#kind of a bummer post. sorry to my fans! | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

kravchikfreak · 2 months ago

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I'm sorry if this ask is coming out of nowhere, but I have been looking for posts that talk about how S2 has declined in quality and there have been virtually NONE. Even tags like 'arcane critical' or 'anti arcane' don't show up even though I know there are posts that are tagged with them. I'm losing my mind. Has nobody else noticed this downgrade? The ideas could have been good, but they were not executed well and the whole thing reads like they wrote it really quickly without any real editing and then rushed to get it out. It feels hollow, like we're seeing a botched or unfinished version of what it was supposed to be. What kind of random ass shit is it that an enforcer comes up to Vi and says, "cait said good things about you," and Vi is just like wow you're right, I'm sold! Even though she already knows Cait has a high opinion of her and that wasn't the issue in the first place! Also who was that random homeless man? Why am I supposed to care about these people? Fans get defensive about the pacing and argue that s1 did a lot in a minimal amount of time too, but I don't think they realize that pacing has to do with making something feel organic. Vi's heel turn into becoming an enforcer was not organic. Viktor's two second goodbye was not organic. Both of these things could have made sense if they'd given these moments even just a little more effort or care. There were so many unnecessary scenes that could have been cut out to give more time to things that desperately needed it (like caitlyn's sad wordless montage about her mom. Why did it drag out so long? Her grief is apparent in every other scene. We did not need an entire abstract slideshow of her making various sad expressions.) There's also the animation. The animation is leagues above a regularly animated show, but if you look closely it is actually not as good as s1. There is less detail, the lighting of the background doesn't always match the characters, and there are moments where the lips don't always sync with their voices. These are minor things that I wouldn't usually care about, but for a multi-million dollar show like Arcane? Riot games recently laid off a whole slew of its creative team, too, and I wonder if they've been making similar cuts before that. It would certainly explain the drop in quality. I wouldn't put it past corporate greed to nerf one of the most groundbreaking animated shows in modern media if they thought they could profit more by cutting corners.

I'm sorry to ramble in your inbox as a random stranger, but it boggles my mind that there are so few people mentioning s2's flaws (not including rage bait, which is annoying because it only delegitamizes real criticisms and discussions.) I feel like I'm screaming in the void like is nobody else seeing this shit??

well hello there! first of all, "arcane critical" is what i was looking for when i was writing that post. gonna put it in tags now before i forget

secondly, i love asks! so no need to apologize. thirdly it's a bummer you went under anonym, i don't believe you get notifs for your anonymous asks, so unless you actually hang out on my blog regularly there's a chance you won't see me appreciating your thoughts and agreeing with you (expect for the animation part, cause for me it was great, i have no questions on that regard. but for each their own. i'm a big fun of the dragon prince first season's animation and still sad they get rid of their 13fps style, so...)

anyway, i got bored at the beginning of my rumbling that time and didn't get into some deep analysis but yes, the first season also had events to go fast and forward, but at the same time they made sense. it wasn't rush or dragged, every scene had a meaning and weight

YES to the burial scene. like i get it, it was drawn pretty and it was sad and grey for cait but my god how many hours can we watch vi going away from 317 different angles? i was actually shocked to see her at cait's, cause after 10 minutes of her hiding in the crowd and leaving before cait saw her i was legit sure the show tried to tell us they broke up for now and won't see each other for a while

and it all feels so odd, as if on the one hand writers had too little allowed episodes to work with their ideas, like they came up with all these important story points but had no more screen time to add actual story development between the points, cause the season is like 10 episodes too short to fit a full coherent story. but on the other hand they have too much unused screen time, like they wrote only 5 episodes but they had to make 9 so now we will just fill the equivalent of 4 episodes of free time with mute repetitive long scenes

who the fuck is that mute lizard cop? is he actually mute? or there were no budget on one more voice actor? what's his problem? why he always looks like he's mad at everyone? should i even care he's always displeased? does he even matter? if no, why he has so much screen time and close-up shots? if yes, why he has no meaning or story or character or name? i swear to god, in the first season that one future-junkie dude had more of a meaning and weight in his two minutes scene than these lizard cop and the new jinx's sister during two episodes

and it all would've been fine, really, if it was the first season, or one of these already bad shows that you don't really expect much of. but arcane was a masterpiece, and also we've been waiting for it for three years. so it's the feeling that we know how GOOD it can be, and the feeling that it just chose not to

w....wait... what if they also tried to do great? and failed to do good in the process

or maybe, as you said, just some internal kitchen shit. i never actually follow media creation stuff and staff so maybe that's just it. still not make it all better for me as a viewer who was too excited to learn at 1 am that the act dropped and stayed up until 7am to make sure to watch it before getting to sleep

HEY THANK YOU for giving me opportunity to rumble about it again

#arcane critical #this is the tag for asks #anti arcane #just for a good measure #i'm still very pro-arcane i'm just sad

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shit-talk-turner · 2 months ago

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Fans: Alex is dating Akira. Louise: No honey, he's still mine. "She posts a picture of their supposed anniversary."

Fans: No, Louise is definitely not in Los Angeles. Louise: Oh look, I'm in Los Angeles, at my Mon Amour's house *Posts boring Cheetos session*

Fans: Something strange definitely happened, Louise and Amanda didn't even pose for a photo together this time. Louise: Oh look, I was here with Amanda, but she's really bad at taking pictures *Posts a picture of Amanda*

Fans: I don't think Louise and Alex are still together

Louise: Oh, definitely if we're together, look at this *Takes a picture of a stranger's license plate and compromises their current location and safety*

You know, I feel sorry for Louise, she's just living to prove things and rumors that fans make up, but not because they make her happy.

Louise's life is definitely miserable

yeah it’s kind of a bummer

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sneezemonster15 · 3 months ago

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I wish I had the experience of badgal person. When The Last came out, all I saw was NH shippers rubbing it and the screenshots from it in everyone's faces, especially in the faces of narusaku shippers, telling them "Haha, we were right you were wrong, stupid narusakus". Of course if sns argued, they told them Naruto and Sasuke aren't gay. I did see couple NH shippers who were embarrassed by the movie and even stopped shipping it, but majority of what I saw were celebrating that Naruto picked the right girl. SS caused more hate, but plenty were celebrating both ships. Gaiden first chapter made some SS drop the ship, but they were like couple teen girls, adult SS stood by the ship through everything. I actually think nowadays making fun of Hinata gets more clout (kingchris being a good example) than before. On the other hand, SS/NH female shippers have weaponized "misogyny" as an argument on why Sakura and Hinata and the ships are hated, so that's a bummer. Anyway sorry for the rant lol I just wanted to remind people that time was not a joy for a lot of us. I was angry at Kishi, at SJ, and the toxic SS/NH ending defenders. And I was sad too. I was mostly on tumblr too, so maybe somewhere else it was different. I know at narutoforums quite some people were calling the ending dogshit and laughing that SS happened, but not all.

No need to apologize. You know, when I joined this fandom three years ago, I was harassed by numerous SS and NH stans. It went on for some time too. All they had to show for their arguments were the same four Spanish translated panels. And crying about the 'obvious brotherhood' of SNS. Insta would also rec me Sakura and Hinata posts in the beginning, and damn they were popular. If one SNS stan went to comment on the message boards, they would get eaten alive by the trolling. Forget rational discourse, they are really like rabid fans frothing at the mouth. This is not to say that SNS isn't popular, but it doesn't get the kind of validation that it justly deserves, only because it's not het and because of the ending, not canon. The more discerning fans agreed with SNS oriented views even if they weren't SNS shippers. But that didn't do anything to affect the popularity of ss or nh ships.

It really gets my goat to be called a 'dirty fujoshi' or m/m fetishizer by people who wouldn't know storytelling if it slapped them in their faces. Especially now, because now that I have read a significant number of bl works, I know what its general tropes are and how problematic some of them are and quite a lot of them definitely fetishize m/m dynamic. But I know Naruto isn't like that. Prejudice really makes you see only what you want to see and hear what you want to hear.

