#so here is an unironic thank you to the people who do actually tag

[ultravioart]

Got some angie anons so let me set it straight: Yes I know Shambali monks call each other brother or sister in a monastic way, not a literal bio sibling way. That's not what happened with Ramattra when Devs talked about his relationship with Zenyatta. 1: Ramattra and Zenyatta were stated by the DEVS to be like brothers. This is not stated by comics, nor in game voice lines. THAT is why I think they might be coded as a sibling relationship, because the DEVS outright used the term 'brothers' in a sibling context (not monastic) to describe their dynamic. "as close as brothers" is said in a dev video, and an announcer that was a dev at the reveal said something like "like a brother" or "as a brother" in a sibling way iirc. 2: Obviously robots are not genetically siblings! But many sibling relationships in media (and irl) are not genetic: adopted siblings, found family (which includes sibling bonds!), etc. more below:

"Finding a long lost identical twin as an adult" is an example of a situation in a story that is not coded as romantic/sexual and is a platonic sibling relationship.

Meanwhile, a 'duplicate ai' in a sci fi story can be coded as romantic/sexual if the two ai see each other as unrelated, OR it can be coded as platonic if the two ai deem it a sibling relationship. Context matters, and overwatch uses metaphors all the time in backstories. So even if it's not actual bio siblings, they can still be written to represent siblings, and thus are a sibling bond! 3: We have a lesbian Tracer MC, and Solider 76 is confirmed as a gay man. There would be no reason to hide a new important relationship under vague 'monastic brother coding' for some kind of gay censorship??? Plus, more often than not, heroes are canonically paired with side characters, not other heroes. Ana are Rein are the only exception I can think of? A few characters also flirt but it's not confirmed relationships. Speaking of flirting, PVE will tell if Ram and Zen are actually supposed to be robo-siblings or not, thematically they seem to be similar to the brotherly strife of Hanzo and Genji. If there is flirting between Ram and Zen in PVE, then obviously Ram and Zen were not meant to be seen as siblings. WE HAVE TO WAIT, and tbh jumping on a ship just to learn they are bros later sounds horrid anyhow. 4: taking precautions isn't ridiculous, I just don't want to see ram x zen content if they are canonically meant to be a sibling relationship?? Tag your ship, and I have no strife with you, anon. When I look up the main Ramattra tag I don't want to see romantic/sexual Zenyatta x Ramattra! I don't go around posting body-horror art without tags, or even tame ships without tags, so I don't understand the big deal asking for people to tag a ship to let people avoid it if they want to. And if PVE proves they are not intended to be siblings? Then okay! Blizz had botched omnic metaphors before so I wouldn't be surprised. But as of right now there is evidence to support the idea that they are sibling-like, because the Devs said 'brothers' in a sibling context specifically. The "monastic coding" explanation does not work it because it WASN'T monastic brothers in how the devs said it! So seeing that flawed argument in the MAIN RAMATTRA TAG is ridiculous. Lastly, as an ace who is also a robot/alien-character enjoyer who ships allo/ace/aro ships, I deem platonic relationships important and diverse, and I deem mental age/maturity, and body age as important when determining ships. Just because they are "both adults" by technicality or "both robots" doesn't mean they bang because they talk about philosophical questions???? It also doesn't mean they can't hold an important platonic-only connection? They were MONKS who met each other during a time of trauma and confusion about existence. Omnics aren't human, and most omnics probably don't even experience common human behaviors like hunger or libido. I honestly doubt the majority of omnics experience sexual attraction, and I bet you a notable portion of omnics don't experience romantic attraction either. Robots are epic but are you just shipping robot characters from random series for ooc fluff/nsfw bc you think it's hot or are you shipping for the actual story ship dynamic? lol. If it's the first, don't be upset when people who enjoy lore are like "please tag the ship" so they can avoid it???? TDLR; Looking at Ramattra and wanting to make ship art is PERFECTLY understandable, trust me LOL. The cute oc shipping I've seen with ram is (chefs kiss) super endearing! And if you didn't know anything about overwatch, I can understand why someone might want to ship two robot monks bc at first glance yeah 'it's just two robots', but these robots HAVE LORE. They very well might be siblings lore wise! We have to wait for PVE to confirm if they are not found family siblings! In the meantime, I appreciate all the people that DO tag ships properly. Thank you!

[islandofsages]

So i got some silly idea, Can i request Savanaclaw dorm with male raccoon beastman reader 🦝 (who is also a third year Savanaclaw student) that likes to ✨ collect trash ✨ and ✨ dumpster driving ✨ Like, He is not poor but he just likes to do that. Thanks! Have a great day!

characters: the savanaclaw boys x male raccoon beastman third year reader

tags: platonic, fluff, imagines format

warnings: none

author's notes: i feel like i made dumpster-diving sound like thrifting in this ... i love thrifting can you tell

Leona Kingscholar

“...Whaddya think ya’re doing?”

Oh, you thought it was obvious but apparently not. You're dumpster diving obviously

A better question would be what is Leona Kingscholar doing near a bunch of dumpsters. You point this out to him

He actually seems to ponder that question for a second. What is he doing there, entertaining some dumpster-diver? Then he realizes that it doesn’t matter

His face merely contorts into an irritated frown and he mumbles something about “fucking raccoon beastpeople and their weird habits” then walks off

You watch his silhouette grow smaller by the second then shrug to yourself. His loss

He doesn’t say anything when you come back to the dorms carrying the junk you get from your scavenging but you can tell he’s somewhat curious of what you found

One time you come back bringing a wholeass couch and it’s somehow in mint condition - he’s more bewildered by the people who’s throwing the trash than you at this point

It’s definitely not for him but as long as you don’t bother him and that you’re happy, he doesn’t say a word about your habits.

Jack Howl

He tries not to be too judgemental since there’s all kinds of people in NRC and he feels like he’s definitely seen weirder things by now

He’s a little confused but he got the spirit! Spirit of what exactly? Spirit of supporting you and respecting his upperclassmen obviously

He’s somewhat stiff around you since you’re older and he doesn’t want to offend you in any way - so you make an effort to make him more comfortable around you

You’d tell him about what you find in your little adventures and he seems to be amused by the kind of stuff people easily throw away here

“That’s part of the magic! Plus, once you get used to the stench and filth, it’s really not all that bad.”

He believes and trusts your words but he still won’t try it for himself. He’ll leave it all up to you and your expertise

Sooner or later, with enough storytelling, a smile on his face becomes a common look for him whenever you’re around

You’d even bring him back stuff you found that you think he’d like (after thoroughly washing them and bringing them back to the best condition of course)

Whenever you see him use the stuff you give to him, whether it’s a decoration in his room or it’s on his person, you feel a little proud of the bond you’ve nurtured with him.

Ruggie Bucchi

He understands the need to stoop to that level but when you tell him you don’t even need the stuff you collect and just do it for fun, he’s silent for a bit

Still won’t judge you for it! Plus sometimes he gets the good stuff from your scavenges so he’s not complaining

Once he gets curious enough, he’ll tag along on the diving… and it’s not as bad as he thought it would be

It’s stinky and dirty but sometimes he really hits the jackpot in some of the dumpsters. It’s like a thrift store but even cheaper somehow

“(Y/N), look at what I found! Are you seeing this right now?”

You unironically become dumpster-diving buddies and the two of you would review the stuff you got after each session to decide if you’re going to keep some or not

You guys can probably get a lot of clout if you start a YouTube channel

You two grow a lot closer after enlightening him of the joys of dumpster-diving, which you aren’t too surprised about since it’s a common bonding experience for you raccoon beastpeople

But as you look back on your memories of junk-collecting and look forward towards Ruggie's laugh, you can’t help but laugh with him.

[therealtsk]

What Your Favorite Worm Ship Says About You

some people have found my crusty, old ass tumblr post on this very topic, so im making a new one with my updated opinions! Cause those are, in fact, allowed to change. Enjoy! Taylor x Lisa: you're into relationships that could be dysfunctional or healthy with one push in either direction. also something something sun lesbian moon lesbian. Taylor x Rachel: You love dogs, and you want a girlfriend who can kick your ass. You're also into bomber jackets. I respect you. Taylor x Alec: Sadly, you do exist, and you did make it weird. Go away! Taylor x Amy: You read altpowers on the daily and complain about canon worm being too grimdark. Solid odds on you having never read worm. To be clear, it's worse if you have. also something something FBI OPEN UP Taylor x Victoria: You like the vibes of Lisa and Taylor's dynamic, but you want them to be a little more heroic and a little less dysfunctional. But only a little. Taylor x Clockblocker: You're straight and liked that one joke that cropped up. I also haven't seen any of you in a hot minute, thank god. No offense but this ship is mad boring.

Taylor x Sophia: You've come to realize that Sophia is a great character who gets done extremely dirty by the rest of the fandom. Also, rivals to lovers. Taylor x Emma: This can go one of two ways. Either you adore childhood friends to lovers, or you love enemies to lovers. Either way, you're obsessed with hurt and/or comfort fics. Taylor x Theo: You actually read Worm and recognize that Theo is criminally underrated in the fandom. Now just stop shipping him with Taylor and you'll complete the next step on your journey to enlightenment.

Taylor x Simurgh: I can't say for sure you're a anime fan, but you're definitely at least a little bit of a monsterfucker. also something something inherent eroticism of being world-destroying power couple. Taylor x Greg. You read Worm SI's unironically and get really defensive when people say that Greg is an incel. Completely unrelated, you haven't spoken to a woman other then your mother in five years. Taylor x Cherie: I've been informed this is a ship. I've yet to be informed as of a reason why I should like it. Cherie likers stay mad!

Lisa x Rachel: I don't remember the last time I saw this ship that wasn't also tagged as a polycule with Taylor, so I'm going to go out on a limb and say you're an OT3 enjoyer.

Lisa x Victoria: You’re into the “enemies to lovers” trope, but more of the "Spiderman x Black Cat" type then the "you murdered my entire home town but i can't help but find you sexy" type. Also you have a thing for blondes

Lisa x Faultline: Your ideal relationship dynamic is bickering married couple. You're also into heist movies.

Lisa x Simurgh: You have a thing for smart girls... who hate you. Also, you really liked Part of the Whole.  Contessa x Alexandria: You're fucking based. Also something something inherent eroticism of girlbosses winning Contessa x Numberman: you're friends with Peri and enjoy memes about pants and math Numberman x Jack Slash: You think serial killers are hot and are starved for m/m ships. Danny x Eidolon: You're losersexual and are starved for m/m ships. Also you frequent r/wormemes Danny x Miss Militia: Honestly, i think you all died out. I couldn't be happier, this ship is fucking dumb. Amy x Literally Anyone Besides Taylor: listen, there's like a hundred different jokes i could make here, but all of them boil down to amy defenders always defending the rapist for some reason so let's just agree amy defenders are fucking cringe and move on Dragon x Defiant: You understand that this is unironically the only healthy relationship in worm with some of the best character growth and romance in the entire story, and a majority of all of it happens off screen. You're extremely bitter that so many fanfics do both of them so dirty they get beaten into different characters. Alec x Aisha: You like the idea of this ship, cause two pranksters making everyone miserable is the kinda vibe you enjoy, but constantly run into the issue that Alec is...well. Alec. That or you're into Alec's brand of shit, in which case, FBI OPEN UP Aisha x Missy: You read It's Cold Out There Every Day. I did too. Fuck, this fic is so good. I'm going to go cry about the ending again. Lily x Sabah: Yes, you know the age gap is a little problematic, you just want to be happy with your relatively healthy canon lesbians goddamn it Purity x Literally Anyone: You don't understand why people keep calling you racist. You're not! You're just weirdly defensive of the hot milf who murders people of color and seem to constantly bring up that Kaiser didn't actually believe the nazi propaganda he was peddling. You are racist btw Taylor x Brian: You...are Wildbow

[jennathearcher]

Tag game: tag 9 people you'd like to get to know better

I was tagged by @talesfromthecrypts (thank you so much Britt!! <3)

Last song: More Than Anything from Hazbin Hotel (also totally normal)

Currently watching: Hazbin Hotel, of course :P and still working my way through What We Do in the Shadows!!

