#kinda based on a trend I’ve seen around.

[flamie-42]

Skk while in the PM

Chuuya: Dazai, you bandaged bastard come here

Dazai: hello Chuuya what can I do for-

Chuuya: people are shipping us!

Dazai: *looking around* huh??

Chuuya: *grabbing him* KOUYOU AND MORI. THEY. ARE. SHIPPING. US.

Dazai: *even more confused* WHEN?! WHERE?!

Chuuya: … you have no idea what I’m talking about do you

Dazai: *panicked* where are we being shipped to Chuuya?!!!

Chuuya: *annoyed* we aren’t being shipped somewhere calm down. It’s a saying you don’t understand.

Dazai: *standing confused while Chuuya walks away*

[danceswithsporks]

Calm- Part 1

Part 2 of 6 in the Complete Series!

Wrecker x Seamstress Reader

Warning this fic will contain spoilers for the season 2 finale.

Story About: You love how calm and peaceful your life on Pabu is. When trajedy strikes the island, a handsome clone pulls you into his world and you discover there’s more to the Galaxy then you realize.

Chapter About: A tsunami shakes the island and you require the help of someone strong to help you out.

Authors note: Well here we are everyone!! Calm is finally here! I’ve honestly been a bit nervous to post this first part, kinda worried that it won’t be as good as Warm, but I still want to give y’all a great story. So I hope the wait was worth it!

Also! Here is a height comparison reference to put into perspective Wreckers height. I’m basing the other persons size off of the average height for women so feel free to alter that however you want! But damn is our boy TALL!

Now. Without further ado! Here’s the opening chapter to Calm!

Calm, that’s how you’d describe Pabu. The weather was always perfect, save for a rare storm every few months, and the waves always crashed against the rocks of the island in a calming rhythm. Standing on the patio of your shop in upper Pabu, you could easily watch the fishing boats on the horizon bob up and down against the waves while the sun silhouetted them. You were born here, raised on the sea life brought in daily by the fishermen. While others had escaped whatever horrors they experienced out there in the galaxy by coming here, you’d learned to walk on these cobblestones. Scraped your knees in the plaza at the top of the island and learned to swim in the bay on the back of the island.

While others had brought their businesses with them when they immigrated to Pabu, like the tea shop family or the sweet girl who ran the inn, your shop had been there for generations. Your grandmother had opened it when she immigrated from Coruscant and then passed it to your mom, who passed it to you. While your parents had decided to stay in Pabu, your aunt on her side had moved back to Coruscant. Determined to bring fashion and style to Pabu, though those trends were far above what anyone would want to wear here. She was doing well for herself there and had offered for you to live there countless times. But you loved Pabu and loved how calm it was here. You wouldn’t trade this peace for anything in the Galaxy.

You stood at the stone wall of your patio and looked down as another boat left the port. It was the Chief's boat, his daughter, and the blonde girl you’d seen walking around earlier the only passengers. From the whispers of the elder women who helped in your shop, the ship that had arrived carrying Phee had been filled with clones. You’d seen them briefly as they walked by, the three men were unique in their sizes and looks, weren’t clones supposed to look the same? Briefly, the large one had turned his face and stared for a moment before he continued, and oh how your heart fluttered for a moment. The shoulders alone on him had your mind swimming with ideas, you liked a big boy.

The glass of water next to you trembled against the stone and you stood back with a confused look on your face. That…didn’t seem right. All around you the wildlife screeched and scattered away from lower Pabu and towards the top. Well, that wasn’t normal either. You stepped away from the wall and made your way back inside. “Animals are acting weird.” Left you nonchalantly as you made your way back to the gown you were working on.

“What do you mean by that, dear?” One of the elder women, Magda, looked up from the quilt she’d been knitting.

“After that little shake, they started rushing toward the top of the island. Sea birds took off too.” You walked over to the woman and looked over the blue and gray quilt she was almost finished with. How she did it was beyond you. Sitting there and knitting the same rows over and over again for hours a day seemed so monotonous. To your surprise, the woman looked up at you seriously. “What?”

“What did the water look like?” Sue, another of the elder woman who worked with you, asked. The pants she’d been hemming, were now left forgotten.

“Like water?” The ground shook once more and you suddenly felt a wave of dread wash over you. Maybe you should go check the water? The memory of something you’d learned in school ran through your mind. Stepping outside, you realized something was very wrong. All across your patio were countless moon-yos, their large eyes staring down toward the water. It took you a moment to shuffle your way towards the wall once more but when you did, your heart jumped to your throat. “Tsunami”

The water of the sea receded away from the shore and before you could even scream for those around you to run, the warning system roared across the island. In theory, you would be safe up here, right? In school, they’d told you that the waters wouldn’t get as high as upper Pabu. It was lower Pabu that could be wiped away completely. Already you could see those below rushing upwards. “Ladies! Time to go!” You made your way back inside and found Magda and Sue continuing with their work. “We need to go.”

“Oh darling, don’t fret. The waters won’t reach us here. The last time we had one of these lower Pabu was only partially destroyed.” Sue waved you off as she stuck another pin in the cuff of the pants.

You grimaced at her in uncertainty. “Yeah, I’d rather be safe than sorry. Let’s go.” You shooed the two women eagerly and after another ‘Let’s go’, they finally got up. Following behind them, you made sure to lock the door of your business. As cute as the moon-yos were, you’d rather they not seek shelter within your inventory.

“Grandma!”

“Mom!”

The families of your two helpers rushed towards all three of you and sighed in relief.

“They were giving you lip about leaving, weren’t they?” Sue’s daughter rushed to her mother's side and wrapped a shawl around her shoulders.

“You know how they get. Nothing I couldn’t handle though.” More people rushed up the path and you silently thanked your parents for adding on the enclosed patio. Without it, you’d all be overtaken by the crowds in no time.

“We would have been fine.” Magda waved off her granddaughter's extended hand. “The waters never come this high.”

Blue eyes rolled as the granddaughter, Lacey, crossed her arms. “Grandma, you know the Chiefs rule. Everyone heads to the top just in case.”

Magda scoffed as you walked behind her, shooing her and the others towards the main road. “How would you know about these rules? You weren’t even alive when the last one happened!”

Lacey slid her arm around her grandmother and helped steady her as people rushed by. “They teach us about it in school, grandma. Plus we just had a drill last month.”

“Did we?” A humph left Magda as she looked around at the crowds.

Shaking your head, you continued to herd your little group upwards. You felt like you were herding cattle with the way you were moving around your group to keep them all together. All around you, people were rushing towards the top of the island. The island shook as the large wave finally hit and your group staggered for a moment before resuming your hike up the mountain. Everyone around you seemed to freeze and while you wanted to turn back and look as well, the two elder women in front of you seemed to be spurred on and were now rushing to the top.

By the time you and your group had reached the top of the island, people had begun to settle down. Across the courtyard you could see the chief speaking with the men from before, Phee standing close by. A part of you wondered what was being discussed, but Magda drew your attention instead.

“There weren’t as many survivors the last time this happened. My mother was lost.” She looked around at the groups of people huddled together.

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Your group continued your path toward the Archium. You could see more of the elders settled down with their families. To think this could be their second or third or even fourth sea surge was wild to you.

“Last time we didn’t have the wall to protect us.” Sue shooed her daughter away as the girl fussed over her once more. “But the needs are still the same afterward.”

You tilted your head as you finally arrived at the Archium. “What do you mean?” You offered your hand to Sue and helped her sit against one of the arches next to the building.

“People have lost their homes, their livelihoods. They have nothing now. They’ll need places to stay and supplies to get through these next weeks.” Magda sat with a huff next to Sue.

You squatted back on your heels and began to chew your lip. “Supplies, huh?” A hum left you as you thought for a moment before an idea began to form. “If I got the supplies, do you think you and the others could make some blankets, clothes, stuff like that?” You watched as the two women looked at each other and then the others around you for a moment before nodding.

“Bring us whatever you can, we’ll get those who know how to knit and sew together and begin working.” Magda hummed as she leaned back against the wall, her eyes closing. “For now, I think I’ll take a nap.”

“Sounds like we have a plan. I’m gonna go talk to Shep and see what he thinks.” With a slap on your thighs, you stood and made your way across the courtyard. Passing by the tree you noticed many people resting in the small patch of grass. Pausing for a moment, you looked at everyone settling in and smiled at the sight of the large clone from earlier and the small girl that was with him curled against each other. A part of you began to wonder if she was his daughter, if somewhere out in the galaxy he had a wife. You could have sworn you’d heard something about clones aging fast, but who knew how accurate that was? People were always saying things that weren’t true.

Someone called your name and with a final look at the large man, you made your way to the source. “Shep, Phee. Good to see you two made it out ok!” You smiled happily as you hugged Phee who looked you over quickly.

“Everyone from the shop make it out ok?” Phee watched as you nodded and then motioned toward your group. “Took some convincing but I got them up here.”

“Phee” One of the clones from earlier, the one with a face tattoo, a bold choice but who were you to judge? “Tech and I talked it over and we think we’re gonna stay. If you’ll have us?”

“Yes!” You covered your mouth quickly as soon as the words left you. All eyes turned to you and you chuckled quickly. “Sorry. It’s just that extra help will be needed. They look strong and capable. Plus with their ship, it would be helpful to get supplies from the other islands. Which brings me to why I’m here.”

Shep crossed his arms and chuckled. “Let’s get some introductions out of the way first.” He motioned to the two clones. “Tech and Hunter, meet one of the island's seamstresses.”

You finished the introduction for him, letting the two know your name, before extending your hand to each of them. “Nice to meet you both.” Smiling, you nodded towards the tree. “Saw your other two friends sleeping over there.”

“That would be our sister Omega and our brother Wrecker.” Tech adjusted his goggles and looked past you and towards his siblings before his gaze shifted toward the woman he’d just been hanging over the ledge with.

So she was his sibling and not his child. That sent a surprising wave of relief over you. “Wow, unique names.” You chuckled as the men shrugged.

“You said you were here for a reason?” Phee wrapped her arm around Techs shoulder and drew his attention back to the conversation. He was practically drooling over the tea shop owner.

“Ah, right!” With a clap of your hands, you told the group your idea. “I have more than enough stock to supply the ladies with. We should be able to get a few blankets and basic clothing out of that. I can call my suppliers on the other islands as well and see if they can spare anything.”

“You’d do that?” Phee watched as you shrugged with a smile. “Of course. A community stands together through all the good and bad. Mom said that all the time.”

“We’ll find a way to pay you back for the supplies.” Shep reached over and grabbed your shoulder gently. He was glad to see you stepping into the same role your mother used to have. So many times she’d stepped in and taken care of refugees arriving with nothing. To see you helping in the same way was heartwarming.

Smiling, you shook your head and patted his hand. “Don’t worry about it, Shep. I’m just glad to help. Which is something I will need to get everything over here, some of the bolts of fabric can be pretty heavy.”

Phee nodded with a smirk. “I’m sure our new friends here will be happy to help.” With a slap to Tech's back, she caused the clone to stumble slightly before he regained his footing and adjusted his goggles.

“Indeed. Allow us to get Omega settled and we will be available to help.” He tapped at his datapad a few times. “It seems the seismic activity is subsiding. I estimate the waters will recede fully in approximately two days. However, a more pressing matter needs to be addressed.”

“What’s that?” Hunter looked over Tech's shoulder and at the datapad. His eyes ran over the information on the screen and he quickly understood the problem. “Your water is most likely contaminated. That’s gonna need to be figured out quickly. Make sure your people know not to drink anything not already bottled or in containers.”

A long breath was released from you as your hands found their way to your hips. “Well, I’ll let you guys handle that. I’m gonna let my group know and then head to my shop.”

The two clones, Phee and Shep all nodded to you before you turned and headed back to your small group. You let them know the current plan as well as the new information about the water. Lacey took on the job of spreading the word to the others about the water and agreed to look for others to help with the clothing. Satisfied that everything was under control, you headed back to your shop.