#reply #anon #naruto fandom

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be-the-glenn-to-my-maggie · 2 years ago

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do you have any post adoption of spider headcanons? i live for your content about him and the rest of the sullies lol

Hi! I actually have been working on a longer post about this, but it is a tad bit of a bummer so I'll do a lighter one here!! Sorry if it takes me a couple days, which I have a feeling it will! You all know by now I'm a MASSIVE Spider Sully truther and I'm assuming this is in response to my recent post adoption Spider post, so here are my Spider Sully headcanons in that world (if you wanted a different au, Spider Sully at the Omaticaya growing up or Spider Sully in modern era or something else, please let me know):

-There are certain things about Na'vi life that Spider isn't actually used to, because he would go home to Hells Gate at night and was excluded. He is now forcefully included. Lo'ak, Spider, and Kiri play a game called 'Is this Spider or is this just weird?' where Spider has to guess if the thing he's unfamiliar with is a universal thing (the way they bathe, Spider has a shower in his bathroom at Hells Gate) or is this a weird Metkayina thing (the way Ao'nung chooses to climb up to the rock pools at the edge of the reef, definitely weird and definitely funny). It gets kind of cliquey when anything they do for weeks with the Metkayina kids devolves into the three of them whispering and giggling to each other. It almost ruins their entire relationship with Ao'nung, until Lo'ak caves and tells Tsireya what they're doing.

-Kiri, Lo'ak, and Spider are just weirdly cliquey in general. Tsireya, Ao'nung, and Rotxo hadn't noticed before with just Kiri and Lo'ak because they'd been missing the third musketeer, but now it's almost impossible to be around them. They have so many inside jokes and sometimes they all look at each other and have silent conversations with their eyebrows (Ao'nung never thought he'd be jealous of eyebrows) and facial expressions and then act like a decision has been made. It's just that the three of them didn't have many other close friends at home, not with a trust and a bond like the one they all have, so it's hard to adjust and add people. Tuk was natural because she grew into them, but going swimming with Rotxo it's almost hard to remember to include him. A distinct effort goes into the three of them unlearning their insular ways and letting new friends into the clique lol.

-All the Sully's are very protective of Spider for a long time. No one can even touch him for a couple months after he's back. Tsireya teaching him to breathe underwater still somehow ends in Kiri hissing at her when she goes to touch him. Kiri was always protective of Spider, but Lo'ak always treated him like anyone else. Most of his scars and injuries growing up came from dumb stuff Lo'ak suggested they do or accidentally caused when roughhousing. Now Lo'ak treats him like he's fragile, not letting anyone near him. It takes them a while to get back into their normal rhythm, or at least a new normal. Probably after some sort of dangerous thing Ao'nung convinced Spider to do goes wrong.

-Yeah, definitely the first time Spider is let out of any of the Sully's sight he's frat boy hazed by Ao'nung, who is NOT A FAN for the first month of so of his stay there. Ao'nung learned his lesson from the Three Brothers Rocks incident and was like leaving him right at the edge of the reef is good. Spider just attracts all danger though. Before he can be killed by anything, Jake's Lo'ak spidey sense goes off but Lo'ak is right in front of him so it can only mean one thing: now theres too of them. Neytiri finds Spider minutes after on her ikran.

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destinyc1020 · 8 months ago

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Confession for Sunday:

Not to be negative, but I can't stand some solo Tom fans on this website and on Twitter being so negative. Twitter, I've not gonna comment on because it's so deranged, so I've left it, but solo Tom blogs on here are so damn negative. I can understand their frustration being a fan of someone whose career it seems to always be tested by the critics and online public perception, but acting like his is in a bigger disadvantage than most actors, especially dei when his biggest roles are in Marvel, Uncharted and Cherry is crazy I'm sorry. My irritation is becaue I can tell one blog is run by a black woman its giving CC vibes no shade, and it's embarassing and sad to get angry or annoyed if he posts his Z on his ig account as opposed to his work. His play is in a few days, trust me he's more than fine!!!!

Like, he's been doing this for years,sorry. He was posting her even when they were just "mates," lol. Or get angry when fans of both post about him getting jacked and calling it "icky." When has it been icky to thirst over beefy Tom??? Do you understand this behaviour isn't exclusively to Tom. All yt celebs men get thirst after on even if they are very slim or super thick I'm sorry. Gatekeeping a public figure is crazy I'm sorry.

Like I understand being a Tom stan ain't for the weaK. Like, we've been through it, lol. The future castings he passed on, the wish for more career opportunities, stans of yt male celebs picking on him, especially ones who have been Z's costars, reading puff pieces against him in service of other actors have been rough, but I recently read that Tom doesn't care about articles about him much on Doms patreon, so I stopped caring tbh. English celebs generally go by the never complain, never explain motto when it comes to the media. Harry Styles uses it, too. I only care about what he tells us, not the other way round.

Like you guys want him to be something that he's not, and it's so tiring going round in circles. It's a silly comparison, but Tom Cruise is a questionable person who I feel is private despite knowing a lot him. Most ppl who work 9 to 5 don't care to read blogs or information about him. They see him in a good movie, they watch and have fun and go home. That's it. Tom isn't Cruise, thank god, but he mentions Christian Bale and Cillian Murphy as actors whose careers he wants to have, which is to do the work and retreat to his personal life. A lot of young actors want to do that now cause as a society, we know too much of each other.

Him not posting R+J was a bummer, but strategically, it's very smart because in this digital age, ppl want everything immediately.

Mystery builds hype. 101 marketing.

Anyways, that's my two cents.

Whew, okay…. Obviously something is going on in the fandom rn which I am not privy to, because I’m currently at work lol, because you’re like the second Anon that I’ve had in my inbox complaining about this today.

Is this all because Tom posted Z on his Instagram?? Geez people (antis) smh lol…. Get a grip! 🙄 Deal with it! Tom has a right to post his gf to his Instagram if that’s what he wants to do.

First of all, Twitter can be such a cesspool. ☹ I highly recommend not even paying much attention to what’s being said on Twitter, or, at the very least, not taking it SERIOUSLY.

Second…. I will have to agree with you somewhat on the topic of how some fans in Tom’s fandom behave. I almost feel like fans in Tom’s fandom don’t just allow him to just be? It really is sad imo. I actually have a bit of a theory as to why this is the case. This is just my personal theory, so of course, take this with a huge grain of salt… But I kind of feel like the reason why Tom is held at such a high standard (in his OWN fandom) is because most of his fans only became his fans due to Spiderman/Marvel/MCU hype. My guess is that not a lot of current Tom stans today knew or paid much attention to him PRIOR to Spiderman. So, a lot of Hollanders (Tom stans) probably were used to Tom “winning” right from the beginning right out of the gate.

Whereas, some of the stans of other popular wm fandoms (i.e. JE, Timothee Chalamet, Zac Efron, Dylan O’Brien, Ryan Gosling, Austin Butler, Bill Skarsgard, even Mike Faist, etc.) were probably fans of these guys back when they were not as well known, or when their careers weren’t as “hot” as they are currently. So, their fans are used to them being in a “struggle” position and have been patient, understanding, and open to a wider variety of “wins” and even “fails” for their male faves. They love them regardless….no matter what is going on.

But with Tom, because he gained most of his fans probably more so due to Spiderman/Marvel/MCU, I feel like his fans are/were used to him being the hot new “It Guy” right off the bat, and his stardom went CRAZY overnight, so they haven’t been there in the trenches when Tom was just an “unknown” actor. They didn’t love him before he was super hot and everywhere like he is today. So I think they don’t allow him the grace and understanding that a lot of other fandoms usually give their own faves.

