#we listen to so many different things at all times

[qqueenofhades]

been seeing some responses to the many many lawsuits and other actions taken against trumpet and munkfruit that fall along the lines of "this isn't enough, it's already too late, you can't fight fascism with the law, we're all gonna die." i understand the fear, truly, but i'm curious as to your thoughts on it, as to me it seems like this sort of behavior/posting doesn't do much beyond embolden the narrative that everyone actually likes these bastards and they're too powerful to be stopped.

Welp. This is the kind of question that requires me to write a long and complex sociopolitical/critical/historical/Discourse-esque analysis that will take a while and which I am trying to do only selectively, but I'm at home on Saturday morning, I don't have anything else to do right now, and it does present me an opportunity to address some things I've been thinking about. So. We'll give it a shot.

The first thing that has struck me is that in a few short weeks, we're getting a sharp empirical disproving of two common online-leftist fallacies: one, the old "both parties are exactly the same" chestnut, and two, "the only resistance that matters is Violent Glorious Revolution" (which somehow and conveniently never happens). We had months and months of "Biden is just as bad as Trump!!!" being spread as gospel truth in online-leftist circles, and then when Harris took over, it switched just as seamlessly into "Harris is just as bad as [or even worse than] Trump!" Now, as I have said before, there were plenty of legitimate criticisms to make of Biden, particularly the Gaza policy (upon which Harris notably differed). But it's quite telling that the keyboard warriors who spent all of last year howling for The Righteous Punishment of Biden-Harris (regardless that the obvious ancillary consequence was letting Trump come to power) have either disappeared completely when it comes to dealing with the results of that rhetoric, or have switched to "everything is doomed so I guess we shouldn't bother anyway." Like. Trump is now proposing to fully ethnically cleanse Gaza and either blithely hand it over to Israel or build Jared Kushner Beachfront Resort Disneyworld, and what do we hear in protest? For the most part, crickets. These are not serious people. Their opposition is not morally consistent, and it only depends on how they can make themselves look good. I thought that Trump was somehow supposed to be magically better than Biden particularly on the Gaza issue, and that was why it was worth letting him get elected? Or something? Something!?!

I'm curious as to whether those people still legitimately think that Harris would have spent her first few weeks in office dismantling USAID, signing weekly anti-trans executive orders, unleashing ICE across the country and terrorizing immigrant communities, putting the Project 2025 guy in charge of the Office of Management and Budget, letting Elon Musk run rampant with Treasury data, nominating the likes of RFK Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard to Cabinet posts, trying to freeze all federal funding, stripping DEI initiatives, dismantle the Department of Education -- etc. etc. The thing is, as ghoulish as it is, none of this is a surprise, because it is literally what Trump and his people spent the entire presidential campaign loudly, openly, and repeatedly promising to do. However awful they were and are, they were not remotely secret about their intentions. That information was out in the open every time they opened their mouths. But too many people didn't pay attention, rationalized it away, decided that "he won't actually do that" (despite the fact that he launched a literal violent coup attempt on the Capitol the last time he was in office), or just made up their minds that Trump Will Reduce Grocery Prices and refused to listen to any information that countered that view. What do we get now? Trump laughing off the grocery-prices issue and insisting that it's "not a priority" and Musk managing to claim that the real problem is government spending, not corporate greed. Again, this was completely predictable, because y'all got willingly suckered. It was not hard to see it coming.

That said: if the Glorious Online Leftist Revolution is still coming, and by some lights we might now legitimately need it, where the fuck is it? Are they still out there banging the drum against Trump and his "let's ethnically cleanse Gaza" policy and anything else that they insisted, they swore up and down, was functionally equivalent or possibly even marginally better than Biden-Harris getting another term? No. They're either dead silent, offering weak excuses, or completely giving into "we're doomed there's no point fighting back through weak shitlib institutions that are obviously terrible and will fail" blubbering that makes no fucking sense. One, because they move the goalposts so constantly that there's not even any attempt to reckon with the last effects of their damaging bullshit, and two? As I said, where's the fucking Revolution magically coming to save us and install a perfect leftist utopia (which is never how revolutions have ever worked) and sweep away Government Tyranny? Is that only for when a Democrat is in office and you can have confidence that the government is not going to come after you in the middle of the night for talking about it? Now that there's an actual fascist in power, it's somehow too hard to resist at all, even in small, institutional, and everyday ways that are often far more effective at practically confounding the bad stuff instead of empty and useless online echo chambers, so guess we should all just give up??!

Fuck. That.

This is also why we have to talk about the catastrophic lack of information literacy and critical thinking skills in young leftist spaces. A good example is the recent migration of TikTok users to the Chinese app RedNote. It was sweet for a little while as there was cultural exchange and friendship and memes. But then, predictably, it dove hard into "ah, once again The Evil US Government Has Lied To Us and there are no problems at all in China!" I have seen posts float by on my dash that unironically claim this is the case and China is truly great and Americans should want to move there and clearly all that business about authoritarian control and mass repression was just a ruse by, again, The Evil US Government. If you are so utterly devoid of basic information literacy and research abilities that your standard of proof for "is the Chinese government repressively authoritarian and totalitarian" is "a random Chinese person on an app in a country where the Internet is viciously controlled and voicing the slightest criticism can make you disappear told me that it isn't," then for Christ's fucking sake, you need help. For one, it wasn't just the US government saying this. It was, y'know, Chinese dissidents, the entire nation of Taiwan, historians, academics, researchers, the Uyghur Muslims of Xinjiang, etc etc. If your only standard for believing or supporting anything is "the opposite of what the US government thinks," then you are perfect targets for authoritarianism. Hey, a person living under an authoritarian regime who will punish them if they speak out against it told me everything was fine! Clearly there's nothing to worry about and we should want it here in America!

Come on. Come on.

This is also the case because uneducated young leftists like to unironically label themselves "communists" or "Marxist-Leninists" as if it's cool and hip and has never been involved in anything problematic in all of history, so anything that calls itself that must be supported. Shoutout to the idiot in my notes recently who reblogged a several-year-old post just to shout at me about how historical communists NEVER worked with or collaborated with fascists, because something something The Communists Were The Pure Shining Good Guys! (Uh, nobody tell them about the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.) Clearly, the Chinese Communist Party is good and beneficial, end of story, no more criticism or caution needed! Obviously, yes, official American policy toward China has often been driven by basic Sinophobia, and the determination that nobody can change American hegemony or unipolarity or its ability to call the shots how it pleases. But if that is the literally only criteria you're using, then yeah. If you're so unaware that "the Chinese people are ordinary human beings" and "the Chinese government is repressive and authoritarian" are statements that can and in fact do coexist, then apparently you've missed the situation you're in right now, where "the American people are ordinary human beings" and "the American government is repressive and authoritarian" is also the case. Because online leftism is essentially devoid of a consistent moral principle and will just blithely switch up to support Bad Things as long as they're being done by governments with the correct ideological label, here we are.

Anyway. This is getting long, but the main takeaway is that the "all resistance against Trump is doomed and I guess we just gotta die :(" line is now, somehow, often coming from the same people who were constantly yelling that the only hope was a Glorious Revolution against Biden-Harris, and it is somehow even stupider. So you'll trumpet about Gloriously Overthrowing The Government all the day long as long as a Democrat is in office, but the instant a Republican gets in there instead and starts acting like an actual fascist, welp, time to just shut up and accept our doom and not even bother to struggle? Please tell me how any of that makes sense. Especially when actively confounding the Trump/Musk Axis of Evil is already working. There is also the fact that the establishment-media types are supporting this narrative for reasons of their own; witness the fact that the entire US corporate media is owned by oligarchs who hastened to bend the knee and pledge fealty to Trump 2.0. They obviously also have a reason for inculcating hopelessness in you, and that the only recourse is to shut up, accept it, and let them continue to rob you blind. Because American democracy will never matter as much as money, power, and control for the Billionaire Bros.

The point is: this is a bad-faith narrative on all sides. Whether it's coming from the online leftists in their latest head-spinningly hypocritical volte-face, the oligarch-owned corporate media that wants to feed you constant Bad News to keep you clicking and worried and distracted and unable to resist, the Trumpist power that wants people to quit making this pesky stink about all their authoritarian fascist adventures, or anyone else. There is nobody who has your best interests at heart if they are telling you that everything is doomed and the only thing to do is lie down and take it. There is no logical reason you should listen to them. Go forth and keep resisting, in whatever way presents itself. Those cumulative small actions are far more effective than any Splendid Revolution that never, ever materializes, while the people who preach it just sit back and whine about how things are so bad now so clearly they couldn't. Shut up.

It is always important. It always matters. It will make a difference.

Courage, etc.

[juyeoz]

SOFT SPOT — HAN TAESAN

SYNOPSIS — To the eyes around you all, you and Taesan are enemies. You hate anything to do with each other and recoil at the mention of your names. However, behind closed doors, you two are completely different — inseparable. Clearly, Taesan and you will go to an extent to keep your relationship private.

PAIRING — fake-enemy-but-boyfriend!taesan x gn!reader

CONTAINS — kissing, corny love birds Likee i kinda recoiled when writing some lines, and literally just fluff.

WORDCOUNT — 1007 words

NOTE — soph sent that taesan pic and our lives were changed……..and this fic was born duhhh!!!!

“Absolutely not!” You exclaim and spin around in your chair after hearing a few words leave your superior's mouth.

Mr. Lee looks taken aback by your response. Yes, everyone knows about the ongoing battle between both Taesan and you, but your reactions to each other’s names being mentioned never fails to catch them all off guard. 

