#someone may have done this before but i immediately thought of this meme when i saw this scene

[celestialflights]

[borderlinereminders]

They left you on read, and now you feel like spiraling. So the question is, what do you do? I want to specify that for this post, I am talking about pre-established friendships.

First of all, stop and take a breath if you can. A lot of times, we have urges to spam message someone, or send messages asking if they still care about us, or even urges to be passive aggressive because we feel hurt. This can damage your relationships though. If you are struggling with urges, please read about Urge Surfing. The goal of urge surfing is to "ride the wave" of an urge. Another suggestion I have is to try some grounding exercises to pull yourself out.

In most cases, being left on read does not equal rejection, even though it can feel that way. The next thing to do is to find an alternate reason they might not be responding. Here is a list of possible reasons here, but keep in mind that there are numerous other reasons that are not on this list. People have downtime sometimes, but it doesn't mean they want to fill that downtime with talking to people. Even people who are important to them. And that's okay. It doesn't mean they care about you any less.

If you are feeling rejected, challenge those thoughts. I personally keep screenshots from my loved ones that tell me they love me that I can read back when I need a reminder. I also keep a list of things they've done that show me they love me. Here's a post on challenging thoughts.

The next thing I recommend doing is to focus on distraction. A really great skill for that is ACCEPTS. Here's a write up on that here.

Below the read more is some stuff for some long-term coping/communication. It can totally be skipped though if you were just looking to get through an immediate situation.

Sometimes, greater communication might be needed. While no one owes you unlimited access to them, it might be good to set up plans with people who may feel too drained to talk (possibly for days on end), or even friends that may open a notification and then get distracted and forget to reply (and no, this doesn't mean they don't care about you.)

In the first case, it's so valid to feel drained from talking to people. And while people are allowed to take space they need, sometimes it can be a lot for us if it's going on multiple days. It is possible to find compromise. For example, I have one friend who feels insecure if I go a few days without talking to them. For us, we've established a specific emoticon that I can send that says "Hey, it's not you at all. I just am not up to talking right now." I send the emoticon if it's going on a couple days because I don't want to leave them hanging.

For the second case, someone forgetting, in situations like this it might be good to establish beforehand what an acceptable amount of time is before you can send a follow up nudge. While my best friend and I talk a lot, sometimes she forgets to do stuff that we need for the business we run together. We've discussed that it's okay for me to nudge her once a day because she does genuinely forget.

There are also different rules for different friendships. For example, my best friend is allowed to absolutely spam me. The messages can be related or not. But we've established that it's okay if I'm not up to answering, and in this specific friendship, it doesn't drain me if she messages multiple times because there is no pressure on my end to respond.

Either way, it's okay to talk to your friends about situations like this. Is there an acceptable amount of time they're okay with you sending a follow up message? Is it okay if they aren't up to replying to your message, but have the energy to send you an emoticon or even a picture of their pet without responding to the actual message? (Sometimes I have the energy to share memes, or pet pics, but don't have the mental energy to answer a bigger question, and my friends know and are okay with me coming back to the question later while continuing on the conversation in other ways.) If they frequently go quiet because of their mental health, is there a compromise for both of you? Sometimes, it isn't even about our insecurity but that (especially with online friends) we may be concerned for their well-being and would like an indicator they're okay.

Remember that sometimes friendships aren't compatible, and it isn't a reflection on either of you. But if your friend isn't able to compromise and you feel constantly stressed/worried, then maybe the friendship isn't compatible. And that's okay! It's okay to need to walk away from a friendship even if someone hasn't actually done something "wrong."

A lot of my anxiety about being left on read went away as I worked on my own healing and coping. I used to make my life all about my relationships, and I'd feel lost if I was alone. It took me a long time for me to find an identity outside of other people, and it was so worth doing.

[glowin-theshark]

**SPOILERS AHEAD**

So, I know I just made a meme replacing JFK with Confucius as my favorite character… and I’m still a bit disappointed about the upcoming events that will likely befall my beloved ship… and Confucius is still now my best friend…

But in a slight defense towards JFK, I was rewatching and pondering the older episodes, and I felt a tiny, sliver of positivity. I am a little bit happy that he went through character development over the course of the two seasons. In the very first episode, he outright cheats on Cleo by going all the way with another woman without so much of a second thought. (And, ironically, gets mad at her for kissing another guy, Abe).

Here, as soon as he suspects that he may like Harriet, he actively tries to avoid her at first. Which is something that he never would have done with other women, or Cleo. And when they eventually kiss (which was still a scummy move), he immediately says “I didn’t do this with my other broads, but should we tell Joan?” It was essentially Harriet who convinced him that they “technically” didn’t do anything wrong and he went along with it. And again, at the end, JFK is the one to tell Harriet that they should come clean. He’s taking the initiative. And he is very concerned about how Joan feels as they let her know the full situation.

Credit where credit is due, it really does show how much his relationship with Joan is important to him. So much so that he feels guilt about a kiss and wants to tell her and seek forgiveness, when with Cleo, fully sleeping with someone else was second nature…

I dunno. It was still really bad to betray Joan’s trust and it did leave me feeling heartbroken about it. I’m sure JoanFK is still gonna go through a ton of obstacles the next couple of episodes, and it’s unclear if they will recover from them… this is still first and foremost a parody of teen dramas. To be honest, I was surprised they lasted about 6 episodes before the first wind of major drama occurred in their relationship.

But yeah. I guess I’m trying to make peace within myself and focus on some slight positives about the current state of the ship. Maybe I’m just in the denial stage of grief….

[blitz0hno]

Mikoto's amnesia, denial, and the order of events in MeMe

So my theory about the memories detailed in MeMe, as per Milgram's record of Mikoto being the "guilty one," is pretty simple. The events in the outerworld are completely jumbled, and I believe the bulk of them take place right after Mikoto's "first" murder if there were indeed multiple victims. This is gonna be a very basic look at the "flashback"/"real-life" sequences in MeMe. I feel like this may have been done before but I mostly just see analysis on the headspace/symbolism in the video and not the implications of the real-world bits, but this video has been discussed to death so I can't be the only one who's thought about it lol

In the first part of our timeline, we see lots of static and Mikoto swinging a bat at someone as the train goes by. I imagine the tracks were where the body itself was disposed of. Mikoto's "dream" shows faraway 3rd-person angle and it's almost as if he's watching "himself" commit the crime. However, the face of the victim, his own expression, and the injuries inflicted are obscured from his view the whole scene.

It abruptly cuts to him entering his house after this, which is where I believe Mikoto's memory starts to get patchier. The moments after a trauma are when the brain is still reeling from shock, after all. After his first dream sequence where he expresses confusion, I believe the second verse is filling in the gaps of what happened between finishing the crime and changing his clothes. You can't lie in Milgram though, and sharing a brain means sharing memories, no matter how deeply they are buried. The memory gets more detail as he is examined more, and it's already common for brains to remember things out of order. Mikoto is shown to be in-and-out of his headspace in MeMe; the memories of how "he" saved "him" (the other alter, likely a big part of who John would become) are not all his own, even if the choice to kill was.

I believe that chronologically, this is the next scene.

Presumably John, processing what they've done, recognizing himself as "not Mikoto" for the first time. Mikoto, then, is seeing "himself" from yet another angle, completely upside-down.

It abruptly cuts again, his jacket having been taken off. His face is once again obscured, like Mikoto remembers doing it but not as "himself."

The angle here is more first-person, implying that Mikoto clearly remembers "dreaming" this part.

This is right before he goes home. He's disposed of the beanie, and presumably the jacket and bat.

Mikoto walking in his door immediately after the confrontation is likely exactly how he felt at the time. I believe this next line of dialogue is an alter, likely John or pre-John, speaking to him. "You don't have to keep it in and hide it away, 'I' will save 'me."" (Worth mentioning that "Boku" is used both times here.) It's the first time in the song he refers to himself as "you," which I feel like is pretty common for alters to do to each other even before they realize that they're completely separate ego states. This cut from the first verse, where it jumped right after the murder, shows him in the same pants and shirt he took the trash out in. This implies that Mikoto blacked out most of the way home, which tracks for an event as traumatic as killing a guy.

This part abruptly cuts to him on the couch, in new clothes and no longer covered in blood. As I said earlier, I believe Mikoto's memory begins to come back in bits and pieces as Milgram scans it, which is why the second part is where we actually see him getting cleaned up.

Just as he realizes he's fading in and out, and there seems to be someone on the other side who "doesn't care" that they've killed someone, he gets kicked back into headspace. Since he's in Milgram, that space could be defined as the present moment, while the memories themselves are reflecting more like flashbacks than a linear story.

That's why we see this next part so early, even though it happened after his clean-up work.

Here we see Mikoto's alter, either John or "Midokoto" (plausible 3rd alter show urself challenge impossible likely literally impossible look at that trauma-holding sonofabitch) banishing Mikoto to the shadow realm /j. No blood, new clothes, numb to the world and very clearly trying to forget. "That had to have been a dream" type shit.

Ironically, alters who the host doesn't notice know when they're controlling the body better than the host, who takes it for granted like they're supposed to. If you don't know what DID is, it's easy to be aware that you are technically "working together" with yourself but not understand why it feels that way.

We're also shown this scene where he comes home from work, in the instrumental between Mikoto's Denial choruses. This is the answer to his question of "why?". He was running himself ragged and literally watching himself fall apart from the stress. Assuming he threw out that jacket, this could be interpreted as the days leading up to the murder.

Given that he doesn't have his beanie despite retaining the rest of the outfit, it could also be him continuing to go through the motions and act like the event didn't happen in the days after. I sure wouldn't throw out that shirt, it's a cool shirt. (Actually, it's such a cool shirt that I personally think it further proves the lack of pre-meditation, but like he still did it lol)

I think that in Mikoto's case, the farther away the camera is, the farther "our" Mikoto is from the front. It all happened so fast that his decisions were carried out for him, despite Milgram and his own sense of guilt determining that he himself was the one to take that path.

I don't think he's just talking to Es when he becomes more intense/angry about "why am I here?". I think he's speaking to his alter(s) as well. But I'm only allowed 10 images so I'll post about that later. The line "You don't have to keep it in and hide it away" from when he walks in his door contrasts directly with "Hurting it, holding it down, it doesn't change a thing does it?" Says a lot about how he dismissed his own stress and desire for change, unwittingly dismissing the pain of the people trying to help him.

He literally knows not what he does grrrrrr how dare this project be so fucking cool and good

[ghouldump]

idk if she apologised on Twitter but she posted a fuckass apology on TikTok from her notes app and it’s so fucking dumb, lemme post it here. Not even a video apology, A FUCKING NOTES APP APOLOGY.

Firstly, I want to apologise that my initial response was lacking and not fully taking real accountability. When I took a figurine that is a White slave owner to a plantation and treated it as another filming location and tourist attraction, I blatantly ignored and erased the unimaginable suffering experienced by the enslaved Black people at both these plantations. It was disrespectful, insensitive and racist. I reduced the important context of this character and the real life atrocities that continue to affect the Black community to this day.

I wanted to attend these tours to further learn about the history of slavery that is entrenched across the US, and especially New Orleans. But had I actually taken the time to research these sites at all, I would've realised that they operate as for-profit plantations and further profit off slavery and exploit Black trauma. I should've known better rather than rely on people - especially the Black community - to even point this out to me.

When someone did attempt to explain this to me, I was dismissive and defensive and ignored the valid criticism from the Black community and others that were affected by what I did. In an attempt to address my actions immediately, I failed to acknowledge the people I hurt or directly own up for what I did.

I don't expect this to explain or undo the pain and disappointment I caused. But I wanted to address this properly and with more thought and again to say I'm sorry. It is clear that I need to use this trip to really take the time to come to terms with the reality of my racist actions. Being a person of colour doesn't exclude me from participating in racist behaviour.