Don’t get me wrong, some other fandoms do clown their faves too ROTFL! 🤣(Make no mistake about that lol) But I think Tom is held to such a higher standard because he started off as the “It Guy” , and so now, when his fans see other actors getting some addicted, or maybe “taking his spot” (maybe in their minds?) they get upset/angry/jealous/negative etc.

Idk, that’s my theory?🤷🏾‍♀️

For me, I’m the type of fan that’s just like how you described most people are with actors such as say Tom Cruise. While I always wish the best for my actor faves, at the end of the day, I know it’s not MY life, and I just want them to be happy. I go see a Tom Cruise movie, and I’m good! 😃 I’m not worrying about his career in the meantime, or worried if he hasn’t made a film in 3 years or whatever lol. I just take things as they come!

I think part of the reason why Tom’s fandom is so hard on him is because they have these crazy expectations on him because they see it as some type of “competition”, instead of just letting Tom BE.

I think that if you’re a TRUE fan of someone, you love them when they’re “down” and when they’re up. Don’t be a “fair-weather” fan in other words. It’s okay for an actor to have a “Down” period. This industry is very transient and challenging. It’s okay for an actor to “take a break”. It’s okay for an actor to have some hits and even some misses in their career! That’s NORMAL! Fans are way too hard on Tom imo.

I already gave my theory as to why that might be the case, but if you all have any other ideas/theories, by all means, let me know!

Re: Your Last Part about R&J…

Tom has posted about R&J a couple of times, no?? I’m sure he will post even MORE as the play gets underway. I even expect him to MAYBE do a video collage at some point showing the process. That would be super cool. 😊

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cookinguptales · 1 year ago

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I found you through AO3 bc your nandermo fics devastated me and really helped kick off my newest special interest and I enjoy your metas a lot. I was sad when I saw your post about being disheartened by lack of interaction. I really struggle to communicate, especially online and especially when going through things, but I wanted to say that I really like what you write and your insight and thank you for creating. I wish I could interact more often and more specifically than leaving kudos. I had a moment of social energy and I wanted to use it to send this since I’ve been thinking about your post for awhile. Sorry for rambling awkwardly, just thanks.

I really appreciate that you put the effort into sending me this message, especially because it sounds like it's not something that's necessarily easy for you to do. That was really kind. Thank you.

I was mostly talking about wider fandom trends and my experiences in other fandoms; like I mentioned in the post, wwdits fandom has actually been one of the best experiences I've had in fandom in years. (Uh. Certain anons aside. lmao.) I get more interaction here than I have in a long time, and it's one reason why I keep writing fic and meta.

I will say that it's still... frustrating, I guess, the way that social media is kind of where fic goes to die these days, even in wwdits fandom. I do still think it's largely because you have to click off the "social" site to read the fic, and AO3 in and of itself was not meant for extensive social interaction. So you do still lose out on the kinds of social interaction that other kinds of fanwork (including meta, for that matter) seem to enjoy.

I would say that the way my meta is received vs. the way my fic is received is drastically different, and I really didn't start making as many friends on tumblr until I started posting it. The fic was definitely not enough, no matter how many people enjoyed it. Again, they might list me as an author that they enjoyed, but not an actual fellow fan that they liked to interact with. I guess that's the part that's a bummer. There is a more collaborative feel to certain kinds of fanwork, and fanfic used to have that feel.

Now, though, it can be very isolating and I do see a tendency to separate author from fanwork. That can feel weirdly like erasure, like people don't want you to exist, only the work you can give them. I've even seen people complain that author's notes exist because they don't want anything to "distract" from the fic. Like an artist existing distracts from the art...? That's frustrating.

I do think it's related to greater trends re: nonconsensual commodification of art, pressure to commodify hobbies, monetization of fandom, art as "content/product" and art enjoyers as "consumer/customer", etc. It does remind me in some ways of the way that people do feel... entitled, I guess? To various artists' output as separated from the artist. (See: misuse of art for AI.)

It does feel extra frustrating to see this forced upon fanfic, though, considering that it's one of the few types of fanwork that still exists in a real legal gray area re: monetization. It's like we get saddled with all of the downsides of commercialization with none of the benefits. I feel like we should be able to opt out of all this commercialization bullshit if we're not even getting paid to deal with the shitty dehumanizing parts. lmao

Ah, I'm getting distracted again.

I guess it's nice to just actually see people talk about something you've created and interact with it. Not just leave a comment to you personally, but show it to their friends, put stuff in the tags, ask questions, start discussions about it, etc. You know, the kind of stuff that happens with other kinds of art on social media. (Meta very much included!) Things that make it feel more like you exist in a community rather than just... idk, putting down something you've made and watching it get consumed absent your presence.

I guess... to extend the metaphor, I may be the cook but I still want a place at the table. The difference between making dinner for your family vs. making dinner for a customer at a restaurant, y'know? I wanna sit down and talk, not just perform. There's a lack of community these days that I really miss.

I guess all this is mostly just nostalgia for an older form of fandom. Fic did used to feel a bit more like an interactive art form back in the LJ days. (And before, I guess.) A conversation, if you will. Sometimes that could be irritating (remember back when reviewers could be put in the fics and such on ff.net? lmao) but sometimes it was really nice.

I SOUND REALLY OLD NOW... There are some things about modern fandom and AO3 in general that I really like, especially the ability to search and filter in ways that really weren't possible ~back in the day~. But... yeah, I do feel like we've lost something, too, by making fanfic almost too easy to "consume" outside of the rest of the social fandom space.

I guess I'll go take my cane and sit down now lmao.

#I mean I do actually have a variety of canes but that's due to disability not age haha #replies #praise

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queerofcups · 1 year ago

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probably your inbox is not the place to put this, but i was scrolling your blog and saw your post about it. younger fans experience of fandom is so much about surveillance because they are constantly surveilling each other. my current fandom is relatively young (kpop), and in the first month there was a callout post about someone who kudosed a smut fic about an extremely underaged character. i don't even know how they found that kudos, except through very dedicated stalking of [1/2]

oh yeah, my inbox is open for these kinds of discussions, even if I take a while to answer.

yeah, that's not super surprising but is a real fucking bummer, nonny. i do think its a real ourobourus of people doing surveillance, so people act surveilled, so people think its normal to do surveillance and I don't know what the answer is other than to like...develop community with people who will just let you like the shit you like? and/or who are prepared to have conversations about like...fic preferences not being a reflection of real desire and desire often being a complicated, difficult thing. and also like...doing fandom in a healthy way?

and, as much as i understand it, all I see, when I see newer fans talking about like...not leaving kudos on a fic that's more than a year old or being so deeply, deeply scared of being *seen* is an existential threat to fandom as a hobby and as anything like a community (which, lol). like, I know people have very big opinions about writers wanting kudos but like...idk man, kudos feel good! comments feel *really* good. having someone hold up your work and say "I like this thing" is absolutely fuel! and if fanwork creators of all sorts are just kind've...making things and chucking them into a silent void, eventually some of them, maybe most of them, are gonna be like...what's even the point?

Sorry, I'm probably preaching to the choir here, but when I get past my initial frustration and confusion with the way that newer fans act, I mostly just feel really sad for y'all. Because it doesn't have to be this way. Don't get me wrong, fandom has always had its share of -isms and bullshit and people being assholes but the throughline of fear of being seen that I see in newer fans feels super disheartening and makes me really sad for y'all.

