#sorry for the long response anon

[ki-kosmo]

Resending this because I legit do not know if it sent the first time I did this ask. If it did, ignore this! ...the wording is obviously different if it did send for obvious reasons lol-

Hello! I have recently learned of your Mystery Moon AU, love the name by the way, and as a MSA fan, I have some world building questions!

First off, is Music Man just an animatronic, or is he some sort of supernatural creature residing in an animatronic? ...mainly because either way, it can make his relationship with the potential Shiromori equivalent very interesting because it's potentially a fellow animatronic with abandonment issues, or just a supernatural being lol-

Next is Y/N magic like Vivi is because if so that's just cool, but if not then that's fine as well!

And third, before the accident, what was the relationship between Sun, Moon and Y/N? Were they just friends, was their pining, were they in a relationship, was it just Moon and Y/N or just Sun and Y/N, that sort of thing.

Oh hi!!!! I never got the ask before but I’m SO glad you sent it again, thank you!

1.) Honestly, I’m not too sure yet lol. On the one hand, I’d like to keep it an animatronic and focus the supernatural elements towards the *main* villain. But on the other hand, it would make more sense, since the Shiromori was supposedly made from a piece of Mystery (physical or spiritual? Who knows), if they were formed through ghostly nonsense too. I’ve been toying with the idea of not including the Shiromori at all, but in the end I just haven’t dedicated too much thought to it yet.

2.) This one I can answer. Yes, Y/N has magical abilities! But who would their ancestor be, I wonder?

3.) This one is my favorite and the one I’ve been focusing on the most. Back in the day, the crew had been working with each other for a long time, and what started as a coincidental acquaintanceship soon blossomed into a friendship, and eventually a romance. Sun and Moon, while not particularly romantic towards each other, still greatly cared for the other, and were more than happy to start a poly relationship with Y/N.

Even still, the animatronic pair had their differences, and there are always bound to be issues when you put others needs before your own…

[immagrosscandy]

Why is it your name "i am a gross candy?"

my nickname has always been candy, but i guess saying "i am candy" felt a bit empty for me. so my thought process was like this:

"candies are sweet, but i don't see myself as sweet, so instead how about gross? heck yeah it sounds awesome"

i wanted to go with something that was good but also bad?? i don't know really. i know it sounds terrible that i'm basically calling myself gross 😅, but i felt like saying "i'm sweet" wasn't really fitting me, i thought.

i know i'm not a sweet person because i have flaws. i can be selfish and quite lazy, so i guess saying i'm a gross candy was like saying "i know i can be good but i know i can be bad, i'm something in between"

...

and now that i'm saying this... i think i was reeeeally overthinking this user name back when i was 17 😂

don't get me wrong, i really liked the nickname and i still do! honestly i'm gonna stick with this online name until i come up with something better (and that is never)

i never thought something such as a nickname would have something like a story about autoreflection, i wanted a funny nickname like "hey how about a gross candy? because candies aren't usually gross!" or something like that 😂😂 but i guess this is what i've got

it's still cool tho! :)

[fluffypotatey]

Don't cancel me Fluffy, but I like to separate LMK from the OG text. NOT because I hate themes and motifs and classical novels, nah. But rather for the regular amount of separation fans need in acknowledging when the show puts its own spin on things. And also because a subsection of fandom is very persistent that everything that happened in JTTW is canon in the exact same way to LMK and like to bash on characters for that. A lot different from writers pulling inspo is assuming LMK is a 1:1 adaptation when even the writers said it wasn't what they wanted.

yeah see that’s different (also i don’t have nor want the power to cancel you)

my personal beef is when people butcher the themes and character dynamics from jttw. (Tripitaka for example 🤨 like wtf is UP with that???? also, HISTORICAL CONTEXT PPL 👏👏👏👏👏I WILL TAP THE SIGN HOWEVER TIMES I NEED TO!!!! this story is old, old so reading with footnotes that provide context on what the original meant to convey is ok. if you need it for Shakespeare plays, then you’ll need it for the older shit too) lmk very clearly isn’t being an honest adaptation and this story is old as balls so i don’t expect it to. if it holds the heart of the story then it’s an A in my book.

Red Son’s origin isn’t even the same from jttw, and PVD is shown to be more of a threat than she was in the book. so, lmk is taking plenty of creative liberties where they feel they need to.

my thing is mostly with the Western audience who aren’t as familiar with not just the og text, but how much this story has an impact on a lot of cultural stories in Asian countries.

in a way it’s like Arthuriana to me (except jttw is older than Arthuriana lol) because there’s not a lot of “canon�� beside Arthur is king, dies in the battle of Camlann, Merlin is a powerful wizard, Morgana is an important antagonist, and Mordred makes the killing blow. but despite that, many Western audiences are vaguely familiar with the legends enough to have their own interpretations. some people like theirs to be closer to the course materials and some like to keeps theirs a little loose

there is a ton of jttw adaptations (you can go ahead and watch this video by The Dom where he lists a plethora of adaptations from the most “honest” to the least) and i am sure many Asian cultures and communities have their own personal interpretations and omissions from the legend

so yeah. long story short: when it comes to lmk, i agree that ppl should if he holding the jttw as gospel since it is used as a source of inspiration (sure the main source but you get what i mean). however, that shouldn’t discount it from your analysis and interpretations when looking at the themes and character dynamics

[attleboy]

Who dya think Pomni would've bitten?

well when i was drawing it i wasn't thinking of anyone specific... so it can be whoever you want!

however... let's go through the suspects

jax would definitely bully someone into a violent rage... no need to explain that one i think

caine and kinger might unintentionally startle pomni into attacking, but i think they're a little too... uh. weird for it to be all that climactic? caine would just go "BAD!! BAD POMNI!!" and spritz her with a spray bottle until she let go, meanwhile kinger probably wouldn't even notice until pomni had already stopped...

gangle and zooble probably wouldn't be bitten just because they'd avoid a high-strung pomni. gangle out of fear, and zooble because they're not stupid enough to poke a ticking time bomb

and for ragatha... i'm just gonna leave this other anon's idea here because... yeah

definitely unintentional on both sides, but isn't that where the best tragedy lies?