Unfortunately, someone will defend her, but I can’t even continue with this, it’s ridiculous. Sure, she’s apologizing, but where was it when people first found it unfunny. Actually, what was the possible thought process behind the whole thing…probably racism.

Also…to the anons who assumed my race, I’ve never stated what I am. The only thing I’ve shared before was that I am from New Orleans and general information. I am just as anonymous as the asks that I receive. Memes that I post, the why that I write, has nothing to do with what I may or may not be. What I will say about myself since people make assumptions, I am an empathetic person, who knows that racism is wrong. There is a time and place for everything, I’ve always been told. I am a New Orleans native, who survived Hurricane Katrina — who has experienced a melting pot of amazing people who have come in all sorts of shades, and different backgrounds.

This situation probably isn’t going to be bothersome to most, but like most from here, I love my city and the people from my city, so that is why I am going hard behind this, because as a resident, I found this tourist weird af and I don’t give a damn about her weak ass apology.

Case closed, I’m done with it 💋 I will be posting tomorrow guys stay tuned 🩷

[multifandomthoughts]

Scaring up Confidence

Requested by @meme-queen-lucy

Looking in the mirror, you give a smirk to yourself. Over the weekend you had found the cutest outfit, one that accentuates your curves. You had already felt good about yourself when later that day you found the perfect pair of shoes to go with it!

“I wonder what my crush will think of it…” you muse, getting ready to head out the door. Your crush, Billy Loomis lived in your head rent free. While other girls drooled over the jocks and the nerds, you had your heart set on him.

He has friends, but always seemed to you to be a bit of a loner sometimes. It’s odd, despite being with a bubbly popular group, he always seems to be the odd one out. And despite being with the popular kids, he was always extremely warm and kind to you.

It was just one of the many reason you’d come to be so smitten. So now you’ve gathered all your courage and put pen to paper to tell him so. Your handwriting wasn’t as neat as you’d like it due to your heart feeling like it was going to beat out of your chest. Once finished, you let out a heavy sigh. Is this really the right way to go about it? His friends could find it before he does and ridicule you. You know he’d stand up for you, but the embarrassment…Fuck it, you think. No better time than the present.

His locker was easiest to discern as he had covered his in punk and horror movie stickers. You could feel yourself begin to shake once again as you approach. Knowing your nerves would only be getting worse, you force your feet to move and with a quick glance side to side in case anyone was watching, you slid the note through a slit in the top of his locker door. Stumbling, you proceed to run away from the locker with blundering steps as you reach the bathroom. Filling the sink with cold water, you dunk your face in it immediately.

You couldn’t give less of a shit who was to find you, calming down was your first and only priority. All there was to do now was wait. Thoughts begin swirling in your head, a cloudy storm beginning to form.

Days begin to pass, and no response through phone, face to face or note. You begin to think that maybe that daring confession may have scared him off. You hadn’t been anything but friendly and kind to him, no reason to suspect that you harbored a deep crush.

It’s a few days later that the response finally comes, and to your surprise it’s in the middle of lunch. A sudden chill comes down your back, and you realize it was an ice cube slid down the back of your shirt. With a gasp and a sputter, you turn to see who did this and find it’s Billy grinning like a cheeky bastard. “Hey! What was that for?” You pout, poking his chest. “Thought I might give a scare to the person who scared me.” Your face drops and you stare directly at his feet. “No, no, no! Not like that!” Billy spits. Gripping your hand with a solemn face, he drags you out of the lunchroom where nobody can see.

“I didn’t mean to frighten you, but the note you left in my locker scared me a bit. A lot of people don’t like me and my friends, so at first I thought it might have been someone threatening to beat me up.” With a deep sigh, and a tightened grip on your hand, Billy continues to speak. “But I couldn’t be happier with what the note actually said. I’ve done my best to be kind to you so that you aren’t afraid of me. And…I guess in doing that, I harbored a crush on you, and hoped you would do the same.”

Without a second to speak, you tackle Billy in a hug. He likes you back, and wants to be with you! You can feel him tenderly placing his hands on your love handles, and you can feel his heartbeat. Holding back tears, you remove yourself from the hug, and look up at him, beaming. “So, would you potentially want to go on a date with me? You inquire. “Of course! We can hang out after school, maybe get a bite to eat? I want you to meet my friends, too!” Flashing that sweet smile you spent so many days dreaming of, you can feel your heart beat faster.

Wanting to make him smile even more, you try and think of other date ideas to offer that he’ll like. “We could also go see a movie together some time, I like a lot of the same stuff you do so you wouldn’t need to tone it down for me or change your picks for my sake!” Sure enough, he does grin at that and raise an eyebrow. “Alright, I may take you up on that.

So tell me then… what’s your favorite scary movie?”

[eriexplosion]

Echo just left and I already miss them :c onto watching Omega have an emotional breakdown in The Crossing!

The way Omega looks immediately miserable coming out of the Marauder. Honey :C

Hunter sensing the storm and trying to determine what direction its moving: Reasonable Hunter for some reason needing to touch dirt about it: WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING?

Did the dirt tell you what the storm's direction is?

All this time we thought Hunter's enhancement was his enhanced senses turns out that it's actually just talking to the dirt.

Hunter literally refuses to adjust for being a man down, Tech and Wrecker are trying to act like they ARE DOWN SOMEONE SURE but it's fine they'll deal, and Omega is just So Deep in her teenage depressions

"What's with you?" WRECKER WHAT DO YOU THINK? And just telling her she'll get used to not having Echo around. Wrecker IS the most emotionally intelligent of the batch, but it's a bit like being the tallest at the gnome convention isn't it?

This mineral is highly unstable and destructive. We need the child to drill for it.

Omega is pulling out the sass for this and I do love it, it's the first time she's let it out on anyone but Cid. She's TIRED, she MISSES ECHO, everyone is acting like it's NO BIG DEAL, let her be angry and pissy actually.

Hunter sensing someone stealing the Marauder like Lassie

Tell me Wrecker :) How exactly did you miss our ship being compromised :)

The way that Tech and Omega have the same external reaction to stress and it is turning the sass up 3000 times. Their processing may be different but good god are they similar in some ways.

Tech knowing Echo disabled their communication device because presumably he tried to call too, this is fine, I'm fine.

LITERALLY LION KING BEHAVIOR I STILL REMEMBER THE VAGUE MEME FOR THIS. THEY PUT DYNAMITE ON SIMBA.

"You must protect the ipsium case!" "WELL WHAT ABOUT PROTECTING ME :C"

I will protect you Wrecker don't worry

"Why don't you carry it?" "FINE!"

I'm sorry their dynamic is so funny when Tech gets extra spicy

And lest it be thought he's only being casual with Wrecker's safety his reaction to being saved instead of the ipsium is literally THE CASE!!!!!!

"So, now we are trapped. AND we have lost all of our ipsium. >:T"

Tech must be a NIGHTMARE to vacation with if even one thing goes off the itinerary

Nightmare Family Trip To Space Arizona

I'm just. Echo is gone for five minutes and their HOUSE gets stolen. THEIR WHOLE HOUSE. WITH THE FAMILY DOG INSIDE.

Tech looked at his dialogue options and literally it was like

[Persuasion] Assure Omega that while things are changing it will be alright and she will adapt *Rolls a nat 1* THIS SQUAD EXISTED BEFORE ECHO WAS A PART OF IT, AND IT WILL EXIST AFTER. WHAT IS YOUR ISSUE?

Everyone looking at Tech like WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?

Tech is so sincere when saying "She... said she wanted to be alone?" he genuinely does not process like this and the thought that she'd say she wanted to be alone if she didn't fully mean it DOES NOT OCCUR TO HIM.

Just slap those extremely volatile tubes into the satchel to roll around it's fine nothing to worry about.

THE WAY THAT TECH JUMPS AFTER HER IMMEDIATELY STILL GETS ME BUT ESPECIALLY THAT SHE DISAPPEARS INTO FOG WHICH HE JUMPS THROUGH WITHOUT HESITATION. He doesn't know what's down there and it doesn't matter, he is GOING AFTER HER.

(Plus parallels to the season finale again, and another example of just how much they can survive.)

Hunter sensing that something, somewhere is wrong. Because their day hasn't been hard enough already.

I love the small details like Tech having to shake water out of his goggles.

Just crawl down into this dark tunnel, carrying the extremely explosive material, throw yourself into the raging rapids, and get thrown into our cavern. Also if the vials touch each other too hard you die <3

Wrecker has the right assessment, this planet sucks

GODDDD THIS SCENE BETWEEN OMEGA AND TECH. Tech having to take a long moment to try to think about his replies, trying so hard to make sure that he's completely understood, because it's important that this in particular get through. Explaining how he feels the losses, intensely, but that he focuses on adapting to the change. I'm WEAK.

And god Omega's little "We're more than that. We're a family. Aren't we?" gets to me every time too but especially since I saw someone suggest the final two lines that sum everything up might be "We're more than that. We're a family." stated with utmost confidence, and like, I would absolutely shatter, I would BREAK INTO A MILLION PIECES, I would CRY like an INFANT.

Following up this wonderful soft moment with [WRECKER SCREAMING]

As we know, the fact that they hid Hunter's wet hair from us is a fucking crime.

Setting up that Tech is good at making precision shots in preparation for the finale. I see you writers, and I hate it.

This conversation with Cid is SO fucking funny like it's awful she's completely unhelpful, but also I feel like the Empire is definitely there, because this is the start of her entire vibe towards them Changing.

[thesweetnessofspring]

Why don't you like swift? Is it her specifically?

I love how making tags in one random post has gotten me this ask, because like, in general my stance is to ignore her and not talk about it, use my tumblr filters and whatnot to ignore her existence the best I can. But I'm getting asked so here's my answer. I'm going fully honest with this because someone asked me to, so if this pop star is your idol, ignore this and dni. It's just my opinion and arguing with me will only entrench my hatred deeper, as evidenced by my past experience with her fans. Also this is hella long, so fair warning.

There are a lot of reasons why I hate that singer. Some range from my own adolescent dramatics to bad interactions with her fans to just really not being into celebrity culture and therefore her whole persona/existence. I also want to say that everything I know about Swift I've learned against my will, so some of this information may be incomplete, but I don't feel the need to look up details about her. If I could, I would never have to hear about her or her music ever again.

I don't like her music. I actually really despise it and have since she got popular when I was in high school. Now I've come to realize if I hate a piece of media, it usually either did an injustice to something I love (like the Ella Enchanted movie) or it's something I didn't like but it became inescapable. Swift mostly falls into the latter. I know people have been trying to take back "cringe" but I can't help it. When I have to hear Swift's music, I CRINGE and I have since high school. Love Story was the stupidest """story""" to me with huge plotholes. You Belong With Me was incredibly entitled and I still side with cheerleader girl in that one, like that is HER boyfriend who HE chose to date. In general, all of her music (that I heard) in those early years were girl-crying-over-useless-boy and that annoyed me to the high heavens. And I think my dislike turned to hatred when I was told that since I was a girl, I HAD to like her, that she was SOOOOO relatable to teenage girls when my life experience was nothing like hers. And her music being all over the radio, school, my social settings, etc. did not help.