Three ships: Nadja/Laszlo from WWDITS (actual relationship goals, the modern day Morticia and Gomez honestly), Alastor/Charlie from Hazbin Hotel (*continues to drink the delusional juice for as long as possible*), Durge and Astarion (I haven't even started my Durge run yet and I'm sooooooo hype)

Favorite color: Blue!!

Currently consuming: Pepsi, as always

First ship: Ed and Rose from Fullmetal Alchemist 2003 8D

Relationship status: I used to make fun of people who unironically used the "it's complicated" status on Facebook but good fucking lord I'm just trying to survive out here

Last movie: A Haunting in Venice finally and I LOVED IT SO MUCH!!!

Currently working on: oh god so many things, mostly a Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes oneshot and an EXTREMELY self indulgent Magnus Archives piece for my self-shipping blog

tagging: @maddymoreau @damngoodbabysiitter @gellavonhamster @afoxnamedmulder @codedreams @j-thealchemist and anyone else who wants to do the thing!! <3

[smoothshine]

Tag game: eight shows to get to know me

I was tagged by @scienceoftheidiot and @goneadrift (thank you!! 🥺💕), and now the deal is that I get to rant about a couple of shows I like, so let's get straight to it!

1. House M.D.

- Knowing how many seasons are there in this show, I think it says something that I purposefully rewatched the full thing several times, and I probably will do it again at some point. Many characters from this series have a special place in my heart, and oh boy do I love myself a good medical drama sometimes. + the different medical cases are just very interesting for me to observe, even though I am by no means a medical specialist, let's say I know a thing or two from this field x)) (and some of you are probably aware of that, ahah)

2. Lethal Weapon

- This one is another one of these shows that I occasionally come back to for a rewatch, the chemistry between two main characters is amazing, and the main plotline is pretty good imo, + it's a classic detective-involving series, where, granted, not every case is super intriguing or complicated, but I think the characters and their development and relationships with each other - all this usually goes first when determining a series that I'll most probably like, and it delivers that part for sure! (Yes I used this specific gif because now I can't stop picturing this, but with Royais + Hughes, lolol, sorry I have a brainrot)

Also, look at this silly little totally not dysfunctional guy, come on, you can't help but love him:

3. Lucifer

- Ohohoho this one was one of the first quite long-term obsessions for me - I was watching it with my good friend as it was coming out (pretty sure starting from like, season 2 we began to watch it as it was airing, or at least I was and then I dragged this friend along for the ride, ahah), and I remember having so much fun with it - making theories, trying to predict the direction for the next season, simping over the main cast, being (more often unironically than not) frustrated with love triangles, all the good stuff. I also really like the soundtrack used in the series, and, of course, I have to mention the fact that its main leads are a blonde badass detective who is actually a sweetheart and her goofy dark-haired bastard-certified material partner who can actually be very scary and powerful to anyone but her :333

Go figure if I have a type or not, right (omg I just realized she also has a cute pet name and it's "detective")

4. Fleabag

- This one was such a pleasant surprise for me, the further I was watching the more invested into it I was getting, and in the end it turned out to be such an emotional rollercoaster, while also being able to handle a balance between more serious scenes and great humor really well. The romance plotline turned out to be very interesting too - overall, it's a great pretty short series that I can definitely recommend for people to check out at some point (I was indeed very happy when I found out @goneadrift was watching it too, hehe)

5. Sherlock (the BBC one)

- Honestly, this one is associated with many good memories for me - we used to watch it for a couple of years in a row with my parents during New Year, and it was like, one of the highlights of our celebration. Life just seemed so much easier these days, and I always remember them with warmth and joy. But! Apart from the sappy stuff - I genuinely think it's a nice modern AU Sherlock adaptation, hehe, as always, I pay a lot of attention to the chemistry between the characters, especially the main cast, and I think pretty much everyone nailed it - I find the characters from this series to be very enjoyable to watch. The other point that I want to mention here is the directing - I remember myself being very impressed by some of the shots and directing/editing choices they made there, and, of course, the main soundtrack is now pretty much engraved into my memory, hehe

(So yeah, aside from the last season, which I don't think is that bad, but definitely not as good as the earlier ones imo, it's a great show!)

6. Elementary

- Surprise surprise, another Sherlock adaptation involving detective storyline(s), who would've thought, right? Honestly, I don't remember a lot about it, since I haven't rewatched it in a looong time, ahah, but, believe it or not, I still love it and have a couple of good memories associated with it. Used to watch it during weekends back in the day when I still watched TV, lolol, but yeah, I think it's a pretty unique Sherlock adaptation, and you can definitely have fun watching it!

7. Forever

- That one is unexpected, definitely not my usual series of choice, but surprisingly I finished it pretty quickly and was glad I decided to give it a shot x)

(For the record - it's a series about a guy who works in the morgue while trying to find how to get rid of his immortality curse 👀👌).

8. Fullmetal Alchemist

- Gonna follow the lead of @scienceoftheidiot and add this one on the list too, because my god this series has me in a chokehold. Specifically Royai stuff of course, but I think in general this is the kind of anime (both FMA and FMAB btw) people who are generally not that much into anime can enjoy (I am saying as I am, apparently, one of these people, ahah). It's just a great story with a great cast and lovely imagery and soundtrack, I mean, what else can you possibly need? (Meanwhile here I am, going absolutely insane every time I think about my two beloved war criminals kissing)

O, here they are, by the way!

Aand that's all for today, no-pressure tags for @lassusog @chrysopoeias @nightofnyx8 @fullmetalscullyy @jedidragonwarriorqueen and anyone who wants to participate (also because it doesn't allow me to tag more people for some reason??), in case you feel like it! :3

[ultraericthered]

Hmm? Oh yeah, this one blogger gave a big response to both me and some other user who was saying stuff in the notes of her post. Seeing as she was decent and sensible enough to recognize that if we want to live and let live with our differing opinions, she probably should've at least done so behind a different tag and thus away from fans of the thing she was railing against, I in turn will put my rebuttal in this separate post on this blog and I will try to tag it appropriately.

That said, WOW. There is quite a lot of whinging to unpack here.

But, thanks for not bothering to actually listen to my argument, so let me go through your own:

"Not bothering?" It was not due to a lack of trying on my part that I failed to actually listen to this person's argument, I was legitimately confused and trying to make sense of what she was even saying.

No. I’m not saying Disney adults shouldn’t enjoy crap that was clearly made for them. Believe me, I knew some of that was already the case with Wish and I was excited for it being made for us…and I was disappointed by it. I wanted to like Mirrorverse but it just kept feeling wrong to me and the og post is the wording of what and how it was wrong to me.

Pulling out the term "Disney adults", even if applying it to herself as well, is an automatic alarm for me. It's a term that's very cynical and partonizing in origin, conceptualizing the idea that all things "Disney" are things that a person is expected to outgrow once they've reached adulthood, as though Disney produces things only for children. And sure, they make things that are purely for little kids or at most geared more towards them than to an older crowd. But primarily, on the whole, Disney content and the quality they most strive for are what we call "family friendly" rather than "kids stuff", and to assume that such content is kiddy fare that's meant to be outgrown by adults is completely against the spirit and the words of Walt Disney himself.

"I do not make films primarily for children. I make them for the child in all of us, whether we be six or sixty." - Walt Disney

"We believed in our idea - a family park where parents and children could have fun - together." - Walt Disney

"Too many people grow up. That's the real trouble with the world, too many people grow up. They forget. They don't remember what it's like to be 12 years old. They patronize, they treat children as inferiors. Well, I won't do that." - Walt Disney

Yeah, you should get the picture by now.

I’m saying I find your uncritical devotion to the company, not the writer behind the projects, the company, is sad. It’s self-destructive.

Oh sure, I am uncriticially devoted to this mega corporation. So uncritical in my devotion am I that I've tagged posts or reblogs that address erorrs, poor quality content, and even harmful practices of the company as "Anti Disney" and have even likened the corporate side of Disney to their newest movie's villain many times at this point.

I really hate this kind of attitude towards fandom+online criticism as a whole. This 100% unironic “if you’re negative = HATE” attitude...that I can at least get because even the most pissy of us don’t wanna be surrounded by rage all the time. But, your complete lack or willing to consume any media critically? That’s annoying.

Reminder of how OP began their "critical" post: "I hate Disney's Mirrorverse so much." Please forgive me for where, how, and why I might've possibly gotten that "negativity = HATE" idea from here.

That literally was NOT what I was saying at all hon. Official merch is fine and a lot is great. Like, a lot. I don’t consider official merch itself a threat to fanstuff; what I consider a threat is the higher up of Disney wanting to snuff out fantasy-fan made merch.

Where was it confirmed that the higher up of Disney were specifically aiming to snuff out fan-made content with the very creation and release of Mirrorverse? I must've missed that press conference!

ALL I see with that game is creativity of individual people wasted on a corporate IPlords who wants to crush smaller artists inspired by them, and even their own workers. Disney does not care about you. Disney doesn’t even care for it’s own people. Disney wants to own fanworks so that they can profit off you even more than they already do. And, to me, that’s just kind of horrifying.

In other words, King Magnifico. Yeah, I already got that.

Are you saying you don’t have an imagination? Because A: no. You do have one. Obviously. Liking what some people may think is “cringe” =/= no imagination and I SINCERELY hope you didn’t take that away from my post.

Yes, obviously I have an imagination. I am unsure what it was that made this person think I was suggesting I didn't.

And then she starts getting more hyperbolic and a bit conspiratorial.

We are in a late stage capitalism apocalypse. My argument isn’t that Disney DARE'ENT be what it is but that you should use your brains when it’s pandering to you and not just like it because 'poepl worked on it whichm means it’s good.

"Poepl"? "which?" Slurred words sure do look weird in text form.

You are not mandated to like something and your attitude, to me, frankly feels like that’s why you do like Mirrorverse. Disney is telling you to like it and you’re blinded by this delusion that the company itself is on your side simply because it has Disney fans as it’s own writers and artists working on it. I want to be proven wrong on that and believe you’re like my friends who also like mirrorverse and the modern crossover disney stuff - people who like the ideas within because yeah, that can be fun, and whom I just disagree with, but given your attitude. I don’t see it.

