#sweep it under the rug.

[insomniamademedothis]

I’m glad at the end of the day that the public opinion has shifted over to supporting amber heard and for the most part shunning d*pp but it’s also baffling to me to see happen, when there was a period of time when almost everybody (including very progressive and considerate people I knew irl) were violently & gleefully mocking her and lauding him. People would start conversations with me about it and I’d have to shut them down because I found it so upsetting hearing them talk about it. It felt like I was living in some kind of horrific MRA mind control simulation. And now the tide has shifted it’s like everyone’s collectively covering their backs and pretending that never happened. I fucking saw it.

[chloesimaginationthings]

The real reason why FNAF movie Vanessa got her job,,

[swoliwog]

completely forgot to post this on here

[edorazzi]

Page 9 of my Miraculous Mentor AU comic A Matter of Trust! In which Felix goes roof-hopping for the first time as Chat Noir - but he's not alone out there! 👀

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Weekly updates each Sunday! You can also read ahead early on Patreon, and/or buy me a Ko-fi if you'd like to support my work! ��

[aroaceleovaldez]

What is the PR disaster in question that made Rick announce TSATS? I wasn’t active in the online fandom at that point

Of course! This was awhile ago so it figures people don't remember it/aren't familiar:

Basically a couple years back (2020) the fandom had some posts circulate discussing the ways different characters in the Riordanverse were written poorly or offensively. There was a masterpost that went around tumblr but the two major points people were particularly focusing on were Piper and Samirah (particularly because Piper had featured prominently again in Trials of Apollo recently and the third MCGA book had further emphasized and discussed Samirah being Muslim, since it was supposed to take place during Ramadan). Basically each had multiple posts breaking down the ways they were depicted incorrectly or offensively. The entire fandom for a little bit was VERY intensely discussing this (and it's around this time the "RR crit" tag got very popularized on tumblr - it did exist before, but suddenly was being used VERY frequently - cause it was that wide-spread - though the discussion took over basically every side of Riordaverse social media on different platforms). People really wanted Rick to respond to these criticisms, so he did!

He made two blog posts, one about Piper and one about Samirah. He has since deleted both so the links are to archived versions. The short version: he essentially tried to justify his poor research and double-down that he hadn't written them offensively, actually, people were just being mean to him. The fandom, of course, reacted poorly to this.

[Further elaborated events under the cut since this got a bit lengthy]

(Fun fact, this all happened within a month or so of the time i posted an open letter on aphobic tropes in the Riordanverse that Rick replied to, and then he immediately followed with announcing that Reyna was intended to be ace-coded [which cause a LOT of fandom debate] before Rick dipped for a couple of weeks, and then came back to post the blog posts in response to Piper and Sam stuff. So I like to jokingly refer to this as "The time I imploded the fandom/drove Rick off of twitter." Twas I that set the house ablaze.)

Rick fully left social media after this and the LT Musical social media manager became Rick's social media manager for the time being.

So this all happened June/July of 2020. Tower of Nero would end up being published in October of 2020 and a few months after that Rick would state that he was done with the series and wouldn't be writing any more series installments involving Percy, and also that he wouldn't be writing a Nico quest following Tower of Nero as it "wasn't his place to" and encouraged the community to write their own versions of Nico's story.

The community continued to circulate the tumblr posts and discuss the topics of Rick's offensive character depictions, and this is also where we see the dramatic shift in how the fandom depicts Piper in fanwork (though in most cases it is admittedly not an improvement 😬) because of all this discussion. This is also around the time when the fandom brought Viria under scrutiny claiming that she was whitewashing Piper as part of the same discussions, through the justification that she was drawing Annabeth as having tan skin (which she does canonically), and if Annabeth has tanner skin then Piper then that's whitewashing Piper? Except they were using completely separate images of not fully rendered Piper art versus Annabeth in dramatic lighting, so it's all very awkward and poor logic, and did actually get kind of racist. A lot of people were calling it "Tannabeth Blackchase" (yeah, i know) or similar and a common sentiment you'd see repeated is "Don't draw Annabeth as having darker skin than Piper, because that's offensive/racist/whitewashing." (Note: it was not phrased "don't draw Piper as having lighter skin than Annabeth" - we also won't get into certain offensive depictions of Native Americans, but I digress). But yeah, the Annabeth stuff in all that did not age well at all.

