me. I wouldn't usually answer after that bc no thanks but they would generally try to continue convos til I blocked. The only one I still had was this one

After I put my age in my bio, which was 23 at the time, I never got a dm like that again; take from that what you will. But if you're young please be wary of this hell fandom even now. And if you're an older fan and esp an older male fan reading this, don't dm people trying to be friends. I was over 18 and it still creeped me out to no end.

One of my real first men in this fandom are disgusting moments was a blog back in like 2015 or 2016 who I had some contact with due to common interests; he was a huge yui stan and made bm content. He was like 28 or 29 at the time and I eventually noticed he would tag idols, mostly kpop girls, by their body parts (legs, butt, etc) which is disgusting enough as it is but then I saw him do the same for literal minors, like tzuyu from twice. I messaged him asking what the hell he was doing objectifying women but also actual children and he blocked me lmao. He later unblocked me to let me know that's just how he tagged things and it was my fault he had anxiety and then he blocked me again.

Back before the tumblr purge this fandom was repulsive to a degree I cannot even begin to describe. Someone would reblog something from me, I'd go to their blog and it would be underage jpop idols and japanese p*rn all the way down. I even stumbled upon a man editing underage su into p*rn gifs. Obviously no proof of that but I did go find my initial reaction to it

The number of times I'd get a follow from someone then go to their blog and it would be as mentioned above or their bio would be the most misogynistic trash I'd ever read was staggering. I genuinely considered giving up and deleting this blog so many times bc i felt oberwhelmed and outnumbered by these gross old dudes; and so the fact that this fandom has evolved into a bunch of chaotic wlw?? Amazing, I could cry.

Fun phenomenon of women running bm blogs was men sending messages asking if we liked babymetal. No joke. I think this happened to me two or three times but I spoke w other female creators at the time and it had happened to them as well. My entire blog is babymetal, and yet???

He said the weird guy idk bc he sent some random ass messages vaguely insulting me and when I responded coldly, he acted confused so I said you're some guy idk, hence the above message starting as such. Also that pic and the one up above that has my current pfp bc I just took those screenshots. Like I said I typically blocked weird dms but I guess these passed me by so I still had the messages.

Most people know the sub reddit is the worst and don't need me to tell you but it's a hellscape and I highly recommend avoiding it. A short list of things I've had to see as a result of going there: men discussing at length kano and momoko's appearances and how they look in costume vs in normal clothes. Men discussing at length the hope that the girls would marry men who aren't Japanese, a thread that was from when all 3 girls were underage. They aren't gonna marry you dude they're really not.

The insulting of billie Eilish, a 17 year old at the time, was horrible too. Su and moa got to meet her, something they were extremely excited for, and they posted a pic; the comments were disgusting as you can imagine. The yui rumors were terrible too, fatshaming, slutshaming etc all based on nothing. Some man saying the rumors about yui leaving bc, no joke this was a real rumor, she "got too fat" couldn't be true bc "look at saya." Saya being a barely 18 yo back up dancer who covered the third spot after yui left but before the avengers. Not to mention the upskirt shots from when they were minors, the constant editing of their faces onto explicit photoshoots etc. I remember being a new fan looking for a su pic on google and being horrified at the fact that one of the top suggested results after her name was “bikini;” she was 16 at the time. Also, the uptick in massively creepy posts and messages sent to bm blogs as each girl, but esp moa and yui, approached 18 was disgusting.

Now for some personal nonsense. A big reason why I haven't touched my youtube channel in months is bc I got tired of dealing with the men of this fandom. I poke fun at metal and get told I deserve to die. I say ped*philes and creepy men are gross and get a swarm of middle aged men cursing at me. Had a guy cry about how men are shamed for liking bm and then he turned around and said some gross shit about wlw. Had a guy call me racist for liking a band he also likes (and despite him having no way of knowing my own race) and tell me the babymetal fandom doesn't need my kpop feminist bullshit, which is honestly a great description and I thought about putting it in my yt about lmao. Had a middle aged man unironically say he'd never seen a man be creepy towards bm but fans su and moa's ages calling them hot was creepy. The disillusionment....the level of unawareness is astounding. If you want to see screenshots of some of these comments they are fairly recent in my don't mind me tag; I don't want to see them anymore tho bc they're infuriating so I'm not going to look at them to post here.

Essentially I haven't looked at my channel since may bc men are exhausting and rude and refuse to examine the fandoms they're a part of no matter what. They're told by a woman of the fandom that she's had bad experiences personally and they all start crying about how it's either a lie bc they haven't seen it or unimportant. I did stop reading comments in may and I will never read another one again probably as a result of this shit. Trash men being trash are not worth my time and I refuse to give them anymore of it. I do plan on making more videos tho and let my ~feminist kpop bullshit~ live in their minds rent free.

I will also continue to make fun of metal and the creepy men in this fandom bc it's important and I'm a spiteful asshole who likes disrupting these dudes perfect bubble of a fandom. It genuinely brings me so much joy seeing all the new fans recently (which sidenote if you got into them recently I am kinda curious as to how you found them; I've gotten tons of new followers and considering how inactive they are rn I'm curious). People sending messages about how they finally feel like they belong or that they have a safe space....like I don't even know what to say and I never feel like my responses fully convey how genuinely wonderful that is and how thrilled I am that this is where we're at now and I have had at least some part in it. As this post shows, my experiences have been negative for the most part so the shift recently is such a relief I cannot even begin to explain my gratitude.

So to anyone who read all of this and hasn't disintegrated from the male bullshit, thank you. Keep being yourself and fighting for your place in this fandom, esp if you're a young woman; keep making fun of the creeps and keep making wlw memes!! Babymetal's music is in such a huge way meant for girls and to see more and more finding their way to this previously hellish beyond belief fandom is incredible.

#babymetal #don't mind me #this is long ok

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amachja-moved · 4 years ago

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SHIPPING INFO // answer the following for your muse(s) so people know how shipping works on your blog. REPOST. don’t reblog.

WHAT’S YOUR OTP FOR YOUR MUSE?: I don’t typically tend to have OTPs that are not canon; I don’t spontaneously ship characters on a show that are not an actual canon pairing, even less so when there is no sign of them being the possibility of a pairing. I would say there are fandom-made ships whose aesthetics and possible dynamics I gravitate towards, or that I can see making sense, more than proper OTPs (because part of me also appreciates seeing platonic relationships, blame my lil aroace heart that doesn’t see enough well-developed, important friendships, for instance - doesn’t stop me from loving fanarts and pairings I stumble upon or am introduced to, like Mikasasha or Berusasha!). For Sasha specifically, Sasha & Niccolo is the main one, precisely because it is canon and makes complete sense - there really is no better match for Sasha than a cook, and the fact that he is a Marleyan doubles down on the Braus’ themes of tolerance and open-mindedness. And of course, I have my ultimate BROTPs, namely the trio Sasha & Connie & Jean, and Mikasa & Sasha & Historia. Bffs and roommates Sasha & Mikasa. And since the train track episode, Sasha & Armin.

WHAT ARE YOU WILLING TO RP WHEN IT COMES TO SHIPPING?: Pretty much anything goes! Except non-consensual stuff, abuse, things such as incest, paedophilia etc - nobody can ever convince me to include that in any ship whatsoever. I rp to have a good time and be full of feels, I love me a good angst, but those things I would not consider good angst. What I’m willing to rp includes pretty much anything else: fluffy ships, angsty ships, soft ships, tragedy, fun stuff, evolution from friends to lovers, enemies to lovers, and all and any nuance that we can think of. I like variety in my ships! And I like to go deep into the development, so the upside is, if you choose to ship with me, you will always have a partner willing to discuss the relationship at length and imagine all the details of it all, and start ten different threads (note that this goes with platonic ships too - friendships, family, etc). The possible downside you may find, depending on your own preferences, is that it takes me a little while to find my footing, and I like to put in the time to find the right tone so that the ship doesn’t just... jump out of the blue, if that makes sense? And sometimes I wonder if it may deter people or make them think I’m not as enthusiastic or involved in the ship, when in reality it’s the opposite. Shipping on tumblr also feels very different from my experience of shipping on a forum, where it’s all about long-term development and commitment, and where I’ve had the same three ship partners for three years now, so maybe I need to adjust to the more ephemeral format of tumblr too. (what do you mean I completely derailed from the original question?)

HOW LARGE DOES THE AGE GAP HAVE TO BE TO MAKE IT UNCOMFORTABLE?: I absolutely will not rp a ship where one character is a minor and the other is not. When it comes to AoT, I also will not ship Sasha with anyone who is already an adult when she is still a Cadet, including post-timeskip - for instance, I will not ship Sasha with a Levi, even when she is an adult. It just doesn’t sit right with me.

ARE YOU SELECTIVE WHEN SHIPPING?: Aye I am. I’ve never shipped a lot (I’m pretty sure this blog is where I’ve shipped the most, ever), partly due to being selective, partly due to not necessarily being very good at understanding the tumblr shipping etiquette because I’m a wee bit of a simpleton. But basically, I will not ship unless I have talked ooc with the mun of the other muse, and we’ve had a few interactions pointing towards compatibility of writing styles and personalities. I just want to get along with the people I ship with and enjoy their writing, and hopefully that they enjoy my writing too and want to interact regularly too! (what’s the point in shipping, otherwise) (or interacting at all, for that matter!)

HOW FAR DO STEAMY MOMENTS HAVE TO GO BEFORE THEY’RE CONSIDERED NS.FW?: Eeeeeeh clothes go off and/or mentions are made of what happens below the belt? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ time to whip out that nsfw tag. WHO ARE OTHER MUSES YOU SHIP YOUR MUSE WITH?: As of the writing of this post, Sasha is shipped with free-us‘s Niccolo, gerichteter‘s Bertholdt, and libartes‘ Porco (you should check out their blogs, they’re awesome muns and muses). All three are very different ships in nature, which is always my main concern when shipping with multiple muses, so I am very grateful to them for writing those stories with me, building these relationships, and exploring very different dynamics that I find super compelling to write! DOES ONE HAVE TO ASK TO SHIP WITH YOU?: Yes please, though I believe this has become common standard in the rp community, so, yay! HOW OFTEN DO YOU LIKE TO SHIP?: I love shipping, but I would rather have fewer ships that I have the chance to explore and develop in depth, through ooc talk and ic interactions and threads, than have many ships and not get to write them or very little. The interest of a ship, for me, lies in development. I also need balance with other kinds of ships (friendships etc), so all of you out there writing intricate friendships and other relationships with me, know that you have my love and gratitude and that you keep this blog going and my heart happy. ARE YOU SHIP OBSESSED OR SHIP MORE-OR-LESS?: See answer above. I don’t know that I’m ship-obsessed, but I would say I’m ship-committed (good lord I hope I’m not scaring anyone away with this). And that goes for all kinds of relationships, not just romance! I’m always happy to trade headcanons and tailor our muses’ relationships, regardless of nature, so that it feels unique and can develop over time. Or just gush about our characters because if we’re threading/interacting, it means that I love them. (also platonic ships are awesome) ARE YOU MULTISHIP?: Yessir I am - though I do tend to ship with only one iteration of any given muse, because of my preference for variety I already touched upon. I don’t know that I would be interested in shipping with another Bertholdt as long as I’m shipping with Lani’s, for instance. Just a preference on my end, that absolutely does not constitute a requirement for my shipping partners - unless of course we decide to be exclusives, but that’s a different matter of etiquette.

WHAT IS ( ARE ) YOUR FAVORITE SHIP(S) IN YOUR CURRENT FANDOM?: Aaaaahfgdh Sasha & Niccolo, Reiner & Bertholdt (yeah, remember what I said about not shipping pairings that are not official? They’re the exception), Annie & Armin. Also Reiner & a good therapist, this man needs help.

FINALLY, HOW DOES ONE SHIP WITH YOU?: Write with me, see if you like what you read, and shoot me a message so that we can discuss it :)

TAGGED BY: a friend on a different platform! TAGGING: if you want to do it, say I tagged you!

#ooc; potato mun #i've had this in my drafts for a week and completely forgot about it oops #this is a lot of fun to think about #and the questions are geared towards romantic ships but pretty much everything i say there applies to friendships and other relationships to #i guess i just really like character development mate

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transienturl · 4 years ago

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I’ve been thinking about making a separate 18+ sort of blog for a while, but... well, see, here’s the problem: the topic which this post is supposed to discuss is, obviously, at least adjacent to being nsfw, which would sort of imply that if I were to make one of those, it should go there, but the topic is also about what kind of content should or shouldn’t be corralled over there, and certain answers to that question would mean that this doesn’t qualify for that, in which case it would belong over here. Which is, to say the least, somewhat confusing.

