#whatever. less questionable version for tumblr because i can't post it here.

[boeing-787]

:p

always go :p

[freddie-77-ao3]

sup yall we're vibing here

anyway. hey, my name's freddie, and i'm finally trying to write an actual intro/master post which... we'll see how this goes.

important stuff is highlighted in orange.

so, basic stuff:

as I said, my name's freddie. he/him pronouns. i'm a college student (majoring in accounting, might add a psych minor). not gonna say which college but i'm currently in california.

i've been on tumblr since 2019 i think? not under this account, this started as a fandom account and then spiralled out of control... really fast. um, my regular tumblr which i've not actually opened in ages is @chronicchthonic14 so. yeah.

not particularly relevant to this blog, but i might mention it at some point so, i have autism and adhd. and some other things but. like. that list is very long and those are the two most relevant because i promise if i come off wrong/mean, i didn't mean to, i just forget to make my words normal. but. those are the two most referenced. if for whatever reason someone wants to know more or has questions you can send an ask ig?

i'm scottish, born there. moved to US when I was four. finishing uni and moving back.

some quick warnings

this blog definitely contains cursing/vulgar language, whatever you want to call it, so if you're not comfortable with that, probably not the blog for you, as i don't tag cursing or anything for you to filter out.

if, for whatever reason, if i ever reblog something that contains a slur (against racial minorities, queer people, anything) i will ABSOLUTELY tag that though.

also if anyone has any trigger warnings they think any content needs, please let me know-- asks, dms, comments, reblogs

the cursing thing also applies for sort of dirty jokes? think that only applies to like. two posts and very not explicit. those aren't currently tagged but if they get any more explicit they certainly will be.

queer identity because the explicit reminded me, i'm asexual, and probably straight. maybe bi? dunno, don't particularly care. and i'm trans. ftm. this isn't the blog i talk about that on usually though, unless it relates to a specific ask or a fandom thing.

which, getting into what this blog is for because i can't think of anything else i need to add here (guys let me know if i forgot important stuff, please, i'm an idiot!!! i will forget the important stuff and write random shit instead!! i've already deleted three tangents from this!!)

sooooo

fandoms!! ones i write and/or post about or will potentially post about

percy jackson extending to hoo, toa, tkc (definitely post way less about this), mcga (again, way less). haven't read TSATS or COTG yet, but spoilers are fine. i post way more about minor characters. write fanfiction for and have some posted (both on here and ao3) and a bunch of snippets.

dcu-- films, comics, animated shows, all of it. personally, my favorites are young justice (the comics, not show version), new teen titans, and batman inc (batgirls, nightwing, and red robin esp). late 90s yj run is my favorite, and i loved the DCeased event. favorite batman comic is definitely court of owls run. no fanfics posted, but some on docs.

mcu-- way less so, but have a stucky oneshot. slowly making my way through in timeline order.

throne of glass. i'm an aedion and chaol apologizer because they do a bunch of dumb shit but then WHO DOESN'T in this series. fanfics in doc, not posted.

this would go on for ages if i listed everything so instead, here's an ask i answered on my fandoms/genres and everything. feel free to send me asks about anyone. if you send me something about radium girls i may cry though (tears of joy) so there's your advanced warning.

main things you'll see on my blog are incorrect quotes, snippets, and the occasional fic

this^^

my... idk, contact policy? seriously what do i word this

asks are always open, anon is on.

if you send hate... whatever. i'll probably delete it.

unless i find it funny. then I'll post it. there's really little you could say to me that would hurt.

when i say asks are always open, you can drop anything you want.

literally anything

you need to vent? want advice? want to request headcanons? request a fic? give me a prompt? ask random things about me? something else I've forgotten? go right ahead

if you want to ask me to update my fics? go right ahead. sometimes i forget i didn't post something.

send as many asks as you want, i don't care if it might be spam

i can't promise i'll respond to asks in a timely manner, sometimes i open my inbox and forget they exist for months, i'm sorry. if it's something you really want answered you can send another one

dm's are alright? if you want to be friends or something, go right ahead.

anyone can reblog any of my posts/comment/heart, i don't care. you want to heart 50 things in a row? i adore you. if i had kids, you would get my firstborn

if we're mutuals you can ask for my insta/give me yours.

now, other accounts:

anyway, i think that's it?

[hugintheraven]

Let's poll RPF

Not the morality debate, that's been done to death and is honestly uninteresting to me. But what is Real-Person Fic/Real-Person Shipping? Or, more specifically, what qualifies as a real person?