.....Huh??? For as inappropriately big and powerful a company as Disney is today, I do not think they have the authority to literally mandate that people must like their products and that they then must consume them because they like them. Disney has put plenty of stuff out on the free market that they no doubt wanted people to like (because otherwise why even make anything at all? People liking thing made by company = people spending money on that thing and company profiting), but I've not cared for or not even touched, no matter how many sincere, well-meaning people might've worked hard on making the stuff. Mirrorverse caught my attention way back when it was first announced and still undergoing development, and when I ended up liking it, it wasn't because "Disney was telling me to like it" or that I was blinded by any delusion of the company being good or "on my side" - I like it because I JUST DO. It appeals to me and my tastes, sensibilities, and ideas of what's good, clean, creative fun, not to mention being another Disney epic crossover property to fill the void left behind by the now garbage tier Kingdom Hearts series. And even then I'm far from uncritical in my liking for it: it existing as just a mobile app game puts some limitations on it, and the combat part of the game looks like ass and doesn't play quite as well as it could've, especially compared to the polish of other app games like Disney Heroes: Battle Mode and Disney; Sorcerer's Arena. (Now, my attitude may well have gone too far beyond disagreeable and came off as too hostile, confrontational, and uncivil in my dissent against your take, so for that I apologize. I'm sorry, that really was my bad. But given all this rambling, your attitude is now worrying me.)

Fan merch is not perfect or even all that good, but it comes from a point of passion. My point was never that fan made = good. My point was I think Disney the company wants control of even that and, when they are hiring the artists who have genuine ideas about crossovers, are exploiting them. It’s *cute* of you to call me entitled when you sound like one of the most entitled people ever through your message.

I fail to see how I come off as "entitled", as though I was saying that Disney the company has every right to control imaginative fan ideas and to hire and exploit artists with similar ideas just for profit. I was not; I was saying that I'm not in agreement with this paranoid belief that this is what prompted the existence of Mirrorverse to start with. Most of the driving ideas behind why the game came to be seems to have come from the creatives who work for both Disney and Kabam, with Disney merely signing off on it becoming an officially lisenced thing because the company is so ceaselessly hungering for profits that they can never have enough app games or console games that bring their beloved IPs together in a single fantastical new canon.

You are assigning shit to me that I did not say/mean.

For that, I apologize. Please stop doing the exact same thing to me. Two wrongs do not make a right.

I’m upset on the part of the writers and artists at Disney (btw can you please maybe list some of them out? The mirrorverse artists could probably really use the revenue you’re so quick to only attribute to Disney as if Disney itself is the writer of these works.) 

But you can find them all right here.

I believe Wish was made/written with love. Every Disney project is made with love and creativity and I think it’s horrible to imply that Wish was AI-generated because it’s writing came up as lackluster, if that’s what you’re trying imply of me.

Dunno why Wish is suddenly getting brought into this. Was it my current icon being King Magnifico that put it into focus?

My issue with Wish, with Mirrorverse, and with a lot of modern Disney projects is at this point the same I am having with Illumination entertainment; and that’s not ever that “capitalist = bad”/“idea I don’t like = bad writer”. For as annoyed I still am at Princess and the Frog, you really go that feeling the the writers were trying and the project as a whole wasn’t geared by executives telling the directors “no. You have to do x, x, x, and x because then it won’t sell.” Mirrorverse had a soul. Wish had soul. Bob Chapek stole both these properties’ souls and you’re using hardworking artists’ work as an excuse to continue promoting the craphole who’s overworking them.

Bob Chapek is long gone from Disney at this point: Bog Iger is still dealing with the aftereffects of the damage Chapek did while making his own mistakes and dealing out his own share of damage to the overworked artists, writers, directors, imagineers, and all creative staff members who give their hearts and souls to Disney productions. I'm not using the artists' work as an excuse to promote or grant any lenience to corporate Disney. It's actually the very opposite: I don't want them and all the effort they put into realizing these properties to go overlooked and unappreciated due to some instinctful (and oftentimes reasonably justified) dislike and dissatisfaction directed at the company whose brand name the properties get released under. That's something akin to "collective punishment", and it reaches toxic levels when it is also applied towards the punishment and shaming of regular people; of fans who engage with the products and express any sort of enjoyment and appreciation for them. Like them doing so is an objectively morally wrong thing to do and is playing into the big bad company's hands.

My issue is that the fans (artists, creators and writers of these works) care. Disney does not. Disney cares about exploiting you even in the smallest ways and even on small matters like bad bootleg merch that’s in no way a threat to them. Because it isn’t.

This is an issue I have with Disney as well. I've said so ad nauseum.

My issue with the two of you is that you hate criticism and see my post as some kind of threat to your special interest. No. It’s not. I never even tagged mirrorverse. This is a rant meant for me and for other likeminded people like me. Speaking as a woman who’s defended and still will defend Frozen all these years - YOU are coming off as the most entitled, zealous people. You are creative. And you love Disney and obviously like Mirrorverse and Wish where I don’t; unlike the artists behind these products, you don’t have room to complain about being disgarded or treated like AI cuz I don’t like your writing or Disney’s handling of your writing- you’re just a butthurt fan.

More hyperbole. There was no "threat" detected in her post. There was only an opinion I read as a bad faith poor take and I responded to it with a rebuttal like this social media platform allows us all to do. By getting so up in arms and defensive about the rebuttal that rather than try to clear the air with a post that only clarifies what she was meaning to convey in the OP and that if I still don't find it agreeable we can hopefully agree to disagree, she goes on a whole whopping tangent? This strikes me as "butthurt fan" behavior. I'm sorry, it does.

Presuming the both of you ever read any of this, I don’t like the insinuation that my own bitching and moaning it hurting the hardworking writers and artists personally just because the fans of these overall products love them and I don’t. I really don’t like my personal criticisms being hurled at or treated like an attack on the people who are real artists. I know that’s not what I’m doing. You could have just blocked my blog or chosen to just not read the post the moment this post opened with “I hate mirrorverse”. You didn’t. You engaged and now I’m engaging to tell you that I disagree.

Yes, let us dispell that insinuation. You are hurting no one by bitching and moaning in a post put out on a public social media venue on the internet, not the writers and artists, not the company. I'd not meant to insinuate as much, and anyone who would make that insinuation would be a fool to do so. Thank you for acknowleding that you led with "I hate Mirrorverse", which made the negativitiy and criticism easier to mistake for hatefulness. I make it a rule to typically not block blogs as my first response to seeing something I disagree with, which is sadly more than I can say of other users who've disagreed with me in the past. I decided to engage you, then you engaged back, and now this is me engaging back in my own space to save your's the trouble of being too cluttered up with this dispute. If you happen to come across this and read it through, I hope you can try to take time for contemplation and understanding of where I'm coming from here, and I'd so the same in turn for you should you give a civil response. But given how I'm tagging this, chances lean unlikely.

[safyresky]

This was the most anticlimactic finale I have EVER seen in my life??

IT WAS SO. ANTICLIMACTIC. LIKE. THE MAD SANTA AND SCOTT STANDOFF? THE UN-NUTCRACKERING OF MY BOY???? SANDRA'S POWERS??? I JUST. WHERE IS THE GROWTH. WHY CAN'T THEY GIVE US MORE TIME FOR ALL THE GROWTH. AH. BAD!

On that note, tho, things I actually quite liked, maybe even LOVED???? I thoroughly enjoyed the episode. Well, MOST of it. Especially:

Betty and Olga's whole toymaking thing lol that was cute and sweet

NOEL! EVERYTHING NOEL! TAKING CHARGE! BROKERING A PEACE! AMAZING

Kris tagging along, lol, what a vibe. "Holy crap! Ice bergs???!?!?!?!" (chokes on a bug)

Mad Santa and Olga acknowledging their toxicity with one another

Sandra calling Cal Buddy, THANK YOU QUEEN

Sandra's whole VIBE tbh. The witchy/goth prom look, her powers being like. Based on Christmas spirit!

Betty and Olga AGAIN, I really really REALLY loved how that went and LOVED how they were like "we're really quite the same"

Meanwhile Noel and the rest of the gnomes are like "Oh! Glad y'all caught up! Tea?"

Good for Magnus, going back and performing!! Good for him!!! I loved seeing him THRIVE with the sax!!!

and I'm really glad Magnus was like "Kris's place made me feel JOY", we LOVE TO SEE PEOPLE WITH CHRISTMAS SPIRIT REASSURED AND VALIDATED!

Everything about Mrs. Claus tbh. Carol, my belovedddddd~ freaking out about Buddy and and and having the RANGE, GOD, Elizabeth Mitchell fans, you are all SO RIGHT!

So basically everything that DIDN'T involve Santa? I'm kinda shooketh. Why was that episode so chill compared to all the other ones??? I obtained MINIMAL psychic damage (perhaps I have an immunity now??? WHO'S TO SAY!)

Santa's lines are all delivered so unenthusiastically and he just. GOD. You know how in The Christmas Invasion Ten looks at Harriet Jones, Prime Minister, then goes over to her assistant and is like "doesn't she look tired"? I feel like we could totally do that to Tomothy and just. End him. Then and there.

KRIS. He's really cool. Like I unironically enjoy him. He a little naive but BOY DOES HE HAVE THE SPIRIT! AND I LOVE THAT! Honestly, they could've had him be the next Santa and he'd be AMAZING at it tbh! he was very underused and that was a SHAME. Remember in episode 1 when we saw his dad for like 3 seconds and I thought "wow we could have a whole father figure angle here!" as if the writing in this show could actually decently do something like this

Get his ass count for this episode: about 5

Again, I keep getting hung up on the weird choices and the lore????????

Weird choices: having the underlying theme of Betty/Olga fight being I WANT THAT TOY NO IT'S MINE was weird?? You could've done it differently to get them to the Workshop to chat. you could have had them call one another out with their toymaking skills? And go from there?????? IT WOULD'VE BEEN EASY TO DO

Weird choices: Bringing Kris up??? I LOVED it, he was perf comedic relief--like, if anyone in this universe should have loony toon powers (see: him appearing in the cell behind Mad Santa and everyone being like OH YOU'RE HERE TOO), it's Kris. 100%

My mood @ Kris is very much:

yes. I made a meme about it. I just really appreciate him, especially in this episode? HE'S JUST FULL OF CRIBMAS SPIRIT!!! FUCK!

Lore things I had issues with:

1. "But a witch...born at the North Pole...could!"

2. "You've got a history"/"I've read your history! You were a GREAT Santa!" and also "Way to go Noel! I always KNEW you'd make a great head elf!"

3. "Storied apex of the globe"

(not direct quotes)

"But a witch...born at the North Pole...COULD"

As a disclaimer: I quite like Sandra having cribmas witch magic, and I like the idea that she's a lil different bc of being born at the Pole. HOWEVER. The execution/explanation is...mid. WHY is it that Sandra being a human witch born at the NP CAN un-nutcracker Cal??? Where is the EXPLANATION!??!!? WHAT ABOUT IT MAKES HER DIFFERENT FROM OTHER WITCHES? IS IT BECAUSE OF THE "storied apex of the globe" COMMENT NOEL MAKES WHEN HE'S BEING A BAMF AND HYPING UP THE GNOMES? IS IT LEY LINES??? LIKE. WHAT IS THE EXPLANATION?