Anyways, this post is ultimately quite safe, I think, so this readmore is really for length.

So the original thing I wanted to post was:

I wonder what the distribution and frequency/popularity of people’s sexual preferences/kinks are. It seems kind of absurd, actually, that this kind of data isn’t public. And moving one step backward from that: does anyone even know? Like, similar to the impossible-to-answer-with-accuracy question of even roughly what portion of the population would, with some basic awareness and the magic removal of society’s discriminatory history, identify as straight, is there a single human in the world who can point to some data they collected and estimate with some confidence (and some methodology-based caveats) how much of the population is into... literally anything?

It seems... surprising to me that the first few pages of google results didn’t have anything, I guess is my point. I don’t expect big sample sizes, rigor, a sampling of any general sort of population, whatever. But, like, in a world where Facebook can tell with remarkable precision not only whether you’ll vote, but what specific thing could be shown to you in order to change that... shouldn’t someone have at least a vague idea of, say, what portion of people like sex toys at all, and thus how big the market could be for them? Or... know anything about sex toys at all? Hm, I guess that second part is the real issue: discomfort with talking about this stuff due to the sexuality taboo aside, people probably have no idea what their feelings on a lot of what would be in one of these hypothetical surveys is, and might not have even heard of plenty of them, and so the data might be mostly terrible and so it might be incredibly difficult to justify doing. I guess that would make sense.

Anyways, do you think this discussion should be on a separate blog? I can imagine a whole hierarchy of potentially useful opt-ins. Like...

One: should this blog never mention sex existing? Answer: no, that ship has sailed. This is a personal blog, anyways, and given that I think sex is a positive thing and I don’t post anything of general public value here, if someone needs to not follow me because this is where I say I support comprehensive sex education, that’s totally fine.

Two: should this blog be reasonably safe for the sex-repulsed? (I think I follow someone who has mentioned it, but I don’t remember who and I don’t thiiiink they follow me...?) I don’t actually know anything about being sex-repulsed, so I don’t actually know what does and doesn’t cross the line for the median person who identifies as such. If you are, and are at all interested in discussing it, I would be quite interested!

Distinction two here is, of course, the one under which I dunno if the above paragraphs should be opt-in. It would be somewhat easier to talk about this general-topic sort of stuff if I knew the audience had opted in, simply because I could use specific examples for things. but this continues:

Three: should this blog be limited to, in short, discussions like this one that would make just as much sense if I myself were asexual. Basically, should one avoid being horny on main, as the kids say. I am personally totally comfortable reading my followed users’ hypothetical nsfw thirst tweets - er, reblogs? - but I imagine lots of people are not, especially when said followed users are strangers, and of my 200 followers, I know like... 3 of you? So, I’d lean towards “yes, make a sideblog to discuss sex in the first person, no matter how vague.”

Four: should this blog avoid personal details that it would be at least arguably kind of weird for IRL friends to know abou- YES OBVIOUSLY

So, here is the problem that I have: if I actually do want to talk through all of those categories (e.g. the end of those two paragraphs, I could continue with “for example, this is what I’m into and I have no idea how rare it is, but let’s speculate”), then to make all of those opt-ins separate, I would need 2-3 sideblogs? And that just seems patently ridiculous. I recognize that I’m clearly overthinking this, considering that of the 200ish followers I have, I’d guess without evidence that all but ~30 are defunct blogs, maybe 5 of you read the multiparagraph text posts, and somewhere between zero and two people thus care about exactly how much explicit shit you do or don’t know about me? But obviously I don’t want to make anyone uncomfortable by accident.

Eh, y’know what, screw it: transienturl2.tumblr.com. If you’re interested, head over there and we can work the details out, how’s that? (And if you’re not interested, but read all the way down here, I’d love a reply or like or w/e just noting that, too!) Hm, I really didn’t think this through, did I.

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katana-otoko · 5 years ago

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Codename KATANA’S RP PLOTTING CHEAT-SHEET

Want new-and-exciting plots for your character? Long to reach out to more of your followers, but don’t know where to start? Fear not! Fill out this form and give your RP partners both present and future all the of juicy jumping off points they need to help you get your characters acquainted.

Be sure to tag the players whose characters YOU want more cues to interact with, and repost, don’t reblog! Feel free to add or remove sections as you see fit. Template here.

Mun name: Kam

OOC Contact: Over Tumblr’s messenger is fine, I’ve a discord as well if you’d prefer to converse over that!

Who the heck is my muse anyway:

Codename Katana, a covert TURK introduced much later in the plot of Before Crisis. ‘Balto’ is the most agreed upon fanon name, I’ve decided to accept it in this depiction. I’m still wondering if I’d like to keep the name I’ve given him... I need a bit of time on this;;;

We get a few paragraphs about him from material outside the game--he’s a swordsman from Gongaga; a generally upbeat fellow who doesn’t stay in one place for long. He gained a scar across his face while trying to rescue a friend held hostage--a task in which he failed, and left a massacre to exact his grief.

After the massacre, Balto was arrested and incarcerated for a brief time, after a few nights he managed to escape from the backwater jailhouse. He took his wife, and fled Gongaga. The two reached Costa del Sol and stowed away to Junon, where Balto hoped they’d be able to better hide on the eastern continent. He forged documents for himself and his wife, stating that the both of them were much older. His wife found work for herself, and Balto passed an entrance exam for a school of electrical engineering. The tuition cost far more than the couple could afford: Balto had to commit further fraud. He graduated, and started working as an operator of Junon’s underwater mako reactor.

As much as Balto tried to distance himself from his past, he was arrested for the murders he had committed, and his past forgeries and fraud were soon uncovered. Finding himself incarcerated once again; this time in a far tougher facility to escape than some backwater jailhouse. Yet, Balto’s skilled actions did attract a certain sort of attention, especially considering the length of time it took for him to get caught: the cost of avoiding a lifetime prison sentence? His service and loyalty to Shinra, among the ranks of the TURKs.

Points of interest:

Balto’s scar is his most prominent physical feature. He received this scar while fighting his friend’s captors. There isn’t a way for him to conceal the scar without seeming obvious that he’s hiding it--over time, he’s become comfortable about this facial feature.

Few may recognize Balto as the ex-husband of a now famous jazz singer and musician, Rosamie. Their divorce took place just as she was starting to become famous, so most fans know she was once married, but not to who.

He often wears a fine gold chain and gold coin pendant around his neck. The coin has an imprint of a minor goddess’ portrait upon its face, and a specific constellation upon the other side of the coin. The chain and coin once belonged to his father.

Balto has a tendency to run himself into the ground. Get used to finding him fast asleep, sitting up before his desk. While in relationships, he’ll take better care of himself (provided enough is going well in that relationship) and manage his priorities better for the sake of someone else.

He likes to bring natural flora and fauna into his surroundings, keeping plants and animals from the western continent. He has an affinity toward frogs, common to his hometown of Gongaga, but is also skilled in handling wild animals. He always seems to know a person who knows some other person to get his hands on especially rare creatures.

What they’ve been up to recently:

This varies wildly depending on the verse, and each RP partner is (mostly) its own verse. By default, it all depends on the timeline.

Where to find them:

Balto’s work takes him across the whole planet. Crossing paths with him is imaginable in all sorts of locations. He avoids Gongaga, though; and will avoid its smoldering remains if given the decision.

Balto does take the time to tour around if his assignment from Shinra allows some sight-seeing. He’ll go on hikes and runs, dine at local restaurants and unwind in lounges or bars. When off the clock, he no longer wears his suit.

Current plans:

Honestly uh... I don’t plan out events since the blog isn’t one cohesive verse. So, it’ll vary from RP partner to RP partner as we either decide to collaborate or just go off the cuff.

Desired interactions:

Encountering Balto before he becomes a TURK - I think it would be interesting to meet Balto while he’s a bit anxious and always glancing over his shoulder, waiting until his past catches up with him. He’s mostly found in Junon at this time, working as a mako reactor operator, often frequenting bars and performance halls after work to watch his wife sing and accompany her to their home.

After Zirconiade, OG timeline - I’m flexible on the theme of post-BC settings. I’m willing to write on any scenario: Balto being on friendly terms with Shinra, stepping in to resume his obligation as a turk; or not-so-friendly terms and actively trying to escape from Shinra’s influence. It’s interesting to focus on the fact that if he’s not serving time within Shinra’s ranks, then he should be in prison.

Offered interactions:

Expert swordsman -- A lifetime of training makes Balto a capable opponent. Fight me, nerds.

Veteran TURK -- Balto has plenty of successful covert missions under his belt. He’s known for gathering information, especially within Junon and specific Midgar sectors. He’s savvy on the construction, operation and failure of mako reactors. He’s the turk to send when statement needs to be made: the katana is capable of making quite a mess. He’s fluent in the languages of Gongaga and Wutai.

Family man -- His upbringing gave him the ideal way toward eternal happiness; a large home and many children. As blood stained as his hands are, he still feels worthy of holding a child with the very same hands.

Anything else?:

Woah, I can be flakey. Sometimes it’s due to depression (I usually go radio silent when this happens) and other times certain interactions are easier to write so I crack those out sooner. It’s best to communicate with me if this is something that bothers you; I’m also going to try harder to touch base when I’m super stuck on how to follow up with reply.

I’ve recently changed jobs at the same time the pandemic unfolded in the US. Both these things required a lot of change. Change is immensely stressful to me but I seem to be fairing okay.

Tagging: oh geez don’t feel obligated buuuut @marie-dufresne, @unrequiteddeath, @shadowxcetra, @lisaudacieux, @pinkxglasses & anyone else who wants to steal this!

#i got carried away with some answers #oh well!

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isitandwonder · 4 years ago

Note

Have been a charmie and at some point you stopped shipping them? I’m curious, why did it happen? If that’s the story actually... 😘

Hey nonnie, I’ve never called myself a charmie, I find this monicer rather ridiculous - but I did ship A/T and I still read a few authors who write for that ship... but I’m not super passionate about it or invested in it anymore, that’s true.

Why?

Because it stopped being fun and became a toxic cult.

You know, in the beginning (for me that was late summer 2017) T and A seemed rather cute together. They were goofy, had chemistry, they were kinda opposites (Tim lanky and dark and the newby, Armie tall, muscled, more experienced in the business), they were in this movie together that looked beautiful so... why not ship them?

Shipping, to me, means imagining two people being together and writing stories about it, chatting with friends, making stuff up, joking around and fantasize a little. It’s not real but something I imagine. And it’s being taken with a wink, with humor. Everyone involved knows it’s made up shit. And as long as it stays in fan spaces, I don’t see any harm done.

Well, that is not the case anymore.

So called fans or ‘shippers’ (they don’t ship, they KNOW, therefore the air quotes) harrass the real life partners and friends and associates and business partners of A and T. That is one thing I really don’t like. Keep stuff in fan spaces fgs!

But these people also harrass fellow fans who don’t agree with them. Like, wish them or their kids death, call them homophobes, call them all kinds of names, try to dox and mob them. Why should I be in a fandom that’s so full of hate and toxicity? I don’t have time for shit like that.

I still follow a few people on here who get it (you know who you are) but it becomes increasingly hard to find them.

That abyssmal state of the fandom shows esp in a field that’s really important to me and that I usually enjoy most: fan fic. I only still read about 5 authors. About half the people writing for the fandom are part of this toxic swamp I try to avoid like the plague (can we still say that?) on here and I wouldn’t touch their stories with a ten foot pole if you paid me money. Most of the other stories circle around things that simply don’t interest me or explore issues for the umpteenth time. I’m not saying that’s bad - write what the hell you like, create the 100th high school AU, whatever - but it just bores me (that is my problem. I also remeber a time when we had so much variety and creativity... go take a look at the older stories from 2017/2018, there are some true gems to be found!). It’s also a small fandom and maybe that’s the reason it becomes rather apparent that 80% of all WIPs get abandoned? Which is disappointing for a reader (I might be guilty of that as well, I don’t blame the writes, I blame the general atmosphere of this fandom that’s becoming less and less inspiring). I guess that only reflects the state of the fandom in general.

When ‘fans’ or ‘shippers’ are more into the private lives of the folks they stan (which might seem ‘natural’ for a real person ship but crosses a line when it’s carried into these peoples’ real lives), up to the point where it becomes harrassment, delusional, crazy, dangerous, rude, insulting, embarrassing and destructive, instead of supporting their faves - then it’s no wonder that this negativity creeps into other parts of fandom, driving writers and creators away.

