#just because you don't agree with my opinions didn't make me a racist

[creatingblackcharacters]

Some General Notes, Week 1

(in no particular order, no you don't have to agree, no they're not "the right answer", no I'm not going to argue. They're just my thoughts!)

-What I definitely enjoyed seeing was (the discomfort and frustration of, rightfully so!) people realizing just how much writing and character design go hand in hand, when told they could not consider the writing! Context is a beast, isn't it? People unfortunately judge with their eyes a lot faster than they bother to read and comprehend (‼️‼️‼️) and so sometimes we have to think about what we've drawn, and what we're trying to or could possibly SAY with that design. It doesn't have to be super detailed, but little things can go a long way.

-White folk tended to overcorrect, with more negative opinions about certain designs than Black and NB fans of color. I don't think it came from a bad place, as much as a place of concern with some lack of understanding.

-Black viewers are overall quite gracious about Black character design if it looks like you cared enough to try (contrary to popular Tumblr and Societal Belief, we don't bite!) But it did sometimes feel that it was to the point of being too nice. There are a lot of Black people who will accept the bare minimum just to feel included, and I hope to one day see less of that. We deserve the effort!

-Measured in three separate groups, we actually tend to be on the same page about design! We won't see the end result of the polls til next week (sorry ahead of time about the poll notification onslaught) so I could be wrong, but usually after the first thirty minutes, our bars tended to trend similarly from what I saw. This is likely due to the bias of my userbase; I'm sure if this poll reached The Unfortunate Masses of Fan Racists, it would be different. We shall see!

-There is usually a beginning wave of NB fans of color that actually find designs better than Black people will, which I found interesting, but then it evens out over time.

-Professional artists seem to be real big fans of the fade. The fade and the killmonger. The fade is funny because fades have been around for decades, and no one ever cared this much, but suddenly there are fades every other character. I wish there were more teeny weeny afros and short locs and just loose curls. Twists too!

-A lot of people were surprised about some characters who were supposed to be Black (and actually were). Which is telling, both on your side as the viewer and their side as the artists! Because that means something was not conveyed, communicated, or understood when you consumed that media!

-Black folk, I love y'all, I'm saying this kindly and I want you to hear me: I think there were times where your emotional attachment to the design affected your answers, even when told to only base it off visuals (e.g., yes, I know that particular character wears wigs! I know that's in the writing! I hear y'all! But unfortunately, when told to look at that character with the pictures provided, without the writing, given the genre, no, that is not an apparent piece of information. I am sorry.)

-I think NB fans of color especially understood this concept, which is just because a character isn't Black doesn't mean they aren't still a person of color. I say that to mean, some of these people felt ambiguously brown to a point that yes, they could be anyone else! 80% of the blue haired characters submitted (and the majority of the gacha ones) fell into this category, imo. Like, we should not all have to share the One Brown for Representation.

-I definitely didn't think that people would assume that the answers were "is this design Black, nonblack, or white"... I must admit that it doesn't make much sense to me 😅 it explained some of the answers I saw, though. Felt like some folks had to be trolling. Unfortunate, not something I can control once posted. Moving on.

-I do wish more people understood that this was meant to be a thought exercise moreso than "this is the right answer" (though sometimes, there was a right answer lmao. Beau is trash IDC.) It's not to gauge "do you know" as much as "based off of what you know, what would you say". It's for you (and me) to gauge where you are! It's okay to realize that you don't know what you don't know!

[gothamite-rambler]

Wilson: Those people need to go back to their own country!

Nightwing: Their country is America!

Wilson: How dare you defend them?!

Roxanne (a Romani woman wearing a baby carrier, indifferent): I just wanted to buy apples from the farmer's market.

Nightwing: You're ruining her fruit shopping!

Wilson: She can find fruit in her country!

Roxanne (flatly, accustomed to this rhetoric): I'm from Staten Island. It's not great, but it's part of America.

Nightwing: You don’t have to defend yourself. I believe you.

Roxanne: Aww, thanks! I appreciate it. I’m used to guys like Mr. Wilson. He’s been like this since I moved in with my family.

Nightwing: Yeah, I've had to deal with this guy for decade now.

Wilson: I'm just trying to protect my country from those people!

Roxanne: From my great grandma to my current child we were all literally born in Staten Island!

Wilson: Likely story, I bet you grew up in the circus, you damn carny?

Nightwing (taking offense to that): Hey, the circus is a legitimate home for some people! And even if she were from one, that doesn’t make you better than her.

Roxanne (smiling): That’s right! Again, I’m from Staten Island, which is basically a circus.

Wilson: Why the hell are you defending these people?!

Nightwing (speaking from experience): I defend them because they’re people who don’t deserve hate!

Wilson: You’re wrong!

Nightwing (shouting): IT’S MY OPINION!

Wilson placed a hand on his chest shocked at being yelled at.

Roxanne and her child: …

A lanky Romani man walked over holding two fresh avocados, but unfazed by Nightwing being at a farmer's market. This was the fifth time he visited since dealing with Wilson.

Pete (Roxanne's husband, joining her): I found the avocados, but this seems more exciting.

Roxanne: Oh awesome, these look good too. Wilson, go away.

Wilson: I'm not going anywhere!

Nightwing: I think you should leave, sir. Roxy has asked you nicely to leave her and her family alone. Just leave.

Wilson attempted to protest until he realized how much taller and stronger Nightwing was compared to him and begrudgingly took a step back.

Wilson: Fine, I’ll leave. Hope you're happy you got someone to stick up for you, dirty g—

Nightwing throat-punched the guy with rage in his eyes. Wilson gasped for air, deciding at that point to meekly walk away as well. The couple's baby giggled watching the hobble off. Nightwing sighed, walking.

Nightwing: I gave him a warning and he didn't listen. Ah well.

Roxanne: Hm… Thank you, Nightwing!

Roxanne waved goodbye, holding her little giggling baby's hand as well.

Nightwing (turning slightly): Oh, you’re welcome. Have a good day!

---Later, while Nightwing and Batman are investigating together---

Nightwing (explaining the situation): And he just kept talking and talking. He'd already used the G word before that, and I tried to stay calm. Like… Batman, I really tried.

Batman (agreeing): I believe you, and I don’t blame you.

Nightwing (surprised): See I knew you would say- Hold up, you don't blame me? Are you not mad?

Batman: Nope. You've told me this Wilson guy has been a racist nuisance for years. This was a one-off incident. I'm proud of you for holding back as long as you did. I can't say the same—I would've punched him if he called you that word.

Nightwing: Really? Aww, Batman, that’s so sweet.

Batman: And that was my sentimental side done for the night. Ready?

Nightwing (chuckling): Yeah.

[whatonearthisgoingon]

How do you feel about Jegulus? (James x Regulus) I love the Marauders!!

I think it's an interesting ship. I like the content made about them and think the lore that has been made is quite well designed. It's a cool dynamic. However, due to the fact Jegulus has no canon basis at all, along with some other reasons, I prefer Jily. Here's the gist of what I think!

While I'm not saying it started out like this, or shippers who ship Jegulus mean this intentionally, Jegulus sadly reminds me of the popular fandom trope where you kick the female love interest aside for a popular m/m ship. This is very popular in the Harry Potter fandom with Jily, Hinny, and Remadora.

However, I understand why it happens at the same time, at least with Hinny and Remadora. JKR did a shit job with her female characters. Both Remadora and Hinny have very limited good tension, especially in the movies, compared to the popular m/m ships. It makes sense why you would ship Wolfstar over Remadora when Remadora felt so rushed and awkward. And JKR said she wrote it in, to prevent Wolfstar; that makes people ship it more. Hinny are extremely alike in the books, and to me gave off a brother and sister vibe until the 5th or 6th book, other than Ginny's one-sided crush in the 2nd book. I do think Hinny is very much possible and is one of my favorite ships now; it just needed slightly better writing (especially in the movies, tf was that). But I get because of that writing, why Drarry is popular.

But Jegulus.. it throws me the wrong way when I think about it too hard, because they had no canon interactions at all. There is no shitty straight relationship that they did better than. I think it started out for the "brother's best friend" ship dynamic, then got insanely popular, and throws Lily completely under the bus. I do get a lot of people don't like Jily because James harassed her about it for years. I agree, it was a dick move, but she did say she liked it in her later years at Hogwarts. That's child and teenage James being dumb, and he luckily got better.

