#or seeing old tweets/posts and comparing it to now

[padfootastic]

so, this is a note that i wrote myself just over a year ago. at that point, i hadn’t written prongsfoot like, at all. all i knew was that i was obsessed with james & sirius in any capacity, whether alone or together. and i’d exhausted almost all the platonic options so moving onto romantic was the next step. at this point, i was devouring j/s fics like nobody’s business and i really, really wanted to try my hand at romance.

today, i’ve done this and so much more and it makes me very, very happy 🥰🥰

[spideysbruh]

jokes

y/n just posted a story!

caption- just some thoughts 🤭🤭🤔🤔

@realchalamet just tweeted- yes, y/n actually made me go through my following and explain

@y/n liked and retweeted

@y/n replied- okay but you were totally willing !!!

@realchalamet liked and replied- I guess I just love you so much I'd do any and everything for you idk

@yellowyn replied- awwww 🥺😭😭😭

@leestimmy replied- LMFAOOOOO I'm just picturing yall doing this and I'm deadddd

@timmysdunesss replied- okay. now swallow an airtag

@y/n liked

liked by y/n, zendaya and 3,116,182 others

tchalamet literally the most beautiful girl i've seen in my whole life. nobody compares!!! 😍😍

view all 82,727 comments

zendaya did y/n steal your phone be honest

tchalamet no this is just me appreciating my wonderful girlfriend

y/n omg so unexpected haha thank you timmy 🥰😘😘

tchalamet anything for my princess

worldlyyn okay but timmy is actually away filming rn so she's not with him, he fr posted this 💀😭😭

headbandyn but y/n DEF told him LMAOOO

liked by tchalamet, florencepugh, rachelzegler and 4,177,828 others

y/n i ❤️ my boyfriend

view all 211,187 comments

rachelzegler im dead.

willymywonka PLEASEEEEEEEEEE 💀💀💀💀💀

tchalamet why.

florenceamy LITTLE TIMMYYYY

die4yn LOSING IT OVER THISSSSSS

timmylaurie AYE NOW CHOP 🗣🗣🗣

y/n RAH RAH LIKE A DUNGEON DRAGON LIKE A DUNGEON DRAGON 🗣🗣🗣

tchalamet liked

liked by y/n, oliviarodrigo and 3,456,667 others

tchalamet I'll love her as long as I breathe

view all 172,266 comments

cookieyn VRYINGG

timmylaurie damn he's so in love im crying

y/n wowww so you won't love me anymore when we die ??? ok. noted.

tchalamet liked

tchalamet I can't with you.

y/n 😁🥰🥰😘😘😘

ynxlee why are they the best couple ever

timmytimstan don't get the hype over that fugly girl

lomlyn can you stfu he doesnt want you bro he never will you're literally hideous and evil why would he ever even associate with you

timmyscat DAMN 💀💀💀

y/n just posted a story!

caption- i watch wonka or little women when i miss him 😔💔🫶 my whimsical man

liked by tchalamet, florencepugh, and 3,716,171 others

y/n ill be the brightest, you'll see

view all 321,166 comments

tsgf she's showing wayyyy too much omg, no way timothee is okay w this

ynsheadphones kys tbh

y/n okay and I'll show more, tf ?

tchalamet liked

tchalamet wow.

tchalamet how are you so perfect

sunshineyn timothée is so lucky bro wtf man

spideyyn i wanna know what he did in a past life to deserve this

tchalamet my girl is hot !!!

scrubscrubtimmy should we give timothée some space? 🤔💀💀💀

liked by y/n, zendaya, tomholland2013 and 3,432,222 others

tchalamet we do go outside !!! a lot!!!!!

view all 376,277 others

y/n that was our first time seeing the sun in like three months don't lie

tchalamet 🤫🤫🤫

y/n I'm literally edward cullen

tchalamet my 104 year old girlfriend 😍😍😍

y/n liked

timmytimstan ugh ofc she's a twilight stan, tasteless and annoying !!!

rachelzegler to quote Robert Pattinson, it's not even cool to be a twilight hater anymore 🙃

y/n and tchalamet liked

buzzyyn mama y papa

@y/n just tweeted- WONKA NOW ON HBO (or is it max now? 🤔🙄)

@realchalamet liked and replied- WHY

@y/n replied- 🙁

@shrekxyn replied- WHERED YOU EVEN FIND THIS PLEASEEEEE

@y/n replied to @shrekxyn- tiktok blessed me 😍😍 also wtf is your @ helpp

@curlyyn replied- omg new pfp lets goooo

*

[theghostwife]

Daemon vs. Alicent

So I saw a post on Twitter stating that if Daemon is responsible for Jaehaerys, then Alicent is responsible for Larys killing Harwin and their father and I have so many many thoughts about this. Firstly, I hate that fans of the show constantly attack Alicent. I'm not saying she's a good mother or a good person but blaming her for the acts of the men around her makes little to no sense. Normally, I'd just ignore tweets like this but the parallels I saw could not be ignored and so here I am.

Disclaimer: I'm not going to name the Twitter account I saw. I just don't want them to get attacked or anything.

First of all, their defense of Daemon stems from the fact that we never see him tell B&C to go for anyone else and because those words never left his mouth that we could see, they took it as it's not his fault. However, it was heavily, heavily implied that he did. Cheese asks what should they do if they can't find Aemond. The show allows us to fill in the blanks like we're playing hang-man. The sentence is there, the order is there, we merely need to fill it in.

Then we have his reaction to the news. Did we see surprise on his face? No. Did we see a bit of remorse for a 4-year-old getting killed in place of Aemond? No. He was pleased with the news.

In fact, when Rhaenyra turned to look at him, he was smirking.

He knew exactly what was going to happen and he's happy that at least someone was killed. It didn't matter that Aegon did not send Aemond to kill Lucerys. It did not matter that Jaehaerys is not Aemond's son. It did not matter that Jaehaerys was a child who had no part in the war or conflict. He was collateral damage. Even with all the feelings and expressions of horror around him, including that of Rhaenyra, he did not care.

At least until Rhaenyra spoke to him herself.

When she first confronted him, he says that he sent the Queen's vengeance for her son.

—————————————————————

Rhaenyra: "What did you tell this vengenace? What did you say to him? Daemon? That a boy lies dead and I am accused of killing him."

Daemon: "Mysaria provided me with names and subterfuge. I was clear in my instructions. Aemond, the brother of Aegon the Usurper. I cannot be responsible—"

Rhaenyra: "Cannot be responsible?"

Rhaenyra: "If Aemond was not to be found, what were your instructions then?"

Daemon: "They did not concern in any way that of a little child."