And the thing is, I've heard songs/seen lyrics of hers that I didn't know were hers and I still hated them/thought they were cringe. Like I remember when "We Are Never Getting Back Together" came out. I heard it on the radio and thought "who is this new wanna-be Avril Lavigne?? She sucks!" And then the DJ said it was Swift's new song. 💀 A few months ago I was driving my parents to the airport with their car and a song comes on their radio I hadn't heard before, and I immediately think "ugh this song sucks" and then by the chorus I realized it was a Swift song. Even with her new album, when I saw the first meme for that "you wouldn't last an hour in the asylum where they raised me" I thought it was an old meme I'd missed and had originated from like, some cringey 12-year-old on Vine or something. Only to find out a grown-ass woman in her 30s who's likely never stepped foot in a psychiatric unit wrote it, which explained how utterly stupid that line is. All of that to say, even when blind, I hate her music. The one (1) exception to that is Blank Space. That one for some reason, I do find catchy. My obsessed cousin got me to listen to Folklore and I didn't HATE that, but I thought it was hella boring. She's either cringe or boring and mediocre and I think at this point, you have to be a fan of her persona to like her music because that's really all I hear her fans talk about. Not the songs themselves, but how they're about her/her life. Or their blorbos.

I think Swift is a spoiled, entitled, privileged white girl who likes to bask in any slight done to her and blow it up like it's the worst injustice done to any human being. She lacks a true core other than being obsessed with herself, her image, and her fame, and chases trending aesthetics instead of finding something real and authentic to her. Authenticity is really important to me. I really can enjoy things other people think of a "cringey" if it's authentic to the creator, but the only thing authentic to Swift is her martyr complex. She borrows aethetics and throws them off easily, never truly mastering any of the genres she stumbles into as a costume instead of an authentic artistic expression. Everything she does is half-baked.

And that's not to say that the press and people online haven't been nasty. That stuff with the deepfake AI rape-porn was horrendous and she doesn't deserve that. Nor did her body being scrutinized as a teenager (or ever). But she got offended by a TV show joking about her having had a lot of boyfriends (which is true!) and as a result, a black actress who was delivering the lines someone else wrote got harassed online. Like what an absolute LOSER. She's a billionaire and the most popular pop star currently alive, and some rando Netflix show has her panties in a twist to the point where she sics her stans to bully an actress??

I'll give Swift this: she is very good at parasocial relationships (to an exploitive degree, imo) and PR. She's turned feminism into her own "you're misogynist if you attack ME!!!!! Like who cares about poor women or women in countries that mine has colonized or abused women or exploited women, anyone who attacks MEEEEE is the worst misogynist around!!!!!" Ugh. And I'm not going to lie, when 1989 came out and I was getting more into feminism I fell for this narrative of hers until her "Bad Blood" music video came out and it struck me how she was a bully. From what I heard, the beef was that Katy Perry "stole" her dancers and TS responded by making a whole music video with some of the biggest female celebrities to show off how everyone was in her corner. Then I thought...oh...she literally doesn't care about feminism (blatantly attacking another woman for something really minor) she only cares about herself!! And I got on the hate-train again. I still think she uses her power to bully other people/keep them in line about her and I swear if I were a man in Hollywood/entertainment, I would never date that woman.

She's certainly not the worst celebrity around. And also, I think to some extent, celebrities who have achieved even half the fame Swift has is likely somewhat conceited and self-centered. Anyone I'm a fan of, I'm a fan of their work first, and if they seem nice then that's a plus, but I also don't bank of them to be perfect, as long as they don't cross over into abusing others. And I don't think (from what I've been forced to know) that Swift is an abuser. Swift reminds me more of that friend-of-a-friend that makes every gathering about her and is fake-nice to you to gather information about you so she can hold it over you socially. If that makes sense.

And also some of her fans have always just been really pushy and annoying. I'm not going to act like I never threw a little temper tantrum in high school when Love Story came on or anything, but I've had my fair share of her fans as roommates and friends and I've really tried to be polite with them a least since college when I'd gotten a little more mature. Two stories really did me in, though: once in college I went on a roadtrip with a friend. We were going to be going through an area with bad radio signals and when that happened we got out the CDs. She suggested the Red album. I politely said I didn't care for Swift, and pointed out another one of her CDs of band I did like. She told me I didn't like Swift because I only heard her stuff on the radio, reached over while she was driving and pulled out the CD and put it in. I didn't want to start some sort of fight trying to get the CD out while she was driving and had to listen to that CD. This friend was trying really hard to get me to like her, but I was just so pissed she hadn't listened to me and I was trapped in there. Halfway through I asked to change it, thinking okay, it's been like 20 minutes, but no, she insisted I'd like the songs in the last half (I didn't, obviously). I also in college had my "golden" birthday and decided to throw a huge party. My roommates and one of our joint friends at the time were big into Swift. They were helping me put it together and I asked that the music they play not be a) violent toward women or b) any of Swift's music. They got the first part but then put all of the "danceable" songs of her newest album at the time on my birthday playlist. Like, not one song. At least five songs. Because they wanted it. All of the other parties and gatherings I clenched my teeth and told myself to get through it, but seriously, my own birthday party they ignored my very simple request because "it's not a party without Taylor!" I literally left my own party until the songs switched. And when I asked them to take any other of her songs off, they didn't. So. Yeah. Even though that was over a decade ago now, it doesn't help my Pavlovian response to her songs or her voice.

I just really don't think she's talented at singing, dancing, acting, or songwriting and seeing all of her everywhere is just SO MUCH.

[oneiric-somnolence]

I watched The Twilight Saga for the first time in 2023.

(Maybe somewhat obviously, there are spoilers for the Twilight Saga in this post! Proceed with caution and care.)

A real post on main, guys! Can you believe it?!

INTRO:

I’m a movie guy. I like films—even the ones that aren’t particularly good. Maybe especially those ones. 

When I’d reached the target age and audience of Twilight (2008), I really was of the scene and aesthetics of someone who should have watched Twilight (that, of course, being an edgy tweenaged girl). It’s release was, however, just a few years before my most conscious ages and by then had already garnered the reputation of being a rather shit film. The specific kind that fell victim to excessive scrutiny because it was targeted towards girls. I was never terribly fond of things for girls (for reasons that would come to make themselves clear in the future) so I naturally joined the hate party. I think at that point, the most I’d even known about the film came from parody in the cartoons i was watching. There may have been a particularly notable Twilight bit in American Dad. Who remembers?

Anyhow—while no longer tweenaged or a girl, I feel as if I have reached the point in my life where I would most respect these films for what they are. I appreciate an amount of cheese and I feel that a lens of nostalgia for the era they come from will cloud my judgement quite beautifully. I hope there to be an amount of earnest in them—as that’s all that a film really needs to be entertaining to me—but I’ve seen criticism of the later films in the franchise for being very of an industry and without the charm that audiences enjoyed from the franchise initially. The quality or charisma of any films after the first (excluding Eclipse) will not be necessary to keep my attention because Michael Sheen is in them. So I’ll do my best to give them all a fair shot and not let the opinions of others snake too far into my mind. 

First up, Twilight (2008)…

TWILIGHT (2008):

Knowing what I do about films in general and my preferences when it comes to them, I was immediately a bit turned off by the two-hour runtime. Even a supernatural action-romance didn’t need to be much longer than 1:45 if they knew what they were doing. It did, however, get the benefit of the doubt for being based on a book. I know that can lengthen things. Now, while it wasn’t exceptionally long, I think the movie would have greatly benefited from being a few tens of minutes shorter just to force them to figure out where their priorities lie and pace things much better. I will revisit this idea many times in the post to come as it is a bit of an issue with the franchise.

The very first thing the movie needs absolute credit for is its style. From the iconic blue filter over the entire movie to the insert song choices to the actors chosen and done up to specifically be beautiful in the way this story desires—they had a vision and they did their best to fulfill it. Now, I feel it necessary to mention I have not read the books nor do I plan to. I’m reviewing the films as films and alluding to the books as an abstract potentiality. I haven’t a damn clue what’s actually in them. With that bit clarified, it seems to me that the filmmakers had an idea of how they wanted to put the book to screen and it seems they’d succeeded. 

My favorite part of the movie before the final climax was—believe it or not—the most memed scene of it: Bella’s confrontation of Edward. I like it. I thought the whole vampire research montage was fun and the “I know what you are” bit was well done and a good buildup-payoff (this will not be very common in these films). Save for the silly vampire super speed moment, it was a visually beautiful scene and a great emotional turning point for the film.

There are a few things that surely wouldn’t have made a teenager in 2008 bat an eye and even would seem their greatest fantasy while not aging well at all. I very much enjoy the dynamic of “I would love to love you and it’s in my very nature to do horrible things to you but I love you too much to ever do them” but, as an already ethically gray trope, it becomes odd to watch when you put two high school juniors in it. Now make one of those juniors an immortal that has been a teenager much longer than the other and you start to wonder what the fuck you’re watching. Lonely flip phone-era girls don’t think about these things and that’s why they’re happier than us. Though, the filmmakers (I’m counting Stephenie Meyer as a “filmmaker” as she did have a hand in it by, y’know, writing the books they’re based on) did think about the oddness of it to some extent because, in the following films, they did wait until Bella was an adult to let things get “serious.” I’ll give them that.

I liked the baseball scene. That may be a bias for how anime it is and the Muse song in the background, but I did think it was a good transition from romance focus to Vampire Murder focus by showing us vampiric abilities in action. I do think the other vamps showing up to crash it and that being the major turning point was rather lame and I can’t exactly say why. That said, I found most of this section of this film to be rather uninteresting. The villains were unengaging—the best vampire out of the three antagonists was Laurent and they did fuck all with him. I rather dislike Victoria (and you will see that that will in no way change for me as the series goes on) and whatever the killer one’s name was. I really didn’t like him—it was no fault of the actor’s as I could tell he was trying really hard with the horrific dialogue he was given. He didn’t convince me as a Killer and had no motivation as a Vampire. 

As for the very end climax of the film, Kristen Stewart is about the only on this cast who could do action sequences convincingly and she was never actually partaking in any of them until they almost killed her. Alright. The final fight had some very pretty and cool shots but the fight choreography was just awkward and boring (this is never remedied even as the franchise goes on). I enjoyed the dynamic of the Cullens for the first time during this fight and I’m happy to say that they stay a very good group of characters from this point on.

If you break the movie into four 40 minute segments, the first half was okay, the third fourth was lame and uninteresting, and the last bit was maybe even quite good. The literal last seconds of the film aren’t a half bad lead into the next movie. I wish they’d prioritized some things and emphasized some other things. If they forced themselves to make this movie 30 minutes shorter, I think they would have found where their priorities lie and it would have been punchier and much more consistent and engaging. Not a completely horrible movie. I feel like they wanted to lean into more of the lore and world building I’m sure the book had, and they take the opportunity to do so in the following films, but you could tell they wanted to. It felt like they either forgot or weren’t sure exactly how. 

It’s a charming film, confident in it's romance but less so in it’s action. It’s got as many dumb and flawed moments as it has nice or enjoyable ones. Worth a watch for the sake of a watch. That’s the best I’ve got—it takes a backseat in your mind once you’ve watched all the others as the story moves so quickly in insane directions. It’s a humble beginning.

Here are some of my various notes I wrote while watching:

“Bella gets sexually assaulted eight minutes into the movie.”

“All the banter dialogue in this movie is completely unnatural and unbearable except all the small town Washington folks. Love them. That said, this is exactly how two extremely awkward teens act when forced to partner up in class.”

“If I was partnered with Edward Cullen, I would just assume he was severely autistic. (ETA: I’m not sure he isn’t. Might be on the spectrum on top of all the vampire shit.)"

“Edward Cullen really was such a dark pretty boy back then, wasn’t he? I’m not trying to imply Robert Pattinson isn’t widely considered beautiful still, but nowadays you can find a guy exactly like him smoking a cigarette and listening to Radiohead on every street corner—and also in every female demographic anime video game since 2010.”

"Edward should’ve just pretended he was surprised about the eye thing and the super strength and whatever. "

“This entire family are freaks and it’s not because they are vampires." 

“I’m starting to wonder if Edward talks so weird because a young Robert Pattinson is struggling to do an American accent."

“These movies would be infinitely less lame if more people got maimed to death. (ETA: They do.)”

“I was unaware of how close this film got to a sex scene.”

