#this is from 2020 as far as I can tell and I think everyone involved should be put down like dogs

[are-we-really-doing-this]

Kill me, did you know? I hate everything and everyone.

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

Barrister Law USA on Twitter has said the Harkles are living apart. We may be advised to take every post by accounts online ‘with a grain of salt’ but when multiple blogs and accounts are posting the same thing, something must be going on.

Barrister Law is not credible. They’re a lawyer in the southern US who has a medical emergency every time they get called out or challenged by the twitterati. Someone who can’t handle the heat isn’t someone who has trustworthy gossip.

But a broken clock is right twice a day.

And, do you know why we always say “take with salt” when it comes to internet gossip? Because it’s all anonymous sources that cannot be verified from anonymous accounts that cannot be authenticated. We have no idea if everyone is using the same sources. We have no idea if people are making things up. We have no idea if the sources are legitimate or if they have a grudge or if they have actual connections or if there’s bias involved.

I’ve said this before and I’ll say this again: Just because multiple accounts and blogs are talking about the same thing, it doesn’t mean it’s actually happening. All it means is that those accounts and those blogs are in the same echo chamber and share many of the same users/visitors. That’s why it’s important to diversify where you get your news (or gossip) from, so you get out of that echo chamber so you can see what is really happening.

So for me, when I see the same stories on my spectrum of websites, that tells me something is brewing - because I know liberal publications and bloggers absolutely do not have the same sources as conservative publications and bloggers.

For the record, since many are asking:

CDAN and Enty do completely make things up themselves but they do have good connections to Hollywood PR

DeuxMoi also makes things up and has gone on the record saying they make things up. Not trustworthy at all.

Exposing SMG takes gossip and analysis from other blogs and websites and repackages it as their own.

I do believe that Lady C has sometimes-knowledgeable sources but she keeps moving the goalposts for The Big Sussex Takedown so her accuracy is doubtful. I think she makes some things bigger to keep her audience and viewers engaged.

BarkJack/TLF has bonafide journalism credentials but I doubt their sources are still in the know because everything they take credit for happened years ago and their scoops are so vague (to protect their sources, as they always claim) because it lets them take credit for everything no matter how it actually happens.

Astrology and tarot is all subjective based on the reader and the reader’s own biases and I don’t consider their readings to have any authority until after a prediction has come to pass.

But what I do note about astrology and tarot is that when several people on different platforms who I know don’t know each other are saying the same/similar things, that’s worth paying attention to. And so far, that “universal signal” (if you will) has only happened three times: in mid-2017 when many of these began picking up on a new baby for the Cambridges, in 2020 or 2021 (I’ll have to find my notes to double-check specific dates) when those sites noted a pregnancy loss for the Cambridges, and this summer when they were seeing big changes in store for the Sussexes October/November. While these sites are saying different causes (Sussex divorce/separation, the children and LOS issues, the children’s titles, Charles modernizing, Charles dying, Sussexes returning) they’re all citing October/November timeframe. That’s worth paying attention to, IMO.

I don’t watch any of the royal YouTubers so I can’t comment on any of them.

Reddit is kinda a crapshoot. It’s hit or miss. SMM gets good gossip but the channel and most of its commentariat have huge angry biases against the Sussexes so I always question how much of it is real and how much of it is exaggerated for engagement. The Royal Gossip sub is fairer but they also cover all royals everywhere and sometimes you may have to dig.

Quora is definitely a crapshoot. Christopher Jones/Jackson/Johnson (I forget his last name) started out credible but lately seems to be more fantastist and I’m not sure that he’s as credible or believable any more.

[thebroccolination]

THE WAY KRIST INCLUDES WOMEN

[left: Krist and Namtan; right: Krist and his sister]

Once, my friend had the opportunity to work with a singer from a group I used to follow. When the project was done, I asked my friend what she thought of him, and she said, “He’s fine,” but I could tell something about the experience bothered her. After a few minutes of talking about the job itself, she said, “You know what it was about him? He doesn’t care about women. Like, he wasn’t rude to me or anything. He didn’t say anything negative about women, and he didn’t treat any woman on the project poorly that I saw. He just doesn’t think about us. At all. Whenever I met with him to discuss the project, or whenever we’d have small talk about culture or society or whatever, it just became abundantly clear that his whole life and worldview is very male-centric. I’m used to men being openly patronizing or downright malicious, and like, this guy’s whole career has been female-facing, so I went into those interactions expecting him to be either extremely cool with women or a total misogynist. But nah. He’s just, y’know. A man who doesn’t include women in his world. Other than that, he’s fine.”

I thought about that for the rest of the week. I’d been a fan of this guy’s group for years, and his group had been all men in a company of all men. He’d been on TV shows with women, of course, and I remember him being friendly with some former costars, but all the people I knew from his inner circle were, in fact, men. I was in my late twenties at the time, and I remember thinking, “There’s something inherently odd and exploitative about famous men who make their career off the money and support of women but don’t include women in their personal lives.”

It’s something I’ve paid attention to ever since. When I became a fan of Boun, for example, I noticed that he has female friends from university, and that he was extremely protective of all the girls in Wabi Sabi, which made me feel confident that he was a good egg. By that same token, I’ve also noticed when other actors are predominantly friends with men, and when they only seem to view women as support systems or sources of personal validation.

Krist is just…comfortable with women. And more importantly, women are comfortable with Krist.

[Krist and Mook]

Back in 2020, I noticed two things about Krist regarding women: 1) he had a crush on Namtan (don’t we all), and 2) after SOTUS, GMMTV steered Krist away from BL to star in lakorns opposite women.

That was fairly standard. Just a famous dude existing around women for work. No red flags, no green.

What I noticed over time is that Krist is still close with a lot of the women he worked with, and that his inner circle includes women.

And when I say those women are comfortable with him, I mean that not just in a, “He’s fine,” sort of sense. They’re comfortable goofing around with him, being physically close to him, and hanging out with him. They speak highly of his character, about how he treats them as a senior, a junior, a coworker.

[left: Krist and Mook; right: Aye with Krist and Gawin]

Last year, Aye went so far as to say that in all of GMMTV, she felt closest to Krist and Gawin partly because they made her experience making Be My Favorite so warm and comfortable when usually these male-oriented productions can alienate the women involved. She’d also worked with Krist before, and she said she feels completely at ease with him.

The work part I had backed up recently by a woman my friend spoke to: she said Krist goes out of his way to include every single person involved in a production. Not just the actors, but the crew and the staff as well. Rather than form a small clique with the people he already knows, Krist makes everyone feel like they’re in his clique. He treated everyone with respect regardless of age, gender, or role in the production.

[left: Krist and Godji; center: Godji’s birthday message to Krist; right: Jennie’s birthday message to Krist]

He’s famously devoted to his mothers, both his industry mother Godji who’s been looking out for him for years, and his birth mother pictured below from an episode of ArmShare (with English subtitles) in which Arm features Krist’s mother and shows how lovely and supportive their relationship is.

In the late 90s and early 00s, Krist’s family went into debt, and he took thankless jobs in university to try and help them out of it. The success of SOTUS is what got his family all the way into the green, and to this day Krist freely gives his parents access to the money he makes so they can live a better life. They still work (his mother’s office is pictured above), but because of Krist, they’re able to relax into their older age.

He’s also been actively protective of MilkLove over the past several months. When he interviewed them for Livehouse, they were noticeably open and confident in their answers. And yesterday, when MilkLove, KristSingto, and JoongDunk arrived in Singapore for their fan meetings today, the chaos in the airport created some genuine panic among security and the artists themselves.

In the video, you’ll see a man in a red shirt who was dogging MilkLove with his phone stretched out to capture himself with them. Krist, in gray, stretched his arm out to shield them from him. He and Singto did their best among the madness to protect MilkLove from the overzealous fans and from the confused security guard who pushed Milk out of the way thinking she was a fan, too.

Surging crowds like that are terrifying enough for anyone, but especially for women when they’re being actively pursued by larger men with no respect for their physical space. Krist and Singto both understand from personal experience how wild these situations can get, and I’m relieved they were both so quick to act for MilkLove’s safety.

I thought I must’ve made a thread or a post about this before, but I only really mentioned it once in a tweet a few months ago, so after this incident with MilkLove, I decided to zero in on one of my favorite things about him. Because these days, it’s not enough for me that a man is neutral about women. For me to support any man’s career, he has to be actively kind, actively supportive, and actively sharp with the men who aren’t.

The days of neutrality as the standard are firmly in the past, and it’s important to hold expectations for men high—especially famous men.

[alwida10]

i'm confused on your stance on the israel/palestine situation. You mainly reblog pro-israel things, and never reblog anything about palestinians (unless it's something like "look at these palestinians who condemn hamas"). but you have also reblogged the occasional post condemning/recognizing the terrors of the israeli government? And you've also written in tags before denying what is happening to the palestinian people as being genocide (i think)?

so i am so confused. Are you pro israel? anti israel? and if you post about and recognize the wrongness of past genocides like the holocaust (as you should, rightfully so), why do you refuse to give the mass killing of palestinians any attention? even if there are israeli citizens who are being wrongfully targeted during all this, why does only that upset you and not the thousands more palestinian civilians being targeted? i'm just so confused? and i mean.. aren't you a mother? how can you look at thousands of children dying and only post about the side that is currently suffering less deaths?