I would be FINE with suspending my disbelief if they had maybe just GIVEN THE CONCEPTS AND CHARACTERS TIME TO GROW!!! You could've rewritten the whole entire "we're stealing doing Easter!" episode and instead SOLELY FOCUS ON MAGIC. Have Befana react more mildly and go "this is different, come along" and bring Sandy to her lil cabin while they try to figure it out and THEN drop the "she was born at the NP and this is why she ca do such a powerful spell" and then have someone go what why?? AND BOOM. BEFANA GIVES US EXPOSITION, WE LEARN, SANDRA CAN HAVE A PLOTTY ARC WHERE SHE'S LIKE "no, I can't do that, that's. Girl that's crazy" to have the build to her un-nutcrackering Buddy have more of an OOMPF, you know? IT'S THAT EASY. ARGH.

2. "you've got a history/I've read your history" (A) and "I always knew you could do it Noel!" (B)

2. a) HOW COULD YOU HAVE READ THE HISTORY WHEN THE ELVES RIPPED OUT THE PAGE AND BURNT IT? WAS IT YOUR SANTA SENSES? HELLO? IF SO, WHY DIDN'T THEY SHOW US MORE OF THAT?? MAYBE SUBPLOT FOR SCOTT WHILE SANDY IS LEARNING ABOUT HER COOL MAGIC, HE'S LIKE OKAY. INTO THE YULE VERSE, LET'S LEARN ABOUT MAD SANTA. AND GIVE IT SOME PROPER TIME TO BE ESTABLISHED! LET SCOTT SEE HOW MAGNUS WAS BEFORE HE GOT PARANOID AND DISPATCHED BY THE ELVES! THEN MAYBE. JUST MAYBE. THE ANTI-CLIMATIC SANTA VS SANTA SHOWDOWN WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN AS ANTI-CLIMACTIC BECAUSE SCOTT BE KNOWING THAT MAGNUS WAS GOOD AND IS JUST HAVING SOME RELATABLE ISSUES, AND THE PAYOFF WOULD BE BETTER!

2. b)

OH REALLY. DID YOU SANTA? DID YOU? BECAUSE I HAVE MOTHER FUCKING RECEIPTS:

I REST MY FUCKING CASE, SANTA.

(also I got a DAMN GOOD Noel snip. You GO NOEL. SHOW SCOTT WHO'S THE FUCKING BOSS! YEAH!!!! YEAH BABY!!!)

3. "The storied apex of the globe."

YOU CAN'T JUST DROP THIS ON ME. ON ALL OF US. AND NOT ELABORATE. ARE YOU IMPLYING THAT ALL THE STORY CREATURES LIVE AT THE NORTH POLE BC IT'S AN APEX? A NEXUS? FUCKING ELABORATE ON THAT! ADD IT TO THE REWRITTEN STEAL EASTER EPISODE. STOP DUMPING LORE WITHOUT ELABORATING. WHAT! DOES! IT! MEAN! AHHHHH (explodes)

(reconstitutes)

Whew! Glad I got all that out of my system!!!

Other odds and ends that did NOT hit:

"I went to MIT" I'm with Edie on this one tbh. Also, where is the MUFFIN institute of tech. At the North Pole? WHERE??? YOU CAN'T DROP HINTS THAT ALL MAGICAL CREATURES ARE THERE AND NOWHERE ELSE WITH AN AREA THAT SMALL. THAT'S WHY CRYSTAL SPRINGS IS A GD CONTINENT OF A LANDMASS!!!! AH!

ANTICLIMACTIC SANTA VS SANTA MOMENT! IT WAS SO DRY AND DROLL AND JUST. IT DID N O T HIT. SEE ABOVE POINTS.

ALL OF SANTA SCOTT'S BITS. SO FLAT AND DRY!!!!! SOMEONE PUSH HIM OFF A ROOF AND MAKE SURE HE S T A Y S DOWN

Mad Santa about 100 times: "I'M NOT A DUMB STUPID HUMAN LIKE YOU" THEN WHAT ARE YOU?!?!?!?!?!?

I AM ONCE AGAIN ASKING FOR CAROL TO HAVE MORE OF AN ARC THAN "overbearing mom" AND "token WE PASSED FEMINISM" rep, especially with Elizabeth Mitchell putting her WHOLE ASS SELF INTO IT! SHE HAS THE RANGE! A SHAME SHE'S STUCK WITH FLAT ASS TOMOTHY AND GLASS CEILING REFERENCES!!!

HECK, I'D LOVE IT IF BOTH PARENTS HAD MORE TIME TO REALIZE THEY WEREN'T BEING GREAT! OR EVEN, DIDN;T HAVE THAT PLOTLINE AND WERE JUST TRYING TO BE SUPPORTIVE BUT NOT SURE HOW TO GO ABOUT IT AND MAKING MISTAKES BUT LEARNING TO FIX EM!

I sighed loud enough to wake the entire neighbourhood ALL TWO REWATCHES WHEN THEY SHOEHORNED THE MOVIE FLASHBACKS IN. WHEN THEY REVEALED THAT KRIS WAS THE HOUSE OF KAYAK KID FROM TSC 1. WHEN THEY THREW ALL THE OLD "he is drinking out of the mug SEE IT'S ALWAYS BEEN HERE" flashback sequence in. uGH S T O P!!!! IT WAS BAD IN THE THIRD MOVIE AND IT'S W O R S E IN THE SERIES

(in Yzma voice) WHY DOES HE EVEN HAVE THAT AMULET? BC HE'S SECRETIVE? GIVE ME MORE INFO!!! (flips a table)

CURTIS EXPLODED. CURTIS WENT TO KRIBBLE KRABBLE AND NEVER CAME BACK. WAS THAT BEFORE OR AFTER HE EXPLODED??? (@shittyelfwriter and I both agree AFTER lol)

I figure he was patient 0 for Curtis-itis, hence the name! Maybe almost 'sploded but instead went nope! I need to kribble krabble!

I mean, he would uphold it, of course, the MOMENT after he became head elf bc he loves rules so heckin much lol

Regardless, MAKE UP YOUR MIND!

An aside: I read an article talking about that piece of info and the person who wrote it was like "Curtis stans will be happy to know (we know you're out there!)"

(me, squinting) where. where. I don't see them. I see the Elizabeth Mitchell/Carol stans (on occasion. I stumble into them like I made a wrong turn lol). The Bernard stans (how could you NOT see them they're everyone lol), The JACK STANS (guilty as fucking charged), but have yet to see CURTIS STANS. Mostly just Curtis appreciators??? y'all are cool tho. He is a funky lil stressed out nerd. Deffs NOT a management guy lol. Give him a couple hundred or so more years first :-)

HOW AND WHY DID MAGNUS GO INTO THE JAIL. WE ARE MISSING A SCENE. BIG TIME. WHERE DID IT GO. YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE CUT THAT ONE MY DUDES. MAYBE THE FLUFFY EATS A FLY WHILE IN THE SLEIGH BIT SHOULD'VE BEEN AXED INSTEAD SINCE FLIES DON'T GO THAT HIGH! WHY IS MAD SANTA THERE AND H O W DID HE PASS THE BLOCKADE OF PEOPLE??? HELLO???

Just. Just let Cal go to prom. Don't bring prom to him. Please. Please let him and Riley have ONE brain cell at LEAST. Technology isn't rotting our brains THAT badly. It's just pushing censoring and making younger gens forget what critical thinking skills are!

God, now I sound like Tomothy. VIBE CHECK ON AISLE SAFYRESKY!

Also, Riley, stop trying to steal @snowqueenjacqueline's DRIP GIRLIE. LIGHT BLUE? SNOWFLAKES? WHAT'S JACQUELINE SUPPOSED TO WEAR TO NORTH POLE PROM NOW?!?!!?

And I think that's it?? I think I got it all out of my system. WHEW.

Season thoughts: Ouch. Brain hurty. Andie you were SO RIGHT with the disjointed bit. TOO MUCH LORE. TOO MUCH THROWING BACK. NOT ENOUGH EXPLANATIONS/GROWING TIME. CHARACTER ARCS ARE ONCE MORE NONEXISTENT. THEY JUST HAPPEN AND WE DON'T SEE THEM. SOMEHOW BETTER THAN SEASON 1???? BUT STILL. NOT GREAT! Mid, mostly. Not great! Nothing to write home about tbh.

And now. I end this lengthy ass review with some snips of my FAVOURITE part of the entire season:

[mysteriouslybluepirate]

OFMD Favs Tag Game

I was tagged by- @likethehotsauce Thank you so much! Always love to rant.

(I'm probably not doing this right, cause I'm just using this a an excuse to look back on the parts of the show itself that I love, but I needed to write an essay today. And it's been months since I went back to my Stede/Ed roots. Before Izzy latched himself onto my brain. So here's some love!)

favorite Ed gif:

Look, I love ep7, especially on rewatches. Most rom-coms run into the trouble of not showing the audience our protagonists bond. They rarely get to relax around each other before the relationship really starts but that's what this episode is.

We've got Ed, who's starting to get comfortable/settled in around Stede. Stede having a fun little adventure, trying to make Ed thinks he's cool. Ed genuinely having a shitty day and finally getting that Stede cares about him. It's really fucking sweet. This gif just wraps that all up in a cute ball. The fit? Amazing. The lil hop? Adorable. Edward essentially telling everyone to shut up and just let Stede have his fun? Cute pre-boyfriend moment. He's a goofball, and this episode needs more love on here.

favorite Stede gif:

Yeah, yeah. Ed's here. But the scene is focusing on Stede and resolving an arc (my favorite thing), so it counts! Stede has issues feeling accepted. He has gone without a 'crew' for so long that he's unapologetically who he is. He already feels along, why the fuck would he care about dressing up and being a bit too 'feminine'? They already make fun of him for not being enough, he already feels along. Why wouldn't he try to be happy not giving a shit about what they think?

So, in ep 10, we see a Stede who feels accepted into a family. He gets to get up there with a silly little in-joke and have people put their trust in him. Are they doing this to get back at the Navy? Yeah. But Stede build himself a place where he feels like he can be accepted and welcomed. I don't always see Stede in the best light. Accountability is a huge thing for me, and S2 better include this guy fessing up for the hurt he's caused. But this scene always makes me smile when I think about it.

favorite Ed outfit:

:). I know what I'm about. I'm simple, and if you've been here a while, you already know. We get to see Edward proudly rocking Stede's lil handkerchief. The tummy is great, and so is seeing his tattoos. I always love a fingerless glove, and his jewelry is on point. Yes, I love Ed in soft fabrics. Especially the loose poet shirt moment in ep 4. But in my head, this is Ed being a frat guy and trying to seduce Stede. 'Usually the exposed skin and touching works :('. Cause this poor guy has had to seduce assholes like Jack, and isn't comfortable with opening up yet. Ed's also just having fun exposing Stede to 'pirate' things which is a favorite trope of mine.

favorite Stede outfit:

Unironically? All of them.

Next question.

OKAY. FINE. IF I HAVE TO CHOOSE-

Gender. Whole lotta gender right here. I'm a sucker for loose fabric and BOY.

Open Shirt? Yes. Hideously colored mustard robe that works because it's a part of the whole 'look'. Achieved. Rings? Amazing. Fluffy shirt that's a button-up? Yep, you could totally reveal more chest.

