#socs 2: impact

[sonic-oc-showdown]

ROUND 1

Impact belongs to @yeets-ix

Ebony belongs to @mynders-universe

Find out more about them below!

Impact the Shrimp:

He's a cowboy mantis shrimp who lives on an island where he's the self-proclaimed sheriff. He's a power-type character with all the expected quirks of a Mobian mantis shrimp - swimming and water breathing, superhuman eyesight, and being able to punch REALLY fast and REALLY hard, enough to make shockwaves. He's really good at interrogating people, and he can also cook - yes, he DID fry that rice! He also tries way too hard to be gruff and intimidating, when he actually sleeps with a nightlight. Also he has a weird homoerotic rival who's a Mobian mosasaur, so there's that.

Ebony the Hare:

(art by @/Jorrated)

Atop her mountain airbase, Commander Ebony maintains control over the Keystone Desert Valley on the behalf of Doctor Eggman. Ruthless and dogmatic, this hare has cunning to back up her powerful kicks. The one thing she seeks above all else is a valiant and earnest hero, to prove (to herself…?) that their selfless endeavors are fruitless and only bring suffering to those around them.

[yeets-ix]

please do ask me questions about Impact, he needs all the information he can get

[yeets-ix]

@sonic-oc-showdown

✨- "Impact" just sounded cool for a guy whose deal is punching so hard it makes shockwaves TBH - the name was decided before he even became a cowboy.

🌼 - He's a BIT older than Sonic, 16-17. Doesn't really act like it though when he's not in his "Sheriff" persona.

🌺- In my brain movies, he's got this one outlaw dude who he's always butting heads with and trying to catch, whose relationship with him is also VERY gay-coded. He's a mosasaur because I'm a secret paleo-nerd. Gotta give him a better name than "Tyler Saurus" tbh

🍕 - I'm going to defy my source pages and say "Onion rings." He also really likes them on a good, fresh-grilled "cowboy burger."

💼 - He's the sheriff! He basically just applies that to being the protector of his island. There isn't any "police" or anything, considering it's a small island settlement. He just likes being "sheriff."

🎹 - He's a surprisingly exquisite cook! A SHRIMP FRIED THAT RICE. Although pincer-hands can make certain recipes more difficult... dunno if that design element is gonna stay tbh. Maybe he also collects dried seashells, considering the star on his cowboy hat is meant to be a dried sea star.

🎯 - He's got a really keen eye for detail, not just because he can see more colors. Almost photographic memory if he wants to have it. He's also come up with a surprising amount of uses for shockwaves, whether firing them underwater to heat things up, or using them to propel himself through the air - maybe he can even go at super speed by just PUNCHING BEHIND HIM.

🥊 -He loves INTERROGATING people, because he's GOOD at it! He hates doing stuff at night because he's freakin' terrified of the dark. He's also insecure about his freckles, so he wore a bandana at first to look more intimidating.

❤️ - This is where we start getting into bridging today with five years ago - parts I'm not sure about! Probably some really fun cowboy LARP with his BFF/brother figure Archer the Fish.

✂️ - His dad just disappearing from the island when he was just BARELY old enough to process it.

🧊 - He wasn't always a cowboy. He was originally a more laid-back, neutral character who didn't have a drawn design - he'd randomly pick whatever side he agreed with more in any conflict. His MS Paint cowboy design was created in a sudden eruption of motivation (I get those) long before I ever actually dedicated myself to Sonic art. He is also in desperate need of another redesign, something simpler with fewer colors.

🍀 - I wanted a cool yet down-to-earth OC who would seamlessly fit into the game/comic world, and I wanted a Sonic OC based on a cool real-life animal with some kind of superpower of its own. Then someone on a Discord server suggested I make him a cowboy, and... here we are.

🌂 - He's a Western guy. And he's going Yeehaw Mode.

💚 - Impact is crusty cis... and very much bi. I originally intended for him to have a crush on Knuckles when he was trying to be more connected to the outside Sonic world, but now he's got that mosasaur toxic yaoi guy, so...

🙌 - He's got his brother/"deputy" Archer, an... archerfish who uses a bow and arrow and maybe SOME hydro kinetic powers. Or he just built a special bow that shoots water arrows... hmmm. I did conceive a couple of OCs around Impact - I wanted his island to have a little culture like Spiral Hill. Dunno how that will hold up.

🍎 - His dad was a pig. I'm probably scrapping his old backstory, but his biological dad SUCKED. Archer's parents, while we never really see them, are chill and Impact loves them.

🧠 - I like how out there he is, while still being grounded. I'll admit - I've conditioned myself to be iffy with crazy OP Sonic OCs. Your hedgehogs and Black Arms and chaos gods are all cool, really, but making one of my own just isn't my style. I'd rather make cool obscure animals into fun Mobians with outlandish powers that could be used for small but cool stories. That's just me.

✏️ - I literally dusted him off from when IDW was new to submit him. I barely remembered he exists. He's just my first "serious" Sonic OC not made for a specific story, and my "flagship" one. Can you tell by how much I'm struggling to remember and add as I write this, that I need to workshop him a LOT with my new ideas and understandings?

💎 - He might graphically lose an arm/hand down the line... and get a cool upgrade to replace it. He'd also DEFINITELY go down shooting in the Metal Virus. But him just straight-up dying, I... eh. He doesn't get favoritism immortality, I'll go with that.

💀 - He's so fucking scared of the dark oh my lord, he sleeps with a nightlight and doesn't want to dive in deep water where he can't see the bottom. Stick him, Sonic and Tangle in an underwater cave and cities will burn.

