#maybe i'm not such a cait anti after all | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

emeraldspiral · 8 months ago

Text

So I finally finished watching a Let's Play of FFVII Rebirth, shockingly without The Algorithm recommending me anything that spoils the ending, and in the spirit of that I'm putting my thoughts on the ending below a cut.

So going into it my thought was that Aerith's death is such an iconic moment in video game history and so integral to the plot it'd be insane to have her survive just for the sake of fan wish fulfillment. But it begs the question of what the point was of introducing the idea of defying fate and changing the story if you can't change the one thing everyone spent decades trying to avoid or undo. I think early on my thought was that the best course of action that would respect the integrity of the original story would be to have Aerith still die, but then change the ending of the final game so she comes back after it's all over. That way you still get your dark middle chapter/second act setback, and you don't undermine the original story, but you're still actually doing something with the concept of defying fate and pleasing the fans who always wanted to save Aerith. In a way it's even better to have Aerith come back in the end because it fits with the elements of Christian mythology present in the story. If Aerith is the Jesus to Sephiroth's anti-Christ and Jenova's Devil, then why shouldn't the one thing that changes about this story be her getting resurrected in the end?

The way things played out in Rebirth, I still think this is likely the case. Being the dark middle chapter, of course it had to start us off thinking that because Team Avalanche scored that victory against the Whispers in the first act, things could turn out different. But the point of the second act is to take you down from the high note the first act left us on, which it does by showing us that maybe you can't fight fate after all. First we found out the Whispers were still around. Then we found out definitively that Wedge was killed after seemingly escaping his original fate. You get Cid and the Tiny Bronco under totally different circumstances, yet the plane still crashes and becomes a boat. Cait Sith leaves the party after betraying the group rather than blackmailing his way into staying with them, but he still ends up sacrificing himself at the Temple of the Ancients anyway. Near the end in the Zack timeline, it seems like there's a split where he either chooses to get medicine for Cloud over saving Biggs, or goes to save Biggs, only for Biggs to still die anyway in both timelines. If you were asking what the point was of saying you could defy fate in the first game if the second game was just going to say you can't after all, it was to get your hopes up on purpose so that when Aerith ultimately ends up dying again, it feels just as fresh and shocking as it did the first time around rather than something players are simply resigned to as an inevitability.

As for the ambiguity about the situation, I've seen some people suggest that the Aerith we see at the end is Jenova in disguise, a figment of Cloud's imagination, a ghost that only he can see, or a version of her from another timeline where she didn't die. I haven't heard anything quite like the theory I'm starting to formulate though.

So my hot take is that whatever's going on with Sephiroth is also going on with Aerith. We know Sephiroth already fell into the lifestream once, with Jenova's head, and that his whole plan was to get in there again so he could become a god, but when Aerith died she ended up there and used her magic to stop meteor. We know that Sephiroth did still worm his way in there though, because it was his tainting of the lifestream that caused the geostigma in Advent Children, which Aerith purified after he was defeated again.

So I think to some extent Sephiroth and Aerith both ascended to a kind of godhood by becoming one with the lifestream, and it's because of this that they were able to transcend the barriers between worlds and see through time. That's why they both had foreknowledge of future events. In Rebirth, we learn that Sephiroth exists as the same being simultaneously across different worlds via the final boss battle. In other words, he is omniscient and omnipresent. I believe Aerith was as well in the beginning of Remake, but by the end, she was separated from the rest of the omniscient Aerith collective, and lost her foreknowledge of the future and awareness of alternate timelines. Near the end of Rebirth however, she starts to reconnect with her other selves from developing her Cetra powers and Sephiroth creating tears in the fabric of reality. Regaining her foreknowledge of future events allowed her to accept the inevitability of her death and try to ease Cloud's guilt over it, and at the moment she was meant to die, she became fully absorbed back into her omnipresent self. Maybe there's still a version of her who did survive after all, who's separated from the others since her death was what led to her entering the lifestream and ascending to godhood. But that's not the Aerith who fights with Cloud and sees him off at the end. Whenever we see Aerith after her death, that's the omnipresent goddess Aerith. The reason only Cloud can see her is because Aerith touched his face as she lay dying, passing on some of her omniscient awareness to him, just as she did with Marlene.