FLUFFY SLEVES!!!! AHHH. But seriously, most of his outfits are amazing. I chose like five different Gifs-before settling on this for the lace sleeves.

favorite Blackbonnet song:

Oh boy! Buckle up.

(I have 2 playlists with these 2 with around 40 total hours of music on Spotify from the 4 months post ep10 airing where I only read these two. So any answer I give is going to )

Stede POV specific('A Stede Soundtrack' on spotify)- Five Bells- CoCo and The Butterfields. Yes, I have better ones, but the general vibe is just happy, light, and in love. Excited for the future. (If this song is actually about something else, keep me innocent). With instrumentals, and dancing, and fucking joy. I love this song. 2.) Being 'May It Last'- The Avett Brothers if Folk music isn't your thing. 3.) 'The Bitch is Back'-Elton John For bitchy Stede. The best flavor.

Edward POV specific ('Blackbeard's Breakup' on Spotify)- Desperately in love Ed? 'honey'-Coastal Club. yes, I am a pet name Edward truther. Also a song about being excited by life and by love. If it's Stede Hating, Kraken era? 'Money, Money, Money'-ABBA. Yes, I know Edward is now the breadwinner, but it's very Him.

Gentlebeard. Sad era- 'Last Request'- Paolo Nutini. Oh shit, I have a crush era- 'I think I love you'-Specifically the Tenacious D cover. It's Jack Black, how can you hate it? Desperately in love- 'An Old Fashioned Love Song'-Paul Williams. This song has been in my Spotify top 100 for years. I fucking love it.

favorite OFMD fic trope:

HAHA! You didn't specify the ship, so I get to bring up Izzy.

SteddyHands specific- Stede&Ed working together/competing for Izzy to choose them first. Especially if Ed&Stede already know that Izzy has a crush on them but Izzy doesn't. I don't read this ship too much anymore, but this always made me happy.

Izzy Specific-Post S1 Izzy hunting down Stede, hijinks ensuing. Izzy gets injured, and this starts his character jornery into a mentally healthier person. Him getting loved tbh. Aslo, Izzy getting described as short. He's really not that much shorter than most of the crew. I just love when it's brought up.

Long fic- Anything character based, post S2 'reunion'. Essentially skipping how they all resolved S1 and skips to the fun parts. Love Izzy learning/starting to care for the crew. If reading a fic kinda feels like going to therapy, you're doing it right. Huge shoutout to anyone who has tried to break down how Izzy's brain works for angst fic. Also, Ed and Stede being held accountable for some of their more shitty actions.

Short Fic- You know what, I'll say it. I like soulmate (and adjacent) AUs. Love me a Hanahaki, or similar curses. If there's a story reason two characters are dubiously forced to admit their feelings, I'm there. I love that 'what if they don't like me' rant even though its destined, I love the holding yourself back to keep another person happy shit. Yes, irl, that'd be fucked. But since it's a short fic, it doesn't need to worry about all that.

Trope Tropes- Buttons being a Disney princess around animals. Lucius living in the walls. Izzy swears every other sentence. Any media of the Revenge (music, stories) being super out of time period. Two characters are falling in love, but are the last people to realize it. Stede being a pirate parent.

Ed’s hair or Stede’s hair:

I agree with what likethehotsauce said. Both fit the character really well. I can't imagine Stede or Ed suddenly shaving their head. It's a part of who they are.

If this is about me wanting their hair? I'm choosing Ed's. I've had Stede length hair for the past 2 years, and miss braiding my hair. Also, his hair looks soft as shit. Good to run your fingers through, etc.

longest gap between rewatches:

July 2022-January 2023. I watched it like 13 times post ep 10 aired, then immediately jumped into fan content. I'm a huge 'character' person when consuming media, so I generally enjoy doing that vs rewatching the show itself again.

Lucius is Hiding in the Ship vs. Lucius is Dead and a Ghost:

No corpse= Not dead. Once Ed and Stede reunite I don't think Ed would be able to forgive himself if he actually killed him. Lucius was saved by someone on the ship and hidden away. I do think Lucius will be discovered before the captains reunite. As much as I love ghosts, our guy is safe. Fearing for his life, but safe.

favorite Revenge crew member: OG Revenge-Frenchie or Buttons. If y'all haven't written him in your fics, including Buttons. He's so much fun to make the 'Cassandra' of your work! Let him be ominous and all-knowing, it's a great time! Frenchie because I'm always up for a bard, and he's a character that has so much potential. From being a bard to an 'assassin in training' with Izzy & Jim. They're fun to throw in!

Again, many thanks to @likethehotsauce! I would like to tag — absolutely zero pressure!!! I know most of you are mostly into Izzy, and I love hearing harsh opinions about Ed&Stede or general thoughts on the show looking back, after a year. @ivegotnonameidea @dianetastesmetal @gydima @downinthehull @treesofgreen @ladyrenity

[mini-minish]

Hey, wanted to say I completely agree with the tags on your most recent tlt reblog but also give you a heads up since apparently there was some massive fandom drama regarding this particular topic around a year and a half ago so this particular hornet’s nest might not be worth poking (I wasn’t around at the time, I only found out very recently, not sure how long you’ve been here so maybe you already knew but thought it might be worth a warning just in case you don’t)

Also feel free to not post this ask since this was written to reach you primarily and not your followers

thank you for the heads up anon <3 im replying mostly so you know ive seen it, i wish you'd have sent off-anon so i could reply privately, but it's alright! i dont actually interact with the fandom that much, i just stick mostly to my discord bubble specifically because fandoms can be Too Much sometimes.

im used to just blocking people who try to start drama tbh im too old for this hskdhjdhdidhd if i find someone posting things i disagree with i will simply block them and move on, im not gonna go into someone's house and break their things just bc i think the decor is ugly.

if anyone disagrees with me and tries to start discourse im just not gonna give them the space. this is my blog and im gonna post my things in here, just like other people will post their things on their blogs. people have gotten way too used to being online and unironically thinking their opinions are the only right ones about everything, and i simply do not have the time or the energy for any of that.

[definitely-not-an-alb]

21 & 24

Thank you for asking!

21 Canon that is overhyped

This is going to be a ‘touch your own nose’ situation, but unironically: the romance plots. Again: Absolutely a thing I spent a lot of time on especially wrt. Fanfic thoughts, and obviously who’s hitting on who is fun ep-to-ep gossip, but I feel like the attention the romances specifically get in comparison to the amount of canon they actually make up is, like, *wild*. I will once more blame genre and genre expectation and genre familiarity or lack there-off because like. These are action-adventure shows, not romantasy or YA (also why is YA now synonymous with teenage romance, I hate it here).

Like, canon Orym/Dorian is fun, but a) I’d like it in fandom/fanfic a lot more if it was actually the trope it is in the show instead of … *points at all that* and more importantly b) it is absolutely not everything that’s going on with those guys. The romance is a tertiary plot sharing screen time with all those other tertiary plots and standing half a step behind, I’d say, these two’s individual (also tertiary, because that’s just how it goes this campaign) arcs.

While I do think the romance plots have gotten qualitatively better from c1 in c2 and c3, fandom seems to think there’s quantitatively a lot more of them and that they are, overall, more important, and I just don’t see that. And in some cases (like with Orym, but there’s other stuff playing into that) the Romance-focus and overhyping of the few-and-far-between romance scenes over everything else warps their characters in fandom in a way that I just find unpleasant or uninteresting. Orym, for example, is just a lot more interesting to me if he’s the type of guy he imo is (standing next to the other Quiet Salt of the Earth Apocalyptic Action Guys) than when he’s warped into a Cute Tumblr Slash Man who only exists when he’s having an interaction with or emotion about either Will or Dorian.

I do think this is separate from an (imo) ‘shipping ruins analysis’ or whatever take (which are dumb, sorry not sorry), because my point here isn’t really that I have a problem with shipping, I have a problem with how people distort the canon to be all about canon romance that just often is not that fucking important. To be quiet clear: I think CR would be banger if none of the characters ever canonically banged, and I’d still be shipping in that case. I’m confused what other people are watching, because last time I checked the romance scenes are always like. 5-10 minutes in-between long fights and platonic shenanigans and intrigue plots and someone defacing a temple. Instead of the main event. You know.

24 Topic that bring up the most rancid discourse

Well, I was not here for the apparently garbage shipping discourse of C2, and quite frankly I am bored of the gods-drama but at least that’s, like, canon, in-universe drama. So after that long post about how people are to obsessed with the romances, I will immediately touch my own nose about it some more and say: Most rancid discourse happens when people randomly decide to defend a character’s lesbian gold star, especially if the character in question is, like, actively trying to fuck dudes in canon. Extra rancid whenever those people have to square their ostensible trans-inclusiveness with their blatant terfness the second they are reminded multigender people exist. To the people doing this stuff: I’m really so sorry for you that Laudna keeps hitting on the Nightmare King and trans people exist in Exandria, have you tried not exuding incredible amounts of ‘I am banned or discouraged from all my local irl queer community events’-Energy in the main tag?

[nangbaby]

For someone who only has 30 followers, you are definitely doing a lot of posturing.

Holy shit that's a wall of text I'm not going to read because, uh, I ain't got time for that. Sorry that happened to you, glad you made it through, whatever.

You'd have been better off actually passing over what I wrote than writing this, because that "wall of text" you don't want to acknowledge were links to your actual words and how they contradicted the later words you wrote. Thanks for showing your flat-footed reaction when you were proven wrong. You couldn't even muster up the correct "idc" template. (Cue to you saying, "I really didn't read it" to give yourself time for a rebuttal.)

I'm done discussing the problem of evil and historical context with you...

Good.

78 more useless words

You were supposed to be done discussing. I still can't believe you didn't recommend Elie Wiesel's Night in your "Holocaust Starter Pack Edu-mac-ation List."

You are completely ignoring the places where I discussed conscripts and other people coerced.

Just like you completely ignored me communicating "All Nazis are bad" to claim I engage in Nazi apologia. The difference is I ignore you bringing up the topic you mentioned because it wasn't relevant to what I was discussing. You talk about me making topics all about me. You made a tag with my username all about Nazis, Nazi conscripts, and how much you fetishize killing Nazis. You can try to derail, but you will fail.

Your whole paragraph is a distraction. That I quoted the first sentence is more credit than it deserved.

You seriously need to read those books.

Psychology 101: People tend to do things you request if you're nice to them. With you calling me a liar, a Nazi, mentally ill, and casting aspersions on my character, then I am motivated to not listen to you.

Because I can honestly say that most people support Total Nazi Death (if this is a play on what I think it is, you're utterly disgusting and really fucking racist. I know a dog whistle when I hear one).

I blew the dogwhistle and you hollered like a hit dog.

See, if you were really an anti-racist who knew the acronym, you would have praised me for inverting and reclaiming the meaning. Taking the language of white nationalists and twisting it is a form of empowerment.

Instead, you reacted like someone found your secret stash of hate porn. You were hurt because you not only recognized the phrase, but at a deep level, you believe it. So, yeah, the "really fucking racist" is the person who reacted uncritically and unironically to the dogwhistle, and that's you.