#ask me a thing #fandom meta #i suppose

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mariska · 2 years ago

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hi i would like to share a recent personal experience (with a surprisingly positive resolution) about challenging hate speech in online video games that have chat features as an extremely socially anxious autistic person + also some thoughts i've held for a very long time regarding the need for folks who are privileged enough to not be targets of constant harassment in video game social environments to use that privilege by speaking up when witnessing hate speech for those of us who can't safely do so

(this ended up being a super long post i'm sorry, i tried to split it into separated paragraphs to make it a bit more accessible to read but i needed to get this whole train of thought written outside of my brain before i unintentionally move on to some other point of focus and forget all of this)

i dont usually like posting about bad online video game interactions since thats a Bummer, but. i wanted to make a post to share a brief interaction i was a part of in the text chat of an online team game last night that actually had a positive resolution even just for the sake of being able to say that i've witnessed a bad video game interaction involving me as a target end up with a positive resolution. i'm gonna put the rest of this whole thing under a 'read more' so that it hopefully doesn't clog anyone's dash up with long-scrolling text wall:

i was playing 'versus' mode in Left 4 Dead 2 on my computer last night, which for anyone not familiar with that gamemode, is where one team of 4 people play as the human survivors and the other team of 4 people play as the game's 'Special Infected' zombies (Boomer, Hunter, Tank, etc. on a randomized respawn rotation). its very fun and chaotic but because of the chaotic rapid respawn nature of the zombie side and the fact that you don't usually play as the special infected zombies in the regular 'campaign', its not uncommon to be put in matches with ppl who have no patience for anyone who isnt super experienced or skilled or whatever as every special infected on the zombie team and people start arguments in the chat pretty often. im not a fan of ppl acting out like that but usually its just Annoying and i ignore it and carry on,

last night though, someone on the opposite team of mine (mine was currently the zombies; the game goes back and forth to let each team do their best at surviving the same levels on both sides; one team gets as far as they can as humans and then the other tries to match that score or do better if they can and so on) was getting increasingly frustrated that whenever their team was playing as the survivors they weren't quite making it as far towards the map end goals as my team was, because my team was doing slightly better at teaming up as the special infected zombies to get bigger scores and hold them away from their goal.

eventually he got so visibly upset in the text chat that he went "ok. r*tarded but ok', and then followed up quickly with something along the lines of "yall know you're a bunch of fkin r*tards right" (i censored it here, he did not originally) and that immediately crossed a boundary line for me because i'm autistic, and once was already too much, but twice in a row made me very uncomfortable. i didn't know or care if he was saying it to us (his enemy team), or his own team for having a slightly lower score as the survivors, but nobody else in the game had shown any text or voice chat signs of being unsafe people or angry people, so i felt safe enough to go in the text chat (i usually do not do this because i usually do not feel safe enough to do so in groups of strangers online)

i said something like "learn a new word to use, maybe?", just to kind of be like, 'hey, nobody else in this game is talking the way you are, don't be That Guy' you know? he said "why? its not like its a big deal", which was kinda sad to read 'cause it gave me the impression that this person probably spends a good amount of time (willingly or unwillingly) around people who commonly use slurs because its 'not a big deal'; again, nobody else in the match was getting involved verbally or textually, and we all continued to play the game while this happened, so i decided that i was going to stick up for myself since i don't often feel like i have the opportunity to do that in the text chat of games without feeling humiliated or thrown under the bus by my teammates or whatever.

while i was typing the guy added "i wasnt even saying it to you anyways" (does not matter to me, obviously). i finished the response i had been typing to his message about 'its not a big deal' and said "it is a big deal, actually!". by this point, his character had been eliminated entirely and his team had one or two human survivors running to their end goal map exit for the round, so he had more free time to type and he replied to me and said "whatever, you do you i guess". i said "well. i'm autistic, so." and meant to say 'i guess i will' in response to 'you do you', but the round ended after i sent that reply and the loading screen popped up for the survivor/zombie team switch

when it did, he wrote "fair 'nuff." in the chat like a minute or so into the very start of the round when both teams were getting set up and everything, and i was honestly fine with that as a general resolution to the whole thing, because the minute or so of time in between my last message and the non-aggressive bluntness of it made me feel like he probably felt at least a little guilty realizing that he was casually tossing around a slur that is very commonly used against autistic people to An Actual Autistic Person in the same game as him, and that worked for me.

the game went on as it regularly had been for like five or so more minutes, and then he suddenly sent another final and honestly unexpected message in the group chat that said, in no response to any other messages that had been typed by anyone since his last one, "alright i'm sorry i used that word in chat mariska" (my name/username). which was actually wild for me to see because i am very much not used to getting actual apologies from strangers who say bad stuff in game chats, and i genuinely appreciated that he either hadn't stopped thinking about it and felt bad about acting out, or maybe some of his own teammates had prompted him to apologize in their respective team chat or something; either way, i gave a genuine "thank you." in the chat to let him know the gesture was appreciated, and for the rest of the maybe 30 or so mins that the whole match lasted, there was no more aggressiveness or slurs or toxicity at all in the chat from either team's side. when the game ended all together, he was one of the first people to type "gg" (good game) in the chat, as did myself and almost all of the other folks in the match, and after that i stopped playing for the night.

sorry for the big long text post, but i wanted to share this somewhere other than just that isolated game match chat between 8 people, because i very often see a lot of people (on pretty much any social media but mostly on here tbh) make posts regarding this exact kind of video game or general online text chat community experience where the person writing the post encourages others who also commonly witness it, or are the target of slurs, harassment, threats etc, to speak up (if it is safe to do so, imo 'speaking up' or 'calling out' people you dont know especially in aggressive game communities should be the responsibility of allies/friends/non-targeted folks more often than those of us who are being harassed or threatened or talked down to ourselves since it is inherently more dangerous for us to defend ourselves unfortunately and it can take a very serious turn against us very fast, think 'swatting' or doxxing, as a few examples off the top of my head) against the language/slurs/bigotry/harassment that aggressive, angry, frustrated strangers commonly spew in text and/or voice game chats, and as someone who plays a lot of team based online games regularly and has played online games in general since the mid-2000's, i couldn't agree more with the people i've seen writing posts or game journalism articles encouraging people to refuse to allow that kind of behavior to be validated by others in an online match, or to only ignore it when there is a safe opportunity to make it known that at least one person refuses to tolerate whatever behavior the aggressor is displaying.

anyways, to make an accidentally way too long story short; more often than not, in online video game chat circles, it's unfortunately just not going to be super productive to call out casual hate speech & harassment because there are typically (in my personal experiences at least) more people in a group of strangers that either enjoy seeing targets of harassment get upset and will join in with the original aggressor to humiliate whoever speaks against it, or who behave the same way as the aggressor and validate their own patterns of hate speech as being acceptable and common by defending their behavior/siding with them in larger numbers.

but! in situations where you're watching that happen, to yourself or others, and everyone else is either silent or doesn't seem to agree/enjoy watching someone have a bigoted hissy fit in a video game chat, it absolutely can be worth it to be the person who makes it clear to that person that they are the problem. unless you personally know every individual person who is playing in the same match group as you, there is no 100% way to know exactly who all the other players are outside of their characters or personas they're represented by in-game. people who tend to be commonly perceived as pretty emotionally mature in general, in any part of online or offline life, can and do absolutely come across as temporary social role models/behavioral leaders to the other real human beings around them in the moment, regardless of whether that's intentional on their end or not.

i'm not quite sure if the term 'peer pressure' is exactly what i'm looking for as terminology right now since that term is typically applied in negative behavior patterns, but that concept is very real in any gathering of multiple people - it can (and again, in SAFE settings, should) be utilized in a positive, constructive way to prompt someone to think before they speak/type, and to make a point to everyone present in the moment that we are all allowed to openly bring attention to harassment and hate speech. that point is an especially important realization for people who may hold generally higher positions of privilege than those of us who speak against it, since they are the ones that really need to be doing this kind of thing more often and in larger majorities than those of us who are put in danger when we bring attention to hateful behavior simply by existing as oppressed people of any kind.

i guess the whole main train of thought i'm attempting to explain with all of this is, like. before that one person started typing out a slur two times in a row that has been used against me so many times in my life that my brain went into auto-pilot and refused to let him feel comfortable saying it again, nobody was typing anything like 'gg' or 'gr' (good round, when a game isn't totally finished yet) at all, which was fine that's not like a requirement, but when that next round ended after the guy apologized and i said thank you, everyone else started saying 'gr' until the match ended and there were a bunch of 'gg's instead, like i mentioned above.

