#tbh this has been my first time since coming to tumblr that i've experienced that tumblr flash mob hate train vibe lmao

[upsidedownsmore]

I won't lie I nearly fell into disliking this quest after seeing so much reactionary negative feedback immediately afterwards, but posts like these have helped me appreciate the quest better and calm down from that initial spike in discourse. I know that's still me building my opinions off of the opinions of others, and I really do need to examine my own susceptibility to being easily convinced, but actual constructive discussions and breakdowns over the last few days have helped assure me that no the quest is not some problematic mess actually, as some made it out to be.

I do still believe the somewhat vague writing that Warframe usually has may not do it favors when paired with what can be seen as a harmful trope in other media when viewed from a glance, and the game progression structure/narrative of gathering warframe blueprints and parts to pilot copies of them can be seen as rubbing against the nature of Jade's story in a potentially disturbing way. I think those things could have been handled better with more time to handle those nuances. But in the end, while I feel the empty spaces in the story can be interpreted badly if twisted enough, what the story does say tells a clear message of love and respect in the strangest of circumstances and tragedies, even if it doesn't line up with some of our ideal scenarios or comforts.

I'm glad that, at least personally, my view has stabilized, and it seems that the view of the community here in general has begun to stabilize as well. I'm happy to take in the designs these artists have made with a clearer head, and I hope they have not experienced too much turmoil following the release of their hard work. I'm sure there will still be people unhappy with the quest for a variety of reasons, but I hope people have begun to understand this quest as not some misogynistic fever dream cooked up by the same writers and creative directors and studio that has brought us the rest of Warframe prior.

possible spoilers for Warframe: Jade Shadows ahead

i wish people would stop, take a breath, and actually think about jade shadows from an analytical place before they leave their reviews rather than just going "i think it's icky" because like. obviously it isn't perfect, i don't think anyone's arguing that, but it isn't gross or wrong- it's art, it's evocative, and it's going to resonate differently with everyone. i want to pick apart some common criticisms i've seen here from the perspective of someone who's played a lot of warframe and thought about some of the heavier themes present in the quest quite a lot.

It's weird that Jade is pregnant because I'm afraid of it/it's gross/it's fetishistic

Personal feelings of revulsion are not a reason to judge something on an objective level. It's perfectly valid to come out of Jade Shadows feeling weird about it- I do think that's kind of the point. The quest has a content warning before you begin it, because the subject matter is something that is really uncomfortable for a lot of people- that doesn't mean that the game shouldn't be allowed to explore it. Also, even if it was wrong to include something like this as fetish content, this argument would imply the game has already gone to weirder places. Looking at you, Grendel.

It's weird that they make the operator give birth via transference

This argument has a little more ground, but also kind of misunderstands how transference works. Yes, it is a hand-wavy "linking of the minds," but we do see clearly in quests like The Sacrifice that when linking with the more sentient frames like Umbra for the first time, the Operator is not fully controlling the frame. I think Umbra is the most appropriate comparison- when linking with Umbra properly for the first time, you don't immediately control Umbra- it's a more spiritual "linking souls helping him find peace" thing. I'd also say that even in the case the Operator was fully in control, I don't think what happened was remotely equatable to literally giving birth. Like. She breathed for 20 seconds and then dissolved into light and died, then there was a baby there. I don't know if you've ever seen a birth, but that isn't how it works. I feel like after all the shit our Operator has been through, "giving birth" through transference is kind of a drop in the bucket.

It's misogynistic to have Jade die in childbirth

????????

Ok. So let's pick apart the possible reasons that this would be misogynistic. Maybe fridging the woman? But. Not really, because she isn't really gone- the game even acknowledges that she will live on through you and through the motes in Hunhow's message. You can literally craft her and then boom, she's back. She may not have a gigantic speaking role, but no warframe does- hell, even the Stalker barely grunts out single words.

