#sort of a review

[chaoticgoodcaptain]

so uhmmm, this is the end, i'm done with watching the special

i liked it but in full honesty i wish the episode was longer, i missed a bit of development in the second half and the ending somehow felt a bit rushed, i think joy was cool but i wish i could learn more about her than just this, i think her ending would be even more impactful, if it had happened in next year's special, but i still think the episode was written very well (even over all of its issues), anita must be protected at all costs from now on and i cannot wait to see her again

yk what, i'm gonna give it 8/10 (it has its problems but overall it works quite well) ^^

[vincentbriggs]

People are saying my patchwork jacket post got flagged as mature, and I'm very puzzled because tumblr has given me no indication on my end. No notification, no chance to appeal, no nothing! If I edit the post and look at the content label it still says "for everyone".

[t-hirstreview]

[rthwrms]

science = modern magic

[theautistichalflinghole]

Does anyone else see the vision

[sunsets12]

PSA: stop rating fanfic in the bookmarks. Authors can see it

[lazyscience]

Have finished Careless People, and my biggest takeaways:

Mark Zuckerberg's favorite president is Andrew Jackson "because he got a lot of shit done," his favorite Roman emperor is Augustus, who was the one who made the Republic into an Empire, and he asked Xi Yinping - yes, THAT Xi Yinping, general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, chairman of the Central Military Commission - on the second time meeting him for less than 5 minutes, to name his child. This guy loves authoritarianism like Swifties love Taylor. I wouldn't tell this fucker I was on fire and needed to be put out for fear of who he'd sell that information to, he certainly wouldn't do anything USEFUL about it.

Facebook, despite any public protestations otherwise, is certainly not sorry about serving beauty and diet ads to depressed teens and pro-ED communities, racist and inflammatory content that resulted in rioting in Myanmar, invasive monitoring to block human rights activists in China or ragebait to drive "engagement" with Trump ads. They are not even embarrassed at being caught - they are ANGRY because they don't understand why any of that was wrong. They think they should be able to brag about how good a job they can do giving political candidates, the surveillance state and predatory capitalist enterprises exactly what the customer wants targeted, even if the customer's fucking evil and it results in peoples' deaths. It's like the Nuremberg CITATIONS 'but look what a GOOD JOB we did, that should count for something, we were very effective helping fascists."

Amusingly, despite number 2, no Facebook executives allow their children to use Facebook. Or apparently screens in general for that matter.

Sheryl Sandberg is currently promoting a documentary about the October 7th victims of sexual assault by Hamas. There is nothing wrong with that at all, rape, particularly as a tool of racial/religious hate is vile and needs to be called out. But interestingly, Sheryl, where were you and the documentary film crews in Myanmar when it was Rohingya women being mass raped? And where violence, including sexual violence, is still happening in the year of our lord 2025? Oh, that's right, Facebook helped facilitate THAT ethnic violence, so we need to keep that one hush-hush. Oopsie! Another case as with her boyfriend Bobby K, if we did it it's fine, it's only a war crime when it's someone else!

In case you needed ANOTHER reason to hate Sheryl Sandberg, this charming vignette about Facebook's brief foray into promoting organ donation (this bitch actually wanted FACEBOOK to be INVOLVED in collecting people's transplant information!):

Sensing danger, I pivot to the risk of organ trafficking. I explain that countries have put a lot of thought into safeguarding organ donation information and guarding against cross-border transportation of organs. She turns to me, indignant. The edge in her voice is unmistakable. “Do you mean to tell me that if my four-year-old was dying and the only thing that would save her was a new kidney, that I couldn’t fly to Mexico and get one and put it in my handbag?”

Completely aside from the elephant-sized racist entitlement thinking that because a rich white twat waves a bunch of money at a Mexican doctor of course they would give her a kidney, perhaps wrapped up in a Thanks For Your Business! red and white plastic bag with a complimentary taco - what in the lacking even a BASIC understanding of "this shit's complicated and maybe there are good reasons for rules" - like, you think you can put a fucking kidney from a total rando in a Coleman, shake a bag of ice over it and go? BLOODBORNE ILLNESSES? FROSTBITE? DONOR MATCHING? I can't with these people who are allegedly supposed to be smart.

These people really are straight out of a Great Gatsby novel. Their singular drive is proving they're superior to people they despise, obsessed with the trappings of status while being wholly unable to enjoy them as an experience, just as "I'm better than you," who will expect you to go to JAIL for them but then literally step over your twitching body if you need help, and are incapable of imagining a world where they had accountability for their actions, as opposed to simply claiming credit. That's for lesser people, that's for the people who work FOR me.