In the office, you and Taesan never get along. It's been this way since the beginning of your careers. 

Yes, you two have taken a liking to one another since you met, but you couldn’t let anyone else at work know about it, so you played it off as enemies. 

Well, you two at least pretended to want to do nothing with each other to make things less obvious. 

The “enemies” title was given by your coworkers.

Therefore, working with each other is never an option. You “can’t” even stand being in the same room as him, making working in the office a “terrible” experience.

“I won’t work with him.”

“Please, the two of you are the only free ones. We need this proposal by tonight.” Mr. Lee explains with a pleading gaze.

“Then I’ll work on it alone. I don’t need his help.” You say while collecting your scattered papers on the surface of your desk.

“That won’t do.” 

“And why is that?” 

You stack your papers into a pile and turn off your computer in a swift motion as Mr. Lee sighs from behind you.

“It’s too much for one person to handle. With his help, you’ll surely get it done.” He crosses his arms over his chest as you snicker.

Is he looking down on you right now?

“Whatever that means,” you begin and stand up from your seat, with your papers in hand. 

“I’ll work overtime. It can’t be that hard.”

Although it has only been three hours since you uttered those words, you surely are regretting them now.

There you sit, staring at a blank document showcased on your monitor. No matter how long you sit in silence, nothing is coming to your mind. 

Brain fog is after you, and clearly, it doesn't need to try so hard to catch up.

The longer you waited for something, a starting sentence, words — even an overall idea to come to your mind, the more and more workers left. The sun is starting to set, casting an orangey light on your belongings.

In distress, your hands pull at your strands as you let out a groan of frustration. 

You should have listened to what Mr. Lee suggested, but you couldn’t let your relationship become known.

Everyone is used to both you and Taesan rejecting any projects that have to do with one another, so, if you switched up, would they have questioned it?

It sucks, really. You want to spend time with your boyfriend at work, but there are too many eyes on the two of you. To be honest, you can’t even recall why you chose to keep your relationship a secret. It could be because of the awkward tension that would come if you two ever break up and everyone knew about it.

That is a possibility.

The only times you two interact romantically are in the break room when you coincidentally both end up there at the same time. The teasing glances that make your eyes lock with one another and break out into a smile. Or when he secretly leaves anonymous sticky notes on your desk belongings.

Other than that, there is nothing. However, despite that, things will be seen eventually. 

“What’s worrying your pretty mind, love?” A voice approaches you from behind, instantly calming your tense figure due to the familiar warming tone. 

It’s Taesan — your loving boyfriend and so-called workplace enemy.

“A proposal.” You inform as Taesan’s hands slide down from your shoulders and his chin rests on your head.

“Is it the one Mr. Lee suggested we do together?” He asks and you hum in response.

“Why’d you say no? I would be more than glad to help you.” 

“It’ll draw too much attention if I agree, no?” Your head begins to turn to look his way, causing him to rise from his resting position. He looks down at you and smiles while you look up at him.

“That’s too bad.” Taesan begins, then leans down to give you a short and sweet kiss on the lips, which you happily return. 

“If it didn’t, then I could’ve done that many times during work hours instead of after hours.” He teases while your face becomes slightly flushed.

“Why don’t I just help you now? I mean, there’s nobody around…” The boy suggests as your hands lower into your lap.

“Would you actually?” 

“Of course. Here, let’s have a food break first. You seem too overwhelmed by everything to even continue your supposed brainstorming process.” 

You roll your eyes at what he truly meant — your flustered expression — and rise up from your seat for him to lead the way to the break room. 

“A coffee will do?” Taesan questions and you nod. 

“That and your presence, of course.” You reply, giving him another kiss on the cheek once you reach his side.

“Hey.” He stammers out because of the sudden warmth on his cheek. Now, it’s his turn to be left a blushing mess.

“Only I can catch you off guard with a kiss.” He says and you laugh while interlocking your hand with his. 

Out of nowhere, his thumb rubs against the skin of your hand — a reflex he has whenever he intertwines your fingers with his own.

You hum at his words, pondering on his new sudden rule.

“Doesn’t that seem unfair?” Your brow raises as you say your question and look over at the boy interrogatively. Taesan looks back at you, holding eye contact with no signs of breaking it and smiles.

“Not at all.” Taesan replies to your question.

Best believe, after his words, you earned yourself another kiss on the lips for him to prove whatever point he had.

© JUYEOZ

BOYNEXTDOOR PERM TAGLIST — @ancnymcnzjy @miumura @ilovedallywinston @i03jae @borednia @s0shroe @leehanwish @sol3chu @en-dream @ribbeoms @itsactuallylina @macapunoz @hollxe1 @r1kification @mensisim @mydearyeseo @sunghxxnie @taesanfav @wonzzziezzzz @ijustwannareadstuff20 @tanghuyuj @ranjupotato @mimimimiaa @ningizuo @hyunjinslongasslegs

[hyuny-bunny]

seasons // series

part vi

summary: minho has met his competition...

warnings: MXM (?), fem reader

part v • masterlist

You quickly drag Jisung away with your hand clamped over his mouth, bringing him to the same bench you had left your things at. His words are muffled by your hand until you get him to sit down, he licks your palm trying to get your hand off his mouth causing you to shriek in disgust.

"What is wrong with you?!?"

"Me?! What about you?! What was that about!?" Han shrieks back as you settled on to the bench.

Your mind spins as you try to calm yourself. You straddle the bench turning Jisung to do the same as you look at him dead in his eyes.

"The guy I slept and went home with on saturday night is currently in Minho's dance class right now."

Jisung's eyes go wide before he lets out a loud 'WHAT?' causing you to shush him all over again,

"SHHH THEY DON'T KNOW EACH OTHER!!.... at least not yet?"

-

one hour prior

Minho walked into the dance studio seeing some of the younger members who rushed to him like eager puppies to greet their hyung. In the corner Felix talked to Jeongin as he stretched warming up. Jeongin wasn't apart of the class but would often sit in the back working on music with his headphones on or sometime assisting Minho with rewinding or slowing down music for them.

The two talked casually as they watched some of the dancers crowd Minho in awe of him.

"How come you guys never came by Saturday night? I was hoping to see you would... mostly for you know who but I still wanted to see you guys," Jeongin asked as he sat criss cross in front Felix looking at him as he stretched.

"Uh... Jisung and I got a bit sloppy towards the end of our night, Y/N ended up meeting some guy she went home with. Sorry, Innie, although she was looking forward to seeing you before she met the other guy." Felix says as he ruffles the younger boys hair.

Jeongin pouts and groans throwing himself back, he didn't necessarily have a crush on you so much as he thought you were so undeniably hot that he'd grovel on his knees if it meant you gave him a chance. He sits up on his elbows as he looks at the blonde boy who stands up.

"So who was the other guy if it wasn't Minho?" He asks as glances at Minho who was still being hounded by a few needy omega girls.

The girls had been pining for Minho all last year. Hoping he'd either take one of them on a date or at least to bed. Jeongin had overheard too many times these girls talking about what he must be like in bed and wondering what it would be like to share their heat with him. Even he knew all too well that you were the only one Minho had his sights set on but that didn't stop other omegas from trying.

He knew this year would be no different then last year had, the only thing changed was that Minho led the class.

"No one I knew, just some rando from all I could see. He was hot though, no denying that." Felix said as he started to tie his hair half up.

"What did he look like?" Jeongin asked curiously as he wondered what the lucky guy had that he didn't.

"Pretty tall, dark hair, uhh, he had a woodcut. He looked like a model I swear. I remember seeing him when we came in, he was wearing a tank top and he had a rose tattoo on his back, so hot." Felix rambled as he adjusted his hair.

"Like that guy?"

Jeongin's eyes glanced around the room landing on a guy that had come in while Minho was still being bombarded by the girls. He listened to Felix's rambling as he watched a guy with the same description walk in and to the corner shed off a hoodie showing off a black inked rose tattoo on his back. He blank several times as if his mind was playing games with him.

Felix looked up to see the same tattoo he saw that night being covered up as a t shirt was pulled over. It was him, the beautiful stranger you had told them you had the best sex of your life, right here in the flesh.

Hyunjin looked around the room seeing the blonde staring at him, he was taken aback by the pretty face. He had such elvish pixie like features. The freckles on his face, the pink pouty lips and the slim nose that came to a button. Hyunjin's gaze dropped down to the boy on the floor resting on his elbows watching with those fox like eyes framed by ginger hair.

Hyunjin started to walk towards them figuring these would likely be the best two people to befriend on the first day. The one from the floor stood tall next to the blonde who started to look a bit more familiar as he approached.

"Hi, I'm Hyunjin, I just transferred here. Do I know you? You look familar."

Hyunjin held out his hand to Felix first, his smaller warm hand grabbed Hyunjin's. Hyunjin could smell he was an omega. He smelled sweet like marshmallow and vanilla, reminding him of cookies and sweet milk. Felix looked at him wide eyed, a slight blush creeped onto his face as Hyunjin addressed him.

"H-Hi I'm Felix, welcome, um, I don't think we've actually met but you know my friend uh, Y/N..."

It was Hyunjin's turn to flush as he sheepishly smiles knowing Felix knows the invisible string that connects the two of them.

"Oh right! Well it's nice to formally meet you then I.." He trails off with a sheepish smile.

Felix can't help but admire the way his eyes disappear as he smiles. Jeongin clears his throat as he's annoyed by the how stupidly handsome this guy is and how Felix has completely folded,

"Sorry, Hyunjin this is Jeongin, he's also a friend of Y/N..."

