#like i'm not going to name and shame the OP

[thatswhatsushesaid]

"maybe meng shi WANTED to work in a brothel"

[macknshift]

IN DEFENSE OF EMMA . . .

(bc i lowkey feel like this is my fault LOL)

first off, i know this was 2 whole days ago and most of this is probably a bit blown over BUT i started writing this IMMEDIATELY after i saw the first response from the other person involved. i got a bit too heated writing this and i realized that i probably should be less aggressive (?! idk) about all of this and kind of started rewriting it a bit ago. (i also got distracted by the dream v tommyinnit drama LMFAOOO apparently 1/11 is the day of drama)

Anyways. hi hello to those of you that are going to see this that have absolutely no idea who i am. (i promise this isn't too crazy and i'm just defending emma bc i feel like it's lowkey my fault but whatever) i'm decidedly NOT a neutral party in all of this (i'm usually one but idc when ppl attack my moots i do not usually react well 💀💀💀) i was first moots w emma on shifttok (i know, i know) and lowkey followed her like a little bit over here BUT IT'S FINEEEE but no. i do not like when ppl plagiarize my friends.

one of my main reasons (besides just being a creative person and hating this) i had a VERY VERY VERY long stint of people copying me on tiktok. it amounted to like 4 or 5 separate instances of it (from people copying edit style to SOMEONE LITERALLY TAKING MY ENTIRE DR, INCLUDING MY CR BEST FRIEND (which is fucking BONKERS)) and so i'm a little...Vigilant. we'll put it. when it comes to ppl plagiarizing me and my friends. so i fear, in my attempt to help emma out and let her know that someone was AGAIN copying her, i became a bit of an instigator. so i am in fact here to defend emma!

(i got EXPLICIT PERMISSION from her to post our dms!!!!!!!) but as you can see, i dm-ed her that original post because holy shit the layout is NEARLY IDENTICAL. you can change around the kaomojis all you want, but it's basically the exact same thing. it's just not, in my opinion, smart to do smth like that. also i fully will admit i was being mean in dms. i fear however!! many of us are going to be mean! it's the fucking internet. like emma calling OP 'brain dead' is obviously a hyperbole and also not that fucking mean i fear 🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️ BUT NO! I AM BEGGING, JUST GIVE IB Y'ALL!!!! PLEAK!!!!! but i fear i am the instigator in this. i feel genuinely bad bc emma's getting harassed now OVER AI???? WHICH IS CRAZY BC THE OTHER PERSON INVOLVED USES AI????????

ANYWAYS. i'm not shaming the other person involved (idk their name or pronouns so i just keep on referring to them as this lol) for using ai bc that would be hypocritical especially bc i use c.ai bots, but i do think it's kind of ridiculous to claim that emma's using AI for her writing. ai detectors are NOTORIOUS for being incorrect. if you use any kind of intelligent language (or not 'conversational' writing) it'll claim you're using ai. imo it's not hard for these detectors to be incorrect. there are tons and tons of tiktoks on the internet that claim that AI checkers tell them their writing is AI generated when it's not. even the website 'OP' (again i don't know) uses to check emma's writing says it's not 100% accurate. it even claims that it depends on accuracy if you're willing to pay these detectors - which to me is a sign it's bullshit anyway - so idk. if tiktoks and the websites aren't enough, you can find academic articles about this same topic.

(from scribbr, the website OP used!)

crying emma's using AI and claiming that you didn't know boundaries instead of just going 'sorry, i'll give you credits!' is sooo wild to me and lowkey defamatory as fuck. obviously this isn't the same, but when academics are accused of using AI, they can lose things like validity and credibility because of it. emma's not an academic, but she is a big-wig in the shiftblr community and has gotten harassed because of this whole situation.

but i digress, i have to take some accountability in this. so yeah no, i'm the instigator in this. and i DEFINITELY have to defend emma from the AI detector bs. anyways if you feel any so inclined, i have a few tiktoks about this topic that i collected as well as free academic writings about the accuracy of AI detectors!

TIKTOKS

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8Fy3oan/ (studytoker posting that an AI checker claims it's AI generated)

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8FyQDyJ/ (popular tiktok video posted about turnitin claiming the article was written fully by AI)

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8Fyg34c/ (accusations of ai writing ruining academic careers)

ARTICLES

[primus-why]

I Feel TFOne Could've Handled This Better...

Hot take but I feel like folks have been really generous with the take that OP was unable to find ~the perfect words~ in the heat of the moment (and thus should be given some grace) when he told D to stand down and "not be like Sentinel"... namely cuz I don't feel that the narrative supports this?

Like-- after all is said and done, OP doesn't reflect on that part of their split. He doesn't have a moment where he seeks validation or voices his regrets over the choice of his words, it's actually cut-and-dry. The narrative (as it stands) supports that OP saw D-16 acting up, so he called him out and stood on business, down to the last scenes where he's basically like "yeah it's a shame but y'all knew I had to do it to 'em."

It didn't have to be much! I'm not saying to absolve Megs, just show OP looking at things from a different perspective/contemplating a bit on that tough choice and the morality of the moment. Some examples of what I wish we had:

B-127 straight up blurting the obvious by later chatting with Orion like, "Wait so you told your best friend that he was acting just as bad as the guy who enslaved us for our entire lives and was torturing him like an hour ago? Oof. Seems kinda harsh." Then have some of OP's regret show on his face.

OP asking Elita-1 after Megs is banished if he did the right thing. Have Elita back his choice up, saying, "You should have seen what he did after you were... gone. It was terrifying. I know it was tough, but you made the right call." OP is grateful for the support, but a conflicted look still flashes across his face before he steels himself to look out towards the horizon... and the future.

Have OP walk past other mechs/former miners who didn't go with the High Guard saying stuff like, "Wish I could've given Sentinel a piece of my mind!" "Yeah, but I'm glad he's gone for good." "Ugh I miss everything." "Oh, it was crazy! Megatron picked him up and then he rrrrriiipped-- oops, hey there, Mr. Optimus... Prime... sir?" And have OP wave hello, looking a bit sick when they leave.

Post-credits scene with Starscream going on and on, asking Megs when they'll be back to teach the upstart Prime a lesson. Megs grabs his face to shut him up. "Patience, Starscream. The Prime thinks I'm no better than Sentinel... but I'll show him. He wants Iacon? He can have it. In the meantime we'll take the rest of the planet! Then I'll come back, crush Prime under my heel, and we'll take Iacon too. Sentinel's reign will barely be a footnote, because I'm about to become Optimus Prime's worst nightmare." The vocal performance would really need to sell this-- like picture Megs saying something like that from a place of anger and hurt, not so much a place of genuine evil or malice.