[rodolfoparras]

Hello Alec! I wanted to drop by with a small gift:

Imagine walking into the bathroom, John Price is stood in front of the mirror over the sink, pyjama bottoms hanging low on his hips leaving his torso bare. He catches your eyes in the mirror and smiles at you, the skin around his eyes crinkling, as you move up behind him to slip your arms around his waist. Your fingers curl into the soft curls of his happy trail over the soft layer of his stomach, and you press your face to his neck, inhaling his musk deeply into your lungs. With a subtle movement you grind your hips against his backside, and watch with a concealed smile as his face flushes in response to you….

Enjoy this little moment ⛈️

Anonie I absolutely adore you for this thank you sm for putting this thought in my head 😭😭

Imagine being married to Price and when he puts his hand over yours you can feel his ring brushing over your skin, metal cold as ever and raising goosebumps on your body.

You’re quick to turn him around in your embrace and put him on top of the bathroom counter feeling the way his legs effortlessly wrap around your upper body as his hands cling onto your neck.

“You’re beautiful” you say and place a kiss on his arm.

“Oh cut it off” he says as he rolls his eyes but you can still see the smile tugging at the corners of his mouth

You lightly nip at his skin seeing the way he winces while you smile innocently at him “I’m serious,”

“Yeah?” Is all he says as his hands tighten around your neck.

“Want me to prove it?” You say hands sneaking up his thigh and groping his clothed cock, feeling the way it hardens under your touch.

“Please” he grunts out, eyes fluttering shut as he bucks up into your hand.

“Don’t worry love you know I won’t leave you hanging” you say, pulling away from his embrace before hooking your hands onto the waistband of his pants and shuffling them down to his knees.

He just stares at you with eyes half lided and mouth agape, while leaning back onto the counter.

“This okay?”

“More than okay”

[paimonial-rage]

Ask meme - 6 and 9 for the dragon men (zhongli and neuvillette) please!

This took so long I am so sorry, but here we go!

[Character Analysis Ask Meme]

What is Neuvillette's biggest insecurity?

Neuvillette’s biggest insecurity is not something he's ever tried to hide. Anyone that has spent enough time with the Iudex has probably heard him mention it before. Simply put, Neuvillette doesn't understand the emotions of humans very well. He never has and sometimes he doubts if he ever will? How many times has this flaw of his costed him dearly in the past? How many mistakes has he made? And how many are there yet to come? How he dreads the thought.

What can’t you trust [Neuvillette] with?

To chase after you - Iudex Neuvillette is many things—polite, kind, intelligent—but he is not a man without faults. Only a few know him well enough to realize he holds many regrets upon his shoulders, majority that were never his burden alone to bear. Should you ever become the source of one of these regrets, you can surely expect to know. With somber eyes and a weight upon his shoulders, he will apologize to you. But don’t expect anymore than that. Not understanding human emotions is not only his weakness, but a prison. He will not attempt to make things up to you nor will he try to make things how they used to be. You’re best off where he can hurt you no more, even if that means he will be left alone to the rain.

What is Zhongli's biggest insecurity?

Who knows lol.

What can’t you trust Zhongli with?

With mora - As knowledgeable and talented Zhongli is with many things, it is a surprise to many to hear that businessmen don’t exactly enjoy making deals with him. How can they when contract discussions always leave them with the [shorter end of the stick]? How many [unforeseen business expenses] do they end up incurring in such a short amount of time? In the end, they always lose more than they gained. What they don’t know is this unfortunate occurrence happens with any Mora dealings with the man. But what can you expect for someone that, by contract, has the Traveler liable for all expenses during his outings with them? It's simply best to leave all matters of mora out of any relationships with him.

With your heart - If there's one thing true about Zhongli, it's that, while he may withhold the truth, he does not lie. So when he speaks of a person warmly, they can very well believe his words to be true. That being said, it is important that one does not mistaken his warmth with depth. One cannot simply entrust their heart to him and expect his in return. How could anyone hope to understand the weight of many a millennia, after all? So while the desire may be cute, it'll never be something he would even consider to reciprocate.

[amywritesthings]

I hope this doesn't come off offensive but I saw you were 30 and as someone who is 23 and worried I may have to give up fanfiction one day it made me less anxious. I love your writing!

Hi there! This is not offense at all, anon. I used to have the same worries at 23. I was afraid I'd have to give up my hobbies once I 'grew up' and left college. I never wanted to live the 'milestone' life tbh - I'm a childfree woman, marriage doesn't interest me, and I work so I can supply money for my hobbies. So I've always felt out of place in most societal situations lol.

Nothing says that, once you're out in the full-time job world, you have to give anything up. Watch animated shows forever! Collect that Funko pop! Draw your fan art and go to cons and read your fics.