Jeongin shook Hyunjin's hand firmly, irritated by his perfect face and the way his eyes kept flickering back to Felix.

"So do you know who the dance captain is here? I was hoping to introduce myself before the class started." Hyunjin asked glancing around the room.

"Uh, uh he's a bit occupied right know but uh... one second, sorry." Felix said as he dragged Jeongin away.

"What do we do?!" Felix whisper shouts to Jeongin with big pleading eyes.

"We pull the fire alarm and clear out the room."

"No! Minho can't find out that this is the guy! What if we just keep them separated for as long as we can?"

"Too late," Jeongin says as he watches Minho talking to Hyunjin, shaking his hand. They seemingly get along well... for now. Felix gulps praying that for the next 2 hours they don't find the common ground that both know you.

Minho calls Felix over, his heart drops as he walks over carefully, while Jeongin takes up residency at the counter in back with their music equipment sitting back watch like a giddy kid. He pulls out his phone to text the group chat he has with Chan, Han, and Changbin to tell them the exciting news.

"Felix, this is Hyunjin, show him the ropes for today will you?" Minho asks patting Hyunjin's shoulder. Felix nods silently, causing Minho to laugh at as his reaction. "Relax, it's just the first day back, you're gonna be a great co-captain."

Felix's eyes go wide "Hyung! Really!? I'm your co-captain!?" Minho laughs as he walks over to Jeongin to set up the music.

For the next hour or so, Jeongin relays everything to Chan and Changbin as Jisung seems to be either ignoring or not reading his messages. He keeps track of the music as Minho leads the class, watching the way Hyunjin interacts with Minho seemingly oblivious to fact that share a common interest, you. Jeongin sees the moment you arrive outside the dance room taking up space on a bench. He watches you pull out a book to start reading.

Felix stands to the left of Minho to Hyunjin right beside him at the front of the class. Many of the other dancers were impressed by how fluid and in control Hyunjin was of his body. He was up there in the best of the class with Felix and even Minho. Felix noticed the way the other omegas were already deciding to set their sights on the new eye candy.

He couldn't help find himself tinge with jealous as he watched their eyes grow hungry with every movement from Hyunjin. Had it not be for the fact that you had already seemed interested in Hyunjin, he would have sought after him. Felix respected his friendship with you to even entertain the idea. Felix's eyes drift to the door way as they take a small break, seeing Jisung approaching, waving excitedly, he also sees you running at full speed towards Jisung.

oh no! he thinks to himself.

Jisung is barely able to announce the first few letters of your name as your hand claps over Jisung mouth. You turn frantically towards the two boys who watch you with grins on their face, waving in your direction as you pull Jisung away. That's when it Minho turns to Hyunjin confused.

"You know Y/N?" Minho asks naively

"Yeah! We met saturday night. First friend, I've made here." Hyunjin says sheepishly with a slight flush as he scratches at his neck, Minhos smile drops from his face.

"Saturday?"

"Yeah, at this place called.. Layla's!"

Felix freezes in place as he watches Minho connect the dots, Hyunjin stands there a bit clueless before he's dragged away to grab water as. Minho walks towards the dance room door to see you in the hallway panicking to Jisung, looking frantic and worried until your eyes lock on each others.

"Did I say something? Does he not like her?" Hyunjin asks confused and worried that he's created an enemy as Minho seemingly drinks his own water aggressively.

Jeongin laughs as he saunters to Hyunjin and Felix.

"It's what you didn't say. Y/N is Minhos longtime best friend... and longtime crush."

The realization clicks now. Hyunjin is met with a nasty glare as his eyes meet Minho's. Something tells him he should be afraid but the other part of him... takes this as challenge.

part vii

[in1-nutshell]

I still think rally racer liaison driving Swerve in a sticky situation would be cool as hell. Swerve would be tired as shit but Rally giving him a pep/ you did so well talk would be more effective than the usual sort he gets. Perhaps the exercise cyberdopamine hit would perk him up a bit too.. I wonder if it works like tht if someone is commanding the movement of your body 🤔

Rally Buddy is back!

Hope you enjoy!

Buddy the Rally Racer driving Swerve

SFW, Platonic, Human reader

MTMTE

The off world planetary visit was Rodimus’s idea.

He managed to convince Magnus and Megatron that it was good for the crew.

Rally truthfully thought that he was just getting a bit tired of being in the ship for so long.

The nearest planet was a bit hostile to Cybertronians.

Good thing that the bots could simply go into their holoforms from the ship.

The only problem was getting Rally over there with everyone else.

They couldn’t exactly spawn into the area like they could.

Rally: “What if I just drove in someone’s alt mode?” Rodimus: “Hmm, guess that would make sense. Alright then, who—” Rally: “I choose Swerve.” Rodimus: “What?” Magnus: “What?” Megatron: “What?” Whirl: “What?” Several other bots: “What?” Swerve: “HUH!?” Rodimus: “Why him?” Rally: “He has the least flashy alt mode and small enough not to draw attention.” Swerve deflates a bit. Rally: “And I trust Swerve more to drive me there in one piece and with my lunch still in me.” Swerve perks up a bit as Rodimus groans. Rodimus: “That was one time!” Rally: “One time too many Roddy. Swerve lets start heading out.”

For once everything was going right.

Everyone was behaving, even Whirl was a bit tamer than usual.

The drinks were nice, and it was a nice change in scenery.

And the inevitable bar fight wasn’t even their fault!

The small fight between bar patrons got ugly quickly as Rodimus made the call to have everyone get back to the ship.

Most of the bots holoforms ended up vanishing into thin air as soon as they were in the clear.

Swerve made sure to grab Rally’s hand as they navigated the messy bar to his alt mode.

Only one problem…

It seemed that something was wrong with Swerve’s ability to control his engine and overall ability to move by himself.

But all other functions worked manually.

Swerve: “Ah man! This does not look good! Do you think they noticed we left the bar? Wait do you think that they know what a cybertronian alt mode looks like?” Rally: “Swerve? Swerve buddy listen to me.” They pat the seat to get his attention. Rally: “Listen, we’re going to be just fine.” Swerve: “How?! I can’t move and we need to get to the ship—” Rally: “Which is why I’m going to drive!” Swerve: “Wait what?” Rally: “You can’t exactly move, but all other functions work right?” Swerve: “Yeah.” Rally: “I can drive us back to the ship. Its probably going to feel weird and all, but you gotta trust me on this Swerve.” Swerve: “All right Rally…” Rally pats again, much softer this time. Rally: “Hey, we’ll be okay. Your alt mode isn’t a formula one, but its got speed and durability. And those are two things we need right now. We got this Swerve. Now say it, We’re gonna make it!” Swerve: “We’re gonna make it.” Rally: “C’mon! Louder!” Swerve: “We’re gonna make it!” Rally gets into the driver’s seat. Rally: “Just tell the others to get the door open. We are coming in hot!” Swerve: “Yeah! Wait wh—AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!” Rally slams the gas, laughing while Swerve screams a bit.

Now Rally’s reputation of being a former racer isn’t well known on the ship.

It’s more of an obscure fact that gets brought up every blue moon or every other month.

Swerve was one of the first ton the ship to know about Rally’s past.

He has most of their recorded races.

But being the car under Rally’s hands was a completely different experience.

It was exciting and terrifying.

Exciting because Rally was driving and pulling stunts on his alt mode that he would have never thought about doing.

Terrifying because he has to trust the Rally won’t wreck him.

He won’t be able to stop them if something were to happen.

Skids and Chromedome are by the open door. Chromedome: “You think they’re, okay?” Skids: “Have some faith Chromedome. I’m sure they’re fine. See! There’s Swerve right there.” Chromedome: “…Isn’t it a bit weird that he isn’t slowing down?” Skids: “Kind of—GET DOWN!” Both bots duck down as Swerve/Rally used a rock ramp and flew straight into the ship. Swerve/Rally skids a bit before stopping. Skids: “Geez Swerve! A little warning next—” Swerve/Rally suddenly raced down the hall, drifting at the last second at the corner. Skids: “…What was that?” Chromedome: “I don’t think I’ve seen Swerve even drift before.” Meanwhile at the medbay… Swerve: “SLOW DOWN! SLOW DOWN!” Swerve/ Rally drifts straight into the medbay, startling the medics before doing a donut and stopping. Rally: “We did it Swerve! You did amazing!” Swerve was trying to get over the several exciting/ near death experiences. Swerve: “Yay…” Velocity: “Swerve?” Rally opens the door. Rally: “Can someone take a look at Swerve? He can’t move by himself.”

Swerve gets fixed after a couple of minutes.

Rally stayed by his side the entire time.

The minibot going on and on about how exciting yet terrifying the experience was.

Gives so many compliments and praise to the human that they are just a flustered mess.

News about Swerve/Rally’s drifting and tricks gets around fast.

A few days later, Rally gets a bunch of bots asking to put on a show like the one with Swerve and offering themselves to them to drive.

Magnus has to get involved in making sure there is order in check with the line of bots wanting a turn to get driven.

They also get free drinks at Swerve’s for an entire week.

[iamchickenhearmesquawk]

For the love of god Helena coming up with a bad lie such as night gardener is NOT A PLOT HOLE.

“Oh she had so much time why didn’t she come up with a better backstory?”