Rhaenyra: "You said it was your aim to spill Hightower blood. If not Aemond, then anyone would do."

—————————————————————

Despite the fact that he denies her accusations, she then goes on to say she doesn't believe him. Then there is this little number.

Now, here they get to the argument of Daemon, his resentment and bitterness that he was passed over as heir for Rhaenyra, and the fact that Aegon now sits on the throne. Even in the book, Daemon hates his nephews solely because they pushed him down the line of succession, so this one sentence here matches up perfectly with how Daemon truly feels.

It wasn't just "revenge" for Luke. It was revenge on the Targtowers, specifically, anyone in their family, any male. The death of Luke, Rhaenyra's declarance just served as a convenient excuse. If Aemond was not to be found, Daemon could have easily told them not to harm anyone else if he truly cared for Rhaenyra and her claim.

On a side note, I think this is really funny considering just before Rhaenyra accused him of using her as an excuse to kill Jaehaerys, she flat-out asked him if she was merely a tool he used to grasp at his stolen inheritance. It seems that in the show, Daemon using her as an excuse has come up more than once. Hell, even Viserys accused him of doing the same. It's just an interesting thing.

Anywho, let's compare this to Alicent and Larys Strong now shall we.

Unlike Daemon who commanded Blood and Cheese to kill Aemond, Alicent gave no such order. She didn't command anyone to be killed, nor did she want anyone to be killed. She merely stated she wanted her father back in King's Landing.

She lamented the fact that there was no one in King's Landing on her side. So what was Larys's response to this?

Larys took her words and acted on his own which resulted in the death of both Harwin and Lyonel. Alicent literally had nothing to do with it so I find it funny that someone compared the two together.

Then they mentioned that an episode later, Alicent rewards him. She wasn't rewarding him. Larys intentionally trapped Alicent with his deeds by stating he did it for her, in her name. If she were to ever expose him for his crimes, all he has to do is say she ordered him to do it in order to have her father back as Hand to the King and he would be believed.

As proof of this, in the next episode, Daemon accuses Alicent of killing Harwin and Lyonel anyway, without much justification other than her and Otto gaining from it. If Daemon thinks this, who else already believes either Alicent or Otto had something to do with it?

Later on in the same episode, Larys once again offered his services and Alicent knew better than to deny him, especially after she attacked Rhaenyra with the dagger, which damaged her reputation with the nobles and Viserys. That was Alicent accepting that she may in fact need his special brand of help later on but it's clear from her face, that she does not want it.

Also, to add to this fact, I think another reason why she said,

—————————————————————

"But your devotion has not gone unnoticed. These are dangerous times. The day will doubtless come when I require such a friend. With not only skill but discretion as well."

is because right before this, Larys subtly offered her the eye of Luke.

"If it's an eye you want to balance the scales, I am your servant."

—————————————————————

So that was her way of leading Larys away from maiming Luke but still allowing him close to her. Alicent with Larys is stuck between a rock and a hard place. This is very evident with him forcing her to sell herself, even if it is just her feet, he gets sexual satisfaction from both her feet and the act of sexual coercion as it gives him power, for basic information.

So the comparison between Daemon with B&C to Alicent and Larys with Harwin & Lyonel is in fact not at all comparable. I'd say that Alicent plays a similar role to Rhaenyra in that aspect and that is the parallel I saw. Saying one thing, making one wish/demand, and having a rogue man take your words, twist them to fit their own intentions and actions, and then say they did it your name while you bear the brunt of blame.

Speaking of the foot scene, this one could be a little different. Larys offers to have Mysaria killed because of her spy network which Otto is aware of but has left in place. Of course, here Alicent knows what will happen and essentially...pays Larys by showing him her feet. It's still an act of sexual coercion but in the end, Alicent says,

—————————————————————

"I assume this task falls within your expertise."

Which Larys responds with,

"If you wish it… it will be done."

—————————————————————

However, I don't think Alicent wanted the entire brothel to be up in flames but we never see her reaction to it, although I have a feeling she could have already known how Larys planned to solve that problem. Nonetheless, had the person on Twitter used that event in particular, it would have been a better comparison.

[hologramcowboy]

Okay, well, Jensen finally showed up on television again. This time, playing Russell Shaw on Tracker. I'm curious if you watched and what you think of his performance.

Personally, it felt like Dean Winchester never left. It didn't help that there were numerous (and obvious) SPN easter eggs in the episode. I'm curious if that's happened before when guest stars come on. Do the writer's play up that actor's previous roles as much as they did Jensen's?

I'm also curious about a few tweets I saw from people who attended the FBBC event. Apparently, Jensen talked about his role on Tracker.

https://twitter.com/kunerksterphoto/status/1789808856576487771 and https://twitter.com/kunerksterphoto/status/1789808858505888136

I know we get dude in #Tracker tonight, so a little story. I wore my “I Miss Dean” shirt to the brewery event last weekend and as soon as dude saw it he was like “you know that episode of Tracker I did? I asked how they saw me playing it and they told me to do what I know best. So if you miss Dean, you’re going to get quite a bit of Dean on Tracker because he’s what I do best.” So it was a conscious choice and I am so excited by this.

https://twitter.com/kgauck/status/1789821196839637236

He told me I'd probably see a lot of Dean in his role on Tracker. I joked that he was dressed a lot like Dean in the promo pics, and then he made a joke about being typecast.

It sounds like Jensen's basically thrown in the towel on improving his craft since he apparently doesn't mind playing Dean in all his roles, or being typecast.

I read things like this and I can't imagine that he'll ever get another lead role. It's all going to be guest spots for characters that are similar to Dean Winchester. It's disappointing because he's definitely had the time post-SPN to take classes and improve between Covid and the strike. I suppose if he's happy doing guest spots and conventions, good for him, but as a sort-of fan/nearly former fan, I'm just sad to see his career come to this.

He's becoming a sad cliché. He is confusing a character for his main type and that is why he will never be A list and definitely never be Batman.

Thank you for this lovely post, anon.

I did tune in for the episode and, quite frankly, I was disappointed. Casting him seems to have been a gimmick, right down to the beer mentions.

First off, his acting initially seemed to be improved, right up until he started using that fake voice again then it all became cringe after cringe. I am so saddened that Jensen can't see past Dean and that he can't be himself. I know now that he'll never make it, an actor that stagnates can't ever reach A list.

Justin, in comparison, acts naturally, he has a natural instinct and this really just made Jensen look even faker. For the for the first time, Jensen played a completely meh character. He's turning into one of those dudes that star in various shows that no one even remembers because they are just there to advance the lead's plot. Right down to his superficial, mediocre, unnatural choices and I am sorry but in no way did he have the layers of someone who served in the army. That was a key characteristic of his character and he completely missed the plot on that and that's because the mention of it was a Soldier Boy easter egg. Jensen gets so caught up in flaunting his celebrity persona he forgets to embody his characters realistically.