Basically instead of Orion's assertion being backed up as black and white/good vs bad, I wish we had some different opinions/reactions from the characters sprinkled in there. Like you can't tell me out of allllll the miners who weren't strong enough/willing to go with the High Guard and ended up sticking around that NONE of them were like "eyyo honestly?? Kiiiiinda glad Sentinel is dead. Wish I could have helped, tbh." like come onnnnn...

And you can't even argue that he's not an active threat-- I don't think everyone would see things that way! It's not just about the threat he physically has, but the threat he represents and is very likely to act upon if given the opportunity! He has a proven track record of not only being sneaky and conniving, but also capable of dealing some serious damage/killing people bigger and stronger than him, plus he has the backing of the Quints. All he'd need to do is wriggle his way out of jail and run off to his sponsors, then he'd probably be back to hurt more people! (If the Quints didn't just kill him out of incompetence lmao). There's a lot of "ifs" here, but I think it's a valid argument that not everyone would agree on what is the right or wrong way to handle Sentinel once he was down long enough to, like, do something about him.

I feel the situation needed a bit of nuance. In some way I wish they had kicked the can and had D and Orion bicker while Sentinel escaped, then have D get frustrated enough by the loss of Sentinel to point fingers (and his fusion canon) at Orion, who then falls and becomes OP. (Megs could still show some of thar emotion/remorse right after he does it too.) Not only would this open the door for a sequel, but tbh the Quint might have just killed Sentinel anyways and sought to deal with the miners uprising themselves lol. (Maybe that could have been an after credits scenes too instead of the B-127 bit??)

Would love to see a moment in a sequel where they have a calmer moment after arguing for a bit. Have OP mention how Megs was out of line, that it hurt and even scared him to see him act that way, and Megs can quietly point out "you said I was as bad as Sentinel... is that really how you see me? After everything we went through?"

Then OP can fumble the bag again lmao like "D, I... I'm sorry, that didn't come out right... but you still took things way too far..."

"Why am I not surprised-- your opinion is what matters the most! Maybe that's why you became a Prime, since you're so good at acting like the world revolves around you--!"

*gets interrupted by someone else before another yelling match ensues*

[kaija-rayne-author]

OMG I'm laughing so hard at someone calling me names because I dared post that I had to unfollow people who were toxicly positive about Veilguard and being twats about it to others.

Again, I'm truly happy for you if you liked it. I didn't. You shockingly don't have to be an asshole to others about it. Nor do you need to shit on something other people loved simply because checks notes, some stranger on the internet said that they didn't want to follow people being toxically positive about something you liked. Oooookay then. 🤣

It's a video game. A piece of entertainment. It's fiction.

If you get so worked up over someone else's (a strangers!) opinion that you're slinging ad hominem attacks, maaaaaybe it's time to I dunno, do literally anything else?

Especially trying to get any response but laughter or blocking out of someone like me who has lived through so much that if I talk about even a fraction of it, people go all owl eyed and universally ask in a quiet, shocked tone 'how are you even alive?'

Legit can't stop laughing. 🤣

Update

So, I freely admit that I'm in a bad mood and broke my rule about feeding the trolls. I shall do my due internet denizen duty and block/report.

In all responsibility, while laughing at a troll can be a good tool, it risks escalation, and it's really better to simply block and report. They get their jollies by making people feel horrible. (I wasn’t laughing out of trying to feed a troll BTW. They legitimately shocked me into laughing. I wasn't in a good enough mood to hide my reaction.)

They've either deleted or hidden their responses to me. It's just a crying shame that screenshots are forever. Y'all might want to preemptively block. Up to you.

If they hadn’t been so utterly awful, I'd probably have let it slide. But this behavior is unacceptable in a society.

Transcript since it won't fit in alt text.

Lilithfairen

So you're just a raging asshole who can't stand people enjoying a game you didn't. You should let people know that when you follow them so anyone with common sense can block you the moment they see you around.

Masked responder

That's not what OP said lmao

Me

Oh, honey. You're precious (laugh emoji) Go try to gaslight and sea lion someone else. In your vast amounts of time where you're not being a dick to a stranger, perhaps you should consider brushing up on that 'reading comprehension' thing. I gather it's not your highest skill. Maybe put a few skill points in that.

Me replying to masked responder

Right? (Laugh emoji) Just posting on my own wall, about a Fandom problem that they very clearly demonstrated an excellent example of, and *I'm* the asshole. I'm laughing so fucking hard I'm almost crying.

lilithfairen

Oh, not gaslighting anyone. Because a quick check tells me you're a BG3 stan, which highlights why you don't like Veilguard and the people who enjoy it. Veilguard doesn't write queer people as sexual predator. Veilguard doesn't get off on victimizing non-white people or writing them as innately evil and savage. Veilguard doesn't write a storyline where a goddess is a prop to paint a white guy as awesome and smart and then written as a horrible bitch herself. You're a garbage shitstain of a person who can't stand Veilguard not being a game written for straight white manbaby sensibilities, because you think that's what good fiction is.

Me. Oh, do please keep responding (laugh emoji) you're amusing me and exposing your ignorance nicely. Have you considered therapy? It might help with that whole ... hatred of everyone who isn't me... thing, you have going on. I actually can't stop laughing at the loads of shit you're shoveling. I hope you're getting a decent wage for that. Shoveling shit is hard work.

I did say I wasn't in a good mood.

Anyway... because I'm me... pretty sure a lot of people who play Dragon Age games also play BG3. And liked both. It's not an either or. People can shockingly like both! While accepting that there's no such thing as a perfect game/book/movie/show/anything.

I know several people I'm on good terms with who absolutely loved Veilguard. I didn't, but it's not their problem. I don't make it their problem.

Veilguard doesn't write queer people well. Period. (I'm a queer AF author and editor.)

"Doesn't get off on victimizing non-white people or writing them as innately evil and savage." *blinks*. 'Who do we put across from Harding for a death choice. "Assan."' -John Epler (Not the whole Black man attached to the bloody griffin. The griffin.) That doesn't even get into what having the only Black male companion being part of that choice in the first place says. (Pssst. It's not good.)

Um... the Qunari have long been PoC coded and what they did to the Qunari in Veilguard is nothing short of writing them as innately evil and savage. Seriously? Truly shocked by that one. Taash's first romance scene is really problematic, too.

"A storyline where a goddess is a prop to paint a white guy as awesome?" Did they even play BG3? I've played it 5x and have no idea what they're on about there. And Vlakkith has always been a bitch. (I've been playing D&D since 2E. Is it problematic? Fuck yes.) I guess female and woman presumed people aren't allowed to be evil. Who knew?

Snorts. I'm not white, not a man, definitely not straight, and good fiction is my actual job.

As far as the ad hominem attacks. (Sad head shake) Dirthara-ma, da'len.

All that in response to this post of mine.

[smolstarthief]

Sooo... I guess my AU is getting more fleshed out than I expected b/c now I'm gonna consider incorporating P3/P4 Arena/Ultimax elements into it! Namely the Shadow Ops and some of the lore. Buckle up guys! Also I can't thank @dancingpurge enough for giving me insights whenever I have questions since my knowledge on P3 is slim and very rusty admittedly!