Because obviously Tony Stark is fictional, while your friend Antony is a real person. But past that point, everything gets blurry. Like professional wrestlers, who are playing a created character along a prewritten storyline, but are doing so unscripted and often under their real name and as a reflection of their real fake fighting capabilities. Plenty of bands and Twitch Streamers have played out fake drama for the media attention, which is basically the same thing except less openly fake.

Stephen Colbert of the Colbert Report was clearly playing a parody of a far-right news personality, but did so with his real name and background. And when he moved to the Late Show, he's still putting on a fake personality there, just like every other famous person when the cameras are on them(you can't act like you do in front of your family on the red carpet, or vice versa). But when that's the case, how is that different from the barista who smiles while mentally stabbing every person in line?

And then there's stuff like George Washington. We have an IRL historical figure, a mythological figure that resembles a demigod more than a human, and the version from various fictional media(Hamilton et al). If someone writes fics based on each of those versions, which are RPF? And, once you answer that, do you think the same answers apply to Mulan?

So, the point of this post. Here's a list of options, from most fictional to most real. At which point do you consider it to be RPF. Note: I DO NOT CARE whether you approve of shipping it or not, the question is just at what entry in the poll would you think it needs a tag/warning/whatever. Please vote for the first you think is RPF, we can assume that means everything past that point is also RPF(because that's the only way to poll this on this site).

Please reblog, I'll be tagging this with RPF related stuff, but I want everyone's opinions of this. And feel free to go in-depth in the tags/RBs on your nuances, "At what point does someone become fictional" is a rather hefty question for a Tumblr poll.

[the-earth-priestess]

okay well. my partner suggested that nobody was requesting my readings because i was underselling myself. AND I REALISED WELL... god i really am. if i was offered a reading for less than five bucks i wouldn't take it lmfao. i would think it would be terrible quality no matter what reviews i saw. so here i am with a revised version of my commissions post.

the cost: pay what you want minimum aud$75 per question/topic/ask.

the content: with one ask, you get two readings, one each of tarot and oracle. i will not tell you to do anything -- this is not a place for you to be ordered around, and you always retain your agency and autonomy with me. i will offer intuitive information, empathy, kindness and suggestions for better living, mental health and spiritual wellness. i will offer descriptions of for example your current trajectory of your future spouse/lover/partner, your future job, your road to healing. everything i say is an accumulation of my life experiences, understandings of humanity, emotional intelligence, wisdom and gentleness. everything i say is a message from whatever it is you may believe in, or maybe just as simple as something that you need to hear. everything i say is said with pure unconditional love. however, you always retain the capacity to choose what you internalise! if you are not sure about what topic you want to choose, let me know. you will still get a comprehensive reading of what you need to know right now.

the reviews: click here to view my site where you can see examples of past readings and reviews of the quality of my work.

for rules and terms and conditions, tap the read more. hope to see you soon!

the rules:

reblog, like, follow. then comment and tell me about your day or something meaningful to you.

send however much you want, min aud$75, to my ko-fi, but don't forget to tell me your tumblr url in the tip message.

then send a public ask saying you want a reading. you can pick/describe a topic, but allow me to phrase the question for the cards. if you're not sure what you want to ask, leave it to me, and i'll ask the cards what you need to know right now.

optional but after my reading, i'll ask you to leave your feedback on my site.

terms/conditions: i will take most topics, just about anything goes. however if i cannot do your reading i will dm you and we can discuss alternatives. if i can't read for you i will refund you. if you are abusive or rude i will refuse to read for you and refund. if this post takes off please practice patience as i get to you.

thank you so much for reading. please consider my offer! 🍃🦋

[berserker-nerd]

So to the three or four people that follow me (or whatever the tumblr equivalent of a youtube subscriber is) yeah don't expect anything remotely resembling a proper schedule for posts on my blog? (This is a blog right?) I'm still very much new to this hell site after only a year of being here. At some point I'd like to try to do some review style essays,

I already tried once with Yaz and Sammy's relationship from camp cretaceous but it didn't post so the next time I'm A going to make it 2 parts and B going to try saving to drafts and see if that helps. I'm a cis/het ally, if it has an opinions of an outsider looking in perspective that'll likely be why.

Also for a guy I've got a hopeless romantic type thing going on so I might come off a bit mushy.

Also I'm probably not going to do the guess the song thing until more people start seeing the ones I've done or until I find a way to make them less confusing (I had someone say one of the ones I did was confusing and in the end that person got the song right [fields of gold] but sung by a different artist than the one from my puzzle[the version I was hinting at was by Celtic Woman]) I want the guess the song puzzles to be fun, which they can't be if they're to complicated.