🍩 - BAD OLD LORE TIME! HIS ARCHNEMESIS WAS MIMIC! And guess why... Impact's dad killed Mimic's mom and then drove him off the island just for being her son! That's why Impact's dad left! That's the beginning of Mimic's entire spiral into villainy! I may KINDA keep this around, since it would make sense with all the sea creatures on an island and Mimic's possible country accent, but... wow.

🎓 - First made him when IDW was new, partially inspired by Tangle, and connected him to Mimic basically when Mimic was first revealed/accepted by the fandom (we literally guessed his name)... so, 5-6 years lol

🍥 - Somewhere between 15 and 18... I had some crappy CRAPPY OCs beforehand when I didn't quite even understand Sonic. Impact is my first genuinely good one.

Ask Game for someone’s OC(s)

✨- How did you come up with the OC’s name?

🌼 - How old are they? (Or approximate age range)

🌺- Do they have any love interest(s)?

🍕 - What is their favorite food?

💼 - What do they do for a living?

🎹 - Do they have any hobbies?

🎯 -What do they do best?

🥊 -What do they love to do? What do they hate to do?

❤️ - What is one of your OC’s best memories?

✂️ - What is one of your OC’s worst memories?

🧊 - Is their current design the first one?

🍀 - What originally inspired the OC?

🌂 - What genre do they belong in?

💚 - What is your OC’s gender identity and sexuality?

🙌 - How many sibling does your OC have?

🍎 - What is the OC’s relationship w/their parents like?

🧠 - What do you like most about the OC?

✏️ - How often do you draw/write about the OC?

💎 - Do you ever see yourself killing off the OC?

💀 - Does your OC have any phobias?

🍩 -Who is your OC’s arch-nemesis or rival?

🎓 - How long have you had the OC?

🍥 - What age were you when you created the OC?

[l0stfoster]

Paul anon here to say eeeeeeYEAHHHHHHHHHHHHH I LOVE ME SOME CURSED PAUL DOODLES THATS MY SCRUNKLY BOY IM LOEHEVDJDGUEHE I LOVE PAUL HOLDEN

I wanna know more about the feather situation now tho ohhhh you got me intrigued ohhhh my goddddd

And paul just thinking and knowing hes the reason johnny’s in a wheelchair and that’ll probably haunt him for the rest of his life cuz now hes so associated with the greasers he probably knows johnny a lot better now and ohhh im gonna be sick . He probably has so many feelings about the shit he did b4 he was kicked out of the house ohhhh my sweet boy i love you so bad

Paul anon I hope you know you're an icon among the writers. Novva has previously expressed how much they want to put you in a jar and observe you (/pos)

As always I am so joyous that you're enjoying Paul here hehe. I've said it once and I'll say it again. Canon Paul can go kick rocks, Cursed Paul, on the other hand, needs a break from me. I talk a lot below so yeah another below the cut.

The feather situation was a little thing I'd thought about recently, since I've brought up to the writers before about how Two would eventually offer Paul a feather for flock marking, and Paul, by god, does NOT want the feather. Not only does he feel like he doesn't deserve it for what he's done; but it proves something about himself too- that he's getting attached. What the fuck does it say about him if he begins to connect with these people? It doesn’t help the guilt, that’s for sure. Two tries for probably months to get him to take it; literally days on end of offering and being ignored or shrugged off- finally, Paul takes it, but he doesn't wear it, nor does he keep it on his person. The only reason Paul wears it visibly for the first time is because god DAMN does Two pull off some REALLY good sad, pathetic bird eyes (and Dally looks ready to kill him for upsetting Two-Bit, so.)

He just gets so damn unlucky with the timing and circumstances surrounding it. Not only do the harpies already hold beef with him because of Two’s original jumping and the feather issue (most of them are clueless to the fact that Two’s forgiven him, while others are aware and have kinda chilled), but having a soc who’s harmed one of their own in their territory does not sit well with a majority of them, even all these months later; something especially impactful to the Shepard’s Gang. The second one harpy spots Paul with this feather, the immediate assumption is that he’d taken it just as he did with the first one.

I don’t talk about the Shepard’s all too much, but this is a good time to mention that Two and Tim are pretty good friends— so, well, he takes this as a matter that he can settle himself; and it’s a good way to warn this rich boy imposing on their territory that he’s on strike two of three, whether he’s one of the cursed or not.

Paul Gets Jumped, Part 2. It’s definitely not as bad as when the socs got him because, despite their gripes, Tim is half aware that Darry does gaf about this guy (he’s very out of the loop, and doesn’t even know the two are dating). As bad or not, it does freak Paul the hell out due to how familiar it felt to the first time he was jumped. That’s called trauma big guy, you and Johnny can bond over shaking like chihuahuas when you walk home alone. They take the feather away from him too, and you bet your ass he will NOT ask Two-Bit for another one because he doesn’t want him thinking Paul had purposefully disposed of it, especially with how often he’d been turning it down. This mf also ends not up being very fond of harpies outside of the ones he knows (ie; Two, Mrs. Mathews, etc) for a little while. Refuses to walk outside the house unless he’s got someone else with the gang. Two dive bombs on and grabs Paul while he’s walking home once and the entire East side loses power for like 5 hours lmao. Two was not happy when he found out about it too. Harpy: “Oh yeah we got this back from a soc while ago here" Two: Two: “-Isn’t that Paul’s?” Harpy: Harpy: “Th. The soc?” Two: “Yeah??? Paul??? Darry’s boyfriend?? This was his-“ Harpy: “I mean, he had it b- ohhh shit. You gave it to him on purpose.” Two:

Tim is very confused when a ruffled Two slams the door open and off its hinges at his house

Two, slamming the door open: “WHY WOULD YOU JUMP HIM WITHOUT EVEN ASKING ME ABOUT THE FEATHER????” Tim, half asleep on the couch: Tim: “..g’d mornin'?”