So... Here's what I was thinking:

Jayce starts to grow worried when he notices that Viktor's health gets bad when he uses his Arcane abilities too much. Especially when he slowly stops resting in-between.

Part of the reason for lack of rest is primarily being him secretly exploring Maruki's Palace after first encountering it and his powers were his best form of defense. Even before that though, he has slowly started getting excessive with it (especially upon discovering that he CAN use it in the real world and not just limited to the Metaverse like they initially thought).

While Viktor gets more invested in Cognitive Psience (especially after he starts regularly meeting Maruki), Jayce starts to dive into more about the Metaverse and any other forms of research involving it in a bid to find a way to help him.

This rabbit hole leads to him discovering info about the Kirijo Group and rumors about human experimentation along with the Dark Hour. As horrified as he feels about that, he thinks the current head (Mitsuru) is his best lead to maybe helping Viktor.

He was able to arrange a meeting after some hurdles (basically proving that he's trustworthy enough). He explains his situation, already prepared to be called crazy but she was thankfully able to somewhat understand. She also does confirm the rumors after a couple more meetings with bit of hesitation and making it clear that it's the greatest shame within her family name. But she's slowly taking things in a better direction and even acts as a leader of the Shadow Ops.

They then make an exchange: Jayce gives her the notes he secretly took regarding Viktor's powers so that she can commission a dampener to be made so that Vik can better control his abilities without the risk of death while she hands him some of the research she was able to find so that he can better understand things a bit even though the setting of P3 is much different from P5.

She does warn him about one thing: With what he has told her, there's a possibility that if further used too much then Vik's powers could actually make his own Persona go berserk and out of control. While it won't kill him, it WILL accelerate the deterioration of his life partially b/c of his past frail health.

That being said, she offers both of them a spot in the Shadow Ops. Complete with accommodations such as a better home and pay. The downside being they'd have to move away if they accepted. She allows Jayce time to think about it and talk to Viktor since she can see potential in both of them and can even help Viktor better hone his abilities.

Part of the later conflicts is Viktor misunderstanding things and his old feelings of resentment, insecurities, and even abandonment start to resurface as a result (Maruki's machinations was not helping either). Kind of a deconstruction of their dynamic which I have read some occasional small analysis on how it can border on co-dependent and Viktor still having immature tendencies (at least compared to Jayce which again, is something I've observed a bit after looking back at some scenes).

The thing is that Jayce wanted to talk to him about it but ended up getting too caught up with everything to find the right moment to do so. Especially with Shido later looming over them which then culminates into a raid into their home and getting attacked when they walk in after that televised calling card. Viktor, of course, was also very stubborn too.

This conflict was also kinda inspired by a question I saw on my Twitter TL once that's best summarized as: Would Viktor (if fully) be forgiving of Jayce should they survive and just be teleported somewhere? Which was a very interesting question to me because on one hand, probably. Just wouldn't be willing to forgive himself for a while if anything. BUT on the other hand, I feel like he probably would bottle up a lot of negative feelings when you think about what things were like in his perspective. He wouldn't HATE Jayce but I can imagine some resentment for a while too so why not a mix of both in the case of this AU? His general conflict is his inner negative feelings regarding Jayce despite loving and caring about him still along with his unwillingness to forgive himself for what he did as the Herald.

They do accept Mitsuru's offer after resolving things and are much happier after joining. Basically tying into 3rd Semester's main themes regarding healing and moving on with your life and starting over.

Not sure about having Evokers involved or not since I vaguely remember reading an old fic where there was a moment where Joker uses one and gains a different Persona though not in a good state of mind. I'm not sure for certain how using an Evoker could effect someone who already awakened in P5's setting and method.

I guess if they are then Jayce finds one in the case Mitsuru gave him. Probably for him to study and maybe take apart for a closer look. Viktor unfortunately ends up finding it the night before his own boss fight ("Herald of Eden") and takes it while Jayce was sleeping along with the notes on how it's used... You do the math on what he would try to do out of desperation if that makes sense. Like I said, I'm not sure about including the Evokers yet so that could be scrapped.

Although, the Evoker idea does sound like an interesting deep dive admittedly as that could be the final nail on the coffin to Viktor losing full control of himself and his Persona as he could only handle so much.

That's about it so far! I'm on a roll guys! 😄

[princemick]

TUMBLR F1BLR RULES!!!

hi, hello and welcome, we've seen what's been happening to twitter and we welcome you to our little corner.

there are however some things that differ from Twitter to Tumblr and so we have some different rules and behaviour then you might be used to!! I'm gonna try to explain them to you in this post! everything is below the tab!

reblog reblog reblog!!! likes do absolutely nothing, and your blog 'aestetic' in reblogs doesn't really matter unless you're a specific aesthetic blog, reblog are the way people see the content. likes are private! so remember to reblog the stuff you see and like!

DO NOT STEAL GIFS/GRAPHICS I WILL COME AFTER YOU!!! always ask if you can use a gif an then ALWAYS CREDIT properly

shipping is, prevalent. shipping even rpf is ingrained into tumblrs culture on every side of it if you dont like it thats a you thing, you can 'blacklist' tags so just add 'rpf' or the shipnames to them and you should be good!

continuing with that idea, curate your own experience is the most important thing on this site, blocking and blacklisting is normal and very much allowed and welcomed. almost no one is going to change how they do or act around here for one person, just unfollow or blacklist.

but do NOT put long posts or x reader fics, anything in the main tag without putting it under a 'read more' tab people will get annoyed by you

followers dont matter!!! no one CARESSS about basically anything this site is wonderfully anonymous and we can't see how many followers anyone has so genuinely no one gives a shit do whatever you want

remember to trigger tag and unlike twitter spell it out completely! so when a crash happens or is talked about make sure to tag it 'tw crash' even with reblogs!! also remember to tag when you're being negative about a driver as 'anti *insert first name*' never do full name then it will show up in their tags which defeats the purpose of anti tagging.

adding to that, use tags! they're one of the best tumblr features its free to be overenthusiastic and excited in the tags BUT the blog you can reblog it from AND the op can also read those tags so keep that in mind!!

be nice! this shud be a given, be nice, let people do their thing and vibe, just support people and block when u you dont vibe with them! when you do wanna send hate asks do it off anon, dont be shy do it on main

and things arnt 'weird' in the same way they are on twitter, this place has no drivers and no public figures so shame is a lot less existent here, you have to get used to that

and lastly as quoted by my anon 'Don't be afraid to be funny or weird be thirsty on main ship the middle aged man no one cares.'

and most of all. HAVE FUN!!! dont be scared to ask people how things work most of us are very okay with answering 'dumb' questions a lot of us have been here for about a decade we know its a confusing platform please ask away!