Anyways, in October of 2021 however Rick would announce that he was co-writing The Sun And The Star - with a lot of heavy emphasis on how Mark Oshiro works as a sensitivity reader, and some false advertising from the official social media that Mark Oshiro was the first time a non-Riordan author would be collaborating on the series (disregarding the ghostwriters completely). One of the big criticisms in the breaking down of issues in Rick's writing was his lack of ever seeking a sensitivity reader, and fans claiming that a sensitivity reader could solve a lot of the problems. This was basically Rick's "look! I totally listened!!!!" (though it did little to actually improve things, based on the book) and in TSATS as well Piper gets a large cameo at the end where the text very directly addresses a lot of points made in criticism of Rick's writing of her.

We also then of course got the CoTG trilogy later, explicitly stated to be for advertising purposes for the show.

So basically, short version: Rick came under scrutiny for a lot of offensive writing within the span of two months, made some bad blog posts doubling down about it, left social media. TOA ends. Rick says he wasn't going to continue the series/write what would become TSATS. Community celebrates the end of of the franchise but also continues to discuss Rick's poor writing and the blog posts at length. Rick suddenly announces TSATS and Mark Oshiro's involvement. Everybody gets distracted from being mad. Show announcement stuff also happens and the discussions peter out.

[wally-lake]

Ralph!!!

I love him so muchhh,, I considered giving him a flannel but i was almost finished, so maybe next time! I love himmmmmmmm,,,,<3<3

[zivazivc]

my brainrot about these two can be measured in liters

[gomzdrawfr]

"Don't cry."

Simon said this whenever he knew you were about to cry, eyes glossy and watery, lips trembling.

trigger warnings: angst, childhood abuse (referenced + mentioned), canon-typical violence (referenced)

notes: this is an x reader fic, also apologies for the grammar and errors if any

read more to continue this short drabble

“Don’t cry.”

His voice was hollow, rough, forced out before the words had a chance to settle.

Simon said this whenever he knew you were about to cry, eyes glossy and watery, lips trembling.

It wasn’t gentle, nor a plea. It wasn’t meant for comfort or to keep you from falling apart. It was rough, low, and scratched at your ears in a way that made it hard to bear.

It felt more like an order, one you weren’t sure was meant for you or for himself.

“Just… don’t.” He repeated, the words more for himself than for you. Something swirled in his eyes behind the mask, a faint glint catching the light, like shattered glass.

“Simon,” you whispered, voice cracking, but he cut you off with a sharp edge, ending the conversation before it even began.

You thought it was because of the life he led—the danger and discipline that flowed through his blood. You thought he was telling you not to cry because he needed you to be strong. After all, he was a soldier—a man who had seen more violence, death, and despair than you could ever imagine. You assumed he couldn’t stand to see weakness, the vulnerability that came with it.

But there was more.

There was always more with him.

You didn’t know what those words really meant to him, how deep they ran, how they had been carved into his very bones, how they play on repeat in his head like a broken cassette tape on those colder nights.

You didn’t know that those two words were all he had ever heard growing up, the only comfort he could muster when his mum sobbed after another bad night, when Tommy curled up in the corner of the kitchen, scared and bruised, whispering into the dark.

Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Don’t cry.

He had felt helpless as a boy, kneeling before his family, wanting more than anything to do something—anything—but lacking the strength or power to act. He couldn’t make the pain go away. He couldn’t make the tears disappear.

Hearing those heart-wrenching sobs, those sniffles, those whimpers—it made him feel like that little boy again: lost, powerless, useless.

But the tears always came, and they never fixed anything. Crying didn’t make the bruises disappear. It didn’t quiet the screams. It didn’t make the shouting stop. All it did was twist his stomach inside out, wring his heart until he didn’t even recognize it anymore, and made his breathing all the more suffocating, like he was drowning in someone else’s grief.

It made him feel small.

Seeing those same tears in your eyes brought him back to that place. And he didn’t know how to deal with it. How to make it better.