NEW MOON (2009):

This series has a habit of introducing a villain with very high potential and then either killing them or elaborating on them in a way that does not matter and doesn’t really amount to anything. This movie is Victoria’s nothing elaboration and the introduction of Aro and the Volturi. 

The Volturi, to me, are these very enticing anime-style villains. I think they’re a good addition to the lore as the governing body of vampires. They have their flaws, as every group in this franchise does, but their existence and the way they work in the story shows intention and direction—something I’ve mentioned these films are quite low on. This film is their exposition. They do little actual villainy within the walls of New Moon and I do wish they were simply more prevalent in general, but this film gives them great context and introduces them very, very well. I’m writing this here as a bit of a preface—they don’t really get too involved until the near end of the movie. This, though, is a good thing. They take the opportunity to properly explain and expose the Volturi and explain to us why we should be scared or be enticed by them before they force us to.

The emotional plot was—I don’t know—something. It seems odd and forced and unsure of itself but it tells us why Edward and Bella need each other and makes sure everyone in the movie is aware of it as well. I appreciate that. Breakup plots when you know they end up just fine together feel like they take forever to get anywhere and make any sense, though I’ll give it the benefit of seeing it through the eyes of that lonely teenage flip phone girl. I’m sure she was quite devastated and would have been left as Bella was if the movie didn’t resolve itself.

This was his movie but still I found a lot of Jacob's plot unmemorable. The only thing I do remember is how this is the film that turned him from the fun, casual alternative into a bit of a weird, obsessed never-even-was-ex-lover who chooses repeatedly and knowingly to insert himself where he isn’t wanted. A bit of Jacob's character is remedied in the following films but he really just enters an odd state where they aren’t sure what to do with him and you aren’t sure if you like him.

It did stop being the werewolf movie by the end of it. This is when the Volturi show up and steal the movie—and Michael Sheen shows up to steal every scene he’s in. I’m told Victoria was the main villain of this film and yet she was the most forgettable aspect of the film. By the time they make it to Italy, you don’t give a single shit about any of that—the feeling of something much bigger sets in as they spend little time wading in What Just Happened and quickly move on to setting up the following films. 

The unsatisfactory pacing and poor prioritization of subject matter per film is somewhat remedied when you start thinking of this Saga as a series—and I do believe it would have been one if the books were adapted in a time where limited series were more popular. Thinking of them as an anime is what made it more easy to finish and accept certain oddities. 

Overall, there was too much of the film that was terribly unremarkable but the good parts were rather very good and gave me a perhaps misguided hope for the next one. To add—I quite liked the soundtrack. The insert songs were often fitting and genuinely added to the scenes they were in.

Here are some of the notes I wrote while watching:

“So far, it’s my impression that these films are just as wildly ambitious as they are confused. It does, admittedly, make them a bit endearing.”

“I don’t think I’d take the time and effort to read the books but I could definitely see this story being much more nuanced and enjoyable in text form. Though I can’t say anything of Stephenie Meyer’s writing style. I haven’t read even an excerpt of it. Maybe it sucks. Who knows.”

“Michael Sheen’s first appearance in this movie is him ripping off a man’s head.” (This was noted simply from sense of amusement. Or perhaps arousal.)

“Alice Cullen is genuinely adorable.”

“I get the emotional implication of the motorcycle but I really don’t think Edward Cullen would be opposed to his girlfriend having a sick ass motorcycle if they were together right now.”

"I’ll admit I have been somewhat too engaged to make notes. So I guess that’s good. “

“Why did Edward fly to fucking Italy to kill himself? Just eat some fucking garlic or something dude.”

“I found this movie to be far more consistently engaging. And my judgement isn’t clouded by having Michael Sheen on screen because he barely was.”

“The vampire fight in Twilight was lame. The vampire fight in New Moon is even lamer since we got to see how fuckin' sick the werewolf fights were.”

“I’ll give credit to this movie for officially engaging me in the plot of these characters. I actually wanted to know where things were going in this movie. I didn’t feel that too hard with the first.”

ECLIPSE (2010):

New Moon sets up the Volturi and Eclipse knocks it down? No, not at all. They aren’t really even here. Victoria. Victoria, Victoria, Victoria. Hey, at least she dies in this one. They foreshadow the conflict very heavily and then go into a bunch of particularly boring relationship nonsense. It sets up for progression within Edward and Bella’s relationship to come but I found the way in which they did it a total snoozefest. I don’t care about the sex lives of teenagers. I’m sorry. Lord forgive me. A lot of what happened in this film could have happened elsewhere. It didn’t particularly need to exist in the grand scheme of the story.

The main point of this movie was Bella’s dichotomies. Bella struggles with the decision to be turned into a vampire and the decision between Edward and Jacob (though, that one less so as the narrative so clearly favors Edward). She’s shown the barbarism of vampires through the newborns and she’s shown the beauty and humanity in them as she talks to the Cullens about their lives and as she falls deeper in love with Edward. There’s a very nice bit where, in a graduation speech, Bella’s friend talks about how her age is about making mistakes and that nothing is permanent. It’s a very nice speech for anyone to hear and sends a good amount of uncertainty to Bella that drags with her until she makes her final decision at the end of the movie. I thought that was rather well done both cinematically and thematically. That may have been the most enjoyable part of the movie for me. 

Despite its flaws, by this movie I was unfortunately hooked. My critical mind had left me and I really was just following the plot. Still, I didn’t have the mind for emotional stuff that bored me and the action aspects of the movie were also rather boring. They gave us good backgrounds on some of the Cullens. The best vampire fight in the movie was when they were sparring. We get some decent vamp/wolf action and some jumping points. This movie was just a bridge but that does mean it leaves you wondering what’s next. The pacing feels a lot nicer, again, if you think of is as a really long episode of a greater series.

My notes are a little more sparse for this one:

“I really don’t find Victoria to be an interesting or scary enough villain to warrant being a villain for this many movies.”

“I think this franchise is so much more bearable when you think of it as an anime. Genuinely.”

“How many actors in these films are English and trying very hard not to be? Lots of weird accents going on here.”

“Every single other Cullen is infinitely more interesting than the one the story chooses to follow."

“I love the Volturi’s anime villainy. It’s my favorite thing in this entire franchise.”

“Jasper may be the weirdest, most fucked up creepo Cullen but he is also the funniest by far.”

“Why does Jacob specifically have to carry Bella to mask her scent? I don’t get it. If he’s so pungent, just him walking with her should be enough, no?”

BREAKING DAWN — PART 1 (2011):

The decisions are made! Edward and Bella are getting married! Then they’ll fuck and turn Bella into a vampire a bit later! Yeah! I know, like, thematically why they place so much emphasis on Edward and Bella having sex but I find it much less interesting than the whole Turning Into a Fucking Vampire thing. Bella gets pregnant. Hell spawn. Everyone gets pissed off. She has the baby. They name it something stupid. She almost dies. Edward turns her into a vampire. Jacob gets the hots for the just-born child and I’m supposed to be okay with that for some reason. Really, even the flip phone girl has to be asking questions by now. There. I summed up the whole movie. Really, that’s pretty much all that happens. Oh! The werewolves wanted to kill the kid, but didn’t. For reasons relating to Jacob wanting to fuck it when it grows up. I don’t know. I’m trying.

This movie was unexciting and just set up Part 2. I suppose it did exactly what it was meant to do but it did nothing for me. There you are.

Wanna read some of my notes? Here:

“If I dreamt Michael Sheen was at my wedding, it would in no way be a nightmare. “

“Sex preparation montage? Okay. I have no comments. I just needed to mention it was there.”

“They really, really don’t know what happens when a vampire impregnates a human? Really? In all this time?"

“Werewolf rage segment doesn’t interest me. The first half of this movie has not been particularly interesting."

“Every single actor in these movies are just beautiful. Genuinely fantastic-looking people. The vampires’ makeup would convince you otherwise though.”

"'Jacob just had an idea.’ '…It wasn’t an idea. It was a snide comment.’ is the funniest dialogue in this whole franchise.”

“Vampire venom CG? Okay."

"Jacob 'imprinting' on Renesmee is such an unbelievably odd and vile thing to put into this story. So fucked up."

“This is the movie that turned Bella into a vampire but still manages to be a boring and unnotable transitional phase into Part 2.”

BREAKING DAWN — PART 2 (2012):

This movie is the actual payoff for the Volturi—if you could call it that at all. This is it: the great climax! And yet it takes so long to get going in a way that means anything. The stakes set you up for everything and give you nothing. 

Bella enjoys being a vampire. Everyone is really mean to her dad for some reason. Everyone got really cool with Jacob taking claim on Renesmee very fast. The Volturi catch wind of Renesmee and think she is a child who was turned into a vampire, which is Vampire Illegal, so once again, they come to hunt down the Cullens. They’re very foreboding and scary and Micheal Sheen pleases me greatly no matter how terrible he looks. Really, with all the lost visions in these movies I wish they could have found a genuinely good design for the vampires—I’d never quite liked how they look. 

Anyhow, the Cullens build a great vampire army to fight off several clones of the Spirit Halloween logo, but, of course, they’re hoping they don’t have to fight and that the Volturi will hear them out. It all comes together in an empty field when the snow sticks to the ground where it’s vampires and werewolves versus the Italians. We see a great battle that gets infinitely lamer-looking when the characters you like join in because God hates you. Humbert and Dolores—I mean Jacob and Renesmee make a break for safety. Vampires get shattered like stone, werewolves go down like sick dogs and Aro rips off Carlisle Cullen’s head. Aro gets his head smashed off. Rami Malek is there. 

But alas! None of it’s real. We cut back in to Aro holding Alice’s hand before they started fighting and reading what she saw in the future—the future he has if they choose to battle today. Aro wants to call it off to save is head in the most literal sense possible but still fears danger remains in the form of a half-human-half-vampire child. Alice reveals a vampire they met who is indeed that and is just fine. Great, even. Grew to maturity and stopped aging. Aro is delighted and just leaves. All is well and all romantic pursuits are happy, including one with Bella’s father who is the only man in this series who deserves happiness. That’s the end of the film and the franchise as it stands.

While I would normally go completely feral and find someone to maim with that kind of “it wasn’t real!” ending, this one feels… earned. It stayed engaging. It had a reason to exist other than just trickery. I have no complaints regarding that and I’m sure it was rather exciting to experience in-theater at the time.

What I have got complaints about is once again that rancid sense that they have no idea where they’re going next. It doesn’t feel at all like they’re done with it but they gave no indication of where they would want to go in the future. With almost no payoff from the best villains in the series—everything just goes back to how it is and everyone’s happy. The only difference between the end of Twilight and the end of Breaking Dawn 2 is that Bella is a vampire now and Renesmee exists. It was an exciting movie but with so little point. This franchise is so afraid of ending but so unsure it’ll go on. It’s understandable but just annoying and unsatisfying as a viewer. It does deserve credit for making me care that there was a good ending, just gets the same points taken back for not giving me one.

Overall, I enjoyed the film. It’s one of my favorites in the series. I can’t, however, rate it as an ending because it isn’t one. I can tell it wants to get there but it’s too unsure.

Last round of notes comin’ up:

“They’ve taken a rather vague stance on if vampires sleep recreationally or not.” (This still annoys me.)

“I know I’m saying this while I actively chose to watch the goddamn Twilight Saga but I do not care one single bit about the vampire sex. It’s the least interesting part of these films. They managed to make Vampire Sex boring. I don’t get it.”

“Rami Malek was quite a sweet thing in this movie. I’m used to his characters being like sick or on drugs or something.”

“I like that that credits were kind of credits for the whole franchise. that’s nice.”

“Okay, I did not expect Billie Joe Armstrong once the scrolling credits came in.”