I've read comments from AAs who claim Russell is different compared to Dean and I just want to say: gimmick casting, the whole script was written to callback to Dean, easter eggs included. Stop lying to yourselves and admit that Jensen has thrown in the towel. He is a one trick pony and that one trick will soon expire because, you know what? It's not an interesting character, it's not someone to root for, it's not someone fighting for something. It's a bored, self centered man faking a rougher inner and outer state and mimicking (yes, that's right, mimicking not acting) an idea of his old character. Mimicking poorly. As someone who loved Dean Winchester( when he was well written), I really need Jensen to stop because he is ruining the memory and disrespecting the legacy.

Thank you, anon, for sending me this ask and for asking my opinion, it pains me to say but I agree with you, lead roles aren't feasible.

[rosesocietyy]

Brilliant people have said everything that needs to be said about this much much better and I don't got anything substantial to add but I just have to get this off my chest cause y'all I'm still in disbelief

like this is a grown ass person btw oh I simply have to laugh😭

this perfectly exemplifies literally everything cringe af and wrong with these "assigned welcomers". this is just my scapegoat but there are way worse I've seen

First of all, get a job. how, at your fossil age, do you have time to spend all day scrolling through every single iwtv related post and arguing with people who say anything even slightly damning about lestat (which mind you, is literally just objective facts about things he did). I'll dm you a McDonald's application hell I'll even put in a referral for you out of the goodness of my heart.

Second, Lestat is not a real person. he's fake, a made up character, the figment of someone's imagine, non-existent, people hating him will not affect your life in anyway shape or form. He didn't assign you as his PR agent I promise you'll live. "They'll never accept him" ok and?!?

Question, and I'm genuinely asking, is this their first time in a fandom? why is someone having a different opinion about a character they love enough to send them into hysterics like?? 13 year olds on anime twitter have a better grasp on reality that y'all do get a grip!

And like the above posts have talked extensively about, I most definitely noticed whose posts a specific bunch of them love to go under to share their dog shit "explanation" that nobody asked for. When a black person sees Louis being brutalized by his white lover what do you expect their reaction to be? oaur wow this white french slut is so pussy cunt slay period queen? "but louis is flawed too" do you hear yourself? do you listen to yourself when you speak? can you activate the barest hint of brain activity to understand why we would react differently to what we're watching than you would and that knowledge of the source material has nothing to do with it? Just because you read those shitty books and posses no empathy for black people in media doesn't mean you gain some higher understanding of "gothic romance ".

"No but the thing is you don't understand this is a gothic romance and they're supposed to be monsters and lestat has suffered saur much and he's also the real main character so you must love him" so now how exactly does that negate their point about him being an abuser? quickly! sit the fuck down and shut the fuck up when black people are sharing their thoughts on the show cause who the fuck are you fr and what convinced you that you have the right to argue with them about THEIR experiences. that tweet that said white people act like God left them in charge, yeah.

Funny enough, half the people that are so gung ho about him now didn't even fw him at all when they only read the first book. wow it's almost like you were allowed to sort out your feelings about him on your own without insects disguised as people in your mentions calling you slow for not licking his feet.

I despise so much in this fandom. From the bottom of my heart I really truly do. I don't know what I was expecting, I guess more common sense and maturity because the average age in the fandom is quite high compared to other fandoms I've been in but nah, just mfs screaming and crying bc ppl don't jump up and down and scream yipee! everytime their white fav commits abhorrent, disgusting crimes.

I was so caught up in the euphoria of an anne rice property finally being given to skilled creators who'll pick it apart and say something poignant with it that for a moment, I forgot I lived in a world where majority of its audience would sadly be the anne rice crowd.

[voiceofsword]

also!! i really loved your crazyB at a fanmeeting thoughts with the little doodles.. how do you think they’d interact with fans online tho. do you think they would have official crazyB social media accounts and if so is it run by cospro mangement or crazyB themselves (they take turns uploading content). i think they’d definitely know about fanworks but do you think any of them would. accidentally like somebody’s fancam from the official crazyB twitter or smth

YES LMFAO once again splitting these into diff ones. i think it'd be run by cospro management usually with a few exceptions. hear me out

rinne's just straight up banned because he treats the crazyb account like his playhouse. that one edit of him tweeting gonna take my wife to pfchangs is literally him. he rts whatever he wants — rting fancams even though hes not supposed to. swearing out the ass in his replies to Anyone. criticizing ES on main. theyre lucky they dont get sued. he replies to fancams of himself like damn my ass looked good as hell here and immediately gets a phone call from ibara like "i want you at the es building right now immediately."

niki's abt what you would expect — like rinne he'd also treat it like his personal account but more innocent. he spams the feed with food pics, but is hardly ever online to begin with so he doesn't really interact with fans or other tweets unless they happen to be at the exact time he gets on his phone. i think he'd be a lot like his va who basically just posts pics of food he's made with business scattered in between skjfhj

himeru is kind of self explanatory he's good at reading people offline but stan twitter is actually insane i dont know how well hed cope with that. he has a hard enough time with rinne and niki being the way they are now imagine going online and seeing people that are just as unhinged if not more. he tries to make conversation with fans as best as he can and like he Understands internet lingo but cannot stand it so like 5 hours in he's like ok goodnight himeru's had enough. he's too old for this

and finally kohaku is probably the one thats allowed on there the most and does the best job because he has years of being on idol forums and social media under his belt. he probably finds it really fun and likes talking to fans this way more than irl bc hes more familiar with it (especially when compared to the other 3). he's not exactly unprofessional but definitely gives vibes of a more casual social media manager bc he does posts memes, selfies with the other bees occasionally, and replies to basically anything!! it actually shocks the rest of them bc hes far more casual online than he usually is

[bubblegum-gf]

Do you have an intro guide to rtumblr I want to be there but I feel like I don’t know something everyone else knows . If that makes sense

@my-name-is-daniel-yes has a very helpful link in his pinned post that I will re-link to you here, a quite expansive post about the history of rtumblr until 2022

(I think daniel's part of that post is much more relevant and useful than mine)

since you are here I will try to give you some succinct explanations on 4 key pillars of rtumblr. (It accidentally became another essay-)

If I got something wrong or anyone wants to add something feel free.

