#like i know i won't actually but thats the only way to convey how it feels

[stephaniedola]

my dad may be crazy and i may be seething with fear, hatred and self-doubt, but at least I'm meeting up with a cute t-guy tonight

[teslacoils-and-hubris]

alright thoughts on tf classic? Or at least the classic teams roles in the comics?

i have literally no knowledge of tf classic outside of how they are in the tf2 comics

that said i love nothing more than to share my opinions so let me just refresh my memory of them real quick-

granny pyro fucking rules if theres one thing tf2 is good for its making fucking insane women<3<3

I really have no strong opinions on the rest of them honestly. The writing fascinates me, though. because when you take a close look at their actions, they really aren't all the different from how the team acts? like. ok. bear with me here while i put on my english major hat and go all character analysis on you

(for the sake of clarity, i'll just be using mercs to refer to the tf2 characters, also under the cut cause this got longg)

what is their role in the plot aside from being antagonists? they're hired guns doing their job, which is taking out the administrator and the mercs, until something better presents itself in the form of the australium based life support thing. At which point c!heavy decides to turn tail and go rogue and get the missing australium for himself

everything they do in the comics? killing and torturing for their own gain and pleasure? nothing out of the ordinary for the mercs honestly. C!heavy is the only one that they go out of their way to make him an asshole (more on him later). The main reason they come off as such villains compared to our mercs? they play the violence completely straight.

Whenever the classic team is shown, ALL of the jokes come from them being the straight men to the antics of the mercs. If they weren't paired so wonderfully to play off of the batshit moves the mercs make. C!pyro isn't even torturing solider for information after she gets what she wants, she's just doing it because she enjoys hurting people- meanwhile Jane wants her to torture him for information he actually has so he can prove that he won't tell her. Every interaction is like this! They're professionals who enjoy their jobs as guns for hire- same as the mercs except they don't tell jokes or get naked and covered in honey while they do it. Thats the only thing seperating how the teams act. the main exception being C!heavy

He is uniquely portrayed as an asshole. He's here for a quick, easy pay (he tells grey mann he doesn't understand world domination types, its too much work), he's extremely caught up in the gain (him instantly backstabbing grey mann to get the life extender for himself, and when he yells at medic about how much he's cost them in animal parts)

One scene in particular, however, really sets him up as the Bad Guy. When he hurts Archimedes. It's sandwiched inbetween two jokes (him getting mad at medic for reanimating sniper, and medic implying sniper has pigeon blood now) so it's maybe hard to miss, but the panel where he throws Archimedes into the ground is such a stark stylistic difference that it really just pushes home that this is something Important. the panel is pure black, with C!heavy and Archimedes in bright white. a spatter of blood shows the impact and damage of the action. It really shifts him into the role of scary villain. He's willing to hurt and kill this animal that did nothing to him. presumably because he's pissed at medic and he knows it will hurt him. Medic's reaction and obvious pain makes him a more serious threat than the other classic members, because even when c!pyro drilled holes into soliders teeth, solider didn't care. Everything else the classic team has done has been an inconvience at best (ok well, except killing sniper, but that is also done by c!heavy and treated the same as this example so-)

It's a really beautiful piece of story telling! It's a fantastic way of conveying that this guy is the big bad to the reader without even using words!

Oh and this is also why our mercs were able to win in the end btw, the classic team was prepared for a lot of shit but they could never expect the random bullshit the mercs pull on nearly constantly. They expected guns that shot bullets not ones with a "BANG" flag then getting punched in the dick

[tamelee]

Okay maybe controversial opinion: I dont like seeing ocs in fics. Isnt ur story about sns? Why wuld we need ur ocs? I think it is just a way for people to selfinsert into their story through an oc no one knows. It kinda sucks because I was excited for ur story too. So yeah thats just how I feel

I don't think that is so controversial. That's just your preference and that is fine. You don't need to read anything you don't like, right? I'm not sure whether you meant me in particular or in a general sense so I'll just answer for myself why I needed an (/a few minor/background) OC('s); It IS a story about Naruto x Sasuke but I personally like story a lot. Meaning that events, conflict and even things like Setting are connected to convey a message. With that also other characters.

