#so i'd really appreciate it if people could

[yonpote]

all this talk of samgirls got me thinking about dangirls. do dangirls even really exist anymore? like unironically i mean? is it at all possible to be a dangirl in 2024? obviously dannies exist (hi if thats you :3) but dannies absolutely love phil just as much even if theyre more intense about their love for dan. like we're all just phannies now right? then again theres a lot more casuals nowadays who have not dug thru amazingphil's entire back catalog or weren't around when phil essentially carried the phandom for three years, or perhaps dont understand the importance of that.

theres always gonna be some people who just have a preference, but so much of dnp's personalities are just. the same. theyre both gay and snarky, they both love making an innuendo or euphemism, theyre both nerdy white guys, and they both love each other so much like. ive said it so many times before but i just don't understand how in Modern Era anyone can TRULY like one and not the other (having a slight preference or leaning is fine, i mean neutral feelings to even dislike of one is insane)

after tit ended, i overheard someone saying, not exactly this but something like, "dan has way more stage presence and i didnt really care about phil's parts." i mean i agree that dan has more stage presence, that has always been the case. but. don't you need the understated to better appreciate the bombastic? i don't wanna put any spoils in this post, but i'll just say that phil's "role" in the show is equally as important. like not even in a "dnp are the ultimate couple" way just like. a narrative duo needs a foil and they are very much each other's foils. like dan, as wonderful of a performer as he is, could not have singlehandedly carried the energy of this particular show. he managed to do it in wad but even then, i'd argue the narrative foil or even antagonist is like. all the problems in the world lol the villain in dan's show was capitalism and its role in the destruction of society. (not that everything needs to have a foil or a villain lol but im saying even if you love dan and somehow dont love phil you have to recognize that phil's energy balances/enhances dan's and is therefore necessary to the energy of the whole show/dynamic.)

and circling back to them as personalities, it's like. dan would hate you if he saw that you said you liked him and not phil. this isnt 2012 anymore where there was at least an illusion or potentiality of separate but parallel careers, they are both involved everything they make, including things they make individually. and again, their personalities are so incredibly similar and where they differ is what balances each other out.

anyway what im saying is i don't think dangirls exist anymore but if one does i just have a few questions: how and why?

[rookinthecrownest]

Discussion about romances + expectations under the cut (I'd put it as like..mildly critical, but also coming from a place of understanding?). As usual, will tag as such so you don't have to engage/read on if you don't wish to. I always invite open discussion, just keep it respectful (as I will endeavour to do so myself).

This is going to be a bit of a ramble, so I apologize if my thoughts are not clearly laid out like they should be.

I think I've found the reason why I (and maybe others), feel that the romances in Veilguard feel a bit... idk, hollow, at times (not BAD!!! just feeling like there could be MORE). And that's because of the trap of expectations. I may also be speaking completely for myself here.

Anyway, let's rewind to 2014.

Be me, 10 years ago. You're not really a gamer, but indulge in action RPG's casually.

See a commercial for this hot new game coming out called Dragon Age: Inquisition. Be intrigued by the character designs, but know nothing about the world. Come to find out it's part of a trilogy. So naturally, you buy the first two games and play through them before playing the third.

Be amazed, and completely hooked on the characters, the lore, the world, the darker elements and themes. It becomes your favourite game series of all time.

But you had no idea that you could romance any of the companions going into the experience. And man, does it fundamentally rewire your brain chemistry to fall in love with cRPG and get ridiculously attached to your Warden/Hawke/Inquisitor.

So, you romance Alistair first because he's funny as hell, and has a really interesting story/character arc. Then you romance Zevran, and love that too - he's charming and suave and awkward and funny. Then you go onto DA2 and romance Fenris and Anders, and each of those romances pack their own emotional gut punches. Then it's finally time for DAI, and predictably, you go for Solas (a veritable slow burn that spans TWO games), Cullen, and partially (I never finished those playthroughs lol) Blackwall and Dorian.

I had no idea you could romance companions going into these games. It was a pleasant surprise! It always felt like an important part of the story, while not overshadowing the main plot. There was enough material in the codexes, the cutscenes, and party banter to make each romance feel complete and whole and awesome and nuanced.