(I recently came about a post re Tim where I had to read in the tags that he’s a great actor and that it’s sad that he has such a terrible fan base; that hurt.)

It has come to the point where I’m embarrassed to be associated with this ship - due to the very vocal delusional bunch of so-called ‘fans’ who are only interested in how much dick T gets from A. Like, for real REAL. In this fandom, a big chunk of people truly belief to KNOW that A and T are fucking like rabbits, that A will get a divorce soon (apparently since 2017; what are these people even hoping for???) and that T will only live for his daddy’s dick after that. And they go to ANY length to state and proof this and shout everyone down who might disagree. (Maybe they should masturbate a bit more to get these highly sexualized fantasies out of their systems? It also shows a lot about them, the way they view gender and sexuality, how they assign roles in this ship and what kind of behaviour/personality traits they depict over and over again. I could go on about the blatant, toxic heteronormativity that shows in this gay ‘ship’ that pretends to support LGB sexualities but this is already way too long lol).

I mean, if you want to rearrange your life around something like this - knock yourself out. It’s just not for me. There was a point I was really disappointed about these developments. Then I was angry for a few ‘bad apples’ destroying a place I loved. Now I only laugh about these people, though with some I really have pity because you can see in their posts how hard these mostly young, heterosexual women project and that they truly have issues in their lives they should rather tackle instead of harrassing some other women on the internet who have the privilege to share the beds of the people they pretend to stan for real.

Oh, but it’s absolutely no use to talk to these so-called hardcore charmie ‘shippers’ - they are so deep down the rabbit whole they can’t and won’t come out of it or even listen. If you only say you don’t care who A or T are into for real you are a traitor, an anti, a homophobe, dumb as shit, dense, blind... That’s not a fun place in this fandom.

I mean, I was tempted to believe, too, for about 4 weeks late 2017. I was drawn intot hat dynamic of being privy to some insider info, feeling important, being in the know... But I’m so glad I was told that Liz was in Crema almost all the time during the filming - so the little stories A and T told were promo and nothing more. That was my moment of waking up. It took me like three days to come to terms with the fact that all I imagined was truly only a fantasy - but I’m so grateful I accepted that early on and was spared a lot of disappontment by that. I know a lot of people who weren’t so lucky and are now spending their days spinning more and more delusional theories to keep the world they built together...

Rn I see huge parts of the fandom trying to ‘disprove’ things they won’t belief or accept because it goes against their ‘knowledge’ of ‘what’s really going on’. So much energy goes into arguing that posts are fake and people lie etc etc. I can’t keep up with all this nonsense. And why should I? This is not fun. This is madness. This is negativity. This is destructive. Besides, most proofs are tarot readings and the analysis of pics and vids taken out of context (or are even manips). But I suppose these people find some kind of validation in their behavior? It just eludes me. I’ve deleted most of my fics, blocked and unfollowd almost everyone, and be warned, if you have charmie in your header that’s a sign for me to keep my distance...

But all of this is only my opinion, you are welcome to disagree, carve your own happy place out here, do as you please. I would never go on anyone’s blog to lecture them or police them but you asked so here’s what I have to say.

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trickstruth-a · 4 years ago

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Rules

Short, sweet, and to the point. Follow these rules and we all have a great time.

1. Mutuals only. I must be following you and you must be following me. Only those that I follow can like starter calls, send in character asks, and reply to posts.

1a. I will not interact with non-Mutuals, that includes asks, unless it’s done anonymously and it doesn’t have a url attached. Anyone who breaks this rule will get about a few pardons but after that will be blocked.

2. My time is limited here in what I can do. This means that I am very selective in what I reply to. Doesn’t necessary mean that I am ignoring anyone. Some days I reply to everything and everyone, others I am so burnt out from irl things or work that I just lurk and do the bare minimum. My mental health and well-being comes before anything else.

2a. Replies vary by length and time. I normally work eight to ten hours a day and experience a lot of exhaustion. Unless I don’t see a thread or an ask going anywhere and publicly make a post saying it’s been dropped, consider everything as pending / will do ASAP. Memes are okay to send in late unless it clearly states, not accepting. My timezone is Eastern Standard Time or EST. United States is where I am located at. I am usually online from 10 PM EST to 3 AM EST unless it’s a day off from work, which the online time will vary from 12 PM EST to 3 AM EST.

2b. Role-playing is a hobby, not a job. Do not pester me for replies or asks to be answered. I am not obligated to owe anyone anything on this website. I am human and can’t cater to everyone’s needs. Being persistent here is not going to make me answer yours faster than other people.

2c. Don’t follow, unfollow, and then refollow my blog. It’s not going to make me want to follow you back, ever. It’s annoying and no one is being crafty by doing that. If you continue to do this and it isn’t a tumblr glitch, I will be inclined to block and possibly report for spam.

3. If you do need to break mutuals with me, HARD BLOCK my blog. Don’t just UNFOLLOW or SOFT BLOCK because chances are that I could mistakenly follow you again. And that’s something we both don’t want since it would be quite awkward.

3a. I have the right to unfollow whoever I want to and so do you. Please don’t go on a hunt and try to guilt trip me into following you back again. Just don’t. I can and will tell you the reason why I unfollowed you but other than that, just let me leave in peace.

3b. Personal blogs and non RP blogs will be blocked on sight. Please, if you have a side blog let me know through asks so I don’t accidentally block you. IMs are not a good way to let me know since they are closed for non-mutuals.

4. Duplicates are welcomed to follow me. The more the merrier. I do not suffer from same muse anxiety and encourage any of the same muse to follow me. Only request is that you don’t steal my headcanons, edits or icons. Other than that, we should all be able to have a good time. I’m always up for twin verses or alternate universes shenanigans.

4a. Original Characters are allowed to follow me. However, they need to be a little flesh out before I make a decision to follow them back or not. Just a small backstory or biography is all that I need. Headcanons also work if there isn’t an about page but must have about one page worth for me to consider following.

4b. Crossover Characters from other shows are allowed to follow me but I must know about said muse or else I’ll have a hard time whether to follow or not. Few fandoms I won’t interact with because I have no interest in these series are: Avatar the Last Airbender, Avatar the Legend of Korra. ( more to be added ).

5. I am a multi-ship blog. All ships are separate in their own standings. Goro is 17 in the ORIGINAL game and ROYAL remake. I will only ship him romantically with muses that are in the ages between 15 years to 17 years of age ( for the ORIGINAL and ROYAL remake only ).

5a. I am open to all kinds of ships, not just romantic ones. I also enjoy platonic, rivalry, and familiar bonds. All ships are open to discussions through my IM(s) or otherwise known as Instant Messenger. Chemistry is key. As long as we interact a little, there’s always the chance that both muses can be in a relationship.

5b. Is there any ship that you do NOT want forced on you?: I personally don’t ship AkeShu / ShuAke ( the Protagonist x Goro Akechi ). Please don’t force this ship on me. I’ll only except a slow burn for both characters and only that when both the other mun and myself agree to do this.

6. Things for you to tag for me are: BIRDS, CHAIN LETTERS, ORGANS, DOGS. For the birds and dogs, just irl ones trigger me. I am fine with cartoon / art / video game ones as they are not real.

6a. This blog will contain sensitive themes from time to time. However, I will tag common things like those mentioned below. If you need anything tagged, please let me know through instant messaging / IMs. Things I’ll tag for you are but not limited to: BLOOD, GORE, DEATH, BODY HORROR, EYE HORROR, INSECTS, MAGGOTS, BRUISES, SCARS, GUNS, KNIVES, CLOWNS.

7. I am over the age of eighteen. However, I refuse to write smut as I am not comfortable with that subject to begin with and Goro is a minor. Please never force me to write this with you and if you keep sending things to me in this type of nature, I will report you, no questions asked.

7a. If I see any form of hate and I find out it was you that sent it, I will immediately BLOCK you. No questions asked. Life is too short to send unwanted hate, anon or not. All anon hate and hate towards me and my characters ( s ) in general will be reported and then blocked, no questions asked.

8. My pen name on here is SERE. Obliviously, that is not my real name but it’s what I go by. It’s short for ‘Serena’, the English name that DIC gave Usagi Tsukino in the Americanized version of Sailor Moon. It’s pronounced; SIR-REE.

9. I am not a meme source. If you need to reblog a meme from my blog and don’t plan to send me anything, reblog from the source. I hardly get asks as it is, and for you to just use me as a meme source puts a bad taste in my mouth and I feel like I’m being used, which isn’t a good feeling. If you wonder if you should send in a meme to me, please do. I love getting asks. I do hoard them from time to time like a dragon hoards treasure but I do get to them eventually. The more memes / asks, the merrier.

9a. Feel free to turn inbox replies into threads. Just remember to make separate post when replying. Do not reblog threads not meant for you and don’t reblog my headcanons. It’s okay to reblog my asks though if you want them to be keepsakes on your own blog. Also, it’s alright to reblog musings and images from me.

10. I usually am not considered spoiler free. However, I do tag recent released games, which is Persona 5 Scramble. All other games in the Persona 5 series ( original game, dancing in starlight, pq2, and royal ) will NOT be tagged. Follow at your own risk to avoid spoilers.

10a. Knowledge in the Persona series is about ABOVE AVERAGE, please don’t keep pointing out mistakes. I know and will correct them due time.

10b. Please tag the popular ship AkeShu / ShuAke ( Goro Akechi x Persona 5 Protagonist ) / ( Persona 5 Protagonist x Goro Akechi ). I am not a fan of this ship at all and would request it to tagged at all times. Tags can be as simple as ‘akeshu’ and ‘shuake’.

11. I rather not be bothered by callout posts and any potential drama that might accumulate. I am just here to have fun and I hope everyone else can too. Life is too short to spend on certain things that don’t matter in the long run. If I see multiple call out posts from you in a single day or that’s all you post, I will quietly unfollow you.

12. Out of character posts will be on here from time to time. Mostly talking about life in general or me venting once in a great while. If this annoys you, please remember that this is my blog, not yours. You are welcomed to unfollow / block at any time.

12a. The best way to interact with me is to send memes / asks / inbox things. I am always up for unprompted things in my inbox. Also, my instant messenger is always open if someone needs to contact me out of character or to plot something. Don’t hesitate to talk to me. I will try my best to respond.

12b. Not interacting after a month or two with me and my blog will make me silently unfollow you or result in a soft block. Or if you don’t interact with me at all, even out of character. Also, if you are gone for more than 6 months, I consider your blog inactive and will probably assume that you aren’t going to return.

13. I’m really laid-back in nature so don’t feel pressured to reply to anything I send to you. I understand that life happens and that sometimes you just need to unwind from the stress of daily life.

14. For pronouns; either SHE/HER or THEY/THEM is okay with me. My orientation is DEMIROMANTIC ASEXUAL. I love anime, manga, video games, music, drawing, and writing. If you read all of this, then thank you! I won’t ask for passcodes but please still try to remember these at some point. That’s all I ask. <3.

**DISCLAIMERS.

This revived blog has been established since May 23rd, 2020. Independent and not affiliated with any role play group. Written by SERE.

( rules may be updated from time to time so please check here once in awhile. I will also post when these are updated as well ).

#long post: tw #[ Hi. Welcome to Chili's. OOC ]#rules;;#laws;;#rules / laws;;

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cutesuki--bakugou · 6 years ago

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Oh hey look I finally wrote something lol

Also sorry, ended up going spicy, can’t help myself.

Either way, I hope you enjoy!

BTW, please blacklist the tag cutesuki-lemons if you do not want to see this content from my blog. I will no longer be tagging with specific keywords for this type of content. Thank you~

Due to the nature of this post, the characters are 18+

Under the cut~

“A hundred sit ups? Are you kidding me?”

Bakugou glared at the woman before him, using a towel to dry his face and neck of sweat. “No? I wouldn’t fucking say it if I was joking. You asked me to train you, so anything I say isn’t a damn joke.” He pointed down to the cold wooden floor of the gym, giving a snap of his fingers as he did so. “You do it, then I will. Lay down and I’ll hold your feet.”

With a sigh, the annoyed woman fixed her hair a bit, obviously tired and worn out from the already intense training session. “Okay, okay. You’re right.” Flopping down to sit on her butt, she watched Bakugou as he knelt down to his knees, waiting until she was ready before he took hold of her feet. Though, it was more than just waiting for her that he hesitated. If he were honest with himself, putting them in this situation was probably incredibly stupid of him, and he shouldn’t be doing it. He should stand on her toes instead, but no. He had decided to sit in front of her as she laid there, beautiful, hot and sweaty.