Another one I see a lot is the argument that her sole role in the quest is the whole "her whole personality is motherhood" situation- and that is fair, her role IS that- but that is the point of the quest. They hid this in the teasers because they wanted the reveal to be significant, not to intentionally obfuscate their misogynistic writing- while I certainly do agree that it is all too common for female characters to be pushed aside and relegated purely to motherhood, particularly in fandom spaces but that's an entirely different discussion. I think Warframe handled the motherhood issue well- a person used as a tool of unjust death for years (remember the Jade Light?) giving her own life to finally bring life into the world rather than taking it away- it clearly had purpose and thought behind it, and Warframe has already spent years providing female characters that don't revolve entirely around motherhood- though they aren't pushed into your face and provided immediately without any exploration, so it makes sense that some people on Tumblr would miss them. Warframes don't generally have fully fleshed-out personality- the more sentient frames like Dante and Umbra are an exception. Jade was on the verge of death, it's not shocking that we didn't see much of her personality. I don't doubt that we'll get some codex entries explaining more of her actual personality and story- the quest was just not the place and time.

At the end of the day, Warframe is a game about love, family, and sacrifice. Jade Shadows ticks all 3 of those boxes, probably in the most on-the-nose way we've seen yet. I'd love to make a post soon lauding the things I liked about it, the real narrative depth it presented, the meaning behind and the significance of the discomfort rooted in its themes, and its connections to Warframe's broader themes, but I've seen more negativity than positivity thus far which is... genuinely shocking. When I played it I had nothing but praise. Warframe's writing is usually a bit clunky, so I hadn't noticed anything particularly out of the ordinary, but a lot of people seem genuinely convinced that this expansion was somehow the worst we've ever seen when that is far from being the case. Operation Belly of the Beast has been a ton of fun, and the seeming finite nature of what's left adds a real gravitas to farming for Jade. I'm not shocked the quest itself felt a bit half-baked, I'm surprised they released this at all with 1999 coming up- I'm just happy to get some new content and a new frame whose concept I really enjoy.

[fearful-quartet]

So I've been listening to The Magnus Protocol, and managed to get my dad into TMA last year so he's now listening to Mag Protocol too. So last night we were listening in the car to the latest statement, and I was half-jokingly saying which fear the statement sounded like mostly, to which my dad starts talking about how he doesn't think these statements and the O.A.I.R are connected to the Fears at all. I'm gonna try to put a cut for anyone not caught up but here's how this led to a theory of mine:

So Lena said to Gwen that there's good and bad forces that need to be balanced, but she never said which side of that the O.A.I.R. is part of, if any. I was noting this when it hit me.

Every single Magnus Protocol Statement so far has been about misfortune coming around due to perceived fortune or a fortunate opportunity becoming misfortune.

Let's break this down ep by ep so you see what I mean.

Episode One: It's a little hard to figure out what the fortune is to the misfortune, especially since it's mostly getting us used to the characters and the overall setup of the show, but for the first statement I think it's not the statement giver, but the husband. Harriet (the one emailing) says he sounded excited in an unsettling way (I am assuming the "he" she is talking about is her husband since she doesn't mention anyone else). When she meets him, or what has him, she describes that he laughed and laughed. Her misfortune was his fortune, his joy.

The second statement in that episode of course is about the Institute, but by way of a bunch of spelunkers looking for something intriguing to discuss. I haven't quite figured out the connection here but I am sure there is one, even if it's through the characters (aka Sam) finding something within it.

Two: A lot easier to connect to this. Daria is finding joy through getting this tattoo that allows her to change how she looks and alter her appearance immensely (and grotesquely). Enough said.

Three: This statement is one that overall I just don't understand tbh, but I think it shows the opposite? As in the victim is experiencing fear and discomfort the entire time, but towards the end you'll notice he gets much more happy and calm about the situation.

Four: This is again easy, it's about a violin that needs blood but will give you amazing talent if you pay that price, and horrible bloodshed if you don't. Self-explanatory.

Five: The guy is trying to make a living off watching and reviewing horror movies, gets excited at a live showing of one just for him, then realizes it's not what it seems and posts everyone should see it. Easy enough. (Very Grifter's Bone in energy)

Six: The introduction to infamous new tumblr sexyman, Needles. I shouldn't have to spell out how he gets pleasure from others in pain by needles.

Seven: All I gotta say is it's "all for a good cause" and you should get the picture.