Meta are claiming it's a smear job, but - these stories, this story, doesn't reflect flatteringly on the author, either. She freely admits that it took her way too long to realize Facebook was never going to be the "force for good" she envisioned, and when she had that realization she was still for a long time was trying to extricate herself in a way that preserved the financial and career benefits she had gotten used to, of being Somebody Important who advised global concerns and rubbed shoulders with diplomats and heads of state. If Meta had been smart enough to ignore this book, I don't know that I would have found the story sympathetic enough to pick it up.

And I'm glad I did, because it was a useful insight. Oh, not into exactly what it IS Facebook does to do its data criming at ALL, you need resources like WIRED and Techdirt for that, authors more interested in the technology itself rather than the implications. But to understand who the true believers are and the ...pettiness of it all, that's helpful. They're not supervillains. It's not a long-brewing plot of world domination. They're just assholes who don't want to pay taxes like every business ever.

(And clearly working in tech is even worse than working in medical. Man, I thought my previous employer sucked? They were a beacon of support and sanity compared to Meta, apparently and that's really fucking disturbing.)

[realreadysetrose]

In super exciting news, I’m going to be competing with Lil Hal in the Awesomecon Cosplay Competition!

In even BETTER news, that means I get to make a whole BOOK about how I made his cosplay.

I’ve already got my build book cover ready to go

[nellasbookplanet]

I recently started reading (and ended up dropping partway through) an m/m retelling of an old legend, and it made me think of this reoccurring thing I've come across a handful of times now in m/m fiction and how they approach women, equality, and world-building.

Let's call it the omegaverse problem, because that's where it seems the most blatant (I've only come across it twice outside of fandom spaces that I can remember). Basically, it's when the writer looks at the unequal and sometimes oppressive roles women serve in society (today and historically), and goes 'this is a good basis for dark romance but there are too many women here' and then just. plops men into the roles traditionally served by women and recreates heteronormative tropes but They're All Men Now, none of those icky women.

Now, completely removing any and all gender based inequality isn't a bad basis for a queer-inclusive fantasy! But thing is, this type of narrative isn't interested in women, so they often read as if women have mysteriously disappeared from society (except for the occassional mom or sister). They don’t bother to include women in traditionally male areas (the book I dropped had plenty of male courtesans, with diplomats and bodyguards and advisors also being male) nor to create new roles for them.

They also generally don’t bother to look critically at the systemic and societal inequalities they're mimicking. The concept 'typically sexist society but they're all men (or all women)' could be used to alienate and deconstruct our ideas of what’s 'normal' and what’s oppressive, a way to compare the intersections of class and gender. Instead, this kind of story is only interested in using inequality as inter-character conflict and set-up for romance. And it sucks.

[velvetyssweetcafe]

idk i might not post much for now until this strange tumblr filtering thing gets solved soon..

i have an insta btw it's the same as the username here :3 (and im @/velvetiezz on twt)

[vvachillessongvv]

2024 Fandom review

💜

When I was in third grade, I wrote a short story about a girl who had been shrunken down to the size of a grape and had to find a way to grow back to her regular size. My teacher wrote a note on that story that said I should be a writer when I grow up- I held onto that even though all my adults told me writing wasn't a good career choice. I guess they never thought about the alternative, which is writing fluff and smut for free on godless AO3 😂 I can't explain how much every single comment means to me, the little community we have here, it is truly such a wonderful space and I feel like I gained so much in 2024 just by being a part of it. Thank you for being here and reading my words. I started reading and writing Young Royals fic in 2024, so it was a truly magical year.

Fics written:

First fic posted in 2024: Popcorn 2024-06-02

Something that popped into my head, and made me think "Yeah, I could probably write a Wilmon fic" 😂 it's sweet and sort of silly and it means a lot just because it's my og baby.

Last fic posted in 2024: stay with me

2024-12-31

Filthy smut with a bit of feelings, because it's Wilmon 😏💜

Fav fic I've written: Siren

This one is just everything to me. I loved being creative with it, I loved collaborating with people, I loved the slight switch in writing style to fit the time period, it is a true ode to my love of writing and Wilmon combined. Bonus, it introduced me to someone who is now a truly important part of my life.

Fic recs will be after the page break 💜💜💜

Fics read:

Who knows how many- my bookmarks are sitting at 150, but I'd say probably closer to 400-500. There's genuinely no telling 😅

First fic I bookmarked/read: I was on ao3 as a guest for a hot minute, so the first Wilmon fic I read was Fuck the Monarchy by @iwouldnevergetintofanfic (a truly beautiful place to start!) but the first fic I bookmarked on my profile is Almost Is Never Enough by This_time_its_just_me on ao3

Last fic I read: I'm assuming this means the last fic I read in 2024, which would be Now we're falling like snow by @skibasyndrome I absolutely adore his fics, and this one was no different.