1. She actually DIDN’T have that much time. I swear it’s like y’all weren’t paying attention to episode 2 and actually think it’s been 5 months. Mark asks the board for his team back and they all show up the next working day. That’s like an evening to prepare, (it’s night when they have that meeting being like “the board will give him what he wants) maybe more if it happened to be a Friday and she had a weekend.

Even if she had been toying with the idea of going to the severed floor before then, it wouldn’t have become an ACTUAL plan until Mark called the board. Because it was all last minute I don’t think it’s improbable for Helena to be improvising more than people seem to think.

2. She’s rich and out of touch. Night gardener sounds like such a rich person lie to me, like even the fact that her first thought was gardener just feels rich.

3. She doesn’t think the innies are real people. The managers of the severed floor treat them like children. Why would she need to spend time making an elaborate lie for these lesser beings who are easy to fool?

4. She’s never interacted with innies in person before. (That we know of) Watching them on a camera is different from being in person. I don’t know what she expected but she may have not expected to be asked so many questions in the first place (what was on the shirt, what was on the tv etc.)

5. She’s kind of distracted by wanting to jump in to a romance with mark. Along with all these things, we also know she is jealous of her innie for what she has with mark, and wants to experience it. She has her own emotional objectives getting in the way of whatever other objectives she has.

6. She’s an Eagan. She’s used to people of lower status than her listening to what she says without question.

Ultimately Helena seemed unprepared because she didn’t think she needed to prepare THAT much and she didn’t have the time anyway.

Also?!! It almost worked! Mark was distracted and Dylan was distracted and even when Irv pointed out it’s an odd thing that sounds like a lie they both dismissed it!!!!

[eclipseohno]

Been in a bit of a Stanley Parable kick for a couple days and it's led me to think:

I'd like to imagine that Stanley didn't really start as, you know, an actual "person." He was created for the purpose of the story, a puppet, or vessel even, for the Narrator to utilize in the purpose of realizing his "perfect" story.

Maybe the first playthrough of the game is the moment Stanley "woke up." You wake up, you're alone, maybe a little confused, and there's this disembodied voice that seems to want to guide you somewhere. Not knowing what else to do, you follow. You see where that voice takes you. and then you do it again. Blinked back to the very beginning before you can properly take the "end" in.

Maybe the parable we see is the final version, where the Narrator is content with the tale he's finally spun. No complaints, no pauses, no sudden restarts or changes. If Stanley never did anything different, never deviated, nothing would ever change. How many times has he gone through this story, this looping existence within the office walls? How long has he really existed in the "betas," the "first drafts"?

It's odd, isn't it? How hard the Narrator fights you against the first big changes. If you were supposed to be able to deviate, to make choices, there would be no reason for him to fight Stanley's ever decision so hard. He's not supposed to go that way, do that, think that. He not supposed to be able to.

And so they begin to hate each other. Each try to force their idea of the "perfect story" upon the other. Stanley fights the cycle at every turn he can, unable to properly communicate his desires, because he was never supposed to have desires or the ability to alter his path. He desires freedom from the Narrator's critical, controlling, ego filled eyes so much that he's willing to kill himself over it over and over and fight and choose and run. The Narrator tries to show how in control he is, prove that the story is his. He wrote it, he tells it, he created Stanley, he's supposed to follow, listen, obey. And that lack of control is foreign, unsettling, wrong, if he's not in control, if it all spirals away from him, is it really his story? This story, that he poured so much time and effort and soul into, does it belong to him anymore?

Maybe the changes started small, Stanley taking a moment to read a board he didn't before. Sit behind his boss' desk waiting to see what happens if he never presses the key pad. Turns off every monitor he sees still running without a user. The Narrator doesn't even notice at first, so absorbed in his script. But as Stanley does more, small thing after small thing, he finally takes notice. At first, it no big deal, right? Not every loop has to be exactly the same, that would become incredibly dull. Even he can admit that. Maybe his subconscious is... projecting upon Stanely or something.

Clearly in the game we see there are other omnipresent characters similar the the Narrator, like the Curator or Time Keeper. What if there's more than one Narrator, each telling their own stories, creating their own parables? Minor alterations to individual actions by the protagonists aren't uncommon. Why worry?

But then. One day, Stanley chooses the right door. And it all crumbles. That level of deviation? Unheard of. Impossible.

And yet, there Stanley is. Choosing the the path to the right, the wrong way. What else can the Narrator do but desperately try and take back control?

That's how it all starts, anyways. The fighting, friction, condescension, animosity. But they're all each other have. The Narrator has no equal in his story, and Stanley has no coworkers or family or friends or anything. The don't, can't understand each other, but it's all thay have.

But by the time the additional "content" of the Ultra Deluxe comes around? That's changed. They've learned, at least a little, to lean on each other, get along.

Maybe, over time, Stanley finally learns to express himself in little ways. Notes, expressions, gestures, emotions. What started out as nothing more than and emotionless doll slowly picks up on how to express who he is. At the start, when he first becomes sentient, there's nothing. No expressions, no gestures, no sort of attempted communication. But reset after reset, choice after choice, he figures out who he is and learns to express that.

The Narrator slowly comes to see Stanley as more person than puppet. They communicate in little ways every so often. Push the limits of the parable to see how far they can break it with out it utterly shattering and laugh about it. Even though they can never interact face to face, they learn to accept their places with each other and build an odd almost friendship.

Compare the og apartment ending with the bucket version. The old and the new. The Narrator goes from bullying Stanley for his decisions to worrying about his mental state as he becomes obsessed with the bucket. He still has that high and mighty attitude, but he is genuinely concerned for Stanley.

There's still that push between the two every so often, but it's been so normalized between the two of them they hardly notice.

Tldr; they're silly and I love their dynamic a lot.

[system-of-a-feather]

So this is adding onto this post, but the statement I'm expanding on is "I think people see fusion as parts melting into each other but honestly, I think its more like your concept of self widening over multiple parts"

Context; skip to Context Clear if you don't care

For context, this is something I was thinking about because yesterday, at work, we found it really funny that since we were working with a client that reminded us a lot of our younger selves for better or worse, that we were inevitably going to utilize more of our Ray brain and energy to give them the best care and we were going "haha the amount of times we did the signature Ray 'No.'" because Ray specifically just has such a signature "no" and it made us snicker mentally everytime we did it

But today we were thinking back on it since we were choosing to listen to some of Ray's music, and really, we spent almost ALL of the day primarily in Ray mental space, but we really didn't notice it at all until the day after and THAT is incredibly odd for our system because Ray is a part that is EXTREMELY internally obvious. He's not a part we'd ever be "blurry with" in the past, and hes not a part we wouldn't realize is out. So it was really interesting that we were almost exclusively operating in Ray brain and DIDNT notice it

But the reason we didn't really notice it, is because while we - in hindsight - were obviously operating as Ray (including the iconic chronic passive singing of Frank Sinatra and similar songs), it was NOT unique or different to the concept of just what we as Feathers are like and do and that's because everything Ray does is basically completely normal and within the concept of what Feathers is. And that made me think; Ray didn't "fuse" or "meld" with any parts when we fused, the concept of Feathers expanded so that Ray is just an obvious and normal part of the "I" which Feathers is.

Context Clear

When it comes to fusion, its not really as though parts disappear or stop interacting or existing in any way or form. Sometimes they might not be super obvious or outwardly identify as themselves with fusion, but that's largely a matter of perspective and focus.

I'd like to think of it kind of like how I've heard similar things explained in some Buddhist literature; Think about table. A table is made up of many parts that we can look at individually; four different legs, the table top, maybe theres some center piece; some might even include the chairs around the table to be part of "the table".

Now imagine you stubbed your toe against one of the legs. Clearly, you can look exactly where your toe hit, and you can say that it was OBVIOUSLY the left most leg. However, you could ALSO be 100% accurate in saying "I stubbed my toe against the table". When you say "table" the legs are not suddenly melting into the table top and the decorations and the chairs; the legs are still there and they can be individually referenced and looked at, but at the same time, the table exists as a seperate concept that CONTAINS the legs.

The legs of the table can exist and be separate from the concept of the table while still being a specific part of the table that can be referenced, acknowledged, expressed, and focused on. At no point does anyone ever stop seeing or being able to discuss or interact with the legs of the table when they start talking about the table. At any point, anyone could look back at the legs, but sometimes its easier or more realistic / appropriate to just talk about the table as a table.

Similarly, if you put a plate on the tabletop, you could say "I put the plate on the tabletop" and have that be accurate, you could discuss the table top specifically, but it probably just sounds more reasonable to just say "I put the plate on the table."

With that analogy in mind, not being fused it kind of like getting an Ikea table in the box. All the parts are disjointed, unconnected, and seperate from one another. You can't really discuss these parts as "a table" because they're not together, they aren't really able to work like a table, and the parts can be taken miles apart - you could even loose parts; what happens to one part does not necessarily echo throughout the non-unified whole. If you stub your toe on the leg, you probably didn't impact the table top and every other part of the would-be table. If you place your "plate on the non-unified table", its hard to imagine where exactly you would have put the plate down. The concept of each part operates really only independent of one another.

Fusion, on the other hand, is like putting that Ikea table together. Once everything is all together, you can easily refer to the whole as a "table" but you can ALSO refer to the legs, the table top, the screws, etc.

Its not so much parts melting together to make a new whole, its more about parts connecting and unifying to create a solid whole concept. Pre-fusion, the concept of "I" is limited to the individual parts that don't really exist in a unified form - you are either interacting with the leg, the screw, the table top.

Fusion, the concept of "I" is expanded to the unified whole, meaning you are always interacting with "the table" but you can also specifically be interacting with the leg, the table top, the screw, etc.