Almost all of my mutuals on tumblr are 30+ year old people that write amazing fic while also living 'adult lives'. They have partners, they have jobs, they may even have children. One of my best friends from school legit still reads 400K fics and buys them 'bound' as real books on the shelves of the house she bought. You're going to still have naysayers in your life who think it is 'childish' or weird, but... that's life. Someone's always going to put you down for something you're passionate about, because misery loves company.

I promise you, my ass will be 50+ still reading (and probably writing) fanfiction. And I won't be the only one, because many 30-40 year olds on this website were the pioneers of the internet as kids and it isn't something that's going away anytime soon.

TL;DR: DO NOT FRET. AGEISM IS SILLY. READ/WRITE THOSE FANFICTIONS.

[soranker]

Hiiii not sure if anyone's asked this yet but any advice on how to improve on art & anatomy? I use to draw a lot wayyyy back in high school but then stopped because of life getting in the way but now I really wanted to get back into art but realized my art isn't as good as it use to be & I never really cared too much about studying anatomy so all my anatomy/proportions are really wack & I'd like to get better at it. Hope you're having a good day!!! 💞💞💞

HI!!! i dont have any formal training in anatomy nor have i really done any studies, so unfortunately i think i can only offer general advice, but hopefully you can still find it helpful! here's what i'd recommend based on my own experience...

focus on proportions BEFORE anatomy! nailing down the size/length of each body part in relation to each other will give you a good foundation before getting into the specifics of anatomy, since you can practice this with simple shapes (circles, boxes, tubes, etc.). then practice anatomy/build on top of that, rather than trying to figure them out in parallel

practice from real life observation/references (ex. figure drawing)! even if you want to draw stylized, it'll be much more helpful in the long run if you study from real life. you'll be a lot more informed in how body parts actually connect to each other or how they move. observe observe observe! take pics of yourself/watch how your body moves--you can be your own most accessible resource, and a mirror and camera can be your best friends

find a way to keep yourself motivated to practice anatomy! everyone says that you only get better with practice and time... and it's true! but i can understand that sometimes it's hard to motivate yourself. if you ask me, draw your favorite characters :) it's literally all i do HAHA. my mentality is that... if i'm drawing something that i like then the practice feels less of a chore lol

[total-drama-brainrot]

How would p! Noah act in area 52/51? Would you give him his ability to hack into anything?

I think that's Canon idk. Or would he just scare the crap out of everything (aliens included)

Well, Noah's hacking ability is canonical, even if it's only really established in his Island biography and later on in Dramarama (I believe?). Since p!Noah is meant to mimic canon Noah for the most part, I don't see why he wouldn't have the same hacking abilities.

Not that I think they'd be much good in Area 51/52, since most of the challenge itself is pretty much just a game of hide-and-seek meets "find the needle in the haystack". Of course, he could always use his technological prowess to prevent the deployment of the guards, but it wouldn't really be in character of p!Noah to deprive himself of something as exciting as being chased by armed forces.

He could always hack his way into Owen's Jokerisation chamber, but again it wouldn't really impact the competition much, since Owen's whole deal for this episode doesn't really have much sway on the plot itself

As for what he'd do during the episode?

Well, I think I'd need to establish how Greece's Pieces plays out first before stating anything concrete here, but at this point in the timeline p!Noah has been outed to the rest of his castmates as less sane than they had assumed (my means of snapping Ezekiel's arms like twigs, and menacingly playing around with a knife, among other things). They'd still be fairly hesitant to be around him, and Noah would be free to act more overtly antagonistic/crazy now that his façade is in shambles. (Perhaps too antagonistically crazy, since a lot of his instability is also just an act.)

There's not really much you could change about the episode's beginning, at least nothing substantial; p!Noah would probably find a lot of amusement in Duncan getting laser fried and Tyler electrocuting himself on the fence, but otherwise wouldn't have much reason to act out against his team. Unless he's feeling particularly daring at that moment, and decides to forego the rock tossing to instead dodge the lasers all the way to the warehouse entrance, but again this isn't a substantial change in terms of the overarching plot of the episode.

When the teams are inside of the warehouse, there's a little more room to play with character shenanigans.

Because they're looking for Alien Artifacts. Trinkets and gizmos supposedly dangerous enough to warrent a whole branch of governmental force dedicated to studying them. That's exciting - of course Noah's going to want to mess with them.

Of course, his main priority initially is getting Owen back from his time-out chamber. But that's laughably easy for him, given his hacking abilities and general technology savviness. But as soon as he's got his chubby buddy back? You know your boys are messing around with every artifact they can find, to Alejandro's ire.

Maybe he and Owen are the ones who initially encounter the floating aliens? Maybe the two of them walk into the scene of Tyler and Alejandro "dealing" with them, and Noah siezes the oppertunity to smush the alien face huggers into paste (with the added benefit of hitting both Tyler and Alejandro around the face with a metal pole, or something).

Or maybe the face huggers can smell the crazy ebbing off of him from a mile away, and fly away as fast as they can before Noah can even get to the scene.

Either way, whatever artifact Team CIRRRRH manages to get their hands on wouldn't last long enough to win them the challenge; either Tyler would follow his canonical counterparts footsteps and somehow break it, or Owen and Noah would inadvertantly sabotage their team whilst messing around with their chosen artifact.

Noah absolutely pockets a few alien-tech weapons from inside the warehouse though.

When they finally get back onto the jet, Noah scuttles off to some hidden corner of the cargo bay and begins reverse engineering the artifacts he stole borrowed from Area 51, if only just to abate his ceaseless boredom. Regretably, he's more of a software guy than a hardware guy, and he mostly ends up with a pile of useless alien scraps.