[x-honeycomb-x]

xHoneyCombx Links (this used to be a detrans kink blog)

Long/interactive posts

How to overcome feminization post-nut clarity (for sissies and ftmtfs)

A wholesome guide to detransitioning (as a kink or actually experiment with your gender) from a ftmtf mother to my ftmtf daughters <3

Why you should detransition into a girl or femboy (wholesome)

How to feel better when you're "detransitioning" (tips)

Pronouns game - Who should you come out to? (dice game)

"Turn me into a girl..." Part 1 (feminization tasks)

"Feminize me... make me a girl" Part 2 (feminication tasks)

"Feminize me... make me a woman" Mature women version (feminization game)

Non-sexual feminizing things to do (hobbies) (asexual/demisexual/sapiosexual friendly)

Feminization kink for beginners - misgendering box (task)

Breeding fantasies for ftmtf and mtftm (game 1) (game 2) (game 3)

Feminization tasks without shame (game 1) (game 2) (game 3) (game 4)

Feminization tasks without shame - girlfriend/wife/mother roleplay (part 1) (part 2) (part 3 aftercare)

Cuckquean fantasies (cuckquean sub rules)

Piss play fantasies (loving piss drinking pov)

Breeding fantasies (what I need to feel safe about breeding kink)

Cishet friend hookup fantasy (non-reluctant fiction)

Sub punishments but with a twist (sub tasks)

Kinks you can enjoy as a ftm girl (willing ftm girl list)

List of clothes I want as a wine aunt (clothing haul)

List of maternity dresses I want (breeding kink clothing haul)

How to lactate (guide)

Aftercare for Doms (aftercare post)

Aftercare for ftm girls (aftercare post)

Gooning beforecare and aftercare (aftercare post)

Sub red flags & Dom care (kink safety)

Stop playing when you feel bad (kink care)

Important: Stopping hormones safety (medical concerns)

Positivity

Ask: Experimenting with boyfriend (good vibes)

Ask: Not into cishet penetration (setting boundaries and rejecting)

Short posts

You are ftm girl enough <3 (ftm girl diverspity appreciation)

Making a ftm girl email account (ftm girl ideas)

Things are only sexual when you want them to be <3 (consent appreciation)

Communication: ftm girl play without reluctance (encouragement)

I don't need to be skinny (body positivity)

You're an independent ftm girl (acceptance and encouragement) (post 1) (post 2) (post 3) (post 4) (post 5) (post 6)

Desexualizing feminization (post 1) (post 2) (post 3)

Ftm girl play without cis men or breeding (post 1) (post 2)

Discovery: I need to affirm I’m a guy/enby for detrans kink to work (tips)

OP posts

Diversity: Non-binary (post 1) (post 2) (post 3), asexuality, autism (post 1) (post 2) (post 3) (post 4) (post 5), mental illness

Ftm daughters application

Link to my detransition blog?

Detransition kink and gender-fluidity (a personal experience)

My sex toy collection <3

OP's butt (on second thought I'm not gonna link it)

Being my own daddy and mommy (self care post)

Story time: Sexting, Tumblr blog and my loneliness (long rant)

I feel like a detrans junkie (short rant)

Am I hardcore?

Internet points

Should I tell you my birth name?

How long should I go off T?

How long should I detransition?

Don't let me masturbate!

Which internet aesthetic should I try?

Regarding my 1 year detransition (ooc)

On being a (ex)detransitioner

My conclusions on my gender journey and running this blog

[liquidorcard]

Lily's weirdo Dragon Age hottakes

As I've actually experienced some of the Dragon age franchise I can now comment on Lily's weird Dragon Age hottakes.

1. Not to jump straight unto bullying Mikaila here but[t]. . .

I'm already a little high off cough syrup and kinda loopy in general due to having a lung infection right now, and I was staring at this for ten minutes wondering why this dude had like, a big thicc ass backwards on his body with these furry parachute pants before realizing this was supposed to be someone's head lol.

2. VARRIC is "blandest"!?

Varric is literally one of the most OP characters to have in your party in 2 because he unlocks SO MANY unique dialog options and, frankly with Bianca he kinda makes all of the other Rogue companions unnessesary. A shame, since he's the first one you get.

He's also one of the better written and acted characters throughout the whole series in general (saying something in a franchise full of standout characters and performances.) A surface Dwarf with a complicated relationship with his brother and culture, something that reads to me as a sort of gray ace vibe, and a respectable degree of crossbow autism.

Considering she's got just one male companion on her "best" list and it's the pretty boy elf from Veilguard who may or may not be played by an Andrew Tate fan, I'm guessing her "best" companions are actually the companions she goons for.

Keep my bby grill Merrill's name out of your mouth Lily. I will defend her honor.

Also-- Dorian, Anders, Josephine, Solas and Isabella are apparently not even worth mentioning to Lily . . .

I'm not far enough through Inquisition at the moment to really compare how the mage/Templar conflict is handled in that game-- but I can tell you one of the big complaints I have about DA2 (despite still really liking it) is how much I feel the mage/templar conflict was fumbled in the third act.

Lily, the fuck are you talking about? Like, honestly I'm kinda shocked this isn't one area we agree in. The templars are just like . . . Objectively in the wrong. They are the direct cause of the systemic issues they are trying to "defend against." Which isn't an inherently bad thing narrative wise-- only, that the game doesn't seem to fully respect the player may have come to that conclusion. The third act strong-arms you into dialog options and missions that assume the player is role-playing as/sees the templars as a much more neutral force, even if they disagree with them. But, no, I was basically trying to rp as a character who was 100% ideologically aligned with Anders-- and during the third act it fucking stopped letting me suddenly tell the templars to go fuck themselves as much as I did in the first and second act.

It was to the point where I assumed I had just messed up certain mandatory missions, only too look it up and be shocked that nope-- you are literally forced to murder mages in crisis and mages you saved in the first and second act in the third.

Are you saying you somewhat agree with the Templars, Lily? You called the fucking inqisition a religious cult, and you may or may not be quietly dickriding for the templars!?

[damnfandomproblems]

OP of 763565544500854784

Won't be replying again but since people seem to think I'm a radfem over this one I will be explaining the content of my ask once and then ignoring all further discussion.

No, I do not think all woman in fandom who like men over women are pick mes or have internalized misogyny or whatever insults you want to throw at me and I also do not believe it's wrong to like mostly males. Most of my favorite characters of all time are guys. Probably a 7:3 ratio there if we're being real and most of women on that list are based on old nostalgia from when I was a kid and probably wouldn't be my favorites now. No I will not be providing a list because if people have decided I'm a radfem based on one ask I am not coming off anon or leaving identifying information behind I'm not stupid. I'm not risking somebody cross referencing my shit to send anon hate.