[fluffyfeatherfun]

Dinosaurs can laugh! (Antoher Dandy's World Tickle Fic

Made another one speciallt for the requester to fuel their Lee!Shelly needs

Requested by: @mosaichunter (I ALSMOST PING THE WRONG PERSON)

Lee:Shelly

Ler:Vee (Yup, again!)

Starring:None, just two of them!

Word Count:1,585

Warning:This is a tickle fic, again. If you don't really like those kind of stuff, scroll pass

Bits of angst. Just a bit at the beginning but it'll tone down

((brackets like these are creator's notes in the fic))

Extra note:While this is technically connected to the previous fic , you don't need to read it in order to understand this fic.

-------------------------------------------------

Shelly can hear the roaring cheer outside. She can feel the plastic texture of her dino toys. She can feel the cold stone floor beneath her. She can feel the scars on her heart. It hurts to know that the crowd outside dosen't even know her name. It hurts to know that the love she gets is just as little as the attention the kids pay when she talks about her dinosaur facts. It hurts that there are only a few toons who are aware of her problems. It hurts....

Until her thoguhts were cut short when she heard a creek from the woodeen door, follow by a familiar looking TV host((totally not because we just saw her last chapther)),follow by a powerful slam.

"Oh, your done already?"

Vee held a grudge from the loud blasting crowd behind, turning to Shelly and nodding with one foot on the door.

"Wish it was even earlier. Being a host is quite stressful sometimes. Now, what did yoy want to talk about when we were at the hallways? "

The ammonite's face switch to that of a teary looking one, darting down on the ground and not muttering a word until the TV head host broke the silence.

"Was it because you are being ignored again?"

"Wh-No! I promise this one is different." She waves her hands around in denial.

"Really? Tell me more about it." She respond, as she took a seat beside her.

It was hard for Shelly to make eye contact with how hard is it to word this new worry, but she still did her best to keep the point straight:

"I've been thinking a lot about..... Changing what's mainly about me.... To be more specific, my liking for dinosaurs. I tried a lot of things:baking, sewing, roleplay, even game hosting with the toons, but it's either I..... Don't enjoy it as much or I'm not as good at it.... Mostly the first point... "

She fiddles her fingers around, as tiny drops of tears fell on the floor. Vee can clearly she how desperate she is for just a little love, for just a little attention, for just a little recognition, so she pat her on the back to soothe her aching heart a bit and gives a pep talk:

"Hey there, dino girl, look at me."

"Hmm?"

"I know that dinosaurs aren't the most popular among the kids, but that dosen't mean it can't be interesting. There are so many fun ways to express it out, but that dosen't exactly mean your way isn't good. You know what they say:" Sometimes it takes time to find the right audience." etc etc.... "

She widens her eyes a bit, feeling a bit better with Vee's ramble (Or pep talk again I'M NOT REALLY GOOD WITH WORDS), as she countinues to listen to her:

"And besides, fame isn't everything. Sure, it seems like the greatest gift when you have lots of it, but when it dies down, what now? Barely anyone knows you, there is some new kind of thing that's all the rage, and worst of all, you know what was it like to be loved. Not to mention busy schedules and having little to no privacy. Seriously, I can't even remember the last time I had a nice and normal chat with Teagen. "

She quietly opens her shuttle, looking at the old, janky wries for a short moment in a bit of quivering sadness, before closing it and turning back to Shelly, who was just nodding her head this entire time.

It was quite the akward stare, to say the least, just for her to process everything Vee said and wipe her tiny tears.

Suddenly, a little idea spark in the television's CPU. Without scaring her too much, she taps on her fat dino finger(okay she dosen't really have those but cmon, think about it) to get her attention and spoke:

"Hey, I can prove that your dino knowlage does have some use."

Of coruse, you can't just say that to some person your trying to comfort and expe t them to understand. The ammonite's head tilts like a confused dog, before responding with a few studders:

"Wh-wh-what?"

Wagging her mic tail nervously, she scrathes the back of her antenna and replies back:

"Uhmmmm, how do I say this....... Could I........ Dust off your ribs?" (A luttle silly secret word of 'Can I tickle'. Aka the creator forgot the the term for secret word so her worsing is super off AHHH)

Her eyes light up in excitement as her dino tail wags rapid and her hands wave, turning around and fully exposing the area.

"Of course you can! I'm still not sure how that relates to what you said earlier, buttt I'll go with the flow."

With a smile on her face, Vee retracts her cold, metal fingers to give them little fur tips, before extending her arms to grab Shelly by the shoulders and wraps her mic wire tail around her body.

((Alright IK there might be too much creator notes, but this is important, I promise. I honestly don't think I can contently write both Shelly and Vee's names for this psrt since it rapidly switches the focus, so you, the reader will need to keep track of that. If you are reading this thank you :)))

Without warning, she felt a few of her top rib bones getting attacked by the fingers. That combined with the fact it's near her underarms, another vunerable spot, makes her burst of of laugther and flail her arms around helplessly. To say that she didn't expect her to immediately aim for it would be an understatement.

"VHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE, THAHAHAHTHAHHA WAHHAHAHAHA, GAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA."

As if that wasen't enough, the host positions her mic right in front of her mouth to amplify her laugther thoguh her speakers.

"You know, after what's possibly the longest gameshow, I could really use a bit of relaxing music to calm my wires down from the win of the other craft. Now, tell me, my deae ammonite, what's an interesting fact about dinosaurs and your sweet melt spot?"

Her blush was quickly forming on her face, especially with that little comment on her ribs. Regardless of how much tickles she is tanking, hiwever, she is still able to roll out one.

"AHAHAHA THEHEHEREHEHEHX HAHAHAHAS AHAHA SEHEHEHEHCHOHOHOHND SHEHEHEHEHET OHOHHOHOFHO RHIHIHIBS CHAHAHAHALLHEHED GASHHEHEHESTHAHAHAHLHIHIHIAS."

"Hmmmm, impressive! Perhaps you wouldn't mind naming me a flying dinosaur that flaps like your arms?"

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA ARHAHAHACHAHEHEHOHPTHEHERHEHEYHEHX DHOHOHOHEHEHS."

"Not sure how your able to say such a long name when your mind is as tangled as your body under my tickles, but I'll guve you credit for that. Perhaps we will need to increase the difficulty a bit more."

Giving her palms fluffy pads, she moves the the bridge of the sides and the belly, letting the it and the fingers work together around that area. This sudden increase of ticklish feeling jolts her body around and fills the room with even more of her laugthers.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, NHOHOHOHOHOHOHT THEHEHEHEHEHERHEHEHEHE VHEHEHEHEHEHE. THAHAHAHAHAHAHAHTHEHAHTS MHIHIHIHY MHEHEHEHEHEHEHELT SPHOHOHOHOHHOHOT."

"Everywhere is a melt spot for you, silly. Say, what kind of dinosaur has the largest stomach and how much it can eat?"

"AHAHA BRHAHAHANCHIHIHOSHAHARHUHS CHAHAHAN EHAHAHAT FOHOHOHOHUR HUHUHUUHUHNDRHEHEHED THOHOHO NIHIHIHIHNE HUHUHUHNDHRHEHEHED PHOHOHOHHOUNDS OHOHOHOHOF LEHAHHEHAHEHAHAHFY GRHEHEHEHEHENS AHAHA DHAHAHAY."

"Wonderful, really, wonderful! Last question before I let you go:Can dinosaurs laugh?"

"WHAHAHAHAHAIT, WHAHAHAHAT?"

"Can a dinosaur laugh just as loud as you? Hmm"

She repeats, as her fingers got closer to the center of her stomach.

"IHIHIHHIHT DHOHOHOHNT HAHAHAHAHAVE THEHEHEHEHE ANHAHAHANSWHEHEER THOHOHOHO THAHAHAHAT!"

"I'm just joking, silly, I don't know the answer to that either."

See her nearly cracking up to a little mess, she suddenly retracts the fluffy pads awaywhile still holding her body. Shelly babbled around like an idiot for a minite or two before she realized that the tickling stop. Feeling relieved, she takes her time to catch her breath and wipe of all the sweat on her head(don't ask me how is Vee not affected by that). She wags her tail playfully around Vee's stomatch, not fliching her by even a bit. Before long, her lungs had ctahc enough air for her to verbalize some words:

"Hey, Vee, thanks alot..... Huff.... For the tickles...... I've been craving some since this morning....."

"Haha, no problem! Look, I do want to apologize for not really spending time with you these past few days. I've got a lot of events to headline, including my own gameshow."

"Yeah, I understand,.... Haha..... Say, how exactly did you prove my dino knowlage...... Was worth something.......? "

"Don't you see it, Shelly? You could just pop one out even under such laughter as if it was nothing! That dosen't just take knowlage, but also some fighting energy and lung capacity! I'm telling you, you're a real fighter for this. "

"Oh!..... Well that's new..... Maybe that explains why I accidentally crack Tisha's.... Knuckles a bit too hard yesterday....."

"..... You what now?"

"..... Yeah.... I may or may not have.... Broke her arm?"

"..... I'm not even going to question that. Anyways, my next gameshow could use snother contestant. Wanna join?"

"Your kidding?..... Of coruse I would!"

"Alright alright, I'll register your name later. Come on, let's get some soft tacos."

"But you can't eat food, can you?"

"A robot can dream, Shelly, a robot can dream."

And so, the TV host picked up the ammonite by the hand and took the other exit back to the toon rooms, leaving the aftershow on a sweet note.