RTCLER

Explanation: In the summer of 2020 this post was made comparing RTGame to the onceler- the infamous tumblr sexyman. Primarily because he wears a suit and acts as a capitalist in games. And has "onceler energy" This is, I'd say, the beginning of rtumblr and our reputation for cursed posts. Then a blog for rtcler, @/ask-the-rt-cler was made similar to the old onceler ask blogs and we all started roleplaying. The roleplays have been dead for a while. See rtcler's blog for more information or more confusion. Additionally a lot of fanart and stuff was made so I think rtcler became pretty well-known.

2. THE BOARD

Explanation: This post is very long and most of it won't make sense. But it is extremely important to rtumblr. I will tell you why this post exists. In November 2021, RTGame tweeted that he looked at tumblr and was surprised by the amount of fanart here. Followed by "Who is the onceler, like really." Everyone freaked out wondering if he knows about rtcler, how much he's seen, and if he has a secret tumblr blog. Soon people started making blogs like notrtgame or not-not-rtgame or I-am-rtgame as if they were rt's secret tumblr blog. Then Fluffy posted The Board, trying to describe the relationship between RT, people associated with him, AU versions of him, and these fake rt blogs. It got out of hand fast. This led to more roleplays as c!Fluffy becomes crazy? mad with power? putting more and more rts on The Board. Those roleplays are also kinda dead right now but by god there's a lot of lore there over the past few years. There's more posts explaining all that somewhere.

3. HOLY FUCK THERE'S A LOT OF RTS

This google doc is also in @my-name-is-daniel-yes's pinned post as mentioned above. It contains links to over 600 RTGame AUs, ranging in complexity from a full on AU with lore, to art of a cute design, to a singular post just suggesting it as an AU. There's not gonna be a pop quiz on this you don't have to know all this. I just put it here because I feel like we reference it a lot when talking about how many rts there are (or at least I do, I'm obsessed with the concept). Have a little scroll through if you want, people make a lot of cool stuff and perhaps you'll see something you like.

4. MAGICAL JOHN

He is also a tumblr sexyman he's on the wiki. If you haven't seen rt's miitopia series he's a character in that. Rtumblr fell in love with him and likes to ship him with Chat. I thought it was important to include him because he's still quite popular even after like 2 years. Someone else talk about him more I can't write any more. The dandelion theory

That's all I got

If you do have a question don't be shy you can always go "hey what the FUCK is this! #rtumblr" and we will run to you with many many links.

[uninformedartist]

I don't know if you have ever talked about this situation yet but I wanted to know your thoughts about this because it's gotten worse and I've seen fans still try and compare both Lackadaisy and Helluva..now, let me just say that I do agree that the Lackadaisy Team should discuss this situation and see what's going on, especially when it's a member of the team and they should be held accountable. But it's VERY hypocritical for the HB/HH attacks the Lackadaisy fandom and say they're not gonna support it because of ONE bad apple and say it's a toxic fanbase, but they'll continue to support Viv and the Spindlehorse team even though they have been called out, especially Viv, for acting unprofessional and whining and complaining and just acting like man children whenever HB gets criticism (even when it's out of love and respect and wanting to see it improve) and there's also so much proof of Viv being a horrible person, and yet fans continue to brush it off and see it as nothing and attack the ones who were hurt and mistreated behind the scenes and the fans just see Viv as this "Perfect Angel Who Could Do No Wrong 😇" but when it comes to others, especially with this Lackadaisy Vs HB drama that's been going on, some fans have admitted they just not support it. It's just hypocritical to me especially since as I said, Viv has been called out for being horrible and yet fans continue to kiss her feet and harass and bully anybody who dares to criticize and call her out and have even went as far as Doxxing just because not everyone likes their little demon show. I honestly feel like the fans don't actually care if anyone's been mistreated and hurt by Viv, as long as they get their demon show that's all that matters to them..they don't care or give shit about people being abused and it's just so damn sad, especially when a lot of these fans are grown adults who should know better and be the better people. :(

I haven't talked about this situation specifically but mentioned it other posts briefly. Zebirdbrain was found to be Transphobic from the tweets they liked/ inteacted with.

Its good they were called and the lackadaisy team should address this issue it is very serious. Its also true what you say very true it is hypothetical that the helluva fanbase is so heavy on calling out Birdbrain but ignore Viv's discord conversations and Ken's call out post with a passion all that show blatant Transphobia, missgendering and ace-phobia.

Evidence:

Excerpts from Ken's call out post:

The fans Don't care and Don't want to care. They remain in this blissful ignorant mindset and have this self righteous attitude towards anyone that speaks out against Viv. They just want their demon show even if its at the cost of others. They also don't care about the problematic spindlehorse staff members but care so much about the lackadaisy problematic staff. Again good for calling birdbrain out just don't be a hypocrite and pick and choose who you call out, if they problematic they problematic call that shit out. Im referring to Raphielle and nicolebsicrete on the spindlehorse staff. Raphielle has a drawn numerous r*pe artworks of Angel dust, Vox and Val and has a r*pe ship between the.

And nicolebsicrete likes problematic fictional ships and stories they are an active rick and morty shipper (this is their old bio description, if you look now it has changed but still stands)

And Viv interactions A LOT with them so there is no way Viv doesn't know they're problematic, Raphielle is very explicit on his shipping and posts aswell well as nicolebsicrete.

At the end of they day the hypocrisy is strong even if they're grown adults (supposedly) in Viv's fanbase, there is a level of expected responsibility on them to call out Viv and staff on their bull. But the fanbase is not that and are quick to call out (justifiably so) a problematic lackadaisy staff and other people but ignores all evidence of Viv and staff doing exactly the same this and worse but its all praise, dismissal on any evidence and give so much support for Viv and problematic spindlehorse staff.

Link to Ken's post:

https://www.docdroid.net/zyvFyCb/kens-experience-pdf

[swords-of-a-soilder]

Remove Problematic CCs

Section 2

"The Qsmp is problematic"

So fun fact twitter hates this fandom and everything it stands for, I'm not kidding when I say the amount of people I saw calling the fandom, toxic, racist, misgontic and ableist is interesting to say the least.

So of course when the SulhasSpace issue happened some people ran with it as proof that the fandom is the problem. Now I've show you guys an racist account before in the last account of interest (burnbook Qsmp) So I'm not here to pretend it's not a problem, it absolutely is.

So yes I get where these are coming from to some degree but Twitter doesn't forgive or forget, and there's of course the fact that not ever "fan" is actually a fan.

That being said they are two sides to Qsmp twitter right now,

1)Chill fun time, drawing your faves.

2)your faves are problematic and if you don't push for them to be kick out your a terrible person.