These elements can be used to enhance all that. (If done correctly though, it CAN become muddy.) To me that is a lot more meaningful than going from scene to scene "just because". BUT, I do enjoy fics solely for the fact that we can experience SNS through an authors mind in infinite different ways and AUs even if they only write about Naruto and Sasuke and whatever it is they're doing at that moment. A clear linear story that brings you from A to B. I can understand when people then especially don't want to read entire paragraphs about a character they don't know (or care about) and want to skip to the reason they started reading in the first place. In my case, I'm not very good at writing/describing things the way I want to. Not even in my own language. I think I have a better chance of conveying what I want to tell visually which is why I choose to create a DJ instead. But then "show don't tell" is different as it is literally shown. Every panel matters. And I feel like I need a new character to help me do that and create conflict for the sake of telling a more interesting story regarding my message. I think it would be boring for me if everything is well, rainbows and happiness right from the start because what is left for me to do? And with Canon-compliant stories, it's not very believable to me. (Again, not saying these stories aren't good, this is just for me given the trouble I'll put them in anyway. Fics are often already well-established for good reasons as we already know the characters, like fluff for e.g. and I can enjoy them.) But any existing characters don't really fit here you know? It definitely, for me, isn't a self-insert but it is inevitable that there can be relatable elements because of my chosen Theme. Hm~ you can see it as a (fanmade-)movie arc, but then placed during the blank period. Those arcs always have new characters and at the end of it you don't really (or ever) see them again. But here I tried to weave them through the OG-story nonetheless. I may be a bit self-indulgent though as this will be a very long project. I was actually thinking of uploading some sketches of the OC in a bit and introduce.. him 👀 But of course, you don't need to read it at all. In fact, it's very likely that many won't considering the heavy subjects. But I do hope this clarified it a tiny bit Nonee.

[mourninglamby]

do you think that fandoms constantly ignoring stories and themes that focus on various types of relationships (especially those that focus on friendships and found families) and instead focusing on romantic relationships, be it canon or fanon, ruin the overall enjoyment of the content? Especially when common discourse revolves around ship wars instead of good analysis and theories?

ive been trying to think of an answer for this but failing every time i try to think about it. because with everything being so accessible these days, and seeing firsthand how fandom culture can effect the creators and their visions, im unsure if i can answer with just "who cares what anyone else thinks, your opinion should be the only one that matters to you" with confidence. there are subjective and objective elements at play there that we have 2 reckon with yknow... its a difficult question.

more below.

i believe that without a doubt, romance can be a subject with deeper nuance. it has been the crux of some of my favorite shows/movies, and i won't undermine that. but "shipping" is definitely a harder concept to critique because it in and of itself was born from fandom and fandom alone (unless theres some weak ass corny meta that addresses it in the media).

shipping is not an issue to me. i recall a time when i was a younger lesbian and shipping characters i know would never be allowed to be together in canon because of homophobic network restrictions and prejudices. from that point of view, it takes some level of understanding the concept of "coding" too, which is still analytical and requires a level of self awareness to engage with. so no, i don't think shipping is a huge issue. it may be annoying when i can tell the key theme or takeaway of the narrative is not about romance, but i digress... thats ur prerogative and how you decide to enjoy media.

but shipping wars? that shit is juvenile and embarrassing. I get discourse or discussions about the messages and how well theyre conveyed through the sub/meta textual elements, but starting fights over ships???? its so stupid and worthless to talk about. if youre 13, i wont judge, but grown adults arguing over ships is mortifying to say the least. and when shipping is so forced by a fanbase that even the creators start taunting the audience about it, abandoning potential avenues of the story that dont concern petty shit like that in exchange for more cheap engagement, it's downright infuriating. i cant STAND that shit.

but then i reread all of this and while it's important to be critical of media and by proxy who enjoys it + how, i do tend to get kinda tired and just say fuck it. at the end of the day, if the majority of a fanbase is caught up in shipping discourse that has little/nothing to do with the actual core message of the story, just ignore it. tuning it out is honestly the best way to maintain your enjoyment of something.