(Potential here to have him enlist Cody, who's canonically a bit of an engineer, to help him tinker with the artifacts? I think Cody would risk his luck with sometimes-crazy Noah if it meants getting away from always-crazy Sierra.)

[inadvisablebutinevitable]

what time period accurate songs do you think jeremy would be listening to in tsc? 👀

Miss California by Dante Thomas

Anon I love you so much because you have no idea how much I ask this to myself on a regular basis. A couple weeks ago I was walking to work whilst brainstorming Jeremy Knox music headcanons and almost died to the tune of Believe by Cher while crossing the street. (Embarrassing, but also, what a way to go)

after changing my mind about 700 times, I decided that Jeremy, at least on a surface level, will dance/sing to literally any popular song with a good beat, (whether or not he actually sings the right lyrics is always 50/50) but he does love to sing. This comes from a tumblr post I saw like years ago saying that Jean takes a video of Jeremy singing Kylie Minogue’s “Your Disco Needs You” at 3am, and now that’s just canon Jeremy to me.

Jeremy was a kid in the 90s so TONS of 90s nostalgia stuff, all upbeat. Song 2, All star, What is love, Baby one more time, Tubthumping, all the catchy earworms he would hear on the radio and belt out as a kid. (It’s @kevinsdsy’s fault song 2 was the first on this list. The Jeremy Knox blur brainrot is real)

Jeremy, having heard these songs as a kid, knows all the lyrics just by memory. Even he doesn’t know about this until Cat plays Ricky Martin on her boombox and all of a sudden Jer is on the table with a solo cup microphone.

(“isn’t he only attracted to men?”Jean whispers to Cat as they watch Jeremy belt out ‘She Bangs’ in the most enthusiastic way possible.

“Honestly, l didn’t even think about that. I’m just pissed that they’re only playing the English version”, Cat whispers back)

Jeremy is also notorious for dancing to other team’s entrance songs when they walk on the court. The Breckenridge Jackals, for example, walk on court to Who Let the Dogs out, and Jer unironically uses that as pump up music. He aggressively nods his head to the beat of Let’s Get it Started when Penn State walks out. This leads to many (many) YouTube compilations titled something along the lines of “10 mins straight of Jeremy Knox shaking ass to his opponent’s anthems”

BUT also, privately, on his little 2006 iPod Mini (lol remember those), Jeremy listens to more alt rock (modern-day dad rock), like Muse, The Killers, Queens of The Stone Age etc… (this is based on a lighter version of the style of music Nora assigned to Andreil in the EC, and also my personal taste from that time period). I think it’s what he listens to on bad days, either bc he needs to drown out his depressing thoughts after seeing his family, or bc he isn’t quite mentally ready to fully process the insane truths Jean reveals on a day to day basis. Also days where he’s feeling more in-tune with his emotions and stuff.

anyway, I’m sorry, this got really long. I guess the tl;dr would be: imo, In TSC Jeremy loves to sing and dance to literally any popular 90s/early 00’s song bc that’s just who he is but privately on bad days he likes 2000’s alt rock.

[linkito]

I feel so much for Scar in those pre-sleepover rambles T-T He's out here trying to balance his protectiveness with the hermits being like that. And the hermits seemingly not caring that they're hurting him too. Really only Impulse seems to be looking at Scar. It just all feels bad...

-🎀

It is bad!

And honestly, it's a tricky thing to write, because even though we typically focus on the perspective of Grian and Scar, we don't want to write the other Hermits as mean. In fact, they're not even necessarily in the wrong. Because things really aren't black and white.

They mean well. They're concerned about Grian, and in a way, it is helpful. It's making Grian look inward and think about what he likes and for what reasons. It is a good concern to have, just... executed poorly.

Because they don't know any better.

It's reactionary! They see bruises and a flinching avian and fangs and an angry vex. It's not an unreasonable conclusion to come to. And they're still not necessarily buying into this idea of Scar being an abuser of some sort, no they know Scar, but... They can't just discard their concerns because of their feelings.

They know Scar, but... this version of him almost seems like a stranger.

...On the bright side, there are more Hermits on Scar's side than just Impulse! (not Mumbo though /sob)

Impulse and Gem were there during the rescue, specifically they were the two that saw how Grian let Scar near when he wouldn't allow that from anyone else. The way Scar's vex form faded as he embraced him. The way they held each other so intimately, the way Scar shushed and soothed him.

They know. And they saw that awful world. They understand more than most.

And Gem regularly spars with Scar! She's probably one of the few who is genuinely intrigued by this "new Scar." She likes him. She likes him just as much as she liked "old Scar."

Skizz comes around. He's a bit nosy and can be very critical, but he's also a pair with Impulse, let's be real. If Impulse sees the good in Scar, so will Skizz. Skizz is just gonna be a bit more of a pain in the butt sometimes, but Scar doesn't mind being held accountable and being kept in check. (Grian minds that people think they have to do that.)

Cleo is also a huge support. Imagine Scar asking them if he scares her. And Cleo just snorts like, "Scar, you could never scare me." She's literally undead! A vex doesn't startle them. Cleo is also the one to help dress Scar for the sleepover and cut his hair. Mama Cleo energy <3

And surprisingly, someone who is just undeniably on Scar's side and goes as far to say the other Hermits are completely out of line?

Doc.

Doc, who had Scar practically destroy his bionic arm on the ship during the rescue. (It's fine, it gave him an excuse to make upgrades.) Doc who is taking care of [redacted] and understands more than anyone what those two had to go through.

"Those Hermits, man, they love to get involved in everybody's business. Some of the things they say, so stupid."