Additionally, at least in the books, they have nothing in common. The one thing they have in common is Quidditch, and that's not even discussed in the ships. Regulus is a Death Eater and a blood supremacist. He only betrayed Voldemort because of Kreacher, and maybe a slight realization that what he was doing (killing people) was wrong. But he was still pretty racist. That is the exact opposite of what James is. Sure, James was an asshole, and caused a lot of problems in school, but he was a good person in the end. He was most definitely never a killer, a blood supremacist, or a racist. Hell, he was best friends with a werewolf, which most of Wizarding society fucking hated, and he learnt incredibly advanced magic, for said friend.

Regulus is made to be this nice little tsundere twink that did no wrong, was the abused younger child in the Black House that wanted out, and never hated anyone. That's wrong, a bad characterization; fuck that shit. He's a bad dude, and that's reality. He realized he was wrong, sure, but he was still bad. The step out would have been hard in school, but he could have made that step if he wanted to; he didn't. James would not like the person Regulus is, when they knew each other. In my opinion, Regulus probably would have reminded James of a younger Severus. Severus, Avery, and Mulciber; Regulus, Barty, and Evan. Copy and Paste. That's the reality, despite what the fandom has turnt the characters into. By the time Regulus was better, he wasn't around James anymore.

Now part of my Jegulus hate is that I was also not around to see how it formed. Jegulus blew up on Tumblr and other medias when I was in middle school and did not have Tumblr yet. If I dive into the fandom more, I may find some love for it, but I highly doubt it.

The biggest route I tolerate with Jegulus, is James and Regulus dating in James' 5th/6th year, but then Regulus gets the mark. Due to the respective loyalties they have, they break up. From there, James gets together with Lily, and the rest of the story happens as is canon to the books.

I've seen fics where they all live, and James and Lily have Harry, then get divorced, and Jegulus gets a happy ending while Lily isn't talked about for the whole thing. It happens so fucking much. I like(?) the Jegulus and Pandalily or Marylily, co-parenting fics, more like settle honestly. I tolerate it more when she's discussed and is a part of Harry's life. But so often she isn't discussed at all.

What I hate the most though, is where they make her the villain, and she's an asshole to James or Regulus, which therefore causes Jegulus in the fic. Or she ditched the family and left James with Harry to be a single dad. I just don't like that, and it drives me insane. That's not Lily's character; that's not the woman who begged for Voldemort to take her but spare her child. I try to avoid those fics, but sometimes I see them, and it drives me nuts.

So back to you OP. Basically, I like the Jegulus content, in the way I'd appreciate artwork (kinda like OC's really), but Jily has my heart, 100%.

I'll never write hate on an author of fic for writing Jegulus where they kick Lily aside, but I don't like it at all. If I'm in a roleplay that has Jegulus, I'm not going to say shit because often it's done cute and tame, and Jily never happened, and the Lily rper is fine with it. If I see good artwork of Jegulus, I'll leave a like and keep scrolling, but that's it. If I see a cute headcanon of the two boys, that doesn't vilify any other character unreasonably, I'll like, and maybe reblog it. If I think of something cute about them, and want to share it, I'll write and talk about it. But it's not the ship I love with my heart and soul.

If someone brings Lily up in a bad way, whether subtly or directly, with Jegulus, I get a little annoyed, and keep scrolling, or block if it's really bad.

Hope that answers your question :)

[theoldspark]

I think my biggest issue with Elita in Skybound is that, ultimately, she's just there to prove that Optimus is superior. Her leadership on screen is literally just failures until Cliffjumper's plan.

Like I dunno, there's this, like, backhanded way they say to Elita to trust Cliff. She's just there to be terrible leader until men come in to help her while also telling she ain't special for suffering. Like she's written to be an ass for the sake of making Optimus the better leader. Also just asking thoughts on this. Ignore it if you want, but also, can I get the first anon's skybound critique? can't find it on your blog sry.

Alright, let me get my thoughts in order.

First, going by what you say (since I haven't read the Skybound run yet), I really dislike the idea of presenting a female character’s flaws solely as a way to prop up a male character. Elita-1 has so much potential and I'm all in for imperfect female characters (we really need to stop villainizing or completely avoiding flaws in women. It's just lazy writing to make them do absolutely no wrong and always be right or win in every situation imo), but if the writers are just doing it for the sake of making Optimus better? I don't want it. I genuinely love Optimus’ character, and doing what you claim is a disservice not only to Elita, but Optimus as well, which is pretty ironic considering the possible intention here.

Now, as for the post you linked, I very much agree with everything you say. I've talked so much with a friend about this.

Along with what you mentioned, there is just so much about the characters that is missing to me. What aspired Orion to break the rules and go out of his way to do something no other (cogless) bot was doing? It is never truly explained, and that's a fail on the writers' part considering this is their main character. How am I supposed to sympathize with a character who I don't understand the motivations of? It's wonderful that he wants to make a change and believes cogless bots like him have much more to give and to strive for, but why him? What made him stick out from all the rest and why is it only him that we know had this kind of mindset?

As for your thoughts on D-16, you're absolutely right. In his case, I could totally understand his way of thinking, his attitude and his motivations. We know why he's the way he is, we see him change and grow stronger goals as the film progresses and we finally watch him succeed by the end of it. He checks all the boxes to be the main character, yet Orion is the one introduced as such.

I also don't like how the guy who had the most valid response to everything going on ended up having that ending that doesn't feel earned when all we saw before was understandable rage considering all that transpired. Though I understand Orion's side as well—let the people decide Sentinel's punishment rather than taking that choice away from them by taking revenge for yourself—the writers didn't do a great job at avoiding the racist connotations here.

There is one single line in the movie that really bothered me, too. "I knew it! Deep down, I always felt something was off” Like….what? I have only watched this movie once not long after it came out so don't expect a brilliant memory, but I could swear all I saw from Orion before the truth came out were scenes of him being fully convinced of Sentinel's lies and all his efforts were to help him. Sure, he did show to have a different opinion on the worth of cogless miners, but as I mentioned before, it is never told to us where that sentiment came from. Surely it isn't something random? Am I to believe he was born and never conditioned to think the way every other miner did? Is he more special than the others? Weren't they trying to show us an Optimus who wasn't destined to become Prime but became one because even a small, powerless bot who emerged from the lowest can be greater by doing the right thing?

But that's not all that bothered me about that line, it was the whole delivery of that scene… D-16 is having an existential crisis, B-127 and Elita processing what they've just found out, and there goes Orion: “Damn, I was right all along. Let me say it out loud in a way that barely expresses any devastation after finding out my whole life I've been lied to and discriminated against because of the same guy that claimed to be my saviour!” How is that a realistic response?!? They could've added that later, not right after having the most gut-wrenching revelation of his life! I get he's supposed to be this strong, determined and hopeful guy, but I seriously would've loved to see more emotion for this. (And right after watching Alpha Trion’s recounting of events all he mentioned was what happened to the Matrix, which doesn't sit right with me). He looked more crushed at seeing D-16 rightfully furious than at finding out Sentinel groomed an entire new generation to become the lowest class to fix his crimes.

The most genuine emotion Orion showed in the movie only appeared as consequence of D-16’s actions, and I know we joke about the (b)romance in this movie between Dee and Pax, but it's literally giving love interest whose whole character revolves around the main character. (Of course, in this case, Orion was more than that, but I'm talking about the depth of his character being so tightly tied to Dee while D-16 had a separate arc for himself—realizing the truth and slowly letting himself be consumed by rage and the desire to murder the guy who ruined his life and so many others’.)

I wish I had more to say about B-127, but sadly that's how relevant he was to the plot of the movie. He was the comedic relief and goofy character that could've added so much more being the one character who hinted to the corruption of Sentinel’s rule by having been sent down to a sublevel nobody even knew existed (which could've sparked early suspicions before the revelation) and developing a borderline delirious attitude as a result of his isolation.

Elita-1 is much harder to place here because while she wasn't completely glossed over, her character exists to move the story forward. Everything she did was to help Orion with whatever he needed at that moment. Emotional support, give him that little push, make the High Guard listen to him… How I would've loved for Elita to be a parallel to D-16 at the very least (since they seem to have some essential similarities here and there).

And concerning the High Guard, I really can't remember them doing much aside from fighting. Why were they out there doing nothing, again? I can't even recall how much they knew about Sentinel and the Quintessons or why they never tried to reveal the truth to all of Cybertron if they knew.

Some of the scrapped ideas of the movie provoked more emotion in me than what I would've expected from the film itself.

(And finally, I assume this is the post you're talking about?)