And then, like some of you I suspect, I read an article that touted Veilguard as "The Most Romantic Bioware Game Yet", and I thought - "Wow, if they're saying this then the romances must be something else", given the quality of the previous romances you've experienced in these games!

But you get to the game - and while you're having fun, it definitely leans more into the ARPG style where romances feel a bit more pushed to the side in order to tell a certain story than the traditional Bioware/Larian RPG experience you've come to love.

Which is fine! Again, once I stopped thinking of Veilguard as a classic Bioware CRPG, and more like GOW/The Witcher, I found I was able to appreciate it a lot more for what it is. Things have to Happen A Certain Way for the narrative to work, and that's not a bad thing. DA2 was similar - it was a harrowing, personal tragedy about the Hawke family and their struggle to survive in Kirkwall.

Just like DA2, there are aspects of Veilguard that make me glad things happened the way they did. I'm not mad that Rook has so much dialogue without a ton of player input and you can't 'be evil' - because the game doesn't make sense if you can. At its core, Veilguard's narrative is centered around Regret, after all - you can't have an evil protagonist running around because Solas' Regret prison would never work (evil people don't generally tend to regret their actions...)!

Now, if you're expecting a long-winded, fully researched academic breakdown of every romance I'm sorry but that ain't happening tonight lol. This is not based in any fact, this is all opinion.

I can't quite put my finger on it, but sometimes it feels like the romances in this game (and I say this with the biggest grain of salt as I've only done Emmrich and Lucanis' - and am going through Neve's now), are just missing....something, to take them from good to great.

I loved Emmrich's romance. I thought it was very well done. I think a lot of people would agree it's one of the stronger ones in the game - doubly so if you play as a Mourn Watch Rook (you get a TON of MW specific lines going this route, it's great). His side romance with Strife if you don't get together is very cute, I enjoyed it. But as superbly well done as it was, somehow, I wouldn't even put it in my top 4 Bioware romances.

With Lucanis' romance - whatever my hangups may be about how it was handled, certain parts of his romance were done excellently (even better than some of the previous Bioware romances, I'd say). You can read more about my thoughts on his romance here which is why I'm not going into detail about it. Unlike Emmrich's, I would put it in my top 4 because I fell in love with the character that much (both in the game but really, I've loved him since Tevinter Nights), and I've grown very attached to my first Rook and him as a pairing. I've seen others share a similar sentiment on here (and I hate to say it but I agree) - sometimes it feels like I fell in love with Rookanis despite the way it was handled, not because of it. I can't say that for many other romances. While it's been fun to think up a lot of HC/write fics/make art about those abandoned concept sketches and parts where I felt the game could have showed us more of their dynamic, I can't help but feel like his (and other) romances would have immensely benefited from even 1 or 2 extra small scenes to flesh it out a bit more if they weren't going to let us freely talk to our companions.

The issue with the romances might also have something to do with the pacing of the game itself. I think Act 2 is where the pacing goes a bit awry, before picking back up in Act 3 (which is great, I love it).

Sometimes I also felt that there was a little too much reliance on codex entries and party banter to tell the story of the romance rather than showing it explicitly through cutscenes. I think that's what makes the romances feel a bit truncated at times, compared to the previous entries? Some of the romance-specific party banter was so good, it probably deserved its own cutscene. But it's also highly dependent on the party you have, and it's easy to miss/not trigger. I remember absolutely living for the cutscenes in the first three entries and I can't explain why I feel like, subjectively speaking, Veilguard just has less romance content (this may not be objective reality - I haven't compared the amount of romance specific content head to head with other games).

I also couldn't tell you why I feel DA2 doesn't suffer the same problems as DATV in terms of romance interaction - because you can't freely talk to your companions in that game either. Yet somehow, it always felt like I was getting enough of them to not notice that. I do miss being able to chat my LI's ear off and ask them questions about their life/their views/etc. like I could in DAO and DAI. I think it's a shame we can't because the companions in DATV are SO interesting. I want to ask them all a billion questions about their lives/stories/etc even if they're not my love interest. The party banter in this game is immaculate but being able to talk to them individually about this stuff would've been SO nice. I feel that I've missed out on SO MUCH of these characters just because I didn't have two of them in my party at the same time!