Some favorites I've read this year:

You are Unbreaking by @unfortunate17

This is absolutely beautiful, the premise is amazing and just so different while still capturing that amazing Wilmon magic.

Doesn't everyone belong in the arms of the sacred by @alltoowille

This one meant so much to me I was messaging the author from my personal Tumblr to tell them how much it meant to me, before I'd even created my sideblog or ao3 account 😅 it's beautiful and genuinely changed the way I look at religion

Is it over now? by @iwouldnevergetintofanfic

This one is so visceral, it still has an impact on how I write wilmon, and I will probably cry every single time I go back to it

i don't feel like our love it brand new @prince-simon

This fic lives in my heart indefinitely. Prince Simon is absolutely everything to me. Not to be dramatic, but this changed my life a little.

always on the tip of my tongue by @royalwilmon

This is basically what I'm trying to emulate any time I write smut. The way their intimacy is written in this smut is pure magic, the original characters have made a home in my heart and mind, and it's just one of my favorite Wilmon fics of all time

do you think you'd like me more if i was less like you by @toffeelemon

This fic meant the world to me on my genderqueer journey, in fact I'm rereading it just for the amazing gender feels.

Align by Ripki on ao3

Some of the most gorgeous writing I've ever come across. Every chapter touches me and blows me away all at once, and makes me want to write my own beautiful words

Hungry by @earlgrey-lateatnight

I have 2 vampire Simon docs and it's all this fics fault 😂 it's so hot, intimate, and written so wonderfully

now we're knee-deep in this mess by aqua_rius on ao3

This one broke me and put me back together. I had to pause reading multiple times because their pain and longing hit me so hard. It's incredible.

Love drunk and we're never sober by @caramelpenguin

This is so lovely and written so beautifully. It made a little home in my heart and I now think about it when I'm writing anything close to friends to lovers.

To hold (in return) @saynomorefic

I'm telling you, I think about this fic unbidden at least once a week. It is so soft and wonder.

and if my heart should somehow stop by @grapehyasynth

Such a unique premise, the longing and love is so palpable, and of course, the writing is just perfectly beautiful

Baby I know how to use a gun by @saynomorefic

Another AU that lives in my head rent free. Completely amazing, I'd read 200,000 words of just them.

futile devices @jordensgolde

The writing is immaculate, the premise is different and so incredibly Wilmon. The beauty of these words truly inspires me.

one hundred and seventeen @prince-simon

Dare I say this one trans'ed my gender? I read this and suddenly had words for how I felt about myself. I still cry every time I read it. Genderfluid Simon has a special place in my heart, and it's just written so beautifully. Love entirely.

Say a prayer for me in the dark by witchjeons on ao3

This made me want to write poetry again, which I did for one of my fics, and I've continued to do so just for myself. It is utterly beautiful, and I sob each time I read it.

I hate accidents except when we go from friends to this by @cloudywilmon

This is my ultimate feel-good/fully dissociate from reality fic. It is hot, and funny, and ridiculous in all the most perfect ways. When I'm having the shittiest day imaginable, there's these boys having sex and pretending it means absolutely nothing.

Outlines of You by @enjoythesilentworld

Genuinely some of the most beautiful smut I've ever read

Knowing what it feels like by strawberryxcreqm on ao3

This is another fic that just lives in my head, and I can't listen to Mazzy Star without thinking about it.

for the tree's sake by @enjoythesilentworld

This is one of my favorite dynamics. I absolutely adore poetic Wille, it is so soft and sweet and captures them so perfectly

Final reflections:

Thank you to everyone who participates in this fandom in any way. Lurkers, commenters, people making art, gifs, sharing those amazing scene/character analysis'. And of course each and every fic writer, you who have inspired me to find writing again. This is such a beautiful little corner of the internet that I can't wait to spend another year in. Thank you 💜💜💜 feel free to come yell at me or just say hi in my inbox or ask box. I'm shy but I promise I'm always up for talking about Wilmon 🥰

[sanguine-fangs]

Yeah, sure, sex is great and all, but have y'all ever tried being lounged on by a guard dog who's stronger and meaner than you? Serving as a weighted blanket, casually pinning you down beneath them under the guise of cuddling whilst watching a show/video. Their hands roam wherever they please, just softly exploring your skin with their fingertips and nothing more. Their lips are even more explorative whenever they're not pressed firmly against your own: panting hot breaths into the crook of your neck, leaving bite marks and hickeys all over your throat and shoulders. They growl each time you shift, any attempt to move making them more handsy out of spite. Any whining only makes them chuckle at your helplessness and bite/claw at you harder. You're stuck there, helpless to move, and so deeply content to be dumb and teased and frot against another, bigger dog who loves to watch you squirm beneath them.