[shitposting-fox]

I'm going to go into detail quickly about the Dream video the best I can below the cut so YOU don't have to watch it. Tried to avoid injecting most my opinions (except for a few times where the editing and phrasing/tone was intentionally done to effect the meaning of the video)

Apologized for using a slur in his tweet

Moved onto Tommy's video

Claims Tommy and Co. Have been spreading disproven lies for over a year and a half

Uses clips from Tubbo's response stream, captioned "Tubbo, Tommy's Best Friend"

First clip: Tubbo reading through Dream's reddit post and saying "I understand why he would be upset about the lies"

Context, when talking about the reddit post: Tubbo discusses how he doesn't agree personally with Harry and Tommy (and other friends) making pedophile jokes, but also emphasizes that it is up to each person to make their own conclusions about the allegations and evidence provided in Dream's video ("The Truth" ~ 40 minutes long addressing the allegations against him)

Second Clip: Tubbo discussing how he does think his friend group needs to stop calling Dream a pedophile online/on their platforms

IMPORTANT NOTE: No one brought back up the pedophile allegations except for Dream during his stream. As far as I'm aware, no one brought up the allegations in regards to the current drama. (I'm unsure when Tommy has last said pedophile jokes around Dream, as I haven't seen any recently. I don't follow him on X/Twt or his streams as much recently. They may have been making jokes recently, but I'm not sure how recent. If someone knows please share in the comments!)

Both in Dream's stream and video when he reacts/uses these clips he skips over all of Tubbo's criticisms, commentary, and takes multiple small clips without their proper context being mentioned. During both streams Tubbo emphasizes how he doesn't agree with Dream and, while he does understand his frustrations with the pedophilic allegations, Tubbo discusses how people hate Dream for more than just that.

Makes fun of Tommy saying his friends are idiots but have big hearts, "I know you're upset because my friends called you a pedo BUT they have kind hearts"

Claims to not know what Tommy is referring to when he says Dream and Co are sexist behind the scenes

Attempts to make a comparison by claiming Tommy is racist, but does not specify this is meant to be a joke

Claims Tommy is making false allegations because he is just mad that Dream made a three hour live stream "showing their bad behavior" and criticizing his friends

Mentions how Tommy recently interviewed SapNap and didn't appear to have an issue at that time

IMPORTANT NOTE: A common point Dream makes throughout this video and his stream is often Tommy being courteous or respectful. It is proper interview etiquette to be respectful and not shown any bias or dislike with the person you are interviewing

IMPORTANT NOTE: This video was released five months ago, coming up on half a year, and was filmed almost seven months ago. It was "I Fixed YouTuber's Mental Health" which featured multiple influencers Tommy was able to talk to during VidCon 2024 (end of June)

Captions the clip with "really doesn't want to be here" as Tommy leaves SapNap, implying he made SapNap uncomfortable

Said George walked away because he didn't want to be in Tommy's video

Claims this means that they are either not bad people OR Tommy doesn't care as long as he can profit

Shows the various 2023 Logan Paul screenshots with Tommyinnit, but then says he will turn on them if it is beneficial to him (clarifies this is in 2024)

Says he only gave Tommy YouTube advice because he could tell Tommy was talented and hardworking

Shows select screenshots where they get along and Tommy is grateful for advice

Shows a clip of Tommy saying "Dream's awesome. For the past 8 months or so we've been having- like- one a week a two hour call and he helps me with shit"

Says Tommy cannot actually believe what he is saying in his heart, points out no direct examples or screenshots were shared

"if my intention wasn't to help you what was my intention?"

Says Tommy's "egotistical sentiment" about the Dream SMP not being as big if he hasn't joined is the same thing he is accusing Dream of saying

Says the Dream SMP was made by everyone (NOTE: Tommy also acknowledged this in his video, and Tubbo has mentioned this on stream too)

Dream says his merch brand is a family business, and shows an unboxing clip of Tommy with the merch (does not specify when this video was taken)

Says Tommy's merchandise branch utilized child labor (does not provide evidence), scammed multiple users and influencers (no specifics again), said they did not get paid and the company went bankrupt

Uses the fact that lots of issues arose from the brand to make Tommy appear unreliable or negligent in his support of various brands

Uses the Coffezilla video as evidence for the brand scandal, which also shows multiple other large-name influencers also unknowingly being partnered/scammed by the brand (Corpse Husband, Anthony Padilla, Karl Jacobs, and Valkyrae are briefly shown in this clip)

Quickly plugs Dream's merch shop

EDIT: Just found out dream edited the clip so have Tommyinnit instead of Mr.Beat, where the original showed Mr. Beast in the lineup

Says Tommy tried to belittle what Dream does and that Tommy implied his content (books, podcast, etc.) are more valuable/important than Dream's ("which I think is just a little... Sad? I'm happy making videos...")

Claims Tommy had an "editor sweatshop" and shows cropped screenshots about editors getting paid (around £50 per video), but does not show either users mentioning who they work for, just titles "this is about his friends with big hearts"

Shows more cropped screenshots without any usernames discussing how some fans occasionally would help edit videos for free

One of said screenshots appears to be in a tone of neither Tommy nor the editors ("yeah I mentioned thinking about doing that. Like getting Tommy stans to do rough cuts for him or smth")

Uses music and phrasing to downplay the massive message Dream sent to Tommy's mom during her divorce, emphasizes it's just one message albeit long (it's around 4 paragraphs long)

Starts to bring context to the message and how it was a response to her replying to upset dream fans (relating to the video Of YouTuber's Were Honest I believe)

Says that Tommy's video had no screenshots or evidence because "it would make him look ridiculous he did"

Mentions how Tommy was 16/17 and Dream was 20/21, and didn't treat Tommy like a toddler

Says he treated Tommy like a friend and colleague and they had occasional disagreements because he treated Tommy like an equal

Downplays the impact of their age difference by saying that Tommy's phrasing makes it sound like one of them is twelve and the other is "an Evil overlord"

Shows another clip of Tommy saying everything on his channel you can thank Dream for (and subsequently Tommy not taking any credit for his success)

Says Tommy doesn't care enough about the slur to make the video, but that he can use it against Dream and go promote his items

Points out that Tommy has left up old videos with Dream and his family, and says that since Tommy "dedicated an entire video to hating on [Dream]" he can go ahead and take down all the videos that Dream is in while Dream does the same for Tommy

"if you have a backbone you wouldn't want to show support to such a no-good person"

Says he's proud of Tommy, and that he doesn't need to "put other people down to lift yourself up"

[joesquinns]

https://www.tumblr.com/joesquinns/759493106439782400/from-racist-songs-to-problematic-boyfriends-doja?source=share

JQ & DC is most likely a PR stunt, not a real relationship. Joseph had (most likely/pretty much) rejected her back in 2022 and she had dissed him in one of her songs called "Attention", basically saying he's lazy as shit, how he needs a new wig (Eddie reference), how he thought he was above her (he basically is), how she didn't care that he wouldn't fuck her (she does), and how she had him famous from the problem she had with Noah (she fucking didn't, it was all Joseph that made him famous). Obviously, she couldn't take rejection. Also, she has an album coming out and tours to do and he has Gladiator 2, F4, and he was in British Vogue. She's a very bad person and I have no idea why she had to be the pick for the PR stunt but whatever. Also, the stupid thing is that people are attacking Joseph's father for "raising his son badly". Which passes me off because his dad didn't do anything. This is all JQ and DC's issue. I don't want them bringing his father into this. See many people are saying to "just accept the fact that they're dating" but they aren't even dating. Joseph didn't like her in 2022 and she's very bad. She couldn't take rejection like a bitch. And she's very demonic and weird as fuck. This has to do with Marvel or something and this JQ and DC news is from a person who's notorious for PR stunts. Also, JQ isn't the only one doing these things. It's just a Marvel thing I guess. And to anyone who supports DC or even likes her, that's insane. I talked about this to my mother and grandmother and they even say that it's fake and it's just a PR stunt. A similar thing happened with famous rappers Ice Spice and Central Cee where they did a PR stunt with their new collab song. And they both are problematic in their ways. Also if anyone thinks that hating on Doja is "racist", most people agree that Lupita and Joe would've been way better and cuter. Lupita is a real woman and very kind and not problematic while DC is just a stupid girl who's weird as shit. And I'm not jealous at all, I could care many fucks less about Joe's dating life. But this is DC, a very problematic girl who's done very bad things and is very demonic and weird as hell. If it was any woman that people knew and wasn't problematic, it would've been way better. But this isn't any chick, it's Doja. So people can make all the articles as they want but in the end, it's fake as fuck. It's a PR stunt. I will always love Joe but he gave me the ick and I feel like I need a break. And maybe others. Joe can do whatever he wants, he doesn't know me. And I only know so much about him. He's a grown man and he has a job. But I can disagree with things. I can have opinions on things. My opinion on his choice is....well wtf Joe? But I can't just tell him what he's doing is bad. We all just need to like- ignore it and not talk about it and just suffer for a couple of weeks. Then we can have our old Joseph back but for now, he's just Joe.