The reason why in the original FFVII Aerith stayed dead was because Sephiroth wasn't fully defeated yet. But now that his omnipresent self has gone back in time to try to change his fate she has an opportunity to wipe him out of existence from every reality. Only when he's completely eradicated will her business with him finally be done, and she can be free to return from the lifestream.

#ffvii #final fantasy vii #final fantasy vii rebirth #ffvii rebirth

7 notes · View notes

milkywaydrinker · 2 months ago

Text

Arcane Season 2 was fine. I liked it well enough the animation and music were as always stunning. Some choices were made when it came to characters and plot. The pacing was a bit rushed and some key conflicts weren't properly addressed but the main thing I took away from it was this:

They chickened out on the Zaun vs Piltover conflict because they realized they didn't have enough time to do it justice. Uniting against an external threat is an easy get-out-of-jail card for this type of conundrum and it's as old as dirt.

I did appreciate the message of "This is just the beginning the real work starts now." which is a realistic approach to rebuilding and fixing systemic issues.

I do not appreciate police brutality and war crimes being handwaved by the "We have bigger more urgent things to worry about" type play.

They did Maddie so dirty that it caught me off guard. The girl really went full scorned lover and flipped instantly once Vi came back into the picture, which seems inconsistent with her previously expressed anti-Noxus sentiment. I was never a huge fan of her and mostly felt pity towards her, which is probably half the reason why this feels like a cop-out.

I liked Mel's side of the story. Returning to Noxus makes sense for her and I'm sure that if we ever get more from this universe it will happen in Noxus.

I feel like they overcomplicated the things between Jayce and Victor to such a degree that it barely makes sense, but I enjoyed seeing it play out nonetheless. I would've done another draft of it, but maybe that's just me.

Cait is lucky Vi isn't even half as bitter and angry as she should've been after all the shit she had pulled. I have mixed feelings on how they resolved this but it's not atrocious or anything just a bit fucking dense.

Rip Heimer. He really paid off all of those decades of turning a blind eye to injustice and Ekko really is the Boy Saviour despite getting a really short end of the stick out of all of this.

Jinx was amazing this season no notes 10/10.

that's about it. if I think of anything else I'll add it on in the reblogs

#do i love it? no #do i hate it? also no #they clearly needed more time everything is packed so tightly the pacing falls apart in act 2 #episode 7 was amazing i could watch more of just that tbh #don't mind me just talking #arcane spoilers #arcane season 2

4 notes · View notes

mariyekos · 10 months ago

Text

Stopping for the night because I need sleep and also this section is. So bad. Missing the spirit of the OG and what made me like it. Goddamn. I have extensive notes on this. I'm just going to put them below for those curious, so SPOILERS. I'll specify which part of the game I'm talking about below the cut, and then will have a few line skips so if you're not there yet, you don't read stuff.

Okay spoilers for Chapter 10 of the game.

Cosmo Canyon, that is. Be warned.

Still here? Here they are, not proofread, straight from my mid-playthrpugh note document. These thoughts aren't all complete because I wanted to keep moving forward with the story but it's my initial reactions to Cosmo Canyon. Some things I thought about more than I wrote, but like I said sometimes I just wanted to move on so I didn't elaborate. Last warning that this is, by VAST majority, negative. (Oh and last note before real time notes was that the other part I hated was Corel Prison. I have a nearly 3,000 word essay on that that I'll share another time.)

They're reminding us that Sephiroth wants to save the Planet, but by killing everyone. It's the way, not the goal, that's the problem. I'm glad they reminded me because I forgot. That's bow what he wants to do in the original, exactly. I mean I guess he wants to take back the planet, but…different.

Please stop saying over and over and over how Cait's a spy and we're worried he might betray us. It's gotten so old

WAIT. Barret just said that this place is more beautiful than he ever imagined. So now he didn't get his inspiration from Cosmo Canyon? I suspect the people around the world talking about the suffering of the Planet are from Cosmo Canyon so maybe he heard it from them, but I've always really liked Barret getting his passion and being learned because of Cosmo Canyon. I guess this fits better with him not leaving Marlene but I just loved that bit about him. If we even get the fire scene, it's not going to hit the same. Are we gonna lose another great scene because of story changes? Sigh.