[tallbluelady]

I got to Barbie posing the other night...

[possessedopossum]

The Veilguard: my full review [positive, long post, less about game mechanics and more about meta, spoilers]

The thing that makes Veilguard special to me is how self aware the game is. In every dialogue, plot twist or quest I can feel the presence of somebody who wanted to share something with me. Be it personal experience, message, pain or joy. As of 2024, many games have lost their creative spark. Video game industry is no longer a nerd only zone, it's a business no different than others. Many studios utilize AI to write their plots, chase after current trends or simply make decisions that would create the biggest audience possible at the expense of something people love the franchise for. Veilguard did well, because it showed me something I haven't seen in a very long time: the human soul.

Perhaps you have noticed it on your own. The world has gone completely nuts after the covid. Or maybe it has always been this way and I only noticed it now. It is not a surprise to me that players want their game to be darker, to have more aggressive dialogue and to have a morally grey or even evil protagonist. For the past few years I've been feeling like someone had turned the lights off. And the game gave me an impression that someone at bioware feels this way too.

Only negativity gives content creators views and money these days. Open any social media, read any post or watch any video. If something is on top, it's almost always a hate post. What was the last movie most reviewers enjoyed? The last game? Perhaps the one that was released 10 years ago? What was the last time, you, my dear reader, have smiled? Not bitterly or sardonically, but out of genuine joy?

It is extremely fitting that Rook's mentor figure is Varric. Varric is somebody who always sees the best in people. He grew up in one hell of a city but he still loves it. He can find something to laugh about no matter how dire the situation is. He is a people person who can build friendship with anybody. Varric is very charismatic and tends to avoid conflict. He is a chronic liar but that doesn't make him bad because he never lies with malicious intentions. And in some ways, Rook is similar to him.

Yes, Rook can't be a complete asshole. Because the game is not about being an asshole. One of our antagonists, Solas, considers the world to be sick. Modern Thedas is a grave mistake that haunts him. He can't forget and move on because even the elves themselves wear his mistakes on their faces. Many things that are normal to the player character aren't normal to Solas. The world is so wrong and disgusting to Solas that he is willing to sacrifice things and people who are dear to him just to make the twisted world better.

Rook is nice because they are supposed to represent what is good in modern Thedas. They are supposed to be somebody who thinks the world is worth fighting for. And to a certain extent, their factions as well. The crows are contract killers and the lords of fortune are thiefs. Grey wardens are very concerned with politics and all the secrets they refuse to share constantly get people killed. Mourn watch has their immoral power hungry politicians as well and veil jumpers are sometimes willing to trade people for ancient secrets. They all aren't without sin but that's not the point. The point is, even with all the ugliness and darkness, there is still a place for light. And the light in the darkness is the exact message bioware tried to convey. The crows not being comically evil is not bad writing. It is a conscious writing choice to give us a human face for something we consider ugly and not worth fighting for. The player is metaphorically Solas, who needs to be persuaded that the world is worth at least something. The writers didn't need to bare the souls of player factions in all their mistakes, imperfections and cruelty. Because they showed us the factions' humanity. Some cruelty is still there, on the background, but it doesn't overshadow what is good. The crows, no matter how terrible, are a family. Viago may call Rook an idiot and while Rook considers their training literal torture, they sure love Viago back.

In fact, familial love is one of the core themes of the Veilguard. We have Emmrich and Manfred, Davrin and Assan and uncle Endrin, Lucanis and Caterina and Illario, Taash and Shathann, Bellara and Cyrian. It's a bit less direct with Neve and Harding. Neve has a lot of love for her city which is almost like a person to her, and Harding...I'll explain with a quote. "You're Lace Harding! You're more than this rage! You believe that the world is beautiful! That people are good! Hold onto it, hold on to who you are!".

Even the evanuris share the theme of family. Rook can compare Elgar'nan and Solas to relatives who can't get along. Elgar'nan calls Ghilan'nain his sister. Both shards of Mythal consider modern elves her children. Different but no less beloved, as Morrigan puts it.