Eight: Utilizes that uncanny fear of false hospitality if you ask me, but either way this statement is clearly taking something associated often as comforting and twisting it.

Nine: The dice literally affect fortune and misfortune and likely make the statement giver into the embodiment of fortune. 'Nuff said.

Ten: Bonzo needs no explanation for this in his introductory episode so let's move on.

Eleven: This one goes more into obsession territory than anything, which is another running theme of the show and another theory, but it also talks about how the sea brings comfort so that could be part of it. (Also I noticed the sneaky possibly Dr. David reference in there lol)

Twelve: Now I know what you're gonna say, "How is this one connected to fortune at all, Cal? It's about some woman being traumatized at a strip club!" Well think about this: what if it wasn't supposed to end in Bonzo? Gwen gave Bonzo an "assignment," didn't she? And Lena pretty much outright says that this statement was that assignment. So it's possible this is what happened after stopping the initial outcome.

Thirteen: The latest episode as of typing this, and the most clear with evidence. The man literally gains a fortune from his own misfortune, so ya know it's right there.

So every statement is a good thing turned bad or a bad thing turned good. So what? Magnus Archives had plenty of statements similarly framed, so why am I focusing on it here?

Because what is the tagline for Magnus Protocol again?

Fear takes many forms.

[loppiopio]

i've been sitting on this post for a few days now and it's literally just, me making assumptions about kudos i've noticed on fics lately (particularly aci since i've been checking that fic every week for book club these past few months) and this'll make me seem more insane than i already come off but by this point. how much lower can i go?

just going from top to down as of today.

[ShibaLee] i know you from your art on here!! tumblr user shibaleeart i'm happy to see more people in potentially enjoying the stories this fandom has to offer :>

[reiscm] shizuchansmilk?? what are youuu doing here? i didn't know you read shizaya fic tbh and i was surprised to see you here suddenly, relatively recently too. does that mean you just started the fic then?? after at least a year of being in the fandom right? maybe this wasn't from your first time reading it (same) but at the very least it shows you visited it not too long ago… i may be delusional in thinking i could be a contributing factor there because, why now? it's not like i'm the only aci advocate out there but i've probably been the most vocal about it around this time soo… well whatever it is, hope you had fun with it! i'm so curious what drrr comedian shizuchansmilk thinks about hit fanfiction a cheap imitation 👁️

i'm also recognising some of the other names around here like [anonymooose] and [durarasaiki] even though i haven't the faintest idea who they might be. i've just been seeing them lately across different shizaya fics which probably means these are the people doing their shizaya fic dive around this time. i have nothing more to add there i just, think it's cool noticing the same names across fics like yeah, we all feasting on the shizaya tag rn.

[ya_boi_twink] it took me a second to recall where i'd recognised your name from and then it hit me. i knoooow you! tumblr user yaboitwink in my notifs… i appreciate you, and i'm glad you liked the things i made for it c:

[bun_o_ween] oh i know you're here because of mr crapo. i hope you guys had fun with it! i wanna take the chance to also admit that like. the moment i found out you were that sebastian writer i experienced the wildest sense of deja vu. because. i had seen your name on ao3 before. but when i checked your fics there was no way i'd read a fic from you?? so then i realised i must have recognised you... through other kudos on other fics??? dude. i must sound crazy, i have no way of proving this because i actually don't remember what fics these were i just vaguely remember it was either bsd or tgcf? that i was looking at fics for, trying to find something to sate my hunger at the time. and i just remember, noticing your name across like a few of these fics in a row and thinking "heh someone else has been going down the same rabbit hole" AND NOW I SEE YOU AND CRAPO OF SHIZAYA FANDOM HITTING IT OFF it was surreal. like. my awareness of you had zero to do with black butler, i could not have predicted that you would have been the random ao3 user i'd seen apparently enjoying some of the same fics i was not too long ago. wow.

there are like two separate flamingo related names around here [niceflamingo] and [flamingoo] which doesn't mean anything but for some reason they are standing out enough for me to want to mention them. i feel like i've seen ao3 user flamingoo in the kudos of some other fic before but idk.