I'm going to be a posting some questions about cartoon characters because I think it'd be cool to see what other people think.

[lovely-english-rose]

14, 19, 28, 30, 36 & 38 for the FE asks

oooh lots of questions! i'll put them under a cut to spare everyone's dashboards from how long this will probably get lol

14. Something you really don't like about this series?

Hm.. Less about the series I guess, and more of the general treatment of female characters- The oversexualization of them particularly. I get having fanservice, but alot of what the games do is just 😬 We respect women in this house, they deserve better- AND if we're gonna fanservice WHERE is the equality? Sexualize the men too. Also, having thousands year old characters looking 12....

19. Favorite (canon) pairing?

Obviously (m)Corrin and Niles- Of course they are canon, IS hasn't come out and said they're not, so who's to say they aren't 👀 it's my playthrough and i get to decide the canon ships! and who am I, if not the walking talking kamu//zero propaganda machine? I mean that's why I'm drawing them all the time lol. I genuinely hope they get an alt together in feh the way Chrom and Robin did earlier this year.

In terms of pairs that are 100% canon in game, I do adore Louise and Pent! What sweethearts!

Also big fan of ~heavily implied~ Eliwood and Ninian uwu

28. Because this fandom doesn't see enough discourse [citation needed], post a spicy hot take here🔥🔥

oh geez I gotta come up with another spicy hot take- lets see. ah- avatar characters are in fact their own characters, none of them are "self inserts" despite having customization options, because they all have their own distinct personalities. also, while you can have a preference for one version over the other, ultimately male and female versions are the same, because they're literally the same character so it's pretty dumb to hate one version while holding up the other one over the same traits- (ex. i have seen people hate m!corrin for being "too emotional" while in the same breath adored f!corrin for being "a strong and emotional protagonist" they're... they are the same character. and people do this with all the avatar units smh)

30. Since horse abuse is currently popular on Tumblr, beat up a dead horse with your take on an oversaturated topic🐴

*leans into mic* Edelgard, while in fact being a very strong and interesting female character, is still the villain of 3h. And that's okay, you are allowed to enjoy villain characters, free yourselves from needing to justify everything your fave does and just enjoy baddies. Liking villains doesn't make you a bad person. Also her being bi does not excuse or justify anything she does?? Rhea is also a bisexual lead in the same game so. Ya know. Also potentially Byleth as well depending on player choices-

36. Share a funny FE-related story, either ingame or not!

I think I've told this one already, so sorry if you're seeing it again- But this is a favorite moment of mine. One (1) time I didn't marry Niles in a Conquest playthrough, for the sake of finally seeing Nina right? So I had Niles go after her, iirc he was closest, and she says something like "you'll never catch me daddy! >:(" and Niles, hitting a fucking crit, "you can't hide from me!" and oneshot poor Nina- I sat there like

thankfully you can recruit her by defeating her, but MAN what a moment. I was shocked then, but I find it very funny looking back.

38. Freebie! Talk about whatever you want 🐉⚔

Outside of Smash, FE was introduced to me by some friends. And the series has introduced me to so many more so, I'm really happy for that! As rough as the community can get, I'm glad for all the people the series has connected me with. And the games themselves have brought me so much joy. Also, love seeing the shining creativity in the community, in art, fic, cosplay, analysis, etc. 😊

Fire Emblem Series Ask Game!

[smol-nevi]

I don't generally make this kind of thing a habit, but I think if you happen to be on the Crystal RP Discord, aka @crystal-rp-ffxiv, you should probably be aware of this kind of behavior, so here goes.

If you're on Crystal RP and the admin team decides they don't like you, you're going to be living under a microscope while they wait for you to mess up, if not bait you, probably while making up conspiracies about you as well. As for how I know this, I was a moderator for about a week's duration and saw it first-hand.

Unapologetically lengthy post. Receipts in the link above, long version below the cut.

From the first time I looked in the mod chat I knew something was wrong. I read backwards in the channel, thinking I'd acclimate myself and see what kind of rules precedents had been set and that sort of thing. I mostly just found out that they had it out for a particular member (at the time using the name Jericho) for not much reason. They'd spent a troubling amount of time over the past few months watching him and another member like vultures, believing them to be the same person and waiting for them to make some kind of mistake that would justify banning both of them...despite keeping different schedules, having different personalities and typing habits, and visibly being two different people. The admin team had come to the conclusion that Jericho was a troll who wanted to make them look bad, and anything he said or did was scrutinized to a ridiculous degree for evidence that would corroborate their belief.