Veilguard shows family without rose-tinted glasses. It shows that sometimes to love your children is to sacrifice something else you love (Lichdom for Emmrich), that parents have their own problems that may harm their children no matter how much parents wish to protect them (Shathann understands she is not the best mother and has complicated relationships with the Qun that harmed Taash), that sometimes parents do not understand their children at all and it's only up to children themselves to close the gap in understanding (Mythal, Solas and Rook), that familial love and desire to protect your family may turn into something ugly (Caterina being cruel to her grandchildren to prepare them for harsh realities of the antivan crows).

There is conflict in Veilguard, of intergenerational nature. Companions and their families, Rook and their faction leader, elves ancient and modern. It's up to the player how to deal with the last one. Humans, dwarves and qunari may not share blood ties with ancient elves but they still live in the world ancient elves created. As Rook, you're allowed to lash out in anger at Mythal and Solas. You can call Mythal guilty of all modern problems and fight her. You can bind Solas to the veil by force, call him asshole and express your frustrations with him multiple times throughout the game. You can also express sympathy and forgive them both. Because forgiving is neither condoning nor condemning, it's understanding and letting go. Being understood and allowed to peacefully let go of his mistakes is the exact thing that Solas needs to change his mind.

I believe that the Veilguard companions are one of the very best I've ever seen in a video game. They may not have as many different fates as for example Alistair has but is goodness measured with the amount of ways a character can be killed? I love the Veilguard crew because they all feel very real. Their personal problems are universal and very close to the player. Taash's story is not about being non-binary. It's about growing up, finding your place in the world, separating from your family and learning to appreciate it despite the mistakes your parents did while parenting you.

It's hard to decide who is my favorite. Taash's story made me cry but so did Harding's and Bellara's. The last scenes of Lucanis romance made me feral. I can't stomach the scene where Davrin and Assan die. The consequences of destruction of Minrathous/Treviso were hard to look at. I felt guilt, and if a game makes me feel something, it's a good game. I laughed, I cried, I was afraid and I felt joy, I was angry, I felt shame, I felt love. The game made me feel alive, I played through Rook's story like it was my own, what not to love about it?

The double blight wreaking havoc in Southern Thedas is sad but beautifully symbolic. Almost like a love letter from a long lost lover, It felt like bioware's meta commentary to me. "Yes, a whole lot of time has passed. We are no longer as young as we used to be, and so are you, not only the player, but our treasured friend as well. We have changed, you have changed and so did the world around us. Gaming and the video game industry are not what they used to be. We will never be able to go back no matter how much we want it because the only path that is left is the path forward. It doesn't mean that we no longer remember our shared past, no. We may not be able to go back but we promise to remember it fondly. We are still capable of creating beauty and the past will serve as a foundation for something new. We still have hope, and so should you".

The Veilguard to me is about nostalgia as well. I don't want to feed my inner Solas who sees the current world as sick. I want to make space for my inner Rook who is hopeful about the world just enought to fight for its future.

[ducktracy]

🫵 i can smell you

[raayllum]

Was originally gonna start this later and then thought more about timelines / my own schedule, so...

Welcome to Raayllum's Review Fic-Athon, which is not about reviewing fic, but leaving reviews for TDP on sites such as Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB and getting ficlets in return! Most episodes and seasons don't actually have that many reviews and it's an easy way to boost engagement / get the show's rating up higher so Netflix will #GiveUsTheSaga. Both sites just need an email address and nothing else, and immediately allow you to start reviewing.

The review system for each site works a little different, so here's how the fic-athon will work in response:

For Rotten Tomatoes, you can only review seasons, not episodes. So reviewing all 6 seasons = 1 ficlet for a pairing/character/topic of your choice. Reviews on RT have to be least 20 words, so this is probably the easiest pathway. Seasons get a star ranking.

For IMBD, you can do individual episodes, so 1 season (a review for each ep) = 1 ficlet for a pairing/character/topic of your choice. IMBD reviews have to be 600 characters (not words), which is about 1-2 paragraphs, and each episode gets a star ranking.

This is an effective way to show support because if stuff is trending on IMDB or has high ratings on RT, people are more likely to see it, watch, and/or get caught up. It also means that even if there were some eps of S4 you hated, giving the season / all episodes 10 stars every time is important to help boost their ratings and get them higher up.

Proof of reviews can be submitted here through screencaps on posts / in asks or by ID'ing your reviews by username (i.e. I left reviews on s3 under name XYZ). All ships and characters are welcome and if you're at a loss of what to prompt for, taking inspiration from previous prompt lists may be helpful.

Happy reviewing, and if you've been needing a kick in the butt to leave reviews, hopefully this is a worthwhile motivation!