The big titty gf is not literal about what I'm referencing, it's a reference to "big titty goth gf" jokes and the smurfette trope, where a piece of media would have a single girl character who's primary personality trait is "girl." if for kids and "girl who breasts boobily down the stairs" if for adults. Because one of the common defenses towards hating on woman characters is that they don't have a personality beyond those two traits. They're just love interests an author can't bring themself to flesh out beyond "In love with guy character." It was not meant to shame people with big tits or act like big tits are explicitly sexual traits and if the nature of that was so unclear that you've decided I'm a radfem then you're engaging in the same piss on pour reading comprehension you think I did when I read the submission given I literally use it as a hypothetical that other people are using to refer to why the don't like the characters (she has big boobs and is meant to be sexy eye candy and that's it) and not why I wouldn't like a character.

What I am saying, in plain text as possible in response to the op, is that when we see people who only like white characters (or white passing), and act like all dark skinned poc are awful or boring, we call them racist. If we see people who exclusively ship M/F ships and minimize M/M or F/F pairings and cry "why can't they just be friends", we call them homophobic. When we see people shitting on gender headcanons and misgendering canonically trans characters, we call them transphobic.

So then why is it suddenly not sexist to call all female characters boring or uninteresting when the only trait they share is "girl"?

[In before "But you're still not reading the submission right" the submission is specifically saying that you're not solving real world woman issues by telling fans they're misogynistic. This is true. It's not going to make right wing politicians retract the abortion ban overnight or fix wage gaps or any other real world issues. Fandom is not activism and at the end of the day you're not going to change the world by being inclusive in fanfiction and nobody is going to care if the most active spokesperson for women's rights in the world only reads and writes slash fanfiction when it comes to the real world good she's doing. Same as reading and consuming darkfic does not make you an advocate for awful things happening to people or normalize it. You're not responsible for fixing all the woes of modern media with the fanfiction you're writing late at night getting home from work/school.

But it is still annoying when you come across your millionth post that is tagged "female character name here bashing" or "anti-female character name" or a fic that ignores the girls because they're so "uninteresting" to the author. You're still annoying even if no harm is being done and you can do real world, tangible good and still have sexist opinions on media. Nobody is calling you a bad person for it they're just telling you that before you decide every women in every media ever is uninteresting maybe look at yourself and try to figure out why you think that and understand why if you find even the most compelling fictional women boring, people are going to start assuming there might be some sexist biases here.]

Posting as a response to a previous ask.

[adventuringblind]

Thank you for the tag @lellabellawrites (I DIDN'T KNOW WE WERE MUTUALS???? I'm sorry T_T)

My WIP's are a literal mess but HERE WE GO!

Rules: make a new post with the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! and then tag as many people as you have WIPs

OC is the reader insert just so we're all on the same page here!

Shorts & oneshots

LN/OP - BDSM AU - ANGST - (Protective Oscar? sure, wth not)

OP/LN/OC and CS/OC (Sorry Carlos)- Hurt/Comfort - Oops… I Lied - PART 1

LL/OC - ED Hurt/Comfort - Shame On Them for Shaming You

LN/OP/OC - BDSM AU - ANGST - Religious TrAuMa (FEAT. Oscar being a mess because he can't be everywhere at once)

OP/OC - HURT/COMFORT - COLLARS

LN/OP - Hanahaki

LN/OP - SMUT - It’s giving… boundaries - F2 GRID POLYCULE BECAUSE I SAID SO - (Vel, please stop letting me do these things)

LN/OP - SMUT/FLUFF - A/B/O - MPreg - The Consequences of OUR Actions, Oscar

LN/OP - SMUT - The breaking point is behaving... *shrugs*

LN/OP - SMUT - Free Use - (Dom Oscar bein a pervert AGAIN... does it count if he's not actually doing much? Also Jendo and Loscar and Lestappen and Charlos and Norstappen AND EVERYBODY FUCKING IG)

MV/CL - ANGST - Loves Fucking Embarrassing - (sorry Kelly I needed a Villian.... not sorry Jos because FUCK YOU)

LS/OP - ANGST - (question: how long can adrenaline keep you awake while driving and bleeding out because Logan decided to be self stabby RIGHT BEFORE THE RACE?)

LN/OP/MV - DBH AU - Do Androids Have Dicks? - PART 2 (and 3 and 4 and possibly 5 now???)

OP/LN - ANGST - Stop the Noise; It’s Too Quiet - PRETTY BOYS ARE SAD BOYS ARE CRYING

LL/LS/OP/OC - Hurt/Comfort - It’s A Little Dark In Here

Series

Matilda: Chapter Four

Kill me Kill me Kill me: REWRITE IN PROGRESS AND I'M SO EXCITED ABOUT IT

Pretty to Me: My Pretty Boy

Love, come in, the water is fine: New Landoscar series I'm working on

So okay... I have A LOT of WIPS. Apologies to anyone who can't manage their way through my messy writing. I'm a disorganized mess who can't plan my writing because I never stick to the plan anyway.

ASK AWAY PLEASE I WANNA YAP

Tagging: @481boxboxbaby (Mom is responsible for a lot of these btw) @nurse-floyd (cause you feed content I NEED) and idk @vellicora (Vel) has any wips but like she's responsible for a good portion of the things on this list as well <3

[useless-and-confused]

Ok so it took me a while but I finished the elden ring dlc, I beat the final boss like yesterday, I had to wait to get the dlc but nevermind that, I wanna share my thoughts based also on what I've seen other people post. I really liked I thought it was amazing on how it expanded on the existing lore and introduced things we didn't know about (the hornsent and their society etc.), I do have a few criticisms like I do believe the last boss was bullshit, second phase especially, first phase was fine but nothing special, but second phase omg I hated that shit couldn't see anything and was waaay too overtuned, which is a shame cause all the other major dlc bosses were amazing, rellana and messmer especially. Also about some things I've seen people talk about, I've seen way too many people talk about how it's "lore-breaking" which is ridicolous, like instead of going "oh with the limited information I was presented with I came to the wrong conclusion" going "they made shit up and didn't care" which I'm sorry but that's like so dumb. I've also seen people say that it should've been godwyn and not radhan but like you guys know that the whole thing with godwyn is that he's like real world dead right? there's nothing to bring back, while radhan's soul is in the cycle of the erdtree, also (I saw this on a post that I unfortunately don't remember the op's name, if someone does please link or share it) there's the whole thing with the hornsent worshipping a horned lion and the person being brought back on top of their divine tower is radhan that uses a lion a symbol and has horns because of mohg's body; so acting like radhan is there just for fanservice just proves how little attention you pay to actually important aspects of the world design. With that said I do agree that the base game shouldn't have just deleted all connections between radhan and miquella, fromsoft does exhaggerate with their how cryptict (is that how you spell it??) they are sometimes. Lastly I want to touch on the marika situation, now I like marika, but I like her as an evil character and I see so many people act as if what she did was justified, to put it simply genocide is never justifiable, was hornsent society awful and bigoted? yes; are marika's feelings towards them understandable seeing what they did to shaman village? yes; does this justify destroying their culture, their cities, killing and torturing civilians, hunting down anyone born with horns posthumously and deleting them from history? no absolutely not. I really like marika as an evil, coldhearted, manipulative woman, don't pretend like she's a good person when she's much more enjoyable as she is. So yeah I don't understand why so many people have problems with the dlc honestly, I'd like to hear some more objective opinions on the matter so feel free to interact (also I just woke up so I feel like this is full of spelling mistakes so sorry about that)