in all honesty, if i hadn't been so exhausted last night from having a really difficult day earlier that involved a lot of unintentional trauma triggers, panic attacks and anti-anxiety medication, i probably would have just left the game or not said anything when that happened, because i am terrified of confrontation and i am very used to it resulting in bad outcomes for me so i try very hard to have self-control and not potentially feed into trolls online, but i had a really really bad day, and that was my late night comfort special interest activity, and it pissed me off that i couldn't avoid traumatic triggers even in that short distraction before attempting to get some sleep. i was acting totally on emotionally charged impulse which is something that i try so hard not to do with strangers in video games of all places.

but i mention that specifically because it still made a difference in that one match, and because of that we were all able to have fun playing a video game the way it was meant to be played for friendly competitive enjoyment. i will probably never interact or maybe even just run into any of those people in a game lobby again, so obviously there's no way for me to know if the person who typed the slur messages will just continue to do that in other games anyways or if getting called-out on hateful behavior had any kind of impact on how he might think a few seconds longer before saying something like that to strangers online again in the future, but like. i don't know. that's kind of the point, i think? he seemed at the very least pretty embarrassed that nobody wanted to defend him or feed into the whole 'its not a big deal' thing, to the point that he actually apologized appropriately to me directly in a social setting where 6 other people saw it, so maybe that was a feeling of temporary guilt or shame or just being humbled a bit that he needed to experience to learn something from.

some people really are just not worth the mental or emotional effort to respond to because they are so set and fixed in their ways, and they're a stranger, and it's not our responsibility to fix that, especially in video games, that's why i usually. Dont Bother. but also sometimes people are so self-centered or uncaring or maybe even projecting self-hatred of how they think of themselves onto strangers because they don't view those strangers as fully realized human beings that continue living their lives after exiting out of a video game, who knows, i don't and i really don't care to, but i truly think there are a large amount of people in this kind of situation that just repeat whatever they've learned and heard around them for however long, and think of it as 'no big deal', and they suddenly feel very embarrassed and ashamed and small when one of the usernames they view as just a username on a screen talks back and they are faced with the realization that they said something awful to a real person, not an npc, not a left 4 dead 2 zombie character, and the other 6 real people there say nothing to defend them, because what they said sucked, and we're all trying to have fun playing a silly game, and they deserved to be embarrassed about it.

i think that's maybe my Big Concluding Thought on this whole thing. not necessarily 'everyone join me in Bringing Peace And Harmony To Left 4 Dead 2 Online Text Chat', but like...your words mean things to people you don't know when you say things to them in a place like a video game chat, and the largest majority of people playing most games just wanna play the game, so like. maybe think for a second or two before you just say stuff that sucks. especially if it sucks because it is literal hate speech? but also in general when it just sucks because its just a mean unwanted and unhelpful comment. and maybe ask yourself, if you're someone who jokes about wishing you werent 'so toxic when i play but i cant help it' or if you say things just to say things because 'its no big deal', why? why are you like that? you literally do not have to be. you don't know the lives and experiences of the people you're spending a very small amount of time with together in a game online and when you do this kind of stuff, when you're mean and 'toxic' and you call people slurs when they don't get as many high little numbers next to your digital team's fake video game scoreboard as you want them to get, the only impression or memory they will ever have of you is that they don't like you and you made a lighthearted experience suck for 7 people. that is all you get to be to that person forever.

idk, maybe other people don't think that's sad and maybe it doesn't bother them, but if that was the most common impression i left on a bunch of different groups of strangers that i wont get to interact with again afterwards i would feel pretty sad and ashamed about it.

anyways. i need to partake in tasks that do not involve rambling on my phone now but if you read this that is cool thank you, if you didnt that is fine i understand this became a ridiculously long post out of nowhere i do not blame u, and. i hope you have a good day. ok goodbye

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clarenecessities · 2 years ago

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6/18/23

it’s just kind of a huge fucking bummer when i’m all excited to learn shit and interact with people who care about motu and they keep dumping on satpop, often unprompted. like it’s been three years since i got into this stuff & i’m just now dipping my toes into the designated satpop boards because i know the general opinion among he-fans has been, shall we say, unfavorable--and it’s worse than i feared! like for a website that won’t let you say pussy they sure don’t shy away from disgusting rhetoric!

like it’s one thing for toyguru to Be An Idiot on his youtube channel, that’s on me for even trying to watch his content--idk man, this is a moderated forum where people are supposed to have genuine/good faith discussions, not complain about how unfuckable the teenagers look. i know i’m in the minority here, i’m not expecting it to be as busy as the he-man threads, but i’d like it to be as respectful at least. poor fucking Tallstar (and god bless Tallstar, fr) was out there carrying like 40% of the threads and just being swamped in miserably commentary from people who hated what they were watching.

i can’t in good conscience tell people to check out the org, because the people i interact with are satpop people first and foremost, and the org is incredibly inhospitable on that front. there’s like 19k members and nobody’s posted in the satpop boards since may 16th. i’m hesitant to post there, and i’ve been here for years. and yeah it sure doesn’t help that the main website has been down since october of 2021, but CHRIST. i know they’re doing shit behind the scenes. i know that. i have to believe that. they wouldn’t have been Entirely Down for 2 months otherwise, right? but all we have is the forums, and those don’t even indicate that SatPOP has ended. it’s just a bummer! it feels like, jesus, you cared about this for like 30 years, what changed now?

they don’t even have the ‘yeah sorry we’re down for maintenance, could be a few weeks/months’ alert up anymore, so anyone following a link to an article or something will just get redirected to the forums with no explanation.

and i still haven’t gotten my upgraded account. idek if it’s legal for them to refund me at this point because it’s been two years but i just want to change my icon. that’s all i fucking want. i’m not going to use my business email for this, i’ve had fucking four since i tried signing up. just let me in. let me in and like, actually hold people accountable for their shit, perhaps?

god. i should have just stuck with the modern shit. there’s no reason to be doing this to myself at this point. it’s nice to interact with historians and people i respect and all but christ, is it worth it? i can’t even tell someone to go fuck themselves. the censors are higher than on neopets yet the things i’ve seen people say are somehow more disgusting than twitter

whatever. fuck you, Lokus. Lokus go to hell challenge. explode x1000

#daily clare

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dearkyeom · 3 months ago

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thoughts of the album after a few relistens:

eyes on you: love house genre seventeen need more of it i'm always super into their electropop songs (shoutout to network love) so i'm like. very obsessed with this. the synths are perfectly balanced, super polished and work as the perfect complement to their voices. the post (?) chorus FUCKS!!! the vocal chop omg scratches such a specific itch in my brain. i could listen to the instrumental for hours. love the clarity of their voices in this. i can hear dk smiling through his lines and that makes me so happy.

love money fame: hate this fucking feature dude, can't emphasize that enough. anyway. super happy mingyu got more sung lines i've always been really fond of his singing voice. he brings a unique, husky vocal color that complements that crystal clear timbre that most of the boys have. i just don't feel like this is really title track worthy though. the bridge was kind of a let down, i wanted smth more since the song is already so mid-tempo. (but this is also a biased take coming from a dk stan you know i love a good baby u are my angel moment.) it's a fine song..! i just have always been a bigger fan of svt's more explosive songs (hot, all the freshteen titles, clap, etc.) not my particular wheelhouse but it's not bad.