Dw JQ fandom, chill, and take a deep breath, it's fake. It'll go away. We'll hold each other's hands through this bumpy road and eventually, we'll cross it. All we have to do is wait and pray or whatever. And if you have your own opinions, that's fine. But here's something to ponder over and think about. There's more to it but I'm too tired to type it out lmaoo😭😭

I rest my case.

To be honest, how everything has been handled and came out since Sunday I'm leading it to being a PR stunt as well.

No one can claim that it is not at all suspicious...

We'll get the blurry pic on Deux and then suddenly not even an hour after there's an article on THE SUN and then suddenly there's a video from two weeks ago and then suddenly someone saw them a day earlier and all this happens in the span of what? 2 hours? And oh suddenly someone spots him on a concert of her from a month ago where his neck seems like the one of a giraffe?

The video where he's grabbing her "ass" is's suspicious as hell...it's more her hip than her ass but ok we could argue about that but it's clear that he's asking her before he lets his hand slide down so for me it's staged af and doesn't scream "comfortable".

DC is a bad person and everyone who says something else is simply...I don't know...

No matter "If she has changed" or "maybe she's different"...I don't care that her fans are saying "she's calmer" and what else.

In Italy we say A wolf may lose its fur, but it will always remain a wolf

I also don't believe that Joe is "not online" because hell, I didn't know about all her shit before Sunday and it didn't take me that much and that long to find it and he has his phone with him all the time WE see him so he knows how to google

Believe me, I can disagree on things as well and I am disagreeing on his choice here. I know for him it doesn't matter but just because I'm a fan, I can still express my anger about the bullshit he does (and everyone who has been following me for longer knows that I'm usually one who defends him).

And before anyone comes in - no I'm not jealous. I know he doesn't know me. I know I don't stand a chance with him and yet I have the right to be angry if he pulls such a bullshit and to post that on my little blog.

To sum it up:

I don't find this funny and I hope this is over soon because otherwise if this really turns out to be "serious" and "longlasting" (like some people claim it to be) I need to unstan him because I don't know if I can support someone who showed himself to be this sweet guy and gentleman person (the past two years) and then turns around and does this bullshit. Either you're real or fake and I'm not here for fakeness.

That's just my two cents and I can guarantee you all this comes out of my brain and I don't have a friend of a friend of a friend who knows him/works in PR/hooked up with him/is in the industry.

Thank you and now I go outside to touch some grass instead to go to his dad’s insta to leave a stupid comment….how old are you? 5? Get a grip

[goalsyoudontake]

Same anon as before but, I also have a soft sport for Matthew in my heart honestly because he is from Missouri and that's where I'm from, I grew up there and still hold Missouri and its residents with so much love in my heart. And the majority of them are conservative. The majority of them are Trump supporters. And even so, the majority of them are not bad people and I love them all despite, even if they've made me a political refugee now. Because sure they're Trump supporters but for most of them it's a combination of a lack of education about... Everything else and a lack of education about politics. It's just how they grew up. When I moved out of my parents' house, the guy I lived next door to was a Trump supporter with Trump flags in his yard and I was visibly transgender and had trans and gay flags in my window. But he still plowed my driveway every time it rained and helped me replace my car battery when the winter killed it and I didn't have my own tools and mowed my lawn because it was small and attached to his lawn and we were the only two houses on that side of the block and, well. I think the people who think Matthew was lying for some reason when he entirely voluntarily said supportive things about queer people are a bit out of touch. I think he's legitimately just really stupid about stuff like that. And if it makes me an idiot to want to believe that most people in the world are good people, even when they say bad or disagreeable stuff... I don't know. I'll reevaluate my stance if he like, hatecrimes someone or says something really explicitly targetedly transphobic or racist or something publicly, but... Posting stupid shit about loving a country that it is currently your actual job to post shit about loving (or did we all forget they designated him the 4 Nations spokesperson) and that you've only ever been taught is good and you've legitimately never been in a position to even see the suffering doesn't make someone persona non grata for me, personally.

Aw, anon, I hug you and I agree with you wholeheartedly.

I get a bit sidetracked on these asks because I get annoyed and it's easier to be flippant about it. But it has also been my point from the start that people aren't just awful and aren't just one way or another, what they are a lot of times is dumb. It feels very out of reality and very internet echo chamber to believe people are one dimensioned or people are like a cartoon mean guy and not complex human beings.

I told someone right after the WH visit that there are a lot of things I love about Matthew and literally ALL of those things still hold true, so there's not a reason for me to like just drop him or hate him.

I like how he loves his family and his team, I like how he loves to create a narrative around his hockey and I like the way he plays: his hockey vision and how much of a pest he is and how he has a flair for the dramatic and overall a personality™ (I even like how bad of a skater he is).

Of course this is all parasocial because I don't actually know him, but for everything I've ever seen and heard of him I don't have any reason to believe all this doesn't just hold true.

And I know people have a lot of feelings about what he said about queer people, but I also believe he meant it, mostly because I take people at their words, but also because another thing I know and like about Matthew is that he loves hockey and I truly think he loves hockey in a way that makes him want everyone else to also love hockey, so I believe him when he says hockey is for everyone, not in a political way probably, but in a "please come and enjoy my sport way", also he didn't talk just about the fans at all, he said everyone was welcome inside their locker room, which in my opinion was an step further and it was a whole different conversation to the one happening in that moment. I know people said he only said it out of obligation, but what obligation, really? It was a few years ago, yes, but as we can see more and more being what people called "politically correct" isn't the norm anymore.

Anyway, I wanted to make this post about Matthew after everything blew over a bit, but I decided your ask (that made me tear up a bit) was the place to do it.

Appreciate you loads, anon. 🩷

[utilitycaster]

Hi there, I saw in one of your tags recently that "if you think the raven queen was being unfair, I'm not really interested in your opinions." I was wondering if you could talk a little more about that because I'll be honest, Vax isn't my favorite character but I've seen all of C1 and I really don't get why some people HATE the RQ, call her unfair, manipulative and pretty plainly say this moon conflict is mostly her fault because she took Vax and through a Domino effect Ludinus is releasing Predathos. Also, I enjoy your theories and analysis for CR so much you got me listening to Midst, so thank you.

Hi anon,

Great question! This is going to be a very long post, with a relatively short initial answer, because there is both the literal misinterpretation that indicates this is not someone with strong analytical skills nor knowledge of canon, and a number of potential mindsets that lead to this manner of thinking in the first place, none of which I respect. You happen to have sort of hit upon the foundational elements of my whole deal re: CR meta, so, buckle in.

The first part is simple: Vex died because Percy triggered a trap before she'd been healed up. We've seen this sort of trap elsewhere in non-divine contexts (Folding Halls of Halas); it's just a form of trap. A particularly nasty one, but this is for a very powerful relic she doesn't want falling into the wrong hands, and, moreover, the party could have likely disabled it either through rogue skills or magic had Percy waited. Vax, then, as the third part of the resurrection ritual, told the Raven Queen to take him instead of Vex. The Raven Queen did precisely as he asked. He did not need to offer this (Scanlan was going to make an offering, the other parts of the ritual had gone well, it was Vex's first death so the DC was low, and Vax could have made any number of other, less dramatic offers), and he did so with the understanding that he would die in lieu of Vex, right then and there. He did not. I think that's the only case, actually, where the Raven Queen was not 100% upfront with her intentions before Vax accepted something; but he offered it voluntarily. Vax was a person who formed extremely intense connections, to the point where it was perhaps unhealthy, and did not believe life without his sister was worth living, and was willing to sacrifice himself to a god.

Everything after that was extremely straightforward. Vax communed with the Raven Queen, who spoke very directly with him in his vision in the Raven's Crest. She was extremely clear when she met with him following his disintegration: he was given the option to refuse her offer, and he took it instead. It is not manipulative to give someone a difficult decision, and if a character you like makes a choice you don't like, it is not automatically the result of manipulation.