[master-of-the-opera-house]

I'm not naming and shaming op because i dont want nonsense on me page but op is so bland and almost puritan like. Yeah they are awful and godless and hate each other to the death and that is why they are balls funny. Did anyone ever say Seinfeld was bad comedy because he wasn't a moral role model. Growth and feelings schmeelings lmao. "Abusive family" literally me when I can't read nuance. The whole point of family is yeah there will be some aunt or uncle or grandpa who makes lewd jokes and has outdated problematic world views whom you can't spend more than ten minutes with ((Julian and Fanny)). There will be an annoying sibling or cousin whom you will have to shake off at every turn, who never seems to be able to learn "no" for an answer no matter how many times you tell them ((Thomas and Kitty)). But the idea of family also means they've got your back in spite of it all at the end of the day ((the burglars! The "sister" scammer! The Fiji bank account!)). And that is the poignancy of it, because they dont necessarily like you all the time and vice versa, and you know each other at your most intolerable, but you're still willing to help each other out when it matters despite it all. You want cotton candy clouds and sunshine and daffodils go cry me a river to titanic and steven universe instead. Terminally unfunny take glad ye enjoyed your bland american ghosts tho.

[titleleaf]

[cw discussion of animal illness/medical crises; emotional manipulation; talking about scams and scammers]

Jsyk: I do not and will not boost or reblog fundraising posts on request or when they’re directly linked to me by people who I don’t know, often people who don’t even follow me. Mutual aid posts are a big part of the social media ecosystem especially on tumblr but there are also plenty of scams that exploit genuine sources of affinity within marginalized communities (disabled people, trans people, people with precarious housing situations, etc) in an incredibly cynical manner.

I just received a request like this from a blog that was

all of two days old

filled with an apparently random selection of fandom posts and memes, all reblogged without any kind of tags or commentary, even a fandom name

...with no other kind of original posts whatsoever, not even shitposts or personal posts, nothing

not following me or anyone else I know

using an icon meant to evoke all kinds of immediate emotional reactions of affinity and sympathy — sweet-looking blue-haired smol bean picrew in front of the trans flag

The request itself could have been perfectly genuine — request for financial help with vet bills for a sick cat, "please help, save his life, I need to raise money in 2 weeks for surgery" — but it's surrounded by a thicket of screaming red flags.

(Payments made using PayPal’s “friends & family” functionality aren't covered by purchase protection and cannot be reimbursed, even if the payment was made under false pretenses. Cool.)

This shit is incredibly shady and incredibly manipulative. Lots of stuff to evoke strong emotions and sympathy; repeated calls to action and a super short timetable to save a poor cat’s life — all of this stuff is plausible by itself but these elements of the request are not incidental. The request itself is calculated to provoke a sense of intense urgency -- worry for the poor cat, sympathy for the owner -- and a sense of shame if you catch yourself hesitating to donate or spread the word. (What kind of heartless person doesn't want to help a cat? Wants to let a cat die? Wants to kill a cat? What kind of bad leftist ignores a poor trans person's cry for help? I'm a trans person and a cat lover, and when my cat was in the hospital I was inconsolable.) By itself, urgency isn’t a red flag -- emergencies have a way of emerging suddenly, pets get sick, shit costs money -- but combined with everything else about this post it absolutely is one. In the comments on the post it only took one person saying “hey, watch out, this post has some red flags for a scam so I’d hesitate before reblogging it” for comments to be turned off entirely.

Do I know for a die-hard certainty that this post was fraudulent and the OP was running a scam? I absolutely do not, and I'm not interested in teaching anyone how to scam better either. But if you *do* have a genuine fundraising post for any cause, even an urgent one: don't do it from a nearly-blank blog and don’t message random strangers about it, even if you think it’ll get your post more traction. You have no way of knowing their financial situation or if they're in any kind of position to donate, or whether they themselves are in tough financial straits.

I'm not anti-fundraising or anti-mutual-aid -- people on this site helped me pay for top surgery without going into crazy medical debt, that would not have been possible without the goodwill and generosity of other marginalized people -- but I've also ignorantly passed on scam messaging and been tricked out of money I seriously needed, not just by strangers either. The vast majority of scams function through high-pressure tactics and emotional manipulation. This shit is 101-level social engineering and you're going to encounter it all over the place in life, not just on social media. Learn about social engineering, keep your eyes peeled for potential dishonesty, and don't fall for it or spread this kind of messaging around to victimize someone else.

[shortythezombie]

I've now played every modern From Soft game except for Demon's Souls, which I likely won't bother with, and Armored Core, which doesn't fill this same niche as hard, and here's how they stack up in my opinion:

1. Elden Ring: Give me a Sekiro parry and conventional, 4-player(ish) co-op and this is a perfect game.

2. Sekiro: This game feels cool as hell. Parrying lightning on your way to stab a dragon in the face? Hell. Yes. On top of that, it's the most coherent, dialogue heavy From Soft story to date, and I love that an awful lot.

3. Dark Souls 2: I genuinely don't understand the hate this game gets, it makes some weird decisions, but not any worse than any other game in the franchise. Adaptability is not as bad as Vitality in DS3. No I-frames on doors? Dude, just kill everything. It's not a bad game for demanding you engage with the content in it. These aren't boss rushes, they're adventures. This game introduced powerstancing! I love the NPCs, the fact that you can make things stop respawning, Majula, and the narrative divorced from Kindling or abandoning the Flame. Basically the only part of this game I didn't like enough that it made me want to stop playing was the Frigid Outskirts, I STILL haven't beaten the duo tigers at the end of it, and I likely never will. I don't even understand why the Shrine of Amana gets so much hate.

4. Dark Souls 1: This one is solid, but definitely a proof of concept. The 4-directional dodge definitely hurts this game, and basically everything after Ornstein and Smough sucks, except the DLC. Izaleth and everything directly adjacent to it can go fuck itself. Bed of Chaos is the worst boss in the entire catalogue. Bonus points for the Sunbro.

5. Dark Souls 3: I don't understand why this game gets the praise it does. It's about on par with the other two Dark Souls games. Crystal Sage another series low. I hate the poison swamp and the Road of Sacrifice, I hate the Deep Cathedral and the worm guys outside. I hate Midir. Gael one of my favorite bosses in the entire From franchise tho. The poetic cinema that your first enemy in Dark Souls 1 is a Hollow with a broken sword, and your last enemy in Dark Souls 3 is a Hollow with a broken sword also goes real hard. Soundtrack another bonus, probably my favorite other than Elden Ring. I think if this game didn't poke nostalgia for series vets, it wouldn't be as universally praised.