I really thought it was super cute (and childish, in a good way, because we forget how young Red is for his species) when he abandons us saying “I'm home!” All excitedly. Haven't gotten there yet but I have a feeling we'll miss it. Rather than show his immaturity through occasional childish speech/actions, this game has made him more bestial by having a soft spot for meat, which isn't cute in the same way.

Hm so Cosmo Canyon is across a bridge (which is at the top of many steps) rather than just at the top of the steps. Less striking this way but not necessarily bad.

What the fuck that's not Red's voice when he's saying “Hey, guys! It's me! I'm back. This is the other voice. The one I think Aerith was talking to. Uhhh what was it name it was like Rex or somwthing. Went back and I think it was Faz? I hate this. Why is Red two people. Did Hojo do this? I miss when Red just had a childlike side. Like I actively do not want to unpause this scene.

Red stopping to be pet is cute but seems less childlike then him running straight to Bugenhagen. Like here the Guard told him to go talk to Fellow Bugenhagen and Red walked away after that. Where's the excitement of running straight in? He was just excited to be pet, which makes him more bestial than human childlike. Him just telling the guard to let them through and not having to come back also undermines that childlike excitement of running ahead and then needing to pop back, like how kids sometimes just speed through things without thinking. I know he's supposed to be a teenager mentally and not a child, but given how Yuffie is, it was FINE. Ugh. This voice is upsetting me so much I almost want to take off my headphones.

Why the HELL would the people of Cosmo Canyon not want to invite people who bombed reactors in? They're anti reactor and anti Shinra! Why does Dio give them a chance but Cosmo Canyon folks would apparently care! Why are the rich elite given so much sympathy but the new stewards of the planet not? You've missed the point! So much! Ahhh! I mean I'm pretty sure they just do this to give Cait Sith some points, but it's at the cost of the people of Cosmo Canyon. Once again trying to make sure our protagonists look great and not thinking about how much sense that makes in the context of the world, grhhhh.

Cosmo Canyon theme is great! I was very mixed on it in my original playthroughs. Or maybe it was more that I didn't like the Red XIII's Theme version of it. I've grown to like it more over the years, but this rendition is fantastic! I especially love the clarinet(?)/wind instrument part.

Yeah there are a bunch of people praying in the Square before one of the green preachers. I don't know how I feel about it. He tells the people to not neglect their studies nor their prayers. I don't know how much I like this getting turned into a religion, which is weird because I usually like fantasy religions. Maybe it's because I don't like missionaries/preachers. And because he's telling them to not stop praying.

Kid got candy and she told him to say a prayer before eating it, so he thanked the planet. Hm.

Everyone in the shops talking about how their items are infused with the soul of the Planet makes this feel like a tourist trap. Costa del Sol was that, but Cosmo Canyon always felt more wholesome and for true believers who don't need that kind of reminder every second. It feels more like uhhhh manipulation (or a better word) than genuine belief. Like brainwashing.

There are preachers at every corner and it feels culty. I think the devs went too far with this background conversation.

There'd a bonfire here and it's a spiritual thing about souls dying and getting the blessings of thr planet and to be born again. And this guy is giving a tour! Yeah Cosmo Canyon I'd a tourist trap! I don't like it! It felt so much more intimate in the OG!! The writers are trying to get out exposition by including people who don't know so explanations can be given but it ruins the ambiance. They should've had more interactive people we could talk to and get this info from.

Someone said they're looking forward to the River of Lights tonight. So are we losing our intimate bonfire for some big setpiece? Aghh. And someone said this tradition goes back to the Cetra. The Ancients aren't nearly so lost in this game, with this and the new Gongaga establishment connection. It's less mysterious, in a way. It's not as gone. They don't haunt the narrative in the same way.

There are multiple people with cameras in addition to gawking tourists. This just ruins the vibe man. And a guy just said blessings of the planet be with you with our one of a kind seasoning…this all feels so fake. I hate it.

Oh I HATE THE SPLIT PERSONALITY THING SO MUCH. IT WAS RED ALL FORMAL AND THEN AERITH SAID THEY WERE GOING TO MISS RED AND THEN HE GOT BASHFUL AND USED THE OTHER VOICE I HATE IT I HATE IT I HATE IT. IT MAKES ME SO UNCOMFORTABLE. Are the other characters able to tell him voice is different, or is that for the players? I'm sure it'll be explained in a short while if I continue but it's hard when I hate it so much. Why did they do this to you Red, you didn't deserve this. It's like they're trying to explain away a reasonable part of his original character with a new, bad reason.