[Luzki] omg hey!! twitter artist vi_138_ woah hiii funny seeing you here :0 especially like. not so long ago? since i'd imagined you would've been aware of the fandom for a while since you seem more invested in the alts than shizuo and izaya in particular? well it was cool seeing that you'd read this one, i hope ya had fun!

[frogsarefriends] right under that is artist hallucxnating >:O i know they've read the fic already but it was cool to actually recognise their kudo down here, especially since it's like. not recognisable just from the name alone, but you've shared links to this ao3 as your writing so now i know it's you. my impression is that you came into the fandom through slavhew since, i'd connected the dots at some point that you two were friends which. made a lot of sense since i noticed you both started being active around here at the same time lol. but hey!! welcome to the club :D

[7FlyingPancakes7] this is one of the ones i'd noticed earlier on during book club, i distinctly remember checking a chapter while walking home one night (because i do that i guess) then BAM what the hell?? i just see tumblr user mari-lair's ao3 appear down there, totally out of nowhere for me. for context this was a writer from the tpn fandom i recognise from like 4 years ago? idk it's been a while, i didn't talk to them much but they were active in the fandom at the time so i'm familiar with their name. i haven't been keeping up with them but last i'd seen they seemed to be into tbhk with no indication as far as i was aware that they'd shown any interest in shizaya. nothing wrong with that it was just unexpected, so i was just like woah!! how did you get here? i am so curious how they may have come across this fic, was it some rec from a friend? how familiar are they with shizaya? how invested were they in the story and characters? enough to go down more of shizaya's greatest hits? anyways, that was just a fun little small world moment for me.

[psych0tastic] hey isn't this…. axietoh? like, the artist who used to draw shizaya like 5 years ago? what are they doing here so high up the list? 🤔 i have no clue lol i still follow them because i really like their art style but i hadn't noticed their interest in shizaya resurfacing... i suppose they just haven't been too active on these socials in general. anyways their name stood out to me and i was like, wait….. well it's a shocker seeing their name so high up here, were they reading this fic for the first time there or were they revisiting it and happened to have not kudo'd it until then? well anyways, it's nice to see they've revisted the fic within the last two years at least :0 that's cool to me.

[MiyukiWynter] dude i was feeling crazy just now trying to figure out where i'd recognised this name from because i'd swwooooorn i'd seen it from somewhere like as someone on twitter?? i think i was mixing them up in my mind with unrelated (as far as i'm aware) twitter user miiyankhr but turns out they're someone who's fics i've seen in the tags before. i haven't read them myself but apparently they just posted a new one two days ago so that's crazy.

[Dodomka] heyyy it's dodo from twitter, hellooo 👋 they've been the biggest supporter for my deep in the sauce fic tweets and for that i appreciate them very much :3 didn't expect to see them here tbh i wasn't aware of when they'd first read the fic but as i was expanding the list a few times to write up this post i noticed their name here and just thought that was neat. shout-out to them!

[mochi010] there's a user named mochi that has shown up in my twitter notifs somewhat regularly and they have nothing on their account so i have zero clue what they might be like outside from that they've been liking my shizuo and izaya retweets. their handle isn't even mochi so i have very little reason to believe this could be them but idk, maybe? no conclusion has been made here. well i already spent time writing and cleaning up the paragraph, guess i'm leaving it in.

shout-out to [ouiouipussay] and [ramenflavorpacketsnorter420] just for having some names that stand out lol. i don't recognise you from anywhere but, i guess now i will if i ever come across those names again.

[Stupidusernamepolicy] i struggled to find you amidst all these names for the writing of this post 💀 had to ctrl+f that shit. but i remember seeing your name here while i was going through the list some days before and being like "oh hey!! it's slavhew :)" but okay there's actually a tangent i've been wanting to go on from here.

outside of aci i've actually been noticing you and hallucxnating double duo'ing under some fics together, like after the story era which i'd reread after hallu reminded me of its existence in a reply, and also sacramental which i had reread because of your reply, lol. i find this quite funny, just like. this visual representation of you two reading and recommending fics with each other. then you talk about it on twitter and more people like me are visiting this fic too. chain reaction of sharing stories :)