CLOSING STATEMENTS:

It’s not a series that’s going to change your world. I don’t even think it’d make a viewer of average sensitivity cry unless it hit a nerve specific to the viewer. It’s a flawed story, but ultimately an interesting and deeply earnest one. I find there’s a charm specific to the first and final movies. That isn’t to say the other’s were less interesting, just that the franchise has a problem with drive and direction. Quite obviously, the very first and the very last are the ones easiest to overcome that. The series is best at its most certain. There were moments it seemed rather confused about what was important or how something was to be portrayed, but within the moments that were very confident in themselves was an engaging supernatural romance, and I find it quite easy to give it the benefit of the doubt more often than not. 

In two words—flawed, charming. It does what it wants to do and isn’t completely terrible at it. Overall enjoyable films. 

I wouldn’t recommend someone sit through them all unless I think they would actually like that kind of thing or if they were making an essay about it. I might, however, recommend that one who enjoys films watch the first and perhaps second to see if they may be unexpectedly enticed. I found myself—to my own discontent—hooked in by the third one. I don’t recommend holding out that long if you really aren’t enjoying yourself but if you insist on giving them a fair chance, that’s my anecdote. 

[purpleandstarlight]

@hateweasel I think I may post a couple a little more quickly bc I have so many and I like sharing this stuff

(On the subject of Preston being hit)

My friend: Hey, better him than my ship at least...

Me: He got hit trying to shield Kris actually, so you should be more grateful

My friend: WELL DONE PRESTON!! DIE FOR THE SHIP!!

Me: NOO 💀 Anyways Cielois is reunited finally

My friend: Finally! Now everyone get out of there, before someone actually important dies!! (Sorry, Preston)

Me: Why this costant bullying towards Preston? 💀

My friend: Poor Preston...its nothing personal, i just have different priorities...

(Also to be fair with my friend...that was like, the first time I ever told her about Preston, since I began the commentary quite late and at that point most of Preston's more centered arcs had gone by..so she didnt know anything about him yet, just that he was one of the 7 and wounded)

-My friend, after i told her about Preston being poisoned by the Black Annis and the fact that he will most likely die much sooner than the others and we talked a bit about his situation: This entire last part of the arc has been SUPER sad tho...

Me:Yeah...at least the Cielois Reunion was wholesome?

My friend: And we also got the KrisDan kiss...And neither Kris nor Dan died, so it's a victory on all fronts!!

Me: I mean the battle is still going on strong 💀

My friend: ...Guess i spoke too soon then

-There was this entire discussion Metus and Alois were having while fighting and they were snapping at eachother while throwing hands and it left me Flabbergasted because it was the weirdest battle trash talk i ever read in my life. It was all about Alois talking about his relationship and Metus suggesting a restaurant for their anniversary (Wich is also the one at the beginning of Devils like to Prove...wich also left me Flabbergasted but in a much less amused way, seeing the shit Metus pulled later on during their fight at the end of DLTD...)

- I stopped with my thoughts on DLTD and just began with the DLTP ones? I probably didnt have too much to say to her considering it was so much action and stuff...

-Began saying that i would have laughed more about Alois actually going to that restaurant if not that remembering the guy made me uncomfortable because of the shit he did.

-Me: So...while reading DLTD, i asked the author a list of spoiler free memes. One of them was a name [for context, it's Baldassere]  and as I began this and heard the name for the first time i was like "Oh he must be a villain that's why he's a meme" but no actually now I met him and it's because he's a fucking idiot

-Mentioned Sister Dorothy to my friend and I was immediately stanning her SO MUCH.

-My friend was asleep when I read like the first 26 chapters or smth of DLTP (it was night) so she caught up with my texts when she woke up. The one i really want to mention first is this scenario she made up when I told her that KrisDan confessed but Kris insisted on Dan breaking up with Anastasia before they got together (She also joked in the past during DLTD that they hadn't been together for a long time or even at all and Dan just didn't get it):

Dan: Ana, i gotta tell you something...

Ana: Shoot, bro.

Dan: We can't be together anymore, because I'm actually gay and like your brother.

Ana: ...bro we haven't been together for MONTHS. I'm about to marry Lawrence, i even sent you an invitation...I also call you bro because I know you're with my brother. Do you mean to tell me you're not actually together yet?!

Dan: ...Ah

[shiplessoceans]

I will never forget. I saw the chemistry in episode three straightaway. I actually paused and rewound Ed staring down at Stede with his arm resting on the OTHER SIDE OF HIS UNCONSCIOUS BODY several times. I made inarticulate noises of shock and gestured to the screen as if imploring someone else in the room to see what I was seeing despite the fact I was by myself in my loungeroom.

I immediately imagined Ed and Stede would make a great couple but I never thought for a second the show would go there. Because middle aged main characters in male dominated swashbuckling historical comedy shows absolutely do not fall in love under any circumstances. I'm not stupid. They want to pander to an audience and my queer ass is never the audience a network wants.

So as always I expected Ed and Stede were an Odd Couple/best friends/bromance situation (ie: Subtextually homoerotic and canonically straight until proven otherwise).

"But ShiplessOceans! Didn't you realise in episode 5 during the full moon scene that it was gonna happen?"

I wish I could say I did. But no.

I did not.

Because I LEGITIMATELY thought they were playing it for laughs.

I saw Ed and Stede have that over the top doe-eyed romantic moment, averted kiss and all and I quickly extinguished the little spark of hope in me, thinking: "Ah... We're meant to be like, hahaha wouldn't it be funny if they were! They're not though. They're just REALLY good friends you guys."

Like... Call me nuts but I am 36 years old and I have seen some shit my friends. This averted kiss moment being played for laughs would not be the first time that has happened in a show or movie. If you want a post listing examples I will provide it.

"Alright. So when did you realise it was gay for real?"

Episode 8.

Yep. The moment Calico Jack asked Stede if he and Ed were buggering each other I was like...waaaaait a minute!

OH. THIS SHOW AND THE WORLD IT CONTAINS ACKNOWLEDGES QUEERNESS.

And not just queerness for the side characters to tick the representation boxes, but for the leads. Blackbeard had been in a relationship with Jack. They had confirmed Blackbeard was queer.

"So that's when you knew Ed and Stede were gonna be a couple."

...

"...right?"

... Um....

"Seriously?! You still didn't know?"

Yeah, look. This is why the kiss actually knocked me on my ass.

My head was swimming with the boot touch at the end of episode 8 but I still couldn't let myself believe it. It couldn't be real because it had never happened before! No show had ever done this! And if it was real... I mean holy shit. The world and how I understood it was about to change. Surely not.

I was basically Dean in a Supernatural meme:

Castiel: "Good things do happen Dean."

Dean: "Not in my experience."

When I realised it was real, was in episode 9.

Because Ed said: "What makes Ed happy... Is.."

And I squeezed the shit out of the emotional support cushion I was gripping onto while watching and said "You!"

And then Ed repeated me.

And I stopped breathing.

The next few seconds may as well have been an hour. Stede's slow smile... How pleased he looked. I watched with my jaw on the floor as he fumbled for a response...

And then Ed went for it.

He kissed Stede and I..

I am not ashamed to say I yelled. Like I screamed.

Loud enough that I scared myself and then grabbed the remote and hit pause and shoved the pillow into my face and proceeded to freak the fuck out.

It was real. I'm not dreaming. This whole show. This whole season. This funny little pirate project I started watching cause the trailer looked cool and I like the actors in it had been a romance the ENTIRE TIME.

And a romance exactly like one I thought I would never see.

When I was younger reading fanfic and watching shows and movies play the gay character off a a tragic figure or something to be mocked or tokenised I used to imagine that one day there would be stories out there that I related to and fucking finally there was one on the screen in front of me right now.

And I just had to hit play and it would be waiting for me. And I could watch it again and again and again and...

I would never want for anything again omg.

Some big validating artistic voice out in that culture shaping tv world had finally made a story for me.

To say my world and my understanding of it changed that day would be an understatement. Those two middle aged men making out on screen saved a deeply ashamed part of myself yearning for hope and I don't think I can ever thank them for what they gave me.

Do you remember how fucking groundbreaking was seeing with your eyeballs Edward Teach and Stede Bonnet kissing for the first time on screen during the first season?

[plutosunshine]

Your comfort zone/when do you feel comfortable?

Our Moon is associated with the comfort zone and things that unconsciously make us comfortable and satisfied. The house your Moon sits in can show the area of life where you feel comfortable.

Moon in the 1st house

You feel comfortable starting something new. You feel stuck and miserable when you are not moving forward. You become more self-confident when you look the way you like. Your appearance is important to you. Makeup, fashion, and other body image-related things comfort you. Also, the sport may make you feel comfortable and relaxed.

Moon in the 2nd house

You feel comfortable with money. You want your life to be stable and provided. When it is like that, you are calm and satisfied. Your comfort zone is chilling at home with Netflix haha jk Food makes you comfortable and relaxed. Also, your values are important to you so you feel comfortable when you follow them and you feel anxious when you make exceptions.

Moon in the 3rd house

Talking! You feel comfortable when you talk. Communication, jokes, and sharing of information(and memes) make you feel comfortable and relaxed. You feel anxious when you don’t have someone to talk to. Also, learning new information comforts you. Scrolling the news and learning new random facts is all you want before going to sleep.

Moon in the 4th house

Your comfort zone is literally your home. You may like to decorate your home, cook, craft, or just meet up with your close ones. You feel extremely comfortable with your closest ones. It is important for you to easily open your heart to them. You like to be emotional with them.

Moon in the 5th house

Your comfort zone is creativity. Art, performance, music – any area where you can show your talents just comfort you. Maybe you like to draw when you are nervous. Also, you may feel relaxed around the children or pets. You feel great with your friends, joking and partying with them.

Moon in the 6th house

Your comfort zone is your daily life. Maybe you even don’t notice how your rituals are important for you. Little and almost unnoticeable things that you make on daily basis comfort you. You feel safe and protected when your routine is followed. Also, you feel less nervous when you are on a healthy diet.

Moon in the 7th house

You feel the most comfortable in one-to-one relationships. Whether it be a friend, lover, or parent. You are good at one-to-one communication and sometimes you realize that you can’t live without your close ones. Literally, when you think that you want to take a rest without people today, you end up inviting your friend to come over.

Moon in the 8th house

You feel comfortable with someone you can fully trust. Your comfort zone is a place where you can share your deep thoughts and emotions. Also, diving deep into the mysterious and secret topics comforts you. For example, listening to a crime podcast while cooking pasta. Or wait, I can see you investigating in-depth the fb page of the new gf of your ex at 3 a.m.

Moon in the 9th house

Your comfort zone is independence. When you have the freedom to do whatever you want, you feel safe and happy. Also, you feel comfortable teaching other people, showing them that the world is bigger than they think. You feel less nervous when you investigate foreign cultures and languages. Maybe you like Korean boy bands and that is what comforts you haha jk

Moon in the 10th house

Your comfort zone is stability. You don’t like sudden changes. You feel comfortable with people you know very well. Also, they have to be calm and rational because unpredictable people scare you haha You feel nervous when you have some stuff undone. You can’t relax until it is done. However, it doesn’t mean you do things immediately haha

Moon in the 11th house

Your comfort zone is your authenticity. Literally, you feel comfortable when you can be your authentic self. I can see you dancing on a couch with the mop when no one is home haha If you have people you can be fully yourself with, then congratulations. You found them!

Moon in the 12th house

Your comfort zone is a place where you can dream or not think at all. You may like meditation and other relaxation technics. You may like to do some stuff while listening to audiobooks. And music! Music makes you feel comfortable and protected. You have a very special bond with music!

[shroudcore]

Speak now, or forever hold your peace. (Finale)

Summary: The ghosts may have left, but the wedding they officiated is not something to be easily forgotten. Will unsaid feelings remain hidden? Idia thinks so, after seeing you with your admirers. 