-*-

The moon-yo’s had done a number on your patio, fruit and other ‘gifts’ were scattered across the ground. With a sigh, you sidestepped some of the mess and made your way to the stone wall, and looked down at the calming waters that now covered the lower half of your island. The buildings below the waves would survive, they were built sturdy and with the possibility of a tsunami in mind. But everything inside, people’s belongings and prized possessions, would be gone. You realized at that moment how lucky you were to live in upper Pabu. Your home would almost always be safe and secured here. The wall from which you now looked over would always protect your beloved home and generations of hard work and memories. You’d do all you could to help those affected by the tsunami.

The squeak of the gate drew your attention away from the sea. Turning to greet the new arrival, you smiled brightly. “I was hoping they’d send you.”

Wrecker had finally fallen asleep beneath the large tree, his precious sister safe and sound beside him, when he felt Hunter shake his shoulder. With a groan, he’d tried to quietly pull himself away from the small blonde who woke for a moment before settling back into a restless sleep once more. His Vod had quickly filled him in on what was currently happening and before he had a chance to ask for a rations stick, he was so kriffing hungry, he was sent off to find the island seamstress who needed help.

What he hadn’t expected to find was the woman he’d passed earlier in the day looking over the edge of the island wall. Unafraid and unconcerned by the height. It had been the smile on her lips that had caught his attention earlier, for the briefest of moments he found himself lost in them. But then Omega had drawn his attention away from the woman and he’d quickly been distracted. That smile had stayed in the back of his mind though. Now he was staring at that smile once more. “You were hoping they’d send me?”

You nodded as you stepped forward and extended your hand to him, your name falling from your lips as you watched him shake your hand back. “I was. Gonna need someone tall and strong to get some bolts of fabric down. You seem to fit that bill perfectly.”

“O-oh.” Wrecker watched as your hand practically vanished inside his, your name rolling around in his mouth like a piece of candy. “Glad I can help.” He smiled as he released your hand and waited for you to lead the way inside. Instead, you turned and headed back towards the wall. After a moment of looking down, you looked over your shoulder at him and motioned for him to join you. Swallowing the fear already building inside him, he made his way over.

“Crazy how so much can change in the blink of an eye.” You hummed softly as you crossed your arms and leaned against the wall, your eyes skimming the ocean for any boats.

Wrecker stood a few steps away from the wall and focused on you instead. How your curves moved with your body as you found a comfortable position to lean against the wall in. He took in the way your hair was pulled up and away from your face, a multicolored hair clip holding the strands in place against the back of your head. It looked soft, Wrecker wondered what it would feel like sliding through his thick fingers. Your voice pulled him from his thoughts and he nodded carefully. “Happens more often than you think.” He’d experienced that a lot lately.

Looking over your shoulder at him once more, you found him more steps than expected away from you. “What are you doing over there? I won’t bite.” You smirked playfully at him. “Unless you’re into that.” A blush crept across his cheeks and you bit your lip. Oh, he was cute.

“I..well…” Wrecker tried to find the right words to explain that he wasn’t a fan of heights, but then you made the comment about biting and he felt his head swim for a moment. Were you flirting with him? Him of all people? You giggled while turning to face him. He watched as you placed your hands behind you and boosted yourself up onto the wall, your back now facing the wide sea. “You should be careful.” It left him quicker than he intended.

“Don’t worry, Wrecker.” You purred his name as you leaned back a little and allowed a warm breeze to dance around you. “I’ve been doing this since I was a little girl. Now please, come closer?”

Your hand raised to him, beckoning for him to come closer to you and to the edge. “You could fall.” Was spoken carefully as he took a tentative step closer. Come on, Wrecker. A cute girl is flirting with you and calling you closer. The little voice inside his head was screaming at him to get the lead out of his boots and move all the way to the wall.

A happy hum came from you as you watched him take another step closer. Was he afraid of the ledge? “I guess it’s a good thing you’re here then. If I f-“ The island shook once more and due to the way you were balancing on one hand, you lost your balance and began to fall backwards.

“No!” Wrecker shot forward and grabbed your wrist quickly before pulling you against him and holding you tight, grounding you both to the island with his large frame. The tremor lasted for only a few seconds and when it finally ended he realized he’d squeezed his eyes shut.

Your heart felt like it was in your damn throat! Maybe he did have a point. The tightness in which he was holding you wasn’t painfully tight, which was surprising given his size, it was pretty nice. Against his body like this, you felt so small. Like a child hugging her father. Tilting your head back to look up at him, you realized he had to be at least six foot six. Stars, how could a man be so tall and so stacked? You noticed his eyes screwed tightly shut and with a little wiggle, you were able to free one of your arms and place it against his chest. “As I was saying, if I fall, you’ll be here to catch me.” Standing on your tiptoes, you tried to place a kiss on his cheek. But you were far too short to reach him.

Wrecker heard you clear your throat as he finally opened his eyes. Your hand patted his chest gently and he hoped you couldn’t feel his heart racing. Looking down at you he smirked, you were so little against him. He watched as you bit your lip and curled your finger up at him, beckoning for him to lean down. “Yes?”

With a happy hum, you closed the distance between you two and placed a lingering kiss against his cheek. “Thank you for saving me, Wrecker.” His hand around your back loosened and you used the opportunity to wiggle free from him. “Come on, let’s get you something to eat.”

His hand raised to his cheek as he watched you bounce away and towards your shop. It didn’t go unnoticed to him that your breasts bounced with your movements. “Wait, how did you know I was hungry?”

“I felt your stomach rumble against my chest just a few moments ago.” With a wink, you headed inside your shop.

When you said you felt it in your chest, did you mean your boobs? The thought made his cheeks flush once more while something stirred below the belt. More importantly, you were going to feed him? Wrecker quickly followed you into your shop. Maybe he could flirt back?

-*-

Compared to him, your shop was small and intimate. He had to duck to enter the shop and had to be even more careful not to knock over a stack of boxes near the door. You disappeared behind a curtain while the large clone tried to find a place to wait without being in your way. Wrecker liked how your shop smelled, it reminded him of incense and the tea Tech made. He hummed softly as he leaned against the wall, it was comfortable and warm in the shop. No doubt he could easily fall asleep here. “S-so you make clothes?”

“Yeah!” Your voice carried from behind the curtain. “My family’s been in the business for generations.” Opening a jar on the counter, you pulled out a few of the cookies you’d baked the day before. Usually, you set them out for the kids that came through with their parents, but you could make an exception for the cutie in your shop. Moving over to the fridge, you pulled the sandwich you’d prepared for lunch out and placed it on the plate next to the cookies.

Wrecker nodded as he listened to you, the sound of something clanking against porcelain made him look at the dark blue curtain. “You must be good at measuring then.”

Was he trying to flirt with you? With a giggle, you picked up the plate and two sealed bottles of water. “That’s kinda part of the job.” Passing through the curtain, you held out the plate to him. “Why, you need help measuring something?” Wrecker coughed at your comment and you couldn’t hide the laugh that left you. He was so cute.

“N-no. Yes. I mean…” Wrecker picked up two of the cookies and ate them quickly. Another laugh left your lips and he found himself chuckling as well. Your laugh was contagious it seemed. “You have a nice laugh.”

Your cheeks flushed at his comment. “Thank you.” Looking down at the bottles of water, you bit your lip shyly. No one had ever complimented your laugh before. “Yours is nice too.” It was deep and full. When he laughed once more it felt like it was in your belly as well. Making warmth spread through you. “I should…start figuring out what we’re gonna take back.” Passing one of the bottles over to him, you pointed to the counter next to your register. “You can eat over there if you’d like, Wrecker.” You liked saying his name, it felt warm in your mouth.

Wrecker smiled as he looked over the plate of food. Cookies and a hearty-looking sandwich. His favorite kind of meal. Would it be weird if he said that he loved you? He watched you pick up a datapad and begin to look at the walls of fabric. He’d never actually flirted with anyone before, not on purpose. But you were cute, funny and nice. Plus you seemed to already know what he liked to eat! How exactly was he supposed to flirt with you? Maybe he should ask Hunter? For now, he’d have to do this himself based on things he’d heard from the other clones. Women liked compliments, didn’t they? “I like your shop. It’s cozy.”

“Thanks.” Looking up from your datapad, you watched as he took a happy bite from the sandwich. “Good?” When he smiled and nodded with his cheeks full of the food, you giggled loudly. “Good.” Smiling brightly, you looked back at the datapad and ran through your inventory. You had a good amount that you could give to the island. Not to mention you had a few blankets already done that you could donate as well. You’d take a decent hit doing this but you thankfully had savings that should cover most of the lost inventory. “So, Wrecker. Interesting name.” This time you didn’t look at him, your eyes scanning the wall of material trying to now locate the ones you needed. But you heard him chuckle and that warmth spread through you once more.

Swallowing the food in his mouth, he chuckled while opening the water. “My brothers picked it for me. I used to break things a lot and wreck things. So they picked that name.”

“Used to?” You smiled over your shoulder to him, earning a cute crooked smile back. Your dad was around his size and before he died he was accidentally breaking things of his size.

“Yeah. I guess I still kinda break things.” He reached behind his head to rub it awkwardly with a smile, knocking one of your shelves and sending a few of the trinkets on it flying. “Oh! Sorry!” He turned to fix the shelf and knocked a few of the items on the counter.

You let out a surprised squeal as you watched him turn multiple times, trying to fix the mess he was slowly growing. Laughing excitedly, you dropped the datapad and quickly moved over to help him. “Woah woah woah. Slow down there.” You raised your hands and grabbed his arms quickly, stopping him from loving anymore. Another laugh left you as you took in the growing blush on his face. “You’re kinda like a little wrecking ball, huh?”

He sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck as he looked down at you. “Sorry.” Now he’d made a fool of himself in front of you. “I can pick it all up.” He moved to kneel down and hit the empty plate in the process, causing it to fall. His hand shot out and grabbed it before it could hit the floor, earning another giggle from you.

Stars, he was adorable. Giggling, you knelt with him and began to pick up some of the items that had fallen. “You’re really funny.”

Wrecker really hadn’t been trying to be funny, but knowing that he’d made you laugh made him laugh. “Sorry about the shelf, I’ll fix it.” He passed you a few of the items that had fallen. So much for flirting with you flawlessly.

You took the items from him and placed them up on the counter. “Oh don’t worry about that. I’ve been meaning to move it.” He just helped the process along. You watched the clone stand carefully and chew his lip. Oh man, he was so cute.

“You should get back to the materials. I can pick this all up.” It was the least he could do after making such a big mess.

“Oh, how sweet. But you don’t have to do that.” You waved your hand dismissively at the mess. “I can pick it up later.” Raising your hand out to him, you beckoned him towards you. “Besides, I have a different job for you.”

Wrecker swallowed as he moved around the counter and towards you. His hand slid into yours and he happily followed you towards the larger wall of fabric that spanned the length of the back of your shop. “How can I help?”

“Well, you can start by pushing me against this wall and kissing me.” You watched as he stared at you in surprise while squeezing your hand. A laugh left you as you quickly patted his hand. “I’m kidding. You’re not that lucky. Not yet at least.” He squeezed your hand once more, making another laugh leave you.

He smirked at your laugh. It reminded him of birdsong. “Not yet?” He hoped that meant what he thought it meant.

The way he smirked made your heart flutter. “Probably should know you for more than an hour before we do something like that.” Releasing his hand you moved closer to the wall and tilted your head back to locate the first bolt of fabric you’d need.

“So about two hours?” He watched as you placed your hands on your hips in thought. Oh, you had nice hips. He wondered how they’d feel in his large hands. To his delight, you laughed once more while looking over your shoulder at him.