ON THAT NOTE Paul is,, so utterly haunted by both Johnny's and Two's disabilities, and that is absolutely not helped by the fact that they don't even seem to hold it against him. In Johnny's eyes, Paul wasn't the one who'd jumped him, resulting in him carrying the switchblade that killed Bob. He wasn't the one who held Pony underwater with the intent to kill. Two himself already knows that Paul didn't expect him to be burned as he was, nor was he the one holding the lighter. The blame the gang directs at him varies; especially when they see that the two who fell victim don't even seem to be mad about it. I think that a large reason as to why Pony throws his blame at Paul for Johnny is because, well, Bob's not around to take it. He's an emotional teen who's taking it out on the person he knows had some correlation to it. Besides, I think all of us know Pony blames himself for the church fire; directing that anger at Paul makes it easier to cope.

But yeah, Paul's practically eaten alive by the guilt. It sure as hell doesn't help that he already feels bad for being directly related to the witch that cursed Tulsa.

[artsquirrelb]

I will slowly update my art here 😊🫶 You can call me Soc (meaning squirrel in my language) 🫶

You can also find me at

Twitter: https://twitter.com/artsquirrelb

Instagram: https://instagram.com/artsquirrelb

Prints: Art Prints by Soc Nau - INPRNT

Multifandom but I mostly like:

- Genshin Impact, Persona 3 (sometimes 4 & 5), Pokemon, Honkai Star Rail, Xenoblade 2 & 3

- Spy x Family, Haikyuu, Detective Conan/Case Closed and a few more mangas

I like several ships but I only have a few OTPs I hyperfixate on (and thus I don't like any other ships that only have 1/2 of my OTPs):

- Diluc x Jean (Genshin Impact, tags #jealuc #dawndelion)

- Akihiko x Mitsuru (Persona 3, tag #akimitsu)

Also I'm not very fond of self-shipping so please refrain from breaking my OTPs with your simping in the rbs/replies. Thank you.

[greasegotahold]

This post started out with a point then turned into rambling abt the stage show lol

So like. at least in my irl circle and from what I heard yesterday, a lot of ppl prefer the musical to the movie. Acknowledging the bias of theatre ppl toward theatre, that's not the reason I heard most; what I heard most is that the musical stays closer to the book than the movie. Granted idk how many if any of these ppl have seen the complete novel extended cut of the movie, but even so this argument sits wonky with me

Bc the musical takes quite a few departures from the book, some p dramatic. Darry is not the gang's leader, Dally is. Randy is an ensemble part with one line; Cherry gets his ending "even if you win, nothing will change" moment. Sandy is already gone. Evie and Sylvia are gone. Steve is not a big part of Soda's life. Two Bit isn't acknowledged as an alcoholic. Johnny was only jumped a week ago, and it's not a secret who did it. Bob is the one who jumps Pony at the start and even comes up with an excuse for it. Dally doesn't give Johnny his heater, Dally commits a far more direct suicide, no sickness or court proceedings, so on and so forth.

Now I understand why we made just about all of these changes: the show is just about 2 hours as is, not counting intermission; streamlining needed to happen, for time and for clarity of storyline. I even prefer a lot of the changes (Cherry is just. Such a livelier character lmao. She's given stuff to DO. I love her in the book and movie but the stuff they added in the musical I simply love.) I bring this up just bc it. Is honestly just as different as the movie if not more so in how it departs from the source material.

Which means when ppl are saying it's closer to the book, they mean in feel.

And in many avenues; talking about the the extreme accessibility of the book as an adult with other adults, attempting to articulate my issues with the film adaptation, and then later attempting to defend the movie on those same shortcomings, I think I know why.

It's the ever-present narration. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, Ponyboy tells his story, he doesn't show. And that makes the book an extremely straightforward read, and absolutely how he can tell us so much shit that happened in so little time, but it also makes it hard to capture in a standard movie adaptation, especially when the movie also needs to trim down and streamline characters and plot points.

But what does Pony do throughout the musical? He narrates. Yes the story plays out real time, but it's still interspersed with these slowdowns where he talks to the audience, where he's narrating.

And I think that's what's really clicking so well with the musical, despite all the changes to characters and their dynamics and plot beats.

And for certain things, the impact is still there, they just changed it around. Johnny was jumped last week instead of months ago and we don't get the excerpt abt how he wound up buying his first blade, and how he would kill the next soc who tried to jump him, and Dally no longer gives him his gun, but he does give him the 6 inch switchblade when Johnny is genuinely worried his dad will kill his mom, and then shows him how to stab to kill. The circumstances are different, but we still get Dally giving Johnny a lethal weapon. The motivation changes for why Johnny carries his blade, from self defense to an explicit want to protect others, but this makes it a more direct setup for when he kills Bob to save Pony.

And a lot of the straight up original additions to the plot feel seamless. The added backstory for Cherry's parents, her dad's alcoholism and her mom's kind of just. Surrender to hopelessness and despair. Not only explains why she's so touchy about Bob drinking, but it makes the change from going along with him to stop a fight into her refusing to back down after breaking up feel justified. To be clear, I don't fault book and movie cherry for doing what she does in that scene, she's trying to keep everyone else safe, I just think that the change was set up and well executed in the musical.