Short answer: I’m pro-lasting-peace and anti-terrorism. The deaths of people, especially of those extreme numbers of people are devastating and a catastrophe. This isn’t a typical war. It’s a double-hostage situation where the perpetrator hides the Israeli hostages behind the Palestinian hostages. And that needs to end soon! And most importantly – it has to stay peaceful for good. Natanyahu will not be helping with that, but the Hamas will rather have every child in Gaza die a painful death than to give up their hostages – may it be the ones everyone calls “hostages” or the Palestinian civilians, who are just as much hostages of greedy, immoral, old men.  

I share posts that reflect, at least partially, my personal view. I like posts I generally sympathize with but include messages opposite to my personal view for sharing. Most social media pro-Israel posts are closer to my personal stance than most social media pro-Palestine posts are. The position of the state of Israel is even further removed from my personal stance, hence my criticism. The Hamas has the opposite goal, hence my even more pronounced criticism.

Long answer:

Real world politics are complex. Everyone who tells you they were not is lying and either trying to manipulate you or being manipulated themselves. (Such as this post.) There are never only two sides to it. Reducing it to two sides is a tool of manipulation.

There is a war going on and manipulation is a common and extremely efficient tool of modern warfare and we (everyone on social media) are a part of that. You might think that the conflict (several conflicts, since I’ll talk about Ukraine, too) is far away and does not include “us” (such as people in Europe and the US). That’s a wrong. Remember for a moment 2016 – 2017, when Trump was elected president of the United States. People who were aware and thinking critically realized even before the election that social media was swarming with Russian bots. These bots did their best to manipulate people into not voting, or voting third party. The leaked emails of Hillary were a part of the manipulation, eliminating Trump’s opposition.People fell for the manipulation and four years of LGBTQIA+ suffering, children-in-cages and destabilization of the NATO (the alliance against Russia) followed. Afterwards a lot of evidence for the Russian manipulation surfaced. But then it was too late. The people had been manipulated into helping the bad guys. The same manipulation repeated with the Brexit (2016-2020) ruining many chances of young people in the UK and further destabilization of the NATO. That’s why you should learn how to recognize manipulation and whenever you feel like there could be some involved think who might profit from it. Yes, people learned and that’s why you see all the “VOTE!! FFS VOTE!” posts making their rounds. Especially now, since elections of the US and of the EU are close.

How to manipulate someone: Make them think that they are fighting for a good cause (on surface level). But in truth this “good cause” only serves you, the manipulator. The people voting for Trump thought they voted for a better future, for having more money, for being safer. The people voting for Brexit thought basically the same. The Germans who voted Adolf Hitler into office had been desperate. The country had just lost the first world war. The economy war on the floor, ruined by the reparation payments Germany had to pay. The people worked hard, and still were unable to afford anything but (sometimes not even) the basic necessities. There were no future perspectives for them or their children. (Does that sound familiar?) Hitler promised to make “Germany great again”. He said the Arien people were a good, upstanding race. That Germany didn’t deserve having its colonies and land taken away by force. He said Germans were being threatened and close to extinction. He said that the Jews wanted to corrupt and annihilate the Germans.

Another tool of manipulation is the incorrect use of language to rile people up so they won’t think rationally anymore. If someone says “Person A is a pedophile and a rapist!” and it turns out Person A is trans and not a rapist, there is a solid chance said someone wanted to manipulate you by making you angry so you will rage against Person A without cross checking. If someone says “this is a genocide” that means fraction A is intentionally and efficiently trying to kill fraction B. It means they aim where the most people are. It means they don’t do anything to help anyone of the fraction B. The fact alone that we know where the IDF will strike next is a clear indicator Israel is in fact warning the civilians. It would not do so, if the aim was to annihilate every single Palestinian.

It’s the aim that makes the difference. IF Israel wanted to kill all Palestinians they would have very efficient tools to do so. And even if it’s hard to imagine a number 28 thousand deaths (as on 12.Feb.2024 as “small”, they still are. These numbers mean there are about 1555 deaths per week in average. In comparison, during the holocaust, Germany killed 17 Million people between 1.September 1939 and 1945. In average that have been 61.594 deaths each week. So why would someone willfully equal these two vastly different numbers? If someone says “genocide” to a military occupation of the west bank or the civil causalities during a counter strike against the Hamas who knowingly proclaimed war against the state of Israel, than there is a solid chance this person is trying to manipulate you by using emotionally charged wording instead of what can and has been proven – a military occupation. “But killing so many people is bad regardless what you call it” you might argue, and I agree. That’s why I criticize the Israeli government. Also, soldiers using the war to do unforgivable things, looting, beating people who have surrendered – this all has to be punished.

“So, why does it matter what you call it?” you might ask, and I sigh. Many, many Pro-Palestine posts aim to manipulate people from the noble point of being against the killing of Palestinians into being for the Hamas getting away with killing and raping Israelis (both Jewish and Muslims) and keeping the Israeli hostages (some of which might have gotten pregnant by rape - which might be a reason these particular girls/women have not been released as of yet). Calling what happens a “genocide” is manipulating you into that, because it takes away the rational reasoning. It takes away the rightful wish of Israeli civilians living in peace. It implies it was death and destruction simply born from being evil Jews who hate Palestinians so they want to kill them all. The moment you call the stuff going on a “genocide” and call for a ceasefire without the return of ALL hostages you become the equivalent of the people who voted for Trump or Brexit in good faith. It means you are speaking up for the hostages remaining slaves, the Bibas children and their mom remaining in the hands of their captors, and that killing Jewish women and men as well as raping them is an act that should not be punished.

5.Another way to manipulate people and radicalize is to establish a “we versus them” mindset where you have to choose between two positions, which are both extremes. What you did in your ask - claiming I would only reblog pro-Palestine posts when they condemned Hamas - that erases the part that said post focused a lot on the situation for the victims. You erased the nuance. But the nuance is where a possible solution can be found that does not includes shrugging while accepting that some children will be victims of decade old hate.

6. If you know a child gets abused and beaten by its parents you can treat its wounds, so YOU feel better, but in the end, when the child has to go back into the abusive environment you won’t have changed anything that really matters. You might have made it worse, even. If you really want to help the child you need to get it out of the abusive situation. The Hamas are the abusive parents in this analogy. It’s no secret they don’t care for their people. Pro-Palestine posts like to claim the Hamas would not hide behind civilians, schools, hospitals, or mosques. That is a lie. They do. They don’t give civilians shelter in their tunnels, they say “you have to go to the UN for help” when Palestinians ask for food, they steal humanitarian aid and SELL it to the refugee Palestinians. They don’t participate in projects to give Gaza its own water supply, and even demolish the structures build by outsiders like the EU and the US to build weapons from it.

When the British mandate was transformed into the state of Israel, the Palestinian people became refugees. Normally, refugees search refuge in countries where they become citizens and can build a normal life, work, get children, build an existence. Their children would no longer be considered refugees. They would be citizens of the new country. This happened at first, until Yassir Arafat (an Egyptian, NOT Palestinian) realized that the UN was willing to pay money for each refugee.

This money is normally intended to provide humanitarian aid for the people who are not able to build an existence. He went forward and build a system (including the UNWRA) that would do something unique. Unlike all other refugees, Palestinians stay refugees over generations, ripping away their possibility to create a true life. And all the money the UN pays (the major part originating from the US, Europe and Germany) goes not to the refugees. But to the Hamas, because these are the official leaders of the Palestinians in Gaza. You see – Arafat has actually developed a magnificent way to make himself and his friends rich by holding the Palestinian people in poverty and forced dependance. The Hamas use the money to build weapons and tunnels. But that’s not even the worst part. Because they need more than tunnels and weapons. They need people operating the weapons and using the tunnels. In fact, a dispute between the UNRWA and the Hamas happened in 2009, as the UNRWA (allegedly) wanted to include lessons on the holocaust into the curriculum of middle schools in Gaza.  That would have been contrary to what the Hamas wants. It wants to manipulate the Palestinian children into hating Jewish people, and dreaming of killing them all, so one day the children will grow up to be willing Hamas fighters. ). Here is a quote from the linked article: 

It was not just limited to history, social studies and religion — with a math book using an image of Palestinians hitting Israeli soldiers with slingshots to describe Newton’s second law of motion, the report said. Dead terrorists are also called “martyrs” throughout the books — with one ninth-grade math book using the term for Fatah leader Khalil al-Wazir, who led the 1978 massacre of 38 civilians, including 13 children, Bild noted. Most maps used in the books entirely erase the state of Israel, dubbing it a “Zionist occupation” and calling the entire region of Israel, Gaza Strip and the West Bank “Palestine,” the reports said.