A common discussion I see on the twitter is often, "oh you're defending your faves, you call out any creator but your faves" completely ingoring the fact that most the stuff their holding said faves accountable for are ages old.

They call us parasocial but then make post after post advocating for members to be removed from the SMP, it's making rounds, so I want to clear any misinformation on Twitter and make it clear when creators apologize.

I bring you back to this tweet (please don't even interact with this person Thank you.)

You might remember them from the bonus section, this was posted jan 5 2024 with 1.3K likes (Jesus) so allow me to clear the air on some accusations.

In the reply of this they link a thread stating all problematic behaviors of creators, however MAJORITY of the this thread is just attacking the fan base I'm not even kidding.

Here's the thing, the bad apples aren't the fandom, it was this same behavior that had people attack dsmp fans.

Say what you want about Dream but you can acknowledge the dsmp fandom got so much hate for simply existing because a few of them were bad.

Because as someone who's been in both, and left both oddly who was previously a full on dream Stan and just sorta grew out of him. People hated us just for liking the dsmp.

They attacked minors in cosplay called us fatherless and cringe (and like yeah but still) overall make fun of Nurodiverst kids for having hyperfixations, and their justification was we're all terrible people.

Here's my thing, you don't actually care, you don't care about the alleged victims or the people who's lives are at risk; You want to make the fandom look bad.

You could have easily said "A person on twitter told another they hope the us gets bomb" and yeah I understand it was in the context of the Qsmp but people are not their interset, don't water people down to the things they like, then you're just making stereotypes.

How is it any different than saying, "a kpop stan did this, a furry did that,"

Also while I'm on this compersion of both I've noticed a constant conflict in regards to the Forever situation vs Dream situation with the parties on either side the other cc is guilty but theirs isn't.

I noticed this as soon as the accusations dropped actually a lot of people even here on Tumblr, where saying "this is what we deserved" and at "least dream didn't actually do it"

Tô be honest I noticed the fandom was at odds before that even, they were sudden talk here on Tumblr which means the topic likely came from Twitter of the dsmp compered to the Qsmp.

And I'll be honest dsmp was getting dragged, I read these thinking, 'why are we comparing them, they're clearly different with their own stories.' I still wonder that.

I don't want to fight with dream SMP fans, I use to be one of you , I had a freaking fan fic plan that was just c:! ranboo getting teleported into the Qsmp.

Why don't have to fight, but I guess with dream being unlikable, that makes things very hard.

Anyways I'm getting of track, when this person does have a important Calm it's often.. wrong

Ok no, to both of these.

1) she was not the only woman on the server, Jaiden joined the server at the very beginning, so unless I miss an noticed that Jaiden actually used macs pronounces that's a fuckin lie.

You can see Jaiden right there behind Foolish, on the very first day. This isn't hard to confirm, it doesn't even take a second.

I read the tweet and immediately went, nah that's not true I remember Jaiden, And what do you know Jaiden was in fact a member at that time.

(looking at this image gives me so much Nostalgia omg..)

2) she was not the only one being harassed, in fact they literally contradict their own statement with proof bad was receiving hate at the same time

Political lore, as in election season? I mean it must be I can't think of another political Qsmp event that bad was involved it huh crazy but If thats the case then Baghera wasn't the only one receiving hate thats... that's crazy, you're crazy.

Non of the tweets that screenshot are misogynistic, it's just people who believe the dream accusations criticing her attendance to his concert.

Also let me be clear real quick, I am AFAB in fact tmi I haven't even gotten on T, it's difficult to here and I'm afraid of getting hate crimed.

So I understand misgony, I live it, this is not what this is; Criticizing a woman isn't inherently misgony.

When you guys said "Qsmp had a misgony problem," is that what you guys meant, a woman gets hate and it's automatically misgony and not a section of the fandom being toxic..? Ok

[buffetlicious]

All along I had thought I was buying from Ji Xiang Confectionery (吉祥食品) aka Ji Xiang Everton but in fact I have been buying from Ji Xiang Ang Ku Kueh (吉祥红龟粿), a stall operated by the younger brother of the original shop. Now that the OG Ji Xiang Confectionery had placed an advertisement in the local newspaper stating the difference after customers complained about the change in quality of the ang ku kuehs. I will now use the correct name in future postings.

Was at Sun Plaza shopping and mum was craving for her Ang Ku Kueh (红龟粿), so we bought four Peanut (花生), two Coconut (椰子) and two Pistachio (开心果) ang ku kuehs. The first thing we noticed was the smaller size compared to those I had bought the previous few times. Taking a bite, I was dismayed to see a much thicker glutinous rice skin and the coconut filling not the same taste as before. Did they tweet the recipe!?

While the first two types cost just S$1.50 each, the Pistachio Ang Ku Kueh (开心果红龟粿) was priced at a premium of S$3.50 each. Though it had a nutty fragrant and buttery taste, I still find the good old peanut version to be the better deal, both in taste and value.

Pistachio Ang Ku Kueh image from Ji Xiang Ang Ku Kueh.

[my-mt-heart]

First of all, thank you for being always so insightful and open to discussion with anyone! You're one of the few I genuinely rely on when I need to talk and share ideas/doubts. I was thinking about the whole marketing discourse. Let's be clear, amc sucks at that, it did with all the spin-offs (which I only recently found out are more than 20???) and surprisingly with the three main ones as well because everything they did wasn't certainly enough compared to other networks. Amc has always done the bare minimum and every info about the richonne/negan&maggie spinoffs that reached me was mostly because of their fans. Yes they got promos and interviews (I think Dead City/Lauren&JDM even did more interviews than Andrew & Danai) but from my point of view their fandoms did most of the job. I don't even follow any of them but I used to have my twitter timeline full of their posts every single day, at any time. I remember they used to bomb any inch of their spaces with videos, speculations, headcanons, fanarts, endless convos and all that, which I think contributed to attract a lot of curiosity out of their fandom and it worked!!! I kept seeing so many tweets full of replies and theories and hype that I had to go on a mute spree because I couldn't take it anymore. Now my point is... why don't we do the same thing?? We as a fandom can do a lot to create hype and the target people (those who have stopped watching the show after negan showed up or so) would follow us because enthusiasm is what attracts the old fans who gave up. That's the real deal! We are!! TWD main accs would ultimately follow the flow, but we really... REALLY need to start it. Dead City next seasons (that'll air in 2025) is already being promoted and the fans are already talking about it, richonne fans are still being loud and lit like if their show were still on.... why can't we do the same? We constantly complain about Amc not being there for us but the first ones that should are... US. We need to be present and make noise and above all enthusiast!

You don't need to convince me that rallying works. Melissa wouldn't have had the option to come back if it weren't for all the noise her fans made. No one she worked with was offering her the support she deserved, so we had to do it.