Also sidenote but in Justice For Tulsa...I have so many feelings after getting to see it. The cop shining his flashlight down on Two Bit as he gets jumped, but then he just keeps on walking bc why would he care abt a greaser...Bev buying right into the boys' escalation against the greasers vs Cherry's outright rebuke and then Marcia is over here looking genuinely Physically nauseous over having to choose a side. And of course the moment where the cop beats Dally after handcuffing him, that speaks for itself.

(Sidenote, unrelated to anything, I just wanna say when I listened to the soundtrack for the first time, years since I had read the book or watched the movie, somehow I just knew when the soc boys started singing their threatening section, that they were jumping two bit. I guess I just had a faint buried memory that Two Bit was the revenge-jumping victim lol)

[yeets-ix]

You drew him with comically long gangly arms… BECAUSE MANTIS SHRIMP…

(character belongs to @yeets-ix)

impact is so cool im rooting for him

@sonic-oc-showdown

[cravingpepsimax]

Unintelligible rant:

Putting aside the fact that shipping does not reflect anyone’s morals or values and is not indicative of personal relationships (or at least shouldn’t be), it’s just fun to just explore these dynamics

If these people who get so mad about stancest shippers are mad because they think that means they’re actually into incest, what does they say about them and their tastes that they ship Billford, a canonically abusive, manipulative, hate filled relationship?

LEGIT LMAO

the funny thing is that antis that ship b1llford do… exactly what they accuse proshippers of doing? i’ve seen so much cute fluffy b1llford content made by antis, i’ve seen antis call things that were a part of bill’s abuse hot, and it’s like… guys, aren’t YOU the ones that claim to be against the romanticization of abusive dynamics? WHAT IS THIS IF NOT ROMANTICIZATION OF ABUSIVE DYNAMICS????

the truth is that many antis, as intense as many may act, don’t have any actual moral backbone. few years back, liking b1llford WAS considered proshipping. they don’t care about protecting others, they care about liking the morally correct thing.

this is one of the many reasons i stopped being an anti. honestly? to an extent, i still believe that shipping can have a negative impact on reality. there aren’t — and never will be — any studies specifically on the impact of shipping Problematic Things, so i’d hardly die on this hill, but the logic does make sense. if you’re in an abusive relationship, and you primarily consume media that says that behavior isn’t abusive, or that it’s hot or whatever, it makes sense that you wouldn’t really question it. especially if you’re a child.

but then i noticed that — despite what other antis were claiming — no one was acting like this was what they actually believed. in fact, quite the opposite! they’d harass and call proshippers pedophiles, despite that, one, calling someone a pedophile because of what ships they like being fucking insane, and two, proshippers — particularly ones with a fixation on adult x minor pairings — being victims themselves. accusing anyone of being a pedophile due to the ships they like is insane, but accusing a VICTIM of being a pedophile? because of what fictional characters they make kiss? that’s fucking evil. it certainly won’t get them to reconsider how healthy their coping mechanisms are — they’ll just double down.

and then, just. all the pieces started falling apart!

if antis care SO much about reducing harm, then WHY do they keep parroting the impossible solution of “oh, just make it all go away,” as if that’ll EVER happen? why do they never promote any form of like… shipping harm reduction??? like, i acknowledge the possible harm of shipping adult x minor pairings, but i still ship dipford. it’s not that i just don’t care, it’s because there are things you can do to minimize the possible harm. going “STOP IT!!!” does NOTHING.

why are abusive ships like b1llford suddenly okay now??

why is shipping incest bad — how could shipping two consenting, but related, adults actually be used in a harmful way??? if you’re trying to coerce someone into an incestuous relationship, you probably have more effective methods than shipping. arguing that shipping could be used to harm children makes sense, this is often done online and children are very susceptible. arguing that it can be used as a tool to normalize abuse to a victim is a stretch, but arguably still plausible, especially if it’s an online/long-distance relationship. but incest???? no! what???

i’ve seen some people argue that shipping incest can end up with you becoming attracted to family members, but like, 1. what the fuck that’s not how ANY of this works, and 2. that hardly seems like it’s on the same tier as “something that could be used to groom minors”.

just. none of it ended up making any sense?????? and then it hit me — whether they’re aware or not, they don’t actually care about the possible harm — they care about doing what is socially acceptable. that’s why it’s okay to ship b1llford now. because shipping abuse is now considered okay.

[dreamtigress]

Please consider streaming/watching Shadow & Bone on Netflix! It is an amazing show and cast.

From Discrod RE saving SAB...

1. Don’t cancel Netflix.

> We should __NOT__ cancel Netflix as a statement. It won’t matter. Even if every SAB and SOC fan cancelled their account, it would barely be noticed.

2. Stream Shadow and Bone.

> Netflix wants to see new viewers. They are more likely to reconsider their decision if the show gets back into the Top 10 (and stays there for as long as possible) and has unique __NEW__ viewers who are watching the show from start to finish. The easiest way to do this is by streaming the show ourselves. When it trends, subscribers will see it as well and hopefully watch the show.

3. Use the hashtags and talk about the show.

> Engage potential new viewers and spark conversations by talking and hashtagging about the show on Twitter/X, Instagram, TikTok, etc. Share why you love the show and characters and why it's important we get it back to finish their stories. Talk about the representation, the diversity, what it means to you, how much the cast and crew and writers love it and want to continue with it, etc.

4. Engage with the writers, cast, crew, etc.

> Industry folks are not happy about how SAB was canceled, and they are done with keeping quiet. Conversations are being had, and Netflix is trying to calm relations, especially since they’re under a lot of industry scrutiny since the strike ended. This is a very unique anomaly that works in our favor, and we only have a small window of opportunity to make a big impact, so we have to act fast. Engage with the writers and cast (be respectful, friendly, and kind!) and keep them talking about the show, cancellation, etc. (to us and/or in their industry circles).