The Hamas takes the money intended to help Palestinians. Today, all leaders of the Hamas are billionaires. They could use their billions to help their people. But they do not. Because they do not care for their Palestinian hostages.

Because basically, we don’t have a Israel-wants-its-hostages-back-and-commits-mass-murder-situation. We have a double-hostage situation. At first, the Hamas took all the civilians of Gaza hostage. They use them as a meat shield, to recruit new cannon fodder from and to manipulate the international community into seeing the Jews as the problem. Then they took Israelien hostages and basically hid them behind the Palestinian hostages. Natanyahu, the moron rushed his well-trained and highly motivated soldiers against the Palestinian hostages, because he doesn’t care for them. The Hamas likes that, because they can now claim Israel “martyred” the Palestinian hostages. In the end, they just die for the hate and political ambitions of old, hateful, greedy men.

As a mother, this breaks my heart and makes me so so angry. And looking at my peers and friends joyfully joining the antisemitism train (EXACTLY what the Hamas wants them to do) and marching off to attack Jewish people who had NO part for all this mess – that makes me lose my last hope in humanity.

[ofmermaidstories]

hey!! so i'm rereading something just like this right now to prepare for reading the new chapter and i was just wondering if you've ever thought about making a traditionally published book?? of course fan fiction is a legitimate form of artistry and i don't ask this to demean your work AT ALL but ur writing style is so elegant and descriptive while being easy to digest and i think that you would make and absolute killing in the industry if u ever did decide to write a traditionally published book

anyways feel free to disregard this ask if it's something you've already answered before or don't feel the urge to answer!! i love all of your work and am waiting patiently yet intensely for more!! thanks for everything that you do<3

Hello!!! You are very sweet to say so, Anon, lmao. I would love to make a killing in the industry. 😌 Some monies for fancy manicures and iced lattes and other lil treats. 😌

I actually have thought about trying my luck pursuing traditional publishing! I mean—I have a finished manuscript, LMFAO. It’s the first in a duology! It needs editing (rewriting, really), because I finished it in like, February 2020 and then proceeded to get distracted by the lockdown and the terrible decision to download tiktok (which opened my eyes to BNHA and self-insert fanfic), but it’s done. 📖

It’s Young Adult, because I am always writing for the teenager I was, and is multi-POV’d between our three leads (a grump of boy and the two girls that now have to protect him) and involves them causing wilful damage, in order, to some downtown traffic, the school grounds (multiple times), a grocery store and lastly each other’s (and their own) feelings. 🥹

For a long time I lived in this story, like I do now with my fics—talking to everyone about it, making it everyone else’s problem, fretting over plot choices, etc etc. Taking it from a tentative idea to a outline to finally finishing the first draft was the first time I’d ever completed one of my stories. 🥺 I’ve drawn the main characters over and over again, made them playlists, dedicated notebooks to the story and it’s world—I believe in it fully and absolutely, not because I think it’s anything groundbreaking, but because it’s exactly the kind of story 16-year-old me would’ve curled around and used to daydream with. 🥺

But idk. I’m not very ambitious by nature, lmfao, and you have to be in order to jump through the hoops you need to when it comes to traditional publishing. If there was a way to protect my lil story and still share it freely, without worrying about someone stealing it and sending it to a publisher with their own name slapped over the top, then I would. 🥹 I’ve always liked telling stories. Verbally, to the younger kids in the neighbourhood. In a school notebook that I made my friends read. On roleplaying forums. Uquiz! I’d love to be able to walk into a bookstore and find my book and be like “hehehe that’s mine >:)” but if it never panned out for whatever reason (not finding an agent, for example, or a interested publisher) then—oh well! I did my job; the story got told, even if it was only to me. 📝🌷

Either way, tbh we have more important things to worry about—a traditionally published book is a far-off, future maybe dependant on other people that might never happen. Finishing the Deku fic, on the other hand? It’s right here, right now, and is something I can do by myself. 😌 I will work hard on giving it the end it and u deserve, Anon. 😌 Thank-you for being here. 💖🌷🪻🌾

[introvertedlass]

You are honestly the most reasonable blog on here (that believes in PR). Some of the others I've seen used to be respectable but now are veering scarily/dangerously towards Qanon, which is a shame, bc it's discrediting a lot of good blogs who understand PR in HW is hardly an abnormality.

PR stunts/relationships are supposed to make the audience confused as to whether or not it's real or not. That's kind of the point.

Back in 2020, I remember seeing Ana De Armas and Ben pop up and for months, I went back and forth wondering about them. On the one hand, they were doing pap walks daily and annoying literally everyone with how seemingly out of touch they were (not staying inside, not wearing their masks correctly, just being extra all around), but it just went on, and she kept getting involved in things with him, and she showed up places with him and I honestly just wondered if "she was the new one" after his divorce with Jen Garner. Then they broke up and I look back thinking, oh yeah, that was a stunt that lasted too long.

I don't follow Sebastian or Henry's careers/lives, but I did follow a Tumblr blog that posted daily about their relationships. Sebastian's thing also gave me Ana/Ben vibes bc at times I was like, is this real? Then it felt fake with all the pap walks. But then every time the blog would post more updates about "sightings" from DM - and there would actually be candids of him/her at a park or walking somewhere (blurry from the back). I think Celeb-as-fuck was the blog detailing everything because she was a fan of him, but anyways, they had a lot of tracking on this and everyone was riled up EVERYTIME something would happen. It also seemed to last on and on and they didn't appear to be breaking up, so I was like, hmm. Maybe it is real. They eventually broke up so it's not a big deal anymore, but their relationship, as many ppl have said, at times very much reminds me of this CE/AB situation.

On the flip side, CE/Lily James def felt like a one-and-done PR stunt but what was weird was him appearing in the UK a month after and seemingly being near her, and there was some hotel that followed them both at the same time and that got real weird. We all know how that ended so it seemed like it was just a fluke situation. Though, NGL, I remember thinking: "If Henry/Sebastian/Ben Affleck are in these relationships, I wonder how long it'll be before it happens to Chris Evans?"

I REALLY regret thinking that LOL...but I did wonder. I just had a feeling it was going to happen to him as well bc he was the ultimate internet BF for so long, and perpetually single to the public. I had weird thoughts that celebs were going too off the rails during peak COVID for it to just be a bunch of privileged ppl acting out of touch. Something was in the water and it wasn't just COVID-19. The industry was floundering and they needed to make some huge commotions to stay relevant.

Again, none of this really matters. But I really stand by my thoughts that in HW, nothing is really what it seems. And I DO think that celebs will go as far to PR engagement and marriage (RE: Kim K and Kris Humphries) if they need to prove a point. I know some other blogs on here keep spouting out that stuff doesn't happen anymore, but I'm not terribly convinced that these charades can't still happen. I do also believe that celebs can be in a PR relationship/marriage while having secret/private lives BTS. Anything is sadly possible in this industry, which is exactly why you continue to hear celebs go on podcasts, write memoirs, even do-tell 2020 style interviews where they all mention, "This industry" in cryptic ways. They're all alluding to the shit that goes on but they can't necessarily say it out loud. But you know if they could, they would.

I've always thought his interaction with Lily was to be his PR rs. That sighting with them was around the same time as Seb and Ale.

Also, thank you for kind words. I try to be level-headed by I certainly have my moments, too and have to rein myself in.

[3rddimension]

I want to reply to that anon's ask, who i guess was the same one from before who did a little rant. This is going to be a little long so sorry in advance.

"what kind of community is this if someone isn’t allowed to share their thoughts"

1) You are allowed to share your thoughts, your ask was literally replied when it could have been just ignored.

2) The same way you can have an opinion the rest of the community is allowed to respond or have an opinion about yours. Basically what i am saying is that "free speech" or "free opinions" are not exempt from consequences or criticism.

"You can disagree but don’t tell people how to feel about something. "

You can feel however you want, but that doesn't mean that it has a logical or good reason behind that.

Like i said before, Smosh has literally 'monetized' or teased shipping (with smosh theater fanfics for example) before, and they are ALLOWED to do it because they are professionals, it is their work and they can sell it however they want. So i don't get why you are now against it, if you don't want to spend money in the show just don't watch it, you are not forced to buy it.

"It’s so disrespectful and you’re all better than that"

Ummmm WHAT?, who are you to call others "disrespectful" when your first ask said and i quote:

"It's beyond gross from everyone involved"

You literally called Smosh's production team, crew and cast, "gross", doesn't that seem disrespectful to you?, don't be a hypocrite.

I don't get where do you get that Smosh has 'demonized' shipping before, maybe if you were a little more specific that would help. I'm not a new fan, but i can't remember that demonization you are talking about, Courtney herself has said that she doesn't mind it as long as it is not harmful (Smoshcast #75, August 14th 2020). Idk what you are even talking about Damien 'doing the same'. Specify if you want at least to be understood.

Also i think you said something about fans attacking shippers.

1) Smosh literally can't control fans opinions or behavior, you can't make them responsible for what a few fans think or behave.