Bakugou didn’t even think this whole training thing was a good idea, either. Being her colleague in a hero firm was one thing, but her personal trainer? That was on a whole new level of intimacy, something that he just wasn’t made for. But he had agreed. Why? Because he liked this woman. He liked this woman more than anyone that came before her. She was fit, gorgeous, strong, devoted and honestly a bit stubborn, but that wasn’t anything he could really complain about without being a hypocrite.

There had been rumors sent his way the past few months that she had been into him, too. It wasn’t just the office whispers that gave him this idea, however. He had caught her, staring at him or purposefully volunteering to work with him on any given occasion. Most people avoided this, just because Bakugou was notoriously difficult to work with, but she took to him like a fish to water. With hardly any effort at all, it was like they were completely in sync, and that just totally blew his mind. But, it also scared him. The thought of actually falling for a woman as hard as he had at this point had always worried him, as he wasn’t exactly a romantic or well spoken man. How the hell was he even supposed to come onto her? This wasn’t like women in bars or wherever he met someone just for a quick fuck.

This was a crush. A serious ‘I want this woman to be my girlfriend’ crush. But how was he supposed to ask her? Just blurt it out? Kiss her? Write her a love letter? Damn it, he was frustrated. Holding onto her feet and listening to her voice, breathlessly counting as she pulled her body up to her knees was killing him. Arms behind her head, he had the perfect view of her torso, watching her muscles roll with her movement. Her skin glistened with sweat, and he just happened to catch a taunting bead roll down the curve of her breast, vanishing into her cleavage. He wanted to rip that sports bra right off, to cup her breasts with his hands and feel her skin--

Ah, stop! You fucking moron, staring at her tits will get you noticed!

Still, he couldn’t help himself. His eyes trailed across her body with each movement that she made, her breath growing increasingly heavy and soft grunts escaping her lips the more she strained to do the sit ups. And then, he could feel it. His member, straining against his workout shorts, growing hard from his wandering mind and admiration of her body. Shit! Think of something fucked up, c’mon!

Bakugou couldn’t. All he could think of was her, his hands on her skin and kissing her until she was breathless--

“One hundred! There, I did it!” Bakugou’s thoughts were interrupted by his colleagues outburst, watching as she slumped against the floor with her arms spread out, breathing heavily. “Ow! Man, that hurts. How do you do it?”

“It’s not hard. Now you’re doing push ups--”

“Uh, no.” She sat up, glowering at him. “You said you were gonna do sit ups after me.”

“I changed my mind.”

“You can’t just change your mind. C’mon Bakugou, don’t be lame. I want to see you do them.” She leaned forward a bit, sly smile on her face as she hugged her knees. “You can’t just go back on your training after all this stuff you’ve put me through today.”

Grumbling a bit, Bakugou sat in silence for a moment before he gave up, hoping and praying to whatever Gods existed that his shorts were baggy enough that his raging boner wouldn’t be noticeable. Keeping his legs bent in hopes it would hide it, he flopped back to lay on his back, giving a sigh. “Alright, alright. Fine.” He glared at her as she gripped onto his shoes, wide smile on her lips. “Get to it, Mr. One-Hundred-Sit-Ups-Is-Easy.”

“Shove it.” Bakugou put his arms behind his head, hating himself. How could he do this with his dick hard as a rock? Just laying with his legs like this was painful enough, the thought of squishing his body wasn’t pleasant in the slightest. Though, right as he was about to do his first sit up, she pulled his legs put towards her, displaying his secret before he could even pull his legs back. “I knew it! You got a boner watching me!”

Bakugou felt heat rush to his face, quickly propping himself back up on his arms before he fell. He was too in shock and embarrassed at first to try and moved, wondering for a moment if it was even worth it to try and get his legs back. She had noticed, and yet, the look on her face wasn’t… mad. In fact, she was smirking, a taunting gleam in her eye that only made the fire in his chest that much hotter.

“You like me, Bakugou?” She teased, letting his legs go. They flopped down with a thud onto the wooden floor, though he still didn’t move them, allowing her to sit between them. Swallowing the lump in his throat, he glared at her, moving to prop himself up on his elbows instead so he could clench his hands into fists. “What’s it to ya?! Maybe I do! Geez, wipe that smirk off your- Hey!” More heat rushed to his cheeks as her finger came to rest on his tip, playfully running it up and down his length.

“It’s okay. I’ve liked you for months. Why don’t we take a little break from working out? You seem… distracted.”

“If you think fucking would end up as a break from working out, you’re sadly mistaken.”

“Then show me. You’re supposed to be training me, after all.”

#cutesuki-lemons #bnha scenarios #bnha writing blog #bnha imagines #bakugou #bakugou x reader #bakugou katsuki #bnha #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #fanfiction #bnha fanfiction #cutesuki scenarios #request

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tiltedcrownblog · 6 years ago

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Social Media: is it really worth the likes?

Well.. is it?

Sometime around mid 2018 I attended a talk led by a social psychology researcher (shame, but the name of whom I have now forgotten, apologies).

It certainly gave me some insight into how important of a role social media in general plays in our lives and how in particular it influences our state of mental health and well being.

Let's start by unpacking the proposed question above. Social media i.e. an online platform which enable networking between people and 'is it really worth the likes?' refers to the way in which Facebook, an example of a popular social media platform involves people posting content on their user page to which others can respond to by 'liking' it.

For argument's sake, let's presume that if any of us were to post an update on our page for example "Just got a new job!" with a few extra details informing our connections of this wonderful news, then their response in the form of clicking a 'like' button would be taken as support or congratulatory approval of our latest life achievement. Long story short, a 'like' is a good thing and can make us feel validated.

Every person has a different approach to how they manage their social media accounts AND differing purposes or motivations for doing so. It’s important to keep this in mind when we’re discussing this topic to remain as objective as possible.

Some reasons why people post content on social media:

To gain the attention of others -> popularity

To notify their closest friends and relatives of what is going on in their lives

to feel validated

In my opinion (oh i’m taking a risk here but it is my blog..) I do tend to believe that if someone subconsciously relies on the validation of the world supporting or approving their social media posts via a ‘like’ response, then this ties heavily with a person’s low self-esteem.

But hey who wants my opinion, let’s see what psychologist Emma Kenny suggests:

“There’s a very simple reason a like on social media feels so good. It gives us a high - a real, physiological high - and it’s fundamentally the reason we keep going back to it.”

“It’s a reward cycle, you get a squirt of dopamine every time you get a like or a positive response on social media.”

“If you believe that other people’s opinions are facts, your esteem will be low, your confidence will be terrible and you’ll constantly seek approval. If you’re somebody who deletes posts because they’re not getting the reinforcement, that plays into all of those negatives..”

For anyone who’s studied psychology like I currently am, Pavlov’s principal of operant conditioning (positive reinforcements) should ‘ring a bell!’

To summarise what Kenny has said above, it seems that there is this unhealthy cycle of approval or disapproval which interplay with self esteem and how we manage our content. The process goes something a little like this for some of us:

Post content

Check repeatedly how many likes it received

If above a certain threshold predetermined by ourselves we experience a feeling of satisfaction which Kenny describes as the chemical release of dopamine in our brains (which makes us feel good like when we experience a reward) OR

If below the threshold predetermined by ourselves we experience a loss of self esteem due to our content (an expression of ourselves) not being received well by our connections i.e. being ‘validated’

Option three gives our self esteem a quick boost, I say quick because once we have experienced that feeling of reward by receiving many likes we are likely to continue behaviours one and two to experience option three once again. (operant conditioning in play here).

On the other hand, one would presume that if option four some people may delete posts which did not receive as many ‘likes’ or even go to extreme lengths of asking people to ‘like’ their recent post (yes I have had people in the past ask me to like their content) which unbeknown to me at the time would have been an indication of someone who would have been craving option three!

BUT, let's bring this back to the title in question.. Social Media: is it really worth the likes?

I guess that’s a question for each individual person to answer for themselves.

My take on this is, validation should not come from outside but from within. This doesn’t happen overnight, but we need to back ourselves and not necessarily rely on others for validation. After all, is it damage to our self esteem really worth the likes?

Give this post a like if you want to see more of this sort of content ;) until then i’ll leave you with the following quote from international Drag Queen superstar RuPaul Charles:

#social media #well being #psychology #self esteem #facebook #likes #Ru Paul #Drag

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yes3blondesabrunette-blog · 6 years ago

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Blog Post 1 ENH110

Melisa’s View-

In the three short stories that we had to read, “A Hunger Artist”, “A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings”, and “Sonny’s Blues” each of the main characters are being made spectacles of in their own way. In the case of “A Hunger Artist” the artist himself is put on display to show everyone that he can starve himself, though he comes to find that the general public does not appreciate nor believe that he is really starving himself. In “A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings” the old man that lands in the front yard of the fisherman is actually an angel but when the townspeople and others come from different parts of the world to see him, they do not believe he is one due to his appearances. In “Sonny’s Blues” Sonny is isolated by the world and also by the people he is around. He wants to be a jazz player but does not want to be doing what every musician is-drugs. All three stories have a sense of isolation shown in them through their central characters.

Beginning with Franz Kafka’s short story “A Hunger Artist” the starvation artist is miserable with his life, because no matter how hard he tries to show everyone that he can do the act of not eating for longer than 40 days, people still believe that he is sneaking himself food during the night time. Even the watchers that are assigned to him during the night do not seem to believe that he is actually starving himself, and they turn their backs so they can let the artist eat what he wants, “nothing annoyed the artist more than these watchers; they made him miserable; they made his fast seem unendurable; sometimes he mastered his feebleness sufficiently to sing during their watch for as long as he could keep going, to show them how unjust their suspicions were. But that was of little use; they only wondered at his cleverness in being able to fill his mouth even while singing” (Kafka, 1). During the story, the artist only gets more frustrated, being the one who has decided to have a career as the one he has and not having a choice to change it due to his old age. He only wants the approval and appreciation of the public who comes to see him in his cage, but that is not something that he receives. With this, the artist only ends up pushing himself away from the world as “such suspicions, anyhow, were a necessary accompaniment to the profession of fasting. No one could possibly watch the hunger artist continuously, day and night, and so no one could produce first-hand evidence that the fast had really been rigorous and continuous; only the artist himself could know that, he was therefore bound to be the sole completely satisfied spectator of his own fast” (Kafka, 2). When the artist decides to join the circus in hopes of getting more attention, he is only left more disappointed, “when the public came thronging out in the intervals to see the animals, they could hardly avoid passing the hunger artist’s cage and stopping there for a moment, perhaps they might even have stayed longer, had not those pressing behind them behind them in the narrow gangway, who did not understand why they should be held up on their way towards the excitements of the menagerie, made it impossible for anyone to stand gazing for any length of time” (Kafka, 4). The artist makes himself more isolated from the world, both by putting himself in a cage, and by also getting angry with everyone due to their suspicions. In the end, he gets overshadowed by the panther, who everyone gets more interested in seeing.

In Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings”, the old man is found in Pelayo’s and Griselda’s courtyard, being described by both as “..dressed like a ragpicker. There were only a few faded hairs left on his bald skull and very few teeth in his mouth, and his pitiful condition of a drenched great-grandfather took away any sense of grandeur he might have had. His huge buzzard wings, dirty and half-plucked, were forever entangled in the mud”(Marquez). When the neighbor woman informed them that he was an angel, they were in disbelief with the rest of the townspeople. At first “when they went out into the courtyard with the first light of dawn, they found the whole neighborhood in front of the chicken coop having fun with the angel, without the slightest reverence, tossing him things to eat through the openings in the wire as if he weren’t a supernatural creature but a circus animal”(Marquez). As soon as the old man enters, he is being isolated by being locked into the chicken coop. He is then not believed to be what he is, an angel. The people do not treat him like an angel because he does not look or act like one, in fact, he cannot even fly. Instead they “..threw stones at him, trying to get him to rise so they could see him standing. The only time they succeeded in arousing him was when they burned his side with an iron for branding steers, for he had been motionless for so many hours that they thought he was dead. He awoke with a start, ranting in his hermetic language and with tears in his eyes, and he flapped his wings a couple of times, which brought on a whirlwind of chicken dung and lunar dust and a gale of panic that did not seem to be of this world” (Marquez). The angel is not only isolated because of his being put into the chicken coop, but also because of not interacting or responding to the people. In the end, the angel gets overshadowed by the woman who was turned into a spider. However, he proves himself by surviving a cold winter, growing stiff feathers, and flying away.