Anyway, I need to wrap this up.

In closing, perhaps, if I hadn't read that article about how it was going to be Bioware's most romantic game ... maybe I wouldn't feel this way? I think it sent my expectations through the stratosphere, and that's no one's fault but my own. Not Bioware, not EA, mine.

I know that this game's development cycle was a unique sort of hell that the other games didn't suffer. To go from Joplin -> Morrison -> Veilguard. To have so many of the original staff leave the team when Joplin got scrapped. To have to pivot from Live Service and then back to single person RPG. More lay-offs. It's a miracle this game got made. I'm happy I can sit around thinking about it. And I hope its successful enough that we get DA5 so we can all sit around dissecting that in 5-10 yrs time.

Don't get me wrong - I enjoy the Veilguard romances for what they are. I'm enjoying them more I play and discover additional banter/codex/etc that I missed the first time around. Like any Bioware romance, there are spots where they hit their stride, and spots where they falter a bit. When they hit their stride they knock it out of the fucking park. But when they falter, you can really feel it. Romance is hard to write! And you'll never fully please everyone.

But a small part of me wishes I'd gone in blind, and checked my own expectations a bit.

Maybe you agree, maybe you don't. Tell me about it. What was your experience with the romances? Did you also read that article and get your expectations up?

I hope this makes sense.

Kind regards good fandom folks,

Keep the discussion respectful. And please don't use this post as an excuse to just blatantly hate on the game.

-Rookie

[befuddledcinnamonroll]

Heart Killers time, woot woot!

I do have to say, watching what's happening with Jack & Joker right now, I hope people are not letting their expectations get ahead of them with this one either... though I know that's probably a futile wish. Expectation is such a thief of joy, y'all.

Anyway, my only expectation in this is I will have a good time, so let's do it!

How this man doesn't just expire from Bison doing this to him, I have no idea.

Oh, this line. Jojo knows us so well.

Ooh, we're having a black vs red debate!

In Bison's defense, he looks really good in red.

Something cracks me up about Kant looking for hookups at the bowling alley. Is that really good hunting ground? Maybe in Thailand? Definitely not in the U.S.

Oh Jojo, you bad, bad man.

I am gonna get full on obsessed with Dunk's tummy, aren't I?

Also just realizing how much of this show I am going to spend thinking how good the pairings of FirstDunk & JoongKhaotung could be...

Lolol, target acquired!

Ha, this is so me when a man tries to tell me what to do.

I like Bison being all "if you wanna fuck me, just say so". We have a very direct man here.

Nooooo, Style don't be a stupid driver.

I was not expecting an early Fadel/Style meetup! See, it's fate.

Way to make a horrible first impression Style! But I am loving how their dynamics are. Fadel is such a tight ass, it's gonna be great when he cracks.

Quite a first time scene for our boys! And people say GMMTV is gonna tamp down the gay, lololol.

Also can we take a moment to admire this shot? The red, the mirrors, there's a lot going on here. Beautiful.

I like that the burger uniforms are a mix of Fadel & Bison colorwise.

I also think it's hilarious that Fadel ordered black plastic gloves to maintain his aesthetic.

Omg, I am dying that Bison shot a gun at karaoke. He's a little disaster.

Hmmmm, mother? Interesting...

Ooh, silver fox alert!

Always appreciate some eye candy for us older fans.

Ah, of course the cop is a manipulative jerk. Hot, but a jerk.

Ain't this just a mood.

Heh, when the man you just had mind-blowing sex with turns out to be an assassin you have to stalk. If I had a nickel...

Oh, I think Style is gonna be my favorite. Dumb and chaotic.

As much as I enjoy a height difference couple, there is something about two men who are the exact same height...

Also love the black & white - because they are opposites!

Wait...does Bison not know how to cook burgers? Did... did he just put the raw patty on the board they use to chop veggies? Am I going to get stressed about food safety in this action romcom?!

I like that Fadel has this subtle air of general menace about him.