As for the moon conflict being her fault…that is, to put it bluntly, unhinged, and what's more, ironic given that that's the manipulative argument. Ludinus tried to commune with Ruidus using a random crystalline artifact beneath Molaesmyr, centuries before Vax was born. He was going to do this regardless. If he couldn't get Vax, he'd get some other sliver of divinity, and what's more, it's been all but stated that Vax is not actually supposed to be leaving the Shadowfell to protect Keyleth, and is disobeying the Raven Queen directly (and it's been stated that this isn't necessarily helpful for Keyleth, who is trying to grieve and move on). So: Vax made his choices with the knowledge of what they entailed, is trying to bend if not break the conditions to which he agreed with full knowledge in a way that probably isn't healthy for him or Keyleth, and it's bananas to be like "wow look at how the Raven Queen made Ludinus try to free Predathos." Like. Even if she had tricked Vax, which she didn't, Ludinus literally could have just kept on his racist imperialistic longevitymaxxing beat indefinitely and left the moon well enough alone. The domino meme is a meme. I mean, while we're at it, couldn't we trace it back to Vecna instead, for killing Vax with Disintegrate in the first place, since had he not done so, Vax would have either survived that fight or would have been resurrected normally? Or perhaps it's Percy for triggering that trap. Or the Chroma Conclave for being the reason why Vox Machina was seeking the Deathwalker's Ward in the first place…but that only happened because Allura and Kima didn't kill Thordak but rather sealed him, and because a priestess of Melora cursed Raishan so that she had reason to ally with Thordak. We can go on indefinitely; the point is, to assign blame specifically to the Raven Queen when Ludinus literally did not have to do a goddamn thing with the moon is a fucking stupid take.

Below the cut, I talk root causes behind why people might decide the Raven Queen was unfair and come up with the above nonsensical argument to support that, since I don't think people say stupid things just to be stupid.

I think one root cause for this mentality of this is that the person in question wishes Vax hadn't died and is looking for someone to blame because they don't want to blame Matt Mercer and Liam O'Brien, even though yeah, that's who to blame. The thing is, as we learned in Campaign 2, character death is quite literally on the table. Had Vax not made his bargain, either in episode 1x103 or his original one during Vex's resurrection? He might have simply remained dead. Had he not given his life for Vex's, he was pursuing paladin anyway with the Everlight, and we don't know what she'd have required of him. But more importantly, for all people like to bring up a PC-centric perspective (which, in Actual Play, is inevitable) Vox Machina's frequent use of resurrection spells was in fact a massive privilege most people in Exandria do not have. And, unsurprisingly for a table whose DM made up rules specifically to make resurrection more difficult, the Critical Role cast is open to a story where death exists. I do not think it's an accident that resurrection has been made even harder in the subsequent campaigns. I also happen to think that Campaign 1 is a far richer and better story with Vax's death, given the other events that occurred. Had Vax not been the sort of person who would offer his life for a god to take in exchange for his sister? Sure, he'd possibly have lived to the end. But he was, and that's the character those people who wish he were still alive loved. If he wasn't that person, they wouldn't have liked him in the same way.

D&D is fundamentally about exceptional characters becoming more powerful, and will be focused on those characters. I do not think D&D supports a story about characters who reject all power. They can give up political power (the Mighty Nein, for the most part, do this - certainly more so than Vox Machina, and Bells Hells is yet to be seen) but they will progress in levels, which is power. Even if unwanted, it is power, because most people in the world are commoners with 5 HP and 10 in all their stats. With that said, a lot of people desperately want a subversion of this power narrative. Vax is, I think, the closest we get. In D&D you are not going to get a player character who finishes a campaign and remains Just Some Guy. But you can have someone like Vax, who doesn't have any interest in power (compare to Vex, who very much is about power and who gets a much happier ending) who nonetheless ends up on the Tal'Dorei Council and the favored of a god…and yet, in the end, his equally powerful friends still can do nothing to save him. I think a Power Bad story is overly simplistic, but "there are limits to power, and ultimately none of us have complete control" is not. I think Vax's death gives the story of Vox Machina a finality and heft that it would lack otherwise.

A second possible cause is the "What if the gods are BAD" argument. I'm going to be totally honest: I did not see this in the fandom until Campaign 3, and honestly, not until EXU Calamity in any widespread sense, which does lead me to believe that most people did not come up with it as a reasonable idea on their own until characters started saying it, because it is so plainly in conflict with the themes of Campaigns 1 and 2 that to make this argument would be obvious projection. Do I think a nuanced view of the gods as flawed beings, rather than perfection, is warranted? Absolutely. Mortals, too, are flawed, and we don't kill them all for it. I think Vax's story makes them uncomfortable because it makes it clear divine favor is not, as Ludinus Da'leth tries to argue, the gods just bestowing and withholding their gifts arbitrarily, but rather that divine favor comes with a divine responsibility as well. Clerics and paladins do not study the way wizards do; but they must live lives in service, whereas a wizard can shut the book at the end of the day and do whatever. Clerics and paladins have powers that can be taken away; a wizard does not. That's the fundamental concept behind the Age of Arcanum - wizards trying to get around the fundamental rules of this world! Vax's paladin powers came at a price. His options are guided, but also limited, by the oath he took. He is far more fettered than a wizard, in the end, and I think that fucks with the narrative of the gods cruelly withholding their gifts from all but a select few, so they instead make their gifts into manipulative punishments…while still, contradictorily, arguing that characters such as Laudna or Ashton or Imogen were denied the mercy of the gods. Now, setting aside the obvious, that these characters have their backstories because Marisha and Taliesin and Laura decided they would because this is a story, and one in which someone had a perfect life would be boring and so the gods didn't intervene with Laudna because Marisha Ray wanted to play a Sun Tree corpse (see next section), it really is fascinating to see how people who hate the Raven Queen so neatly align with Ludinus. It's fine for sorcerers to have inborn powers, apparently, and Ludinus actually has himself tried to ape druidic magic; it's not about power, it's just about that power source. Honestly, they're not even above the gods as a power source - Ludinus used the crystal beneath Molaesmyr seemingly unaware if it were of the Archheart, and he's demonstrably using Vax, and everyone loves a resurrection from the gods, but heaven forbid you pay someone for the work you feel yourself entitled to. (Entitlement: this will also be a theme throughout the rant portion of this post.)

As a brief subsection to this: the idea that bad things happen to good people because the other side of that coin is free will is an ancient theological and philosophical discussion, and one we are obviously not going to solve here, though it is a little depressing I have had multiple rewarding conversations on this topic, thanks to an academically rigorous religious education, starting from the tender age of 9, and a lot of adults on Tumblr seemingly can't engage on the level of my third-grade classmates. I think, however, it tells a truth that fits in well with the wizard (and entitled fan) desire to control everything. People are terrified of random forces. Cancer, for example, is a matter of probability. There are things that can increase your chances of developing cancer, to be sure, but the simile I used when I was taught about radiation-induced cancers was that of lottery tickets: if you buy more, you have a better chance; but sometimes someone who bought a single ticket "wins" and someone who bought a ticket weekly never does. By believing the gods of Exandria are on trial for not intervening with every little hardship or for not taking Vax precisely as he intended, they reveal a profound terror of random chance and of the free will of people who are not them. Which is very funny when you consider we're watching Actual Play, where random chance is a deliberately induced element. I think the takeaway of all of this is "I think some of you guys are really mad this is a D&D game." But let's continue.

The third, and honestly most likely cause, is honestly sort of a continuation of the first but not centered around Vax so much as just a general, in my opinion deeply childish discomfort of any sort of tragedy or unhappiness in fiction. I've noticed this a lot lately, and I am not a cultural critic and don't have a high enough level view to pretend to be one, but as others have noted a lot of people seem affronted when whatever show they are currently watching does not meet their specific standards of "comfort media" or "hopepunk." It's a self-infantilization I don't care for, and it's certainly not limited to the CR fandom (see: any grown-ass adult passionately defending a choice to only watch children's cartoons and only read YA) or even fandom at all (see: the baffling popularity of the Mr. Rogers "look for the helpers" line which was intended for anxious young children, not for adults who can and should be the helpers). It really came into focus for me with CR when people referred to both EXU Calamity and to Candela Obscura's Circle of Needle and Thread as specifically "hopeless." They are, to me, deeply hopeful series. They are sad, and tragic, and many characters do not get a happy ending, but they are ultimately about how some people will endure, and will live on and find meaning after great loss. Calamity explicitly states that because of the actions of the heroes, while devastation will occur, total annihilation is mitigated. It's like the adage of how courage only means something in the face of fear; hope only means something in the face of darkness. Happy and fluffy tales are not hopeful; they are merely not things that require you to have hope. The root word of catharsis is that of cleansing and purgation and it originally related to physical excretion - cathartic stories are about getting those complicated and ugly emotions and fears out and feeling better for it by briefly feeling, perhaps, worse! Now, again, this has worsened with Vax's story with time. Shortly after Campaign 1, it was very common to see stories where Vex or Keyleth were utterly distraught, indefinitely, but those at least were engaging with grief, even if in a very shallow and unproductive way. But this has morphed into this idea that the fact that a work of fiction might make you even feel sadness makes it bad, and wrong, and hopeless, and the machinations of a cruel and heartless god. Which brings me back to the entitlement narrative: it's really as simple as "the story didn't give me what I wanted (whether that was a happy ending for Vax, or for Keyleth, or just a lack of sadness generally, or a narrative about the gods that validates my personal beliefs, or a way to justify Ludinus's actions), so it is bad." Which again is about being in control of the narrative, which again, in D&D, is simply not something anyone can claim. Why are these people here watching a D&D game? I don't know.