2) Shipping in general (not just Smosh's fandom) gets a bad reputation because some shippers get too far and get too obsessed, what leads to harassment. Again, it is not Smosh fault nor exclusive to their fandom.

Sorry if i sounded too harsh, but idk why that anon is so angry about to call Smosh, and even Shayne and Court 'gross'. They are just working, calm down, if you are a normal shipper you should be happy that they are sharing a 'couple picture' with us. It helps their 'soft launching', it is easier to just enjoy it instead of getting angry for some random reason.

Also if you think "the characters" they are portraying don't make sense together. Dudes, did you watch the others Funeral roasts before? Half the characters don't make sense, they don't share a narrative thread or cohesion, most of the time they are just random characters. For Ian's funeral Courtney didn't play any character, Shayne was Dumpster Wizard and Jackie played a flight attendant, nothing about that makes sense or shares a narrative.

Maybe they are playing just two random characters paired together just like Angela was paired with Chanse.

❤️

[new-employeeamillion]

Sooo…a Harry Potter TV show.

You may have seen me make reference to the series several times on my YouTube channel, and they usually come from a genuine liking for the stories. Even though it hasn’t held up to scrutiny, I’ll always like those first 8 movies. The acting’s top notch, the effects are unique, and the scores are wonderful. That being said, they haven’t held up the best either; the stories can be pretty flimsy, and some parts don’t translate as well to the screen as others.

That’s all the criticism I can really give without bringing in the author, who’s gotten on my bad side aswell over the past 6 years. Yeah, 6. Even before the transphobia truly kicked into high gear in 2020, she already struck me as out of touch and uncertain of why her books caught on, thinking it would be a good idea to tell everyone how they disposed of their waste before indoor plumbing and all that. And I haven’t read or seen The Cursed Child, but I remember hearing it was quite a mess.

I’m not saying I separate the art from the artist, and I’m not saying I’ll defend the older HP material with my dying breath. The books bored me as a kid with their padding and pretentious prose, and she still had a hand in the scripts for the movies. There are many who haven’t been able to see their childhood with HP the same way again since the author radicalised, and that’s partly the case with me, partly just growing up and noticing more of the problems and plotholes with them. Those movies have a bunch of inherent weaknesses as much as they have presentational strengths.

But my knowledge and care for the series only really extend as far as the old movies and video games. I haven’t engaged with anything HP-related since 2011. Not The Cursed Child, not Fantastic Beasts, not Hogwarts Legacy. I just don’t want to reward the author’s ignorance, not just toward trans rights, but a heck of a lot of other matters too. And hearing of the HBO Max series just really ticked me off, starting from scratch in a desperate attempt to gain a new generation of supporters. What’s the point of doing this again? On a TV budget? In a more competitive era of high fantasy shows? Without any involvement from the original 3 actors, who’ve gone out of their way to distance themselves from the author and her beliefs? I guess it’s satisfying knowing Daniel Radcliffe no longer has to bear the burden of being the face of Harry Potter, but still, you’ve lost so much interest from me right there.

So yeah. I have no interest in the new series, but it’s sad to think that if the series creator was a kinder and smarter person, I might’ve.

[adamwatchesmovies]

Christmas with the Kranks (2004)

Bad movies come in many varieties but usually, they either waste your time or leave you feeling angry. If you’re lucky it might be one of those “So bad it’s good” titles but they’re few and far between. Christmas with the Kranks is another kind of bad entirely, a once-in-a-lifetime catastrophic miscalculation you (almost) have to see to believe.

When their daughter leaves for a year-long assignment with the Peace Corps, Luther and Nora Krank (Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis) lament the upcoming Christmas Holiday. That’s when Luther gets an idea. Instead of spending the money, time and effort going through the motions this season, he and his wife will go on a Caribbean cruise instead. When their co-workers and neighbors learn the Kranks are skipping Christmas, they desperately try to change their minds.

This scenario is only a few music cues away from being a horror film. While Luther and Nora act like aliens once they decide to forego the Christmas celebration - Luther goes so far as to write a memo and personally distribute it to everyone in his office - their neighbors are disturbingly obsessed with the holiday. Threatening phone calls, people observing them through their windows, dirty looks everywhere they turn… it’s like the Kranks walked into Midsommar or a holiday-themed version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Everyone is so creepy and obsessive about decorations up on the roof and other trivial things. The "Conform... or else!" message makes you wonder if the Communist Party didn’t secretly fund the picture.

What makes Christmas with the Kranks fascinating isn’t merely the tone-deaf story, it’s all the little details. At one point, Nora is uncertain about the holiday cruise thing. Her problem is that Luther doesn’t want to make the usual charital contributions. He asks her “Are you really going to let $600 stand in the way of our vacation?” You want her to turn around and ask him the same thing. Hey man, you’re saving $3,000 by going on this cruise rather than spending money on decorations, a tree, gifts, etc. Just consider that extra bit of money part of the investment. Then, after they make a big deal about the charity… several people - including the police with their calendars - approach the Kranks and are turned away. It doesn’t make sense but if they didn’t, we wouldn’t have the Kranks’ big dilemma in the third act: who can the Kranks ask for help when they’ve made enemies out of everyone in the neighborhood and all two police officers that make up the city's law enforcement?!

That was only one anomaly and it gave me enough material for an entire paragraph. Other memorable jaw-droppers are a scene in a tanning salon in which Nora is embarrassed when she walks out in a bikini and her priest stares at her cleavage, an extended gag about a Frosty the Snowman decoration that radiates evil, Luther getting botox injections that makes him unable to eat, and dozens of logical errors. It’s all tied together with horrible slapstick and an abundance of anti-cheer. You’ll hate everyone in this story at one point or another and the movie knows it but can’t tell its story without the Kranks being the villains in one scene… and the victims in the next.

The bow on top of the present is an ending so clumsy and artificial that it feels like it was taken from a completely different movie. You’re scratching your head, wondering if your eyes deceived you and then it hits you with another puzzler right before the end credits. There’s no way a 20-car pileup this fatal happens on purpose. Everyone involved thought they were achieving greatness but they couldn’t have been further from the truth. This makes Christmas with the Kranks a dreadful experience to watch but certainly never boring. It’s the kind of movie you could spend hours dissecting and discussing. I can’t think of any reason why you’d want to sit down with other human beings to watch it but if you do, at least it’ll get some conversations started. (December 4, 2020)

[themomsandthecity]

Life on a Family Compound: Why Co-Living Is on the Rise

When Aisha Patterson first moved into a family compound in Oklahoma a year and a half ago, the primary goal was to become more self-sufficient. With 20 acres of land for three households - one for Patterson plus her husband and their four kids, one for her mom, and one for her in-laws - the family members decided to work together to grow their own food. But since moving in, Patterson has realized the setup offers far more than personal farm-to-table dining. "My children go from home to home whenever they need somebody," she tells PS. Following a surgery last month, Patterson had all the support she needed while she recovered at home. She sees her mom almost every day, and the two often remark on how lucky they are. "We look at each other sometimes and we just shake our heads like, Is this real? It's been the biggest blessing of our lives," she says. "I've never been happier." Patterson is among a handful of TikTok creators who've grown major followings by sharing their experiences living on family compounds, a domestic style that's becoming increasingly popular. According to Google Trends, more people searched the term "family compound" last month than anytime in the last decade. Meanwhile, both "family compounds for sale" and "what is a family compound" have become breakout searches. "I'm seeing a huge interest in the industry in shared living and family compounds," says Leah Ziliak, who's been a consultant for co-living spaces since 2019. "Especially in the US, where typically those scenarios aren't as prevalent as they are in other cultures and other parts of the world." Family compounds usually involve multiple adult family members buying a large plot of land together that either already has multiple houses, or has enough space to build them. Each nuclear family lives in their own house, but they typically share the land and certain resources with the extended family members next door. Other people create similar setups in cities and suburbs, sometimes via an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) or by purchasing a multi-level complex that comes with multiple apartments for various family members. While this style of living is by no means new, renewed interest is shaking up some long-held beliefs about what the American dream of homeownership can look like, and how important it actually is to "make it on your own." --- Experts Featured in This Article Leah Ziliak is the founder of The Coliving Consultant. --- Why Family Compounds Are Currently Trending For decades, mainstream America has idolized the idea of a single-family household. "People are very independent, and we value our freedom and our space because there's a lot of it," Ziliak says. So why are Americans suddenly into multigenerational living arrangements again? Patterson blames burnout with the modern ethos of going it alone, i.e. shouldering all the responsibility of homeownership and raising a family with just a spouse (or as a single adult). "People are going back to the way things used to be," Patterson says. She adds that, for her, life now moves at a slower pace, since the family can lean on each other rather than always feeling like they have to hustle. "Living like this has really allowed us to just appreciate the present moment, what's in front of us, and just really be full of gratitude for our family," she says. More specifically, Ziliak says she's seen the trend take off more post-pandemic - a timeline others echo. "2020 was a crazy year for everyone. And I think we just really realized what was important in our lives and what kind of lives we wanted to live," says Hayden Barbour, who moved from the Kansas City, MO suburbs into a family compound further out from the city with her mom and sister's family a few months ago. "I believe families are supposed to stay together and live together. A lot of other countries still do that." Ziliak says the time in lockdown gave many people an opportunity to question habits we'd long… https://www.popsugar.com/family/family-compounds-49381940?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=tumblr