“You’re really funny.” He sent you a happy smile making your cheeks flare. Was it wrong to want to just continue to hang out with him? He was funny and sweet and made you feel safe. Those arms of his looked like they could hold you in the warmest of bear hugs. But that would be wrong wouldn’t it? With a slightly sad sigh, you returned to the task at hand. “We should probably focus on getting back to the others.” Pointing up to a bolt of fabric, you smiled. “Can you use your exceptional height to grab that blue one? Careful, it’s a little heavy.”

Wrecker smirked as he easily reached up and pulled the fabric from its slot on the wall. “Don’t worry. Nothing is too heavy for me.” He easily adjusted the bolt onto his shoulder with one hand, a casual smile on his lips. “What other ones do I need to grab, sarad?”

Oh, so those muscles were for use and not just for show. “Sarad? What does that mean?” You moved down the wall and spotted another bolt you needed. Pointing to it, you watched as he easily strolled over and once more pulled it out with one hand and placed it on his shoulder. Your heart fluttered at how easily he threw his strength around.

“I’ll tell you next time we hang out. Give you something to look forward to.” He watched as your eyes went wide with excitement. If Crosshair was here he’d probably tell Wrecker that he was being smooth. But Wrecker just really wanted any reason to spend time with you again. He watched you bite your lip while a blush crept across your cheeks. Kriff you were cute. You pointed to another two bolts and he quickly pulled both of them. “Got anything heavier?”

“Let me see what I can find, strong man.” You moved around him and towards a different wall. Excited to see how much he really could hold.

-*-

An hour later the two of you returned to the top of the island. Wrecker easily carried two crates full of materials and supplies on his shoulders while you walked a few steps behind with a bag full of knitting needles, scissors, and other smaller supplies. Were you a few steps behind for any other reason? Of course not. Definitely not to enjoy the view of Wrecker carrying the crates. Nope, not at all. You definitely weren’t imagining him shirtless carrying the crates either, his muscles on full display and rippling while covered in sweat. Phew, you were starting to get thirsty.

Stopping in front of the large tree, you watched as he bent over and placed the crates down with ease. Damn, he looked good bending over too. Smiling, you walked next to him and placed the bag down on one of the crates. You placed your hand on his upper arm and squeezed gently. “Thanks for the help.”

Wrecker easily flexed his arm, making you giggle quietly. “No problem, Sarad. If you need help bringing them back down, let me know.”

“I will.” You heard your name called and looking over your shoulder towards the Archium, you realized Sue and Magda were staring straight at you with knowing smiles. “I should check on my group.” Wrecker nodded to you and you began to walk away. Stopping you turned back towards him. “If you ever get bored of the soldier's look, let me know. I’ll make you a new outfit.” His face lit up as you turned to walk away. Deciding to have a little more fun with him, you looked over your shoulder at him while pulling the clip out of your hair. Your locs fell free and with a mischievous smile, you made eye contact with him. “After all, I’m good at measuring.”

Tag list:

@rndmpeep @sarahskywalker-amadala @queenariesofnarnia @idoubleswearimawriter @bambambunny @ravenclawbitch426 @jupitersaturnapollo @mzjakao @heylosers06 @dangraccoon @impala1967666 @andrakass2 @ducks118 @motte-the-goblin @rintheemolion @merkitty49 @jediknightjana @onyxtides @moon-wrecked @isthereanechoinhere96

Wanna be added to the tag list? Let me know!

[talenlee]

4e: Having A (Weapon) Type

Surely I’ve written about this already.

The 4e weapon system is one of its strongest points and it’s strength is directly linked to the ongoing attempt to make ‘person who uses a weapon’ as someone who can do cool or good things and not just being there to hold the wizard’s bags. The fundamental design of melee weapon-wielding characters’ powers is that the powers tend towards a generic set of effects, doing damage, pushing people around, pulling them, repositioning you – all that kinda jazz. But then, through feats, the powers that checked for weapons would be able to check the weapon you were using and add on special effects.

What this meant is that the weapon system of 4e is one of the most interesting I’ve seen in D&D where weapon choice is not a simple matter of mathematical superiorities. Back in 3e and 2e D&D there were just weapons that were the best in show. 2e went a step further than 3e did by making it so that some classes were simply not allowed to use the best weapons and this was a point of balance for them, which is how you know that the 2e wizard was so weak, since it only got to use the longsword when it was a bladesinger.

That’s a joke, and the only people who are going to get it are older than me.

4e weapons had basically four things that could be used to distinguish one weapon from any another:

A weapon category. All the hammers were listed as hammers. All the axes were axes. All the spears are spears. This sounds simple, but don’t worry about it for now.

A proficiency bonus. This represents the bonus you get to attacks made with this weapon if you’re trained in how to use it. This makes weapons beneficial to use if you’re trained in them and also represents the level of effect you can get out of being an expert in them.

Damage dice! This represents the scale of damage the weapon can do – multiple smaller dice being more even and capable of doing reliable damage, and single larger dice having more variance between high and low numbers.

Keywords. These are the key spice to this whole soupy mess, which means that suddenly you have a lot of standardised ways to make weapon groups relate to one another.

The keywords that a weapon can have isn’t even that long:

Brutal (reroll low numbers, sick as hell, used by the coolest and hottest heroes)

Defensive (gives you a defense bonus, good for people with shield envy)

Heavy Thrown (a huckable item you can use with strength)

High Crit (when you crit, you really crit)

Light Thrown (a huckable item you can use with dexterity)

Load Free (something to do with crossbows, who cares)

Load Minor (oh no more crossbow stuff)

Off-hand (ranger stuff)

Small (it’s small)

Stout (it’s not small)

Versatile (it can be small)

Every one of these factors can be fine tuned and there are trends within a category. For example, most light blades, in the vein of swords (you know, sword, smaller sword, bigger sword, much bigger sword, much smaller sword) tend to have no keywords that change their damage output, and instead their keywords relate to being usable and flexible. To compensate for this, they have the highest proficiency bonus (typically) for their damage dice, and swing at +3.

But that’s swords, that’s the cisgender white boy who listens to podcasts of the weapon sets. Sure, that’s the one that somehow mathematically winds up on top but that’s just because of fundamental biases from the people who designed the system. And in the context of the weapon system of 4e D&D, there are things you want to be able to do that aren’t necessarily damage (and hush up, CharOp board veterans since there are actually better things than dead and shaving fractions of turns only matters when dealing with spherical goblins in a vacuum).

Polearms and spears tend to be reach based! Axes and hammers tend to be heavy! Flails are chainy and daggers are stabby! But for most part, when you pick up one of these items, most of these traits aren’t immediately evident. Instead, you can invest in feats for proficiency with fancy weapons, or feats that support the way those weapons work. Every single weapon expertise feat, representing skill with that weapon, brings with it a special benefit that changes how those weapons relate to the powers that use weapons.

What this means is that when you play a character who uses weapons, what weapon you choose to use can be a part of how you relate to your powers. If your feats are in demand for something else, you can look at the support your weapon gives a small number of things. Just as an example, one of the most poached parts of the game in Character Optimisation is what I summarise as ‘Polearm Malarkey,’ which when fully developed, lets a defender of some variety interrupt an enemy attack, even against themselves sometimes, and push an enemy mid-attack a square away, then knock them prone – which can be their whole turn, since they were already in the middle of an attack. That’s really powerful but it needs a lot of feats. On the other hand, if you like being able to knock people prone and deprive them of actions and only have one feat or two to invest in it, you could try and wield a flail instead, and use Flail Expertise, then choose your powers in a way that let you impose slides on people. All that malarkey the defender with a fully mature polearm build can do, a level 1 Avenger or Swordmage can do with Flail Expertise…

But there’s not a lot more the flail expertise can do with that.

And that means there’s not just the matter of what a weapon can do but what it can grow into. Crucially though, and this is very important, at every step along the way these weapons are pretty good and offer rewards for what you’ve invested. It’s not like the 3e feat chain design where players take feats that suck pants in exchange for the promise of one day being able to Whirlwind Attack and then have nothing more for their build to look forward to.

Great system. I love when I see a coherent, sensible system like this built into a TTRPG from the baseline. Realism and historicity are not that important when the weapons designed in the game are game objects that players are meant to interact with! Make it so nobody has to make bad choices to get to better choices! You don’t get anything by putting traps in front of your players!

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

[blackadamschefter]

I'll try to be brief and avoid rambling as I like to do lol.

So, I was on twitter for something else and then saw in my lil "what's happening" that "Tutsi" was trending and so it got my attention right away and so I clicked it and saw that it was #Kwibuka30. So then it kinda brought alot of thoughts that I've had for about the past week or so rush straight to the front of my brain.

Its #Kwibuka30, and its essentially a day of remembrance of the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda. Its a day that I don't particularly think about often but I think of that year and period as a whole more often. Its kinda two fold where as in the past I didn't know of it (the specific day not the cause) and now that I have actively chosen to learn, read and fully immerse myself in it vs. just listening to convos and stories through my family members. I'm also close to the end of a book "Do Not Disturb" by Michela Wrong that is focused on the murder of a former high ranking RPF (Rwandan Patriotic Front) member but for me touches on the subject of the things that contributed to and reaction of the '94 genocide. Other books I finished that also touch on the subject. With that I also am a smarter & more informed just based on who I was around and listening to and I'm older, better educated (more educated??) anyways. I saw all that to get to this bit that made me feel like putting this and these thoughts out (so I can come back to and see).

I was personally affected by the '94 genocide and my family as a whole was affected by it. My life would be completely different if what led to it and it happening never happened. So I feel a certain level of pain/hurt when I think of the number of uncles I never got to meet, or cousins I didn't get to know.. I feel for my mom who lost brothers, uncles, friends & my grandma who lost her kids, siblings, nieces/nephews, etc. So it does that to me and to those who I have no relation with I think of more now than then because no one deserves to lose their life like that esp. innocent people who knew nothing and were taken. Its political and a longstanding thing that folks were gonna get their lick back but damn. Knowing now what I know I think its important to clarify that if this were to ever be seen by a person who.. idk just wants to start something or call me or consider me a génocidaire (genocide denier... in french for a reason) for what I'm about to say.. its actually far from it.

I understand that #Kwibuka30 is more or less reserved for "commemoration of the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi" I believe its also important that families of innocent Hutus should also be taken into consideration and remembered. Because the bigger play here is fully political in how its handled but its inhumane (to me) to make people feel less than or not be allowed to openly mourn for there own because others who did something so horrific shared the same tribe and that means they don't deserve the same sympathy... fuck that because its not fair. So as I think about my family and everyone who was affected. God Bless to all the lost souls that died, survived and many who feel guilty for being around. I pray for yall & hope you find a second to mourn, celebrate and feel free even if its just for a second.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

This takes me to Gaza & the Palestinian people because it was for them who made me relive things that happened more so when i was younger and knew nothing. I'm glad I was able to get off what I needed in the first part but this was more due to the images I was seeing. I feel for all those impacted by what's happening because at one point that was my reality, and I listen to the people in my family and close friends talk about the periods where we were on the move from refugee camp to refugee camp, walking for ages, just the blur of it all. Its brings you down but my mom and I have convos about it and I see why our bond is so strong and we struggled together to get to where we are. My dad too! Out there put in the frontlines and making it back to check on me or having his men guard where I laid my head in many cases. Owing the chance I got to my uncle who was also in the military like my dad and he & his wife protecting my mom and I and so many stories where God was there for me and mine. Lucky to make it out fr. So I see the images of kids eating, playing, in their parents arms and I feel and get a jolt of emotion that reminds me I was once just like them. So how its imperative to show love, give, pray and what I can to help. Life is unpredictable and my heart goes out to each and everyone impacted by it all.

Idk man.. I had to get that one off my chest and put it somewhere.