Wait. Barret asks if it was Red's duty to act like an old man, and then red in his normal voice said he wanted them to treat him as an equal, not a beast. So is Red's normal voice just an act? Is Faz not Red? Huh? I don't like this still, but him putting on an older person voice that he loses a grip on when he gets excited is…not nearly as bad as a split personality. I'm pretty sure they gave him a new VA. Why couldn't they keep his VA and have him put on a kid voice? Still doesn't sit right with me. Especially with how he and Aerith shared a look.

Oh and! Red says he wanted to be treated as an equal, not a beast. But him being a child doesn't make him a beast, it makes him a child. It's different! He's embarrassed when Bugenhagen exposes him as being mentally a teenager!!!! Why is it about being treated as a beast and not a child!!!

Many more people are vocally against Shinra in this game. Different than thr apathetic people of the OG. And the message that sometimes you have to do something people don't like for their benefit.

There are so many converts here. People talking about how they need to become preachers basically. Ugh. People talking about Planetology has made them better. Why don't you bash us over the head with it Square huh

So many packs of praying people is disconcerting. Some people preach about how everyone has the knowledge of the planet (thoughts and memories) and it is part of this game's message about how everyone can be strong and good if they look within and it's so hokey.

These reassurances that the planet is watching and will never forsake them and will keep them safe feels over the top…it's not just the planet, it's the will of the people. Maybe the Planet caused this time travel or whatever and it's alluding to that but…I like the power of the individual. Of Aerith's sacrifice. It's weird because normally I like cosmic powers that don't feature directly but the execution is lacking for a trope I enjoy, I think.

All these people and PREACHERS up by Bugenhagen feel disingenuous. It's not as intimate. The devs were too focused on a lively/full world at the loss/sacrifice of the spirit of the original.

And there's this person saying they don't need to fear anything from their own planet, but from things that come from outside the world, and thar united they will never succumb to fear of celestial calamity. I think this is supposed to be a clever nod to Jenova, but it's wrong. Yes they need to fear Jenova, but Shinra is bad too. You SHOULD be wary of your fellow man, because they can hurt the Planet too. Shinra didn't start with mako BECAUSE of Jenova. Agh.

Oh God this voice change for Red is going to be permanent isn't it. Did they do it in Japanese too okay so Bugenhagen still calls Red a kid and Red says he's 48 while Bugenhagen calls him 15 or 16. They didn't need to do the voice thing to make him immature. They could just do it with actions. They couldn't do subtlety if their life depended on it.

Bugenhagen has one of “the first mako detectors ever built.” Why. Why not lifestream detectors. Why are you detecting Mako. Is Mako NOT processed lifestream?

There are people praying in front of the giant telescope too…this kills the “kooky old man inviting you into his home to show you his life's passion” sort of thing. Ugh.

BUGENHAGEN DOUBTS US WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THE WEAPONS. WHY DOES DIO GIVE US A CHANCE BUT BUGENHAGEN DOESN'T. COME ON. He wants to teach us after it but it's so shallow. Come onnn

Wait. Did Bugenhagen work for Shinra at one point? Did I forget that from the OG, is it new, or am I wrong? He just said the planetarium in the Shinra building is a newer iteration but the one here is his original design. Thinking of the Mako detectors, now I feel like its implying he worked for Shinra?

Oh.

So Bugenhagen says that once spiritual energy is processed (or once mako is processed), it cannot return to the lifestream and is fated to fade away. But Tifa asked “what if it doesn't? What if it just returns to the lifestream in a different form? Is that possible?” SO THEORY TIME. ARE BLACK WHISPERS BORN FROM PROCESSED MAKO. I figured it was Sephiroth clones or something

Bugenhagen says she has a novel theory built from a lack of understanding that can be overcome with time and education. I don't think I like this guy as much. He feels condescending.

Ugh and then Bugenhagen has his assistants escort Tifa and Aerith away, like he doesn't want to bother teaching himself. I don't like this! Where is kooky grandpa! Who cares so much he does it himself! Ahhh!

Cloud asks Bugenhagen (in an optional conversation) if they can Save the Planet by making the Spiritual Energy stronger, and Bugenhagen yells at him asking why he (Bugenhagen) would know. Yes he apologizes and says he's stuck in the past but I still don't like their characterization.