ALSO [anonymooose] and [durarasaiki] spotted down here in some of these kudos too!! that's craazy. wow. i tell you guys i'm recognising these names i'm not just crazy 😭

[NotElectricT] this took me a second to dig up again since it's quite buried down that list at this point but the plan i'd had in mind for this post was to end on this one since i saw them kudo it right in front of me (through the vc stream) and i didn't think this post would get as long as it did but... well i already wrote it 😬 but yeah, this is my good friend note! check out this art they made for, still one of their favourite chapters, sharks fly. it's sandwiched in between some squid game au they made for a gift exchange for me..... it's a long story i don't wanna talk about it (embarrassing......)

but what i do wanna talk about!! is how note (referred to as "patient zero" regarding aci book club by the only other patient lol) just decided to read this fic completely of their own volition?? i didn't tell them to do that and for sure didn't expect them of all people to try reading it, ever (they're not really a fic reader) but they just did that, two years ago. and that was like, insane to me at the time because it's seriously so out of their depth guys they don't do enemies to lovers.... they still don't lol. but i was insane about this fic back then with no one to really be insane about it to so i just yelled about it to these friends out of context and i guess???? that was convincing enough to get this one to start the longest fic they'd ever read 💀

i had much fun having someone experience the fic i'd been insane over..... like i'm smiling about it rn thinking about the time i did a live reading of the chainsaw man (as i like to call him) chapter which was so fun i kinda forgot i had a hamilton musical i was supposed to watch that evening... that was awkward. and other chats we exchanged regarding the fic (they were reading chapters whenever they felt like it which i enjoyed because i like pacing these things out) but for some reason (i think things just happened around the time that disrupted the momentum) they never made it past chapter 26 😔 which was tragic to me but oh well....

well i'm am even more insane about this fic now because of this convoluted chain of events that gradually built and cascaded me towards whatever the fuck i'm doing now!! god. i've never made so much, anything, like ever. until now. because both note and rosa (who has not kudo'd this fic as far as i'm aware lol) made the decision beyond my expectations to commit to, a book club. which i organised. and i've been having a lot of fun! so much fun, there's all this wild "marketing" stuff i've been churning out in record fucking time by my standards. i've never felt so creatively fulfilled dude, never finished a thing in my life until these past few months. so that's awesome, and it's in large part because of note having committed to this fic again. so that's some of the story behind that one kudo haha.

and now we're at chapter 49, we're supposed to be talking about it tomorrow, which is today by now since it's 1 am but uhhhhhhh writing is so hard. i was supposed to just be cleaning up this draft i'd written like 5 days ago? i am now very hungry. there's actually more i'd drafted up from here just from more names i recognised as i kept expanding the kudo list that day buuuut i'm fuckeeeen cutting this off right here. i need to stop. the end.

[mediocrityprinciple]

03/31/2024

CW // implied suicide, transphobia/homophobia, pet death mention

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-

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Today is a hard day for me.

As a queer, trans person, TDOV should be a day of celebration. However, every TDOV is a stark reminder of one of the worst experiences in my life - one that continues to affect me to this day.

Add to that my fundamentalist christian upbringing and the religious trauma that accompanies it - well. Today is /particularly/ hard.

On March 31st, 2015, I was 18 years old and finally (or so I thought) coming to terms with my identity as an agender/nonbinary/genderqueer sapphic person. I posted on my (since deleted) tumblr with a couple selfies to celebrate TDOV, something I NEVER did on tumblr - and a mistake I will likely never repeat. My anxiety about sharing photos of myself online on particular accounts has never really gone away but it's something that I've grown more comfortable with over the years. Two days after posting, I was met with horrible vitrol from the person that was my best friend, the person I was head over heels in love with (without realizing it) and the person who I admired and respected and cared about more than anything. (Honestly, looking back, I think it was more of an unhealthy romanticization/obsession than anything but that is something I am still coming to terms with - it was a classic sapphic high school experience tbh.) At some point she had found my tumblr account and been keeping tabs on it - apparently this was her breaking point. [Note: I would share screenshots but I deleted them years ago after reading and re-reading the things that were said to me and frankly I have no desire to try to dig them up from my old files]

This broke me. Her hatred towards me broke me.