Aaaaah, bashful Bison is so cute!!!!! "Take me out...nooooo...really?"

This boy desperately wants to be loved. My heart.

Style is a slutty menace and I love him!

I also love that they are establishing the attraction is there before the deal gets made.

Ah, I was wondering if Kant was a philosophical reference!

Does Jojo have a "First eating burgers" fetish? That's been two extreme closeups in one episode. Just sayin'.

"Crazy and bold" is pretty spot on for Style!

Oh don't try to complain Style, you know you want him.

Ok, the yellow & purple... Are these their real colors, or the ones hiding their real colors as they embark on their mission?

Another costuming note - both Kant & Style had sunglasses as part of their outfits when they started their lying... love that little detail.

Good lord, that many beers and I'd be peeing every two minutes.

Oh! Fadel figuring out they're friends already! What a twist!

This was so much fun!

[purple-plum-petals]

—⊱ Reposts of my Fanfictions

So, it has come to my attention that people are reposting my Homicipher fanficions on other sites without my permission, specifically on Facebook. If you see my works on anything besides Tumblr and Ao3, it is not me.

I do not use Facebook so, if anyone sees the post I was informed about, I would appreciate it if you could report the post if possible. The person who brought this to my attention was blocked by the thief as well, so it seems as though talking to them will not do anything.

It's heartbreaking to me that Homicipher is a game that sparked my love of writing again, but it is also the fandom that has consistently crossed my boundaries and disregarded my rules.

Never in my almost a decade of writing fanfiction has any fandom been like this, and that is a bit upsetting to me... So, if anyone sees my posts on any site other than Tumblr and Ao3, I'd be really grateful if you were able to report the reposters/thieves. Thank you.

[rei-ismyname]

Maddie Pryor, Real Girl Part 1

I really appreciate that The First Krakoan Age, and specifically Hellions, refused to minimise the harm that had been done to Madelyne Pryor. Sure, she embraced demons and tried to end the world but I support women's wrongs. Plus she had really solid reasons.

Next level underboob game

For some reason she was in the Essex State Home for Foundlings when the Hellions arrived to demolish it, AKA destroying a clone farm full of things he'd thrown away under the Quiet Council's mandate. Heartbreakingly, when Alex asks when she returned, she tells him 'years ago, and noone cared.'

Again, she's been left behind and thrown away by the popular mutants. An outcast among outcasts. I love the mouth disappearing spell, it's gotta be very useful especially if you're tired of having men speak over you.

It's her story, and she deserves control of it. Shut the fuck up, Alex.

Woah, Havok. That's hecticccc

She gets to speak her pain at last, and still a Summers brother acts like the main character.

Yeah, sure dude. But maybe hear what she has to say first? Obviously I live for their drama, and clearly Maddie does too. Very clear power dynamics. Healthy? Fuck no, but she deserves it, as a treat.

'It's like I don't exist until I start hurting people' is such a killer line. Also, John Greycrow did do those things. It's unclear how much agency he had as they were/are both cloned by Sinister, but it's accurate and I love to see it said aloud.

Yes, (Goblin) queen.

Her plan is definitely extreme with a lot of collateral damage, but the feelings and grievances are valid. That Alex Summers agrees probably tells us it's a bit much.

I'm actually not sure what's happening here aside from the obvious, but it sucks to see her die. Little surprised a single bullet could get past her magic and telekinesis, so maybe it isn't the real Maddie. It doesn't matter, though.

I'd call this a sad fridging designed to fuel Havok's angst and character growth, but this isn't the last we see of her. It is sad, though. Her grievances have been raised but not heard or addressed, and they must be. Next time we'll see how.

[azrielbrainrot]

I'm sorry to kind of hijack this post but this is something I keep seeing across all fandoms and it's honestly sad to watch, especially on tumblr which was where fandoms used to thrive.

Fanfic writers and fan artists have always been the backbone of fandom and all this silence from the people consuming their stories and art is genuinely making people not want to/give up on writing/creating. I'm not sure if people don't realize it or just don't care but this has been killing fandom spaces.