So that's really it: on a basic level, if you think the Raven Queen is unfair, you are profoundly ignorant of canon, so I'm already going to have to fact check anything you cite (if you cite at all), but there's a much deeper refusal to meet stories where they are and expand one's own comfort zone at play, and that means any analysis will never consider the possibility that your pre-existing beliefs were wrong (absolutely crucial in meta). You will always play it too safe and be uninspired and reactionary because the alternative is uncertainty and fear. I think a refusal to embrace tragedy in fiction is itself a profound tragedy; that is someone who is terrified to believe that life goes on.

[creatingblackcharacters]

Hello! Sending it here again:

I play an mmo game which recently had a big character model update, it's still not perfect but we're getting there! They're sharing behind the scenes work on curly hairstyles, for example, which just... weren't there for the longest time. Oh the beauty of scandinavian white-centering... (sarcasm)

anyway, I'm from eastern-central Europe, I play on eastern Europe servers. Seeing someone with a character that's not white is... pretty rare, honestly. So rare that when I do see someone using a character that's clearly meant to be a POC, they're very often roleplaying. Recently I saw a player whom I know for a fact is white, as I know them irl (we're not friends, don't even talk much but I know what they look like) and their character used to be white too before the big update.

So my question is, does that count as digital blackface, and what even is the consensus on digital blackface as a whole? I used to be in a facebook group about unlearning racism (used to because it got deleted after some admin drama, I think? If anyone knows a similar group, let me know please) and there, most Black members agreed that if someone is white, they shouldn't be using Black emojis for example (the topic of mmos never came up, I think). I don't remember the exact reasoning but I think it was the same explanation as actual blackface. But then there were some Black people saying it's going too far and we should be focusing on "actual issues" instead. I know that's to be expected, I'm trans and I know all too well that a community is not a monolith. But seeing the player reminded me that I don't actually know that much about it, and I've seen you educate people before. I hope it's okay that I'm asking you, I'd love to do some further research as well though (I love learning things, I just also don't yet trust myself to find actually good sources).

I hope this ask makes sense, english is not my first language and all. So if I wrote something wrong, please assume I meant well, as I still don't know how to word things properly in english sometimes.

Thank you for doing what you do, btw. I really appreciate having someone compile everything like you do here, it's one of my favorite creative blogs on here.

Okay so I sat on this one for a minute to make sure my answer wouldn't change.

1) there is no one consensus. White people don't agree on everything, neither do we 😅. This would just be my opinion.

2) I definitely don't think you should be using Black emojis if you're a white person, no. That's overt Blackfacing. DEFINITELY don't pretend to be Black if you aren't!!

3) for me, I think designing your characters as Black for online play can be okay in theory, as long as you're coming at it respectfully. Like, I'd have to trust that you actually wanted to learn how to play as someone that didn't look like you, that you actually cared about Black character features and presence in games as a whole. Especially on a game where you get to design the character, versus when you're forced to play as a Black person. It's hard to trust the intentions of white people online, especially when far more often than not the good intent is just... Not there 😅. So for me, if someone asks you why you designed your character, be ready to answer, answer truthfully and answer well! If you're playing as a Black character design because "big tough guy" or "big dommy mommy" yeah you're just digital Blackfacing amongst other racist issues. But if you actually have good intent, and are willing to learn, then you'll be able to stand on that when confronted.

And again- that's just my opinion! I would listen to other voices on it as well.

[sharp-rosee]

Hey funny story: I haven't been around Tumblr at all for months, but today someone told me menalez had deactivated or something so I came on here and looked it up. First result was a post by you, i checked out your blog and wouldn't you know it your most recent post had you defending me post mortem lmfao. I sent an anon to the other woman too but it seems she won't post it so to clarify to you: when I supposedly said "studies showing violence suffered by bisexuals are cringe and useless" what I remember thinking about that is that those studies that I've seen are never used to try to understand why bisexuals suffer such insane rates of violence (more than homosexuals) and trying to stop it. I've only seen them be used as battering rams in discourse when homosexuals criticize bisexuals. Which is crazy for such a serious issue and totally trivializes it lol. Also that my explanation for it was that such studies show that many abused people incorrectly id as bi for a time. You can disagree or wtv just those were my points, she made it sound like I'm cheering on women beating if they're bi or something. Also your defense of me (thanks queen lol) is accurate if you were wondering. I used to be sorta pro strict separatism but I outgrew the anger/ denial phase of "most women will partner with men" and reached acceptance. Most people are built for romantic partnership, that's just human nature, I can't be hating het women just because their lot in life in that means they're more likely to be abused. Just because I'm not drawn to men, or even much to romance, doesn't mean I should act like that's everyone else too and judge them on that standard, I accept reality and want women to be safe within that rather than pointlessly hate on them and get all worked up because some women have boyfriends..

Well I'm also a mean asshole, I'm sure you noticed, and I definitely would give the bi girlies on radblr a hard time here at the time lol. I don't have the "one side" sort of takes on this divide on radblr. It was funny but I can't feel the energy to that anymore since leaving tumblr, way too few bis or gays irl to care about that stuff. But at the end of the day these are my actual takes on all that disk horse. Funny to see it immediately on such a causal stroll around here lol

-sleep3r4gent

QUEEN I used to follow you ♡ at least when I was crypto a few years back I did.

Also, I'm glad you clarified because the way some women on here seem to hallucinate things they read almost makes me feel insane as well. Like you sending an ask saying you never thought of a certain perspective is not indicative of you agreeing and obviously one can change their opinions over time.

I really have no opinion either way tbh, I myself am straight and in a relationship, and have had others on my last blog send some anons calling me a "dick worshipper" and other misogynistic BS, but they stopped once I didn't let it bother me much. It's so obviously a group of trolls that it's embarrassing that they still believe it enough to keep bringing back the same users, some like you who aren't even misogynistic, to further their persecution complex.

It even is more annoying because these are the women who made Mena/Moideater leave, the above drama is a big reason why. The way radblr will still reblog posts from very racist blogs and not bat an eye but then freak out over a clique of women who aren't even radfems really does show what demographic makes up this site.

I know it gets exhausting to be involved in arguments, but it's nice to know you're still somewhat around. I hope you, Mena and Moid come back someday. If not I understand. But I'll never forget any of them and I haven't forgotten you 😭😭😭

[mytearsbuckochet]

What's your most hated Bummy scene?? I'll tell you mine. It has to be the kiss in the hospital lobby and buck getting outed because of his soot covered mouth. Never hated a 911 episode more than that. I love Buck. They just made a mockery out of him by that scene.

Where do I even start.. Couldn't agree more about the soot scene, although I'm more angry at the writers about that one than I am at Tommy, given how important it was to Buck that he came out to Eddie and Maddie on his own terms and how much weight he gave those interactions I feel like even though that one was supposed to be a cute little "hehe look this is very Buck coded", it fell short in that I would've liked everyone else at the 118 to find out in a more heartfelt way ya know??

In terms of my least favourite(s), the whole arc with billy boils was a very interesting play by the writers in that it highlighted the differences between Eddie and Tommy in a meaningful way. On one hand, Eddie, who has presumably been with Buck in the hospital the whole time he was being treated for his boils, is used to Buck's hyperfixations and Wiki deep dives, and finds them wholesome and cute. I reblogged a post a little bit ago where Buck told Maddie about how her and Chim always finish each others sentences and that theyre basically already dating, and then contrasted with how Eddie was finishing Buck's sentences in that scene. Buddie fanatic aside (I will admit im obsessed with these two idiots), THIS is the kind of domesticity I've always wanted for Buck's partners, where they acknowledge and love those little moments that he has.