The only reason I survived those first couple days was for my pet rabbit (who passed less than a week later and whose death I still blame on myself.)

It's been nearly nine years since that day and I have learned and grown and matured as a person - including getting away from some of the incredibly unhealthy delusions I had at the time (I was DEEPLY involved in otherkin + OSDD/DID tumblr and was dissociating heavily at this period of my life. I want to be clear, I was not "faking" I was severely mentally ill and frankly, the messages from my "best friend" helped me re-examine some of my delusions and eventually heal from them).

Regardless of the passage of time, there is still a Wound surrounding TDOV that I cannot separate from the day. What should be a day of joy and celebration always reminds me of what I lost and the nightmares that plagued me for years (and on occasion still do).

Ironically, She reached out to me back in 2018 and we had reconciled for a time. But as of today it's been three years since she's responded to my messages. The last time I texted her was to wish her happy birthday (a date that also falls this week).

In 2018 I thought I had healed from the experience. I had accepted what had happened and when she contacted me to apologize I welcomed the chance to be friends again. I don't regret this, but I do feel like a fool for reopening that wound. I opened myself up to the hope of rekindling our friendship only to be hurt all over again (albeit in a different way.) She does not owe me friendship, but neither do I owe her forgiveness.

The nightmares have started again and this week and this day is a reminder of the trauma that I experienced losing a friend, losing a pet, and losing my identity (for a time.)

I look forward to the day that I can celebrate Trans Day of Visibility with pride. I look forward to the day that it doesn't remind me of her. I look forward to the day that I can - once again - accept what happened is part of the reason I am who I am and acknowledge that forgiveness is a virtue. I took a chance and it backfired. I was hurt all over again. And the worst part? If she texted me right now? I would probably respond. Because I still care about her in some way and I still have hope that we could be friends.

But she won't. And I won't. Because while forgiveness is a virtue, I am not willing to let her hurt me again. I'm done.

Maybe in another 9 years I can be proud to celebrate this day untainted by bad memories. But until then, I am happy to see trans joy on my timeline. Trans people exist. We exist in many forms with many experiences from many walks of life. We are here to stay no matter what the world throws at us. I'm so glad to still be here. And even though today is hard for me now, it won't always be.

Happy Trans Day of Visibility. Keep spreading your joy, one day I will join you. <3

[canonically-a-genloser]

Ranboo x Insomniac Reader (no pronouns used) (ANONBOO REVEAL LOL)

AN: FIRST HEADCANON FIC THING LET'S GOOOO :D Again, this is my first time writing for Tumblr so please don't judge me if it's awful-

Ranboo x insomniac reader/reader who just has a hard time sleeping in general

-so first off when he found out he looked it up. first thing. he's mainly just looking for ways he can help even though he can't be with you all the time.

-he also makes sure to let you know that he's willing to stay up with you and chat or just be awake. he will text you, call you, FaceTime you, whatever you feel up to. he tries his hardest to let you know he's not burdened at all by doing so

-sleepovers. he's definitely gonna come over sometimes if you really can't sleep, and sometimes it even ends up turning into a chill stream night (again, only if you felt up to it). if not, there's other ways he'll try and distract you. dad jokes being his number one go-to because this is Ranboo

-be ready for a ton of snacks. mostly just candy and chips, maybe an uncaffeinated pop. he will be ready to spoil you.

-on that note, he will also give you his youtooz plushies 1000%.

-thinks you're really cute just sitting there hugging them as you watch the show you've picked together.

-really all-around sweet. probably has to get used to figuring out what to do

-but once he knows what works for you he'll do his absolute best to make sure you can at least get a little bit of sleep.

-he's trying so hard

OKAY SO THAT'S ALL I GOT HOPE YOU LIKE (: WILL PROBABLY EDIT LATER AS WELL SO WE'LL SEE (also I don't have a divider picture yet you know what I mean. DON'T HAVE ONE SO I GAVE YOU RANBOO ✨

I wanna thank @lyssys for inspiring me to write for the purpose of posting (which I haven't done since 2020). I know you don't write for Ranboo but I still love your writing and it helps me through so much :3 This is honestly a really cool thing to be experiencing, it's been too long since I've written anything for other people and I'm glad to be back!