Idia x GN!reader. Reader is MC, or takes the role of MC in this story.

(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4)

Warnings: none

After that 3-star difficulty sidequest, it was finally time for the ghosts to leave. They were filing out through a shimmering silver portal to the Land of the Dead, which you joked about jumping into “for the meme”. Idia was quick to discourage it. The joke would’ve been funny at any other time than right now. 

Each ghost made sure to give the newlyweds their congratulations. Each congratulation made Idia want to take off into the night, never to be seen again. It was beyond embarrassing. Unbearable. Way past his limit of social interaction capability. Things were getting way too much to handle for his now-empty Energy bar. 

While Idia longed for the comfort and isolation of his dorm room, you were the one who thanked the well-wishers and said the goodbyes—from a safe distance, of course. 

“When we return, I want you to meet our baby!” Eliza announced before she stepped into the portal. You and Idia shared a look. As if reading each other’s minds, you checked your schoolmates’ faces for their reactions—which did not disappoint. Different ways of saying “Don’t come back!” filled the hall, in varying degrees of anger and vulgarity. Before she disappeared for good, Eliza huffed and stuck her nose up in the air—an expression that tonight’s failed suitors knew all too well. 

At her departure, the portal shrunk into a mere speck until it completely disappeared. Then came the loudest cheers of the night serving as Victory fanfare. It was all over! But before he went, Idia hoped to say goodbye and take a look at you in your suit one last time. Or maybe even ask you to hang out tomorrow, depending on his current Courage level. 

While he silently rehearsed his thank-yous and good-byes, he wondered if you knew that you were still holding his hand. He decided not to mention it. 

Unfortunately, his brief moment of (weak) celebration was cut short when he noticed that the now-mobile Groom Rejects were approaching. They might as well have red bars floating over their heads to warn him of danger. He froze, contemplating whether to: 

> Bear it and stay with you just until he was prepared to say goodbye (+10 relationship points -20 comfort LV)

> Just run off on his own without saying anything, ignoring your calls. (-10 relationship points +10 comfort LV)

For now, he decided to stick with Option 1. Just a little bit longer. 

“That was amazing!” Deuce exclaimed, rushing over to give you a high-five. You laughed and  met other high-fives, low-fives, fist bumps, and head pats that came your way with that lovely smile of yours. 

Suddenly, Ace rips you away from him. Suddenly, you weren’t holding hands anymore. The loud first-year put his arm around you and Idia couldn’t help but notice how easy and natural it looked. Meanwhile, there he was: someone who needed to rehearse his goodbyes. 

Clearly, there was a huge level difference here and Idia was the one disadvantaged. 

“Our hero!” Ace yelled, inspiring more cheers. The distance between you and Idia grew as your wave of admirers and friends swept you farther and farther away. He was an outsider once again, stuck watching the fun from the sidelines. Their eyes sparkled. Their mouths smiled. Their loud voices laughed and praised you and laughed with you again. 

They loved you. And Idia was no different. 

Everyone’s Friend and the Weird Shut-in. Was there hope?

“Brother, I’m so glad you’re safe!” Ortho’s voice cut through his stream of thoughts. Immediately, he feels the weight on his shoulders lighten. 

He watched as his brother, his beacon of hope, made his way around your fan club until he eventually reached his spot. Ortho wouldn’t care if he looked like a loser, standing there awkwardly at the side all alone. Finally, he was saved. 

My savior! “Ortho! Thank you, thank you…” 

“No injuries… tense muscles… an increase in cortisol production,” Ortho muttered, frowning. “Are you okay?” 

“No…” 

Ortho nods. “We’ll return to the dorm, then. But before that, we should thank the Prefect.”

“Oh… right.” Idia looked over to you, still surrounded by your “fans” like the SSR character you were. You listened to Azul, who prattled on and on about something that was oh-so-interesting that you couldn’t take your eyes off him. And Vil judged your suit’s design, reaching out to fix something near your neck. You cracked up at something Floyd said. You posed and smiled beside Cater as he took a selfie with you. 

His mind raced as it continuously spotted the students on his list and everything they did. What was so interesting about Azul? What was so funny about Floyd? Did you like Vil’s hardworking, confident attitude? Did you think Cater had a way with words? 

He looked away. 

“Ortho, I’m going back to my room,” he said with a heavy heart, admitting Defeat. He was underleveled, had zero energy, and zero SP (social points). He’ll see you… some other time. After his cry-sesh, maybe. 

“Huh? Don’t you want to talk to the Prefect first?” 

“I’ll just… DM them later,” he lied. In truth, all he wanted was to drown himself in a video game while he gorged on candy and tried not to think about you. Ortho’s eyes narrowed, but followed him as he sneakily left the hall anyway. 

You’d understand, right?

Once he and Ortho were out, he looked back at the hall doors, hating himself for being too shy and cowardly to make a move. He imagined charging back into the room, wedging himself in between your friends, grabbing your arm, and pulling you away. Then he’ll kabedon you and—

Who was he kidding? He can’t do that, and you probably wouldn’t like that. 

“It was terrible, brother. Nobody wanted to help!” Ortho said, and Idia thinks he didn’t need to be reminded that nobody liked him. 

“When the Prefect and I reached Diasomnia, we expected them to reject us too…” he mused. “But Malleus Draconia agreed to help us! Can you believe it?”

“Wait… Malleus-shi?” 

Ortho nodded enthusiastically. “Yes… because the Prefect talked to him… and then he cast a charm on them to help us ward off those ghosts! It was really nice of him.”

“I see…” Idia knew that you and Malleus were friends. But to actually help you and him? Maybe your relationship with the Diasomnia dorm leader ran deeper than he thought. Why else would he go through that trouble? 

“The Prefect volunteered without needing to be asked, you know,” said Ortho, who he now noticed was observing him carefully. Idia tried to ignore the way his brother’s eyes lingered on him as they walked (floated in Ortho’s case). 

“...I’m so glad their plan worked!”

Wait, what?

“Volunteered? Their plan?” All this time, he thought you’d been forced to do this by the Headmaster! You did always rant about Crowley promising you different sorts of rewards if you did jobs here and there. But… you got yourself into this mess… all for him? 

Idia looked at the hand you held just moments ago and dared not hope again. Maybe you would have done this for anyone else in his place. Maybe you treated everyone the same, and it just so happened that he was the one kidnapped by a ghost bride. 

Still, he felt bad for not doing as Ortho said earlier. It was too late to turn back, however, as Idia and Ortho finally reached the Hall of Mirrors. 

“Finally… I’m so tired,” said Idia, meaning it in all ways. But as he put one leg forward to enter the door to Ignihyde, he heard someone’s voice, along with the scuffle of shoes against the floor coming closer and closer to where he and Ortho stood. 

“Idia, wait up!”

Oh no. It’s you. Enter now! Enter now!

But no matter what his head told him to do, he remained rooted to his spot. He stood still despite his pounding heart, that elevator-like feeling in his stomach, and the blaring alarms in his head. 

Object of affection at 5m…

Ortho was probably seeing his vitals going haywire and giving him that look again. He turned to look at his brother… only to not find him there. 

Help… oh no…

2m… 

“Hey,” you gasped out, catching your breath. “When I turned around, you were gone…”

Yeah, same. Just like Ortho… 

No one said a word for a while. The silence was only filled by your heavy breathing as it slowly evened. Inwardly facepalming at himself, he decided to take the chance to tell you everything he should’ve said before he left. 

But before he could open his mouth and apologize for leaving, (gods know he had too many things to apologize for after tonight), he was taken into a warm embrace. 

OHMYGODSOHMYGODSOHMYGODSOKAYLET’SCALMDOWN

“I thought I was too late.” you mumbled into his suit. 

At that moment, without anyone else around, nothing else mattered but the safety of your arms. And damn, how good it felt to be embraced. Did anyone else get these hugs from you? Idia didn’t think so. He hesitantly lifted his arms up and hugged back. 

Looking up at the domed castle ceiling, he wondered what he did to deserve something this good. 

It’s okay. I can have this. He allows himself to melt into your arms, head drooping down to rest against your neck. 

“G-good thing you weren’t,” he finally whispered back, freezing as he heard you sob against his chest. Oh no, oh no, what do you do when your love interest is crying? Quick, quick, pull up the archive of romantic scenes from your memory. 

“Hey, hey, I-I’m okay, you see?” he said, patting your back awkwardly. You let go after releasing another sob to wipe your eyes with your sleeve. 

“Sorry I got your suit wet,” you said softly, turning your face away. “I’m really, really sorry about what happened there too.”

“About what?”

“The whole wedding thing...” You took a quick look at him but immediately dropped your gaze to the ground. 

Idia blushed. “I-It’s okay! D-don’t worry about it… I-” 

Come on, say more! Ugh… I hate myself. 

You pulled at our vest and slipped something out of it—an envelope. “I… wanted to tell you everything through a letter.”

Tell me what?

“But… Eliza came and took you before I could give it to you.” You avoided his eyes as your fingers tightened around the white envelope. Idia’s breath hitched, expecting you to crumple it. But to his relief, your fingers relaxed. Then, as if it took all your courage, you handed it to him with a slightly shaky hand. 

“It's old-fashioned, I know but yeah... just read it!” 

In the hall’s silence, he could hear your breaths quicken once again. 

“Th-That’s all I came here for. Goodbye!” 

Before he knew it, you were running off. Your arm waved frantically from a distance as every step carried you farther, farther away. He lifted his arm to wave back but you never saw it. You were gone and all he had left was the letter. 

His curiosity made him impatient. With fast and purposeful steps, he sprinted on the way to his room. What did he feel? Excitement? Dread? An unpleasant mix of both? His room, feeling farther than usual, was the only safe place he could experience whatever it was.

After a lot of walking and almost slipping over someone’s spilled soda (he cursed the shoes those ghosts made him wear. His very own would never fail him like that), he found himself in front of the doors, which slid open, revealing Ortho already inside. 

“You left me there!” Idia huffed. 

“Couples need alone time, brother,” replied his brother, innocently blinking.

“Wh-wha… we’re not a couple!” 

“Hmm? I could’ve sworn the signs were all there...”

A blushing Idia threw off the silly coat those ghosts made him wear and threw it over his desk chair. He sat on the bed, fingers racing to open the envelope. Ortho watched with great interest as two sheets of paper covered in your handwriting slipped out.  

Unfolding the first page, Idia took a deep breath and began reading:

Hey Player 1!

Sorry I couldn’t make it tonight last night. Maybe you can show me your new manga tomorrow? I know how excited you are about it.  I’m writing this while Grim’s asleep. He’ll never let me hear the end of it otherwise. 

I figured that this would be the best way to communicate my thoughts and feelings. This way, you won’t feel pressured to respond immediately. You can open and read it whenever you’re ready, in the safety of your room. I know it’s old-fashioned. But to me, a handwritten letter feels more personal—like I’m giving you a piece of myself. So here’s that piece of myself. Please, handle it with care. 

Beware. I’m about to get sentimental and mushy and cheesy and everything you cringe at! I hope you read on, anyway. 

First of all, I want you to know how much I admire you. Right from before we were friends, I was impressed by your intelligence and knowledge with technology. I’ve seen nothing like it back home. I always wondered why you hide yourself and those talents away. My curiosity drove me to want to get to know you. I’m glad I did. 

You were closed off. To you, I was just another normie. Do you remember? Your dismissal annoyed me, so I challenged you to a 1v1 match. I thought I was good, but you crushed me. I guess that’s where it started: our friendship… and something else. Soon, I found more and more reasons to admire you. Honestly, I find more with each passing day. 

I should have known, right from when songs started to make me think of you, that I was falling. I started to see you as, well, more than a friend. Your quick mind, your expressive hair, your soothing voice, your precious grin… your voice when you talk about things you love, your love of cats, and your candy, and your cold hands… Okay, I think you get the point.  But if you have time, I could go on forever. 