[notyouraveragebozo]

2/26/2024

(A long-winded, twisted post, containing conspiracy-sounding possibility, follows directly.) (Please beware - this post - expresses vitriol and anxious-irritation, yet, I must exercise restraint, in my griping - as I am trying to accomplish, something never before attempted, and do not wish to have folk knit their brows in unwanted commiseration of my angst, but rather - for them - to think of 'better' days.) As a matter of principle,... I dislike posting about 'conspiracy' issues. (I have my own thoughts, (we all do) but so far - here - on tumblr,... I have been just the guy behind-the-scenes, trying to present a grand - 'Show and Tell'. Sharing other 'wide-ranging, wild-and-wooly-thoughts' - here,...   would possibly cause distraction, from the information I wish to impart and share on my website.) However,... after recent experiences,... I am made to recall a college class in Statistics for Psychology, that I took some years back. I was so TERRIFIED by the prospect of the math involved, I memorized all of the equation formulas - and when I did that - I came to understand - how all the equation elements 'fit'. (Eureka!) (Those formulas are long since lost to my mind - alas!) (FYI: At Finals,... sitting in Michigan State University's Auditorium with 300 fellow test takers,... I turned my completed Psych Stats Final Exam in - 15 minutes after being handed the test, and I walked out of the Auditorium,... while everyone else was still working frantically. I had scored a perfect score - Bonus questions - included!)

I make mention of this, because of the term 'statistical significance' that I learned about. The term considers - the 'weight/merit/degree'   to which the 'values' arrived at - (and being studied) - relates - to 'impact' - the 'overall' perception of - the 'reality' of things. To be 'statistically significant',... -  this 'obtained value' - being assessed,...   needs to deviate from a mean value -  (arising out of pure 'randomness', among a population), - (demonstrating - 'zero' relationship between the test population responses, and the resulting 'obtained values') - by a specific (problem-bound/determined 'degree' - both plus, and minus) of a response - which is at variance - from purely (random/unconnected) tested 'values'. Significance arises when the observed result (varies to a specific degree) beyond the parameters of 'expected result'. (This is the top of mind classroom recollection and gobbledygook sounding psycho babble/ thought/story/speak - that I am using -  to make a point. - Do not rely on these old brain thoughts! My definition may be not completely worded as it should be.) (Just saying.) I am making this comment on Psych Stats - DECADES - after  - having sat in the class - because of the phrase ' statistical significance'.

On 1/27/2024, Day 1122 of my Presentation,...  my website celebrated the 111,000 TOTAL website visit after going LIVE to the planet, ONLINE, on 12/31/2020. This was two weeks before the Groundhog saw 'something' (on 2/2/24),... - and the website took - 'a holiday'),... there was a Closed-door meeting of the Pentagon's All-Domain  Anomaly Resolution Office, (AARO), and the U.S. House Oversight Committee, regarding the topic of Unidentified Anomalous Objects - (UAPs),  that was held on 1/12/2024. Twelve days before that Closed-door governmental meeting,... I had managed to post TWO new messages to the website: the 'Year-End Update', posted directly to the Home page; and the latest Director's Den note (in purple) - that updated EVERYONE - to the current 'status' - three years on - of the project, making mention of some of ups-and-downs of small business life, and making mention of other elements, that must be accomplished,... before my global data sharing can take place. Here comes the 'Conspiracy' portion of this posting. (I am relaying thoughts that bounced in my brain),...   -(I am unsure if it was a purely 'mental' construction,... or if I 'actually', heard - with my own two ears.) ---------------- On 5/31/2023,... NASA and the Pentagon's All Domain Anomaly Resolution Office, (AARO), held a four-hour-long, PUBLIC briefing - (hosted on YouTube), to discuss future investigative research components needed to be included in the establishing of a 'road map' to guide and inform the study, and analysis, of unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP).

(Over time I listened to this 4 hour talk five full times! 20 hours worth of listening!) I posted a Letter to the website's Director's Den page (on 7/21/2023) discussing the NASA/AARO meeting - 'a Second Letter' - (the 'first'  letter seemed to have caused folk to un-follow the corporate tumblr account, for some as yet unknown reason. So I rewrote it, and posted it to the website on 7/21/2023 - one day after NASA celebrated 54 years since first walking on the Moon, and five days before - the Open-door meeting of the U.S. House Oversight Committee and the AARO, held on 7/26/2023.) Why did I listen to the four-hour-long talk - five times? On the day of the meeting - I had been dealing with the very mundane world, as my dishwasher had discharged all of its Max-Performance selected wash water load, onto the carpet in the kitchen. As I slogged to sop up the mess,... I listened to the NASA meeting, and blotted up the water with every towel in the house. As I listened to 'the talk' - that first - LIVE - presentation,... I had thought I heard words, that I never heard again,  in any of the four subsequent four hour long passes. Here is what I recall off the top of my head, of that first pass - that I did not find in any of the subsequent 16 hours of REPLAY. At the 5/31/2023 meeting start, there was a talk of 'harassment' - of researchers being disrespected, and poorly treated, when discussing unknown phenomena.

There was a reference made (on 5/31/2023) - regarding some disagreement between Pentagon AARO Director Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick and some 'entity',... which, had occurred, just after the Senate Armed Forces Subcommittee met, with the AARO  - (in a Closed-door setting on 4/19/2023). (On 4/16/2023) -three days before - the 'Closed' Senate/Pentagon meeting on UAPs of (4/19/2023),...  I posted the 'Red Curtain Tour' video to the webpage, where I had previously positioned, the button leading to DEEP DIVE reads and Auction Entry.) Dr. Kirkpatrick - regarding something to the effect (on 5/31) that: 'someone had information, but was refusing to share it' and then telling the audience, that because of this 'withholding' of evidence - that it would make the knowledge gathering, more tedious and time consuming - (mentioned at time mark 1:02:24-1:02:40 of the YouTube NASA/AARO 'Public' (5/31/23) meeting.) - (I was of a mind, and - had thought - that 'I' - was the one being referred.) (I DO possess  data from that was/is currently being held back from imparting, but - I do not want researchers to stop researching - nor the study of Science - to halt.) - (The body of Scientific Knowledge only increases with awareness and applied efforts.)

At the (5/31/23) - NASA talk time - I was not aware, of the 'behind the scenes' goings on' during the 4/19/2023 Senate meeting. At the time, (I thought I was the undesired harasser) - but it appears that I was not the 'harasser.' Dr. Kirkpatrick seems to have been meaning an AARO coworker, David Grusch, who had been 'disgruntled' and who wanted DR. K, to give voice to elements, not broached at the (4/19/23) Senate meeting.) Again, let me repeat,... as I listened to this admonishment against badmouthing researchers, (in the 5/31 talk),... I had originally wondered - if they weren't secretly talking about me and my website's material. At the original (5/31/23) meeting 'listen',... I thought I heard  feedback from one of the NASA/AARO study panel members, reacting to the 'incivility' problem as relayed by Dr. K.   There was a lady who asked (I thought I heard suggest) if it might not be possible to 'simply silence' the individual, and make it so he 'disappeared online' or go 'dark' somehow.) (My ears pricked-up at hearing that, I thought - I - and not David Grusch - was the one being referenced for silencing.) After these queries,...there was a brief pause in the conversation, and then the talk shifted quickly, to other things.  Subsequent replays of the four-hour long (5/31 meeting), seemed to show slight video editing and 'missing' seconds of time - in my brain, as I listened intently for 16 hours beyond the first four.)

(There is one other brief talking point, that I (thought I heard) that first (5/31/23) listen. On looking at the notes I took on that meeting,... after the 3:50:48 mark of the talk,... Dr. David Spergel,  - (the 5/31 NASA/AARO UAP meeting Chair) and his asking about 'What is to be done if you see something 'surprising?'',... - (I wrote an observation point recorded in my notes, but I am unsure if it was a later recollection of something happening earlier on in the talk, but only recorded at that time, on that spot, on the page,... (I thought I heard) in responding to a pointed 'assumption' as to aggressive 'intent' by unknown others,... I thought I witnessed someone in the back row,  interjecting something to the effect that: - 'from our sources, those in the know, would use the word 'friends'.   After that interjection, and a brief span of empty air, the topic was redirected, and no more was it mentioned.  The reason I listened to it four more times after the first pass, was to try to find and isolate: the talk of 'silencing the rabble-rouser'; and the 'would use the word 'friends' remark. I was unable to find those comments in subsequent replays and noted that the video footage appears to be slightly altered (missing brief seconds.) After the first listen, it seems they added a camera angle - new to the original taping, and had spliced it in. - (It seemed to me.) After 16 more hours of listening,... I had not found the 'comments' that I had thought I heard the first time, while sopping-up water.