I hope you're doing well and thanks for reading everyone!

If enough people like this maybe I'll do more or even write a one-shot based on this even though it was kinda self-indulgent ngl-

Also if anyone has requests I will try and do them!! Only Ranboo at the moment, I'm new to this stuff and starting school soon so I don't wanna start into this way too much, but yeah! Thanks again if you got this far :D XD get used to me rambling tbh it happens a lot

[1111jenx]

Hi,🤍 I appreciate your blog! It has helped me to learn more about astrology. Could you give some learning tips on astrology? Did you learn from books or went study to astrology school? How old were you when you started to study about it? If you don't want to answer it's okay.💖

Hi luv,

Honestly I'm soooo blessed to have you guys with me throughout my journey;) I was so lowkey on here for the longest time ever and had like 10 followers when I have been undercover for years haha

Also, your kind words are too much and honestly make me feel so appreciated hehe butttt to answer your questions luv:

1. tips i wanna give yall: buy. astrology. book. please!!!! even the pdf version if you don't paperback😭 they're usually written by credible astrologers/ people that dedicated their whole life to astrology and put in work as well as relatively huge scale research! (years of observations and notes guys!! years!!!) some of my favs author so far are Chris Brennan book on Hellenistic Astrology, Predictive Astrology by Ricke💗(changed my life), Celeste Teal on Planetary Triggers!!!(in depth, interesting takes) Also the second tip is too always learn more and expand your knowledge!!! others knowledge are as amazing as yours and clashes in opinions usually generate GREAT convos and discussions🖤 last tip is too always CITE. gosh i can not stress this enough. i've seen sooooo many time when people(esp on platforms such as twitter,ig and tumblr) abuse others work and didn't credit the astrologer/author for their information and studies/observations. this is why works on tumblr are always so repetitive since no one ever credit the OG author it's rly rly sad😭 it's horrible for smth as such to happen and for bloggers who put in the effort, this is very demotivating y'all:( tag the OG authors if you wanna repost or use their info please! as someone who just started to share my knowledge, I've already experienced this

2. I didn't go to school for astrology luv! I'm actually working towards a science&business degree haha🤣 But i would say that reading books 100000% expand my knowledge as well as constantly spending hours on Astrologers websites haha! I'm so fortunate to come across Nikola Stojanovic's websites when I first started and this completely transformed my journey🥰 A lot of reputable black/LGBTQ+ friendly astrologers also strongly affected my take on astrology! (Matthew Swann on Bitcoin War and @iJaadee on twitter for example!)

3. Regarding how old I was when I started. Phewwwww I think I started pretty early on! I grew up in a fairly religious family yet my mother has always been lowkey so fascinated with astrology, so I was introduced to the basic concenpt of witchcraft and astro when I was very very young. But tbh with y'all, I think I was in middle school when I started to pick up on astrology seriously! I have been studying astrology for wayyyyy too long imo but after years of studying it, I still feel like a newbie and get so so excited learning new info(mercury in gemini thang y'all😃)

i have many many tips i wanna share to you guys tbh🥺 please don't hesitate to ask more questions below! i can't wait to geek out on astro with y'all <3

love,

saint jenx🥀

[iamanartichoke]

I haven't watched any of the Loki episodes yet (I'm procrastinating) but I keep seeing vague stuff about some big chasm between how Tom sees Loki and how apparently a lot of fans see Loki. Could you give me some specifics? Other than Loki mentioning his interest in sexes other than female I've heard nothing that could cause this kind of discourse.

I don't know if I'm the best person to ask, as I know others have articulated it much better than I can, and who may feel more strongly than I do that their Loki and Tom's Loki don't align so much anymore. Not tagging anyone bc of reasons (but feel free to comment/reblog if you wish to talk about it).

But, I do know a decent amount, so I'll proceed to write five thousand words try.

My understanding overall, is that Tom has always spoken very eloquently about Loki as a complex, fractured character who was functioning from a place of deep pain as opposed to any real villainy or evil.