He hated it. He hated feeling like that small boy again, hopeless, like he was failing all over.

Because Simon loves you, he truly does, more than himself, and yet he can’t bring himself to face you in these moments. 

Turning his back away from you, his head dipped lower, as if he were willing himself out of the memory that bubbled up, out of the pain that no amount of time or distance could dull.

Tears didn’t fix the past. They didn’t heal the scars that had been left on his soul.

“Simon-”

“Don’t cry… please.”

When he turned away, when he avoided your tears, when he grew distant whenever you broke down in front of him—it wasn’t because he didn’t care.

He just didn’t know how to handle it.

[plxnovak]

[oneofthosenightbees]

Some new cotl ocs based off a recent save of mine

[tech-kisserr]

rb with ur f/o and i’ll assign them a song from my liked tracks :3

boyfriend as an example!

prosh!p + steven doubles please dni!

[thefirstlioveyou]

i get very upset when i get to the part where ted suggests they go down and talk to mike about witnessing his best friend's dead body, and karen suggests they just wait for him to come to them. (spoiler alert: he never actually does... so they never do either)

oh and then the least she can do is let him stay home from school. but then - as she's telling him she's going to comfort and check on barb's parents (not him) - she invites him to just tag a log and just read a book, as she gives someone else who isn't her son the time of day to talk about everything going on. but it's ok because she'll let him pick out an r rated movie, right?

giving your kids physical gifts is something some parents like to do to substitute for the emotional care they're struggling to provide, and that's clearly what's happening here.

i love karen, and I can't wait to see her development next season. but this is part of her character - her avoidance of things is crucial to understanding her character and understanding the wheelers overall next season. only hugging her kids isn't being there for them. and it's not like she isn't aware - she knows it's wrong! we see her actively TRY and change this, but struggles to because this is something that needs to be tackled with her husband! but he's. not. there. either. she doesn't know HOW to fix this.

but she - and the whole family - will learn to next season

[dukeofthomas]

why does every reconciliation fic go like this

[ethanhuntfemmefatale]

Ok actually you know what? I have more emotions about this.

The way that aa consistently portrays the influence that characters have on each other is incredible. But more than that, the way that it portrays the influence of horrible, awful characters on characters who fight to be morally good is so fucking important to me. I’ve written about this before—it’s woven throughout the games. Kristoph’s heavy influence on Phoenix during the seven year gap. Klavier slamming his fist against the wall. Franziska clutching her arm. But I think the most fundamental and impressive example is, of course, Miles.

Miles never takes off the caravat. His gestures, even if they’re toned down from Bratworth, are still very clearly derived from von Karma’s courtroom behavior. Everything he does is visibly shaped by the man who abused him and his sister, who murdered his father and framed him for murder. And it always will be. He is, as much as Franziska, von Karma’s living legacy.

And—let me say—that is fucking tragic. It’s horrifying. They shouldn’t have to go through that. But.

It is so important to me. AA shows us how these characters don’t need to shed every single resemblance in order to heal. Miles wears the caravat while he works and struggles and questions and ultimately becomes something greater and kinder than what was given to him. Von Karma’s legacy is Franziska and Miles Edgeworth—isn’t that hilarious? Isn’t that amazing? Hell, even the von Karma name quickly becomes associated with Franziska over her father, just like “Gavin” becomes Klavier instead of Kristoph. Klavier “air guitar in a courtroom” Gavin is Kristoph’s living legacy. And guess what? He’s one cool, levelheaded prosecution attorney.

this always reminds me of luke skywalker saying “I am a Jedi like my father before me” (no that didn’t rewrite my brain as a kid in a shitty family, why do you ask?). For him to say that to darth vader, after multiple people have expressed fear that he will turn to the Dark Side…it means: I have seen the legacy you want me to have. I know what you want me to become. But that’s not the lesson I’m taking from you. You were cruel. Lesson learned: be kind.

AA shows us how characters who were fundamentally shaped by horrible people are able to twist that influence to their own ends and heal and thrive. Makes me emotional man

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

ah, remember the good old days when adora actually held catra responsible for her actions instead of letting her get away with whatever she did?

[trans-ralsei]

so true twitter user bloomfilters