[cyclist-of-guilt]

You know…when you go to college in Germany reading Goethe’s Faust is a right of passage. You don’t get around it I think.

from what I’ve seen…Mephistopheles is always liked. He’s the star of the show- the moneymaker. You don’t root for faust - he’s an awful piece of shit - you want Meph to drag that old mf into hell and eternal damnation. (I’m also convinced that many girls in my class found him hot- like not even based on appearence, based on character alone which I think proves that Meph? Rizz.)

also i just wanted to say I’d love to show the Faust game to some German teachers and let them try to analyse it but I think they’d just rip me into pieces after that :( also most of them are really nice and I don’t want to expose them to anything they see in frank’s chapter.

I see! I don't think it was on required reading even on humanities in high school at my times and probably isn't now (minister of education probably thinks it's satanic Germanic book that doesn't thech maiden virtues lol). I knew it pretty much started "what if devil actually were pretty cool" trend in literature which I love and also my father sometimes quoted "I'm part of that power which eternally wills evil and eternally works good" which kinda altered my brain chemistry as child.

And getting teacher to react to game is great idea lol maybe I should recruit my middle school polish teacher for help with the video since I'm her pedagogical miracle 🤔 that kind of analysis is general idea for the video but I'm 1. Idiot who stopped giving shit about studying humanities in highschool; 2. Can't read German and reading in English something so poetic is pain in ass so I'm starting with Polish but then translation problem and shit; 3. Hadn't written anything that wasn't technical in fucking years

[nachoscheesy]

Tumblr Revival

Tl;dr

Tumblr has a large interconnected community of artists and content creators, and should focus on its strengths and what it does right. Instead of trying to compete for space against Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Tumblr should focus on empowering its community and giving that community the tools to develop the site's unparalleled uniqueness.

Tumblr is the crossroads of the internet, with a monthly user traffic of 300 million it is the perfect space for artists, content creators, and small businesses to grow their following without having to fight for a seat at the table against companies with huge budgets.

Hi, I go by Nacho here on tumblr, and I'm sure as many of us on tumblr have noticed, the (hell)site is kinda going downhill. Tumblr was bought by Automattic in fall of 2019, and I am sure they have the best intentions to help tumblr stay afloat. However, I think it's time the community took a more deliberate approach to how tumblr is handled, and hopefully Automattic and @staff will hear us out. I think I have a solid solution to tumblrs money issues, that will help both the site and empower its online communities.

First and foremost, I am not involved with Tumblr or Automattic. I am just a simple blog trying to help out a place that I've been on since 2010, and I would hate to see it die here around 2023.

So, let's get to the root of the problem on tumblr right now. That being money, tumblr is currently costing more money that it produces, as we've seen with its 97% drop in value from 1.1 billion dollar sale to being sold at around 3 million dollars.

So the first thing that must be improved before anything else can be improved on tumblr is how much money they're bringing in a month. I don't think folks on tumblr hate monetization as much as we all collectively say we do, I think the issue is that most advertisers are completely disconnected from the groups they are trying to advertise to on here. Tumblr comprises roughly 65% millennials and 30% gen-z, the two generations that advertisers seem to have the hardest time advertising to for a myriad of reasons. The main one being that they don't fully understand what we want, and sometimes just don't listen to what we are saying.

Lets look at how tumblr makes its money, Tumblr has four main revenue sources,

Ads by sponsored posts

Display ads through video posts

Sponsored Day ads or banner ads

“Premium Themes”

I'll go into depth on all of these and how tumblr could make potential changes to improve their revenue anywhere from three to six months after it implements some or ideally all of these changes.

First tumblr ads and sponsored posts, these changes are going to be contingent on tumblr allowing its users to share, like, and comment on ads much like all other media sites currently allow. Or at least giving advertisers the ability to turn that on or off as a function.

The average tumblr post gets reblogged 14 times, that number increases significantly if the ad is engaging and actually caters to the communities wants and needs. My reasoning for giving users the ability to reblog ads is to increase user engagement while maintaining their current ad vetting process and all of the nonsensical ads that are run on tumblr 90% of the time.

The other reason for allowing tumblr users to share and comment on ads, or have it be an option for advertisers to turn on or off as they'd like, is that the appeal of tumblr is the ability to propagate and obsess over the most niche things (i.e OSHA.)

All the while allowing content that gets shared all over the internet bubble up to the top through the collective hand of the tumblr community. Along with this tumblr has no way for small users to share their own products or services, every single major site has a way for users to advertise their pages or products through the site.

Tumblr is a content machine that creates imagery and memes that get shared all the time across the internet, so the ability to share and curate its own ads is paramount to improving advertising and user engagement on tumblr.

My proposal here is for tumblr to expand its advertising capabilities to all users, while charging a flat rate fee to advertise on tumblr, with additional charges for popular tags or trending tags. Tumblr currently has no self service advertising system much like Facebook does for example. Where facebook charges a daily rate on cost-per-click(CPC) or cost-per-thousand(CPM)

Charging a flat rate fee at a rate of a day, week, month, or quarterly basis with variances in prices based on the lease term and what the advertisers would want to have their ads show up on certain tags. This would open up the doors for small businesses that don't want to advertise on places like facebook, twitter, or google with their complicated CPM and CPC models. Also bringing in more small locally owned businesses with the added value of less competition for ad space on tumblr.

This would also take some of the weight from tumblrs own advertising staff from having to explain a convoluted system to potential advertisers. Creating a simplified model with the the advent of tumblrs own infrastructure able to get a single post to a large variety of users. Where the current ad model uses a “shotgun” method to hit as many people as possible, the tumblr model could encourage advertisers to curate a more personalized and intimate experience that tumblr users would love.

Why not just advertise elsewhere? Tumblr still in fact gets over 300 million views a month as of June 2021 (Statosta), and the added benefit for users to be able to like, share, and interact with ads would allow ads that the community enjoys to be talked about more. Giving advertisers more honest feedback about their ads while increasing their SEO’s.

Also small businesses that can't compete with the vetting processes that are used on other sites, would have a better chance of developing their business and increasing their clientele on tumblr whose core demographics are approximately 60% millennial and 35% gen-z. This core demographic does in fact care about being able to shop at local stores, or even a store across the US that is trying to drum up its own online sales.

These ads could be placed inline on the tumblr dash while moving other sponsored ads to the right of the site on desktop, but making them alternate on mobile between user ads and sponsored ads.

Second, the display ads should be changed to allow tumblr users to share and further interact with ads to generate more user engagement, incentivizing more businesses and companies to build their brand status on tumblr. Tumblr has a good model for creating short diaries or daily vlogs for companies that wish to show off their products on social media. This includes smaller businesses and vlogers that want to post videos or tutorials of themselves on their blog.

Tumblr is a good site for user engagement with a pool of creative potential for anyone wanting to gauge the desire for a particular subject or piece of media, maybe even an upcoming show. Having the ability to share and comment on sponsored ads would also help advertisers by allowing them to get more bang for their buck with a considerable uptick on how users engage with that content.

Third, tumblrs sponsor day ads and banner ads are inexpensive and should be highlighted as a selling point over their competitors. Tumblr 24-hour banner ads are considerably more affordable for businesses when compared to places like twitter with their 200k price point. For the same amount of money on tumblr a business could have their company at the top of the dashboard or app for 8 whole days. Much longer and much better than the competition.

Keeping this price fixed, with a change in the price CPC is still a much more lucrative and attractive selling point than any of the competition on the internet today. I know this might not be exactly what tumblr wants to hear when it is hemorrhaging money right now, but let's look at the cost for these 24 hour daily ads and banner ads. If tumblr hypes up the price point on these ads they could see a significant rise in advertisers considering the lack of competition on tumblr and past success stories of companies who did advertise on tumblr.

At the same time larger advertisers should be encouraged to make engaging ads and blogs on tumblr that will make people want to actually go to their blogs, that then link to an external site or page. Not ads that instantly try to force you to go to some other site, by rewarding or offering special discounts for people who find a special code or something off of the actual blog. Or even for giving the same code to everyone who reblogs a certain post made by the advertiser.

Seems too good to be true? Look at “Asos” back in 2015 when they held a shirt design competition on their tumblr blog. Where they had 900 submissions, four of which were picked, and were sold out of the user generated shirts in 10 hours.

This is not the only case however, but FX ran their own campaign for the show “Man Seeking Woman” where they saw a 2.8% increase in user engagement, 86% increase in their tumblr followers, and they actually saved money through advertising on tumblr.

All this leads me to believe that tumblr actually was and continues to be the best place for brands, small businesses, and artists to develop themselves through genuine user engagement.

Finally, the “premium themes” that are available on tumblr that allow for unparalleled customizations that you hardly find elsewhere on the internet anymore. Tumblrs ability to take a variety of media sources, as well as having an unparalleled level of customization, user interconnectivity, and a vibrant artistic scene shows that it is ripe with potential.

Tumblr could still use its post+ feature, but in the same way that Discord uses its subscription service. For cosmetic changes that can be added modularly to the site or individual blogs for an additional monthly fee. In conjunction with partnering with community artists to bring small cosmetic additions to individual blogs, while paying the content creator and tumblr taking a small portion of the profits over a certain amount.

To be completely honest this is probably the hardest portion of this entire pitch to make changes to in a shorter period of time, considering all the testing and “under the hood” changes that must be made. However, I think that implementing this as well as the other changes I have proposed will bring back more foot traffic to tumblr as well as increase its revenue and profitability.

In closing, I am simply working with whatever information I was able to find online and a good amount of time invested on my part to do this. I think tumblr has a ton of potential still to return as a force for good for the communities that exist and want a change from what the internet has become. Time and time again when any company or public entity dies it was because it did not change and refused to adapt and innovate, oftentimes not at the hands of the people working everyday to keep the site running. Instead at the hands of people who dont see the value in what has fallen in their laps.

If you agree and think this is something that can be done, please reblog this post and follow me for more updates. If I don't hear back or this does not gain any traction by the end of the year, then tumblr can go to its inevitable end. I will be here sinking with the ship.

@support @engineering @music @wip @changes @photomatt

[gerardpilled]

would you say the intensity of queueing is more of a thing for their US shows vs europe? cause I got to the Cardiff queue around 11:00 and still managed to get barrier somehow 🙌 hell at eden 2 we didn't queue till like 3:00 and I was only third row (again 🙌 🙌)

Hmmm I can’t say for sure. I’ve only ever been to shows in the US/Canada so I can only go off what I saw online. Just based on that I would say I think people would start lining up earlier the longer the tour went on. I saw people leave Bonn night 1 and get on line for Bonn night 2.

I feel like in general this kinda plays into a larger trend happening in the music industry right now. I only really pay attention to mcr in this sort of detail, but just based on social media it’s obvious that concerts are not about the experience of live music anymore. They’re about producing content, and not usually for the artists themselves, but the people attending the shows. Front row for Harry Styles? Great! Now if you catch a video of him doing something funny and you upload it first you’re guaranteed tens of thousands of retweets. Similar with live streams. I think they started off with the intent of simulating the experience for people who couldn’t attend. For one-off shows like the Shrine this makes sense imo. Now, I feel like they’ve become, even subconsciously, an instant clout magnet. People still name drop the shrine live-streamer and even now if people have a “good” live stream it becomes fandom famous.

I just think attending shows and getting a good spot has become more of a bragging rights thing for some people. People, including myself, saw how early people were lining up and decided to get there slightly earlier, but that bar keeps getting pushed back to the point where only a select few can benefit.

AGAIN I’m just reflecting on the trend here. Do whatever you want, I just don’t like the vibe of it. Not just for mcr (have you seen the 21p fans line up for 9 days…), but for the consumption of the concert experience in general.