(cut for length)

He was never saying any of it as an excuse for Loki's actions but as an explanation of where Loki was coming from and how he ended up in that place to start with. This mostly refers to the 2011-2013 era Loki, before the "reboot." Because so many fans viewed Loki the same way - as complex, as broken, as coming from a place of pain - there was validation, I suppose, in knowing that the actor who played the character (and whose performance was largely responsible for the character being so enigmatic and appealing in the first place) shared this view.

After the reboot with TR, Tom seemed to lean more heavily on the "god of mischief" aspect of Loki - he'd often say that his job was to have fun bc Loki was always mischievously having fun. While Loki had always been funny in a snarky, sardonic kind of way, and the "mischief" he'd get into was always just for fun and relatively harmless, after TR he was more silly-funny or slapstick funny ("funny") and his mischief was framed as a little more malicious (such as using magic to trick and then stab Thor when they were children).

So it seemed like a big departure from the previous Loki that Tom always spoke so eloquently about, and I think it's notable that when promoting TR, Tom didn't really delve into the psychology of Loki much at all when he'd talk about the character - just the "fun." So there was that. At the time, people figured it was bc he had very little control or say in what the director chose to do with his character.

Now, though, Tom has a lot more creative control (although I don't think he actually has all that much, certainly not as much as some people think he does, tbh), but while he's once again talking about Loki's psychology and identity issues and trauma and whatnot as context and backstory, he also still seems to be leaning into the "god of mischief" parts and the silly-funny parts. The show furthermore has yet to address what Loki experienced with Thanos in between Thor 2011 and Avengers, has failed to address his identity crisis after discovering he is Jotun (a throwaway 'I was adopted' line doesn't really count), etc.

So there's a lot that Tom has spoken about in Loki's story that is very much not being included in the series. Furthermore, while Tom discusses Loki's complexity when doing press, he has also said things that imply he has an idea of humiliation being a core aspect of Loki, or that Loki is someone who constantly needs to be knocked down a few pegs, or that he thinks he's profound but actually isn't, etc. I know in the past he's also made comments about Loki's mental health and how Loki might go about recovering from it, but his perspective on that whole area didn't ring true to a lot of Loki fans who also suffer from mental health issues.

So all of these things together, to some fans, makes it seem like Tom's current idea of Loki - whether it's bc he wants to do something new, or has changed as an actor, or whatever the case may be - is still a departure from the 2011-2013 era Loki and, thus, does not align with their own interpretation of Loki. Hence, a chasm appears.

^^ All of this is for context, which I tried to give as objectively as possible. Now, as far as discourse about it goes, I can't speak to that very much. Nobody that I know is angry at Tom or "betrayed" by Tom or feeling anything negative toward Tom as a person. They are, however, feeling that they may need to re-evaluate how much of Tom's interpretation they put stock into as they engage with the character, and kinda where to go from here. But I can't emphasize enough that no one acts like this is Tom's responsibility or that Tom somehow did them dirty. I also can't emphasize enough that there's nothing wrong with Tom's version and he genuinely seems to be enjoying what they've created here, and that's fabulous. There's no wank about that, at least not that I've seen from my fandom corner.

So that's the situation from the tumblr side. However, because Tom has been the "face" of the Loki series all this time, and because he's been hyped up as having so much say and influence and ideas to contribute, a lot of people got the idea that the Loki of the series would be exactly the Loki that Tom wanted to play. And when, inevitably, the show went in directions that people didn't like (my understanding is that this is mostly coming down to shipping nonsense, which I'm not even going to touch), Tom was blamed. And that's where this "discourse" is coming from, as far as I know. I don't have any real first hand facts, but people are saying that Tom's been getting death threats on social media from fans who are outraged about the Sylvie thing, or outraged about how the bisexual component is being handled, or whatever. Since this is pretty much par for the course in fandoms, I believe it.

But it seems like the shipping nonsense has gotten all tangled up in the dissatisfaction in the aspects of Loki's story that aren't being told, and in the difference in Tom's comments about Loki now vs back then, and it just ends up being a recipe for discourse, wank, and drama. So to answer your question, the chasm between Tom's Loki and some fans' Loki is the result of ... *gestures at massive wall of text* this.