Doc isn't scared of Scar. Just look at him, he's the scary one! (No, he's fluffy and soft. Soft for Scar and soft for the pesky bird.)

And then of course, there's— /dragged away by the redacted fairies

0:-)

[thinkingaboutfilm11]

Did you know that Piquet once called Alain ugly? I don’t know the Portuguese exact word/expression, but yeah, he basically called him ugly lol (and he said that sleeping with his teammates’ wives was the only way for him to pull girls given how ugly he was)

I think Piquet was a man of very little intelligance. I am a girl, and let me tell you- I would gladly let myself be 'pulled' by Alain.

Piquet is like the monkey typewriter phenomenon. He talks so much shit, but sometimes (purely by accident I think) he comes out with something like 'golf is a sport for old boring men' or 'Ayrton Senna likes men' which is infact true. But i dont think he knows hes right.

And you're right, I think a certain brasilian driver would have punched him one if he saw the absolute lies Piquet was saying about Alain

[tubbytarchia]

jimmy stream watcher. have to reveal myself for image purposes. todays sos stream scott went to the end so jimmy said this vvv

then like 5 minutes later oli said he needed to take his anger out on someone and said hed probably go to find sausage and jimmy just went "or scott" (then they just shot each other)

first half made me :( second half made me agdsdggdsg lmao. All I can think about is how viciously Jimmy beat the shit out of Sausage in that one SOS stream. That was therapeutic to watch. He should smack Scott a little too. Jimmy deserves to start murdering people but that probably won't happen so he can just smack people instead. Him actually doing so or even joking about doing it is so beautiful. It brings a tear to my eye

Jimmy when he proclaims that he's not forgiven Scott... Jimmy when he can actually be a little devious for a change and not immediately be made out to be a complete joke... Jimmy when he, for a change, stops taking people's shit and starts SERVING shit.... He's being freed little by little I think. I'm happy for him. Keep going, my sweet cheese... In his last SOS episode he did also say "I owe people so many favors" though WHICH IS WRONG. YOU DONT OWE CRAP... It's a very slow uphill battle but we're getting somewhere... I have faith. Also as much as Scott deserves to get smacked, Jimmy asking him to be careful... auwgh. There's a lot I'd do to see them genuinely reconcile and be buddies (they kind of are in SOS and a select few other SMPs but as far as traffic goes...)

[lavendeerlesbian]

We get the bare minimum of people acknowledging we exist that's not pandering. Literally all most of us want is access to medical care and the right to live our lives without violent threats or harassment. Of course there are shitty trans people, there are shitty people in every group whether they're marginalized or not. No one should be harassed for just trying to live their lives, but every fucking day I have to have someone remind me that they think I should commit suicide and they think it's fucking hilarious. Some celebrities saying "trans rights" isn't helping my safety, medical care, or material existence.

"Bare minimum of people acknowleding we exist" and yet every major company acknowledges and accepts trans people (and if you disagree you can be fired), every job application now asks for your gender identity and acknowledges nonbinary identities, women's DV shelters are forced to accept transwomen or else risk facing defunding and being shut down despite the fact that most women there are traumatized and need space away from male people, males are legally allowed to go into women's restrooms and sports and prisons where they assault and rape female inmates and staff, and y'all are also allowed to undergo "gender affirming care" despite the fact that it violates the hippocratic oath and is not safe. Hell, many insurances will even cover the cost of transition so either you're lying or you're misinformed. Literal children having some restrictions being placed on transition doesn't count, as children aren't allowed to make many other life altering decisions and you don't complain about those (no smoking, no drinking, no tattoos, etc.). And I haven't even gotten into how the trans movement is inherently homophobic as y'all are trying to redefine homosexuality as "same gender attraction" and call any actual homosexual person a "transphobic bigot and genital fetishist" in much the same fashion as homophobic conversion therapists. Literally the guy who came up with the concept of gender identity, John Money, was a pedophile who did sexual experiments on twin boys which eventually caused both of them to commit suicide. Look it up. Also look up Alan Turing and the Aversion Project.

It's not just "some assholes", your entire movement is built on trampling on the rights of women and LGB people.

I'm sure you genuinely see yourself as a victim because you have been told BY OTHER TRANS PEOPLE that trans people will commit suicide if they don't get affirming care instead of just better mental health resources. You know what LGB activists told gay children? "It gets better", not "Affirm gay kids or they'll kill themselves". Like. Doesn't that rub you the wrong way at all? Why are your activists encouraging children to kill themselves?

Acknowledging reality is not oppression, either. Even radfems acknowledge that you exist and that you identify as trans, but the reality is men cannot become women and vice versa. Also, radical feminism the ideology has nothing to do with suicide baiting people, so if radfems have actually told you to kill yourself on the basis of you being trans (doubt) then I want to see receipts.

[savebylou]

love louis with all my heart but acknowledging that he doesnt know the words to the songs he’s performing and doing nothing about it is just so unprofessional especially since he has said many times how grateful he is that he gets to perform as a solo artist

i just don’t see him making a huge effort in being a better performer for his fans as a huge part of his shows is just him letting the crowd sing. i dont know i just want to rant and express my disappointment. i love him i really do and i want him to succeed in every way but he needs to do better

Hi anon. Sorry to not answer yestarday I think your comment required more time to write something decent, I was barely functioning during the show. This was a really long answer, sorry in advanced for that:

You have the right to feel this way, I always respect every opinion (as long as is respectful), I just don't see him forgetting part of the song as such a problem as you. I guess it was a combination of the emotions of the last show, him not performing the song in a while and just being nervous. I think the reaction for this is completely opposite with you and me, you get frustrated and I think he is endearing and just honest, but I could see your pov if you want a more structure performance.