Bugenhagen yells at us and essentially calls us all dumb yet gives us items because??? I know they say it's because we helped Nanaki but why did he treat us so poorly then? Bad game design of wanting to give items and not fitting in with the narrative.

Yuffie: “this village's lame! Did you know none of the materia here's even real? And ding get me started on the planetologists! Bunch of blowhards in love with the sound of their own voice.” So IS this what the writers want us to think? Or is this Yuffie being childish? If they changed Cosmo Canyon to be ingenuine I don't like that!!!

Cait's no longer sleeping on the steps…where did he go…

Tifa says she fell into the lifestream. Not mako. Yeah we saw the stream but.

Why are they making Tifa the prophet in this game? Why not Aerith? She still has her feelings of powerlessness which is a core part of her character but yeah why make HER the prophet.

Barret says a mentor told him it was presumptuous of him to think he could save the Planet because the planet decides her own fate. So we ARE saying the mentors are bad then. Instead of Barret being inspired by Cosmo Canyon, he's going against it. Hrgh.

Why are these people giving Aerith a special role in this ceremony? What did she do to deserve this, other than be relevant to the game plot which in universe characters shouldn't know.

WHY IS SHE TELLING EVERYONE SHE'S AN ANCIENT.

WHAT THE FUCK HAVE THEY DONE TO COSMO CANYON. WHY DO PEOPLE BELIEVE HER WHEN BUGENHAGEN DIDN'T BELIEVE TIFA'S STORY ABOUT ENTERING THE LIFESTREAM. THIS IS BS.

She's owning her heritage earlier than in game and it's odd. I guess because of the weird memories it motivates her to do it early maybe but it doesn't fit with her OG character. It makes her later turn less powerful imo. Also this speech isn't foe the people of Cosmo Canyon, it's for the players. So many things in this game feel like that. Seriously why is she leading this speech. Why does anyone believe her. Did Red put in a word? Why didn't Bugenhagen believe Tifa before then?

This scene is SO much worse than the campfire scene where everyone goes into why they're there. Because the campfire scene is an intimate scene with just us. So it makes sense for our characters to spill their secrets and desires and fears to each other. But to this public group who Aerith doesn't know? Why would she say this? Why would they have her do this? Corel and Cosmo Canyon have both been bad and I'm really worried about the test of this game. I wasn't before because the changes still felt in line with the spirit of the original, but these parts don't.

Bugenhagen mentions the ceremony brings tourists so I guess it's not normal but still. This game wants the concern for the planet to be way larger than the OG which I think weakens the point about people being ignorant (whether willfully or not) to the plight of the Planet, thus worsening what's going on. It's thr complacency aspect, but they're skipping that. In real life unfortunately, the vast majority of people are NOT invested in environmental stuff and in thr OG it also felt like that but here they're going for this motivational spin that I think just misses the point...

And side commentary is admiring Aerith's speech. Ugh. Why did she have it? Seriously? Game you don't NEED to try to make us like Aerith like this! It works so much better when it's natural!

Hit another point in Rebirth where a difference is so upsetting I don't want to continue. This seems so much worse. I hate this. I am paused mid cutscene and have been for 5 minutes because I hate this so much. Ugh!!!!

#erurandomness #eruplays ffviir2

15 notes · View notes

its-moopoint · 7 years ago

Note

I'm making a prediction for the rugby game this weekend in Ireland. I predict that they both go, no pictures or videos, but we'll get banter back and forth between them about the game as if they're both home in their individual houses watching on their own separate tvs. Obviously not together 😂 Anyone want in on the bet

I see your bet and I take it, but I’m going with an even more shipper approach and I say there’s gonna be proof they are both there. My reasons? Before anyone starts asking if I know something no I don’t, I didn’t get any special messages or anything. My reasons are the patters. This whole week feels like Australian Trip 2.0 only with the rugby theme. I may be wrong but to me it feels like that. Plus in the shipper-anti push and pull it’s clearly our turn. We had pancakes, then IFTA kiss/engagement talk/Pap walk. We had marathon training, running on the streets and carks parked in front of apartments plus Lolita’s dirty photo shoot then they give us Tinderella’s make over and party attending with posting on SM as icing on the cake. We have Cait throwing shade then considering Skipper her dear friend and amazing woman and blocking fans.