Here's what funny. Before you indicated it's not healthy to support Total Nazi Death (and I do mean actual Nazis here.). Once again, you wrote:

I'm as fascinated with you as I am with the person who wants a dog that mauls Nazis. Neither are for the best reasons.

See, that strongly suggests that wanting a dog that mauls Nazis is not good, because you indicate you shouldn't be fascinated by that desire.

But once again, you channel that desire for bloodlust to an acceptable target instead of considering the idea of "Total <Any Person or People> Death" is wrong.

There's an industry around it. It turns out that most normal, moral people like to see genocidal maniacs who want to kill 98% of humanity biting the dust.

There's an entertainment industry, sure, but you're not talking make-believe but reality.

You considering yourself "normal" and "moral" is very similar to those rightists you shun. Never mind that "normal" and "moral" are also coded signals to other neurodivergent and queer folk. You're sounding a lot like the people asking how you would feel if you didn't eat breakfast.

Because you're acting like my mother. No, really, you are. You're hung up on word games and lying and digging yourself in deeper.

Again, you bring up accusations without proof. I'm not playing word games; you're just terrible at reading and retreat to "You're lying" every time I say something you disagree with. And who exactly am I digging myself deeper for? You have 30 followers. I have next to no followers and no engagement. If it's negative attention, why are you giving me negativity? Or could you be completely wrong, and maybe I communicate with the small glimmer of hope that you would accept my words at face value and listen?

But you, like the other "asshole" who you now say did nothing wrong even though you previously stated that he was a jerk who acted like a jerk and thus I should let it go, aren't listening are instead posturing because you think telling me off and grandstanding are more important than moving on, not bullying, and not harming others. You won't let it go. Instead you'll shout to the Internet that I'm a bad person instead of leaving me alone and letting it die down. You keep reviving the Frankenstein monster, and now you add a swastika to it. The thought of befriending the monster never occurred to you, because monsters are freaks and you're "normal" and "moral."

Since I'm just like your mother, I'm sure she's disappointed in how much of an ungrateful brat you've become. You throw her under the bus to strangers over the Internet after she sacrificed her body and her best years to invest in you. She worked hard at raising you and instead of honoring her, you decide to backbite her because you couldn't have your way and she asked for a little sacrifice. Then again, you mentioned you wanted to kill your mother, and if I'm acting just like her, you want to kill me, too. Because you're a complete and utter failure at life. Your mama has to bail you out because you can't hack it on your own. So you direct your violent fantasies at easy targets to cope with the futility of your anxiety-riddled existence.

Happy Belated Daughter's Day!

That's odd. Yesterday she blocked me. But today I'm unblocked and she 'answered' an old ask from me [she still had it hanging around in her inbox bc she had only screenshat it before].

It's pretty obvious she prefers circling back and repeating herself. I have my own screenshot from September 13th, ten days ago. The messages are most-recent-first.

As far as I know she still hasn't responded to this message. Which is cute in a way.

That, plus the recent spate of "I'm going to imply that some Nazis were good people, actually" has convinced me that there are deeper issues here. Plus acting like I'm controlling you???

[mimzy-writing-online]

You probably know this by now, I don't know if you keep up with Whumptober, but one of the prompts this year includes "blindness". I'm not blind but based on your posts about writing blind characters, and based on how I would feel if one of my disabilities were used as a whump prompt, I'm not super comfortable with it. I was wondering what your thoughts are on blindness being a Whumptober prompt.

(unironically and with feeling) thanks, I hate it.

Yes, I’m familiar with Whumptober, but I’ve never participated myself and I haven’t seen this year’s prompts.

Edit: I later did see the prompts and check out the blog. I think it's a good set of prompts and I look forward to all the promising content, especially since some of my favorite tropes are there. To be clear before you read this, I have no problem with Whumptober2021 or whump in general. This is not the first time blindness has been included for a list of whump prompts, and it won't be the last.

This post directed at the concept of "blindness" as a whump prompt and why I think it's a bad idea. The intended audience is individual writers thinking about future projects.

The timing of this is almost too perfect because I read a fanfic earlier this week that would meet that prompt exactly. Tags included whump, blindness, and angst with a happy ending. Now whump, hurt/comfort, and angst with a happy ending are tags I enjoy reading, but blindness as whump has a specific message to it.

To explain that message, I want to discuss what whump is. Many readers are already familiar with the genre, but I think taking the specific definitions and picking apart what it means and what expectations we carry when reading whump fanfiction

Urban Dictionary defines it as: taking a character and putting them through physical and/or mental torment and is typically followed by the same character being treated for their traumas. To indicate the characters place in the situation they’d typically be called a whumpee (the character being hurt/comforted), the whumper (the character that causes harm and trauma), and the caretaker (the character designated the helping/healing/comforting the whumpee).

Fanlore has a page for whump that explains it in depth, including where it started in fanfiction, examples of whump, and even a list of “popular targets” in different fandoms. (Warning: you might find yourself called out on the popular targets list)

“The term whump (or whumping) generally refers to a form of Hurt/Comfort that is heavy on the hurt and is often found in gen stories. The exact definition varies and has evolved over time. Essentially, whump involves taking a canon character, and placing them in physically painful or psychologically-damaging scenarios. Often this character is a fan favorite…”

To add to that, I think an important detail is the distinction Fanlore makes between hurt/comfort and whump:

“While some communities and fandoms may use whump as a synonym for hurt/comfort, there is still a recognition that whump refers to darker and more extreme scenarios. And there are still whump fics been written that have very little, or no comfort at the end of the story.”

The big appeal of hurt/comfort is getting to both explore the darker sides of pain and then experience the catharsis of being taken care of, of being supported by your loved ones as you recover from the trauma. The character is the proxy for experiencing those highs and lows while you yourself are safe at home.

I personally don’t read much/any whump without some h/c involved, but I’m happy there are stories out there for people who do enjoy it. I’m not here to judge what you like reading or what you do to your characters.

What I want is to express how blindness, my disability, used as a whump prompt personally makes me feel and what message it sends to me, to others, and how that message affects my daily life.

Whump undeniably involves watching a character suffer through something painful and traumatic.

My use of the word “suffer” is what I want you to focus on.

Vision loss can be painful and traumatic. I personally developed an anxiety disorder in response to vision loss. Others experience depression. For some it might result in relapsing into old, maladaptive coping mechanisms like drug use, self harm, or eating disorders.

A big part of my anxiety was how people reacted to my vision loss. It was a cause of their stress. They were worried because they genuinely believed I would never live a happy life without normal vision, and that my life would only be struggle and pain.

I recently saw an old friend who hadn’t heard about my vision loss. The conversation was awkward, but the worst part was how they reacted as though I had experienced an insurmountable tragedy. And even when I assured them I’m happy with my life, they clearly didn’t believe me. They acted like I was just lying or in denial.

I love that people want to empathize with my situation and ask themselves what they would do in my situation, but I hate when the conclusion they come to is something along the lines of “I could never do that, I’d be too miserable thinking about everything I lost, I’d never be able to do anything I enjoyed ever again.” But I did go blind. And I’m not miserable, I’m actually happy with the direction my life is going, and I still enjoy my hobbies, even if I engage with them differently.

I’m not suffering. My life didn’t end with vision loss. It’s not ruined, broken, or worthless.

I read a fanfic that was tagged with whump, blindness, and angst with a happy ending. A general synopsis of the plot: the whumpee had gone blind due to a curse. It was true love’s kiss that broke the curse. Even from the summary I knew it was going to end with whumpee being cured somehow and that I’d leave that fanfic vaguely dissatisfied no matter how good the rest of the fanfic was.

I can say this for the fanfic: the whumpee had already accepted that they would likely be blind for the rest of their life, but everyone around them was treating it as a tragedy that needed to be fixed, working tirelessly for a cure despite the whumpee’s protests that they didn’t have to.

It actually hit home to my personal experience.

I still left it dissatisfied with the ending. I might love curse fics in that fandom, and I love the “true love’s kiss” trope, but it wasn’t enough to distract me from the fact that: an actual person out in the world thought the best happy ending, maybe the only happy ending, would be if the character got their sight back.

(note: I clicked kudos and exited out of the story's page because no fanfic writer deserves unsolicited critique or hate, especially for content I consumed for free and at my own volition.)

Why read a story I knew would disappoint me?

Because blindness representation is so damn rare that I feel like I’m wandering in a desert, dying from thirst and desperate for that oasis. But sometimes that oasis is a mirage and the author is unintentionally telling you that your life is actually awful and you’ll never be fully happy like this. And that is a shit mentality to walk through life with.

I don’t appreciate blindness being a whump plot. I hate it. Hundreds (thousands?) of fanfictions featuring blind characters are about to enter the internet and the overall message is going to be “You poor thing! You must be in so much pain, you must be miserable! Who’s going to save you? Who’s going to comfort you? Wouldn’t it be terrible if there was no one in your life to take care of you? You poor helpless thing!”

And I feel objectified. I feel trivialized. The mirage in the desert is going to become a starch, empty room filled with dozens of water bottles, almost all of them poisoned. My representation is going to hurt me personally, and it’s going to reinforce that idea strangers have about how awful my life must be.

(I returned to school this past month, and every day I’m hesitant to tell someone I’m visually impaired because I don’t want to be treated differently. If I’ve managed to pass as sighted this whole time and then suddenly reveal “oh yeah, I’m visually impaired” I feel this instant silence, this pause of awkwardness as people suddenly question how they’re supposed to treat me. They treated me like a person, and now I’m something strange and unfamiliar.)

I’ve worked so hard to improve representation for blind people, to give internet strangers the exposure to a blind person they need to normalize blindness because I hope that if they’re ever so lucky as to meet a blind person, they’ll treat that person with respect. That hope that another person in the blind community will find a friend they feel comfortable and accepted with. I hope that I’ll meet people who accept my blindness as just another aspect of me (like being bisexual or gender fluid or a writer or a cat lover).

Please don’t turn me and my community into a caricature. Don’t erase everything I’ve worked for with this blog.

To be clear, this is not just me saying "I hate the cure trope" again. This is me saying "the purpose of whump is to painfully hurt your favorite character, and I hate that your idea of pain and suffering is my daily (wonderful) life."

[saintflint]

im So sorry you're getting harassed about interview like truly people who can't accept that a character can be a piece of shit And a deeply entertaining part of the story are just stopping themselves from having a good time as well as a nuanced media experience tm. like if I am managing to enjoy the whole thing while watching scenes from my own dysfunctional family play out with added levitation cause I can use healthy coping and take a Story for what it is then there's really no excuse for them to be getting at you! if it's too much for someone to handle individually then that's a shame and i hope they manage to find peace and block the tag but it's not irresponsible writing. they're doing this on purpose cause it's good storytelling. at least in my mutual sphere Lestat is not getting woobified he's getting booed and hissed at with vigour and joy!!

dgdjfkf thanks sweetheart, at this point though, i kinda just expect these people with every new media i consume & openly comment on. it happened with kenobi, with black sails, with hotd, which is honestly why i stopped blogging about it halfway through cause i just got so tired of it. idk why it’s so fucking hard to understand that it is possible to be able to enjoy & appreciate a character’s nuances without A) woobifying them as you said lol or B) actually unironically condoning their actions. also where did we forget that they’re fake?? THEY’RE FAKE PEOPLE. call me crazy but i really don’t think that i (a legitimate grown-ass adult who’s just watching a show/movie/reading a book/whatever) need to present a notarized statement every time i express enjoyment of a fictional person whose actions & manner continually range from questionable to horrific. idk. makes sense to me. thanks again for the support though, i was starting to think that maybe i am the crazy one here. <3

[young-dumb-and-vaccinated]

The Sommelier (Hannigram x Female!Reader) pt. 5

More people said yes to Hannigram, which is good because Will is already involved in the plot and it would be awkward to have him just disappear. Also, I had someone request a Hannigram x reader in my asks. Apologies to the one person who voted no; I promise there will be more solo Hannibal x reader content in the future.