6. Bloodborne: Man I just plain don't like this one. I don't get why the Hoonter hoonts. It's made obvious immediately that that's an evil course of action to take. The parry was too finicky to feel cool most of the time, and the line between what I'm allowed to parry and what I'm not seems random. The soundtrack is okay. The bosses are all either dogs or tentacles, or just British people (shudder). The story was nonsensical, and the birth imagery seemed, at first glance, random, though I have since had it explained to me that it's about feminine agency and motherhood. "Is it blood or eyes that lets us meet god?" Both, apparently, and also all of you are insane, maybe stop touching beached elder gods. This is also the only game where I got to pick a weapon and the Greatsword is not on the table, and I HATE that. I think folks like this game cuz they want to be British, and that should be a source of shame. Drip unmatched tho. This is the only game listed that isn't one of my favorite games of all time.

I used the capital-G-Greatsword for every game it was available, Heavy Gem infused in every game except Elden Ring (I did Bleed there), and my character was a pale blue monstrosity named Miku (because he had ponytails) in every game I got to make my character. I don't cast spells, at all. I beat every boss in the series (excluding ER, I'm not killing all 200-something, go fuck yourself) except for the aforementioned tiger gank in DS2. Fuck the Frigid Outskirts.

I want to smoke a blunt with Solaire, Vengarl, Alexander, and Patches.

If you'd like me to elaborate on anything, let me know, I'm happy to yap. I got a rant on the dragons cocked n loaded that I'll dump eventually.

[crystallinestars]

Yeah English isn't my mother tongue so thank you for the compliment 🥰 Honestly I saw the way you write (it's scrumptious) and the Argenti header and thought "damn I need to be on my best behaviour!" haha

Also never apologize for going off on a rant, I truly love your input!

Oh I do agree that it must be a mix of multiple things and that virtue signalling is definitely part of it! And the point you make about people creating a safe bubble for themselves and others really does make a lot of sense! I'd even be so bold as to say that this initial sentiment has unfortunately spiralled into having kneejerk reactions against any kind of perceived threat (for their identity, etc.). While I understand the need to be careful about who you let into your circle, it's a shame that instead of meaningful conversations (I'd imagine something like "I enjoy X thing in this story", "oh that's great, I have a different hc / interpretation but I'd love to hear your reasoning!") we're having a lot of passive aggressiveness or even full on pissing contests within the communities.

And if I had to sum up why I dislike, let's say between 60% to 90% of 'fandom culture' depending on whether or not it's a good day, I'd say that it's because of how often I have to see the utter glee and contempt this subsection of the fandom radiates whenever they feel like they've won their one-sided arguments / they can lord a win over someone's head for the dumbest things. It just boggles my mind. What happened to basic courtesy? I feel like people have grown so accustomed to living their 'bad bitch' fantasies on the internet without having to shoulder any responsibility for it (because of anonymity) that they've started to become waaay too comfortable coming into your space and being rude at best.

This is a bit of a digression, but for the sources, an example that comes to mind is a post I saw a while ago about the maple leaves associated with Dan Heng and (no shade to the person, it was an interesting read). However, they presented their argument in such a way that you just KNEW it wasn't just about Dan Hend, but about Blade too. They gave a list of symbolism for maple leaves, and the last point (the one highlighted by the structure) was "they also symbolise lovers!". It's in cases like this one I'd love for the OP to provide a source for their analysis, because the uni student in me just cannot accept claims on specific fields without credible evidence. Like is your analysis based on a discussion you had with a native? A paragrapgh you found on a blog named "sakurasdreamygarden.com"? A book you've read? Please, I'm not here to troll, I want to educate myself 😭 In this case it was also worth noting that someone in the comment added that 'maple leaves' is the literal meaning of Dan Feng's name (丹枫), in which case (this is just me adding my two cents) you could also argue that the maple leaves, specifically on Dan Heng's splash art, could symbolise the shadow of a past he cannot completely get rid of.

I was feeling like sticking my head in a lion's mouth when I wrote the 4th point 😂 And since I still do, I will just say that Mihoyo's pandering extends to hetero relationships too. Remember how I said these games remind me of Kpop? What I meant by that is that what they do is basically "All for the glitter and the aesthetic with zero commitment to the bit". So far in Genshin and HSR, they seem to focus especially on giving players shiny little toys to play with (attractive playable characters). And I say that their pandering extends to hetero relationships because as of now the only playable character with a semi-canon relationship is Welt, who's a Honkai Impact character (at least that's what I've heard, I don't know anything about Honkai Impact). I'm thinking especially about Yukong when I say this, because when she became playable in 1.1 I think, they wasted no time to clarify in 1.2 that actually Qingni is her ADOPTED daughter, which is basically like telling players "don't worry, Yukong hasn't been tainted by any man and is just as much of a shiny little toy freshly out of the box as the others!" Like, what am I supposed to believe with that? That for HSR the censorship this part of the fandom loves to bring up was magically extended to the heteros?

Also, I know nothing about Hi3 but since I love semantics, identify as a relationship fiend and still feel like getting shot by the fandom today, I'd also like to ask people to please explain to me how a kiss (yes, even on the lips) is objectively an undeniable act of romance. I'd argue that it's a sign of intimacy because it involves letting someone else get super close to you in a vulnerable moment, but that does not make it inherently romantic. Truthfully I'm just being facetious here but my sentiment is genuine: I would be eternally grateful if we stopped taking certain things for granted "because it's obvious" or whatever, and if we truly started to take the argument that many things in relationships are social constructs seriously. (PS: I mean "intimacy" here as "the state of having a close personal relationship with somebody", based on the first definition given by the online version of the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary)

Oh yes, Childe. I had heard of him before I started playing Genshin and when I arrived in Liyue I was like: "really? Is this the little guy you've decided to call daddy??" Childe's case hurts me less than Aventurine's solely because I decided recently that I would get Arlecchino and then uninstall the game for a while but I also really feel you! For HSR I'm here mostly for the lore and the Aeons and it really doesn't help that while I don't particularly mind shipping, it's something I indulge in sporadically, when a pairing scratches my brain just right. So I'm sitting here on the outskirts of the fandom watching people get mad at fictional corpos (the IPC, especially Topaz) but then jumping through so many hoops and getting up in arms to protect Mihoyo, or acting like the social justice police 😐

Oh and the fanarts you're talking about. I've been lucky enough not to see anything like that but like. Out of all the characters they could rough up they chose Aventurine?? Now it's reminding me of that one slave owner fanfic and I just have to wonder what it is about characters like him that always attracts the most unhinged fans.