About him being a better performer, again that is you opinion if you see that way, I just have to disagree with you on this one. I think he is always becoming a better performer each show and each tour.

About the crowd singing, do you mean it for Drag Me Down or when he was sick that they sing some of his parts? If it was with dmd well he forgot the lyrics so he ask for help lol, but again my reaction is opposite as you. If you mean the second option I mean he was sick and didn't feel great, he is making the crowd help him. I don't see that as a bad thing, he can't take a day off if he feels sick (unless is really bad) so he put that feeling aside and still makes an effort to give the best that he can and he is smart enough to know when to sing so he can still have a voice and when to ask for help from the audience.

In my show in Mexico City he didn't sing the last bridge of HOTH, he make the audience sing it and we were so excited singing super loud, we didn't mind. And you could hear it in the livestream him coughing and he still did the best he can, he was amazing at my show and push pass that feeling of being sick to give us to the audience in person and online the best show he can.

If you are talking about in general letting the fans sing, I mean is part of the shows to let the crowd sing or at least in the shows I had been for other artists and it makes it better to have parts when fans can be the chorus for the singer and is also a smart move so the singer can catch a break and breath a little. I guess if for you is important that the singer is always singing without letting the crowd sing or have less moments like that I supposed that could play a huge role of how you see Louis.

About Louis as a performer I just see the whole picture. If you see videos of Louis during 2019 even the first show during 2020 before covid in comparison to 2024 it's insane the difference. In those years Louis was standing in the mic for the most part, he didn't move that much. Even at the beginning of LTWT and at the end of that tour you could see how his confidence as performer grow.

Same with FITFWT at the beginning an the end or comparing LTWT and this last tour. Louis was a different person really. His performance and confidence he shows was incredible to see. He owns the stage, he ask for more energy to the crowd, he interacts with fans, he moves in the stage (in the catwalk he needs to be more there but I hope he does it on the next tour), he has the audience in the palm of his hand when he performs.

I think creating the setlist he did this tour is part of making that much effort to be a better performer as well, to give the best songs as possible and have a different version of the songs live. The live album is also part of that for me, is a huge effort to record shows over 3 years and select a few ones to make an album. He didn't had the need to put a live album, but fans ask for it and he gave us that beautiful gift.

I will always appreciate Louis and the effort he puts in his shows, in his setlists, his sneaky surprises of songs, his beautiful speeches, his mesmerizing performances.

I think besides his speeches this is how he show how grateful he is: the man has tour over 3 consecutive years, we always get content of him, he doesn't have a lot of breaks, he has done a lot of promo for the album and for the latam tour, he is always working to give us so many amazing things, he give us a documentary, premieres of aotv, a livestream etc. For me that is a huge effort, is a lot of work, a lot of him he is putting to the world, is a lot of energy and could be really draining at times, specially going on tour with so many times changes with back to back shows, traveling etc. He still manages to do it and give the best he can and thanks the audience every single time.I will be always thankful for that.

I guess if knowing part of the lyrics for a song and letting the crowd sing are very important for you it could be frustrating to see that. I just don't see that as a problem and I see Louis as performer different than you and that is okay too, we can have different opinions.

I hope you have a lovely day.

[not-poignant]

I'm rereading utb and while i def understand and agree with ef being held accountable for things, at the same time, it seems like everyone is constantly acting as if he's supposed to know how to have a healthy relationship and to cope with his emotions, much less his trauma, without anyone actually explaining or modeling this

Like, everyone constantly brings up the fact that he tried to kill Kadek even once they've acknowledged why and gary is starting a relationship with him while also essentially his prison warden and with how little ef has experienced in the world, especially as a psychologist, gary still not doing anything to help him get better coping skills makes it feel like he's setting him up to fail

Like, temsen is technically correct that ef domestically abused gary but he has literally never seen a non abusive partnership and is literally a prisoner in his current one

Idk, I really love this fic so, so much and thank you for writing it and i don't even need a response or anything, I just get defensive of ef when I'm reading sometimes bc he's trying so, so hard basically all the time and it seems like people acknowledge it sometimes in the moment but then don't give him the tools to make it any easier

Answering this one publicly because I know you're not the only one who feels this way or has felt this way!

Okay firstly, some of this conflict I'm evoking in the reader is intentional. I want people to feel defensive of Efnisien. I want people to think 'hey, hang on a minute.' There's a lot of reasons I want that, including the fact that in reality, most people don't recover from being abusive even after they've been in horrifically abusive situations in a vacuum (i.e. the whole world doesn't suddenly stop and become soft as cotton wool just because you've been abused! If you go and interview a whole bunch of people in jail right now, a lot of those folks (especially those who have done repeated serious crimes) will have experienced horrendous and incredibly unfair amounts of abuse, y'know? It's complicated. Yes, they have a right to heal and a right to support. Some of them probably did some pretty awful crimes as well. *coughs*serial killers*coughs*)

Obviously Efnisien is nowhere near that level, but the dissonance remains. He's certainly tried to murder more than one person. But we root for the person whose perspective we're reading. Still, people do not heal in a comfortable vacuum. In fact, most people are asked to be accountable for bad behaviour usually while suffering terribly. Because most people - unless they're certain kinds of extremely rare people - do bad behaviour because they don't know better and/or they're suffering intensely and it can momentarily feel good or satisfying to make other people hurt too.