Now lets go ahead and look at Tommy's side of this whole thing: Tommy's reaction to seeing the boils + how he treated and viewed Buck's obsession as exactly that, an obsession + the graveyard scene??? You can break it down into "oh well Buddie have known eachother since s2, Bummy have been together 6 months", but from my perspective the fact that Buck didn't even realise Tommy didn't like women until their 6 month anniversary (???) just goes to show that they don't really know that much about one another. Tommy was completely right in the breakup scene; he was definitely not Buck's last, and the poor guy is definitely in need of some self exploration (#letbuckfuck) before I'd be happy to see Buddie honestly (and thats not even considering the work that needs to be done on Eddie, my guy is going through it rn with Chris). Anyway; I just read this amazing fic by playinginthundestorms (on ao3) and I think the way they described Tommy (slightly Tommy bashing), was overall how I imagine he sees Buck. It never really felt like Tommy was fond of these little things Buck does in the way that Eddie (and the rest of the 118) are, more seeing him as childish or juvenile as the fic described. And it makes sense, tommy is older than Buck. A whole other can of worms and probably the icing on the cake for me was the Abby debacle, the misogyny really showed??? like man you have not changed since Hen my lord. Calling Abby out for running off with some "himbo half her age" was wild considering thats what he is currently doing with Buck? Especially with all the shit she had to go through with her mum at the time? Like what on earth is your excuse Temu? Anyway, to cut a long rant short, I actually have given you like 50 reasons, but i definitely think that Tommy was a well placed plot device and it was obvious from the start. Also, ABC could've chosen ANYONE to be Buck's first experience with a man and they were like yep lets use the racist homophobe from Chim and Hen begins cos why not?! I probably would've had a far less negative opinion of him if he was a fresh character, and I think that's on purpose, I think it would be really interesting if they go down the road of hen and chim sharing their experiences with Tommy now that they've broken up, and that they didn't say anything cos they just wanted Buck to be happy. Definitely after that heartfelt scene with Hen especially, that I didn't get cos of that bloody soot scene.

[jules-ln]

Just to let you know you are not alone in having less than positive feelings towards Mel Medarda !

I hope her weird fans aren’t anonymously hating on you like with that one ask you published.

I don't dislike/hate Mel, I just love villains lol

Like when I write about her and focus on her negative traits, it's because those are the traits I like the most about her lmao

I love characters like Ambessa, Singed and Silco, I'm also a big fan and supporter of evil Viktor and Yandere Jayce. Give me my dark complex characters. gimme gimme!

So when I say things like "Mel was manipulative" that for me was the best part of her character. I really would've preferred if they had made Mel an antagonist rather than a last minute hero but I digress (I love evil women, really looking forward to more LeBlanc content)

But her crazy fans have really taken away any wish for me to draw/analyze her. Like sure, some people make fucked up things about her, but where are they going to draw the line? Like are they going to harass any writer/artist that they don't like their portrayal of her even if it's inherently positive? When is good going to be good enough?

To me it just seems that a lot of these fans are really young frustrated people without any real life friends who wouldn't judge them for not always having the most political correct opinion, and are letting out their frustration on the internet harassing people because they don't understand that there's actually real people on the other side of the screen

Like people say Jayvik fans are the racists ones, but the other day I saw how Mel fans were harassing a black woman cosplayer because she made a joke with Jayvik, like that's too much (stop it, get some help) Mel it's not real and representation doesn't matter if you still go out of your way to harass real black women independently of if you agree with them or not (and it's not the first time something like this happens)

Thankfully the Jayvik part of the fandom it's a lot more chill, so at some point the sad reality it's that right now it's easier to avoid Mel completely to avoid problems

And also, no, people haven't harass me, because I didn't tag the character lmao

Funnily enough, her crazy fans are mostly just in Twitter, the nazi social media (water is wet, what else is new) in Tumblr people generally don't tend to search in other tags for content to hate on, so, I'm relatively safe as long as I don't tag her lmao

Also, every time I see someone post Jayvik hate on the Jayvik tag, I block them, so I think I've probably blocked at least the craziest ones out there LMAO

[unopenablebox]

top 5 agatha christie novels (bonus question bottom 5 agatha christie novels)

ok caveat that all agatha christie novels have like, a layer on which they're a mystery novel, and a layer on which they're very deliberate social commentary, which is really interesting to me but not necessarily 'good' let alone 'endorsed'

top 5:

murder on the orient express the reason everyone likes this one is because it's good evil under the sun i just think this is well done. classic, central example of the christie mystery structure and cast of characters, fun setting, fun writing, fun solution. a brief swerve toward goofy commentary on Teens, but i think it rescues it in the end. a mirror crack'd from side to side very fun marple. i really love miss marple which is kind of an unpopular opinion amongst christie fans, and i think she's shown off well here. not a perfect book but in practice i reread it often because i just really like the one-off characters and i think it's a fun example of the classic agatha christie The Solution Is The Personality move. sleeping murder more marple! fun mystery premise, enjoyable characters, well-written, not history's most difficult mystery to solve but a good enough time that i don't care. the hollow really fun interesting character work. obvious of me to love henrietta but i insist upon doing it anyway

[pause here for the best-worst superposition book, a murder is announced, which on the one hand is a clever, fun, entertaining book with a great setup and great use of miss marple and on the other hand is one of the cruellest, most needlessly antisemitic depictions of a holocaust survivor you could possibly imagine]

bottom 5:

every single thriller. this includes every tommy and tuppence novel. they're bad examples of an already bad genre. she just wasn't good at writing these and they're all very overwrought, very boring, and depict the least meaningful conception of Organized Crime possible elephants can remember just not good. this has maybe the most unbelievably obvious solution of any christie novel i've ever read, it's not otherwise particularly good on any axis, and the whole thing just feels like a plod toward the book finally agreeing to reveal the incredibly obvious twist. they do it with mirrors also reeeally obvious, at least if you've read a few christies before, and it's set in a school/rehab/asylum for Criminal Youths and therefore involves a lot of agatha christie explaining her understanding of the top criminal psych theories of 1952

the pale horse i just didn't like this one. she's going for an Atmosphere of the Supernatural, like in endless night (which i also dislike), and like in endless night, she does this mostly through invoking scary Romani rituals (not called that) and endless wibbling about OooOoh is MAGIC REAL???? but then it isn't. the revealed motive and method here are both much worse then in endless night, and so is the narrator, whom i dislike enormously.

and then there were none fuck this book. everyone likes it but they're wrong because it's not good. premise is ludicrous eventual solution is even more ludicrous moral underpinning of the book is deeply irritating and i'm deducting points both for how hard it goes on the Oily Jew cameos relative to other christies and because of its history of having a really racist title. but fundamentally the problem with this book, as i've said before when explaining my theory of why basing glass onion on it was one of the fundamental problems with that film, is that this is not a mystery novel. it's a thriller. and her thrillers, as we just discussed, are all terrible and make no goddamn sense

[spiritstalking]

About tarot Lexa

I think it's obvious that she shouldn't have jumped the gun, but i do think she's fighting a loosing battle, by not geuinely apologising to the people in the server. As they aggreed in the server that tarotlexa most likely did misunderstand the situation. If she simply just had given an geuinine apology when due (not - 'i apologize if it seemed like i was defending actions i wasn’t aware of.' - because she did defend actions she wasn't aware of ), and the server is right when saying that it's harmful to say that when confronting someone for being micro-aggressive is 'bullying').

I think this is the case being that after honey took responsiblity for what she said and apologised to everyone. (and after looking what she wrote i geuinely do believe that she wasn't intentional, and has made the right actions dealing with the situation). She hasn't made negative comments about the server - being that there was a misunderstanding/false accusation. Which does say alot, in my opinon.

However without owning up to what actually happened and instead of putting the blame on others for ' not dming her', because ultimately it isn't about that. And i understand that at the moment getting jumped and called a racist for defending your friend is tough however once lexa knew what happend, she should have given a genuine apology. And that Is what is making this a bigger problem.

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Also about the d*xxing situation - i agree that at the moment it did seem like lexa was being pressured and that it's honestly not smart for the people in the discord to mention about wanting to learn how to commit a crime.

But after re-reading what was said, in the actual discord. No one actually did pressure her as they never said ' if you don't teach me this i'll beat u up/ or called her nasty names for not teaching her etc etc', and when she said that she didn't want to teach anyone they understood and then made some jokes about d*xxing afterwards.

However no one likes to be called unintelligent and if she clarified why she had such a strong reaction - to me it seems like she had to deal with the negative experience with d*xxing, otherwise it wouldn't make sense why she had such a strong reaction.