-------------------------------------------------

Thank you so much for your patience! Speaking honestly, I wish I could get thus done earlier, but hey, better late than never!

Let's thank Google for giving me some dino facts to incoperate into this fic, and thank my will to tease the requester the motivation to finush this fic! /silly

Have aa good day mate! And proud to say I enjoyed this fic alot more!

[littlethingwithfeathers]

Small Ways to Make a Difference

So... we all are stressing about Trump (and let's face it... Musk really) slashing through budgets left and right for public services and such. And... it feels like there's not really anything you can do about it besides protest (which not everyone can do or is comfortable doing). But... you can! Because here's the thing... while a lot of stuff is losing national funding, much of that stuff is actually staffed, scheduled, and budgeted at the local level. And usage by the public is usually the metric tracked in order to determine exactly how much of the local budget gets allocated. More use? More people through the door? More money. And the opposite is true. Think of a local budget like pie... and the size of slices is allocated by how many people are going to eat that slice pie. So... wanna help fight this nonsense and ensure public services don't go away? USE YOUR PUBLIC SERVICES. But what does that mean? What's a public service? Anything your tax dollars pay for. Libraries. Parks. Public Health Departments. Public schools. Many museums and such as well. So here's some suggestions (most of which do not cost anything but time): Use your public library. Check out books. (Even if you don't read them. Have a favorite book? Make sure it stays in circulation by giving it traffic!) Go log into a computer and use the internet for a bit. Reserve and request books/movies/music (did you know that you can get DVD sets at a library? For free? No streaming service needed!) Attend a meeting/presentation. Hell, SCHEDULE a meeting for something... maybe a game night or a book club. Go to public parks and green spaces. Especially if there's a logbook or other way to be counted. Your presence is ammunition for the people fighting to keep green spaces from getting paved. Also take pictures of yourself here and tag those spaces on social media. This gives them free images of real people to use when they're making their budget presentations and writing grant requests. Look up your local health department and see what services you can access at your income level. Often they offer free or discounted vaccines, health checkups, and cancer screenings. And if you're hemming and hawing about whether or not you need it, your traffic will ensure someone who very much does need their services has access. Call and find out when they're slow (my uneducated guess is that traffic picks up around the start of school and during cold/flu season) so you aren't competing with people trying to get sports physicals and vaccines for their kids. Listen to and interact with your local public radio and TV station. This one is pretty self explanatory. Log onto their website and stream their programming. Make music requests. Look up stuff on their community calendar. Even if you aren't into their programming, they're valuable community resources for communicating local events and such, especially during an emergency. Oh... and donate money if you can. They really depend on that stuff... especially now. Use public transit. This one is pretty self explanatory too, but might cost a little money. This includes public rent-a-bikes if they're around. Even if you don't need it, use it sometimes. It will keep it there for others who might depend on it. I'm sure there's a bunch that I'm missing, but in my area, this is a pretty good starting place. Feel free to add on!

[rewatching-sam-and-dean]

It’s Rant Time Again, Friends!

And today’s rant is brought to you by the silliness that came scross my Twitter feed this week in the form of an absolutely pointless question, but even more so by some of the asinine answers I saw. Some of you probably already saw this (and responded) if you’re on Twitter, so I’m not screenshotting it. Besides, people are allowed to ask (stupid) questions. But, I’m also allowed to comment on how dumb the questions are.

The Question:

“If it came down to saving Sam or Cas, who do you think Dean would save first?”

Question Issues:

If someone watched the show at all, the answer to this question is more than obvious. But the question isn’t even just “who would Dean save” but “who would Dean save first?” I mean the answer to both is the same, but surly even the “found family” crew of fans should be able to recognize that Dean will always try to save Sam first. The ones who claim otherwise have to be knowingly lying, because if not … I fear for society that people are that lack that much media literacy.

The responses:

So, here’s what gets me even more than the “innocent” question, the responses. Of course the vast majority of reposts and replies are saying some variation of “Sam, obviously.” Because it is obvious. The show has showed us again and sngsinghdt Dean would put Sam’s life above his own, his parents, his friends, anyone.

But what’s really amusing/annoying/sad is seeing people twisting themselves into pretzels just to avoid having to admit the truth. These are the ones saying things like:

“Dean would find a way to save both of them!” - Would he though? When “Zeke” gave Dean the ultimatum between sending a penniless, powerless, helpless and hunted Castiel out into the world on his own … or him leaving Sam, stopping the healing and potentially (only potentially) resulting in Sam dying, there is no hesitation. Dean clearly feels bad, but he tosses Cas out on his ass in a blink. What does he not do? He doesn’t try to arrange something so they are both safe. Hell, he doesn’t even give Cas anything to help feed, cloth or protect himself. He just sends him out into the world to try and figure shit out on his own.

“Dean would kill/sacrifice himself, if it meant he could save Cas, too.” - Umm, where have we ever seen him put Cas above himself? Would he risk his life to save Castiel? Of course he would, but he would also risk his life to try and save a complete stranger. That sort of comes with the territory of being a hunter. But the only person Dean has ever directly and intentionally sacrificed himself for is Sam. I saw some argue that he was willing to kill or himself to bring Cas back after Chuck snapped everyone away in Season 15, but that’s a misinterpretation (selective listening), common among hellers and Cas stans, of what Dean is actually saying. Dean and Sam say they will kill each other if Chuck will bring everyone back, including Cas. They are not offering to do this just for Cas, it’s for the world. Besides, in his scenario I get the feeling that the intention is for both Sam and Dean to die, so they’ll go out together to save everyone else.

“Dean would save Sam, but his life would be over, or he’d give up after without Cas.” - LMAO. No. Unless you want to argue that a smiling happy and content Dean is secretly trying to drown his sorrows in the finale when Sam is the one to bring up Jack and Cas, and Dean is basically like, “yeah sure, losing them was sad or whatever, but like we gotta live Sam. Now let’s destroy this pie.”

And my personal favourite…

“It totally depends on what season of the show we are talking about.” - Bitch please, it would make no difference. There isn’t a single episode, let alone whole Season, where Desn would try to save Cas before, or instead of, Sam. See my examples from Season 9 and 15 above. There are so many examples of Dean not doing much to save Cas, vs him begging, pleading, or trading humans to save Sam.

[bellsluck]

☆ about me ☆

hii, i’m bells!

thought it was about time i made an introduction.

i’m 21, a capricorn sun, leo moon, cancer rising (astrology freak), my ethnicity is a little complicated but i’ll put it as half british and half portuguese. i can speak english and portuguese fluently and have a half-decent grasp of spanish. i’ve lived in the uk for most of my life. sexuality: no labels.

i’d say i’m new to tumblr as this is the first time in my life i’m actually using it regularly, i think I’ve got the hang of it now. i feel so at home on here and i love having new mutuals hehe. feel free to message about literally anything (save me from the “singles in your area looking for-” dms, i beg).

☆ interests ☆

i love writing and reading, fanfic, music and film, generally just immersing myself in other worlds tbh. kisses to pinterest, ao3 and wattpad. tumblr now too i guess.

seemingly never ending harry potter obsession. marauders era, hogwarts legacy era, etc. slytherin girly. i was part of hptok at its peak in like 2020/2021, my page was basically dedicated to it. it was so much fun.

also star wars, specifically the hayden christensen trilogy, but i love the ogs too and i thinkmy favourite spin-offs are the mandalorian and obi-wan kenobi. if i ever get married it will be at lake como, idc how many times it's been done. i was at one of the filming locations last summer (theed palace) and almost crying like a little biatch.

i like video games too (mostly play on switch), but i’m very picky when it comes to finding ones i actually like, then I will rack up hours on it like there's no tomorrow… we love hyperfixation over here. love love love stardew valley, animal crossing and games along those lines but atm i’ve been doing my rounds on the resident evil games (re2 og, re4 remake, re6, down bad for leon kennedy) and also hogwarts legacy, i’ve finished most of it, i just have to complete my field guide now (desperately want to replay for the sebastian quests, also the new mod stuff is so cool!).

music wise, i listen to lots of different stuff, constantly go through phases, but for my all timers, aka can quote their discography from start to finish, i’d probably say lana del rey, radiohead, the weeknd and nirvana. recently it’s been lots of david bowie, queen, beabadoobee, portishead, fleetwood mac, the beatles… i could go on.

always open to recommendations for songs, playlists, films, series, games, books, fanfics, or anything, i love it all.

☆ onto the topic of shifting... ☆

i am happy to announce i am free from the shackles of “shift-tok”. if yk, yk. 

i’ll take this as a chance to ask nicely for any antis to please, please, not interact from here on out. thank you.

so, i initially found out about shifting on hptok 2020 (huge surprise ik) and so obviously i wanted to go to hogwarts. like??

needless to say i got caught up in all the tiktok misinformation, blatant lies, complicated asf methods, self explanatory. sorry younger-me. i could explain more but all in all i was too impatient and clueless, didn't really know what i was doing at all, eventually got bored, busy with school, and assumed everyone was lying (a few were, it seems).

 i completely forgot about it all after that until i came across a shifting post on reddit a few weeks ago. my tiktok fyp started filling with shifting/manifestation videos too right after. i was coincidentally in between a rewatch of the harry potter films at this point too. you know where this is going. i started seeing tiktoks from smaller creators just answering people’s questions about shifting, and it was all so different from all the stuff i’d heard years ago, spoken about in a completely different way, which just made so much sense to me and was so intriguing. i decided to delve into it all once again. it was those same creators who also would mention tumblr, and i, who had just joined tumblr for writing related stuff not long ago, decided to start searching up things related to shifting.

 i eventually came across some great accounts and information, stories of experiences, motivation, help. i started reading “journeys out of the body” by robert monroe too, so interesting, btw, and have since began my own shifting/exploring consciousness journey (i try to be careful what words i use for things, for lots of reasons, and i understand everyone might use different terms, reminder that i haven’t been on here for that long). it’s been amazing so far. 