1 to 13: a much needed tempo increase from love money fame. the synths are bouncy and light which makes for a satisfying, head bobbing vibe. clenches fist at the chorus. love the call back to ymmd... a very fond era of mine. the echo (beat, day, dawn) is very good and keeps the song bouncing. once again yay love mingyu's sung lines. i know he doesn't exactly have a lisp but that like slight lack of clarity in his pronunciation is just so good for me. the bridge is [chef's kiss] pretty much what i wanted from it. instrumentals pull back a bit then come back in as it goes which is always a good way to do a bridge. wish the bridge was longer but well. that's not what makes money now does it.

candy: sorry vocal unit i love you but this ballad is not one i will re-listen to. it's fine, it's pretty, love the lounge piano break. someone on reddit said that they can see themselves coming back to this during the holidays, which i totally understand, it's definitely kinda holiday ballad-y. i don't dislike it, i just have to be in a really specific mood for this type of ballad.

rain: mm that bass is tasty. love the little guitar riff (lowkey reminds me of the sample in infinite's come back again lmao) that repeats through the song and the electronic keyboard flourishes. that beat of silence after "don't stop the rain" is really satisfying. there's something that's super 2nd/3rd gen (positive) about this for me. i guess it's the genre that was just popular for the time? though it's funny bc it seems like ppl on reddit are saying this sounds like smth key or taemin would do and i have to agree. this is like an objectively well structured pop song that really suits the sultry vocal color of performance unit. hands down the best unit song of this batch for me.

water: not my favorite hhu track mostly bc the chorus doesn't really do it for me. i'm actually lowkey a fan of the autotune idk guys is m age showing LMAO love mingyu's opening verse, i am obsessed when idols specifically go for a slurred delivery it just exudes a cheeky confidence. scoups' part in verse 2 is sooo fucking good i love it so bad when they give him parts that change the texture of the song (his whispered part in cheers will forever be that bitch to me). once again i'm bummed that their tracks have gotten shorter. i'm actually a firm believer that a song does NOT need to be above 3 minutes to be good, but i wanted a bridge and i didn't get one... bummer. this feels more like an interlude/spotify track to me than a full song. probably goes off in a concert tho.

my tentative ranking (in terms of replayability): eyes on you > 1 to 13 > rain > love money fame > water > candy

despite my absolute bitterness going into the album, it was overall enjoyable! not my favorite mini, but i think eyes on you, 1 to 13, and rain are standouts that i would rank higher than a lot of other b-sides in svt's discography. as a cuties gathering and just general vocalist enjoyer, i do selfishly wish there were more standout moments for dk (and seungkwan for that matter.) he's fully in the album but i feel like i was missing him through it. this album is generally an easy, safe listen and i think they accomplished that cohesion (that i assume they were going for) even with hhu's song having its usual grungy misfit vibe. i'm guessing the thought process was that maestro/17 is right here era had a lot of energy so they decided to go with smth chiller.

overall, like a 6.5/10 or 7/10. if we threw out dj kh*led and gave dk and seungkwan some crazy high notes or adlibs, then 8/10.

finally listening to spill the feels. just finished love money fame. hey guys? why the fuck did we need dj kh*led on that track? guys? why did i need to hear his voice at the beginning and end of the track? he contributed nothing to the track?? guys??? what was the point of that.

#text

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knickynoo · 2 years ago

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Previous anon here. I fell victim of characters limit :( I don't know if you've adressed the subject before and if you have I am so sorry please ignore that it: Do you have headcanons about the relationship between Uncle Ned and Alex BEFORE THE SLAP (we know Alex was fangirling over his uncle but girl...your analyses give me life so i'll drink your hc like a dying man would the water of an oasis), and AFTER THE SLAP? Does Alex forgive ? Is it one more trauma to add to his long list ? Love you <3

You know, I've actually never done any Alex & Uncle Ned focused headcanons. A friend of mine requested I do an analysis post of the Uncle Ned episodes like 2 years ago, and I was like "Ok, sure!" and then never followed through, lol. (Also, don't apologize; even if I had gotten an ask like this in the past, I'd still be happy to add to my previous thoughts!)

Alex and Uncle Ned BTS (Before the Slap)

Alex was Uncle Ned's #1 fan from the time he was young. Since Ned knew much more about the business world than Steven and Elyse, visits from his uncle gave Alex the chance to gush about the subject with someone who was just as interested as he was.

The thing about Uncle Ned is that he's SUPER fun and silly and carefree, which is very opposite of how Alex is, but Ned also seems to "get" his nephew really well. Alex is sort of an outcast in his family, but he and Ned can connect intellectually, and I can see that as being important to Alex, especially as a little kid who's considered weird by his peers. His Uncle Ned serves as an example of how someone can take their interest in business and turn it into success.

Though they have fun with their serious conversations, Ned thinks it's important to encourage Alex to broaden his horizons. So, yeah, he'll sit around and talk the stock market and economics for a while, but then he tries to get his nephew to focus on something else. A game of baseball, discussions about movies or music, etc. Ned wants Alex to get out of his head every so often, and he's good at figuring out how to do that.

Alex definitely has a framed picture of Uncle Ned somewhere in his room. Maybe a picture in his wallet, too, to go along with the article about his uncle that he carries around. He takes it out to impress people. "Did you know my uncle is Junior Vice President of the Syntram Corporation? Here's an article and picture of him." Likewise, Ned definitely talks about Alex at his work. "You know what my brilliant nephew said the other day...?"

I'm pretty sure both Uncle Ned episodes contain scenes where Alex and Ned are in the kitchen eating late-night snacks after the rest of the family has gone to bed, and I'd like to headcanon that as being a pattern whenever he comes to visit. The two of them meet up and sit around the table, chatting and eating cereal or sandwiches while they chat about the goings on in their lives. It's Uncle Ned's chance to pick Alex's brain and get the inside scoop on his school and friends and such.

ATS (After the Slap) ☹️

I have a lot of conflicting thoughts regarding how things would play out in the aftermath of "Say Uncle." It really is a bummer that they drop Ned entirely from the show. I mean, the least they could've done is mention him in passing in another episode or something to let us know how he was doing? Like. That episode leaves SO MUCH unaddressed. Does Ned actually go to rehab? Does he get better? Mend the now broken relationship with his family and dear nephew who thought the world of him???

As far as headcanons go, I can go the depressing route or the optimistic route. Depressing route says that Ned tries rehab for a little but doesn't stick with it. The fact that his life has kind of fallen apart around him, coupled with his inability to take things seriously/his need to constantly goof off might lead him to be like, "Why bother with this?" If that's the case, he'd likely only spiral more into alcoholism and continue to wreck his own life. And, being ashamed of how he acted in front of his family, I could see him just running away from it all, going off the grid and cutting contact. Very much a bummer to think about. (And could explain why they never talk about him after that episode)

The optimistic route says that The Slap serves as Ned's firm wake up call that he needs to get his act together. He's horrified that he could do something so terrible, but it pushes him to get the help that he needs. He goes to rehab, gets sober, and puts the pieces of his life back together. With Elyse being established as such a protective, mother-hen type older sister, she keeps in contact and supports him. Eventually, the Keatons are able to get to a place of moving forward and starting a new chapter with Uncle Ned.

I'd really hope that Alex would be able to deal with what happened--talk things through with his parents and eventually Uncle Ned--and forgive Ned. It's clear that they have a special bond, and it's sad to think of Alex losing that. If Uncle Ned truly works on himself and changes, I think Alex would be able to forgive his uncle. In fact, I think Ned might have a harder time forgiving himself for what he'd done than Alex would have forgiving him.

Still, the whole event could end up being added to Alex's Trauma Pile, even if things work out. Having your favorite uncle in the whole world hit you so hard in a drunken rage that you go flying halfway across the room is not exactly something you just easily move on from. And our guy Alex already has a really hard time processing his emotions and tends to latch onto/obsess over things, so he'd probably need some help to work through that. Maybe he talked it over with his therapist at some point during "A, My Name is Alex."