[seesgood]

can we very gently talk about call out posts / culture really quick?  not in a judgmental way, but in like a: i just want to pose a thought and explain why i’m never going to buy into it and why i wish it would become less of a trend instead of more of one? and i’ll add the  disclaimer  here: i totally get not wanting certain people around you for various reasons, that is all your prerogative. that’s your comfort level. but in emphasizing “your blog should be a safe space” we’re kind’ve losing sight of the fact that the rpc should also be a safe space, and as much as your comfort and safety matter, so do other people’s. and not just the person who hurt you, but the third parties and other mutuals and 99.9% of people who are not at all involved in any way in whatever happened. so, anyway here goes, read it or don’t, we all have different opinions or reasons, i just want to be heard:

people are allowed to change.  think back to who you were last year. two years ago. think about the stuff you said when you were seventeen, or twenty-one, or hell whatever age you were. current-you would probably cringe at the kind of stuff past-you had to say. because you grew. you learned. you had life experiences. in hindsight you have the freedom to be like “oof yeah that was not the best version of myself right there damn i don’t want to be like that again.” the growing trend of ‘here’s a 10+ page google doc complete with out of context screenshots that sometimes date back to like 2017 or earlier’ makes this kind of change impossible. because right there, you’ve just frozen a person in time, probably not at their best, removed any and all amounts of context, and put it on the internet and let other people judge it for themselves. 

so that leads into another point that i want to just kinda present to the community at large: the act of documenting behaviors and storing them for months / years at a time, in itself creates a super unsafe environment, not just for you, your friends, the people who have hurt you --- but also for anyone else that isn’t at all involved in whatever happened. like, for example, i like to think that i’m a pretty nice person. i actively try to be a nice person. am i sometimes not having the best day? have people definitely caught me in bad moments? oh hell yeah. but am i, as someone who tries really hard to be nice and welcoming, constantly thinking through every message i send to someone knowing that a) i could have a reputation that makes them read into context that isn’t there and that could contribute to them misinterpreting words i meant in a different way, b) very aware that every post i make, ask i send, message i send can at any moment be screenshotted and posted and taken out of context and either serve as someone’s only opinion of me or pile on to someone’s existing opinion of me? yeah. so in my experience, and based on people i’ve talked to, we now have this thing where you can be surface-friends wtih a lot of people, but if you want to survive in the tumblr rpc you should really only have 2-3 people that you really trust that you can actually talk about shit with. 

and lately i’ve been seeing a resurgence of posts on my dash about like “bring back xyz in the rpc” or “the reason the rpc is like this is because of xyz” and i both agree and disagree with a lot of this, but primarily i think the reason the rpc is Off lately is because everyone and their cousin has a DNI, which is --- again --- your decision and i understand and respect that, but while you know the context of every name on that DNI, other people don’t. and to be honest: other people don’t really care and honestly maybe they shouldn’t care. --- and don’t get me wrong, your friends should care if someone has hurt you. that’s important. but joe billy bob who just wants to write their character with yours is going to read through your rules, they’re going to see “do not interact with me if you follow with or interact with these people you’ve never heard of and if you want me to tell you why just message me” (which no one is ever going to do, i’m sorry to say). and say, joe billy bob also followed that other person because they were like ‘omg this blog looks cool’ --- now joe billy bob, who just wants to write cool plots, is suddenly the middle-man in some type of drama that they do not understand, and maybe they’re able to remove themselves from the situation, but even then it’s still in the back of your mind. 

this is getting long. it’ll be longer, but let’s take a brief break for me to remind you that in some cases, it’s definitely good to give your mutuals and friends a heads up when someone has done something really, really bad. like, remember x amount of years ago when some dude was like ‘i’m gonna make up a new person and say they died by suicide as a social experiment’ or ‘hey this person actively tries to force very triggering plots about abuse / rape / incest onto people and has been doing so for years and does not seem to change their ways no matter how many people try to educate them’ that’s shit people should probably know about. and it’s also okay ( in my opinion ) for your friends to be able to message you like ‘hey i saw you’re writing with x and i just wanted to let you know i had this experience with them’ if that’s something they feel comfortable doing. and if they are comfortable with you still having the autonomy to make your own decision regarding the person. 

i’ll be honest, for a second: i’ve been part of friendships and groups that have turned really toxic for one reason or another. a handful of times. there are probably people out there that are like “yeah this chick is really fake and manipulative and etc, i was friends with her back in 2019″ which, okay. yeah. i’ve definitely done shit and said shit that was not the most representative of who i want to be and who i want to become, and you probably have to. because we are human beings and we are a product of our social groups and the community around us. and you shouldn’t be chained to a version of you that isn’t you anymore. people change. they grow. you don’t have to like them, but you should respect that sometimes people don’t mesh, and that doesn’t mean any of them are bad people, it just means the experience was bad. 

a few additional notes i would like to make but i’ve already gone on way too long:

90% of the callout posts that i’ve seen and the DNI’s that i’ve seen can, in my opinion, be classified as a friend group thing. you were friends with x, x did something, now y and z aren’t friends with x anymore. pain is a very, very real thing and people hurting you should never be minimized, but at some point i just want you to remember that not every friendship is going to end happily, but both you and the other party should be allowed to move on and grow better, healthier friendships after. rehashing Friend Group Gone Wrong instances removes that ability for not only person x, but also person y and z.

you putting out a callout says just as much ( maybe more ) about you than it does about the other person. which sucks. because i’d like to think we all have great intentions, and i’m not saying that you should swallow your pain, but it might not be the kind of thing that impacts the community at large, and maybe you should try to find a better way of working through it with a trusted friend(s)

i’m going to be very real and very blunt on this one: literally no one cares. i say that with love. i’m good friends with people who have each other on their DNI’s. establish a baseline of respect and ‘i’m not going to say anything to them about you and vice versa because there’s no need for me to do so’ and move on. but seriously. no one cares. most outside people read callout posts because they like being in the know about the drama, not because they actually care. 

person a and person b who are mentioned in the DNI / callout aren’t the only ones who are going to be affected. your friends, your mutuals, your writing partners are now all put in a weird spot where you have to pick sides on an issue you know nothing about and shouldn’t have to know anything about. you’re asking people to choose sides on an issue they cannot fully understand, and that’s not fair to them or to you. and it drives great people away. and then we all lose out on having more awesome people in the rpc.

you’re entitled to your safe space, but this is a public platform and you are also responsible for maintaining your safe space. you shouldn’t put it entirely on other people to do that for you. you can block, blacklist, make up funny names for, or spitefully erase from your many anything and anyone that you wish. but you shouldn’t make your friends do it for you.

there’s always an inherent power imbalance when any kind of drama occurs between those who have more followers / friends / connections and those who do not. and the smaller blog is always going to suffer a little bit more because they don’t have people blindly coming to their defense. 

bad moments, bad experiences, bad decisions DO NOT equal bad people. 

allow people to make up their own mind about something or someone

anywho, if you read through this whole thing i think i owe you financial compensation. but also thank you for reading / listening / considering. even if you rolled your eyes through the whole thing like “stfu lia” that’s fine. i’m just presenting an alternative thought. i’d like to once again state: i’m not judging you if you’ve made a callout/DNI or if you’re on a callout/DNI. like i literally don’t care. and frankly, in my opinion, i shouldn’t have to. because i, and you, and your friends, and your mutuals, and your non-mutuals should be allowed the space to make up their own opinion and mind on something or someone without being told that there will be consequences if they don’t agree with you. set boundaries. communicate in healthy ways. you don’t have to forgive the people who have hurt or wronged you, but you also don’t get to decide that their actions make up 100% of who they are as a person, or decide that that is the only side of that person people should get to see. 

[river-bottom-nightmare]

Hey I read this somewhere idk a fic or something maybe idk if its canon, that like brucie Wayne is Bruce's public, tabloid persona, dicks is Richie grayson and only people who knew him, family or friends call him dick

hmmmm. see, here’s where it gets a bit tricky babe.

so, it’s very clear that bruce has 3 different personalities: “brucie wayne,” the over-the-top borderline alcoholic playboy who throws money around like it’s nothing and over the years, has become (not canonically, but accepted by the fandom as) a kind of dull but doting father. then there’s batman, the gruff professional legend that actually acts as more of a legend than a human and drives everything for the sake of the mission. and then there’s just bruce, who is a little more relaxed and caring version of batman that’s only let out around his family and a few close friends.

but dick,,,,doesn’t really have that?

now as far as i’ve seen and read, dick grayson is,,,,dick grayson. the public calls him “dick,” (or probably, as i headcanon, “dickie grayson”). he’s seen as a cute little kid that bruce took in during the early years. i’m stopping myself from screaming and saying a bunch of words because jesus christ is high society racist. then later on when he grew up, people started treating dick as a mini-bruce: a fun, flirty playboy. 

the thing is, there isn’t,,,,that stark of a difference between dickie and dick. with bruce, you get whiplash, but for dick, it’s almost as if a couple pieces fall into place? they’re both cheerful, exuberant, funny people who are freely affectionate and loving. 

(and part of that playboy persona is actually dick’s.

there’s an absolutely disgusting trend in comics that i’m sure almost all of you have noticed of dick being objectified, catcalled, and sexually assaulted by a lot of people in the dc universe, mostly women. and dick’s shown to be very uncomfortable with all this unwanted attention from people he doesn’t know or doesn’t know well. we all as readers are also uncomfortable with this.

but it’s also shown that when he’s with his friends, he does act playful, fun, and flirty. this is because there’s already a foundation of mutual trust and respect, along with a relationship built on years of friendship. once dick knows, is familiar with, and comfortable with someone, his naturally fun and flirty side comes out, and it’s usually mutual bantering on both sides. and dick’s okay with it. he enjoys it because it’s a way of him relaxing and playing with his friends, and it isn’t at all affected by his appearance or anything because he’s known these people for years, because knows that the mutual appreciation of each other comes from friendship.)

so there’s that: the fact that dickie grayson and dick grayson’s personalities aren’t all that different.

but then there’s the fact that dick grayson is a performer. and he has a lot of masks. it’s almost like there are minute personality changes every time dick’s company and position in the team or duo changes. this is partially due to evolving times, character changes, and of course different writers. but this is something i’ve seen happen with the same author, and if i’m wayyyy off-base, then this can just be a hc of mine that explains the way dick’s core personality changes from writer to writer (ignoring the few writers that just completely obliterated him.)

when dick’s with the titans, he steps up as a leader. he’s commands respect and gives respect in return, issues out orders, sometimes has some control issues but he works through those and learns to listen to his team. when dick’s with the original fab five, or kori, or babs, he lightens up a bit. he’s more easygoing, relaxed, and goofy. he’s still committed to his job and has a strong work ethic, but you can tell he allows himself to chill a little bit in the presence of people that he knows has his back. 

when dick’s with the batfam, he acts as sort of an authority figure. this came after jason, once dick started assuming responsibility for tim, but it continued on with each addition. bruce has obviously been the figurehead and sort-of patriarch of the batfam since the beginning, and alfred and babs are people the bats love and respect and give credit where credit is due. and trust me, it’s a lot of credit. but dick’s become their emotional anchor, someone they know they can rely on, someone they fall back on when they need it. he’s their safety net. (although i have to say. recently jason has been turning into the batfam team mom. idk what that’s about but i am thoroughly amused and kinda enjoying it.)

when dick’s with bruce, he becomes,,,,,,,i don’t want to say more childlike because dick’s gone to great lengths to make sure bruce respects him and treats him as an adult. and bruce does, for the most part. but there’s years and years of history between the two of them, and you can’t just wipe away the years of bruce raising dick as his own kid. too much has happened for them to go back to the easy dynamic they used to have, but too much happened in the past for them to ever pretend like they don’t mean as much as they do to each other. so,,,yea dick takes on a little more of a childlike role and bruce acts a tad more paternal than he normally does in the suit.

and when dick’s allied up with people to defeat either a greater or common enemy, his demeanor changes once again. allied, or fighting against people he has history with. this includes shrike, deathstroke, and tiger. when he’s with them, the nightwing mask drips into his entire personality. he’s chatty and witty, but each word is carefully calculated and has a purpose. he makes barbed jokes, fights with 110% of what he’s got, and pushes himself to his limits without ever letting anyone else know.

this is probably how the public never figures out he’s nightwing. (,,,,,,,most of the time.) dickie grayson is probably just different enough from nightwing that no one puts it together. going back to my point of dick being a performer, he probably holds himself differently, moves his body differently, styles his hair differently, has a different resting face, etc. these subtle changes are what people absorb easily, and are what throw people off. dick also probably uses this in the other masks i mentioned above, depending on how approachable, easy, or cunning he needs to appear. 

there are constantly thousands of masks that dick’s putting on and taking off. so to sum up my own, person opinion and very long, very wordy, very rambly answer to your quick question: no, dick doesn’t have different drastic personalities like brucie wayne and batman. but dick does have a bunch of masks, and he slightly shifts his personality depending on his company. 