It’s time to kiss some shipper ass again imo. So I say they both make it clear they are there, maybe Maestro too as third wheel since there’s an engagement to be pretended still. I don’t think Lolita will show up though I don’t rule it out completely either. After all they had him go all the way to LA spending almost as much time on a plane as he did there in his whole trip. In any of those scenarios the only difference would be where my eyes end in my face after all the rolling.

#Anonymous

31 notes · View notes

outlanderfandomfollies · 4 years ago

Text

Thanks for sharing your thoughts anon and thanks for your patience in waiting for my response!

As you can see, I cut out the blogger W&S’s full “PR” post about MM that you had attached to your ask. Instead, I'm just going to address some excerpts from the post. For those who want to read W&S’s entire post, it can be found HERE.

On Q Scores

So let’s look at W&S’s false PR claim about MM related to Q Scores:

“Quite simply a Q-score is a measurement of the familiarity and appeal of a brand, celebrity, company, or entertainment product. Used to be, Q-scores were measured by a celebrity’s appearances on TV/film, talk shows and in entertainment magazines. Nowadays, the score is figured almost solely from social medial statistics. To put the score in perspective, right now Johnny Depp has the highest Q-score at 92. Trump’s Q-score is 98. Sam and Cait’s Q-scores range from 38-42 which is a very respectable range for actors in their genre. The interesting thing is that this time last year, MM had a Q-score of 18, which has risen to over 30 as of today and why? Because of Sam. Here is a girl that has chased fame since she was 12 years old and she’s finally got her hands on something that can help her achieve that. She’s going to continue to use him and us unless we do one thing.

“Ignore her.”

I have no idea where W&S got her numbers but the reality is that from everything I can tell, Sam and Cait DON’T actually have official Q scores. Ironically, MM has several Q Scores from when she was a young adult (19 to 21 years-old; between 2007-2009).

You have to pay a fee to get the actual Q Scores, so I did not obtain MM’s actual scores, but as you can see in the above screenshots, those Q Scores exist for MM but NOT for S or C.

And honestly, all of the above makes sense, given that Q Scores are:

“The recognized industry standard for measuring consumer appeal of performers, brand ambassadors, influencers, characters, licensed properties and brands.” [emphasis added]

Q Scores for celebrities are most useful to help companies know if their sponsorship of shows that feature those celebrities can sell products. Outlander is a cable show--it doesn’t have commercial sponsors. So businesses have no incentive to figure out how appealing S or C are to consumers. However, according to IMDb, from 2007 to 2009, MM had been on shows that involve commercial sponsors, including 224 episodes of The Bold and the Beautiful.

I’ve done this Q score search several times over the years and it always yields the same results. If you doubt me, you can do your own HERE.

So MM was clearly NOT trying to use the relatively unknown C-list actor S to up her Q Score, especially since S didn’t even have a Q Score.

Furthermore, based on his IMDb profile, Billy Magnussen, the guy MM dated just before S, was about on a par with (and probably slightly more famous than) S at the time that MM was dating Billy--and during the time she was dating S. (BTW, Billy like S, also doesn’t have a Q Score. 🤷) Consequently, it made no sense for MM to drop Billy to date S (or to even “secretly continue to date Billy” while she “pretended to date S” as ES falsely claimed 🙄) because there was NO major career advantage for MM in her being linked with S rather than Billy--especially in 2016, when S hadn’t started making Hollywood films.

MM’s dating Sam did not increase her social media followers/activity enough to significantly impact her career

W&S also made an analogy to MM’s motivations in dating S by referring to a fictional character ship on the soap opera Days of Our Lives. The fictional characters “EF and Sami” were shipped by viewers as “Ejami.” Viewers waited 8 years for them to get together. which finally happened in 2013. Days fans blew up social media with their happiness.