_____________ Moving back into the 'Present',... On February 1st, 2024, I first noted issues with the Shop sub domain. The 'White Screen of Death' was 'fixed' by the end of the day, but on Groundhog Day (2/2/2024),... the main domain experienced problems of its own, and I was forced take the website down and to restore it to the middle of January - and then, resigned myself to settle in, to a prolonged waiting game, as answers were 'ferreted' out.   A VERY long blackout has ensued, and tedious time has been spent to remedy,... and had/has caused periodic thoughts of flying laptop halves being heaved against walls, and clumps of hair being ripped from my skull and flung into the air as well. (I was able to maintain control my actions.) The last tedious point,... after putting a work request in to the hosting company a week ago, - to turn 'off', then, turn 'on', one-by-one, all of the website software plugins, - to see if anything 'broke',... and being informed that a 24 hours processing time would be experienced before getting an Answer - (in the form of a confirmation email, once the work was completed),... I found out this past Thursday afternoon,... after waiting six days,... that the Hosting company, never was able to work on my site, because they needed to get past my 2FA security code, and they never reached out to me - to get it! So - that if I had simply waited, for the email,... I would have simply lost my mind. (I would STILL be waiting for movement, to BEGIN.)

I know that accidents happen,... and that small firms have more issues than larger firms, as they have fewer folk solving any problems that pop-up. I understand that after three years of sharing my data - that the software I used - might get 'stale' and be in need of 'upgrades'. I am now back at the steering wheel, and will do my darndest to get back online before the end of the month, but I do not want to rush things either. As long as is needed, to make it solid, is my plan. I hope it happens sooner rather than later, but I can only 'go-with-the-flow'. Sooooo, summing up,... my site is still down, but hope, (cross-fingers), soon to be remedied. Back in the day,... I (thought I heard) talk of possibly silencing the rabble rouser,... and then, my site goes DARK, for the longest time ever (2/2/2024 - to Present!) - in the days - just before - moving ahead with my Plan 'B'. Also interesting to note - having just achieved 111,000 website visits,... there have been zero emails - (even spam) - that were generated from my reaching out to the legal community in a Facebook ad, informing all of a 'rare opportunity', that they might come to be a part of, (helping complete the documents already roughed out),... zero 'hungry, hungry, lawyers',...  zero spam - as well,...  sounds a little 'fishy'.

Anyway, I am surrounded by MANY unusual considerations. I try to remain steady, and calm, and think, and talk positively, ( while mentally dealing with the tribulations of trying to reach and wake the world.) I apologize for my negative talk, I do not know the truth regarding weird controversial coincidences, such as I have just related and have had to deal, -  but I like to leave my programmer folk on an upbeat note... You can ask my 'Blue Sky' and 'Pro Design LIVE' (Word Press) folk, about my website goings on. They are THE sources of information,  beyond myself, - as they have all have been given intense, detailed background story, before they could perform work for me. They know a lot! They are an AWESOME group of folk - (but they ONLY work five days a week!) (My only real gripe.) Sooo,... is there subterfuge afoot, to slow me, and to thwart me? I don't know - and I really don't want to invite the negative speak. (I feel most - blessed - and fortunate, being able to present my information to the whole planet. - And let me add, (non-conspiratorially), I have yet to be - (knowingly) interacted with, by the men in black - or - the men in grey,... (although I sometimes have heard strange noises outside, and i have slept very, very well at times),... I have come to see this 'lack of intrusion' as giving me a 'green light' - 'to run-with-it' - to see where this human can take things. Sooo, about the reality of things?   At the 5/31/2023 meeting, speaking of intelligent, non-human, unidentified objects - being actually 'actual',...   Dr. Kirkpatrick stated, - "Without sufficient data, We are unable to reach defendable conclusions." There was also the quote by Carl Sagan that was mentioned multiple-times at that meeting, which still makes me smile - "Exceptional claims require exceptional evidence". I have no fear of Carl. My website has been 'ahead-of-the-game' as far as posting information to the world before talks were held - at the government level - regarding UPAs. My handle was first created for personal Twitter use and the title I chose, was meant to relay to others that I was NOT an average wise-guy - (BECAUSE of what I knew!) I am NO cartoon character,... (yet), but I do know where to look for a - 'virtual/proverbial' - needle, on the 58,000,000 square-mile-sized haystack - known to us all as 'terra firma'. Please stay tuned, for more! @arimelber @neildegrassetysonofficial Gentlemen, I am including your name here for continuity and your possible interest.

[jonayariley]

Okay, I've got some additional thoughts on this -

Boring intro part you can skip if you don't care about who I am or whatever

I wanna preface this by saying that I'm currently co-directing Stuck at Home Con (which draws in over a thousand Homestuck fans every year, and has involved some level of conversation with folks working on official content) and directing Friendsim 2 (which is a fan project, but also has over a hundred people having worked on it at various points, which includes several folks who're currently working on HS:BC as well as other folks who've worked on HS content in an official capacity), so some of these thoughts are gonna be tempered by my own experiences as a project runner.

Also, wanna make it clear that I think Sarah's points here are good ones, and I don't wanna just rehash what she's been saying.

But also, I want to offer another POV on this - as someone who came into the fandom in 2019 and became rapidly entrenched in it in 2020. I've put a huge amount of time and effort into the HS stuff I've made (like, over 1.5 million words written and thousands of hours of time spent on projects).

Also, like, the Homestuck fandom is where I met the woman I've been dating for the last two years. It's the reason I helped start Studio June Games. I've met a bunch of my current friends through the fandom in one way or another. It's the reason I got back into both writing and game dev after a bit of a hiatus to do other stuff.

All of which to say - I've never worked on official content, but I'm not some kind of neutral observer here.

Now, on to the actual point of this

IMHO, there were two intersecting issues that hit HS2 (and really all post-canon content) and I think threading the needle between them was always going to be an issue.

On one hand, a certain sub-group of the fandom could be virulently against post-canon content and the team that was making it in a way that was both awful, and often fueled by what felt like naked bigotry. Like, I'm not talking criticism or "I don't like this" but folks talking about how they're gonna "fix" Roxy's Pesterquest sprite by changing the hair to make her look whiter. People being bigoted towards the official writers. That kind of shit.

The approach that was taken to the fandom as a whole - and I feel like the hostility of some of the fans played into this - felt very distant and disconnected. There wasn't much in the way of communication as far as what was going on with post-canon content, period, and that made the whole thing feel inapproachable and, at times, kinda hostile.

I've said for a while now that Homestuck as an official entity in the post-canon era (and I get that it's, like, one or two people at any given time in actuality) should engage more with its fanbase. Not with the kind of bad faith assholes who want to argue about whether a character is trans or not, but the people who are making fandom content and creating stuff and all that.

There is a tremendous amount of creative energy in this fandom, and I think that should be celebrated and explored.

So I think what James is doing now feels like the right call. It's a willingness to engage with the fandom while still staying true to what they want to do with the comic. Basically - listening, but not just randomly following whatever direction the wind is blowing. Similarly, transparency about stuff like how things are organized is really nice, especially given the absolute lack of any insight into things before. This is especially true since money was flowing in from the fandom, and it's nice to know kind of generally where that's going.

I agree that it's not the job of the current team to, as Sarah aptly put it, re-litigate what happened with the previous team and everyone involved. I think that would be putting an unreasonable expectation onto people who are trying to tell a story, not answer for every single issue anyone ever had with how things used to be run.

But also I do not, personally, think that the situation was well-managed before - and that's going to be an obstacle in terms of how the fanbase interacts with your current work.

It is also worth noting that the fanbase as a whole has changed since 2019. Like, fans who might've been kids at the time are now whole-ass adults. People's perspectives and views on things may have shifted or mellowed out over the years. The fact that some of the fandom bullshit/drama has had time to heal probably helps too.

Also, new people have come into the fandom and become more prominent, at the same time that other people have moved on to other things. The landscape has shifted - it's been three years even since HS2 last updated. I think the absolute worst thing that anyone could've done would be to try to jump back into the shit like no time at all has passed and nothing has changed.

Idk - my own feelings about some things have rounded out over time. At the end of the day - I'm 40 years old and I just wanna make interesting stuff for people to enjoy. I want the same for the people working on the official content. I sincerely hope that the people who were being bigoted assholes previously have fixed their hearts… and if not, then I wish them a very stay the fuck away from this fandom, please.

By the same token, it always weirded me out to see takes along the lines of "all Homestuck fans need to answer for their bigotry crimes" when it's, like, a bunch of marginalized creators trying to make stuff in the Homestuck/Hiveswap fandom space. So I'm glad to see that James and co are willing to put themselves out there - I think that'll ultimately engender a lot of good will and tbh most of the people I've seen interacting with the official content now are cool and chill, so if there are still bigots out there, they can fuck off because their energy is very much not wanted here.