With TBOC's promotion, it's a catch 22. Caryl definitely sells. Their fans can definitely build hype, and AMC can definitely save their money, but it's still their responsibility to release content that'll kick the target audience into high gear so that they stay motivated to post, speculate, make posters, and all the things, which would then reel in the Carylers who left at one point or another, which would then get the attention of the GA, and so on and so forth.

What they're doing instead is splintering what should be a reliable viewership. Norman's buzz words, reposts of fanart, and photos of Melissa/Carol just existing are hyping some of us while others are scratching their heads at why Carol is reduced to a subtitle, why the teasers are shipbaiting Daryl with a nun, and why two. fucking. years later we're still hearing about showrunners getting fired and Melissa being left out of S1 because she wasn't important enough. I would love to be enthusiastic enough to do the heavy-lifting, but if that's what's being asked of me, why do I need to get punched in the face first? How do I go about promoting a Daryl and Carol show if I can't even tell if that's what I'm really getting? Why aren't they leaning into what all Carylers love about their relationship? Why aren't they capitalizing on Caryl's/McReedus' chemistry? And if all of that is what half of Carylers who have stayed this long are feeling as well, the chances of getting lost Carylers to come back are slim, the GA/new viewers won't see the buzz, and supplementing with viewers who hate Cary/Carol won't work either because they aren't going to be in it for the long haul.

So again, if AMC wants my help, then I want them to motivate me. Tribeca will be...interesting? Because on one hand, the McReedus panel could be very reassuring, but 201 spoilers that will inevitably leak could be polarizing again depending on what Zabel and Nicotero did with it, and if that happens, well, I wish AMC luck trying to promote the rest of the season.

Thanks for reaching out. Sorry this probably isn't the answer you were looking for.

[chaifootsteps]

Re: Dave’s tweet about an indie award show.

I think it was well-intentioned but I absolutely agree with his new tweet about it that it should be more of a showcase.

WhTever people were being asshats in the replies can fuck off—but I think there’s a very real problem in indie and it’s kind of simple: indie is too personal right now. And there are layers to that.

All art is personal : indie feels more personal than mainstream because everyone has to market Themselves as an individual and being online means everyone has more direct or personal access to you : if you’re young or inexperienced you’re unlikely to have the professionalism or patience required to carry yourself or your project’s production which can result in a looonnnggg laundry list of potential spin-outs and drama.

You can look at video essays of just about ANY failed product/project/kickstarter and have a glimpse into what happens every time someone steps forward with a dream and no experience or maturity to handle the weight of it.

More experienced or generally mature/professional creators know how to handle their productions and their feelings. Such as Tracy, Goose, and Zeurel.

But there’s a MASSIVE population of too-young and/or too-inexperienced indie creators who are impatient and sensitive (and frankly there’s also people involving themself in the indie scene who aren’t creators, akin to “idea guys” who want to make their own “”studios”” or self-proclaimed “journalists” who want to capitalize on the indie interest via video essays.)

Basically what I’m trying to say is indie as a whole is fine but the current climate of the community is extremely under-developed and inexperienced and is comparable to getting really excited about the concept of surviving in a forest but only running in with a dream and a backpack of basics, without any of the physical or mental preparation or experience with survival skills to actually survive or to even enjoy it.

Anyway this was a long-winded way of saying trying to start indie events like award shows is well-intentioned but I don’t think the indie community is mature enough for that right now.

There’s like this unspoken expectation to support or include any indie production no matter what level they’re at just because they’re indie and if you don’t people take it personal and/or start shit-talking.

But the reality is vetting is still important. There are L O T of amateurs in indie who might mean well that can appear impressive with how high excitement and interest in indie is right now—but they don’t realize (or can’t accept that) they aren’t ready. They wanna make the dream happen NOW.

They aren’t actually seasoned enough to see their idea through, run their production efficiently, or carry themselves maturely.

A showcase is a much better step forward in my opinion. Unofficial awards and “top 5 indie series” type posts from random Twitter accounts trying to establish themselves as an authority/news network/hub for animation that are run by people either too unaware/biased/easily swayed, or far too young, are only creating unnecessary divide and isolated storms of drama.

Especially since people don’t realize most of indie is still isolated in its own bubble. “I can’t believe I got shouted out by this random Twitter with INDIE and NEWS in its name I’m so honored—“ and the post itself has very low engagement or has only been engaged with people already on indie’s side, it’s own bubble. I’m not saying the community can’t celebrate itself, just that it needs to be a little more self-aware and analytical instead of blindly trusting and outpouring their whole soul at every slight expression of interest because there are already small fires and spin-outs occurring that result from that very naivety.

Such as an “online convention” that popped up for indie series to join via a Discord server that turned out to be being run by a literal 17-year-old who then got called out for running it like shit and letting people post/say 18+ stuff despite it being in the rules to not do that.

CartoonBase which occasionally makes unresearched biased or interaction-bait posts about indie productions.

Or a 19-year-old running another indie news type of account that jumped onto the Ang drama without knowing the full story.

Sorry, this got long and rambly and kinda turned into a vent lmao. TL;DR we love indie but a large percentage of indie needs to calm down and slow down.

Nah, these are some very good thoughts. Thank you for this.

[casey-complains]

I feel like the thing that draws a LOT of former Fanders to Hermitcraft is the maturity of the Hermits. If something gets delayed, they're straight up about it. There are clear dates. If a Hermit has to leave for their health, mental or otherwise, they say so, and are welcomed back with open arms. The Hermits themselves don't ever call out 'haters", instead focusing on the positives. Even Gem and Pearl, who are YOUNGER THAN THOMAS, act maturely enough to acknowledge if there's a gap in videos, or to say 'I don't want to go into details but I'll be back soon'. That's something Thomss is severely lacking in- maturity and transparency. A simple tweet or insta post can go a long way. Doc doesn't have to say 'sorry the video was late, Doccy got sick', but he does. Ren doesn't have to talk about his mental health, but he does. None of them are perfect, but Thomas still acts like he's that 20 year old from Vine. Maybe he just doesn't know how else to act, or he's in an echo chamber of only seeing the 'good' side of the Fandom. But I know, because I've been watching The Hermits for years now- the kind of shit Thomss has pulled? You'd never see Iskall, or Scar, or Tango doing shit like that. They're honest with their fans. Even Wels, who hasn't uploaded a Hermitcraft video in a while, has 100 times more transparency than Thomas.