I think humility is a good attributes to have and she could have explained her side better and apologise for the server by perhaps saying 'i'm sorry that i'm coming off harsh and insulted you guys however trust me i've seen some nasty shit'. I think that would have sufficed.

Because ultimately the people in the server were just saying that they don't appreciate being talked down to. Which is fair.

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That being said that i understand that it's hard for her now to apologise to the server as we have to take into consideration that someone from the server is sending her horrific threats and slurs to her and i would like to make it a point not to underplay this fact. I would find it tough to apologise even if i did wrong to a group of people knowing that one of them are saying horrific slurs to me.

you typed out your thoughts really well, and i'm not mad at them. you ate ngl. i agree the lack of apology and the way lexa's phrasing things is what's making it a situation where there's no resolution.

honey on the other hand has shown a ton of growth in my opinion. she's always been apologetic and open to understanding how to become better, so i truly see her being able to overcome everything

[le-clair-de-lune]

WARNING: CONTROVERSIAL OPINION

I absolutely do not understand people loving Tom Riddle and essentially separating him from Voldermort.

He IS Voldemort guys. You know the crazy, narcissistic, power hungry blood supremacist who killed over hundreds of people directly and indirectly. His entire goal was to kill a teenage boy, and I don't get how you can just make them different people because you think the actor is hot. Liking the actor is perfectly fine but you can separate a character from his younger self just because you think he's good looking. The reason Voldemort is the way he is, is because of his development through his life. His life known as Tom Riddle. Voldemort = Tom Riddle. Just because he changed around the letters doesn't mean he's a different person. AND another thing, which I know is a very controversial thing, I think Mattheo is such a stupid character and making him Tom's brother makes no sense BECAUSE THEN YOU SAY THE ARE VOLDERMORTS SONS. He can either be Voldemort's brother or his son but there is no way for Tom to be Voldemort's son THEY ARE THE SAME PEOPLE. And there is no way his name would be Mattheo, which even Benjamin Wadsworth said after watching the movies. A racist white man named TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE would not name his child Mattheo. And if he was Voldemort's son which he didn't know about there is no way he would be walking around with the Riddle last name because there is no way Hogwarts would let THE DARK LORDS SON attend their school or any wizarding schools for that matter. Another thing, Slytherin Boys content creators are getting out of control. Why is there stories in which Regulus Black is strolling around the halls of Hogwarts as a teenager IN THE GOLDEN ERA. He was born in the 1960's people. HE DIED in 1979 the rest of the boys had not yet be born or were one years old. You cannot just add him into a story set in the Golden era time. And I do not care if you are a Harry Potter fan only because you watched the movies or only cause you read the books you don't have to have indulged in both to be a fan but I think it indulging in one or the other is a basic criteria. There are so many people who write about the Slytherin Boys who have never watched or read it. NOT ALL of them but a large majority of people who just came across them on tiktok and thought they were hot and make new fancasts and whole new stories for the characters that make absolutely no sense. And believe me I know how much of the fandom runs on fanon as a golden trio and marauders era fan. But there is a point were you're just creating your own story that does not at all run along any of the origins.

Apologies for the rant, and if I offended anyone. That is not what I intend it's just none of this shit makes sense to me. But this is my opinion and you don't have to agree.

[fuji09]

so from the very few i understood, Dylan O'Brien mentioned positively something about his trans sibling in 2024, then this year this same sibling replies a comment - which mentioned Dylan's girlfriend being a racist and homophobic, and that is because of some of her old tweets, yet it seems like she apologized for them already, - and mentions the fact they have not spoken with dylan in over a year.

Then now people are mad at Dylan for his girlfriend's past behavior, and putting the blame on the fact he and his sibling have not speak solely on him, even through there is no full context on why they were not talking. And it is also not like communication depends on only one person.

Also, i saw some people mentioning that his sibling got upset about this interview he talked about them being brought up, so they replied it to that specific comment. And some people think they didn't know it would fire like this, yet on my shit opinion, it is very unlikely they didn't know as why replying that specific comment? why not just keeping it private? why not just posting a pic with him and a "miss you brother"? they knew it was going to happen and they knew it was going to be targeted on him....

I am definitely all for giving someone a second chance if they apologize and change their behavior. Obviously no one is required to forgive someone, but I refuse to hold something over someone they did in the past and then changed for the better.

I myself said awful shit in the past when I was a teen when that was all I knew, but when I realized I was wrong and what I said wasn't ok, I changed myself, changed my thinking, and made a point to do better, to BE better.

If this is the case with his girlfriend, then that's great and I won't hold her past over her.

I don't find it fair to blame Dylan for something his girlfriend did/said, (were they even dating at the time this all happened?) when he is only responsible for his own words/actions. He can't control what she says/does.

None of this makes Dylan transphobic, in fact, he's been very vocal about supporting his sibling.

Siblings have falling outs. It happens all the time. Doesn't mean it will last forever. Siblings can go year without speaking, especially when they become adults, live in different states, have jobs that keep them traveling, ect... It doesn't mean it has anything to do with his sibling being trans masc.

That interview where Dylan mentioned that is over a year old, they were still on speaking terms when it happened. But now that Twinless and Ponyboi are coming out in theaters, this interview was brought up.

I do understand Julz being upset with their photo being used without their permission, I would be too. Especially when they didn't even tag him in it!

I also understand a younger sibling being upset over not having contact with their older sibling. I have been in a similar situation with my younger sister being upset with me for moving out (to get out of the toxic environment I was in), she believed the bs being said about me by family and church people, and I went without contact with my family for a few years.

She felt abandoned and took it personally. I get it, but it wasn't about her. I needed to get out. She didn't tell me about big events in her life, she didn't tell me happy birthday, it was pretty rough.

Then when I started visiting my family, I'd see her and talk to her some. But we are total opposites, she's a Christian and we don't agree on a lot of things, she's basically sunshine and rainbows while I'm dark and queer, and she graduated college whereas I didn't even graduate high school.

I was shocked when she asked me to be a bridesmaid when she got married, but I was happy about it. Then I found out that all the people she met after I moved out, had no idea I even existed. She apparently never told any of them she had an older sister. I got told so many times that they had no idea she had a sister. It hurt. And it was noticeable enough that my little brother noticed and bluntly said, "wow, no one knows you exist". Her best friend didn't even know about me until her college graduation and she met me.

Now, we text each other happy birthday and that's the extent of us speaking to each other. If I see her at Christmas on the years I'm able to visit, I'll talk to her a little, but we always end up getting annoyed with each other at some point.

I get feeling hurt when you aren't even texted happy birthday, my sister has forgotten many times and it sucks.

I get feeling hurt about not being checked in on after something major, like surgery. But did Dylan even know about it? Was he told? Did he mean to text and forgot? Did he see the post on Instagram on how well his sibling was doing after surgery and didn't think to text? He seems like he has ADHD and out of sight out of mind is a very real thing. Was he traveling and filming his movie at the time? Did timezones play a part? Did being hella busy play a factor?

We will never know, but without knowing the entire story, I can't in good conscience judge either of them. We have no idea what caused Dylan to not speak to Julz for a year, and we will probably never know since it's a family matter.

I've seen people say Dylan needs to speak out about it and I disagree. He is under no obligation to talk about a private family matter just so his fans can judge him and decide if they should hate him now or not. No one is entitled to that information. I hope however he handles it will be down in private being both of them deserve privacy.

Maybe Julz didn't know how this would all go when they made that comment. Maybe they did. Either way, when you feel hurt, sometimes in the moment we react in a way we shouldn't. I get it.

It's possible Julz didn't know that interview was over a year old and they felt incredibly hurt thinking Dylan was using him. I totally get that and that's valid. Should they have talked to their brother in private about it? Yeah probably.

But because we don't know the entire story, we have no right to judge or jump to conclusions and we definitely don't have a right to spread misinformation. Now people are hating Dylan thinking he's transphobic when he's been super supporting of Julz and of his trans friends. He's been supportive of the queer community.

Also siblings aren't required to be besties. I think a lot of people don't understand this due to how siblings are portrayed in media. We grow apart, we become different people with different lives. We don't even have to like our siblings! I think people who are judging them are either, an only child or have perfect relationships with their siblings. Because most people with siblings understand that shit happens between siblings.

I refuse to hate Dylan when I don't have all the info or actual proof of him being transphobic. I won't jump to conclusions. Also, another thing people seem to forget, actors are people too. They are human just like the rest of us. They are flawed and make mistakes. No actor is perfect.

Thank you for explaining what all you knew. I appreciate it! Sorry this was so long, if you're still reading then thank you for taking the time to do so.