That's an extremely hard process for the folks who are in that situation. Anyone who has had to recognise they're being a bully, or being abusive, usually goes through a period of time where they can't just immediately change, and what's expected of them seems impossible.

Now to everything else:

This world is a dystopia. There are things happening which aren't going to feel good when you're reading - systemic issues, issues around unfairness - because it's a dystopia. If those things weren't happening, and people just felt blithely comfortable with the entire world, well, that's not actually what I'm going for. There are times it should feel extremely disturbing to read.

So there are times I want readers to feel like things are unfair. There are times I want them to feel very strongly in one person's defense and only later realise the other person was hurt too. There are times I want them to feel like everyone is being unfair to a character. And times when I want folks to feel like the situation just sucks all round. Like, my intention in amongst the hurt/comfort isn't for things to feel easy or nice all the time, I am absolutely challenging the reader by introducing things that feel uncomfortable.

So when folks like yourself tell me this stuff it's like - yeah! It's a dystopia! And - yeah! Unfair things are definitely happening. This is especially true in the beginning when no one really has a concept of how bad things have been for Efnisien, or that he's an alpha. It remains true because no one is perfect. But it happens less often, that's what makes it feel more jarring as the story goes on. If you're rereading it's going to feel worse in the beginning, that's on purpose. The story is doing its job.

it seems like everyone is constantly acting as if he's supposed to know how to have a healthy relationship and to cope with his emotions

I don't really know what scenes you're specifically referring to here (like, just the first few chapters? The whole story? Temsen's single lecture?), but this is absolutely not the case. I'm going to look at the whole story:

The majority of the time that Efnisien is rude and disrespectful, especially once Efnisien and Gary are living together, Gary mostly ignores him, brushes it off, doesn't react or responds like it's normal dialogue lol. He's not constantly correcting his behaviour and he's not constantly like 'hey rephrase that to be polite' or 'I have feelings too' (maybe he should say the latter sometimes).

Gary is more aware than anyone that he shouldn't be Efnisien's guardian and that he's not a companion. He says this, out loud, to several people, several times. So we know that he knows that the situation isn't great / fair re: Efnisien's care (and frankly his own. Of the two of them, Gary's the one who keeps coming close to potentially dying from the other person's actions).

especially as a psychologist, gary still not doing anything to help him get better coping skills makes it feel like he's setting him up to fail

Gary is not Efnisien's psychologist. And psychologists are not doing their jobs on absolutely everyone, 24/7! This one is so important to remember (both in real life and sometimes in fiction). He's categorically not Efnisien's psychologist and it would be even more toxic if he attempted to be this if they were living together!

Gary being a psychologist is his job in the same way being an artist is a job, it's not specifically relevant to their relationship, except that Gary sometimes has better understanding of the root/s of some behaviours.

Ask any psychologist how they live at home and most of them do not want anything to do with their psychology jobs in their personal life, because they're mentally fatigued/tired from talking to people all day. They are not perfect people, they don't have perfect control over their emotions, they aren't teaching everyone the coping mechanisms they need to survive (this takes a lot of labour! It's exhausting! People can't do that 24 hours a day and stay sane. It gets toxic fast.)

The majority of the time Efnisien has extreme emotional responses, Gary just tends to absorb them, acknowledge them, or actively care for him. It's easy to miss these moments because I'm usually not making you feel conflicted about it.

The times Efnisien has extreme emotional responses and then chooses to repeatedly hurt Gary, there are often extreme emotional responses that follow because you know, that's what Efnisien was aiming for! He was trying to severely hurt someone!

Let's move onto Temsen and Efnisien, because this might be more of what you're thinking of, since Gary almost never holds Efnisien accountable tbh. Temsen is a doctor, and a peak alpha who is a leading educator in academic omega rights and theory. He is the first to deeply understand how young alphas left to get away with their smaller abusive behaviours are the kind of alphas who grow up into rapists, murderers and torturers like Christian in Underline the Blue.

(I just want to add, Christian's own abuse and PTSD is real, I don't think any of us are rushing to hold his hand and pat his head, because we sympathise with Nate more than Christian. But Christian has real pain, and real suffering too. He's a great example of how 'you're still accountable for your behaviour though' at its most extreme).

So, Temsen sees Efnisien's behaviour and he lectures and shuts him down like he would any young alpha who is on a really dangerous path. Even within that, he acknowledges himself - out loud - that it's a complicated situation and the time he comes down on Efnisien the hardest, he says the timing is poor. The majority of the time, he shows Efnisien compassion and care, and listens to his opinions, even when they disagree. He is the first to validate his gender both repeatedly in words, and in hormone and medical support. He's the first to change his approach to Efnisien's medical care when Efnisien calls out his lack of respecting his right to privacy, and he's the first to correct Gary about it when Gary expects Temsen to keep giving him information. He offers pragmatic, compassionate advice about many sensitive subjects in Efnisien's life, his health, his secondary gender, his nesting behaviours. And I would say this is how Temsen actually models better behaviour.

Temsen doesn't expect Efnisien to have all of these skills, but Efnisien has to be told what he's doing wrong and how that's not acceptable behaviour and how he's hurting people, to start learning those skills! Otherwise why would anyone bother? Vindictively hurting other people in moments of rage can feel satisfying for folks who aren't being held accountable.