I know you said you're cautiously optimistic about HS2, but the newest blog post has me kinda worried. The talk of "fixing the fans broken trust" and how even the new writers don't like a lot of story decisions that were made by the old team seem really off to me, like it's throwing the old team under the bus. I want to expect good things from HS2 but when the people working on it don't seem to like the story as it stands right now it really just seems like they might bend over backwards to appease the shitty side of the fandom. What do you think about this whole thing?

this is in reference to the october 30th 2023 news update on the hs:bc website. i give the date because the news posts don't seem to have individual links atm, so if you're reading this in the future you might have to scroll back.

to your worry that the new team might bend over backwards to appease the shitty side of the fandom, i wrote at length in my prior hs:bc post about why i don't think that's gonna be a problem. i'd also caution against reading too much into what james says about the attitude of the hs:bc team at large, for reasons that should be apparent by the end of this post.

i think it's perfectly reasonable to take a diplomatic position towards a fandom that is historically very hostile to this continuation. a lot of people haven't read the epilogues/hs2 and hate on them anyway because of what they've been told they contain, and refuse to question those received opinions on principle. many who did read them seem to have been inattentive or otherwise needlessly aggressive, sometimes owing to a baffling refusal to accept the premise of postcanon. plenty of others maybe just need a reason to think that homestuck is for them again. for this project to succeed, the fandom at large needs to be given a reason to revisit the epilogues/hs2 from a position of safety and critical distance. i have my own barbed opinions about this state of affairs, but it is what it is.

i understand and to an extent share your misgivings over that Q&A post, but it simply is not james roach's job to relitigate the conduct of the hs2 team. to even broach the subject in more than a general sense would constitute the opening of a massive can of worms, because the truth is muddy. mistakes were made on all sides, some worse than others, and to really contextualize where the hs2 team were coming from you'd need to explain the history of the hs fandom, the leadership of the reddit/discord, the overall tenor of twitter post-2016 and especially leading into/during 2020, the history of pgen and the homestuck renaissance, the lack of PR training or oversight or guidance from anyone at WP, the history of audience hostility in homestuck, and on, and on. for what it's worth, i think that context is essential-- but i don't know that anyone working on this project ought to be the ones to tell it (nor do i think they want that responsibility), and a brief casual Q&A post as a halloween treat is certainly not the place to publish it.

and ultimately, none of that has much at all to do with hs:bc. they are not beholden to or responsible for the choices made by the hs2 team. they have been entrusted with the reins of this story, and with that trust comes their own admitted desire to take it in different directions than what was initially planned. the hs2 team did this to the outline andrew hussie gave them; it's only fair that the hs:bc team has the same leeway over the outline they inherited. acknowledging fault in prior leadership, admitting disagreement over past creative decisions, is an olive branch to a largely skeptical fandom. i bristle at some of this because the hs2 team were my friends and i'm very protective of their work and that moment in history, but that isn't james roach's (nor the hs:bc team's) cross to bear. his choice, as the new public face of homestuck, is to move forward rather than linger on the past. it's good that he's burying the hatchet, frankly. i'm sick of that fucking thing.

love it or hate it, agree or disagree, the hs:bc crew has to exercise diplomacy right now. they've reopened the patreon and want to sustain this project for the foreseeable future, ideally without subjecting the workers to intensely traumatic levels of scrutiny and harassment. this involves clearing up miscommunications, admitting fault, gesturing at shared disagreements over story direction, and otherwise putting on a friendly face for strangers. and let's be clear, i know for a fact that plenty on the original hs2 team had a panoply of disagreements with the choices made in the epilogues! the operative condition here is not unquestioning devotion to / hatred of prior material, but a willingness to build upon that prior material constructively regardless. that's what matters most to me, and i have every reason to believe they're taking the constructive route.

i'll end this saying what i've been saying from the start. the measure of this project's success or failure should be taken in the work itself. if james roach blanket dismissed the prior team, but hs:bc constructively evolved in a way that didn't invalidate or undercut prior material, i'd still consider us oldschool hs2 fans the winners. i wouldn't be HAPPY about it, but the art is what we're all here for, and it's the art that people will remember. i think often about how the showrunners of the tv series LOST insisted from day one until the very end that everything in the show had a scientific explanation, despite the fact that they *always knew* this was a bald-faced lie. they told this lie because ABC did not want to fund a fantasy show and would've canceled it otherwise. some fans to this day decry the lack of scientific explanations in the text of the show, even when you point out that the promise of such explanations was false from the start.

point is, there are material realities to leading a creative enterprise. james roach has put himself in a genuinely dangerous and scary position, a fact that's easy to forget with how casual and welcoming his posts have been thus far. but this is perhaps the single most mismanaged property of the internet age, and there's no walking that back without stepping on some toes. over-correction is expected and probably necessary. if it ruffles your feathers, that's fine-- but let the work speak for itself, and judge it on its own merits. all this other stuff is ancillary and will inevitably fade into the distant fog of time.

[devotedlyqualitygalaxy]

I'll be honest, we're all scared of something. Actually, we're probably all scared of more than a few things.

This 3rd Seal is scary to me. For most it's all a joke and apocalyptic literature, but to me when Leviticus chapter 25 walks in with those 7 year seasons, and after seven of them they were to play a trumpet, then after 7 seals in Revelation there are 7 trumpets, I go, "oh jeez", it's the last inning, the final quarter, the last plays.

So after a couple years from 2020 of looking at news from my country, then everyone's country I could read in my language without those blasted paywalls stopping things, I came to the conclusion the only one who knew what the heck was going on was God. So, I prayed about it, and eventually got into the Bible Code for a year. Oh, what a year. Well, the short of it is that World War 2 was in the Bible code as Seal 2, and given 1939-1, 1940-2, 1941-3, 1942-4, 1943-5, 1944-6, 1945-7 ... well, that's a problem, now isn't it? Seal two had a color of red it said, and there were millions who died - spilling blood that's red - in World War 2. So that was problematic.

Why? Seal 3 the color is black. What color is the barn when it's empty, the silo when it's empty, the pantry when it's empty, and the screen when it's off? Black. There just happens to be a solar cycle going one from 2020, G1-2020, G2-2021, G3-2022, G4-2023, ?-2024 ... So the Solar Storms will take care of the screens and the Russia and Ukraine war just happen to involve Russia and Ukraine which had a combined output 1/3rd of the Wheat exports to the entire World before the worldwide drought in the 2020s - which that worldwide drought led to a Russian border city of Ukraine asking Ukraine for water and Ukraine saying no we won't give you water, the leader of Russia getting miffed, a war starting, and the town that needed water in worse shape than before the war. That takes care of the Silos, Barns, and Pantries, doesn't it?

How long? Well, given this world crazy started in March 2020, that means March 2026 is year 7 right - which makes 2027 something to think about.

I told churches and all. Somehow I'd talk to pastors and tell them. Nobody is preparing. No one. They all say Revelation has a million interpretations, most of them want to believe in pre-tribulation instead of the literal read-through, and when it comes to the literal interpretation, what men see and what John saw from heaven likely looks a lot different. What do fleshy eyes see? What do spiritual eyes see?

So, it's scary. At least, to me. And of course, since the churches who aren't preparing are going to all be aware of this, how far can they complain when they knew? They save for those in need. Those in need survive often because churches reached out to them. So... this whole idea is not cool. And there's nothing I can do about it.

Yea, but did you do the math? Yes, yes. The Jewish calendar ends at 6000 years, to God a day is a 1000 years. In other words, the entire Jewish calendar is God's work week. Revelation has a 1000 years of Jesus reigning the people, which is God's day of rest. 7 day week. Crazy, right? Yes, throw 7 years a seal, trumpet, thunder, 3 1/2 years of two witnesses, 3 1/2 years of the antichrist, a rapture, then 7 years per bowl of wrath for those who were left on Earth to suffer - it all nicely fits inside the 6000 years with decades to spare. There's some unknown spacing going on, so no one knows when any of these things will start.

Of course, after Seal 3 and some spacing, there's Seal 4 with a rider's name of Death. Are people going to prepare for Seal 4 who fear God with underground communities for the length of the Seal, or are they just going to do what the churches are doing now? Let's wait and see what happens, then we'll know what interpretation is right. Sheesh.

We are all scared of something. Give it to God. If you have to tell someone about it, talk to someone who's good to talk to, as opposed to bad to talk to. Sometimes people will surprise you.

God's got this. I don't know what's going to happen, but that black color is looking pretty bleak.

[eclecticsoftgrungeaestheticzine]

In 2017 my Ex lied to the police our families and our children to take full custody of my son out of fear that I intended to do the same to her, a fear provoked by her husband's insistence that was what I would try to do something he decided without knowing anything about me or ever speaking to me about anything.

Because of the lies that they told I was restrained from speaking to her seeing my child for the next 3 years.

In 2020 I saw a picture somewhere online that looks like him that originated from Tumblr so I screenshot it we blocked it and asked if anybody knew who it was because it looked a lot like my son.