[mamawolfblood]

Though he didn't know it yet Chris Mclean was in for a shocking revelation. One of the campers is not exactly just some rando kid. This camper is his kid and she is out to expose it.

Name : Iris  Escalona

Age 16

Eye color green

Caramel skin

Black hair that she keeps in a high ponytail. A Cherokee rose on the left side of the hair tie.

Iris is 5ft 8",135lb

Out fit-White tanktop with the alchemists symbol blue acid washed jean shorts black converses

Iris has a dark sense of humor. She loves horror,pranks,is resourceful. Iris is not above smashing some skulls together. She is not quick to anger but Heather pushes a lot of her buttons.

All her life she just wanted Chris to know she was alive. Her mother never gave the reason why she left. She is the oldest of seven children.

________chapter 3_________

• Chris: Last time on Total Drama Island, twenty-three campers arrived and learned that they'll be spending the next eight weeks at the crusty old summer camp. The campers we're faced with their first challenge, jumping off a cliff into the shark-infested waters. While most campers took the plunge, a few were forced to wear the dreaded chicken hat. At the campfire ceremony, it all came down to two campers, Courtney has experience as a CIT in summer camp, but refused to jump, and Ezekiel managed to tick off every female at the camp with his sexist comments about women, in the end, the first camper voted off Total Drama Island was Ezekiel, proving that homeschooling and reality TV don't mix, who will be voted off this week in this dramatic campfire ceremony yet? Find out tonight on Total... Drama...Island.

Iris woke up early and snuck into the kitchen.

It looked a mess it was four in the morning so she needed something to do.

(Confessionals)

Iris looked into the camra

"Ok so ever since I was ten I wake up at four in the morning. Some nights I don't even sleep. Doctors can't figure out why but hey at least I can do something before the challenge starts."

*Static*

(End of Confessionals)

Iris was almost done cleaning when Chef walked in. "And what are you doing up?" Chef said crossing his arms. "Sorry Chef woke up at four and couldn't go back to sleep. I decided to clean the kitchen to help you out. If you need help cooking I can do that too." She said still scrubbing. "Awe thats real nice of you sweetpea. But I can take it from here go get washed up. The mess hall looks great. " Iris stood up saluting him. He did the same to her and she went to the showers.

(Confessionals)

Chef

That girl is a sweetheart. I haven't met a kid who would just clean without being asked. Her parents raised her right she will make a man happy one day.

*static *

(End of Confessionals)

Iris walked into the mess hall. Chef had a cup of coffe ready for her. "Here you go sweetie thanks again for cleaning the place up." He said making her bluch. "No problem if you need any help you can always ask."  She said sitting down. "Why did you clean this dump?! You never do anything nice." Courtney came over before Iris could take on sip of her ainti murder juice. Holding up one finger Iris took a drink. "Ok child now that I had a caffeine shot I can speak. I wake up a four am every day. Why I do not know I just do. Some nights I don't even sleep. As for doing something nice goes. Unlike you I was raised to help someone when I physically can. You were shelter from the world thats why your a spoild brat.  Do you want me to spill what it was you did to my brother, or are you going to sit back down like a good girl?" Iris was now glaring at the pampered princess. Courtney like any other teenage girl that doesn't get her way, stomped away with a "Ahh!"  I waved her finger at the child.

Chris walked in "alright campers time for your challenge. Both teams will complete one lap around the Island. The team that completes the race first wins. "  Trent asked about breakfast. "Oh you will eat after the race. Ready set go!" He laughed as everyone ran.

Iris pov

It was a nice warm up but ,I doubt that this is the actual challenge.  When we made it back to the mess hall a buffet was waiting for us. It was so beautiful I wanted to cry. Though something sinister is happening here. This is a set up so I'm not going to eat to much. I saw cranberries the kind you get on Thanksgiving and chowd down. It was refreshing everyone else asked why I wasn't eating anything but Cranberries. "Think about it why would they give us this food. It's a plot for the challenge. Trust me I want to chow down with all of you." I said making them shrug and go back to eating. Courtney was glaring at me. I think about it the guy that asked me the question was Duncan.

(Confessionals)

Iris started laughing.