There’s something different in your eyes when you truly care. You say you’re bad at being sentimental and feel-y, but that’s okay! We express love differently. I see your love pour out in the way you perfect every detail on Ortho’s modifications, anyway. I’m sure he knows how much you love him. 

I want you to know how special you are to me. You’re so amazing, Idia. I wish you knew that. I want you to know that. 

I know it’s hopeless. You’re the young master to a noble house. I’m just… me. A homeless, magicless foreigner with nothing to my name. Nothing to offer but my feelings (and my superb gaming skills of course). I’m not asking nor expecting to be your special someone. But hey, I can be a top-tier teammate. A worthwhile BG opponent. A movie buddy. And most importantly—a friend. 

Our time together has always been a highlight of my difficult stay in NRC. The times we hung out in your room were my refuge from the outside world’s demands. Somewhere I was untouchable and safe from harm. Safe from demeaning remarks. Even if you never get back to this letter and decide you never want to see me again, I will always treasure the matches we played, the movies we watched, the candy we shared, and the memes we laughed over.

That’s all of it, really. Please don’t sleep too late. Watch your sugar intake. Listen to Ortho. Take care of yourself. 

Oh, and enjoy your new manga. 

Your best raid teammate, 

Player 2

Wide amber yellow eyes glistened as they repeatedly flitted over the words. A shaky thumb caressed the smudged ink from where a fallen teardrop marked the paper. Burning different shades at once, fire-hair slowly released itself from the tie it was forced into. Now free, it swathed Idia’s back in warmth like it should.

“Th-This can’t be real!” he sputters as he waved your letter around like he was fanning a bonfire. In a way, he was. 

However, Idia knew his hair wasn’t the only thing that kept him warm. He stared at the letter and it stared back. But no matter how many times he blinked, the words remained the same. You felt the same. 

“What have I done to unlock this route?” Idia clutched the letter to his chest, but noticed he was wrinkling it. “Nooo!” He quickly smoothed it over again. 

“They… they like-like me!” Saying it out loud made it more real. It was a fact! It was true all this time! Thinking of everything you did tonight: rescuing him like a true hero, running after him because you couldn’t keep your feelings secret for much longer… he couldn’t stop himself from swooning. 

“Like-like… did you mean love?”

“L-love?” Idia exclaimed. He suddenly felt dizzy, so he fell back onto his bed and talked to the ceiling. “It’s too early for that word!” 

But he knew the effect which that word had on him didn’t go unnoticed by Ortho. Well, at least he knew now that Idia wasn’t suffering from an illness. Can love be considered an illness? Idia recalls a documentary that said it was. Back then, he ate that up. Love made people do crazy things, after all. 

But ‘illness’ wasn’t an apt word to describe this dizzying happiness surging through him, was it? It was way too wonderful for a word like that.

“I’m so glad the Prefect finally confessed!” Ortho bounced happily, reflecting his brother’s joy. “I knew they would do it soon!” 

Mouth hanging open, Idia looked at his brother. “Wait… you knew?”

“I’ve known for a while,” Ortho giggled. “Vitals can’t keep secrets!” 

***

Contrary to plan, Idia didn’t touch his video games, nor gorge on candy, nor cry himself to sleep. Instead, he replayed the night’s events in his head over and over like a song he couldn’t get enough of. It had been two hours and thirty-five minutes since he read your letter. Two hours and thirty-five minutes since his world was turned upside down. In his reflection on the dark screen of his off tablet, he almost looked different. He saw someone who was admired. Wanted. Loved. 

Was that what you saw whenever you looked at him?

Ortho told him what the next move was: asking you out. He was scared. You might have changed his view of himself a bit, but that didn’t mean he was suddenly ready to go the distance and conquer the world, or whatever those overenthusiastic extroverts say. The night was still too much, and maybe he still needed those three weeks of being a complete hermit. 

Okay. Maybe with your help, I'll get there little by little. 

Perhaps you could watch a movie in his room... Would you be okay with that? You always hung out with him in there. But what if you wanted to do something outside? Eh, maybe it all didn’t matter, as long as you were together. 

When he put on his headphones, he knew which song to choose right away. There was one forgotten song in his music library that he couldn’t bring himself to delete. A love song. It wasn’t a bad one, because Idia would never keep a bad song in his music library. It’s just that the lyrics  were too happy—its singer so blissfully in love that it amplified the loneliness that had always been there.

Now playing: “Immortal Flowers” — SERPINA

This time, it’ll be different. Tonight, he puts it on repeat. He listens to it with a head for once clear of uncertainties. Instead, he thinks of fluffy otome scenarios. 

That date idea would have to wait. For now, he’ll imagine and dream of you, with your warm smile and open arms—skin basking in the glow of blue fire light. 

THE END. 

~

(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4)

There you have it! Thank you for reading. I had fun writing this 4-part series. Would love to hear some feedback! 

Btw, the title of the song Idia listens to at the end comes from “Conversations with Persephone” by Nikita Gill. “What Hades gave me was a crown made for the immortal flowers in my bones.” 

[lucienne-thee-librarian]

There were people bringing up his plagiarism accusations for months and years before he ever got the full expose treatment. And he's said shit that frankly should have immediately exposed how full of SHIT he was...the Gay Nazis myth??? Telling lies about the lives of public facing queer people past and present, like Radclyffe Hall, that goddamn Wikipedia would have contradicted immediately???

Idk just. It's fun to dunk on him and I'm not saying we shouldn't, I for one am wholly in favor of dunking on this mfer very time he tries to come crawling back to attempt to weasel his way into rebranding online without ever having actually owned up to what he did (without making excuses or trying to win people's sympathy and distract them with woe is me sob story #4579)...the way he's trying to do literally as we speak.

But if ALL that comes out of this is a general consensus of James Somerton Bad, then I have bad news: it's going to happen again. It just will. I can absolutely guarantee right now that he won't be the last, or even the worst grifter to milk overly trusting queer people online to the tune of thousands of dollars and all sorts of public praise. There will 1000% be more. There probably are already.

And they will get successful and stay successful until someone else online who's in their weight class or higher, following-wise, is the one to sound the alarm, just like with Somerton. If people don't face up to why he took off, or why he basically got away with this shit for so long, nothing is EVER going to improve.

People saying shit about women, being lesbophobic or biphobic, spreading myths that play into racist prejudices can't be something that people just get away with as long as you use the right buzzwords to make it sound woke.

And for the love of Christ. We have GOT to stop taking people who make videos about history or media crit or honestly anything, on YouTube (or god help us tiktok) just so, so completely at their word. We seriously need to break out the Buster meme "Yout think someone would just go on the Internet and tell lies???" Especially when they don't provide sources. No one person should ever be your main source of information.

Not everyone has equal time effort and spoons and all, i get it, we have busy lives. But the fact is if you don't do SOMETHING and actively try to read up, (or listen to the audio book version) and actively look into history from a variety of sources, from legit sources, from primary sources? You're going to get taken in by cynical ignorant people like this all the time and you may never know it, and if enough people keep doing it, you'll only perpetuate the problem.

"Learn your history" shouldn't be just a catchphrase, you do have to actually do some work. And too many people do in fact, have the energy and time to do it they just choose not to because bingewatching tiktoks and YouTube is easier.

I'm not leaving myself completely out of this criticism, I've done that too once upon a time. I've absolutely gone through that baby queer "trust way too much" phase, stayed in it for longer than I'd have liked, I am not at ALL trying to claim to be Miss Perfect Sherlock Holmes here. Hell, I watched one, I think two, of his videos myself and didn't really see anything wrong at the time (the Cabaret one and I don't remember what other one, I don't know if I finished it that was awhile ago).

But...sorry not sorry if i sound like a bitch, I can at the very least, take comfort in the fact that I feel pretty confident if I had gotten to the video where he started spreading the homophobic Gay Nazi myth which has been around for years, and saying fake shit about lesbian history instead of a video about like. A musical that I saw, I would've at least thought "huh, that doesnt sound right, I should check that" if not outright gone "wait, WHAT. Bullshit". But too many people DID see that and they still kept paying his bills and that SCARES ME. It should scare you too.

Yes I know I know are you tired of hearing about this guy yet I should be and yet somehow I'm here

Potentially unpopular opinion: James Somerton wasn't some evil genius, he just paid for nice editing and presented himself the way he knew people wanted to see. Let's face it, more people than would ever admit it will apparently eat up anything, absolutely anything, that you say...if you Seem Academic and Trustworthy (translation: be white and talk in a "serious" tone...being a cis man isn't necessary, but it sure did help). He isn't some hypercompetent cunning Machiavellian master manipulator, he just knew his audience. He's no different than any regular con man. People mistake good presentation, including...moderately good production value, for actual substance all the time. Many con men succeed because they know how to seem credible, whatever that means to their marks.

[play-exy-be-sexy]

the foxes roles in the gc

Neil:

Replies when necessary or if he is in a good mood.

It's always short replies.

If it's an ongoing conversation he'll say one thing and then leave.

It usually goes something like this:

"Oh! Neil's active, hi Neil!"

"Hi, I agree with Renee."

...

"Wait, did he leave already?"

Andrew:

You probably guessed this already but he never answers.

Even if the question is directed at him he won't say anything.

Occasionally you may get a yes or no.

Or he'll like the message but that's it.

The poor foxes will always get their hopes up when his little texting bubbles show up.

But he literally just key smashes to make them think he's going to say something.

Asshole, yeah we know.

Neil finds it funny so Andrew keeps doing it.

Kevin:

Kevin won't engage in "meaningless" conversation.

If the messaging is about exy, he'll always be one of the first to answer.

But as soon as it turns to something else he's gone.

Unless it's to correct someone's spelling mistakes.

He never fails to do that.

He's constantly messaging the foxes reminders and updates and their schedules.

He texts very professionally though.

Like it's an email.

He doesn't abbreviate or anything.

Grandpa Kevin

"Good morning, a reminder to be at the gym in 10 minutes dressed and ready. Neil, if you forget your water bottle again you're running ten extra laps."

"We have a game in two days, night practice at approximately 10 p.m."

Aaron:

Aaron is worse than Andrew.

He will answer questions directed at him but only if they are very very recent and he happens to be on the group chat.

King of thumbs up

and

"OK"

Nicky:

Nicky is singlehandedly keeping the group chate alive.

He's that one person in the group chat who's constantly sending TikToks, Instagram posts, recipes, people he finds hot, Pinterest inspo boards, etc.

He's steering the conversations.

He's starting them back up when it starts to die.

He's sending cat memes 24/7.

He's ranting at 3 in the morning when no one is active.

He's giving everyone a play by play update on his day.

He's doing it all.

And we love him for that.

The others may complain about it, but they actually enjoy it.

And they know it makes Nicky happy to have people listening to him, especially when those people are his friends.

Plus, he just really loves texting and the internet.

Matt:

All the upperclassmen are active in the gc, including Matt.

I mean, it was his and Dan's idea, so they kinda have to be.

Matt types like this:

Y do u h8 me, Kev?

"Maybe, it's because you type like you are incapable of spelling out 'you'."

He's also the local meme provider.

Any kind of meme you want, Matt probably has it saved in his camera roll.

LOTS of exy memes.

He saves those for when Neil or Kevin haven't been saying anything for a few days.

Sometimes he'll get scared to send one.

So, he runs it by Dan first.

She always tells him to send them.

He's very good at finding funny and fitting posts.

Dan:

Dan is probably the most active on the gc, other than maybe Nicky.

But the foxes tend to answer her more.

No offense to Nicky...

Her captain-y privelge transfers to text too ig.

Dan will send the gc good morning texts, reminders(ones Kevin forgets about or isn't to be bothered with), articles about the foxes, workout videos, etc.

She loves sending compilations to the group chat.