Thanks for the ask! Your line about drinking my headcanons like a man in the desert is one of my favorite things I've ever gotten in an ask. Love you, too <3

#asks #family ties #alex p keaton #apk #there was so much potential in Uncle Ned #it bothers me when shows bring in great characters for just a few episodes & then never speak of them again #like. i know the whole point was probably just ''let's get Tom Hanks to do a couple episodes''#with no intention or ability to keep him as a regular but come on #they didnt even give us closure #*sigh*

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oh-so-heavenly · 3 years ago

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It's time for chapter four of Our Flag Means Death

mary and stede 💔

they look constipated on their wedding,

THEY GAVE THEM GRAVESTONES?? (tbh i'm so dramatic i would like it, i'd show it to everyone i know)

"and don't play pirates with them" aw, why not :(

TAIKA WAITITI MY BELOVED

he's so hot. i mean, he's always hot but here, covered in leather, with long hair and the beard, looking like he hasn't taken a shower in years -he looks extremely hot

AND THE TATTOOS ❤️👄❤️

"they die quite dramatically, don't they? The Spaniards?" I mean, just above in this post i was saying how I'd like to have my own grave as house decor so, yeah

HE LOOKS SO GOOD

(sorry but the highlights are gonna probably be just Blackbeard from now on, he deserves it 🔥😌)

What's a frankfurter???

"Can we please focus?" I've got ADHD and I don't like your attitude, so, no :)

Ohh sausages, he's already seeing dicks on the clouds #mood

the uszh™ now available on Apple TV and Amazon Prime Video

that jump was so unnecessary and dramatic I LOVED IT

"hello, everyone I'm Blackbeard" hi, can i get your ig??

"huge fan, sir" that's a simp if i've ever seen one

I CAN SEE HIS BELLYBUTTON I NEED TO BOOP THE BELLYBUTTON BOOOOOP

"they've got a bird guy" unsupervised kindergarten kids indeed

#karl's the bird that's my mental state from now on

once again Stede is there with his tits out... as he should >:)

The Lighthouse 🥺

"and the children did that" look, Stede, my boy. I love you, alright? But AAAAAAAAAA

Blackbeard giggling owns my heart ❤️

"if you don't make a decision soon we're going to fucking die" "oh, now, there's an idea. I haven't done that one yet" i'm DEAD

I'm convinced Blackbeard is justa Gen Z: obviously not straight, has ADHD, loves trinkets and being dramatic all the time

NOT FRENCHIE NAILING HIS SHIRT

"hooolaaa" jsjsjs me encanta

"who's this Mary then?" R U JEALOUS??

the whole nightmare with Blackbeard looking like how Black Pete described him is hilarious

HE'S TOUCHING HIS HAND HE'S TOUCHING HIS HAND HE'S-

"do you work for blackbeard??" error 404 ed.exe has stopped working

"I'm Ed" SHUT UP AND KISS ALREADY

"if you're not jim, can I be jim" jsjsj

"most pirates i know, they're dead" ok so the bar is pretty low then

✨rather exquisite cashmere✨

THE SECRET PASSAGE AND ED IS SIMPING FOR HIM HE'S LIKE A CHILD ON CHRISTMAS

"is that Blackbeard" "mh? No, I'm Blackbeard" I CAN'T- 💀

oh, fuck me, his sly smirk and the little "shh"

Frenchie is so stupid but I love him, this guy doesn't have a single braincell

HE'S SHOWING HIM THE LIBRARY

AND HE LIKES IT

idk viking vampire clown sound's fucking terrifying to me dude

"Nine guns??" That's what bothers him

"You're a fucking lunatic and I like it" that's explicit eroticism and i like it

WHAT IN THE- HE'S WEARING ED'S CLOTHES, HE LOOKS SO FANCY AND COOL AND LIKE HE'S SERIOUSLY TRYING TO LOOK COOL

HE'S MOVING THE SLEEVES, HE'S DANCING they are both dorks

Izzy just went out of the frame like, i'm done with this shit

"you can be a real bummer sometimes" all the time, don't be shy ed and admit it, he's a party popper

"That's Blackbeard" I love Ed so much

oh, wow, that was a resignation

"do you speak Spanish?" I do, cariño, in case you need any help

Ecclesiastical latin??? (The worst thing is that he's kinda right, Latin is easy when you know Spanish)

Asdfghjkl I cannot believe they were saved by fucking dick clouds

Please no don't make Blackbeard sad he can't be sad, he's like a puppy, he deserves to be happy :(

"just kind of rocky and flat" yes it is, Frenchie, yes it is

THEY ARE GOING TO BECOME A LIGHTHOUSE

They are hugging

!!!

he got rid of some gunpowder so he could have his marmalade, you gotta love this guy

WAIT WHY IS HE MAKING IT SOUND LIKE HE WANTS TO KILL STEDE. I DON'T LIKE THIS

More highlights: episode one / episode two / episode three / episode four / episode five / episode six / episode seven / episode eight / episode nine /episode ten

#our flag means death highlights #our flag means death spoilers #our flag means death #ofmd spoilers #ofmd #stede bonnet #blackbeard

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black-n-white-wings · 6 months ago

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As long as it stays in good fun, I'm good. I can appear blunt and then defensive. And I think that's a good way to roundabout to your main argument. So many people are defensive of Jiang Cheng because the hate I, at least, see in Tumblr for this character is out of line. Vile. And it's sometimes used against the fans themselves.

So, to clear some things up. I don't think the Wen deserved to be killed more than the Jiang, or less. I think, however, pulling the events out of context give the misunderstanding. It is wrong, for us, for people to be killed after a war, we've got history with it and the Geneva convention. However, in a society where honour and basically the law of the Talion (not sure if it's the correct English phrasing, I'm french) it was a move that was not considered out of line. Extreme, definitely, and the Jin camps were nothing short of monstrous even in mdzs as seen by the reaction of the other sect leaders when wwx mentions them. They asked for proof, sure, but nmj looked bothered and lxc closed his eyes, so he didn't like it.

For Jin Ling, I'm sorry but we'll keep disagreeing. I don't see Jiang Cheng's attitude as abuse. He's rough around the edges, sure. He could gain by being more composed and polite, clearly. But again, mxtx showed several times that kids with such a strong character did not run toward their abusers for comfort. They tensed, fawned, shut down, lashed out, but never just happily ran toward them. And so, while I think that kind of parenting is not ideal, it is not *abuse* per se. Especially in a culture that did not do the whole gentle parenting. We must keep analysing in context, it's vital. Wwx is an absolute outlier. An anomaly. That's why he's at first admired and then despised. He does not fit in this society.

Lwj, I may be biased. I don't like that character and I found him lacking substance both and being pretty surface level. But I agree he was probably the one that worked on changing the Lan. But why should ljy insult jc to his face with no retaliation, speak badly with no repercussions in such a society? I love the sociopolitical aspect of stories and mxtx choosing not to develop it was a bummer for me. But jc is patient with the Lan's bullshit because he clearly has, post time skip, the means to "punish" them with trade deals and alliances. The Jiang are the only sect that thrived without any support from the other sects. He can fuck around without finding out. Would it be a dick move? Absolutely. But could he do it? No doubt.

About the denial of being a victim, I think the core of the problem is that no one in this book is able to see their own shortcomings. Therapy is not a thing in the Jianghu. But he tried. Trying to get answers was, in my opinion, his way to try to heal and move on. And he was denied that. By wwx. Multiple times. And wwx does not have the moral high ground about the Wen because filial duty, which is vital to their society, demanded revenge. For jc, even if for us it seems strange, not avenging his parents and his sect was out of the question. And even if he had decided not to do so, the Jin were after the Wen. A big, already respect sect leader such as nmj was not able to stand his ground in front of jgs, how could have jc who was a child and isolated?

I admit wwx was kind of tossed back to life without a breather, but he remembered being dead, it is said so in the book I think? I don't have an exact quote but he says something about being a quiet little ghost and not a vengeful spirit. Maybe he had time to think for a bit while being dead? I don't know for sure, it's just a mention and maybe I got it wrong, but it is a possibility.

Jiang Cheng changed. He's a parent, a good, respected leader. In my opinion, the problem is that 1) the book only shows him reliving his traumas with wwx coming back to life and he does NOT handle his issues gracefully, and 2) the book is wwx's pov 90% of the time. I thought you had CQL as main reference because of the comment but, since you read it, you can see the book is clearly biased. Many times it skips about parts that should be important. CQL is my favourite adaptation and I liked it more that the book but maybe that's for another time, I'm already rambling too easily as it is.