In James Baldwin’s short story “Sonny’s Blues” the narrator speaks about his younger brother Sonny. The narrator is worried about Sonny, his health, and his life decisions/choices. The two have been in and out of touch for some time, and the narrator comes to find out that his brother has been picked up because of a heroine addiction. This was brought into Sonny’s life along with his love for music, specifically speaking, jazz. The narrator and his brother have completely different lives, with him being an algebra teacher, and Sonny trying to become someone famous in the music industry. The narrator does not understand Sonny when it comes to his wanting to become someone in the jazz industry. He tells him that he needs to finish school and doesn’t pay much attention to his brother’s wants and dreams. He says, “I just looked at him and I was probably frowning a real frown by this time. I simply couldn’t see why on earth he’d want to spend his time hanging around nightclubs, clowning around on bandstands, while people pushed each other around a dance floor. It seemed---beneath him, somehow. I had always put musicians in a class with what Daddy called “good-time people” (Baldwin). Sonny feels isolated in this story because his brother does not understand nor support his love for jazz. He wants to become someone but anytime they talk about it, his brother is questioning him. Sonny loves jazz but with it comes drugs, as people during this time frame are using heroine to intensify their performance. Sonny does not want to do drugs. In fact, he even tried to escape them by leaving home, specifically Harlem. He says, “I was all by myself at the bottom of something, stinking and sweating and crying and shaking, and I smelled it, you know? My stink, and I thought I'd die if I couldn't get away from it and yet, all the same, I knew that everything I was doing was just locking me in with it” (Baldwin). When Sonny came back he hadn’t really escaped, but he tried to. He still wants a life where he is playing jazz music, but at the same time he feels isolated from it.

In conclusion, all three stories have their fair share of isolation that is present in their own way. In “A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings” and “A Hunger Artist” the similarities are more obvious between the two. Both of the main characters are put on display for the general public. They are both made fun of, and not treated righteously. This can be a life lesson to speak up. The old man does not say anything to any of the people that throw things at him. He does not show them who he really is until the end, where he proves everyone wrong by flying away. The hunger artist does not have to keep his job just because of his old age, but even though he does he does not have to make himself angry because of people’s suspicions. After all, he is the only one who knows he is not cheating himself. He does not need everyone else’s approval. This could be a life relating issue because a lot of people seek the public’s approval, and they end up disappointed because everyone will always judge. “Sonny’s Blues” relates to real life situations by showing that even when you attain the fame, things do not magically get better. There are still troubles that a famous person goes through, their lives are not amazing just because they are famous.

Alma’s view-

To begin with, in Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s story “A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings” the central character being the old man, is made a spectacle of when he lands in the courtyard of the fisherman’s house. In Franz Kafkas story “A Hunger Artist” the main character, the starvation artist has put himself in a cage to show off his skills of starving himself only to not get the appreciation and recognition that he wants. In James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” the character we pay most attention to, Sonny, feels separated from the world. He wants a career in jazz but can’t seem to not be a part of the drugs that come with it. In all short stories there is a sense of isolation that takes place, with each character being put to test by their specific audience or world.

Starting with the story “A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings” the old man who is the main character is meant to be an angel who is found in the front yard of a couple’s house. However, he is not believed to be one because of the way he looks, “..he was much too human: he had an unbearable smell of the outdoors, the back side of his wings was strewn with parasites and his main feathers had been mistreated by terrestrial winds, and nothing about him measured up to the proud dignity of angels” (Marquez, 166). The angel is put on show in a chicken coop for everyone to gather around and see. There are people from around the world who decide to come see him. The townspeople and others “..tried to make him eat some mothballs, which, according to the wisdom of the wise neighbor woman, were the food prescribed for angels. But he turned them down, just as he turned down the papal lunches that the penitents brought him, and they never found out whether it was because he was an angel or because he was an old man that in the end ate nothing but eggplant mush. His only supernatural virtue seemed to be patience” (Marquez, 167). The angel is put to test by his audience who wants to see and know what he can really do. No one believes he is a supernatural creature because of his appearance and because of that they treat him poorly. The angel’s audience fades away when they turn their attention to the woman who was turned into a spider, leaving him be in his chicken coop.

Continuing onto the story “A Hunger Artist” the main character, the starvation artist has decided to make a career by putting himself in a cage and showing everyone that he can starve himself for up to 40 days, or longer. He is already isolating himself from the world and his audience by starting out with living in a cage. The hunger artist then feels as if he is not being recognized nor appreciated by his talent. He wants to show everyone he can do more and..”he made no secrets of this, yet people did not believe him, at the best they set him down as modest, most of them, however, thought he was out for publicity or else was some kind of cheat who found it easy to fast because he had discovered a way of making it easy, and then had the impudence to admit the fact, more or less” (Kafka, 245). Because of the disbelief that the artist receives from everyone, he decides to join the circus, which leaves him to be more miserable than he already was. It seems that he becomes even more invisible, “..at first he could hardly wait for the intervals, it was exhilarating to watch the crowds come streaming his way, until only too soon---not even the most obstinate self-deception, clung to almost consciously, could hold out against the fact-- the conviction was borne in upon him that these people, most of them, to judge from their actions, again and again, without exception, were all on their way to the menagerie” (Kafka, 249). A panther ends up replacing the artist, getting all the attention that he wanted and deserved.

For the last story “Sonny’s Blues” the narrator speaks about his brother Sonny, who has gotten himself in trouble by being on heroin and getting picked up by the cops. Sonny had always had a certain love for jazz music in his life, and he speaks on how he wishes to become a famous artist one day. His brother, the narrator, does not seem to understand why he wants to be a jazz player, stating that he “..simply couldn’t see why on earth he’d want to spend his time hanging around nightclubs, clowning around on bandstands, while people pushed each other around a dance floor” (Baldwin, 44). This creates the isolation for Sonny because he feels he is not being understood. At the same time, Sonny is also knows that part of the music he wants to get into includes getting into the drugs that come along with it. He is struggling to keep himself away from it, “I’ve been something I didn’t recognize, didn’t know I could be. Didn’t know anybody could be. Sometimes, you know and it was actually when I was most out of the world, I felt that I was in it, that I was with it, really, and I could play or I didn’t really have to play, it just came out of me, it was there” (Baldwin, 55). It is obvious that Sonny is not feeling right with his life and where he is at. He wants to be someone in the jazz industry, but he is not there quite yet.

To conclude, the 3 short stories display isolation in their own way through the main characters. The stories “A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings” and “A Hunger Artist” show their isolation through their characters very similarly. The old man is locked up in a chicken coop, and the hunger artist is in a cage, and they are both put in a public place where others can view them as they wish, and for who they are. The old man proves his worthiness in the end by flying away. The hunger artist sadly does not realize that people will have their suspicions either way, and if he wouldn’t be happy with himself, that neither would others. In “Sonny’s Blues” the narrator is able to show us how Sonny feels isolated through his relationship with his own brother and also with the world. All of the stories can teach us that we need to approve of ourselves first before trying to get to bigger and better things. It is hard to become successful when we put ourselves down at the downfalls of things.

Kaleigh’s View:

We were tasked to read three short stories, “Sonny’s Blues”, “ A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings” and “A Hunger Artist. They’re victims of people making them a spectacle; which causes them to feel isolated.

In “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin, our main character Sonny suffers from a heroine addiction. Sonny is involved in the Jazz scene. During, that time jazz performers would use heroine as an enhancement to their performance.His older brother, the narrator of the story disapproves of his life style. This causes Sonny to feel isolated. Sonny wants to get away from heroine so much he moves out of Harlem, but is love of Jazz draws him right back into that scene.

Secondly we have, “A Hunger Artist “ by Franz Kafka. The main character is a performer. His performance involves him starving for 40 days. No one believes that he actually doesn’t eat for 40 days. This causes him to be discontent with his life. All he wants is acceptance for his so called “craft”. He is obviously a sick man from the beginning but the fact that he isn’t believed causes him to feel isolated and do self hate.

Lastly, we have a short story by Garcia Marquez, “ A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings “. The old man is found by a couple on the patio. The old man is quite tattered looking. A women lets them know that this man is a angel. The couple and the townspeople do not believe this statement. So he is locked up in a chicken coupe and antagonized by the townspeople. He is isolated due to lack of communication and being locked away.

In conclusion, all these victims of isolation; were also the hero’s of their stories. This shows us how people’s ignorance and isolation can do to a person’s psyche.

Steffanie’s View-

From all three stories there is a different theme and meaning. But they all have similar meaning. “A very old man with enormous wings” he lands in the gentleman’s yard and s an angel but isn’t seen that way by others. “Sonny’s blues” the young kid does drugs but has his escape but is not seen as a normal kid by others. Lastly in “A hunger artist” the hunger artist thinks people want to see him starve but in reality they don’t and he comes to terms with that.

In the story “A very old man with enormous wings” the old man is seen in the courtyard and as described by Pelayo and Elisenda “they both looked at the fallen body with mute stupor” (Marquez) as the neighbor told the couple the old man was an angel they could not believe what they were being told by this lady. “He must have been coming for the child, but the poor fellow is so old that the rain knocked him down” (Marquez). The couple hold the angel in their house and their whole town knows it. Pelayo takes the angel out to the chicken coop and locks the angel there. The next day when the couple wake up they come to find that the neighbors are watching him and enjoying him through the fence. “... they found the whole neighborhood in front of the chicken coop having fun with he angel...”(Marquez). This alone shows how the angel is isolated right from the get go and the quality of life isn’t good from their perspective.

Moving on to the next story, “ Sonny’s Blues” as the story is told by Sonny’s brother the narrator is a math teacher with a typical life an goals he has accomplished, “I told myself sonny was wild but he wasn’t crazy”(Baldwin). His brother sonny on the other hand have been sent on different paths, Sonny is hooked on heroine, “they’ll send him away some place and try to cure him” (Baldwin), but the one thing he loves most is music. Sonny wants to make something of his music career but its a tough industry to be in. Sonny didn’t always do drugs and he always wanted to quit doing them so his solution was to run away from Harlem and attempt to start over , but as seen in the story it didn’t work. Sonny’s love was not supported by him brother and he didn’t have the same love for it and thought sonny needed to make something of himself because the jazz industry can be hard. Sonny feels isolated in the sense that he’s not supported by his brother and his brother wants a different path for him.

Last in the story “A hunger artist” the starvation artist wanted to show the world that he could actually accomplish something and that i starving himself for a long time as amusement for the watchers. People don’t seem to believe he is starving himself and that he is sneaking food when all the watchers are gone. “It used to pay very well to stage such great performances under one’s own management, but today that is quite impossible” (Kafka). People would stop by at least once a day when the hunger artist first started because the suspense and excitement was so built up. “There were people who bought season tickets for the last few days and sat from morning to night in front of his small barred cage”(Kafka). The hunger artist wanted the attention and acceptance of the community but as he sat in his cage he began to grow further and further away from the town because people started to become disinterested. “... since it was not the hunger artist who was cheating; he was working honestly, but the world was cheating him of his reward”(Kafka).

In the end all three stories share the isolation theme and its clear how the characters face that. Both “ a man with enormous wings” and “a hunger artist” share the similarities more than “Sonny’s blues”. The hunger artist groans old and eventually begins to realize he doesn’t need the peoples approval but that’s what he has been longing for and he’s the only one that know he is not cheating himself. He stayed true to his beliefs and followed through till the very end. “Sonny’s blues” gives more of a real life outlook as far as dealing with addiction but having an outlet of a hobby, and when things turn up right not everything follows. These stories share great similarities, and real life story.

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little-earthquakes-rp · 6 years ago

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HOW I RUN RUIN MY BLOGS

Eliza Central Standard Time Zone

SPEED : Wow getting into the thick of things I see. When the blogs are running on full force it’s typically 3-4 weeks. Keep in mind I’ve been running on semi-hiatus since late last summer due to life events and my replies have been 2-3 months out at low points. With that being said, I hope to return soon enough to being fully functional.

REPLIES : At times I crack down on myself and take them in order of when the replies came in. While other times I get stuck in a certain muse and just write out their replies if things are really flowing. I fully admit sometimes I become invested in a certain thread and it takes priority. I know this doesn’t sit well with some which is why I’ve included it in my rules.

STARTERS : Closed starters are what you will mostly find from me. Only because I’ve not had much success in the past with open starters. So many have sat unanswered only to be lost on my blog. I’m a plotter even if it’s only minimal; so it just serves me better to write out a starter for particular muses. With that being said, I will answer open starters of mutuals.