Sorry to get on my soap box, but that just hit me while watching Decked Out. TLDR; The Hermits act like adults when they need to be adults. Thomas hasn't left his early 20's

GOD YEAH YOURE SO RIGHT. i went from a tss spinterest to a hermitcraft (+ life series, evo etc) spinterest and .. now you point it out, theyre a million times more transparent

to make a semi-similar comparison: the wait between tss episodes and the wait for decked out to be finished. obviously, making a whole mini game in minecraft and making an episode of a web series arent similar in process, but the way tango and thomas handled the wait can be compared. it took tango 13 months to make decked out 2. he made countless episodes and livestreams talking about the process and giving us updates. thomas, in the three and a half years he's been writing the finale, has only told us he's finished parts one through three. he's 3/4 of the way done with the writing.... but that doesnt tell us if he's filmed or edited anything, if he has all the props together for the shoot... we just have his word that something is coming soon. he'll be done soon

and yes, spoilers for a minigame and spoilers for an episode of a show do affect how much information one can give, but we have gotten nothing from thomas

[ahappydnp]

This might be controversial, I don't know. But I honestly don't like Dan's content post coming out nearly as much as pre-BIG. It used to be silly -yes- but relatable videos with one or two edgy jokes thrown in. Now it's ALL "I'm gay, horny and depressed and the world is ending but we also kind of deserve it" ... I know that last part has a lot to do with We're all doomed and Dystopia Daily - like the clue is in the names, I get it. But when it's all jokes like that... where is the lightheartedness? Where is the fun? Where is the relief from the problems of the world? Pre-BIG Dan at least had a better balance with that. Anyway, rant over. Hope it made sense.

mmm normally i'd ignore this kind of ask because it's nuanced and i don't want a dozen more hot takes in my inbox but i get that you're not just criticizing dan as a person but more his content shift so (many) thoughts under the cut:

i think first and foremost it's hard to gage dan as a content creators post BIG because the only content he's consistently made has been dystopia daily and wad (discounting gay & not proud because...you know...)

it's also hard to compare him to his content pre BIG since: 1) the video format is different- DD is a scripted persona heavy talk show format that's more commentary on culture than personal experiences 2) he's not supplementing DINOF with liveshows/regular social media posts + gaming channel videos that showed different (usually softer or more lighthearted) sides of dan and gave the audience a more well rounded perception of him as a person

which i think is one of the biggest ""issues"" people have with DD. it's not even necessarily the content itself (though i doubt anyone would say DD is their favorite content by any stretch), but the fact that the main source of perceiving dan is this heavily edited persona that's a bit too detached from real life daniel howell? because yeah like you said, we know he has a lighthearted side, we know he's actually very kind and thoughtful; however, dystopia daily is about the content, not dan as a person. the product isn't himself anymore which is a massive shift from old content. about dystopia daily as a concept- like i said, the reception from long time subscribers has been basically "i don't love this but i love you and am excited to see you again". it's not BAD it's just not what people watch dan for? it's definitely not something i would click on or enjoy from anyone else, but i love seeing dan in anything and supporting him. and some of it is good! there are some rewatches in there! but yeah if you didn't know him prior to DD you might assume this was just another ~generic angry rich white guy complaining about the world to be edgy~

i don't agree with you that it's ALL "i'm gay, horny, and depressed" and might even say it's not a crime if it was? dan spent the first decade of his career having to edit himself and if he needs a professional second puberty to feel better then go off! am i excited for him to explore more topics or stories or formats?? like absolutely!! but i'm not angry about this era of him getting his bearings. did i love him pretending he doesn't like/has never been around kids when we know for a fact he does? no it felt weird and forced but i get his thinking that he wants DD to be detached from dan. "where's the fun"?- i will say that this year in particular we've seen more of dan's personality online! like the silly little instastories and tweets, he's sharing more about his life (like seriously who would have bet he'd post anything about their japan trip????), him in phil's video + the hair clip. and it's just like the biggest breath of fresh air because that's our dan!!! that laugh!! i know that guy!!! and i do feel like he's ready to incorporate letting people see more sides of him again after giving himself the space and boundaries to readjust after a massive life change. but there have still been bits of him this whole time! the few liveshows he did on tour were fun, him at the tour preshows was PEAK classic dan and he was truly the sweetest during his m&gs (seriously i cannot recommend enough checking out the preshow compilations playlist on youtube or meetdnp on twitter because it's just....god it's so fucking nice to see him being so fucking nice and remembering why he really is special). check out the idb instastories playlists because there are so many gems from the past couple years people forget about!!

i know it hit harder because dan is such a LIGHT and it felt like we lost it for awhile. he didn't lose the kindness or silliness or creativity, he's still dan! he's older and not the same person he was in 2014, but also who is? i'm not the same person i was in my 20s which is a great thing!

change can feel scary, but dan's entire genetic makeup didn't change. i totally get if DD isn't your thing and that is perfectly fine! but i will say if you're mourning the other sides of him, you've got plenty of examples that aren't current main channel videos. i do believe we'll be let back in even more soon though :)

[davekat-sucks]

Hey thanks for your perspective! I like seeing what other people think of a piece of media I engage with, and I can take in what another person’s perspective can be compared to mine. I always thought it was tough to keep up with HS^2, and before Yiffy it was boring. I read the prologue for HS^2 and it was nice, but ultimately pointless.

You make a good point about Jane, and I gotta describe the surreal decision for how they builded up to Jane’s villain arc.

So there is a series of snapchats from 11/11/2016 to 12/31/16 (I think) showing conversations between Jane and Roxy (calliope is there) discussing the celebration of the return of the gods on Earth C by blowing up the moon. Jane has her transportalizer hijacked by the felt, run by Jack Noir and Jane’s account now gets post updates from felt members. Roxy and Calliope attempt to get help but Jane successfully defends herself against the felt and enslaves Jack Noir with a tiaratop, and then puts Clover in charge of her snapchat account. She escapes before the moon explodes.

So the buildup to Jane being racist was her being kidnapped and then giving her social media to a leprechaun, who worked for the main bad guy of Homestuck who is last seen on his knees with the evil red Betty Crocker thing around his neck.

Yeah I can see why Jane became evil, she was the CEO of a corporation, and running corporations just make you literally irredeemably cruel to everyone. (If you can’t tell I’m being sarcastic)

To give credit to epilogues/postcanon apologists when they argue that the story’s character’s are not acting out of character, just rather changed over time or were always like this, but just didn’t have the unrestricted worship and authority Earth C gave them, they are in a sense, correct.

What postcanon apologists forget to argue is if the execution of this change in character works within the media it is produced under, and I gotta say, an obscure set of snapchat posts released after the credits that were only dug up by fans following the Homestuck Pinterest account which preluded a character’s villain arc by having her kidnapped and unkidnap herself was a poorly executed start to a vaillain arc, maybe they should have done more with the whole Jack possessed by the tiaratop thing and Jane running the most powerful corporation on Earth C, but I don’t write Homestuck.