About wn being the one that delivers the news of the gc reveal and how he handles it, @insanefiercecorpse answered my post, and I think they raised a good point. The fact a creation of wwx, the only one able to understand what jc could feel, chose to hurt him so bad was insane to me. The blow that the core was not his was hard enough as it was with how little self-esteem he has.

Also, I don't disagree that wwx belongs to lotus pier and saw the Jiang as his family. But jfm was a bitch, and he never made it official, never clarified his position in the family. It HAD TO bring repercussions for how the children themselves saw their place in this dynamic. And wwx himself would rather fuck off, did it and said "it's for the good of the sect, okay bye" when jc begged him and then threatened him to come back home. And after fleeing, he's suddenly back as if nothing had happened. As if he had not chosen everyone but the Jiang several times. And again, as a reader, I don't blame him, I understand his point, but jeez he knows how much of a wounded animal jc is and still teases, pushes, breaks boundaries.

I never read other stories from mxtx because, honestly, I struggled to read mdzs in full. I don't like the main characters and that's tough to get through once that happens. For me, wwx and lwj are too far from the rest of society, too aloof and they just bypass most of their society's conventions with little to no repercussions. I think I did a previous meta on this, if you're curious, but that's really a personal opinion.

When I analyse a story, I try not to get out of its context, it's very important, and the logic of it. Reforms, changes, the work to make society better is a great plot, but it has to be done well. Wwx didn't try to change society. He tried to get what he wanted no matter which rules he had to break. He resurrected Wen Ning for himself, not Wen Ning. He freed the Wen because wq and wn saved them first and foremost. Not because he thought what had happened to the Wen was unfair. Hell, he probably killed a few that did not deserve it according to our modern standards a few times. And to just shimmy back to your main point not to get too far off again, that's why, I think, jc's fans are so defensive. He's easy to hate and wwx's fans give wwx the status of an untouchable saint when he's not really better. He's just the protagonist. If jc or jgy were the protagonists, that would be a whole other story, they would not be vilified as much.

That's the problem when the mains are above everything in a story. Every character of this fucking book are bitches that need therapy istg, but the spotlight is not flattering to all of them. That polarises the story, and surface level reading doesn't allow for subtlety.

So as a jc fan, I agree he's not perfect, but compared to some other characters? He plays his role beautifully. He has people that rely on him and he chooses them, every time. He has responsibilities and he never ran from them. He is a parental figure despite not needing to be one, and he fought to be part of his nephew's life, and in my opinion he did so well for a traumatised teen that suddenly became a parental figure. He's brash, harsh, trigger-happy but he's fair (maybe except to wwx), level-headed, a brutally efficient politician (because let's remember it's what he is!) and a leader that has the safety and well-being of his people as top priority. If not, they would not have loved him this much. They'd have left. They're not Jiang by blood. And the other sects would have crushed his when he was weak and instead he is SO STRONG in the game.

So yeah, I'm protective because the analyses are biased, pulled out of the context of the story. For instance, jc's presumed vile homophobia always makes me laugh. Wwx is homophobic ffs!! It's the norm! And I think he takes it pretty well, considering! It's just he hates lwj and has conflicted feelings about hating or loving wwx!! Everyone is homophobic! Lwj has a fucking mental breakdown at realising he is! You can't fault a character for being written as the context they're put in demands! And let's not talk about mxtx's writing on women. It's just atrocious, no wonder the analyses are batshit, there's nothing there.

I hope I was less off-track this time and that you see my point better about your confusion on why people can seem so protective of the character. Some just want to play with their blorbos but others just try not to get too frustrated fighting the windmill antis are!

I don’t think Wen Ning told Jiang Cheng about the golden core because he wanted him to know he owed Wei Ying or any of the sort. Like a lot of people seem to think that and therefore conclude Wen Ning was out of line. But it’s more likely that he did it to give Jiang Cheng the wake up call he needed. Because he has lived for 13 years in denial of the truth in that Jiang Yan Li’s death was not Wei Yings fault and he himself had a hand in his brothers demise. It was meant to be a reminder to him of who Wei Ying actually is and the made version he has in his head is a perception that has been warped by his anger and grief. It’s meant to be a reminder of how much Wei Ying loved him. Jiang Chengs anger is understandable but it doesn’t justify him treating Wei Ying the way he did and putting all the blame on him without ever trying to comprehend the choices his brother made and why he made them.

#jiang cheng #cql #mdzs #a meta about jiang cheng colour me surprised #am i too deep in now? and am i making a friend?

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shywhitemoose · 3 years ago

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2021 fic review!

thank you for the tags @rexismycopilot and @lowkeyanakin 🧡🤎💙

I’m not exactly the most prolific writer (understatement), so some of this is going to be a bit silly, but I’ll do my best 😊

total number of completed works: 1 completed one-shot and 3 completed chapters from a long multichapter fic

total word count: ~22,000

looking back did you write more, less, or the expected amount of fic this year? Much, much less.

your own favourite story of this year? err, awkward question for my fic situation, lol. A & E will be my favorite of the two when it’s done, I guess?

did you take any writing risks this year?: I suppose so – Lullaby was a departure from my usual style, whatever that is, and it didn’t have a traditional happy ending, which is weird because that’s usually what I want to read and write. Also, for me, Laid Bare (chapter 23 of A & E) was really scary to post... I tend to want to use direct personal experience for reference when writing feelings, to make things as realistic and human as possible, but some of the intimacy there felt a bit foreign to write. It was also the first time I shared any art with a chapter on Ao3.

do you have any fanfic goals for the new year? I’m going to finish Adrift and Entangled in 2022, guys. Even if it kills me.

most popular story of the year?: Technically A & E, but Lullaby got way more positive feedback in a very short timeframe. A & E is still popular, but I think I’ve lost a lot of readers because I’m so slow, and that’s totally understandable but also a bit of a bummer because some were so very supportive and I feel like I’ve let them down :(

story most under appreciated?: This would probably be more relevant if I wrote more, but I don’t feel like anything I’ve done has been underappreciated. Honestly, if anything, my work has probably gotten more appreciation that it deserves (but I am beyond grateful for it and consistently overwhelmed by the love!)

most fun to write?: Not one story/chapter in particular, really. Any bits of Obikin banter are always the most fun for me to write.

most unintentionally telling story?: I… don’t know? I mean if you look close, I tend to project my insecurities onto both of my main characters pretty frequently, but no one story (or chapter, I suppose) stands out.

biggest disappointment?: Probably just that I haven’t written as much as I’d hoped. Anxiety and depression take a serious toll on creativity and motivation, as it turns out, and my mental health hasn’t taken a hit like this since grad school (I’m pushing 40 folks, so that was a while ago!)

biggest surprise?: The response to Lullaby. It was actually a comfort to write, and I didn’t realize it would hit people so hard. But I’ve never really been able to cry reading fiction, so I guess that warped my expectations a bit?

my favourite part of fandom this year? So I fell in love with obikin in maybe 2018(?) but 2021 was really the first full year I felt like I was part of the fandom, because I discovered tumblr and discord and have been able to actually interact with like-minded people in more than just a comment-and-reply-on-Ao3 capacity. There’s a lot of talent here, and I love that, but even the fans who hang back, the folks who maybe aren’t artists or writers, literally everyone I’ve come across in this fandom has been so wonderful. Welcoming, kind, funny, interesting, just lovely. And I also appreciate with my whole heart that no one here seems judgmental about age :)

oh dear ok. tags. @darthplodder, @obi-wkenobi, @edge-ofnight @sopherfly @artemisthehuntress (I haven’t been on tumblr much these last few days so if you’ve already done this and I missed it I’m sorry!)

#tag game #my fic

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