[the-wandering-whumper]

This isn't aimed at anyone in particular, but I hope you don't mind if I vent my frustrations a little?

I don't know if I'm just imagining things, but it feels to me like in terms of whump OC content, these days it's really almost exclusively long-term captivity, especially the sort of "human pet" type thing, and if you want anything sort of more like your typical action story, people getting hurt in fights or just getting caught in storms or falling off cliffs and breaking bones somewhere in the wilderness, its really hard to find unless you go looking for fandom-based content for fandoms where that kind of thing works well with the setting. And it's just kind of frustrating to me because the slavery/human pet stuff practically never appeals to me, and I'm rather picky with other sorts of long-term captivity as well.

Obviously I realize that it's not my place to police what is and isn't done by other whumpers, and trends change in the whump community as with all other sorts of fiction. I don't mean that anyone should stop writing what they enjoy! I'm not really hoping to change anything with this, I certainly don't want to make anyone feel bad about the content they create, you do you! But idk it's just kinda frustrating to me personally and sometimes you need to vent a bit, ya know?

I do know, quite well in fact. I too have nothing against the OC whump side of the community or the human trafficking/captivity/torture that seems to be so prevalent over there right now. I’ve cultivated my Tumblr experience very carefully around it by not following blogs that create that type of content. I would read the heck out of some OC whump that didn’t involve box boys, etc. tho! But unfortunately, you hit the nail on the head, it’s just not around that I’ve seen.

I made an OC once and created a blog for him so I could start something similar to what you are looking for, but I never kept it up ( @the-moorephire-chronicles ) but maybe someday I will. I think you and I might be the only two interested in that side of things these days.

But yeah, you are not alone in your frustrations and you are always welcome to come by my ask box to vent. I appreciate how well you phrased your comments. I also love and support the entire community, I just gotta skip over the captivity/torture/dehumanization stuff to maintain my mental health :)

[hyetiny]

since you asked for dilf woo asks, can i request a first time with dilf woo reaction? - ☔

i'm sorry i end up making this long and angsty 😭

c// fem!reader, aged up wooyoung, younger reader, cheating, drinking, oral (f receiving), lots of petnames, wooyoung is kind of a dick in this i'm sorry :(, kinda angsty end, this is a longer one than usual lol i got way too carried away and added plot lol

read part 2 here!

ok look

i imagine dilf!woo to be very slutty

in a good way of course!

he's known for having slept with plenty of men and women in your neighborhood

so let's say you've just moved in next door

there's a knock at the door

and when you open the door, there stands the most beautiful man you've ever seen in your life

visibly older than you

and he's holding a plate of cookies

with a cute smile he goes "welcome to the neighborhood! i live right next door so you can pop by and visit if you need anything!"

and just like that you're whipped

you take the cookies and invite him inside

he accepts and you two get to know each other

you can't stop paying attention to how attractive he is

you find out his name is wooyoung and he's lived here for a while

he's a chef, hence the delicious cookies!

"and what's a pretty young lady like you doing living alone in a place like this?" he asks

and you think oh, is he flirting with you?

you're blushing

"i-i figured it was time to get my own place after graduating" you stutter.

he giggles and goes "cute" under his breath

soon he asks "are you seeing anybody at the moment?"

you blush once again when you're like haha no i'm not 👉🏼👈🏼

and he winks at you and is like "that's good to know"

what he says next is unexpected

he goes " anyway, i should be getting back to the kids now :)"

your brain doesn't comprehend for a moment

and you go "the kids???"

"oh, did i forget to mention? i have a son and daughter."

you're taken aback

you'd think that would be one of the first things he mentions

you don't know how to react so you just go "oh, how cute!"

he shows you pictures of them c:

they're carbon copies of him

you can't help but think if he has a wife around

you two exchange numbers!

then you bid him goodbye and promise that you’ll hang out again

the next day you get a text: “hi, it’s your neighbour wooyoung! :) i picked up a bottle of wine on the way home and the kids are asleep. wanna come over?”

you can’t tell if it’s innocent or not

drinking with a guy you just met

you decide it can’t possibly be innocent

so you wear something that exposes a tasteful amount of your chest and accentuates your form

you notice how he slightly bites his lip and looks you up and down when he opens the door

wooyoung turns on a playlist and pours you a drink

you fall into easy conversation and slowly the distance between you is closing

there are slight touches that send sparks up your body

the slight graze of his hand against yours

his leg oh so slightly pressed up against yours

he gently grips your face with one hand, leaning in

“is this okay?” he whispers. you quickly nod.

he closes the gap between you, his warm plush lips moving rhythmically against yours

a hand finds your thigh

“w-wait” you say, quickly pulling away from him

“is everything okay, love?” 

the pet name makes you shiver

“i’m a virgin” you say quietly

his mouth is agape

“r-really? it’s okay, we don’t have to do anything at all, i’ll walk you home-”

“n-no woo, i want you to be my first.” you flush red.

“honey are you sure?” you nod.

he asks you about five more times and you reassure him over and over again.

he asks about what you like, what you want to try etc.

“i-i’ve never cum before, even when i’ve touched myself” you say.

you swear you see a hint of a smirk.

“don’t worry baby, i’ll make you cum until you forget your own name”

if that doesn’t make you even more wet-

you go right back to making out

a hand sneaks into your panties, making you whimper

“is this okay?” you nod

a finger rubs against your clit, making you whine into his mouth

“can i eat you out?” he asks sweetly. you nod shyly.

he spreads your legs aparts, pulling your bottoms down

he’s so good at it, but also messy (in a hot way lol)

you know that tiktok trend where you see how fast your tongue is? yeah that.

you can tell just how excited he is

he laps against your entrance, moaning when he tastes you

slips a finger in and focuses his tongue on your clit

his tongue game is definitely strong

finds your spot like immediately ✨

you cry out and cum for the first time ever, clenching around his fingers

it’s the best thing you’ve ever felt in your life, your legs are shaking

it turns him on so much he almost creams his pants-

he can’t get on top of you any faster

neck kisses,,

it gives you butterflies

he gently pecks, kisses, licks and sucks at your neck while also putting on a condom at the same time??

based on a personal experience-

it hits you just then that his body count and experience in bed must be >>>>

but you’re far too horny to mull over it

“ready, doll?” you nod.

and his lips meet yours again while he breaches your hole

it hurts and you let him know it

“shh, it’s okay, you’re doing so good for me baby.”

he holds your hand and gently kisses all over your face

when you give him the go to start moving, he will not hold back at all

he wants to completely ruin you

he’s absolutely gonna fulfill his promise of making you cum more than once

hits that spot over and over again with a thumb on your clit

keeps whispering filth in your ear

“holy shit baby, you’re so fucking good for me. just like that baby, that’s a good girl.” 

you’re practically dripping around his cock

“w-woo, holy shit, i’m gonna-” 

“let it go, princess”

the petname does it for you

you’re practically clawing at his broad back, not caring if you mark him up

you cum again with a loud cry, and wooyoung’s lips are on yours again

you’re moaning into his mouth, riding out your high and grinding your hips against his while he chases his release

he let’s out the hottest “fuckkk” ever when he cums

he gently pulls out, stroking your hair and asking if you’re okay

gives you the cutest smile and giggle when you say yes

“i’d take you upstairs but we don’t want to wake up the missus”. 

you stop functioning for a moment

“e-excuse me?” you choke out.

“my wife.” wooyoung raises a brow.

“you... you’re married?!” you whisper scream.

“did you think i wasn’t?” he pouts.

and holy shit the realization hits you like a truck

you just had sex with a father who’s also married

did this make you a mistress??

you have far too many thoughts at once

you quickly get dressed and can’t get out of there any faster, despite wooyoung’s protests

and you decide you won’t associate with your next door neighbour anymore

[shijiujun]

i feel kinda bad for shl cos all the fans of hyx and spl are blaming shl since their dramas are being delayed :(

LMAO I really don’t get that altho i can see that the timing might be a little back to back, and i’m not a SHL-only stan by any measure but:

For HYX especially,

Firstly it was already having problems since the end of last year with censorship and review. This is mostly due to the reason that 2ha is a pretty big fandom and is the cult fave in the danmei industry - what this means is that there are three types of fans basically right, (1) Normal fans who love the novel + show (2) Those who fanatically love the novel in some extreme ways haha (3) Those who hate it and/or are HYX-onlys - so you get it all in a bag. 

The first type of fans is definitely the easier ones to deal with, but unfortunately in big fandoms you get a lot of (2) and (3). It’s not something that’s exclusive only to 2ha/HYX but because it’s a cult fave, and a controversial one at that, problems definitely arise.

(2) are the ones who head down to the filming scenes, take photos and footage despite crew telling ppl not to do it, not to sneak around filming sites and definitely not to leak photos or footage. They do it anyway. Yeah sure of course it’s a couple of photos every few weeks or a tiny video every few weeks but word gets out. They’re inevitably hurting the show and the fandom with their actions, because shit trends on Weibo really fast, and the censorship committee (not just for the film industry or shows) is always lurking on the site to catch any sign of you know, hate speech for the country etc. and more. Not related, but the point is that social media is watched very closely. It’s not a myth or an exaggeration, you really just got to be careful, and HYX is a show that, despite not having been broadcasted, has consistently trended on Weibo over the last few months. Not always because of leaks, but yeah, HYX is in everyone’s faces. Fans themselves put a fucking huge spotlight on the show BEFORE we even have any content at all, and of course this isn’t enough to like create huge trouble for the show but then we have-

(3), which I believe creates the most trouble - the thing is 2ha and meatbun who wrote the book, has a long line of haters and antis, way before HYX came into the picture. I shall not go into details of how I’ve seen some big accounts on Tumblr here spit vitriol at the book without even reading it just based on the content/trigger warnings and playing the morality card (and I think most ppl who’ve followed me for a while know just what I think about that). Like this was way before any footage or leaks or even HYX being a thing came about - as a cult fave it has its share of haters, and this share is a huge. There are those who get off on their moral high grounds XD and I think especially these ones are the most troublesome, all they have to do is report that HYX is immoral, bad for culture etc. etc. hahaha and yeah the censorship team is always ready to step in on reports, especially on BL stuff.

And of course the larger part is the change in censorship processes - honestly even way before SHL came out in end Feb, HYX was no closer to getting passed by the review committee than it is now. Maybe yes, SHL scenes may be now used as reference for comparison but seriously? People are deluding themselves if they thought pre-SHL HYX was going through the review process smoothly and only hit roadblocks after. I mean, we’ve all seen the leaks, some of them are truly like god-tier scenes that may be hard to explain away. It’s not like they can repackage the script especially because they have to submit everything to the review committee.

I mentioned this in a post yesterday but how SHL passed reviews is due to the fact that they didn’t have to submit a full script. They only had to submit a partial script, and that makes a world of difference. Basically a team, under these requirements, can repackage the script to include the more het looking parts even I feel, and of course some heavy misdirection by the team, it could work. Now that you have to put an entire script up for scrutiny.. I mean, it’s hard. This is just a game of probability.