It's also been explained over and over that likes don't do anything on tumblr and reblogging is always the way. Like OP said a comment or ask about the work is also more than appreciated since it's literally the only thing we get in return. I've recently seen people also saying they like stories to bookmark them and then unlike them when they've read them "to unclog the like tab". This is actually a pretty shitty thing to do if I'm being honest, and I need to remind you that fan artists/writers are doing this for free and because they feel like sharing their works when they could as easily write them for themselves, now I'd like you to think what fandom would look like if there were no writers/artists.

Anyway I can't make anyone do anything but sideblogs are so easily created on tumblr that I really can't understand why most people wouldn't do that if they don't want to clog their main account with fics in case it doesn't aesthetics/gets too messy. Since introducing comments tumblr has also made it easier to engage with writers and asks have always been around.

Support your writers and artists, a kind word of encouragement has never hurt anyone. That's all.

Hi! Is the master list a wip rn? It’s not working for me

Hi! Sorry to commandeer this post but there are a few things I want to say relating to this.

So over the past fortnight or so I've actually seriously been considering deleting my blog, or just stopping writing fanfiction entirely. Most of Two Birds has been deleted and I started getting rid of a few Teeth and Talons chapters, I think all the links to masterlists have been taken down and I've made most of the cbmthy chapters private.

I don't want to mislead anyone by speculating why I've been feeling the way I have, but I'm fatigued, exhausted, demotivated, and I feel used.

Fandom to me is supposed to be about community, not to be taken as charity. That means interacting with writers. Reblogging posts with more than just sorting tags. Commenting something other than asking to be on a taglist.

I want to stress there are over 3,600 of you following me, and yet only the first part of cbmthy, Unchained, and Stockholm Syndrome even a third of you have interacted with. Most stories I write now have around 100-300 hundred notes, a fraction of those being comments or reblogs, which is such a small percentage.

My problem isn't feeling there aren't enough likes/comments/reblogs.

My problem is when I now share a fic with you, less than one twelfth of you are even seeing/acknowledging it.

If you don't like my writing, I'm fine with that; there have been others who have been kind enough to express how much they do enjoy it, and sincere enough that I believe it.

But for anyone who doesn't enjoy my writing anymore, please unfollow me.

If you don't have the time to read the things I write anymore, please acknowledge that and unfollow me.

If you don't have the energy to enjoy fandom anymore, please unfollow me.

I'm more than happy if 100 or so of you enjoy a post, because that's one hundred people who have enjoyed something I've taken the time to write, but the remaining three and a half thousand of you, keeping quiet, not interacting, potentially not even seeing the stories I work hard on, just feel like dead weight.

A drabble, or a head-canon post takes me about two hours to write.

A 2k/3k word fic takes me around five hours to write.

A regular cbmthy chapter can take me up to eighteen hours to write. Not including editing.

So to answer your question: I don't know if it's a wip.

I haven't decided whether or not to fix all the links. I don't even know if I want people to have access to all the stuff I've written.

Hobbies are supposed to be fun, but if the discontent and resentment outweigh my enjoyment, then I have to take a break from it, either temporarily or permanently.

I'd love to write a book one day, and I think having this blog is a great way for me to practice my storytelling, but I can't do any of that if I don't have the will to write.

[arsonists-oatmeal]

Idk if it’s the constant background buzz of the trauma of being a poc in a racist society coming to the forefront, or the fact that a lot of racism I’ve personally faced was from white queer folks But. I have been seeing a lot of “I was from a conservative family/was conservative until I found out I was queer” stories again, and to those people, I Have Some Words That I Hope You All Will Listen To So congratulations on getting away from your conservative family/your self discovery of queerness! Genuinely good job, it isn’t easy. You’ve probably had to unlearn all the homophobia/transphobia/queerphobia that you were taught growing up. Your journey of unlearning bigotry has just begun. Conservatives are really fucking bigoted, not just in the queerphobia but also the racism. You have unlearned the first part, but that second part is still there. There is a still a lot of internalized racial bias that queer people who grew up Conservative have, and a lot of those people make the mistake of thinking just because you are now one marginalized identity, you are now incapable of any kind of bigotry for the rest of your life. Being queer =/= being a poc. We are all marginalized but we’ve got a different set of problems and the ways people oppress us. So don’t make that mistake. Keep unlearning. You’ve already started doing it, you can keep on doing it. You will be a much more educated person from it, and not end up being an ass to a lot of poc

[tracle0]

Feast your eyes! My pride stars :)!