5. Send physical mail.

> Send (respectful) letters and physical items to Netflix HQ because those are things they can't ignore since they have to be physically sorted through (letter information can be found in <#1175231261569204245>).

6. Work as a focused team.

> We have to be a **COHESIVE** unit as a fandom. If everyone is split apart, it will not help because we won't make the impact or numbers Netflix needs to see. Prioritizing SAB over SOC (or vice versa) isn’t what will convince Netflix to save SAB or green light SOC. Netflix will make the final decision, but they won’t even consider until they realize that we as a fandom are one formidable, united force.

7. Focus on Netflix.

> At the moment, all efforts must focus on convincing Netflix to reverse their decision. Netflix does not like to give up the rights to its shows, and unless they do, other platforms can’t step in to save our show instead. Other platforms will notice anyway if we make enough noise, but focus specifically on Netflix!

Starting soon, we will be having dedicated watch parties and daily hashtag parties. We will give you more information on what 3rd hashtag to use and when.

Be vocal. Keep using our main two hashtags #SaveShadowAndBone and #SixOfCrowsSpinoff

Thank you all so much for your efforts, and keep it up!

[yeets-ix]

I’ma be real with you fam

If mine and your OC (in the sonic OC showdown) didn’t have rare concepts we would probably not be this close in the voting right now

we came out of butt-nowhere to submit our guys with next to no art and in my case no story. if our OCs were "typical" we would just be two random throwaways.

best of luck!

@sonic-oc-showdown

[yeets-ix]

You drew the sheriff better than I ever could... even his crappily designed, outdated clothes...

But look out, interrogation is Impact's deal, he's got an eye for detail, and he's used to those reliant on pushing people's buttons to hide their own trouble... ;>

The young shrimp was excited to have gotten invited to this competition, it'd be a chance to get him off the island at least. There wasn't going to be any fighting, so he wasn't exactly sure what they'd be competing over, but he didn't really have time to consider that when he say his opponent looming in front of him, the unmistakable red and black attire of the Eggman Empire adorning his enemy. She turned to look at him, her gaze locking onto him and giving him pause. There wasn't even a sense of her sizing him up, she already looked disinterested and annoyed.

"Impact the Shrimp? I've looked into your file. Another fool playing hero, you're just lucky that the people on that island you 'protect' have never needed your help."

... Oh boy, this was going to be rough.

Round one of the competition begins! Hoo boy, I'm gonna enjoy having my angry hare competing. >:D

Impact the Shrimp belongs to @yeets-ix

OC competition being hosted by @sonic-oc-showdown

Go and vote for either Ebony the Hare or Impact the Shrimp here!

[blues-valentine]

S&B SEASON 2: THOUGHTS *a long ride*

I have conflicting emotions about that ending and overall how the whole season was handled for both SOC/S&B respectivelly.

First, I knew that I was going to be disappointed because they would mix S&S and R&R but this was a lot messier than I gave them the credit for. It left little room to develop Alina’s story line beyond the superficial. It felt to me like they were just trying to develop Nikolai for the KOS spin off and this seems unfair for Alina. She deserved her own time and it felt like they were just rushing to get her plot done.

I get TGT is not the most interesting and that the other books have been superior but it’s the start of the grishaverse and it sustains a lot of important things they just skipped over. Alina and her crew (Mal, Genya, Zoya, David, etc) deserved the time to breathe and their own exploration. Alina’s need/greed for power, the political aspect and her religious influence was glossed over and not developed further. Season 2 should’ve ended with Alina’s failed attempt to fully take down Darkling and being taken by the Apparat and therefore forced to become a religious pawn because this was an interesting aspect to Alina but also Tolya and Tamar, who ultimately were just there to fill the space in Nikolai’s story line and didn't get to explore that side.

Another thing about this season is that everything happened in such an anticlimatic way. Mal's amplifier reveal, Genya's backstory about the royal family and just so much that was more impactful in the books. David was killed off too soon. He didn't even get to marry Genya. Zoya deserved so much more and i'll hate it if I don't ever see her get to rule Ravka. Tolya and Tamar weren't given the level of depth I was expecting with their devotion to Alina. It was just too messy for me. I do think the season managed to improve some stuff. I think she Shu Han aspect was an interesting thing to add.

Don't even get me started with SOC because I feel like they have included basically everything so when the spin off does end up happening (we need good numbers for season 2 first) so many plots are not even going to happen. They took so many CK moments but without the right context so that didn't make it feel as impactful as it should've been. The actors truly did everything with those scenes especially with the Kanej scenes but it would've been so much better to have the full implications of what it means for their development. I wasn't too happy with how Inej's plot was handled. Literally we had CK before we even got SOC. And can we speak about the ableism with Kaz and his cane? Please.

Now, with that ending. I get what they had to change it. If they were to go with the R&R ending then there won't be actual story line for Alina and Mal. I’m still trying to understand why they couldn’t just use 3 seasons for the 3 books and wait to do the spins off, but I get that business is a whole different thing. So, that ending, like the whole season, it was rushed. You couldn't even feel sad because everything was happening so fast. The fact that Tolya and Tamar weren't the ones trying to bring Mal back to life was a shame because the friendship between Mal and Tolya was everything in the books. Alina clearly took part of Darkling's merzost powers to bring Mal back to life and this will cause her power corruption. But, the whole poison thing was so weird? This is a way to link the SOC characters and the KOS plot together but it's just so weird. About Malina’s ending, they did this to extend their arc in the show (x). I don't dislike the idea of them parting for a while until they get back to each other I just hated the way it felt too strange for both of them. I would have taken Mal asking Alina for time to be on it's own but not that weird excuse about his powers. And then, Alina had a whole struggle on R&R because she did not want to be a queen, because she wanted to be married for love and not for alliance. That Alina felt like a fanfic, not the real one. I have my own thoughts on where her story line will go for Season 3 (if there's one) and it could be interesting if executed right but I'm not too sure about that.