INBOX : Yes, I have one and it’s always open. One of the things I miss about the RPG is anon Wed. I love anons...like just antagonize the hell out my muses please or whisper sweet nothings in their ear. They eat up the attention. In turn, I also love to send things and stir the pot. Please let me know if it’s ever too much. I’ll totally dial it back for your comfort level. Something also you should know about me: I’m Eliza Breaker of Chains. I had a rather bad experience as a kid with a chain letter which left a bad taste in my mouth. So don’t take it personally that I never tag anyone in these type of memes or return the kind sentiment of the chain asks. I never want to pressure anyone to do anything.

SELECTIVITY : I’m not overly selective but do look for certain criteria to be met. You must have a rules page and be over 18, preferably 21. With that being said I’ve not followed back some amazing writers because their rules page is too indulgent and nitpicky. At any given time I’m writing with over a dozen mutuals and there is no way I’m going to refer to a rules page with each interaction to make sure I’m not breaking some cardinal rule. Another thing I take into consideration is reply lengths. If I stumble onto a blog and it’s a bunch of one or two liners it’s an automatic pass. I fully admit if you’d like more interaction with me it’s best to come at me in IM or Disco.

WISHLIST : This is my wishlist for all muses. If it’s posted here I’m interested in writing it out. If you have a muse in mind please share it otherwise I’m happy to pick.

HONEST NOTE : I’m constantly in wonderment of the kind and creative people I’ve managed to fall into on this platform. It’s been an absolute blessing to have the ability to write and create worlds with you all. I know I’ve not been the best mutual in the last several months with my response time but have had nothing but support from everyone. Thank you so much for everything!!

Tagged by: @alongingwithin

Tagging: Anyone

#ooc #about the mun #eliza #thank you for the tag

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tonyredgrave · 6 years ago

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Hey, Isaac! Badnewshq is a brand new semi appless supernatural town rp! We were wondering if we could please get your opinion. Thank you so much in advance!

Been a while since I did one of these so if this is a little rusty, my apologies. You can find it under the cut.

So the most of things here are great! Your theme is fine – not my personal aesthetic but I get how it goes along with the plot and I love your icon. If I had any recommendation here it would be to increase the font size and/or darken it. I can read it okay but I can easily see how someone with worse eye sight couldn’t. Your plot sounds very interesting and unique for a supernatural rp. You have a diverse amount of species which is always cool, especially when they’re not TVD based. Your banned list is fine though I’d maybe reorganize it a little – separate the groups like ‘no minors’ and ‘no dead people’ from the specific people. I’d also add either ‘anyone accused of rape or abuse’ just because charges from those crimes can be rare.

I do want to specifically talk about your rules though. In general, I think they could use a read through. For the most part they’re good and they make sense but there are multiple typos, some confusing wording, and a few things that I would personally clarify or reconsider because they don’t make sense to me. I think this might partly be due to the length. (And yes, some of this will sound pedantic. Rules have become the thing that matter most to me when it comes to whether I join an rp that interests me or not so I examine them closest.)

IC & OOC AGE: my one thing here is why are 19 year old characters allowed if you prefer them to be at least 20? I personally don’t play characters that young but, if I did, I’d feel a little weird about bringing in a character a year younger than what you want, like maybe I’d be judged. And it is just a year so I don’t see why the rule can’t be that all characters should be 20 or older. Also a little typo here, italics for emphasis: “We recommend that be at least twenty years old.”

FACECLAIMS: “It also includes those that have resources from their younger years and will not be allowed.” I think I know what you mean here – that faceclaims who only have resources from when they were under 18 aren’t allowed but the wording here could easily mean any faceclaim who has resources from under 18 even if they now have plenty from over 18. Unless I’m mistaken.

FACECLAIMS part 2: the second bullet point here, you recommend people check both the current age and age of resources of the faceclaims they’re choosing. Why? Is there a 5+/- rule? It seems like a half-finished thought.

FACECLAIMS part 3: Jesus I’m being nitpicky here but, personally, I wouldn’t say the banned list is ‘forever changing.’ It just seems weird to me. Maybe ‘the banned list is subject to change as new information comes to light so please double check before applying.’

BLOGS / SIDEBLOGS: this one is one of the weirdest rules to me personally. No re-purposing old blogs? I kind of understand the idea behind it but I think a better way would be ‘please make sure your blog is clear of old posts unrelated to this rp’ and then asking anyone who tries to submit one that hasn’t to change or make a new one. Because, at least personally, I have a lot of old, unused rp blogs and I’d rather repurpose one of those then have to make yet another one. Also, whether new or not, most people will reblog some musings before you open to make sure their blog shows in the tags so this won’t help with the ‘who’s posted in 48 hours’ thing unless you ban that as well. I’d also just add a ‘no mumu blogs’ because the current wording is kind of confusing.

PICTURE / GIF SIZE: this one also threw me off because basically you’re saying this group has to be gif icons / static icons. Small gifs are usually either 245x138px or 268x150px. They don’t work with your 200x200px max rule. Which is kind of a shame because a lot of underused faceclaims only have gif packs and a lot of gif pack makers have rules that disallow people turning their gifs into icons. This limits a lot of perfectly usable though underused faceclaims to people who can’t make their own gifs and can’t find screencaps to turn into static icons. Also, small gifs vs icons can be an accessibility issue. I’ve met people in the rpc that don’t use icons because even the 100x100px ones are inaccessible to them. They don’t use the big, 500px gifs but they do use small ones that just aren’t icons.

MEMES: I’d honestly clarify this rule. What is considered spamming? How many per day, per week? And what memes are considered relevant to the rp? TBH, I’d recommend having a set day for memes and only allowing people to send memes that you’ve picked beforehand. Basically, monday is meme day and the gossip blog reblogs 1-3 memes that people can send to each other – something like that.

TRIGGERING CONTENT: “We here at badnewshq do not condone anything that takes place.” I just want to point out the wording on this one because lol. I get the meaning of this rule though and I think it’s a good one that other groups could stand to adopt. I’d maybe add racism, homophobia, and transphobia to list of things disallowed.

PLOT: major plot rules make sense but I’m a little confused about one of the things you listed – break ups. Do people have to let you know first if their characters are getting together? If not, why do they have to tell you if they break up? And if two players no longer feel chem for their ship and thus want to break them up, can they be denied because too many are happening at once? I get pregnancy, death, species change, or even just marriage (because a marriage is big but two characters don’t have to get married immediately for their ship to work) but break ups don’t fit in the category IMO. If two characters aren’t allowed to break up or their break up is delayed weeks or even months then that can suck the muse out of a player and make them drop the character all together.

INTROS: just a clarification, what happens if someone doesn’t post an intro? Are they asked to drop the character? They’re warned once and then what? A little vague, I’d clarify.

CHARACTERS: this one might bother me the most. No offence to the admins but you’re not following your own rules here and that is something I personally find hypocritical. If a mun must be actively rping in the group for 48 hours to take up a second character and two weeks to take up a third then why do the admins have 2 and 3 respectively? I mean, this is a YMMV thing, and it’s not like a random sometimes-RPH is going to change your mind, but it’s something that personally bothers me.

None of the above is a 100% deal-breaker but there are some things that make me a little tentative to fully rec it. I think anyone interested in a supernatural rp should check you out though to see if this is the group for them. And I wish the both of you the best of luck.

#badnewshq #rph #rpt #semi appless rp #supernatural rp #this is an opinion but also idk how to shut up

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powercouragewisdom · 6 years ago

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I came across this, and it has to be shared: Everyone believing it was “10 years ago” and it’s so far in the past:

Everyone else:

2 & 3 months after beginning work for Marvel, these were posted, 2nd one almost 5 years ago.

Bonus from the same year:

Notice how none of the tweets on this post indicate in tone or text that they are a “joke”

I took up very little space with others’ stupidity at the top, but before we proceed, let’s get some things straight: 1. “He didnt mean it” You don’t know what he meant, you don’t know him personally, and he meant them is more likely which is why he left them up until 6 days ago. 2. “He didnt hurt anyone” addressed far below. 3. “10 years ago” Last tweet was 6 years ago, & Happened nonstop between ages 41-46 over 5 years..about how long its been since his last visible pedophile thought. Along with jokes about rape, lgbt, 9/11, etc 4. “He apologized for this in 2012″ No. He never apologized for these tweets in 2012. He apologized for anti-lgbt and sexist comments. *btw The apology here was made before the 2 pedo tweets above* He went from bigot to abuse poster in record time 5. “But GotG cast is supporting him” and it’s not hard to understand why. These are people that, most of them, were fairly obscure as actors, not prominent or at the forefront of everyone’s minds before gotg (dave, pom, karen, chris p). These people were nothing fame-wise. James gave them an opportunity, a platform to be pushed forward on with its success. They owe him their notariety and relevance, and they are thankful and grateful for the support and help he gave, leading them and making them feel great while working. Of course they are going to defend him! They only know him as this, instead of other things he may be. Don’t put more on it than there is, and simply understand where they’re coming from WhatNoOneSaidAboutGOTGcast: it is very unwise and stupid if you speak out against and don’t support a director, because it can lead to you not getting jobs as an actor, not being hired and other directors/execs thinking you won’t support them if something hits the fan. There’s a reason Zoe’s, Pom’s, Chris’ and Karen’s tweets are very vague and general.. Now, here’s what the rest of us know:

*coughjeremyrennercoughrdjcoughcountlessothercelebritiesyouattackcough*

- *6 years ago Remember to pay attention to how none of the tweets you will see in this post indicate in tone or text that they are a “joke”

and he was so scared and in a rush to “clean up” everything, he slipped:

bottom line:

he “apologized” because he [had to]. if Kevin Spacey hadn’t messed up his “apology” you would still be some of his fans ”You don’t know that he hurt anyone!!” His tweets have hurt many, and you don’t know that he hasn’t touched children. One of his director friends (Huston Huddleston) is convicted of possession of child pornography and contacting a minor with the intent to commit a felony. He sent James a vid of child porn and James responded saying he masturbated to it, on the same blog with the monkey thing screencapped far below. An apology to perpetrators is like toilet paper; used to keep sh** off you, until forgotten residue of the next dump threatens to make you stink.

Did you see what he said? The only reason they’re “old” is because that’s when guardians started. Someone who’s been comfortable putting this garbage in the atmosphere over 5 years would not see a reason to stop unless they had to. in a moment of clarity and sanity, as someone pointed out earlier, he even said he won’t say he’s better:

that’s a big middle finger to everyone claiming he “grew” from this the only truth you have, literally the only truth you know, is that he didn’t post these on twitter after 2012. No proof that he grew because you don’t know him personally. growing implies elevation and improvement, a more desired version of the previous, whereas this implies “I’m more of a tulip now than a lilac” stop taking a weak string of apology and holding on to it for proof that he is or isn’t something so you can feel good about a movie! he literally just said he was different, could be he just kept existing and accumulating, rolling around the universe until something else grabbed his attention instead of an abuse fantasy lifestyle that inspired over 10,000 tweets and God knows what else it can mean simply taking the thoughts to another medium/platform.

moving right along,

Nambla-

and

enjoy-

I dare you to continue to think someone like this who did over 10,000 of these in his 40s , which only disappeared after guardians started, should continue being comfortable in hollywood and have the access and connections that come with that, including to people’s children. who are auditioning or born into the industry and

This is literally jailtime.

a lovely excerpt from his deleted blog:

theres much more lest we not forget:

karma is my favorite kind of tea™ So:

read this carefully:

As for another celebrity on his team:

gotta wonder why.