The tiaratop thing only gets elaborated on in Homestuck^2 later on when in panels you can see tiaratops on Crockercorp soldiers in the April 2020 updates, nearly a whole year after the epilogues dropped. Before that I’d just assumed all the people decided in unity to be racist because Jane said so and most people can’t think for themselves actually, and just believe what a nice looking authority figure says. That last part might be true considering how well James Roach has gotten along with the Homestuck fandom.

So what is the moral of the story to all this? Well being a CEO of a corporation makes you a fascist because being in a position of power makes you think you’re better than everyone else and that they should be sorted into categories you consider lesser and better by your standards.

Sure there is actual human history to the rise of fascism and why some aristocrats and corporate businessmen supported the cause but I ain’t reading all that, my hypothesis is simple to understand and affirms all the premonitions I have about the world around me, so it must be correct!

So basically the Homestuck snapchats predicted Elon Musk buying Twitter and retweeting conspiracy theorist tweets because Elon Musk is the CEO of 5 companies now.

And look out for Disney CEO Bob Iger, he’s making bad and boring Disney movies with minority lead actors ON PURPOSE to radicalize fans of old, better cinematic franchises to bring about the 4th reich!!!

Funny enough, the aim for Jane Crocker being the villain in Homestuck 2 was also to make her an allegory for DONALD TRUMP. Even the bonus story for these random nothingbuger OCs made by WhatPumpkin, were suppose to be people getting BERNIE SANDERS to become President. They even advertise support for Bernie Sanders on the official HOMESTUCK TWITTER ACCOUNT. Of course, Bernie Sanders dropped out of presidential election. HS Twitter had to delete it and WhatPumpkin had to cancel that side story. Needless to say, the force of politics in Homestuck 2 was that bad.

[peppertaemint]

Dear Peppertaemint,

I sort of think of you as an expert when it comes to K-Pop, media literacy and topics that deal with queer themes, given your writings on Taemin's work for example. I hope my inquiry won't be considered a waste of time because I know you don't deal with silliness in your inbox, but I will try my luck.

I will admit that I keep up a bit with the BTS members, albeit scarcely. I happened to read on twitter (known as X now) that through his artistic expression, Taehyung is either indicating he is queer or perhaps a suporter (an ally just like Valentina) of the community. All that is supposedly apparent in his first solo music video, with references to queer cinema or the clothes he's wearing for a photoshoot. Of course, this is not the first time this has been speculated in online circles. I'll post a link at the end of this message so you could get an idea of what I'm trying to explain.

What I would wish for is a more unbiased opinion from someone with vast knowledge and a cultural background and who doesn't feel the need to prove anything about their bias. At least I think he's not your bias. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

I'm looking forward to your response. As always 🩷

Sincerely

Lady A. Assante

https://twitter.com/polyatannies/status/1689591513032900608?t=Kp20X2STVljKh0RDs7MNVg&s=19

Hello Lady A. Assante,

Despite there being a high probability that this ask is a put-on, I’m going to take it at face value and reply in earnest.

I looked at the link you sent, which was a tweet of a Russian video purporting to tie the films Velvet Goldmine (1998) and Jubilee (1978) to Taehyung’s recent MV and, seemingly, his identity. I can’t read the Russian blocks of text in the video, but I can see the split-screen shots comparing Tae to characters in Velvet Goldmine. I can also see that Taehyung appears to wear a shirt of the film Jubilee in a promotional photo.

Now, I’m old enough to have been around when Velvet Goldmine came out; it’s a film about sexuality and aesthetics in the glam rock era, and it not-so-subtlety tells, at least in part, a take on the long time rumour of David Bowie and Mick Jagger’s liaison as lovers during glam rock days. In all honesty, I cannot see how this film in any way, shape, or form, has any relation to Taehyung’s “Love Me Again” MV beyond perhaps they both involve sequinned outfits.

“Love Me Again” is a slightly moody, barebones MV of Taehyung singing in a Spanish cave surrounded by retro items. His hair is a golden mess, while his clothes are cheap sequin getups with golden chains around his neck. Tae is moody in his MV, but he’s no glam rocker. He’s a crooner lost in time and confused. He ends the MV practically disgruntled. For me, the through line of the exotic setting, the props and the styling doesn’t quite come through. So, there wasn’t a lot for me to take away from Taehyung’s MV, but when all his MVs are released, I will watch them in order and share my thoughts. Again, I don’t see any meaningful relation between these two works. And certainly I don’t see anything overtly queer about Taehyung’s MV. If someone wants to come with concrete examples of “he said X” or “he did X” or “he wore X,” then I can consider such things.

And about his clothes: Derek Jarman was an important gay rights activist in the UK. But his activism was, more generally, in the 1980s onward, and focused on certain laws that effected education in the UK as well as raising awareness of the AIDS epidemic. These are very important works, especially to me living in Britain as a queer person. However, the film Jubilee is not about that work. It’s a punk film in response to the Queen’s Jubilee in 1977, and it presents a dystopian future of monarchical Britain and features some of the best punk bands of the time, including The Slits and Adam and the Ants. That shirt is about the punk movement - an important movement in Britain to be sure, but it isn’t centred on queerness.

My advice to Kpop fans looking for queerness in Kpop is to start with those who are doing concrete things in the genre: Holland and OnlyOneOf are a great place to start. Then you can look at Taemin, Key and SHINee as a whole, and reach out from there. SHINee’s “My Identity” from the album Hard (2023) was played at Seoul pride this year. I’d really recommend having a listen. And before a critical interloper writes in to say that everything queer must be cryptically coded because SK isn’t safe for LGBT+; I’m very aware of the rights people are lacking in SK. However, there are levels to meanings in art, and every artist has their own comfort zone when it comes to what they wish to share, and what they wish to be “unlock-able,” and what they wish to keep firmly for themselves. What I don’t think is helpful is conspiracy-level theories about art being queer-coded. That’s because art is already meant to interact with its audience; what a piece of art means to you is what is the most important. If you find something that speaks to your queer side in Taehyung’s work, than for you, that’s what his work is. That doesn’t mean his identity matches yours. There’s no need for that. That’s the beauty of art.

As a postscript, this shot here is exactly what reminds me of Key’s solo work: spooky retro style. That’s Key’s signature, which has been a personal extension of certain works in SHINee’s oeuvre (like “Married to the Music”). What remains unclear for me is what this union of elements signifies for Taehyung.