And the last reason I think is still Tencent. Honestly, I’ve never seen a huge ass MNC like this handle a show this terribly.

1. No control over leaks - This is honestly the dumbest shit to do

2. Terrible crisis management response time - When fans leak footage, it’s standard and practical business sense to control it IMMEDIATELY. They shouldn’t just leave it up to the crew to put up notices and as the company that owns the rights to the show, it’s up to them to possibly threaten legal action as well. Basically a sterner stance would have helped a lot, but Tencent is a motherfucker of a company who only cares about free marketing and publicity without any considerations over impact to the show itself 

3. Terrible at communicating with fans - Seriously, I’ve never seen a company or team that’s been this bad at confirming delays etc. and providing updates about a show. I understand that it’s mostly due to them not wanting to affect the review process or create more chaos within the fandom but lmao Tencent allowed the hype to build so much and then goes absolutely silent at crazy rumours. I mean we had to find out about a delay from Cai Bao, their cat mascot, like??? In a really veiled and poetic message that didn’t outright say the word ‘delay’ like damn these ppl have a lot of time

As for SPL,

Lol we don’t know anything about this show. We don’t know if they took out or left in the Yifu part that would supposedly make it less gay or whatever, we don’t know anything about how gay it should have been or could have, so this one might be a tad more ridiculous. I mean none of us have seen any good leaks, and we haven’t seen any of the script, we got ZERO idea about this. Maybe they really went hard on the bromance, how would any of us know hahaha so all the more it’s like people have zero basis to go on, to say that it’s because of SHL. Seriously, everyone’s shooting in the dark.

Technically if laws didn’t change last Feb, I think SPL/WIK should have been passed in the same way as SHL did, but it’s just inopportune time for them.

===

- So tl:dr HYX already had tons of problems, that I doubt were going to go away just because SHL didn’t air, honestly. For SPL, it’s really hard to tell what failed the review, because none of us know what’s going on in the script.

No one cared about SHL, even I only realized the show was airing on the day itself and then made a rec post after I watched the first 4 eps. And if it truly was anything to do with SHL, I’m telling you that the first thing the censorship committee will do is basically shut SHL down, get Youku to take it off sites etc. until it’s reviewed again etc. etc. That hasn’t happened yet, at least not before HYX and SPL were stalled.

===

ALSO!! Don’t have to feel sorry for SHl fans hahaha I’m telling ya a lot of us definitely weren’t OG SHL or TYK fans, seriously! All the bigger accounts I see on Twitter are a combination of CQL/SHL or MXTX/SHL, SPL/SHL and I am personally 2HA/HYX/SHL. The fight is all out on Twitter HAHAHAHA but it’s not that bad, we’ve all got practice. Seriously WHO ACTUALLY is an SHL only stan I’ve honestly not seen much?! HAHAHA the point is we’re all yelling on behalf of SHL as a cross fandom fan, easier for us to do so as well. We’re talking about 2ha/HYX/SPL/Priest dedicated accounts that delved deep into SHL championing for no-nonsense in the space hahaha

[mariaiscrafting]

I don’t know if it’s just because mcyt is the only really modern (aka late 2019-onwards) fandom I’ve been in so far, but I thought the trend of discourse within the fandom about chilling tf out and just letting people live was kinda a mcyt-exclusive thing. That’s not to say that there aren’t still weirdos who get too invested in speculation within mcyt, but generally, if a CC is like “please don’t speculate about this,” the general fanbase (besides those weirdo pockets) seems to stop and maybe mention it in passing, but generally they start telling off people who post long-ass reddit posts, tumblr posts, or twitter threads that continue speculating and basically breaking their CCs’ boundaries. From what I’ve seen, this has happened with things like Tubbo’s random gay flag in his twitter bio, Techno initially taking a break without anyone knowing why exactly, Dream saying he’s unsure about his sexuality, etc. Maybe my perception of the mcyt fandom is just skewed, and all these things are generally speculated about regardless, I don’t know. But to me, it seems like some people kinda say random things ocassionally (i.e., some Tumblr users wondering if Techno stopped uploading because of anxiety over something in his life), but it’s not as much A Thing as it was in early CC-based fandoms. If this was 2015, no one would give a shit about the CC’s qualms. They’d just fucking go off- there’d be 100s of votes on Twitter polls speculating; there’d be full-on, evidence-filled threads trying to Sherlock Holmes it together; there’d be Tumblr discourse so long, you’d have to use XKit’s auto-scroll extension just to reach the bottom of a post; subcommunities or subspaces in fandoms meant solely for shipping, truthing, etc., wouldn’t even exist because that’s just the entire fandom. I’m just so grateful for this shift in fandom norms around respecting CCs and any boundaries they don’t explicitly state.

All this to say, I keep seeing people in OTV video comments and Twitch chats tell off people who want to deep dive into whether or not Toast & Miyoung are dating, and I love to see it so much. Some part of me, like in many fans, wants to have it confirmed. But really, it makes me very glad and surprised to see other CC-based fandoms nowadays do what I’ve seen so much in mcyt fandoms- just stfu and letting CCs live, when it comes to things that would be disrespectful to speculate about. We had normalized shipping so fucking much in fandom culture, even with real, existing people, and now to see it reversed to the point that it’s not generally accepted to ship people unless they’ve said that you can (i.e., why dnf is so insanely popular), is really nice imo.

[gffa]

I know I've brought this up before, but how much of the fandom reception of the prequels do you think stemmed from the genre dissonance? That the prequels, genre-wise, are closer to high fantasy, while the OT is more an adventure/space western/underdog triumph story.

The prequels also have elements more reminiscent of a romantic period/court drama/Shakespearean tragedy, while if you consider the underdog angle of the OT, the OT also seems kinda similar to some of those inspirational movies about sports teams or something, or a shonen anime with the "Power of Friendship".

I'm just saying, these are rather disparate genres that tend to attract different demographics of people.

And not many people tend to be... great about understanding why they don't like something, much less putting it into words, or understanding that they can dislike something without that something being actually bad. (For example, instead of "I just don't really like [thing]," the usual statement is something along the lines of "[thing] absolutely sucks.")

So the usual response is trying to find (and gather) solidarity while putting down or being condescending towards any dissent, and trying to justify their own dislike. (*gestures vaguely towards pineapple on pizza*)

And historically, it's not uncommon for people to... react strongly towards things they find... different or abnormal, which they judge based on themselves, their emotional response to something, and what they're used to.

Looking at kids, this behavior is... fairly normal. "You're weird," "ew, why do you like that, that's gross," "that's stupid," and so on. A lot of kids/teens/young adults also get defensive really easily. And let's face it--adults are basically just older, taller kids who've had to deal with more of life.

(To be honest, I also get defensive really easily. A lot of people do, and it's... it's normal. The defensive reaction can be lashing out, denial, or just being passive-aggressive or staying silent and tuning it out or mentally rolling your eyes at it. But I'm trying to work on it, because just because it's normal doesn't mean it's a good reaction.)

So, what I'm wondering is whether some fans dislike the prequels simply because it's a different genre...

...but instead of realizing that, they try to defend and justify their dislike by pointing fingers and criticizing whatever stood out or looked different from the OT or cherry-picking details/taking things out of context or making negative conflations (that can be refuted).

Because it's not about logic, it's about how they feel. And people want to feel justified and validated, and we want to feel like we're right and we enjoy staying in our comfort zones. So... yeah. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

LOL, okay, this response is going to be really disjointed because I went off in like a dozen different tangents and even then it's not enough to cover everything, so just kind of read this in a Scattered Thoughts Nerd kind of tone, where I'm staring off into the distance because Navel Gazing Gets Me Going Sometimes. 😂 In my experience, it's sort of a mix. I don't hang around a lot of people who dislike the prequels (in the sense of dismissing them/not being fannish about them) because, well, that's the heart of my interest in Star Wars, so our areas of interest basically don't really overlap that much, so I don't have a chance to talk to a lot of people and find out their reasons or even how they dislike the prequels, in the bigger trends of fandom. I do think there's an element of what you're talking about, that sometimes people can't just dislike things because it's not their genre of choice, that's absolutely a part of it. Mostly because that's how a lot of people react to anything they don't like (and it's something I and literally everyone else has to work on), there has to be a reason for it that it's objectively bad and, like, I have experienced a lot of people getting mad because I like something in a different way than they do. And I don't mean just in Star Wars fandom, but in almost any given fandom--if someone likes something in a way someone else doesn't, if they talk loudly about it (even within their own space), then there's always a contingent of people who have to find a reason why that person is objectively wrong (or even try to make them morally wrong), rather than just shrugging and going, "We see things differently, my view on things doesn't overwrite theirs and their view on things doesn't overwrite mine." It gets more complicated in instances where fandom attitudes genuinely can be hurtful, especially when they're overlapping into the way real people are treated, likes/dislikes don't 100% exist in a bubble, especially when it comes to queer fans, fans of color, disabled fans, mentally ill fans, etc. But that there are a lot of instances where fandom culture has always been--and is increasingly so--contentious and it's hard to chill out when someone is always screaming at you, when the atmosphere of the fandom is always so intense. Further, there's also an element of how fandom has always been--and also is increasingly so--about personal resonance, personal emotional investment, interpretation, and meaning. That sometimes we identify with something so deeply that we feel attacked when someone else likes or dislikes something we feel so strongly about, something that we feel is a reflection of ourselves, and I see a lot of that as well. And this, too, often crosses over into lines of how the context of how we treat characters can be reflections of how we treat real world people, but that there's no monolith here as well. For example: I make fun of Anakin, this angers some people, because how dare I not take this fictional victim 100% seriously, despite that I have repeatedly said that Anakin is the character I most identify with, that things I make fun of him for are ones that I resonate with personally. I'm not disrespecting mentally ill people, especially considering that Anakin is not bound to a single interpretation on this front--he is not canonically mentally ill, no matter how easy it is for us in fandom to map much of that onto his character or, in my case, feel that so much of what I see in him are things I struggle with myself. By and large, the majority of the people I see (at least on tumblr) who make fun of Anakin are doing so within the same vein, that they're being silly about him on things that they personally relate to. (My experiences on this are not universal, I cannot speak for the whole of even any one part of fandom, only my own sphere of experience, but this is what I've seen.) As always, it's fine if someone doesn't vibe with my style or they find that it's not their thing because they do take him more seriously, but that preference does not make my jokes

suddenly not have the context that I relate a lot to what I see in Anakin. In contrast, the way some of the fandom treats Mace or Finn isn't just personal all the time. Not liking their characters isn't inherently racist, but the way they're consistently, consistently treated sure as hell speaks to a larger pattern of racism in fandom and doesn't come without that context. It's the same with Rey--is there a huge vein of misogyny when it comes to her character? Abso-fucking-lutely there is. Things Luke and Anakin get a pass on, Rey is raked over the coals for. Is everyone who dislikes Rey a misogynist? Not even close. Some don't like her because Finn was used as a prop for her story. Some people don't like her because she got sucked into Kylo Ren's story too much. Some just don't care for the way she was written for other reasons. Some just don't vibe with her. It's fine. Nothing is a monolith. And to circle this back around to what you're talking about--it's hard to judge, both because no part of fandom is a monolith in their reactions, but also because we're only hearing from a selection of the fans. How do you know how many people who aren't fans of the prequels, who just don't care for them because it's not their genre, but just go about their day? You don't hear from a lot of them because they moved on to things they do like, so it seems like they must not exist--except, they do, and they're just out there doing things they like more. We only hear from the people who feel the need to tell others they dislike the prequels for this reason or that reason, some valid, some less valid, etc. Ultimately, I do think there's probably a fair amount of genre dissonance for why people dislike the prequels and channel that into "they're objectively bad" and get defensive when people like them and say they were great, but only because that's true of anything anywhere. But that it's only one small slice of the bigger picture (and there's a lot of stuff that I had to eschew in the writing of this response as well because it can be a pretty sprawling topic), where there are tons of reasons and reactions that people have, as well as they're perfectly free to dislike the prequels for whatever reason they do or don't have, it doesn't really affect my opinions, unless they're trying to shove it in my face or are being a dick to those who disagree with them.