[starflungwaddledee]

Do you take commissions? If so, do you have a commission sheet? I’m sorry if this is an annoying ask I just really love your work lol

not annoying at all! i really really appreciate this a lot, thank you!

i have done commissions in the past on other platforms, but for now i am not taking them here. i'm not saying that i never will, because sometimes life is.. you know. Like That™️. but for now i'm steering clear of it to try and keep my passion up! 👍

[marlynnofmany]

Lookie what I got! The rarest of collector's editions, with only one in existence! (There's an @ symbol in place of a © on the title page.)

(There's only one because I fixed it after I ordered my proof copy.)

Someday this will be very valuable, for sure!

[valiant-portabella-pirkko]

alright. know what? with Secrets of the Obscure right around the corner and plenty of new Mists-related sky island settings coming with it, I'll just bite the bullet and interest-check a little something I've been turning in my head for a long, long while.

would YOU be interested in a Mists-based GW2 roleplay guild that uses a lore compliant multiverse system to allow canon, canon-adjacent, lore-breaking, and otherwise 'contradictory' muses to coexist in the same setting?

simply put: every writer's cast would be set in their own self-contained universe. as such, everyone could bring whatever muses they want with their own personal headcanons, and no one could dictate what is or isn't canon for anyone else. so long as your muses are GW2-based, you're good to go! bring your Commanders, bring your canon-divergent OCs, bring your canon muses-- and yes, even the ones that are 'supposed' to be dead. who can say what might have happened in a strange world far across the Mists, after all?

neutral hubs and in-character safety guardrails would be in place to keep all muses on a relatively even playing field regardless of their power, history, and prestige, too. play hardball if you like, but it might not end quite the way you'd hope. the main rule would be to maintain good OOC etiquette at all times: no godmodding, no metagaming, no theft, don't blend IC and OOC, and so-on.

if that sounds like something you might have interest in, please interact with this post! and if you've got questions or concerns, I'd love to hear them; feel free to send an ask or a DM, or just reply to this post!

[fiepige]

More Sea Serpent Hobie thoughts!

(been thinking about this au all day, it's completely consumed my mind!)

I was kinda toying with the idea of Hobie being able to take a human form. (In this version most people wouldn't know that sea serpents exist so he uses it as a way to interact with humans without revealing his true nature to them)

He visits a small local fishing village from time to time to hang out with the locals- mostly at the pub, but he also likes hanging around at the harbour

Cause he just gets lonely sometimes and humans make fun company- he finds tales about daring trips to sea entertaining, but he also loves to hear stories about places from far within the mainland as he's always stayed close to the ocean.

Nobody in the village knows what he really is- they all just think he's this odd but kind loner who visits from time to time.

He's well renowned by the people in the village, both for being a nice and helpful guy and because of his unique skills*

He never pays for anything in cash but instead in old trinkets and treasures he finds while out at sea - this resulted in a few arguments at first, but now people have come to accept it, some even look forward to seeing what he'll pull out as payment whenever he visits

if he doesn't have any treasure to pay with he'll offer to pay in favours- specifically favours that involve diving.

*If you need a diving job done he's your guy

He can stay underwater forever and go far deeper than any of the locals.

So if you need to retrieve something from, let's say a sunken ship, he's your guy!

He insists on going on missions alone- it's just easier to get it done if he can dive unseen in his serpent form.

The only people he doesn't get along with are authority figures and whalers!

There aren't any whalers residing in the village but sometimes a whaling boat will come by to restock. Every time they do Hobie terrorizes the crew as much as he can get away with. While also being very vocal about his opinion of them in general. He's gotten in fights with them more than once.

It's also not unusual for the whalers to find their ship vandalised if they stay overnight.