Due to the length and content It can be concluded that this person has a very off mind. Anyone comfortable thinking about let alone writing, this, there has to be something wrong. If he were posting tweets or videos about animal abuse fantasies re-read my previous two sentences and see if they fit you would say the same thing and it is literally the same thing. talking about animal abuse fantasies is literally the same thing. talking about child abuse is the same as talking about animal abuse for years enjoying child abuse content is the same as enjoying animal abuse content child abuse and animal abuse are in the same category i’m so sorry for your loss of contentment and comfort in thinking otherwise. Disney will never rehire this person and it’s laughable that people think they will. The ignorance, dismissal and disrespect he has shown toward people who have dealt with the serious content he made fun of of is something no one should take lightly, no one cares if it was 20 years ago. Some things #SPOILERALERT are more horrible than others (RDJ’s struggle with drugs and alcohol is not comparable, sorry kids B) ^This honestly is why Johnny D is, and John Lass was still employed by them; he resigned last I saw. Johnny has been most people’s favorite public figure for decades and has been seen volunteering and working with disadvantaged and disabled children for years, instead of anything suggesting abusing them. Even with alcohol and beating on his ex wife, those are still seen as not as abhorrent as hurting people/children who’ve faced trauma. Because of who he is and human nature understanding some things as worse, it is what it is. John Lasseter, same thing. I didnt see allegations or issues relating to kids and harming them, but he harassed and abused women and other people. With this, it still isn’t him harming, or producing anything that would harm children. More to get straight: "Disney had problematic stuff" the people responsible for those racist cartoons don't exist anymore and aren't working for disney. NEXT “Seth MacFarlane and MatT & TrEy” The difference is painfully clear: The creators of family guy and south park present inappropriate characters and situations that make fun of the perpetrators and show how ridiculous they are, instead of the victims, other characters chiming in. It really is that simple, I have seen it all. It is clear in the delivery of content and the context that’s shown. If they didn’t these juggernaut shows accessed by most of America would have been canceled so fast you would have whiplash. If you want to complain about something in feeble support, use Robot Chicken, a show featuring CSA, animal abuse, rape and Jesus’ death on the cross as a gameshow. A show featured on a network that’s supporting another guy being persecuted for abuse media...hm

Honestly at this point most of the people defending him are likely either pedophiles themselves or know people who are. if he was a poc or a woman, let’s not bother with what this would look like. no one would be crying real tears about how they should get their job back.

this is not only terrible, but dangerous. rape culture is a thing bc first it was funny normalize the joke, normalize the thing. dismissing as just a joke, is allowing everyone to think its ok/naturalizing it & if somethings wrong, dismiss it as a joke all you can do is hope that he has actually stopped and that its genuine since people love animals more than people these days, if he posted 10,000 videos/tweets about animal torture and abuse, how would you feel? he didn't actually torture them.. have a nice day

#james gunn #gotg #marvel #as you were #carry on #south park #family guy #shout out to everyone capped

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healthgnome · 6 years ago

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Dear, Isaiah because it’s come to my attention.

It has come to my attention that the past back-and-forth of abuse accusations have been slowly resurrected and I see now that it is certainly within my time to once more explain my side. I truly wish not to be slandered and lied about on such a big platform and I wish the same for my friends, Ryan and Zayne. I genuinely try very much to be a decent, good, and helpful person. Sometimes I slip up as anyone would but I certainly know that I would never try and genuinely bully or hurt someone. For any time I might have joined in on some fun-making - trying not to go overboard and apologizing if I did end up actually hurting- I once again of course apologize for that. I go with the flow of how I think a dynamic is working and sometimes a dynamic does involve some making fun meant in no big harm. A prime example of such would be the friendships between Mark (Markiplier), Bob (Muyskerm), and Wade (LordMinion777). Where it is within understanding that they are all good friends but Wade gets the brunt of a lot of jokes. Any time there is sincere hurt, not that we have seen- but I guarantee there would be apology.

In Any Case, now that that introduction is out of the way I shall diffuse all that has been said in a post made by former friend Isaiah AKA (currently) @for-abused-kids about myself, Zayne (@thevvytchbytch) and Ryan (@literallyrealdeadstuff).

Not one of us have “stalked” your blog on a daily to find out if you have talked shit. If you mean during that whole giant commotion, sure there was a lot of digging in order to actually provide evidence for the claims we make. After that? Maybe checked out some posts to make sure there wasn’t still any sort of slander on any of our names, or we were informed of such a thing taking place. And yes, you have had their name(s) and mine on your blog in a “talking shit” kind of way.

We did not go to your house after dark, how would you know if you weren’t there. That is assumption. (and you know what they say lol) And a letter was written to your parents coming from a place of concern and explanation. I had not wished any abuse on you to happen.

As well, you are repeatedly saying that we lied to your mother telling her you ripped up the note. It was not meant to be a lie or anything of the sort, we simply had no contact and therefore wanted to make sure the note was actually read.

Hmm. I would really like to point out though that you claim that Zayne had the audacity to go to your home and deliver this note with someone who stole from your home while at the hospital. Do not act like you are not leaving out very important parts to this statement, and that the counterpart, leader, truest perpetrator, and manipulator to this was someone mentioned throughout this letter.

There was a lot of yelling between yourself and Zayne. A lot of it was not meant in harm, which was understood at least eventually; a lot of it was out of anger because something had happened, was done, or was said. And there was a lot of back and forth.

Allan was a friend of all of us for a while until he was slowly let go from all of us because he is a bad person. Personally, I stayed friends because my really fucked up brain could not handle being any more alone than I already was. You had liked him for a long time. Told us about it, or when certain things may have happened; sometimes these feelings went away (which is normal), and sometimes they were strong. I can provide proof for this too. Yes he was an awful person, and I was usually on your side when he did bully you. I did exclaim, and of course I understand how feelings work, that perhaps not being friends would be a good idea. I also told Allan this countless times but he enjoyed messing with you and I am not him nor could I control his actions.

The competition? There was a small friendly barely-a-competition thing going on in regards with Zayne. And it had barely lasted as well. At least from what I understood.

Ah yes the cum stains things. We used the word cum out of what we thought would be respect for your identifying away from femininity. Just as we would use the word “dick” or any variations thereof rather than vagina when referring to most of us and genitalia. Which sounds gross to say but we are teens, most of us horny, most everyone on T, genitals were a common point of discussion. And yes, you did leave vaginal discharge stains, or cum stains or whatever you feel most comfortable calling it, on the futon. And this is a pretty normal thing from what I know. People “get wet” and people have sexual liquids. It be like that.

From what I, and many others know, you do talk to a lot of people, including children, about your trauma.

I don’t remember you purposely triggering Zayne with Ed Sheehan, you did not have control anyway; Allan was the controller and was persistent on having that song on. However, you have attempted to physically hurt Zayne when you punched them. It did not actually hurt because it was frankly weak (not that I could do much better). What next you’re referring to after this is that Zayne was allowed by yourself to punch back; they simply know how to and are stronger than they appear.

Oh god. The Asian thing. That’s a huge bag on it’s own and has been talked about previously, you want more info on this or another post? Talk to me. Here is a link to a post with a bunch of evidence of this and other things & here is a link to a quick post by Ryan. There will also be a couple of photos at the end of this. But simply, Isaiah, your evidence was hardly; you have very white features, two very white parents, and have never presented otherwise, this coming from a very white person.

Congruently, have you seen Ryan or a picture of him recently? He has anything but thin lips. If you’d care for an example of thin, look at me. His hair is quite thick, has varying curls throughout as has been complained about and explained in the past. As well, it does deeply tangle itself if not taken care of daily. I, on the other hand never brush my hair- at the same length- and it barely gets more than a little disheveled. There is evidence of all of this. He does not at all have a small nose. Whilst not the darkest person, the summer provides a pretty good tan, more so in his youth. His father is actually not white- which is a known fact rather than a guess. If he is at least a quarter black, and has those features, I think it’s fair for him to claim that he is mixed on a hookup/dating app.

Oh, and I am quite aware of all of the arguments you’ve had about your father and his heritage. It’s what sparked that one post about the “Native American” 80’s/90s festival necklace. Which was a genuinely funny incident if you look back on it.

I have heard varying things to do with you imagining sex with anyone you are friends with. Just as I have heard varying statements about a lot of things that you exclaim to have or currently happen in your life.

We have called you straight as you have called yourself straight or straight-passing because of the fact that you were or are masc-aligned and would now prefer to date fem-aligned individuals due to trauma. But considering you are not mono-attracted to only men/masculine leaning individuals, you are not completely gay either. So if you can call yourself one you can essentially call yourself the other since you seem to be comfortable enough doing so. (I’ve recently seen a word to use for nonbinary-straight attraction! it’s “strayt”; similarly, there is “gai.” I bring these up not to make-fun or cause harm but they may be useful to you.)

In regards to Ingrid, as far as you have spoken to us and as we have seen, you have changed what you claim to have identified as whilst dating her. From secretly trans, to a cis girl, to questioning (not in this order, necessarily). Regardless, for many reasons it seems as though this was an unhealthy relationship.

You have taken stories right out of others lives and claimed them to be your own, these would be delusions, dear, not hallucinations. And it is at least a possibility that a lot of other things are delusions, too. This coming from someone who has had experiences with some sort of psychosis, delusions, hallucinations, gas lighting (from yourself, Isaiah. as well as from others.) and other such things that I can explain more if asked. And there is evidence of this all, as well.

I have never been abused by my parents. They are wonderful individuals who also try to be good, decent people. They have taken in my friends (including you, Isaiah) and done a lot to help them in times of abuse and need as well. That being said, there can be, from what I’ve seen, varying degrees and methodologies of abuse that different groups take part in. They are all horrific and I absolutely, full-heartedly, condemn all of it. But that is a fact given by apparent evidence. This being said, your parents have Not admitted to doing all of this, at least not to yourself, but to your sisters. I am genuinely curious as to why, if they’d admit doing harm to them both to you and in writing, why would they not come through with all of this to yourself?

On this topic, Stockholm syndrome, while something truly awful, is a kidnap-specific symptom. You can google how it affects others, but those websites are a lot less trust-worthy. We both went through the Hell of the junior research project and you are an academically intelligent person, you should be able to tell the difference between a trustworthy site and an untrustworthy one.

As far as your gender, speculations have been made based upon a lot of things you have said, and some seeming fetishization of nonbinary people. This is not said to invalidate your feelings or anyone else’s for that matter. It is simply that you are a rightfully suspicious individual. Again, this coming from trans people both binary and non- alike.

Regarding what I’m pretty sure is the video of you sitting on my legs, Isaiah, I don’t remember if there was an apology (whether or not in the video) but this wouldn’t be the first or last time something like this had occurred.

Finally, you have abused me. You have done me harm and I now understand that. I have tried to do a lot for you but you have done a lot to and taken advantage of me and my mental state.

Once again here is a link to a post with A Lot of evidence. Want more? Contact me.

As always, best regards to your mental health,

former friend, Alana.

PS; Please, for the love of everything, do stop misgendering Zayne and use *their* correct pronouns ( they / them ) !

The photo below contains obviously curly hair, not-at-all thin lips, a not-at-all small nose, etc. You can see.

#forabusedkids #firstnonbinarypresident #usedandchildabused #firsttranspresident #bullying #abuse #toxic friends #toxic friendships #abusive relationships #abusive friendship #toxic relationships #tobias #isaiah #depression #anxiety #psychosis #child abuse

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des-shinta · 6 years ago

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Discussing this publicly as...Y'see, me getting comments like this DM'd and Emailed to me? That's why I even keep bringing Zi-O up or have stayed even tangentially involved. it’s not to keep sniping at it, it’s putting out there that you can choose another target, as this horse is out of this race until it is all said and done. Hell, that was the entire point of the last post about it. I’ve been through this song and dance and want people to stop bringing it to me. Though I am not calling out KaijucorpsTokuandrobots and his opinion of my work or in any way attempting to publicly shame him. Frankly, his is the most civil DM I’ve received on this thus-far and why I have chosen to cite it. They have otherwise escalated to Death Threats for me not wanting to watch a show that It’s clear I won’t like. I just...I’m seriously just done with this fandom. Marzgurl’s two twitter threads on the missed concept of the ‘Ally of Justice’ are so on the ball for how bad it’s been getting. I WANT to do and have been doing exactly as KaijuKorpsTokuandrobots is demanding and leave it alone for others to hate or enjoy as they wish to, and as I stated my position and bowed out weeks ago I would like to leave it be. I mostly have kept silent on my commentary since outside of...what, a handful of posts in the time it’s been running, not counting repetitions of the same subject such as the show being predictable, expanded reply threads, or snarking at crap? Though That’s part of why I format my videos and reviews the way I do, to better explain the positions I take. The extended in-depth length is for those unfamiliar or familiar with the media to see more of it than is present in shorter-length ones that's just the opinion piece, with my perspectives and analysis set between the recap. Doing this allows it to be more objective than others, and provide a better explanation for my perspective. It is not done to lead them to a subjective conclusion that ignores facts on a matter simply to make others opinions align with mine. That’s just manipulative and arrogant and...well, if you knew me or paid attention to my conduct, you’d know that isn’t me. If I did and was, in the Kyoryuger videos I could’ve just said “you’re all wrong about Daigo”, instead of addressing how there were legitimate grievances one could have against him due to his character archetype being one that grates on a lot of people and super sentai overuses, and also ones that had been blown out of proportion in the face of those who have legitimately erred in the same fields Daigo was blamed for but didn’t actually do. I could’ve just ignored the fandom complaints instead of acknowledging the reasonable ones and providing evidence against the ludicrous or exaggerated ones. For if you notice, I always supply evidence of why I have the perspective I do. For It has not nor has ever been about my opinion being the right one, it's about putting thought into one’s entertainment and seeing if it holds up under scrutiny. That’s what a reviewer’s job is. I’m an analytical and introspective person, I THINK about things. I LIKE Informing people about things, I believe facts and trivia are neat and fun to share, and media content regardless of genre, age or demographic that put in that extra effort to have all these big allusions to other work seamlessly woven into them and work for their story gives them a whole new layer of depth that is absolutely wonderful, especially if it is to other things I have enjoyed. And conversely, when I see something that has held itself to higher standards in the past acting as if it could not care less, I am compelled like many to call it out for that, and explain why that is. To paraphrase Linkara, “By teaching you how something is Bad, you learn how something is good, and if you are a creative type yourself, these are then tips to avoid creating something horrible.”