The season was far from perfect. It was messy and rushed. From both sides they skipped vital moments and interactions that could've made so many of the scenes have more sense and feel impactful. But I still would want a Season 3 and for those spin offs to be green lighted because those actors are too talented to lose for this.

[beautifulpersonpeach]

Hi BPP,

You must have seen the solo versus OT7 drama that’s been happening on Twitter or seen discussions relating to this on Tumblr. I’d like you to weigh in with your opinion on this.

To those fans who are new to this fandom, say post hiatus or just slightly pre hiatus, this could seem to be very toxic; although, it could be these same new fans who are pushing back 💁🏻‍♀️

Ultimately, the BTS anti wins - seeing a solid fandom crumble in this manner. It seems as though some of these OT7s are Sacrificing Jimin to make a point.

I hope though that Jimin does make the sales he needs and has the impact we think he shall have and that antis don’t win at pulling him down.

***

Hi Anon,

Oh I saw it. Not on Tumblr (I’m yet to see any of those discussions here thank goodness), but definitely on Twitter.

This is one of those situations that causes me to rub my temples because it reveals stupidity everywhere, like tech bros inducing a global banking collapse-type stupid, and there’s plenty of blame to go around. But these exact sort of situations are what’s expected to happen given how the fandom has changed since 2020, and it’s why the byline of my blog references a fandom implosion. Because it’s coming. It just has to. Lol.

I referenced 2020 for a reason. This isn’t the first time the fandom has had to navigate supporting solo work. We’ve done it in 2015, 2016, and 2020, but because of how the fandom has changed since 2020, conflict and implosion is nearly guaranteed.

Many things changed in the fandom in 2020, but one major thing that happened is we had a huge influx of k-pop noobs into the fandom. We all know many of these people happened to be from Western/European countries and typically skewed female, white, and opinionated. According to that ARMY soc med survey, these people now account for roughly 50% of the fandom, and I reckon roughly the same amount found their way into solo stan and shipper spaces. Most of these people aren’t bad in any real sense, but what I’ve observed is they lack the history to have an understanding of the 2nd and 3rd order implications of certain actions within a k-pop space. This is something solo stans are notorious for, for example not understanding the 2nd order implications of sending a truck to HYBE claiming HYBE is mistreating your favourite member, or the 3rd order consequences of trending hashtags to make a point, as another example. Ordered thinking can be intuitive to some people, but to most people they need to have experienced a history that shows what happens 2 or 3 steps down the line when you’re only concerned with the immediate reward, forgetting that nothing in k-pop happens in a vacuum.

Anyway, I’ll say what I think on each player in the drama yesterday.

*

The Solo Stans

Pre-2020, solo stans would have had the sense to not even make that request to ARMYs in the first place. That was their first mistake. Those funds would have eventually made it into ARMY buying channels (because ARMYs have the widest and most efficient systems for chart placements, solo stans do not, despite their enthusiasm), but no solo stan in their right mind would blatantly publicly request ARMY participation - it would’ve moved through DMs or solos creating ARMY cosplay accounts for that purpose. Pre-2020.

You might be wondering, what’s the damage? What’s the big deal in just telling ARMYs there’s 10 grand sitting somewhere that they can request? Shouldn’t we all put aside our ego to support Jimin?

Lol.

The thing is, Solo stans are fundamentally different from ARMYs in that they view the other members as rivals that must be defeated (1). ARMYs are inclined to support any member who needs it. And so, many solo stans simply do not trust ARMYs to spend the funds only on Jimin. And they’re right to have that fear. Most ARMYs obviously would use it for Jimin and what I’ve seen is trusted ARMY buyers and funders are responsible and provide thorough accounts of their activities, but it would be stupid to ignore that hyung-line diet solos, shippers (aka taekookers), etc, would take advantage as well. PJMs were only setting themselves up for grief by doing what they did.

Another reason it was plain moronic to publicly and blatantly announce the funds available and demand ARMY partnership with solos, is that it would set the precedent for Taehyung and Jungkook solo stans during their debuts. And I promise you, $10,000 will only be the starting amount. PJMs didn’t think beyond putting that amount of money to work, forgetting that they’ve now created a situation that demands ARMY working with taekook solos to the tune of $50,000 at least (that’s the amount I recall seeing by their fanbase in 2021 earmarked for their debuts). Nobody was paying closer attention to that drama yesterday, than other akgaes and antis. There's a lot of eyes on the fandom. PJMs, bless their heart, are often just loud, uncouth, and myopic in their thinking.

Because:

At the end of the day that money isn’t going to be sitting somewhere idle. It will definitely be spent on Jimin during his debut. Solo stans of previous eras would have had the sense to privately approach ARMY buyers and use the rest of those funds (because of course most of it will be used to get Jimin’s high chart placements in the 1st week), to support the release from week 3 which is when streams/radio typically fall off, supporting the efforts from the core of the fandom, to give Jimin’s tracks more longevity, and stronger support - a better indicator for a song’s success on the charts. But the only thinking present here yesterday was to get as many 1st week buyers with those funds to make the biggest splash as possible at debut.