Like:

"10 Times Neil Josten Flips Off teammate, Kevin Day."

"Or Matt Boyd and Dan Wilds Cutest on Court Kisses."

"Dan didn't you mean to just send that to Matt."

"NO! I thought you all would like it!"

She also sends them not so fun things.

If a bit of bad press is released she is the first to know and immediately sends it to the gc.

Also things like:

"Traffic on the way 2 court is bad, leave early."

"Crazy man on the corner by the parking lot, be careful!"

Dan is the group chat mom and we love that for her.

Allison:

Allison will not start conversations but she is always a part of them.

LOVES to start drama in the group chat.

and talk about gossip.

"did you guys see what neil was wearing today?wtf*puke emoji*"

"Allison, I can see this."

"good, maybe you'll listen to me then.*kissy emoji*"

She likes to text just in emojis sometimes.

Lots of kissing emojis.

And middle finger ones.

She also sends selfies when she feels like it.

Or when she likes her outfit.

"Allison we don't want to see your slutty outfit."

"stfu nicky, ur just jealous.*middle finger and kissy emoji*"

She doesn't type in uppercase.

Kevin is appalled.

Overall, she's a pretty standard group chat member.

But add some *richness*

Renee:

Renee does her best to stay active on the chat.

exy and non exy related conversations.

She tries to answer every one, like the sweetheart she is.

She likes to send cute things.

and motivational things.

or aesthetic pictures.

"I thought you guys would like this picture of a baby goat, have a good day!"

She tries to send good morning messages every day.

sometimes she does, sometimes she doesn't.

She tries, that's what matters.

A lot of the time the conversations are just her and Nicky.

Like in real life, she is usually the mediator when things get heated or bad.

"Allison, was the emoji really necessary?"

"reneeeee, babe, we are supposed to be on the same team!"

If she knows someone has a test or something important coming up she'll message them "good luck" on the gc.

Mainly so the others will do the same.

"Good luck on your test, Aaron!"

"Oh, yeah! You got it, man!" (Matt)

"If you pass, we can skip half our laps:)" (Dan)

"No, we will not."(Kevin)

"Literally, no one asked you Kevin."(Andrew)

"Whoa! Andrew said something!*excited squealing*" (Nicky)

*Andrew Minyard has left the group chat*

*Renee Walker has added Andrew Minyard to the group chat*

Wymack:

Matt added Wymack as a joke.

As soon as Wymack saw what it was, he left.

Nicky had the nerve to add him back though.

"Add me to this shit show one more time and I'm signing you all up for five marathons."

*sends an article about all upcoming marathons*

*Matt Boyd has kicked David Wymack out of chat*

I think this is my first super long post in ages! It started as a little post but I got inspired(which hasn't happened in a very long time either!). Anyway, I hope you like it! Also, I'm sure this has been made before so if you have done this I promise I didn't steal your idea:)

[nerdy-simp-7120]

hi! if you're comfortable writing this, could i ask for a scenario? this has been in the back of my head for a while.

what would be the reaction of the brothers + dateables of watching mc play resident evil in the dimitrescu castle? who would be down bad the most

thank you! feel free to ignore this if you don't want to write this ofc

I love this ask (stan tall vampire lady). The only thing is that I accidentally turned it into a “how they feel about the game.” I managed to add in some parts with MC playing as well to make up for it

Update: I literally finished the request yesterday but my wifi went down and I lost everything  😩 😩

I also wrote this in the middle of the night so sorry if there are any errors! Enjoy!

Warnings: cursing.

How the OM! characters would react to you playing Resident Evil (Dimitrescu Castle edition)

Lucifer

Will not care at first

"I hold no interest in such trivial simulations."

His weakness? Being a simp for you.

He decides to look into the game a bit more in private later on.

Will lowkey practice the game

If you ever catch him playing it, do not say anything because he will stop immediately, deny everything, and might not ever do it again

With time, however, Lucifer will come to master the game.

Here comes the showing off.

When you're rambling about the game with Levi, Lucifer will join the conversation and you two will be like "wow, boomer knows something for once--"

Or when you're struggling on a part of the game he will be like, "hand it over"

Before expertly getting through that part.

Can defeat Lady Dimitrescu if you ask him to but be careful cause he might make you beg

sadistic bastard

or you can be a badass and show him your skills

Will be a tad shocked at how easily you handled it but won't let it show (okay Elsa)

Also proud though

Lucifer's internal monologue: “That’s right- show them how it’s done, Y/n.”

Mammon

Scared.

Will watch you play and cover his eyes during every battle

"wHAT IS THAT?!" at everything you come across

I hope you're good at playing one-handed because you'll have to use the other hand to hold his throughout the entire thing

Admires you're bravery but would never admit it

"You were horrible! ...N-nice job beating the game, not that I c-care or anything. You sucked anyways!"

Not even 10 seconds later...

"Can I watch you play again?"

Comes to find that the faces you make are adorable: when you're concentrating on a battle, when you win, find a valuable item, etc

He loves being able to see how you're feeling up close.

If you catch him staring when you take a break or something he'll blush and either ask you if you have a staring problem or that you have something on your face

He may or may not buy cheap merch (a tiny key chain of Lady Dimitrescu or your favorite character) for you, all the while spewing lame excuses

Please bear with him- he's trying.

Leviathan

"YOU ALSO LIKE RESIDENT DEVIL?!?? Ah! I-I mean..."

Congrats, you just found yourself someone to discuss the game with

Is open to cosplay the characters with you

You two will have competitions to see who can beat the game faster.

You both also share theories with each other all the time

Or simply discuss the characters together

He purposefully stays quiet to hear you ramble on and on- dude finds it adorable

You two also sometimes argue debate over a character name or event in the game

Because while you have Resident Evil

He only knows Resident Devil

This is the equivalent of Devilgram and Instagram

I mean

They’re the same,

But a couple things were altered, y’know, to prevent copyright

So yes, there are definitely a few quarrels here and there

But all in all, it’s a fun gamer bud experience

Don’t tell him I told you but he thinks it’s hot when you show off your badass skills in a boss fight

Satan

He plays it on the lowkey.

Not because he’s embarrassed

But because he partially takes his anger out on the characters

During gory scenes, he imagines it’s him torturing Lucifer, fueling his determination to win

A calculated person, Satan is a smart player

But there are times when he’s particularly angry and he becomes a reckless one, jumping into fights impetuously

This is where you come in and beat the enemy for him

He may get angrier, thinking you are underestimating him

But, for the sake of the person he loves, he calms down knowing you didn’t mean to offend him

A small part in the back of his head also admires you for being able to handle the fight a ton better than he did

Congratulations, you just earned yourself the great Satan’s respect (resident evil-wise).

Asmodeus

“Oh my, I never knew you were into such gory games! Does this mean you’re into blood play, because I know many things about--”

He may look carefree on the outside

But on the inside?

Let’s take a look, shall we?

Holy shit

What the fu--

Jesus christ, can you pull a move like that in real life?

He needs to be careful to not piss you off.

If you can handle this, who knows what you could be capable of?

Hold on.

Wait, you look so concentrated

Eeep! How cute!

Anyways, it ends with him snapping a bunch of pictures 

Keeps them for himself and may brag to his brothers about how he got some “special” shots of you

Obviously never elaborates on what the special part means to keep his dear siblings on edge because, what the hell, they want to know what these special shots are

Would not play the game because there’s “tOo MuCh BlOoDsHeD”

We all know he’s most likely seen his fair share of bloodshed

“What if the adrenaline gives me acne?”

He’s probably just bad at the game--

Verdict: Asmo is a simp and not afraid to flaunt it.

Beel

...Are you okay?

Do you think about homicide--?

Oh, that lady looks nice.

Huh, she’s 9′6″??

What’s her name? Lady Dimitrescu?

Okay-- WAIT WHY IS SHE TURNING INTO THAT??

Not scared, just a tad bit concerned 

Poor Beel, concerned for Lady D :’)

Also, seeing the death’s of Bela, Daniela, and Cassandra hit different

Because he know what it’s like to lose a sibling.

Safe to say he understands Alcina’s pain when she raged about her children being dead.

Also concerned about how the gore could affect you

Because isn’t stuff like this supposed to traumatize humans?

Would support you regardless though

And thinks that you’re really brave for playing the game and still being able to stand strong

On another note, Beel decided to make small flower graves for the three sisters and Alcina because he’s adorable and kind like that

Belphegor

Likes the game but is too lazy to play himself

Regularly watches Satan play (or at least as much as he can before deciding it’s nap time)

I hope you enjoy Belphie using you as a body pillow and watching you play from now on 

Makes small comments here and there to help you out

“To your left... Oh, and open the window- yeah, that one.”

Will smirk, impressed, when you deal with the fights and win yourself without his comments.

“That’s my Y/n”

(Sorry I don’t know what else to put for him :’))

Diavolo

“Is this a human trend?” meme

Will watch excitedly and “oooo” whenever you do something cool

Be careful though, because the questions will not stop as you play

“What’s that? I see. What’s it for? How do you win the game? Who’s that character? Why can’t you do this? What about--?”

Diavolo, you’re awesome and all, but please

shush

On the inside, is also one that might be a tad concerned about your mental health because doesn’t that gore traumatize humans?

Wait, you do this for entertainment?

...

Another warning: he will shower you in merchandise from the game

I am not above the fact that this man has a game room 

And he will try to master the game

Casually pushes all his paperwork over to Lucifer so he can play Resident Evil

RIP Luci

Unfortunately, Diavolo will have trouble grasping the game and how it works

You will have to explain many things to him

Good luck- he’s a bit of a boomer (but willing to learn) and may or may not get distracted staring at you

But anyways, he enjoys engaging in the competitions you and Levi have

Whether it be playing as well or simply watching

He just loves to see you happy

Barbatos

Oh my, what’s this?

Will watch you play

and constantly criticize how filthy the Dimitrescu castle is

“Do they have any idea how many rats this can attract?”

Barbatos, your weakness is showing.

Seeing you so happy while playing the game helps him relax from his daily troubles tasks

He rewards you with a pat on the head any time you beat a foe

When Diavolo goes over to the HoL or when you come over to play in he silently cheers you on in the background.

Solomon

Yuh

Is educated on the game and knows his shit as the only other human 

Maybe knows a bit too much of the game

You will later come to find out that, somewhere in his mass tangle of shady connections, he knows a developer

Might give you tips and tricks to get on higher levels

But never, and I mean never, challenge him like you would with Levi to see who can beat the game faster

Because he will beat you by a seconds on purpose, just to piss you of

all the while doing that dark, shady chuckle

Asshole

But anyways, if you manage to finesse and beat him, he will be 

So confused

“I thought I did it all right, what went wrong...?” he thinks to himself.

On the outside, however, he’s smiling

Will hand over some praise to his little apprentice, but if you look carefully you will see a spark of annoyance

We get it Solomon, you’re a sore loser.

In the end, he will still leave somewhat impressed at your skillz

Simeon

w h a t

Is a little scared

“Is this one of them video games you kids play nowadays...? Just kidding. What are you playing-- oh my”

Might try to figure out how to play

But alas, 

Simeon is yet another boomer

So he will have quite some trouble even figuring out how to move

And why does he hold the controller like that what

If you’ve seen that one picture of him holding his phone sideways you know what I mean

On another note, if you look through his poem book, then you may or may not find a few poems describing how amazing and badass you looked hustling the entire game

Luke

about to bomb this master hill

No literally is considering bombing the computer or whatever you’re playing on because wHAT IS THAT

He is just

So 

So 

Scared

This will give him nightmares for weeks

Apparently Alcina reminds him of Lucifer so he kinda

Hates her

Says he will protect you

--as he runs out of the room in fear

Irrelevant but the one he hates the most is fetus baby

Michael have mercy on this poor boy--