According to W&S, in 2014, Nielsen started to include social media in their ratings of shows. So the show’s producer Ken Corday decided to break Ejami up and have EJ get blackmailed into a relationship with a younger woman. Corday did this hoping that the viewers would be outraged and light up social media. Viewers chose not to fall for his “devious plan”; instead, they “went silent.” Consequently, the social media ratings for Days tanked. W&S goes on to say:

“What’s my point in all this? My point is that MM is taking PR lessons from Corday. That picture she posted with the rainbow wasn’t some innocent thing, she KNEW using a rainbow would rile fans up. You see in Hollywood, there’s one simple and very true rule “There’s no such thing as bad publicity!” Every time you interact on MM’s Twitter or Instagram, whether to say yay or nay, whether you call her a saint or a slut -she benefits from it. Every single time! Don’t think social media is that important? I have a friend that’s an actor – a relatively well-known soap opera actor at that - who was just turned down for a role because his social media presence wasn’t that strong. No joke! “

Hello?! First, does W&S realize she is conflating a young jobbing actress’ social media popularity with how social media can impact show ratings because of audience reaction to fictional characters and plots? We’re talking apples and oranges here. 🤷

Yes, sometimes celebrity social media makes a difference. But in the eyes of Hollywood, MM isn’t even on the radar in terms of social media. Because a social media presence in Hollywood involves MILLIONS of followers--NOT THOUSANDS.

For instance, in July 2018, a few months after MM and S broke up, MM had about 24,600 followers.

At the same time, Emma Watson (an A- list film actor) had 47 MILLION IG Followers and Sophie Turner (a B+ list TV/ film actor) had 7.7 MILLION IG Followers.

I don’t remember how many IG followers MM had when she first started to date S; I think it was around 14,000 followers. So even if she increased her following by 10,000 during the time they dated, that is meaningless by Hollywood standards. And the amount of traffic on her social media that those extra 10,000 followers added would again be meaningless in Hollywood terms.

And I’m sorry, there is such a thing as bad publicity. The hate on social media by certain Outlander fans towards MM in which they accused her of being a “beard” a “paid girlfriend” and “trashy” isn’t the kind of publicity that would boost anyone’s career in Hollywood. Because remember, as stated above, Q Scores measure “consumer appeal.” Nasty comments on social media like the ones repeatedly made towards MM by certain Outlander fans would have actually lowered--not raised--her general “consumer appeal.”

IN CONCLUSION: MM had little to gain in dating S in terms of helping her career. If she had stayed with Billy she would have faired about the same--and maybe better because there wouldn’t have been all those awful SM comments made about her by Outlander fans. Consequently, the conspiracy theory that she left Billy to be with S (or to “pretend” to be with S) as a way of boosting her career doesn’t make sense.

BOTTOM LINE: Don’t believe the “PR experts” in Shipperville

From what I can tell, almost everyone in Shipperville who claims to have some PR background is either exaggerating their background, lying, or has PR experience that is not in the entertainment industry. This is because they consistently provide PR misinformation that comes right from the tinhat playbook passed on from fandom to fandom from the time of the faux Lord of the Rings Domlijah ship from years ago. My advice is that fans shouldn’t believe anything they say, especially if they discuss PR conspiracy theories regarding S & C. JMHO

[See more below the cut about a question the anon had about interpreting a comment left on W&S’s post and another issue raised by the anon.]

Interpreting an Old Remark

“Could you also interpret mega________’s comment from the post? I am confused because I thought she was an Anti/Truther, not a shipper, since she has made supportive posts of Sam and the women he has had relationships with like MM.”

Anon, you might want to ask herself to explain what she meant when she wrote the comment: “How many? Not one. Zero, zero zero. DONE!! ❤️️ ❤️️ “

To my knowledge mega_________ is a nonshipper who was always supportive of MM. Her remark was a riff on a twitter exchange between S & C based on an Erika Jayne song. Basically, S & C were saying they don’t have any more f*cks to give about fandom drama.

I would assume, given that she has always been supportive of MM, that mega_________ was implying that MM would give “zero f*cks” about W&S’s suggestion that Outlander fans “ignore her” on social media.

But that’s just my interpretation based largely on the fact that I know she is a nonshipper. However, W&S’s post is 4 years old. It’s remotely possible mega_________ was a shipper back then, in which case, I would interpret the comment differently. (Like myself, many nonshippers started out as shippers.) As I said, it would be better if you ask mega_________ yourself Anon.

As to the other blogger you mentioned being “disappointed with” (whose name was one of the ones I blanked out in your ask), as far as I know she is a lovely woman who was a shipper (although she rarely posted about it). I would assume by now she has moved on from the ship and might be embarrassed by some of the things she said years ago (remember, that post was from 2017).

[edited]

#debunk of MM dating S as a PR stunt

6 notes · View notes