*

The ARMYs

As I’ve said before, too many ARMYs are just plain stupid. It’s not an insult, just the facts of the matter I’m afraid. Going by how ARMY typically operates, over the course of this week (week of the release), ARMYs would have raised well over $10,000. Obviously. It’s not something the fandom typically advertises (another key difference between ARMY and solos), but anyone who has worked within these channels would tell you a lot of money gets generated in a very short amount of time and there’s a literal army of buyers in those networks. For pre-2020 ARMYs, it would’ve been enough to say, “we’re good supporting Jimin, thanks.” And blocked the solo stans right away because they’d kick up a stink the moment you actually engaged with them and lead to the exact same situation that happened yesterday. It’s the same playbook to use with taekook shippers. But that’s not what happened, which again, is another key difference between how pre-2020 ARMYs would’ve handled this vs. newer ARMYs.

ARMYs are generally wary of working extensively with solo stans because of (1) above, as it guarantees that solos will weaponize any and all achievements to tear down the other members. As an ARMY (who could bias any member) it makes zero sense to work with anyone who literally actually wants to see another member leave the group, using any solo success over their bandmates as reasons that member should do so. A second reason is that solo stans often belong to rival fandoms a.k.a. Blinks, NCTzens, Shawols, Exols, etc. and the unfortunate reality of what goes down in k-pop fandoms is that people’s lives can get ruined over pointless shit. An Egyptian ARMY who is a dental student in Egypt, was doxxed by Blinks four days ago for saying Yoongi dances better than Jennie. She’s had her living address, family address, faculty information, and medical conditions leaked by Blinks on Twitter. And one traced the leak to providing her information for a BlackPink album giveaway last year. We can joke about how these online fights are silly but ARMYs have seen enough to have more reasons against working with solos and akgaes, than they do to work with them.

It’s frankly not really about ego. It involves money and personal information and there’s real risk here.

Now, why did I say ARMYs are stupid? Because they opened an avenue to have this discussions publicly in the first place. Nothing good comes from hashing things out on the TL (there's too many eyes on the fandom), much less an issue as nuanced as this and even more so when ARMYs had already worked with Hobi and other member funding bases before on previous releases. (But on significantly smaller amounts and not directly through the largest ARMY funding bases.)

It’s not easy to explain all that in a tweet, and I doubt a lot of newer ARMYs even understand the real issues - I suspect many of them just move in a herd and think “solos bad” without fully understanding why it’s a bad idea to approach things the way solos suggested yesterday - so those ARMYs instead used nonsensical arguments like bringing up the Hanbok issue in early 2021, that solos want to take ‘credit’, and the ARMYs who have nowhere to tuck in their insecurities as it concerns Jimin (because there are definitely ARMYs - usually hyung-line and other maknae-line biases - who are extremely sensitive to any mention of how Jimin differs from the rest) let it all hang out yesterday.

Pre-2020, ARMYs would have shut down that argument on the TL as soon as it happened (and that’s if it would’ve happened in the first place), blocking solo stans which would’ve caused (pre-2020) solos to make cosplay accounts and deal with this all in DMs. It’s easier to develop trust and hold accounts accountable (lol) one on one. That’s one way the fandom did this in 2015 with Joon’s solo, in 2016 with Jimin’s Lie and other solos, and in 2020 (although for BE, solo stans tried to sabotage that release by boycotting the album… but like I said, these sort of changes started in 2020).

*

The Exiles

I describe the Exiles as those within the fandom who think they’re not in the fandom. We’ve all seen them, in fact I suspect some of my followers are them - they’re people who constantly think the fandom makes them ‘look bad’ and so they don’t want to be associated with its label. Many of them are sympathetic to solo stan arguments though they wouldn’t call themselves solo stans and could even despise solos for the same reason they hate ARMYs. But at the end of the day, the Exiles still play a role. Because of course they do. Most of the Exiles today also joined the fandom around 2020, and many of them haven’t ever really participated fully in supporting a release, and so they don’t have a real understanding of what goes down, and why it’s a bad idea to do exactly what Jimin’s solos were publicly requesting yesterday. But these types are often very opinionated and just fanned the flames yesterday lmao. But the plus side is this group of people will end up being the bridge when D-day arrives. It’s what I saw happen with Hobi-biased people who don’t consider themselves part of ARMY, for On The Street.

The Takeaway

Consider that mess the dress rehearsal for Taehyung and Jungkook’s solo debut, and we have PJMs to thank for that. Taekook solos would have demanded ARMYs support either way, but now they have additional ammo thanks to PJMs and they’re significantly more in number than any other member’s solo stans. More vicious too. And the core of the fandom will be in worse shape by their debut in the sense that it will be more fragmented because I’m sure yesterday’s mess left a nasty dent on some more impressionable people. These kinds of things are bound to happen given the players that have become dominant in the fandom in the last three years. What I suggest is focusing on the small pockets of followers and friends within the fandom that you know and trust - whether you’re a solo stan, ARMY, or Exile. If you’ve never participated in buying/funding, ask those people questions. Get into the habit of streaming on multiple platforms, and for God’s sake learn how to resolve shit in the DMs.

Jimin will have a lot of competition on March 17th and 24th. The deck is already stacked against him. And maybe I’m weird but all that does is make me excited because whenever things are like this for Jimin, he just… he blows it all out of the water. Contrary to popular belief, most people in the fandom, whether they bias Jimin or not, actually love him. It’s impossible not to. And they will give this release everything they’ve got. I’m already seeing it happening, ARMYs just don’t advertise it publicly because all eyes, including journalists, are on the fandom. Focus on what you can control, find a group of people who love him as much as you do, and enjoy the music when it comes.