(i may have straight up searched shifting realities on google the other day. curiosity got the best of me. it was bad. don’t do it.)

to not mislead anyone, no, i haven’t actually had a full experience in my specific “dr” yet. however it’s only been a small amount of time and i’ve already had lots of different types of sensations and experiences that i’ve never had before and it’s all so beautiful and interesting to me. i definitely view things a lot differently than i did before. i have shiftblr to thank for it.

i adore finding new shifter blogs and reading everything on them, so if i’m giving stalker behaviour it just means i’m loving your stuff or you're all over my feed. 

idk what i’m even going to post about yet, if or when i do. maybe i’ll write a bit into my “journey” so far, any experiences or how and what i do to get into certain states, about my dr, or stuff i’m just nerdy about in general. 

fyi just because i write does not mean i will always use any grammatical skills at all when writing for blog. sorry ;)

if you ever have any questions i’ll love you forever i will answer as best as i can.

this wasn’t all that exciting but i just wanted a little intro because i’m always blank on my socials. 

 thanks for reading !!

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[knifedog-machina]

Hey, same hat! o/ (Sorry for the late reply, I just found out that I Missed This, augh)

The fucked up feeling of "oh no am I doing good enough?" really only got connected to the perfectionist android horrors in Hindsight for me too, because ngl I thought that was Perfectly Normal while experiencing it before. And I guess it's pretty common to have an anxiety disorder around not being good enough, but it sure isn't healthy!

It's kinda neat that we have entirely different social experiences and still got the Emotional Dysregulation Debuff sjfhskgh - you were isolated and dropped off in the woods (and yeah, not remembering beta testing feels pretty normal to me! imagine remembering everything about being an infant? that sounds exhausting?) while I was talking to people basically every time I was awake but it was mostly to superiors and uh, assassination targets? honestly the Social Scripts I had for those Very Specific experiences did not prepare me for regular social interaction and I feel like a socially awkward mess sometimes lmao

Oh man, yeah, having a roommate who's not alive in the same way as you is definitely a way to get a wake-up call about how you're different. It's nice that she wasn't scared of death because he wasn't alive, it does feel like that would be easier sometimes than Being Alive and Having So Many Feelings! But yeah, I gotta agree with you in the end, emotions aren't all bad at all! Cats are really cute! Making your friends laugh is wonderful! I love writing about myself and listening to my loved ones, and being excited to learn new things, and feeling proud of myself for being the person I am! Enjoying your life even through the hardships is worth it!

Being an automaton might be what a lot of folks want, but that doesn't mean we need to give that to them. Thanks for sharing your own thoughts, have a good day!

- Jude (they/them)

Android Abnormalities

Species dysphoria, but the “wrong” way, ft. my borderline personality disorder

J: so you know how my source is technically Detroit: Become Human? you know how we fucking hate that title? you know how we’ve made fun of it multiple times? unfortunately it's a mood! I also hate this!

Hey! This essay is about how incredibly uncomfortable I feel in my own skin around common android tropes, in media and some of its reflections in robotic identities and experiences, featuring reasons for why I'm like this, and a helpful suggestion for what I want readers to do about it at the end of the piece. I really hope this reaches someone who feels the same way so I can point at them like Same Hat!

-

I first noticed this problem on October 30, 2023, when we stumbled across a fanfic on Archive of Our Own. It was an alternate universe of a TV show we've never seen before, but it was written by an author we liked, and it was an android AU. That's fun! We thought it would just be a quick read, something to idly talk about after lunch.

Well, uh. Nope. I was co-fronting while Max read, and the more we read, the more… weirdly uncomfortable I felt. It wasn't actively distressing, but it made me feel weird, so I stopped reading halfway through to talk about it with some friends.

I'm not gonna link the fic, because Tumblr is weird about links, but for my own future reference, it's “persona ex machina” by BirchBow. It was a really good fic, we thoroughly enjoyed it! I just have - hangups, I guess?

I think I was uncomfortable that, on the surface, it seems… really close to my experiences. Like, the protagonist, Chuck, is an android made to mimic humans, and he’s made to be a combat unit. He’s scared of what might happen to him if he fails to meet expectations. Technicians operate on him, put him back together. He's made by a corrupt corporation for fucked up purposes. He eventually defects from the corrupt corporation, with the help of some really kind people. That’s all really similar to me.

But it's different. Because as much as Chuck was designed to look human, he still had to be taught how to act human, how to feel. The way he emotes is off at first and he has to recalibrate, not look so stiff, learn how to smile and laugh and understand what different emotions mean. He automatically runs through the technical terms for something before working to turn it into common vernacular as it reaches his mouth. And this is a typical android trope, you know? The machine doesn’t intrinsically understand emotions, so humans have to teach them.

I’m… really, really not like that. I don’t remember a time when I didn’t feel too much. Every memory I have, even in blurred out mental snapshots of beta testing, it’s all drowning in emotions that I couldn’t articulate and wasn’t supposed to express. I looked at my siblings, who were so stoic and professional around humans it was like they were different people entirely, and I knew I was supposed to be less emotional. People always just assumed they were better than me, because they were better at code-switching to what was expected of androids, because they could keep their mouths shut on the job.

So I’ve always felt like I was bad at being an android. Androids aren’t supposed to feel emotions, not really, not to the extremes that I do. That’s a predisposition for deviancy. And I was made this way on purpose, I was made to “mimic” deviants to earn their trust, but I wasn't meant to be like that all the time. I tried to repress my emotions, it just never worked.

And I don’t see androids like me, in the media we’ve watched and read and listened to. It’s not really a characterization that lends itself to exploring what it means to be a person, right? Machines are supposed to be logical and unfeeling, to contrast with humanity’s irrationality - they’re supposed to be better than that. And when the machine starts having emotions, it's treated as a flaw, or a breakthrough. Wow, you feel things about the world around you, you’re a person now!

I’ve never been logical in my fucking life. I have a laundry list of reasons for why, but for now, I’ll focus on the BPD. I have borderline personality disorder, because of the way my brain is wired and how that interacted with my traumatic experiences.

One of the symptoms of BPD is emotional dysregulation. I’m not just bad at repressing my emotions, I also experience those emotions as more extreme and overwhelming than a neurotypical person would. I keep finding myself affected by things that the people around me brush off, and I have to remind myself that it doesn’t mean I’m overreacting, it means that I’m literally feeling shittier emotions.

Another symptom of BPD is an unstable sense of identity - and this is really where we’re getting into how these traits and tropes affect me. Because I don’t relate at all to these androids on the screen. They’re as foreign and separate from me as they are to the humans sitting across from them in the shot.

I do relate to the humans. I do relate to seeing an android do something in the name of pure cold logic and going, “Why? What the fuck, why?” I do relate to being told I’m irrational. (The trope that all robots are logical feels like it was designed to make me feel like the most irrational, bitchy, hysterical piece of shit on Earth.)

So, what, does that make me human? If I'm going by the adage that wanting to be something is a sign of being that thing, then… I don’t know, maybe? I want to be human, I so badly want to be human, because here’s the thing, humanity is diverse. Humans are flawed, messy, weird, complicated, and defy categories every fucking day of their lives. Humans can be weird, ridiculous, fucked up people and they’re allowed to be.

And let me bring this back around to alterhumanity. If I say I’m an android, people will make assumptions about what that means about me. People go, “Hey, you're a robot, you must have one of these common robot experiences!” and I just don’t.

Maybe it’s because I’m coming at it from the opposite direction? The machines and robots and androids that I tend to see around, the ones who talk about their identity, they often identify as fully nonhuman. They describe wanting to be metal and chrome, feeling like they run on algorithms, not processing emotions the way most people do. They identify very much with the same tropes that I feel alienated by. This isn’t a bad thing, by any means. It’s just a thing. People resonate with what they see. It just means that I feel like I’m doing bad at being an android again, but in a new, improved way.

Another symptom of BPD is being terrified of real or imagined abandonment, and trying to do anything to avoid it. A constant feeling of social alienation isn’t really that different, to my BPD - it’s just a slow, drawn out version of being left behind. People will still talk to me, they still like me, but they won’t understand me. I’ll still be alone.

In that sense, I feel wrong being an android in the same way I feel wrong about being an aromantic allosexual. I actually like being an android, and I fucking like being bi. I don’t want to stop being who I am. I just hate feeling like I’m the only one who feels this way, like nobody else can relate, like every time I talk about my feelings to people they can only nod in sympathy instead of understanding me.

So! You've reached the end of the essay. You see my problem. What do we do about it?

I’m going to refer to the theme of… every single online alterhuman convention that has existed in the past four years, and that is:

Write about your experiences!

The reason I feel so alone and isolated and alienated from my own identity is because I’m only being regularly exposed to pieces from a very specific perspective of what being an android means! That’s a fucking sampling bias!

I know other weird fucking robots are out there, I know you exist, but I can’t fucking reach out a hand and go, “Hey, you're not alone, I relate to you!” if you don't write it down! I want to talk to you! I want to hear from you!