"Oh she is a treat I will thoroughly enjoy this."

*Static*

(End of Confessionals)

"Hey Duncan can you step outside with me? This won't take long." I said standing up. He shrugged and followed me outside. Once we were out of ear shot I turned to him.

Meanwhile in the mess hall.

Courtney pov

"They have been gone for awhile. I'll go check on them." I said having campers telimg me to leave them be. Iris is a conveying snake you can't ever trust her.

"Hey guys what are yo-Ah!" I walked out to find them making out. I march up to them and pull him away getting in her face. She smirks at me. "Hello Courtney how can I help you?" She chuckles "You can help me by not macking on my teammate you snake." I growled

(Confessionals Duncan, Iris)

Duncan

"If she is a snake and thats her bite. Please bite me some more."

*static*

Iris

"*laughs* oh wow I was right she likes him. This is going to be a fun day for Duncan and me. He is on board with the plan. Obviously he is enjoying this too. *smirks* bey bey second place Courtney"

*Static*

Iris pov

Duncan stood between myself and Courtney crossing his arms. "I think you should run inside. You don't own me there four have no say in my actions." He said wrapping one arm around me. I place my hand on his chest the top of my head under his chin. I was side glancing at her. She growled stomping away. Once she was gone we bust out laughing.  He picked me up bridal style carrying me inside. "This is mine no one else can have her." He said sitting me down at my seat we started to feed each other. "Can you two get a room?" Heather complained. "Can you get a new attitude." I said making her gasp.

Once the buffet was cleared Chris came back in. "Everyone ready for the awake athon!" I knew it and they say I'm a snake. "Wait so you had us eat all this food so you can see who will fall asleep first?" Gwen asked "Yes Gwen Yes I did" I laughed "oh that so evil its good."  I said "Glad your finding this amusing lose lips" Courtney said  "Hey they are open for you too." I wink at her. "Your disgusting " she said following Chris to the pit fire. I sat in Duncan's lap during the challenge to get on princess sunshine's nerves. Its almost night fall I'm about to fall asleep. Duncan puts his hand on my cheek "got to stay awake gorgeous. How can I look into those beautiful eyes if they are closed?" I giggle at the sickeningly sweetness. "Let her fall asleep at least I won't be second place. " Courtney said  laughing "oh your second place in everything so shut up. " I said before glares at her.

Its now been twent-four hour mark. Come on stupid bass fall asleep. I thought to myself. It was now Myself, Trent,and Gwen for the Gophers and the Bass only had Courtney and Duncan.  Once Chris started to read the history of Canada Courtney, and Trent fell asleep.  Leaving Gwen, Duncan and me. "I have to hit the can" Duncan said as the camra crew followed him. Gwen fell asleep I was about to when Chris announced that the Gophers won. I smile before falling flat on my face.

• [The Killer Bass are standing outside of the cabins, stuff are outside due to Eva throwing them because she can't find her MP3 because Heather stole it.]

•

• Eva: [screaming angrily] Where is my MP3 player?! One of you must stolen it, I need my music! No one is going anywhere until I get my MP3 player back! [She angrily throws a book, which almost hits Harold]

•

• Courtney: Okay, whoever took it better give it up now before she destroys the whole camp.

•

• Heather: Hey, guys, wow, this place is a real mess.

•

• Courtney: Someone stole Eva's MP3 player.

•

• Heather: [holds Eva's MP3 player] Who don't mean this to you? [Eva is surprised that Heather found her MP3 player, which Heather actually stole it] I was wondering who it belonged to, I found it by the campfire pit. You must have dropped it.

•

• Eva: Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!

• Heather: Sure thing. [Leaves. Static buzzing, in the confessional] Turn a team against their own members, easiest trick in the book. (Static buzzing)

• Eva: [smiles sheepishly] So, sorry about the that little misunderstanding. [The Killer Bass glare at Eva] Guess no one stole it after all. Okay, maybe I overreacted a little. [Laughs sheepishly]

Iris and the Gophers watch the marshmallow ceremony of the Killer Bass. It was down to Alpha geek Harold and wack Job Eva. Both looked nervous until Chris gave it to Harold. Wow did not see that one coming. They threw away their strongest team mate. Welp looks like the Gophers have it even easier now.