[blueeyedrat]

Steam Next Fest, fall 2021. I tried out a dozen game demos this time around– some for games I was already keeping an eye on, some new titles that caught my eye looking through the catalog.

(Part 2)

TUNIC - An isometric action-adventure. I... really don't know how to feel about this one. I've been looking forward to this game for years. It's occupied a similar space in my mind to Spiritfarer or either of the Ori games, where I've been interested even when it was just "that one indie game that got revealed during an E3 show", and that's before I learned that the music would be from the guy who composed one of my all-time favorite game soundtracks. I played an early demo for it last year and enjoyed it a lot! This current demo, though, has given me the clearest picture of what the game is going for, and... I'm not sure if it's for me.

The best way I can describe it is, I was expecting a Zelda-like and I got a Souls-like. There's a big open space to explore, and over time you find new items to upgrade your arsenal and access new areas– a tree branch, a sword and shield, and so on. However, your character is kinda fragile in both health and stamina, and combat is punishing and nigh-impossible to avoid, especially inside a dungeon. The space between each checkpoint becomes a challenging gauntlet, and the core gameplay loop relies heavily on trial and error in a way that'll be enjoyable to some, but frustrating to others.

I dunno, maybe I'm wrong, and I'm just getting the wrong impression from this particular demo. Maybe it's my own fault for expecting something else going in. Either way, it still seems like it'll be a good game– the music and aesthetics are top-notch, and if you do enjoy this sort of gameplay, there's a lot to like about it. But I'm not sure it's what I'm looking for. I suppose we'll just have to wait and see.

Storyteller - This game, on the other hand, is just as enjoyable as the last time I tried its demo. It's a rather charming puzzle game about creating stories: you're given a collection of scenes and characters, and must deduce some narrative cause-and-effect to reach a particular outcome... or just meddle and see what happens. Romance! Tragedy! Murder! Make characters fall in love, then die, then fall in love again as ghosts! Make a queen fall in love with a dragon! Get Adam and Eve kicked out of Eden! Turn everyone into vampires! The possibilities are myriad, and I can't wait to see more.

Blipz - An arcade puzzle game. Move through a grid, dropping colored dots along the way, clearing groups of the same color and trying not to box yourself in. A unique concept, even if it didn't hook me in the way other puzzlers have, particularly since the demo only has one gameplay mode. Could be a fine time-waster, though.

Magna Graecia - A chill, low-poly hex grid builder. I've seen multiple games of this sort pop up in the past year or so: Dorfromantik is my game of choice, but browsing the Steam catalog I've also seen titles like Zen World, First Days of Atlantis, and now this. I don't know if it counts as a trend, but I appreciate it all the same. This particular entry involves building up a classical Greek village, with homes and vineyards and olive farms and the like. It's a pleasant theme and aesthetic, though the gameplay could use some fine-tuning before the final release. A tutorial might help at the very least, since the demo throws you headfirst into the game and explains nothing about the mechanics or scoring. Still, it's got potential, and is worth keeping an eye on.

LakeSide - A chill 2D management sim about growing a small village into a sprawling city. Why settle for one Greek builder when you can have two? This is another one I've had my eye on, so it was nice getting a hands-on look... is what I'd like to say, but it's a very early prototype. The atmosphere is nice and the pixel art is lovely, but the gameplay isn't entirely functional yet, and I quickly found myself unable to progress or restart. Another one with a lot of potential, but I don't think I can pass judgement on it at the moment. Hopefully I'll have a chance to revisit it when it's further along in development.

Peglin - A roguelite with pachinko-based combat. I've seen this one talked about in some of the circles I hang out in for some months now, and this event seemed like a good excuse to try it myself. I liked it! I played a fair amount of Peggle a long time ago, so I took to the basic mechanics pretty quickly. My first run through the demo chapter went pretty smoothly, but I'll have to give it a deeper dive to try out different builds. Another one I’m looking forward to seeing its development. Might give it a go in early access.

[UPDATE: By the end of the event, both Magna Graecia and LakeSide have updated their respective demos. The former added an explanation of how the game works (perhaps a bit denser than it needs to be, but appreciated all the same!), while the latter cleaned up some of the more glaring issues (it’s still relatively basic, but can be played through to completion without incident). Nice to see!]

[findingjoynweirdstuff]

completely brainless 1am ramble

On the topic of stagnation, and the geopolitical plot vs. character-driven plot discussion people are having rn:

Maybe this is just a nostalgia-blinded bias of mine, having started with the Disc War, but...I’ve never minded the more character-based plots? Anyone who’s followed my blog for a bit knows that I love the Pet War, but I also loved the Disc War and the Final Pet War too. In those conflicts, the factions served as a backdrop rather than being the main focus, and the plot was driven by the characters and their grievances with one another.

One of my favorite smaller plots from Season Two was Fundy and Ghostbur. That had absolutely zilch to do with factions, or L’manburg, or geopolitics, but it was honestly one of the most well-acted and heart-breaking plots I’ve seen from the SMP in its entirety. 

I think that character-driven plots are places where the SMP’s really shined, at least to me personally.

Maybe that’s not everyone’s thing, but I don’t think it’s bad for the stories to be more character-driven! I think a lot more of the SMP than people realize has been like that this entire time. I think people sometimes overestimate how much the factions have actually mattered, in a sense?

Remember how the Disc War started? 

Tommy and Sapnap were a pair. Punz and Tubbo were a pair. Ponk and Alyssa were a pair. Dream logged on to stop the fighting and Tommy and Sapnap killed him, leading to Dream allying himself with Ponk and Alyssa. These weren’t faction lines dividing everyone, but personal grudges. That’s how the SMP’s entire plot started. “You and me, versus Dream,” right?

While the L’manburg War was amazing and a game-changer for the SMP storyline as a whole, I feel like the motivations, the driving forces for that war were actually a lot weaker than the recent conflicts. It was a cool bit of political roleplay, yes, but it was kind of just a war for the sake of a war, to be honest.

L’manburg was founded because some Americans got in the way of Wilbur and Tommy stealing everyone’s blaze rods. It went from a hotdog-selling business to a literal independent country because...revolution, I guess? And Dream declared war because...sometimes you just gotta kill some people sometimes, y’know...? 

It was the character-based conflicts from before that war that ended it. The discs ended the war even though they had nothing to do with the reason L’manburg seceded, because Tommy and Dream’s grudge against each other held more weight than the actual country. Who cared if L’manburg gained its independence as long as Dream gained the discs? That was a bigger win for him.

The conflicts that happened afterwards continued that trend of being character-driven rather than faction-driven. L’manburg kind of disappeared for a month as the Disc Saga continued with Tommy and Dream, Tommy and Quackity founded the Cartel and then the Pet War started up because of Sapnap.

None of these conflicts had anything to do with factions, really, and having all these little smaller stories gave a chance for people like Quackity, Fundy and Skeppy to get in on the drama more and throw their hats into the ring. 

That’s what I think is happening right now, except since there are a lot more people on the server now, they’re starting up their individual plots around the same time so that they start to overlap. 

And remember how Fundy and Tubbo started up the Dreamon Hunters plot, picked out new skins, built a new setting and everything just for that plot to never take off due to needing to prepare for the Manberg Festival? Such a cool plot idea, and it just never happened, really.

Well, now, the Badlands have been having fun creating their own Blood Vines plot, and since they aren’t very involved in what Tommy and Dream are doing, they have space to flesh out that idea and not have it be overshadowed by other things. Whether or not you, as a viewer, want to follow along with the side plot is your choice! But Bad seems to be having a lot of fun telling his own story. 

Quackity creating Mexican L’manburg and having that turn into a five-day plot that ended in war? That’s basically just the L’manburg War 2.0, and if you don’t feel like following along with the plot -- again, no need to! But Karl finally getting his chance to shine, Sapnap and George having character development with Dream, and Eret, Puffy and H getting in on some drama was honestly pretty exciting!

The thing about the SMP is that it’s not really built to be just one storyline. It’s never just been about L’manburg. 

While the Camarvan was built, Fundy and Eret were having their Prank War.

The same day Dream and Tommy fought to bargain with Skeppy, Fundy was getting into a court battle with Punz, Eret and Tubbo.

While the Election was happening, so was the Pet War.

In the middle of Pogtopia building its resistance, the Battle of the Lake happened with Tommy, Sapnap and the Badlands.

The SMP has always had storylines going on at the same time. It’s just that since most of the viewers have always focused on Tommy and Wilbur for the most part, a lot of the time those extra storylines slipped through the cracks of memory.

Now let’s get back to the geopolitics vs. character-driven thing:

This feeling of “stagnation” isn’t new! The SMP’s had periods like this, where it feels a bit slower and everyone’s a little confused about where it’s going before.

Remember that period from like, October 18th to November 6th or so where pretty much nothing happened to progress the plot? And since none of the other streamers on the SMP were doing their own plots, it was just kind of this period of...”who knows what’s happening right now?”

The thing about a politics-based plot vs. a more character-driven, million side-stories type deal is that as long as none of the country leaders were online, nothing could really happen to progress the main plot, and since the character-driven stuff wasn’t the main focus, that couldn’t drive much either.

So...yeah, you got the Tubbo Bathwater stream three days after the Festival happened. That’s just kinda how it went.

Schlatt only got on very rarely, Wilbur a bit less rarely, and Dream logging onto his own server was always more of a surprise more than a routine. Tommy and Techno were getting into hijinks, but there weren’t really any political stakes. Even though he was supposed to be exiled, Tommy just moved back into his house anyway, because who was going to stop him? The one person who cared about him staying out wasn’t there to do anything.

Yes, the Big Plot Days like the Festival and the Meeting were jaw-dropping and amazing! I loved them! Incredibly-written, incredibly-acted. 

But what about what happened between them? 

One thing I’ve enjoyed about the recent period is that it feels like a lot more streamers are keeping track of their characters and holding onto longer plot threads. It feels like more people are interacting with each other instead of doing builds by themselves. And even the main plot is progressing at this more subtle, bit-by-bit pace where there’s a bit of new development with each stream. The big event days still happen, like the New Festival and the Execution, but the pacing’s a lot more consistently spread out. And with all these other streamers keeping their own mini stories as well, it’s more of this melting pot of different people interacting, each with their own arc and tale to tell.

Ponk and Jack, for example, are keeping their ongoing rivalry. Sam, Bad and Ant are getting into their own storyline whereas before, the Badlands weren’t really doing much of anything. And Karl’s been doing the same fun side-things that he’s always done for months, but he’s recently started to try and find a niche for himself by trying these light-hearted events or his new Tales series, which could end up being really cool the more he refines it! 

I feel like a lot of the “chaos” feeling isn’t really from how the SMP’s main storyline has been written; most of the main plot has still kept to L’manburg and Techno.

It’s just that more people are taking notice of all the side hijinks that are going on in the background all the time, and some of the people who weren’t involved in the main plot before have started creating their own storylines for fun. 

I will say it again and again: you don’t have to follow along with every storyline! If it overwhelms you to try and keep up with the Blood Vines? That’s okay! You as a viewer have the freedom to create the viewing experience that makes you the most comfortable, that brings you the most joy! 

But I also think people could try and branch out a bit too. Give some new creators a try. No pressure or anything, and it’s fine if you just want to stick to Tommy or Techno! But there are a lot of talented people on the SMP, and I feel like some of these smaller stories are worth paying attention to if you’re interested!

Aaaaanyway, this is just a long, long post with some nonsense thoughts that I felt like getting out. Feel free to disagree! The SMP’s an interesting piece of media that everyone’s going to experience slightly differently. What may be my cup of tea might not be yours, and vice versa! :]