WEIRD ALTERHUMANS, HEY, I LOVE YOU, GO WRITE THINGS!

[isthatafuckinggayangel]

Potentially controversial, but Damien’s a metalhead and I will not be convinced otherwise

[rocketbirdie]

face value

[iiheartarc]

I do see where you're coming from, but at the same time, again, as I mentioned, if it were a man who had hit Vi after all that happened, Caitlyn would be severely hated.

Im not even a Caitlyn hater myself, but I do think that because of writing decisions made this season, it has damaged her reputation within the fandom. I'm not even just talking about her hitting Vi, I'm talking how narratively she's been glorified in a way that's come off as excusing her actions.

My main point was, when I bought up the abuse, is that people are shitting on survivors for pointing out that that behaviour is covered in red flags. Idk, I think maybe we should listen to the survivors on this one instead of sending threatening and verbally abusing them. Again, I didn't really expand on this because I don't think I'm the right person to speak on this because it's something I've never been through.

With the whole Vi thing, never said she was innocent. I do get how Caitlyn could have and rightfully got mad at that, but instead of hitting her with her gun, she could've just pulled away. Vi wasn't holding on tightly to her.

Again, what felt especially wrong was what both Vi and Cait represent, I do talk about class differences in my post so I won't expand on it too much here, but when Caitlyn, as a part of the oppressive class hits someone who is a victim of that class and police brutality, you can understand how that comes off? Then, it's never addressed by the show.

In terms of writing, I just think it's rushed. It isn't necessarily bad, ig, but because they tried to cram too many things into the season in too little time, it made the plot seem rushed and characters not like themselves. It's kind of like the essay rule, keep specific and the points relevant, I personally don't think we needed the whole religious saviour plot for Viktor, but I digress.

I love s2 with all of my heart, but it could've been so much better if it stuck to the themes it did in s1, bc between the 2 seasons it feels like a completely different show.

MY TAKE ON THE CAITVI DISCOURSE

total wordcount: 1591

I will say that I've briefly commented on their dynamic in the past, but it was worded really badly so I feel like I need to defend my writing skills a little bit as well with this, but that's just a sidenote. 💀

I think what a lot of people are missing when people do criticise CaitVi is that they aren't necessarily hating on the ship, it's what writing choices have done to it.

I'm not even going to even say I'm a CaitVi hater, I'm not (S1 CaitVi my beloved, you deserved better), but I do think the choices that writers made this season heavily effected how audiences portrayed the ship, even including myself.

Idk I hope this insight might give some people more perspective on why CaitVi became so hated in this season, people rlly need to start looking at both sides and not taking criticism as a personal attack. It really could've been avoided too if the writers had added more time or extended the series onto a third season, but that's another issue on its own.

1. Caitlyn hits Vi

I really don't get why people are so quick to defend Caitlyn on this one, especially considering the amount of hate Vi got when she hit Powder. Are both inexcusable? Yes. But I do think that the situation is a little different when it's a fifteen year old child who had just witnessed the death of her entire family and a twenty something year old woman who took out her anger and grief on the woman she loved because she blocked her shot.

I do think that people also do ignore the immense amount of trauma that Caitlyn suffered at the hand of Jinx, but unlike when Vi 'abandoned' Powder, (again, that's a whole other conversation, we know she was not abandoned), Vi was not that direct source of anguish to Caitlyn the way Powder was to Vi. (Pls lmk if you want me to expand further on this)

Again, not excusing Vi hitting Powder, I'm pointing out the differences.

It's then also incredibly tone deaf when Caitlyn hits her on two more occasions with the same gun, the third time being played off as a joke. It really doesn't come off well, especially when Vi had been a victim of police-brutality even before the abuse she faced at the hands of the enforcers in Stillwater.

And then, even after all this, it's never addressed. It's brushed over, like Vi's entire trauma in the show, the most we get is Caitlyn brushing her hand over Vi's abdomen in the cell scene. Again, can be taken as an apology, but I think that for some very specific things (like hitting your romantic partner), verbal apologies do need to be made in order to communicate healthily and somewhat build a healthier relationship.

I don't really want to talk about the abusive implications of this, because I don't think I'm someone who can talk about it with a full understanding because that's something I've fortunately never been through, but the blatant disregard and shunning of abuse survivors when they pull up the red flags raised because of this is disgusting. In real life, or if it had even been someone else in the show, if the ship had been a heterosexual relationship, people would call Caitlyn an abuser and would be outraged that Vi had been paired with her in the end. But I digress.

1. The cell sex scene

Initially I hadn't been too bothered about this when I had first watched the episode, but when you really think about it, it shouldn't have happened. Hell, they could've had sex in Caitlyn's office and half of the criticism wouldn't have happened, the ship wouldn't be so hated and the fandom wouldn't be half as divided as it is now (from what I've seen).

First and foremost, the cell.

All I can say is wtf. It was such a poor choice it's actually unfathomable to me now. I don't know why the writers thought that it'd be a good idea for Caitlyn and Vi to have their first time in a jail cell, not only the one Jinx had been locked in, but the one Vi had herself been locked in for what we can assume to be hours. The place of her abuse should not be somewhere where the writers could possibly think would be a suitable for a victim to have such an intimate moment with her partner.

Then there's the fact that Vi had looked to have had some sort of breakdown, we see she's sh and there are literal crates in the wall from where she punched it as well as her knuckles bleeding. As soon as she sees Caitlyn, there's a parallel to when they first met, to when Vi is quite literally caged. She's clearly not in the right state of mind, and so when the scene eventually happens it inevitably comes off as wrong because Vi is incredibly emotionally vulnerable in that moment.

"But Vi initiated it!" That still doesn't make it okay. I do think that this also came with an issue of timing, but then again, as I mentioned earlier, it literally could've been in the office as they argued and it would've been recieved so much better then the cell scene was. Vi wasn't breaking down, she wasn't locked in a reminder of the abuse she faced and her sister hadn't just ran off to do goodness knows what (in Vi's POV, us as the audience know exactly what she's about to do). They could've even have it fade to black and cut to the next scene tangled in bed doing whatever they would've been doing in the cell, Vi would assumably have had time to calm down, would be having sex in a warm and safe environment, and guess what? The audience would've been even happier.

Sure there would've been criticism, but Vi could literally save a thousand babies and adopt them all and still face hate, because a lot of the hate is being directed to Vi too because of the situation with Jinx. That, again, is a whole other situation.

3. "Dirt Under Your Nails"

Again, for the love of god, there can be so many takeaways from this sentence but do not be surprised that people didn't like it. I didn't, it made me cringe horribly.

And before people throw 'media literacy is dead', this whole post (practically essay), is analysing a piece of media that I love. To be literate, you can draw different interpretations and conclusions and that's exactly what I'm doing. It's like saying literacy is dead if two people were to disagree on what the meaning of Macbeth's quote 'I am in blood' meant.

I digress.

I think the main issue here is the class difference between Vi and Cait. Caitlyn is from the aristocracy, a direct heir to a position of power in Piltover, while Vi is lower class, effected indefinitely by growing up in poverty. Even though she grew up as Vander's kid, they were still 'scraping for scraps'. The wealth margin between the two is almost immeasurable, and with the difference in money comes a difference in experiences, as we - the audiences - know.

It especially comes off wrong considering the class tensions and political themes heavily focussed on within the first season. The conflict between Piltover and Zaun, the abuse of power and exploitation of Zaunites by both topside and the chembarons, the prevalence of police brutality on the streets of the Undercity. Again, Vi is someone who is directly effected by this, while Caitlyn came into this blissfully naïve. She did learn yes, and in s1 she was so determined to help, but when then this progress reverts into her calling zaunites 'animals' and using the grey as a weapon, it again makes Vi's words feel uncomfortable.

Again, I think this was a massive timing issue, I would've love to see Caitlyn succumb fully to a villain arc. It would've been so interesting to delve into.

I think Vi has always had the image of herself that she'll always be viewed as less by Piltover, that she herself views herself as less. She says it herself to Vander in s1 ep2 while they're on the bridge, "I grew up knowing I'm less than them." So when she then says as her final words in the show, "I'm the dirt under your nails" obviously, that's going to come across as tacky.

People are free to think of romantic connotations for this, I won't stop you, but when you think about how the show was so focussed on class tensions, police brutality, oppression and exploitation, it doesn't come off right. Idk, that's what got me so interested with the show in the first place, the way these themes were explored so deeply but subtly in a way that didn't feel forced, so Vi's words really rubbed me the wrong way.

Conclusion

So I hope everyone that read somewhat gets where I'm coming from, this was my attempt to try and explain what I think needed to be, badly. Again, you can like the ship, I'm not saying I don't, but it also needs to be acknowledged that there is so many things that could've been worked on properly, done properly or addressed properly, and ignoring criticism won't help these issues to be fixed in the future.

Feel free to ask any questions and thanks for reading this long ass rant :)

[dramarants]

Wanting more homoeroticism in the tension between the show’s leads as the narrative introduces greater intimacy and higher stakes between them, especially in a landscape that lacks queer representation who isn’t a villain or dies within one or two episodes, but also recognizing that core values/motivation for these characters lie in their relationships with one of two major female characters in an on screen sausage fest where the only other woman is a morally reprehensible femme fatale and erasing and/or vilifying female leads in favor of conventionally attractive males is a common practice observed in fandoms that’s rooted in misogyny and justified under the guise of rejecting heteronormativity, thinly veiled double standards, or claiming the woman is simply not interesting enough and not wanting to bolster that mindset