Hannibal decides to that y/n could do with some extra protection, but doesn’t anticipate what she has to tell him.

I have no idea how to make a proper tag list but @deadman-inc-bikeshop and @dovahdokren here you go 

Trigger warnings: discussions of alcohol, victim blaming

“When I saw his face, I immediately knew he had never once experienced the touch of his own hand, let alone that of a woman.” Charissa read out loud to everyone on staff. “Or, that he was buried so deep in the closet he found Narnia, but those two things aren’t mutually exclusive.” 

It was expected to be a slow night, as was normal for an ordinary Tuesday. On nights like those, you could get away with more, like reading a tabloid article out loud for everyone to hear. 

“I can’t believe [F/N] actually went public.” One of the new busboys commented. “What an absolute madlad.”  

“Did you just unironically use reddit terminology in an actual conversation?” You narrowed your eyes at the kid. 

“[F/N], you are making a very dangerous enemy.” An older waitress said, cryptically, from the corner of the room. 

“Who, Jason?” You gestured to the busboy. “What’s he gonna do? Make me cringe myself to death?” 

“You know that’s not who I mean.” She frowned. “I’m talking about Chase Mulvaney.” 

“Don’t be ridiculous.” You shook your head. “He’s not stupid enough to come back here.” 

Charissa made a noise that denoted her doubt. “I dunno, [F/N]. You’d have to be pretty stupid to start stabbing people at a crowded restaurant in broad daylight.” 

“But he was smart enough to get away, right?” Jason asked. “That’s gotta count for something!” 

You and Charissa exchanged glances. Neither of you had the emotional bandwidth to explain white privilege again. Instead, you just humored him. 

“Yeah.” Charissa lied. “He was smart enough to get away, meaning he probably knows better than to come back.”

"You're kidding yourself." A third waitress, who's name you couldn't seem to place, added. "People always say that killers are these galaxy-brained superhumans, but they're not. Mulvaney believes he's divinely ordained, so any thought that pops into his coked-out head is a sign from god."

And so shattered your thin firmament of denial. You made a point to never learn this person's name just out of spite.

“Oh, shit.” You said, trying to hide your genuine fear with a sarcastic voice. “Maybe he is coming back for me.” 

Charissa glared at the two other waitresses, equally pissed at them for scaring you.

"And it'll be your own fault for provoking him with that article." The older waitress said.

"Holy victim-blaming, batman." You mumbled.

“Alright, listen up, y’all.” Matthew announced to the group. “In ten minutes we open for dinner. Remember, if you want to switch shifts with another person, you have to run it by me first. I don’t want to see anybody but [F/N] at the bar tonight, capiche?”

“Yessir.” You saluted him and made your way over to the bar. You’d been doling out your bartending shifts left and right to avoid even the possibility of being cornered by another Freddie Lounds. You were only prolonging the inevitable, though. Eventually, you needed to return to the bar.

You passed the hostess's stand, where Charissa was stationed. Suddenly, you felt someone grab at your arm.

"Fucking hell, dude?!" You flinched violently and your heart rate jumped. "Don't do that!"

"Shit, sorry!" Charissa looked immediately regretful. "But, look!"

You followed her gaze through the window where a fancy car was parked. He leaned against the door, adjusting the cuffs of his dress shirt.

Now your heart was beating fast for a completely different reason. You squeezed Charissa's hand, trying to keep a lid on your nervous excitement.

"I think your luck's starting to turn." She said in a sing-songy voice.

"Yeah, I bet he'll protect me from the Baltimore Butcher." You whispered, trying not to giggle like an elementary school girl.

"Oh, could you imagine those arms around you?" She sighed deeply, her hand firmly against her chest. "I would die."

"Not until he sinks his teeth into your neck." You smirked, gnashing your teeth together.

"I would let him." She rested her chin on her hand.

"Yeah, me too." You agreed.

"I would give anything to trade shifts with you." Charissa groaned.

"Well, you heard the boss." You shrugged, suddenly feeling much better about your assignment. "I gotta stay behind the bar."

"Oh, pobrecita." Charissa rolled her eyes. Underneath the stand, she put up her middle finger in your direction. "Suck a dick, [L/N]."

You walked backwards towards the bar, keeping your eyes on your friend. "That's the plan, baby."

You tried to make yourself look busy. You dared not look at him as he entered the restaurant.

He exchanged pleasantries with Charissa then took his seat at the bar. You pretended not to notice him right away, only to give you an extra second to compose yourself.

"Hi there." You greeted, knowing you'd feel stupid no matter what you said. "Er- good evening."

"[F/N] [L/N], I assume?" He asked.

Fuck, you thought. His voice was dark, low and made your insides tremble. Even though part of you knew he was going to know your name, it still felt so sensual passing his lips.

You realized you had waved to him with your bandaged hand. That's how he was about to identify you so quickly. "Yes, I am she. I mean- her. Me."

Way to go, dumbass. You thought. Now he knows you're nervous and he's going to wonder why.

“God, I need to stop wearing this damn thing.” You said, clearing your throat. “What can I get for you tonight?” 

He was quiet for a moment. "What do you recommend?"

"Well, that depends." You said, pulling your gaze from him and grabbing a few wine glasses down from a high shelf. It was the only way you could maintain your composure.

"On?"

"What you're having for dinner, for one." You said. "And whether or not you're a vulpine tabloid journalist trying to corner me into a dubiously ethical interview. That's also a factor."

"So that's how Miss Lounds wore you down?" He concluded. "With wine?"

You rested your elbows on the bar, filled with an intoxicating confidence. "She tried wine first. Then she tried to get me fired because she asked for chardonnay and I brought her chablis. And when that didn't work, she siphoned my gas."

"I wish I could say that was out of character for her." He looked at you, apologetically.

"I take it you've had your own run-ins with Freddie?" You smiled.

"She's tried to infiltrate my practice multiple times." He sighed. "She's entered my office under a fake name with a recording device in her purse."

"What a sick fuck." You said, before remembering you really weren't supposed to curse in front of customers. You covered your mouth. "Sorry."

The corners of his mouth turned up into an amused smile. "Don't apologize. You're right."

“So you’re a doctor?” You asked, hoping he wasn’t the type to be offended by questions. 

“I’m a psychiatrist.” He nodded. “I used to work as a surgeon, but I find the mind much more compelling.” 

"Seriously, though." You pushed yourself back to your feet. "What can I get for you?"

He eyed the wine menu and then looked back at you. "What is your favorite red?"

"My favorite red?" You placed your hand on your collarbones. "On a night like this, I enjoy a nice, dry Argentinean Malbec."

"In that case," he thumbed through the list once more. "I'll have a bottle of Cobos Chañares from 2016, please."

You smiled. You wouldn't mind taking a sip of that if he offered. "Right away."

You carefully pulled the solid black bottle from its crevice and placed it on the bar. You removed the plastic seal and reached for the corkscrew. The bottle opened with a satisfying pop, filling the air around you with the strong, complex and seemingly contradictory aromas.

You poured a bit of this criminally expensive wine into his glass. He smelled it, then swirled it for a moment before taking a sip.

"Redcurrants and vanilla," he began. "With floral notes that operate with the precision of interlocking gears in a clock. Everything in its place."

"So you're a sommelier and a poet?" You tilted your head and filled his glass. "I'll bet you make women swoon at every corner."

You never had the best grasp on flirting, but even you knew that line was awful.

“Are you flirting with me, Miss [L/N]?” He asked, clearly not too worried about the consequences and enjoying the flattery. “Or are you just trying to get a taste of this Malbec?” 

“Little bit of column A, little bit of column B.” You shrugged. “Though you are as handsome as everyone says, I’ve had my eyes on that wine for slightly longer.” 

You fought the urge to slap your hand over your mouth. You had just broken the cardinal rule of workplace gossip. Panic reverberated through your body as you tried to break down his unreadable expression. 

Once again, he just looked amused. “I’ve seen those lingering glances, the way you all whisper and giggle. It’s flattering.” 

You felt your cheeks growing hot. “...I see.” 

“If you tell me what they say about me, I’ll let you have a taste.” His eyes bored into yours. 

You paused, trying to decipher exactly what he was offering. Then it hit you. 

“Oh!” You interjected. “The wine.” 

“Yes, that’s what I meant.” He said. “Dare I ask where your mind went?” 

Your cheeks stung from all the uncomfortable smiling. “I’d really like to keep my job, thanks.” 

“Have you never heard of bartender-client confidentiality?” His voice lowered and his eyes found your lips. “Nothing we say tonight has to leave these four walls.” 

Your insides turned to jelly. He rested the wine glass in his hand and offered it to you. Your hands shaking, you cradled the glass like an 18th century French village prostitute being offered a mug of hot soup. You brought the glass to your lips, the strong, overwhelming smells assaulting your orifices.

You let the wine grace your tongue. You had taught yourself to overcome the sting of the alcohol and focus on the undertones. Your eyes rolled back in to your head and you let out a little noise of pleasure. 

“Christ on a bike, that’s decadent.” You said, gasping for air a little bit. You quickly passed the glass back to him before Matthew could see you. “Thank you.” 

“Now, indulge me.” He instructed, glancing at the fresh pink lipstick mark on his glass. “What do the lovely women of Terroir whisper while I’m just out of earshot?” 

You rested your elbows on the bar and leaned in close. “They say you’re a vampire.” 

Judging by his unchanging neutral expression, it clearly wasn’t the first time someone had made that connection. “Perhaps they’re on to something.” 

“One of our line cooks used to say you were the devil.” You informed him, hoping that was one he hadn’t heard before.

“Used to?” He raised his eyebrows. 

“Until Chase Mulvaney came around.” You instinctively ran your fingers over your bandages, as if to make sure they were still there. It was a nervous tick you’d developed anytime someone brought up that day. “He’s stopped talking about, like, anything having to do with his religion ever since.” 

“It takes a lot to get an evangelist to stop evangelizing.” He refilled his glass. “Do you think he lost his faith?” 

“I heard someone say in passing that it was because he and Chase Mulvaney went to the same church.” You whispered. “But I can’t verify that.” 

“I’d say it’s more likely than a regular customer being a vampire, wouldn’t you?” 

“I wouldn’t trust their word because they made a regular customer into a vampire.” You corrected, hoping he would overlook the fact that you were one of them. “Secrets may stay within these four walls, but they tend to bounce around. It’s only a matter of time before one escapes, and you’d better hope it’s not one of yours.” 