You say no one is modelling better behaviour to Efnisien so I'm just going to pose some questions that are rhetorical:

How many alphas at HIllview are mounting or torturing Efnisien every day? Does Efnisien have choices in what he eats? Is Efnisien's opinion listened to more and more, especially in matters of his health? Do they care about his pain and offer him painkillers when he's suffering? Are the characters in the story trying to enrich his experiences and help him to become a more mature person by helping him overcome his fears of things like going outside? Are the characters deliberately trying to expand his support network by helping him see new people and lean on them for help, instead of keeping him in a box and forbidding him from seeing anyone? While also taking into account the safety of others?

Are the characters largely gender affirming once they learn more about Efnisien?

Are the characters actively teaching Efnisien social sciences to help him understand more about the world and human rights, which includes his own rights?

Do the characters acknowledge that Hillview isn't an ideal place for Efnisien, just a good place for now?

Do the characters want Efnisien to have a future where he's happier?

Do the characters allow Efnisien to have his emotional responses as long as they're not also abusive responses? For example, is Efnisien allowed to cry, nest, seek comfort, or even be angry, provided he's not being domestically violent? (The answer is yes).

Do the characters to the best of their ability explain things clearly and maintain their own boundaries around Efnisien to remind him that he can also maintain his own boundaries?

Are Efnisien's wishes largely respected where possible? (The answer here is also yes - such as refusing internal exams with Temsen, or having control over what he does most days and how he spends his time etc.)

Can Efnisien see lots of examples of people talking civilly to each other and often with great care, and not being abusive to each other? Can he see alternative forms of conflict resolution, management and repair?

Is Efnisien offered opportunities to repair rifts that he's created himself, after being cruel to someone?

This is just a start, but these people through these behaviours are already role-modelling a ton of better behaviours than anything Efnisien has been exposed to in the past. And we can see that Gary himself role models a lot of these things to Efnisien directly, including apologising frequently and quickly when he realises he's made mistakes. This is how Efnisien learned to apologise! And he literally has thoughts like 'Gary does this / so I guess I should do it too.' That's literally role modelling a behaviour :D

Gary's actually a pretty good role model, and the only reason Efnisien's behaviour starts to improve at Hillview as well as his quality of life is because Gary and Temsen are role modelling these behaviours.

Like, temsen is technically correct that ef domestically abused gary but he has literally never seen a non abusive partnership and is literally a prisoner in his current one

Efnisien isn't literally a prisoner in his current relationship!

I feel like when folks identify really strongly with a character, it's very easy to miss the times when Gary and Temsen for example brainstorm ways for Efnisien not to live with Gary. Aside from at the very beginning, these characters have actually talked about - in the story, in dialogue - options for Efnisien to not live with Gary.

Like they literally talk about making Efnisien a new room in the headquarters and possibly even building him his own building down the track so he doesn't have to be with Gary! As they trust Efnisien more, they offer many options to him. As the story goes on, they are absolutely not forcing Efnisien to stay with Gary, and nor is Gary. Efnisien himself communicates clearly that he would rather live with Gary than be on his own. This is something that gets checked in on, and more than one option is given to him.

Missing this is understandable, it's a long story, but it also means it's not true that Efnisien is a prisoner in that he's being forced to live with Gary. That's only true in the beginning when they literally think he's just a murderer/attempted murderer who's going to kill everyone at Hillview. As the story progresses, it shifts to 'well he's not a murderer, what are his other options?'

Can Efnisien live a free life wherever he wants? No. That's where the 'dystopian universe' tag comes in. He's not safe to, but Hillview staff wouldn't be concerned with educating him and teaching him independence if they didn't want him to live as independently as possible one day. It's not like Gary has to try to get Efnisien comfortable with going outside and experiencing the outside world, and it's not like he has to encourage Efnisien to meet omegas and betas etc. to hear different opinions, y'know?

But yeah the role modelling is happening: Efnisien's showing more and more tools in coping all the time! He's been growing them since the beginning of the fic. He's learned to communicate better. He's learned how to articulate what he wants and doesn't want more clearly. He's learned how to care more for others even if he often misses that he has the power to really hurt them. He's learned more (not less) confidence. He's having less (not more) trauma responses. He's learned how to trust in the people around him more, so he's starting to talk more about his experiences of gender. He's learned that what he went through was wrong, and is sharing more about the abuse he suffered.

These things would not be happening in a story where people weren't giving him the tools to cope with his life or weren't showing him ways to communicate differently.

The reason Efnisien talks more clearly and articulately now in the story, the reason he laughs more, cries more (which is more open/honest imho and healthier than repressing it), talks more, talks about his past more, expresses his opinion more is because Hillview has been equipping him with more tools to live a richer life pretty much as soon as they realised he's not going to just murder people at the drop of a hat.

In some ways they're showing more trust than our society would because like, attempted murder could land him in jail for a while in our society, y'know?

The reason they haven't paired him with an actual psychologist is that they don't have any peak alpha psychologists and Efnisien can use alpha persuasion on anyone else, and would certainly get angry enough in therapy to use it. We only need to look at how Efnisien responded to Dr Gary in Falling Falling Stars sometimes in therapy sessions to see that yes, this is a guy who - if he had the tool of alpha persuasion - would absolutely use it to get a therapist to shut the fuck up when he felt like it, lol.

But yeah, as always, if folks are feeling really uncomfortable when reading something I've written, it's often intentional. You're right, Efnisien's situation is unfair. A few of the specifics you've brought up aren't true, and have missed things in the story, but it's still not a fair experience, it's not always a pleasant experience, and it's...pretty dystopian!

When we get really deep into our emotional connection to a character, it can still help to remember that the situation often isn't exactly the same as it feels. But this story also has the tags: darkfic / disturbing themes / dystopian universe for a reason! The visceral discomfort is a feature, not a bug.