And as soon as I did the entire community within Tumblr at least in so far as anybody who followed or wanted to be followed

Used that inquiry as the opportunity to attack

Sending me DMs saying they killed him and buried him in the desert or that he was on the streets and a gay prostitute, or an hiding after being attacked by some random unknown individuals

And what I'm shocked about isn't necessarily the mentally and emotionally dysfunctional adults and I use the term loosely imagining that telling apparently killed their child is somehow in the realm of pranks or retaliation for some perceived insult ,

But really anyone and everyone else in any way ridiculous lives of the people with big mouths but apparently no balls who could in realizing or understanding what happened could dismiss or ignore the impropriate

You really shouldn't have to know or care about someone

To recognize the right thing to do .

I can have literally redirected all my assets towards the most creative or vicious civil lawyer I can find and almost assuredly had the most offensive of the perpetrators held responsible for the entirety of it and incarcerated for a period of 10 years in a federal penitentiary.

The fact that I don't feel comfortable being responsible for taking 10 years of somebody's life it shouldn't be confused with my willingness to smash their face into a freak show mess of blood and bruises, and I really don't need any other reason beyond the stupid shit that they have said since I realized that they were involved why does it matter they're grievances don't matter the accusations don't matter all that does is proximity

I'm not in any Rush I'll get to you and when I do I'm going to fuck you up straight out and I don't give a goddamn what you say ,

It's funny I told the stripper based on the things she was saying when I he must have put you up to this and for whatever reason whether sincerity or just seeing the opportunity to deflect responsibility she agreed he had

Now the suggestion is that I was just easily manipulated or gullible and I'm talking shit to an old friend who really hadn't done anything

But that has no possibility of being true

Because when I contacted this old friend and told him that I had been robbed and threatened by a sex worker who blamed him he for some reason thought he was in a position to provoke

You can decide why you're getting hit at the time if it helps

Asking someone to rob an abuse me or thinking that you can talk shit about it either way you're getting fucked up

I asked if anybody recognized that he's in the picture because I hadn't been able to speak to my son in 3 years

It's been 3 years since then and every message I've received about anything has been to explain some situation of which I never inquired imagining that who and where and what the people I left behind are doing would be some kind of source of jealousy or frustration which just further illustrates what a petty jackass mentally disturbed child this guy actually is

At one point when I suggested to her that she had somehow been connected to some random person from my past she found it funny and a bit delusional when there was nothing to connect them

I wonder what she would think now 3 years after suggesting it

3 years that he has spent day and night doing nothing other than trying to think of ridiculous Scooby-Doo drama scenarios to suggest to me

I will see what happened is your son is a transvestite gay prostitute going through a sex change who was attacked and he's in hiding and I'm the only one comfortable talking to so if you want to get a message to him I can do that if you suck my dick

I mean I don't know if I'm supposed to laugh or cry when a grown man sees that as the best use of his time pathetic

[barksexybarrk]

New Year

happy new year to me. although i reattempt every year, i’ve never been able to follow a checklist method of new years resolution, so this year (2020-ME) i will instead be subscribing to some ideas and concepts of improvement. hopefully this will be enough to see some real good changes!

This will be the year of kindness and compassion to those around me. I think i’m a good person, and i care so much about the people in my life, but i can get caught up in my own head. i forget to tell the most important people in the world how much they mean to me. When things get hard, i burry my head and go no contact in fear that i will burst into tears the second they see i’m struggling. this is not good probably. for anyone involved. so time for a change! 

It’s not just those closest to me who will be experiencing this year of kindness. I’ve spent far too long living under the label of hater. although it is an incredible outlet for my dramatic and perpetually irritated tendencies, i think it may be time for me to let go. this is a cruel, fucked up, and unforgiving world, but contrary to what i used to believe, it does not make me superior, special, or different to constantly be the one pointing it out. i want to be someone who can see all the terrible things in this world and still want to make it into something better. to be someone who, after an egregious and infuriating encounter, can still approach that person without malice, with my first instinct being to speak with love. because even now, even the people i hate the most, i cant really hate them completely because when i’m not being hothead and hateful, i can see that they’re just a person and i know that almost everyone is just living life the best they can and everyone has their own fucked up things they have to carry with them. I know that i don’t want to be held and regarded as the worst thing i’ve done so why should i be able to hold others to that. 

In 2023, you will only see me doing things for ME! this may seem counter productive to my previous resolution. But its not! the more time i spend away from home, the more i’m learning about myself. and the more i learn about myself, the more i realize that i really know nothing at all about who i am and who i want to be. i don’t want to be an amalgamation of characters and aesthetics that i find amusing at that given time. i don’t want to base my life around ideals, i want to be real; authentic. enough of saying “she just like me fr” because i like how others perceive them and want it for myself. time to figure out if i truly, actually, love all the things i say i do. it will be a year of exploring my personality beyond school. I know there is more to the world, and to ME, then grades and math. even if i still love it, i need to leave myself open to other adventures. i cant stay in a bubble of the things i already know i like. 

anyways, happy new year! this is gonna be a good one!

[antianakin]

So I respectfully disagree with YOU, and I think YOU don't know what balance means, so I'll throw you a few quotes from George Lucas to prove my point.

“The Sith practice the dark side and are way out of balance. The Jedi aren’t as much out of balance because they’re the light side of the Force. They still have the bad side of the Force in them, but they keep it in check. It’s always there, so it can always erupt if you let your guard down.” - The Star Wars Archives: 1999-2005, 2020

“The whole point of a Jedi is that you can completely control your anger." - Revenge of the Sith, Director’s Commentary, 2005

“The Sith learned how to manipulate both sides of the Force, and then they fell into the trap of being corrupted by the dark side.” -Sci-fi Online, 2005

(These quotes were taken from this post)

And hell, have one that really tells you that you're wrong (taken from this post)!

"You have the light side and the dark side in you. Your job as a human being is to try to keep those things in balance so you don’t go all over the dark side. It’s not possible to go all the way over to the light side, so people struggle to keep on the light side, because it’s harder. That’s what a Jedi is. A Jedi is someone that’s pushing the light side as far as they can."- The Star Wars Archives: 1977-1983, 2018

Read that again. "It's not possible to go all the way over to the light side." IT ISN'T POSSIBLE TO DO THAT. According to George Lucas himself, it is literally impossible to "overpower the Force into a deep dive into the Light side" as you called it. But even if it WERE, Lucas seems to believe it would actually be a GOOD THING because he follows that up by saying that the inability to go all the way to light is what causes the struggle.

Balance is acknowledging that darkness exists, in you, in everyone, in the universe, and then actively choosing to control it and keep it from overpowering you or the world around you as much as possible.

Not to mention, theoretically all the Sith are supposed to be gone at the end of Return of the Jedi and I don't know about you, but I personally got the feeling that that was meant to be a happy ending with things put back into balance, specifically because the last two Sith were gone. If what you claim to be balance were actually true, why would the happy ending not involve the Sith being allowed to just stay alive alongside Luke so there's not an overdose of "light"? When ROTJ was released, the only Force user we knew existed at the end of that movie WAS A JEDI. By your own logic, this should've completely fucked up the Force and thrown it into a "light side overdose" or something. And yet, it clearly doesn't, and the movie tells us this is a triumphant ending, literally named after the return of the JEDI as the entire reason for why it's triumphant.

Sith inherently unbalance things because it's in their nature to do so. Sith are after power and have no problems causing large amounts of pain, destruction, and death in order to acquire it. The Sith spread fear, causing more people in the galaxy to succumb to their own darkness, and THAT'S what causes the Force itself to go unbalanced.

And I can give my own interpretation of Mortis.

Look at the Daughter and the Son as representing the struggle between "light" and "dark" inside ONE PERSON (this person is Anakin very specifically, but it can be a more general metaphor if you want it to be). The Father's job is not to keep the light and dark from fighting, but simply to keep them BALANCED. He can't eliminate the Son because a regular person also can't eliminate their own darkness, they can't stop feeling fear or pain all together, that's just impossible. This is why the Daughter says that being selfish is in the Son's nature, because that's literally WHAT HE REPRESENTS. But it is the DAUGHTER'S job to keep the Son in check because, if allowed to run wild, he WILL just take over everything and kill everyone and everybody around him (including people he loves, like his father and sister). But since this is Anakin's mind we're basically stuck in, the Father starts losing his ability to listen to his "light" side, to his Daughter, when the Daughter tells him of the issues brewing. And as he does, things start getting worse. The Son starts gaining more power until he literally kills his own sister, his "light" side, not unlike when Anakin becomes a Sith and metaphorically "kills" his own light side by murdering the Jedi and Padme. And in the end, all the Father can do is let himself and his darkness die, again, not unlike Anakin when he has to kill Palpatine and sacrifice his own life as a result in order to achieve balance.

The message of Mortis, to me, is that it's always imperative to keep your light side FIGHTING, because even though the darkness will always be there, it can and will take over if given half a chance and then all hope of a peaceful resolution are basically lost.

The Jedi DO serve the will of the Force. The Sith just serve themselves. There is no balance with the Sith. The Sith are, in essence, a cancer upon the Force, one that the Jedi have to remove.

Take from that what you will.

Sith lovers need to just accept that balance occurs when all the Sith are killed.