This man must have been an exceptional therapist, because, there you were, baring your soul to him after fifteen minutes and one sip of wine. Occasionally, you were pulled away from the conversation by another customer who had the audacity to also want a drink. But, very few people came to you with the sole intent of drinking on a Tuesday evening. You and the sommelier talked until closing time. 

“Thank you for a lovely evening, Miss [L/N].” He said pulling out his wallet. “You are as delightful in person as you are on paper.” 

“Thank you, but I never caught-” you said, but stopped yourself. “I mean, you never gave me your name.” 

He signed his name on the paper check, then pulled out a fifty and unceremoniously handed it to you. “Now why would you want to ruin the mystery?” 

“Nothing we say tonight has to leave these four walls, remember?” You grinned and crossed your arms. “Come on, I won’t tell anyone.” 

He took the customer copy of the receipt and scribbled something down on it. He the folded it in half and slid it in your direction as if it contained nuclear launch codes. 

“Join me for dinner someday.” He ordered. “I’ll supply the Malbec.” 

[charcubed]

hey char, mind to share your fave stevebucky headcanons? 👀

Oh I LOVE that you asked me this :’)  Thank you!

I honestly have so many if I really think about it because I love them so much and I think about their dynamic so much that I have so many favorite things... but here is what I think of off the top of my head:

• Steve was color blind before the serum, according to canon. I have a headcanon that Bucky used to try to describe colors to him. I wrote a mini fic about that here.

• Bucky was drafted for the war, but didn’t tell Steve. Steve sort of assumed that Bucky enlisted, and Bucky never wanted to correct him. How could he? Steve wanted to enlist so badly, and Bucky didn’t ever feel like he could admit that he didn’t have the same drive to want to ~fight for the country~ like Steve did. He didn’t want to disappoint him and he was afraid Steve would think he was a coward. So Bucky just... never told him that he was forced into war. It was never his choice to fight for the country. If it was up to him, they would’ve stayed home together and stayed safe and never fought at all.

• They were always physically rough with each other, in the sense that they'd wrestle as boys all the time, and Steve loved that Bucky never treated him as fragile. Buck knew he could take it. Even after the serum, they'd still scuffle a bit like kids, finding a bright spot in a war-torn world. They’d be awake in the trenches on lookout, having soft conversations in the night, and shoving each other after one says something stupid or makes a bad joke.

• Steve is bi, and Bucky is gay. Bucky was consciously aware of his feelings for Steve way, way before Steve was aware of his for Bucky. In the 30s, Bucky has a bit of a reputation for ~dating around,~ but not in a rude ladies’ man kind of way but rather his reputation is “Bucky Barnes is a real charmer. He’ll show you a good time and he’s really sweet, but he never pushes your boundaries.” Some women wishes he’d push their boundaries, but he doesn’t. He’s taken so many women out on dates because he never lets it get super serious, since they’re not who he wants and it’s mostly for appearances’ sake, especially since he and Steve live together. He definitely enjoys hanging out with women, and treating them nice, but most of the time his motivation is to try to set up double dates–half because Steve deserves to find a great girl to date, and half because a double date means Bucky can selfishly do a date activity “with” Steve and not have it mean anything. Meanwhile though, Steve gets jealous as hell and testy about Bucky dating all the time, but he’s oblivious to the fact that it’s because Steve wishes Bucky would be with him instead.

• Their first kiss was when Steve was 16 and Bucky was 17. I’m not necessarily saying that’s when they actually got together, but something significant happened between them at those ages... maybe they kissed because they were drunk, or it was so Steve’s “first kiss” would be someone he knew and it was for “practice.” And then they both never talked about it again, because they’re idiots and were afraid to ~ruin things~ between each other. That’s why Steve says “Rumlow said ‘Bucky’ and all of a sudden I was a 16-year-old kid again, in Brooklyn.” That’s why “seventeen” is one of Bucky’s trigger words as the Winter Soldier. It checks out, because Bucky is a little bit older than Steve.

• Steve doesn’t fully admit the depth of his own feelings for Bucky to himself until he finds out Bucky’s been captured by HYDRA. And then he tears Europe apart to get him back. He’d have done that anyway, obviously, but... the prospect of losing Bucky forever is really what makes him realize how much he can’t handle that concept. Because he’s in love with him.

• After Bucky “dies,” Steve gets more reckless, and that’s part of the reason he put the plane in the ice and didn’t try to survive: he didn’t want to live in a world without Bucky in it. This is supported by canon. And so I headcanon that, after Steve finds out about the Winter Soldier, one day he abruptly realizes that he could’ve died in that plane crash and never known Bucky was alive and brainwashed and suffering. He thought Bucky was dead and he wanted to follow him, and he could’ve left Bucky even more alone in the world without knowing it. When Steve realizes how close he came to leaving Bucky behind like that, he throws up. It horrifies him to think about it.

• They each have a pair of dog tags where one says “Steve Rogers” and one says “Bucky Barnes.” They swapped one tag each, so that they’d have a matching set, because while they couldn’t list each other as “next of kin,” they wanted tangible evidence that would show other people how important they are to each other. So people would know: tell him if something happens to me.

• Their Brooklyn accents come out / get heavier around each other, especially if they’re bitching about things or arguing.

• Bucky is a complete sci-fi and fantasy nerd–which is now confirmed canon, and I love it. In particular, I like to headcanon that he loves to read paperback sci-fi novels, and discount romance novels. He unironically enjoys them, and he leaves them allllll over the place. One of the things they love to do is Bucky will sit around and read while Steve will sit around and draw/paint, and half the time Steve gets distracted sketching Bucky’s facial expression he makes while he’s reading.

• Bucky is also a pop culture gremlin. He will try and often get interested in pretty much anything and everything, without rhyme or reason. In modern day, he and Nat will watch trashy reality TV together–sometimes to make fun of it, sometimes to get invested. Steve thinks they’re insane for that. And sometimes Bucky will like one niche thing but then for very specific reasons he dislikes another similar thing. It makes sense to him, even if Steve doesn’t get it.

• Steve tends to be pickier with the kind of stuff he enjoys. He’s always had Strong Opinions™️ on everything, including and especially art. Put him in a museum and he’ll have a lot of thoughts on all of it. He doesn’t judge things or hate on other people for liking things he doesn’t like at all, but he won’t get hooked on a movie/show quite as easily. The one exception is animation, which he absolutely adores, and he goes on a wild binge of all kinds of animated content for awhile–shows and movies–because the various art styles and uses of the medium to tell crazy stories just fascinates him.

• Easy access to so much music is one of their mutual favorite things about the 21st century. Bucky often gets into individual artists’ entire discographies and becomes a fan, whereas Steve often gets into a handful of specific songs from a wide range of various people. Like... Bucky will often love an entire album, and Steve will often love 2 songs specifically more than others. But even with that, Steve loves collecting vinyl records–both old and new ones.

• Bucky has a fantastic singing voice even though he’s shy about it, and he tends to hum along to music when distracted or working on something else–especially while making something in the kitchen. 

• Bucky likes technology more than Steve; Steve likes physical stuff more than Bucky. Bucky loves to take photos and videos of things all the time, hoarding digital memories in a way that’s precious to him, knowing that they’re “safe” and accessible anywhere. They lost so much of the objects that they loved a century ago, and photos were scarce, but now... there are endless ways to have pictures. When Bucky was recovering in Wakanda and Steve was on the run, Bucky would often text Steve photos–sometimes without captions–to wordlessly share bits of his days with him. He’s got a good eye for photography, except for when he takes the photo equivalent of shitposts to make Steve laugh. Regardless, Steve gets his favorites printed–some of Bucky’s photos, some of his, some of their selfies–so they also always have something tangible to hold onto.

• Bucky calls Steve “sweetheart” sometimes, just to be a little shit–and he means it. It makes Steve turn red every time, without fail, but he secretly doesn’t mind it.

Okay I’ll stop hahaha. Those are the main ones that come to mind for me all the time when I think of them! 

Thank you again for asking :D  This was so fun to write all in one place!

[alleycat4eva]

Thoughts on Recent Posts

I'm not sure I should even be on this subject anymore with how I tend to react to it.

(Can't add Readme but here's where it would go)

To me being female is intrinsic to and unseperatable to being second class person growing up and it is also an unseperatable part if me. It is like the color of my skin where even when I fought to be more than just a girl or woman I was always held down and back by being a woman.

And maybe it's jealousy of male puberty and the liberty granted to males in my life -because as much as culture dictate they provide or protect it is me paying for my own schooling, my rent, the food, the bills; me doing the chores the talking the car fixing- but there is an unseperateable part of what feminity and womanhood is in that struggle to be recognized as a equal. A struggle that was not asked for, and can't be run or hidden from.  It's not all of it but it is a formative part.

And so - and I won't lie this is something I think I might need therapy for- to me claiming that feminity without having faced the history is fraught. It's claiming powerlessness when you have/had the power. And instead of embracing traditionally feminine activities or ideals or aestetics and continuing despite sex it... embraces these things while adhereing to it.

And on the concept of gender neutral I don't have a conceptualization for it other than not ascribing to either gender role (which I always thought was taught and assigned) which I thought was like. The norm. Because both are incredibly constrictive and don't actually represent real how real people live.

And as for transmen well I will be honest and say I have no idea and no info on it. I've known two transmen but one detransistioned and the other is just the dude I took class with.

Not to mention the discourse in the community itself? Like there's inclusive trans binary trans transfluid and like transcum and transmed and dysphoria

(On a side note? Wtf is the Treatment for gender dysphoria? Because why the hell did I like. Just get told to basically deal with it when receiving treatment for ana/bul and that I just had to overcome that feeling and learn to live with it but like that def does not seem to be the case for gender dysphoria. So reading things like do X to feel more like your dysphoric image of yourself is... Not at all how I was trained to deal with it. They were like " yeah sometimes you'll not wanna eat and tear your skin off that's normal ride it out and dont do that and def eat despite dysphoria")

I'm here. I'm listening. I'm genuinely trying to understand.

And then everything I try to go to tumblr -a fucking leftist source if there was one- and search transwoman is hyper sexualized and fetishized selfies instead of gender discussion. Same with trans. Just to be sure I type in woman and get paintings and then radfem and terf actually have discourse and discussion. Which is why I am thankful for the tag recs.

Btw tranmen? Some affirmation and discourse. But like. Also chock full of radfem and terf stuff.

But then, on a side note, to be literally 2nd gen after ww2 in this country and then be called nazi? What the fuck? Is that the greatest act of violence? For me to say -on the internet- " hey uh I know that this is generally gonna be hated but I think I might be a terf here's why I'm not really sure what's going on"

And then thats nazi self identification somehow.

Go outside and touch grass. Go to 4chan and see what neonazis will actually post. Come here to the US south where people feel comfy enough unironically tell me that men are better and that I should know my place. Where cops have in the last 6 month shot someone because they smelled weed while he was walking and they pinned him to the ground a street over and there is a lawsuit for use over canines against civilians and for an illegal body slam. (All separate.) Where there are legitimate state reps who want to legislate how afab can move in and outta state.

And thats not trying to be like oppression Olympics. That's saying here and now calling me a nazi and being devisive feels outta touch and insane. I literally have little to no control over myself how tf am I going to be controlling anyone else.