[killianmesmalls]

I actually like the current trajectory regarding touch when it comes to Kaz and Inej in the show vs the books. To be fair, I saw the show first before diving into the books, but a main reason comes to mind:

The image of Kaz picking Inej up and carrying her to the boat would not have as big of an impact emotionally if we had not seen those struggles from no touch in season 1 (what was described as a prequel for the SOC characters), tentative/armored touch in season 2, then him seeing her in distress and carrying her fully in his arms, struggling against the rising nausea, and fretting over her before realizing how deeply he truly feels.

[yeets-ix]

I'm jumping on your post, deal with it.

I notice that while Impact is also behind 20% in his poll, he has been slowly narrowing that gap since the first big boom of votes.

He would need 73 straight votes to wipe the smirk off Ebony's face.

I call upon all shrimp enjoyers...

Honestly I’m just happy that I at least have close to 40 percent of the votes in the sonic OC showdown.

We might make a comeback idk we’ll see.

[and-then-there-were-n0ne]

The medical transitioning of children has become one of the most controversial and polarising issues of our time. For some, it is a medical scandal. For others, life-saving treatment.

So, when hundreds of messages were leaked from an internal forum of doctors and mental health workers from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, it was bound to spark interest. WPATH describes itself as an “interdisciplinary professional and educational organisation devoted to transgender health”. Most significantly, it produces standards of care (SOC) which, it claims, articulate “professional consensus” about how best to help people with gender dysphoria.

Despite its grand title, WPATH is neither solely a professional body – a significant proportion of its membership are activists – nor does it represent the “world” view on how to care for this group of people. There is no global agreement on best practice. The leaked messages (and the odd recording) – dubbed the WPATH files – are disturbing. In one video, doctors acknowledge that patients are sometimes too young to fully understand the consequences of puberty blockers and hormones for their fertility. “It’s always a good theory that you talk about fertility preservation with a 14-year-old, but I know I’m talking to a blank wall,” one Canadian endocrinologist says.

WPATH’s president, Dr Marci Bowers, comments on the impact of early blocking of puberty on sexual function in adulthood. “To date,” she writes, “I’m unaware of an individual claiming ability to orgasm when they were blocked at Tanner 2.” Tanner stage 2 is the beginning of puberty. It can be as young as nine in girls.

Elsewhere, there are extraordinary discussions on how to manage “trans clients” with dissociative identity disorder (what used to be called multiple personality disorder) when “not all the alters have the same gender identity”. Surgeons talk about procedures that result in bodies that don’t exist in nature: those with both sets of genitals – the “phallus-preserving vaginoplasty”; double mastectomies that don’t have nipples; “nullification” surgery, where there are no genitals at all, just smooth skin. And doctors discuss the possibility that 16-year-old patients have liver cancer as the result of taking hormones. The problem is not necessarily the discussions themselves, but that the organisation is not so open when speaking publicly.

The views of WPATH matter to the UK. For years, the organisation and its SOC have been cited as a source of “best practice” for trans healthcare by numerous medical bodies, including the British Medical Association and the General Medical Council – and still is. The Royal College of Psychiatrists refers to WPATH in its own recommendations for care.

Most relevant is that WPATH is cited as “good practice” in the current service specifications underpinning youth and adult gender clinics in England and Scotland, albeit in both cases it is WPATH’s previous SOC that is mentioned. The most recent version does away with all age limits from the beginning of puberty for hormones and surgical interventions, other than female to male genital surgery, and contains a chapter on eunuchs.

Several staff at England’s NHS adult gender clinics are not just members of WPATH (one is the former president), but authors of that current SOC. So too was Susie Green, the former boss of the young people’s charity Mermaids; a lack of medical expertise does not exclude either membership of WPATH or the power to influence policy.

England’s only NHS children’s gender clinic – the Gender Identity Development Service (Gids) at London’s Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust – will close its doors at the end of March, having been earmarked for closure since July 2022. But the 2016 service specification still underpinning Gids states that “the service will be delivered in line with” WPATH 7. While Gids was generally more cautious than other WPATH practitioners, clinicians I spoke to for my book, Time to Think, also relayed how young people claiming to have multiple personalities, or who identified with another race, could be referred for puberty blockers.

Gids staff have also presented at WPATH conferences for the past decade, including the most recent, held in 2022. This doesn’t imply agreement with WPATH’s principles, but association with the group becomes harder to justify as its views become more extreme.

It is difficult to see how the Department of Health’s assertion that NHS England “moved away from WPATH guidelines more than five years ago” holds.

What is true is that there is no mention of WPATH in updated guidance that will underpin the new youth gender services opening on 1 April. What’s more, NHS England has made it clear that WPATH’s views are irrelevant to its core recommendation that puberty blockers will no longer be available as part of routine clinical practice.

There is a battle raging over how best to care for children and young people struggling with their gender identity, with ever increasing numbers of European countries choosing to take a more cautious, less medical, approach after finding the evidence base underpinning those treatments to be wanting. NHS England insists that new services will operate in accordance with recommendations of the independent Cass review, and that it is well placed to develop policies “in line with clinical evidence and expertise”. But it won’t be easy. There is already discussion among professionals working in gender services planning a pushback against Cass’s as yet unpublished final recommendations.

It was difficult for Gids to stand up to external pressures, allowing the care it offered to suffer. At the same time, NHS England failed in its duty to provide proper oversight. Both they and those in charge of the new services must do better if they are to avoid the mistakes of the past. Without proper, evidence-based guidance on what good practice looks like, organisations like WPATH will continue to have influence.