I don’t see how that can be viewed as being smug or any different than anyone else that does the reviewer thing, as my presenting of facts and the evidence supplied from interviews, analysis, data, records and what-not in the video content I make (and often these large blog posts) is always divorced or set separately of my Opinion or snark about something so it is uniquely distinguishable on which is which. My opinion does not superceed all of that, my opinion is a result of knowing and being aware of all of this, seeking out this information as I love to learn facts and trivia about stuff I enjoy, and presenting them all in a condensed collection of content. Analyzing the common themes, tropes and plots the writers on a show make use of in their original works (the Toshiki Inoue Drinking game, anyone?), and the conduct and statements they and the producers have made over the course of their careers inform the direction their work can take, as all of that can play a factor in the final product that results. And it’s not like I’ve never been wrong as a result of my research being erroneous or the knowledge I’ve gathered being faulty, and I’m more than capable of admitting it and have done so when told. if you’ve seen my videos on the Garo Franchise, I’ve had to do so a number of times because there are Not a lot of good, Reliable sources on it, and some of them have misreported information or treated Fanon opinion as if it were canon fact without verification. In example I had believed that Shou Aikawa and Toshiki Inoue were the writers to The series Garo The Crimson moon because it was originally reported they were the only ones writing on it. That turned out to not be so, and I was unaware of that as no-one had written differently in any of my usual resources. That wasn’t malicious ignorance or smug self-assurance, but operating off of the information that had been provided. Since that new information corrected me, I haven’t repeated something that wasn’t so.

But It is NOT about people lying to themselves about what they enjoy. To cite the specific gripe, I don't think Kyuuranger fans are lying to themselves in liking it and have never at ANY point said that about THAT show or any other media, I think they didn't see what others, including myself, disliked about it or didn’t find it disagreeable themselves. That’s not lying, that’s having a different perspective on it and what angers/annoys/frustrates others they don’t have a problem with. Everyone has a different perspective, I just put a lot of thought into explaining mine, why I have the gut reactions, revulsion or love I do for something. That doesn’t make me automatically right, that’s giving you all the evidence to why my perspective is the way it is, and the reasoning of my own instincts. Hell, in the entire year Kyuranger was Running, I only discussed or made mentioned of it around a dozen times in any significant manner in that period after I dropped it. Most of them? When it was Relevant to discuss it or refute something that had been spread in the fandom which was a factual Lie or blown out of proportion. I otherwise left it alone for people to enjoy or hate on as they wished and stayed out of it...until people kept berating me to give it a second chance. After MONTHS of this I finally caved and watched more of it.. and proceeded to predict every episode of the series simply from the ‘next time’ trailers. One of the bigger things I called before it happened? Revelations of Quervo’s betrayal and his related possession by Don Armage. Why could I? Because it was a cliche. Raven’s and crows by Proxy of Tengu (quervo’s creature themes) in Japanese Literature/mythology are most commonly used as either Divine Messengers or traitors to their cause; the latter often from selfish, self-serving motivations or malevolent corruption. Quervo ended up not diverging from that latter interpretation. And I saw them as taking that route with it (as opposed to Just Redoing Utsusemimaru's story from kyoryuger with Tsurugi as...well, Kyuranger redid a lot of stories from previous sentai), because of the derisive and flippant manner the show treated Death as both a consequence and tragedy before making it reasonable that they would do so. All that informed because of my experiences with Japanese storytelling tropes, mythology and the Eastern take on The Heroes Journey Monomyth. But I dropped it in the first place because it was clear it was not going to be something I would enjoy and I would be spending the whole year bashing it, but I didn’t want to do that. I went and did the ‘don’t like, then don’t watch’ thing people often want from those in the detractor camp of series people like when they don’t want to hear a dissenting opinion, and instead went to watch “wander over yonder” and other series I did like which did many of the same things Kyuranger did in ways which were more appealing to me. As That Pointless hate and bile was not something I wanted to spread or have infest my life. I did not want to rally a crusade of bloody vengeance against the show for every perceived slight. For That’s not the person I am or want to be. And with how horrible 2017 was for me personally (including my Stepfather withering away from an incurable disease before dying and relatedly being thrown out of my home), it was something I could do without. I decided I was done with it, and made my exit calmly and rationally as a Mature adult would when they decided they didn’t like something, and only brought it up when it was relevant to bring it up after that, until other people dragged me back. Would you honestly have preferred it if I spent week after week angry at something and pointing out every single way it was messing up? ‘cause anyone can do that. Many people still did. it’s not like I was ever a deciding voice, just another sharing the same perspective. I would’ve just done it with the framing device of explaining the context of why people disliked it, as opposed to bashing it on the principle of it existing. So why Should I be the guy that Goes onto every blog, every forum and lambasts any person that ever said something good about it with a bulletpointed list of reasons? Hell, I avoid the Tokusatsu forums in their entirety because OF my experiences with that fandom Toxicity. And The reason I ended up predicting the content as I did when I finally gave in? It was Because I am very well-versed in Science fiction and space series tropes Kyuuranger as a series called upon (star trek, star wars, babylon 5, farscape, gundam, Battlestar galactica...the list goes on as I prefer sci-fi stuff to fantasy series) alongside super sentai ones due to me having watched over half the franchise and the afore-mentioned mythology awareness, and thus could ask myself ‘From what I’ve seen before and this show has been doing thus-far, how could they go about doing this plot they’ve teased in the next episode?’ Watching the first Five episodes of the series was more than enough to provide that. And Five these days is considered lenient now, many Reviewers have reached the point of doing it in One, depending on their familiarity with the general signs of poor execution in the genre, medium or premise of the related story. Once more, it wasn’t about being right, it was about thinking on and applying the experiences I have had to the subject matter, and speculating on where it’s going, only to find it was as I had Guessed. My continued dislike of it being because those predictions included ‘what are the bad ways they could do this story’ as well, and finding more times I guessed that to end up being true. And I do this with...basically everything. My roommates and family are astounded by how often I call plot twists in advance of the story’s seeding of it. One of the reasons I don’t like M Night shyamalan movies (besides all the other reasons people cite) is his twists are ridiculously transparent to me. I literally had the response to the twist that Bruce Willis’ character in the Sixth sense is dead of “yeah, and?” because I didn’t think that was what they were building up to, I just thought that was the quirk of the movie’s story. the same with the old lady being the Devil in “Devil”. Months ago My roommate showed me the movie “Cabin In The Woods”. I had never seen nor heard of the movie beforehand. AS I later learned, It is Notorious as a movie where people do not see the plot twist coming. In the first few minutes of watching? I guessed the plot twist. It is actually a very good one that I do not wish to spoil here and was pleasantly surprised at how they went about executing it, but I Figured it out because I’d seen a lot of the works of The movie’s Writer Joss Whedon. If someone were to propose I had a superpower? That’s basically it, I predict narratives from precedent of their content, it’s genre, and their creators. I am VERY good at doing this once I know where they’re going. That is, after all, how I guessed the entire second half of Kamen Rider Ryuki’s story without having seen it beforehand from making a Phoenix Down Joke. My roommates and I love the Venture bros, Season 7 is currently Airing, it has been wrapping up a number of it’s previous hanging plot threads and story seeding. Of them I guessed from the watching of previous seasons: Vendata being the blue Morpho and the Monarch’s Dead “Father”. The Monarch and Rusty Venture being Half-siblings as Jonas Venture Senior had Sex with The Monarch’s Mom. And Rusty being a clone. There are others, but there’s spoilers involved.

I was excited about all of that, because the series had been building up the suspense about answers to those questions for years or seeded paralleling stories to them previously in the series (I.E Hank, Dean and Dermott’s relationship). I was elated to learn I’d been following the deeper lore of the show as they’d intended from their intermittent seeding of the story, that I’d connected the clues as they’d wanted them to be connected. And for all of that to add up? That’s Good storytelling.

And it’s not like I’m always right about that stuff either or desire media to bend to how I predict it would go. if I’m not experienced with a certain story engine, I’m less likely to be right and more willing to go with the flow to explore it, and conversely really open to things that defy my expectations.

I’m a huge fan of .Hack and the Megaman battle networks series, and other stories using Virtual settings for storytelling (though Not SAO, I’m in the camp that dislikes SAO), thus was very experienced with the tropes, storypoints and themes Kamen Rider Ex-aid was making use of. I played this same ‘game’ with it...and It proved me wrong very often with how it was taking things. I didn’t see where it was going, as the show was not Predictable nor following the expected formula’s. Sometimes I disagreed with or was critical of what it was doing, such as the lacking focus on Hiiro Kagami’s relationship with his lost Love Saki and her impact on him. For how important it was to the series and his Character it was very poorly grounded, established and explored even with the Later Snipe miniseries going back to her death to further flesh it out, as it was something that needed more than the show was able to give for it to fully justify where they took it and all the connected links in the story it chained together. Or, say, Kiriya’s Death in how Toei tried to make money off of a character death by selling commemorative shirts to it, as that’s a scumbag thing to do and made it seem like they ordered his death just to sell merchandise. it wasn’t true and was just a bad marketing decision, the reaction to it being so hostile as Toei had pulled crap like that before and had shown itself tonedeaf to that conduct.. But for the most part, I adored how original a lot of it was by it’s end, most of my early criticisms they took the proper steps to mediate, and at the end it used all of it’s assets very smartly. I enjoy it not because it conformed to some pre-scripted narrative, but because it defied and exceeded my expectations of it, and tended to blow up my expectations in the best ways possible. whatever nitpicking that’s applicable to it doesn’t negate the overall good it did and quality it put out week after week.

And even with those nitpicks and any other criticism I voice, it wasn’t about me being personally right and the show wrong about how it did it, but areas in which the product was flawed and the areas in which it could have been improved. Pointing those out? That’s what a reviewer does.

But To bring it back to Zi-O as this is ultimately what this is all about with people wanting me to shut up about it despite me already having done so for the most part...with the extensive experience concerning the Writer and Producers I have had in almost everything they’ve worked on, how Negative that experience has been, Time travel stories being something I really adore and read/watched/played a lot of, awareness of how easy it is to screw it up if you don’t care about addressing contradictions or think of how to do it without such, and the first episode and the ones I’ve been dragged into commenting on since by people sending me messages Just like this one, I’ve done this ‘how would they likely do this from everything that’s been presented’ exercise with them and ended up being mostly spot-on with the predictions Thus-far. I’m not going out of my way to do it or bash every little thing, I’ve been trying to do what I did with Kyuranger and Leave it be unless there’s something relevant to say, or someone drags me back.

Again, the post I linked to up top? That was another attempt to do that, showcase what is the standard expectation I have for a series using a time travel story device so you see where I’m coming from on this. And yet, half a dozen people instead shot me angry messages and death threats, some of them telling me ‘Beast Wars Transformers is Shit and makes no sense and zi-oh was already doing it better than that because it intentionally decided to not play by any rules, even the ones it made up.’ ...The fact it ‘explaining’ it’s ‘rules’ and calling people losers for bothering to care about story consistency is locked behind a subscription paywall instead of it being part of the main series seems to be lost in this. ...Is this the one people want to fall on their sword over? Really? Guy’s, it’s a show run by a man who’s known for crappy conduct and screwing people over. There are better targets for this, and people who are more active in shaping public opinion than the one who’s moving towards retiring from doing web-video content altogether because of medical reasons!

You want me to leave Zi-O alone, just let others enjoy it blindly? That’s what I’m doing. Stop bringing it to my doorstep and dragging me back. You’ll just see come occasional snark when I’m given the prompt, that’s it. If there’s no supplied prompt you won’t even see that.

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