Chris "you All can get some sleep tonight you all are safe for now. Find out what happens next time on Total Drama Island."

(Have I mention how much I don't like Courtney yet. Well I don't have a great day/evening)

[greenpanda-djg]

Why I'm peeved about current LGBTQ+ Rep. Written by a little gay!

Okay, first off, not happy with the LGBT rep in current media [2021] As I have consumed media since I was a kid and I know better.

So when I give crticisms about it, I'm not saying "Ew stinky lgbt-" Like I'm some strawmen for your argument you wish.

It means I want better.

Since LGBT stuff in media had to be SUBTLE it was conveyed through queer-coding, aka. SUBTEXT.

But now movie writers have caught on and use that as an excuse to bring in lgbt audiences and keep it hetero enough for world wide audiences as in. [aka queer-BAITING]

Having their cake and eat it too but guess what? I expect better. I expect MORE.

I want Subtext into TEXT. SInce now we can demand they make it more obvious and stop being vaugue.

Even worse when older movies have better representation than current movies, for example.

Billy Elliot [2000]

This movie was ahead of it's time with real world problems [such as margaret thatcher removing the mines] Along with a boy wanting to do ballet [Breaking gender norms than ballet isn't a girl sport, it's a sport end off] Having a young child being a carer, and a family that was not so supportive then being supportive in their own way ANNDD.

Wearing a dress and getting a boyfriend when they're older. Remember this was 2000!

Then we have Love, Simon [2018]

Which great film we need more like this but BETTER. I mean take away the whole gay thing and make it a hetero chick flick. The only thing we get is that Simons friends are a bunch of A-holes who blamed simon for his problems and that the outside world didn't really have anything else going on and the school was pretty chill with Simon being out [I mean jeez it could've been worse y'know]

So with these in mind when they said Loki was Bi? What do you think I expected???

Him dancing with another man while drunk [in that scene] admiting he had no preference he liked Captain America and Black Widow, or anything to either SHOW he was bi or talk into detail about his escapades in asgard but what do we get?

We get this...which is FINE I'm all for it YAY!

But compared to Billy Eliot, Love, Simon, One day at a time, Doctor who [When Jack harkness kissed nine]

So Bi-Loki. love it, actually happy since I'm bi myself I loved the visuals of making the background pink purple blue.

But this is scraps, compared to media I have seen/listed above.

I'm not raining on anyones parade.

But disney are doing stuff like this making it vaugue so they can have their cake and eat it too, not to mention cruella with their first gay disney character was isolated in scenes to make it easier to crop out for international release.

And disney pride, others online have stated that because they sell rainbow merch doesn't change the fact that they have discrimination against LGBT in the work space.

So here's my rant.

I'd rather have NO queer content, than watered down scraps or vaugue shit like this when they can make it much more obvious.

Or worse yet, when someone says they won't do a movie because they'd change a canon gay character into a heterosexual one I agree with them walking away.

esp since I've been told since ever that kirk/spock in star trek were a canon couple but because they were already pushing it with politics/poc cast/etc they couldn't do anything else.

And now we have william shatner saying kirk is straight and having fans agreeing with him.

Since fans agree with jensen ackles saying Dean is bi for Cas since he's the actor he should know better right?

So since William shatner is the actor and played kirk longer he defiently knows everything about this character.

So watered down gay characters will then be argued that "We're changing them, when that's not canon because of sick fetishing fantasies."

- I'm not making this up people online are saying this.

Lgbt is no where NEAR it's goal of being equel, just having a character being vaugue bi isn't enough,

To even HAVE queer content needs to be written well, and need a quantity for every hetero chick flick/romance stories since 1891.

So for every love story we need a quantity to MATCH that to even begin to being equel. And since I can only think of a few good number of lgbt shows on one hand thats no where NEAR enough.

So i am so SORRY that I want more better content than fucking Queer force, and this table scraps when I know they can do better.

But no assume that just because I don't like how something is conveyed that I'm a negative homophobe who wants to shut down lgbt content when I just want better shit because I've SEEN better.