When he's in his human form he lives on a small island near the village, but far enough away that he can't be seen changing from serpent to human form and vice versa

He has a small hut where he keeps some fishing equipment (mostly for show in case a human comes by and wonders how he's able to feed himself on this tiny island) as well as a small garden where he grows different greens.

He'll trade his food for stuff with the villages, he mostly trades for clothes, sewing equipment or beer at the pub

Sometimes he'll disappear at sea for weeks at a time- if any of the villagers question him about it he'll just say he was out fishing- despite him only owning a small rowboat with a small engine, that doesn't work half the time. - He uses it to get to and from the island in human form as to not alert the villagers to his true form.

At some point he befriends Gwen**, who's a newcommer, when a local overhears her lamenting the loss of her mother's trinket at sea, and they suggest she asks Hobie for help- since the guy has a way of finding things lost at sea

Gwen doesn't really believe he can actually find it but seeks him out nonetheless cause it can't hurt to ask

Hobie accepts the job. In exchange he wants Gwen to tell him about the places she's been to before she moved to the village.

(** you can kinda replace Gwen with any character you want. I'm kinda considering making a small fic for this au where the reader takes Gwen's place, but I don't have the time nor energy to write it any time soon. Also I've never written a fic from the first person point of view so I'm not sure how it would turn out lol.)

Lemme know what you guys think! 💙Any input is welcome- it can be world building stuff, story stuff, ideas for hobie's serpent form or something else!

[ereborne]

What is a Monday? A miserable little pile of obligations.

semester turnover restructure

generate/send out error reporting

figure out how to separate out unique counts

create polite reply to Massive Dick Move email

finish the bad book >:(

bò kho (not an obligation. dinner)

laundry

lizard bath

[eisthenameofme]

"you are not immune to propaganda/cult indoctrination" is largely useful and the sort of shit it's used to point out as not making you immune (being "smart" or a certain degree of educated, etc) is worth pointing out and it never feels like the appropriate place to mention it, but a lot of people seem to be conflating "the things people think make them immune to this kind of thing doesn't because it doesn't work that way" along with "the same conditions that make people more vulnerable to indoctrination/conspiritorial thinking/etc can happen to anyone" with "everyone in the world is equally vulnerable to every kind of indoctrination under the same conditions" and i just don't think that's objectively true.

It may be true that someone started out holding one belief and flipped to hold the apparently opposite belief, but does that actually mean everyone who holds that belief is equally liable to change their mind? Why did they hold that belief in the first place? Is it consistent with their values and what they care about more broadly, and do they specically go out of their way to combat the potential for misinformation and propaganda? Are they prone to making their decisions based on what the people around or closest to them think instead of thinking for themselves? To what extent do they base their values and decsions on kneejerk emotional reactions? (these aren't the only factors obviously, just examples of other potential contributing factors) It is not a given that everyone will answer these questions in the same way, and this is part of why different people respond differently in similar situations. Also not everyone will respond positively to techniques that often work to draw people in (eg lovebombing is a common tactic that works on a lot of people, but may be actively offputting or ring alarm bells for others; different people have different tolerances for attempts at social control and some might nope out the moment they see it attempted regardless of any other factors).

"You Yes Even You" can be an important tactic to get people who wouldn't otherwise to legitimately consider why these tactics work on people and what might work on them and keep in mind that the people it Does happen to usually aren't aware of it and it's not always their fault the way it's often presented, but that is not objectively the same thing as "anyone can fall down any pipeline not matter what forever"

like maybe no one is literally "immune to propaganda" but if a type of propoganda is something that necessarily hinges on X mechanism and a person is notorious for both intellectually and instinctively being violently opposed to X. then yeah I think the propoganda that hinges on X is probably going to be a Very Difficult to Impossible sell, even potentially under coercion, especially if that person has already demonstrated that they are willing to put themeslves at risk/resist that kind of coercion about it. unless your argument is that there is scp level literal mind control happening.

[kyouka-supremacy]

Uhm..................

[egg-emperor]

god I love it when y'all send me stuff and you're like "hey Eggman is fucked up and evil in this fan thing I think you'll like it" yes I dooo and thank you for sending it to me you know me so well 🥰💜💜💜💜💜