They complain about Paimon hogging the spotlight in Genshin but then are taken by surprise whenever they fail to pick up hints, it's lowkey disheartening to see.

Honestly for Kaveh I feel like people had massacred Alhaitham's character even before Kaveh was introduced, to make it fit into any sexual fantasy trope. I just remembered this but whenever I hear about haikaveh or any shoe-horned ship for that matter, I start hearing this post:

https://www.tumblr.com/what-even-is-thiss/739539118572371969/sometimes-someone-just-isnt-into-you?source=share

The answers trying to make the character played by OP admit they've got hidden feelings is really how people with shipping lenses glued to their heads behave 😭

I'm also glad to see people focusing on characters individually and picking up interesting things about them! And I'm going to be honest: I mean this as disrespectfully as I can but if someone is surprised by reveals like that in a story like that, I'm just assuming they've never read anything else in their lives. Like, if your first reaction to anything in a story is to neatly categorize it as a trope (especially a romance trope) I genuinely need for this person to start educating themselves and engage with other media because there's just no way 💀 I can understand making assumptions / theories and then be proven wrong but this just on another level.

I hope I was coherent enough with all of this, and that you have a great day, evening or night too!

🪻

I’m so happy you like my writing 😭💚 I believe you can write amazing things as well. You’re really good at expressing your thoughts. The Argenti header is there because I like him and think there’s not enough of him in fandom haha.

The gleeful attitude some people have when their bullying succeeds is honestly repulsive. I only saw a bit of it, but it’s nasty how they act as if they accomplished a good deed. I daresay they even purposely go after people with differing opinions just to bully them into submission and feel good about it. As you pointed out, basic courtesy went out the window a long time ago due to anonymity of the internet.

Haha the Dan Heng maple leaf bit is proving my point! While people do try to be informative about symbolism and whatnot in character design, it’s also a means of validating their headcanons/ship. If Dan Feng’s name means maple leaves, then it makes perfect sense why maple leaves are a big part of Dan Heng’s design. Not everything about characters is linked to a ship, and I would love for more neutral discussions regarding the symbolism and culture behind their designs 😔

About Welt. I actually played Honkai Impact 3rd and read some of their comics (I was on the hunt for Su and Sumeru lore in preparation for Sumeru’s release). HI3 has a lot of canonical NL and GL pairings. Welt’s love is Frederica Nikola Tesla. There are more moments between them in the comic than the game, but it’s very obvious they’re in love with each other.

But of course, when he was introduced as a playable character in HSR, that part of him was buried. You can see Tesla in his splashart, but that’s about it. Same with Yukong. I was surprised they made her a mother since that’s a very bold move for a gacha game, so I knew there had to be a catch. And sure enough, she’s just an adoptive mother.

Gacha games are notorious for marking their characters single. If playable characters have a confirmed relationship, a lot of players would get very angry and jealous, and the company would lose profit. For example, I heard that back in 1.1 or so, Mihoyo wanted to release a lore book about Zhongli and Guizhong. I haven’t read it, so I can’t say if there was any romantic implication between them in the book, but Zhongli fans threw a fit, so Mihoyo scrapped it. Similarly, before Inazuma released, a leaker falsely said that Thoma was Ayaka’s fiancé, and again, the community got angry and cursed Thoma to hell. Ironically, it seems like players are far more accepting of same-sex relationship between characters than of opposite-sex ones 😅

I think kissing is strongly associated with romance because we have been conditioned to perceive it as such. Movies and other media make kissing a big deal between characters, there’s a lot of emphasis put on it as a turning point in their relationship. It also doesn’t help that practically every aspect of physical intimacy gets relegated to romantic relationships (hand-holding, cuddling, etc).

In our modern era, a lot of people feel isolated. Physical intimacy between an individual and their friends and family is rarer, so they think that if they get a significant other, they’ll receive the physical intimacy (and not only physical) that they crave. It’s a social construct for sure, but it’s very wide-spread and hard to break out of. At any rate, this is all just my conjecture.

Aventurine is a tragic case. I’m glad the amount of abusive fanarts of him has died down, though Childe doesn’t have that luxury 😔 I suppose the fuckboy type makes people think the character is up on a high horse, so they want to knock him down a peg. Some also perceive the trope to be inherently masochistic for whatever reason. I doubt we’ll ever know.

Lmao that post you linked! So true! That’s exactly how they behave! Gaslighting everyone, even the author, to convince them there’s romantic feelings between the characters when there are none. Characters used to be interpreted as friends, enemies, family, etc, but nowadays every character relationship gets seen as romantic. I miss the days when characters could be just friends or found family.

And I agree, Alhaitham was already butchered since the Sumeru Archon quest. People see a hot, muscular guy and focus only on how sexy he looks, and how hot it would be if he was dominant or aggressive, despite it not being his character at all. I get that people are free to imagine whatever they want for the sake of fun, but with how widespread some of those interpretations become, the character gets quickly reduced to tropes, and people forget what they’re actually like in canon.

To this day, there are still people surprised that Alhaitham is actually very nice and kind, even to children. He took in a broke man he didn’t particularly get along with and hasn’t seen in years, so if that isn’t a big fat hint that he’s a nice person, then I don’t know what is. As we have both agreed, a lot of people don’t pick up on the nuance of character writing 😔

Thank you for stopping by 🪻anon! I also hope you have a great day, and take care 💚

[caeli0306]

Chapter 2 of Tales from the Airport Bathroom is now posted!

Chapter 2/3 now up on AO3: READ HERE

Summary:

In which Lt. Xaden Riorson, a begrudging member of the Navarrian Air Force's special ops squad, meets one Violet Sorrengail, a secret operative for the Navarrian Intelligence Agency.

or

Xaden is a simp, and Liam and Garrick think it's hilarious. There is nothing slow about this burn.

===

Those gorgeous eyes flick down the length of me and she bites her bottom lip, and yeah- I can think of at least 10 different ways I want this woman. I'm not going to question where this incessant desire is coming from; there's no point when all that matters is that I can barely think in her presence.

Violet is silent for a moment, before pulling in a shuddering breath. "That backpack is standard issue for Air Force special ops," she says. "Not a stretch to assume."

Those alarm bells from earlier are back on in full-force. I can't think of anyone who isn't military that would know the specifics of the kinds of backpacks that get issued to different units. It's not like its classified material, but its not the kind of thing a civilian would just know.

Which means I have to be extremely careful. I'm on board a plane to Cordyn, with someone who knows I'm affiliated with Navarre's military, on my way to commit treason.

What a fucking day I'm having.

"That's a good guess," I manage. "Now are you done shaming me for my reclining preferences, Violence?"

Something in her gaze darkens, and I have to stop myself from reaching out and touching her face. This is so dangerous.

"My name is Violet," she hisses, but I don't miss how her eyes flit down to my mouth for one agonizing moment, before meeting my eyes again.

"I think my version suits you better."