Except none of the things they believed at all were true: he'd had a minor argument via DM with the head admin Benjimir Thursby's wife, Tessariel Aerlinn, who had made an overly broad statement about anime and Asian culture. Jericho had told her that overgeneralization about 'Asian culture' is potentially racist, and she became extremely angry, saying that because she's Asian, she can't be racist against Asians. After that, it seemed that Jericho was considered fair game for whatever retaliatory actions the two of them could justify.

Even a cursory glance at actual racism in Asia pokes Tessariel's statement entirely full of holes, and having personally read the conversation I didn't see anything actually inaccurate in his statement even if she believed it didn't apply to her. I asked what he had done that would merit such a response, because it felt very disproportionate to anything I'd ever seen him do publicly, and that was what I was told. The exchange via DMs had been screencapped and kept in a channel for evidence, and while I didn't get a copy of it, I did read it, and I said that I thought it sounded awfully one-sided and punitive and would have been much better as an actual conversation. I also expressed that I was concerned how much of the channel had been solely devoted to what was basically a witch hunt, considering that some of the server members had over the course of the past couple of months commented that the admins' behavior towards Jericho seemed biased.

I basically got a pat on the head and told that my opinion was "valued" but wrong. This would happen a lot over the course of the week.

Shit continued to escalate. Their favorite punching bag, who was acutely aware of the grudge by now and probably trying to be nice and discuss something that he thought they could all talk about, brought up some articles that stated that LOTRO might be having a graphical overhaul. This actually ended in him being put into some kind of time-out mute, because "everyone knows those articles are debunked already" despite them still being hosted on reputable games news sites. Back-channel, the admin consensus was that he was in fact trying to bait Benjimir and Tessariel into somehow looking stupid in public, because [paraphrasing] 'he knows how important LOTRO is to them.'

Benjimir in fact went off publicly about how he knows the dev team and they sent him 'personalized swag' for 'being himself' and that everyone should just listen to him because he's right. Someone else made a reasonable request for sources on statements that Benjimir made about the LOTRO improvements not happening, and they immediately became the team's private #2 punching bag.

The whole time I reiterated that this was really uncomfortable and I had serious concerns about the way they were handling Jericho. And as always I received a pat on the head and was told to not worry about it, there were really good reasons for it, really. He was 'bringing down the quality of discourse' on the server somehow. Benjimir decided that the only way he would unmute Jericho is if Jericho talked directly to him, and that Jericho tried to talk to any of the more level-headed members of the team first was taken as obvious evidence that he wanted to evade rules and create problems. I asked when we planned to unmute him, and Tessariel immediately jumped to the conclusion that he had messaged me, which wasn't incorrect but the way she worded it felt highly accusatory and I was beginning to feel that I was also in trouble somehow for not agreeing with the rest of the team.

Things came to a head quickly when I woke up and looked at the mod chat and they were having an animated conversation that started with Benjimir asking if it was 'bad that he was laughing at Jericho' and most of the rest of the team talking about how he was stupid, uninformed, a troll, etc. for the sin of having some misgivings about cryptocurrency, of all the things. One of the mods self-described their behavior as bullying. I said that this was extremely unprofessional and that I thought they should keep conversation to actual moderation matters, and if they had a personal disagreement with a server member they should handle it in a personal venue, not via official server moderation channels.

I was, for the final time, patted on the head, and told that this was not something they would consider, because the moderation team 'needs to be able to vent for their mental health' (never mind that the job was not stressful except for the rest of the team committing worse behavior than the server members) and that maybe I was in fact too sensitive for the job. Benjimir heavily implied that I had become too close to Jericho and was being manipulated, managed to misgender me somehow despite my having used solely male or neutral pronouns the entire time I'd been on the server, and after relating a story in which a couple of years ago a well-liked moderator left after having the same complaints as I did (which he saw nothing at all troubling about), suggested that I should be demoted to babysitting the lore channel.

So I took some time to collect receipts, which are linked at the top of the post, and told him where to shove it.

Since that time, things have actually somehow gotten worse on Crystal RP. Benjimir posted an entire page screed vaguely talking about "rampant negativity" that stated anyone with questions should DM him.

Upon DMing him with questions, Jericho was banned, the only reason given being that he was a 'poor fit' for the server in some vague way. I was immediately banned afterwards for calling out this decision as being driven by a personal vendetta in the feedback channel and let him know afterwards via DMs in no uncertain terms that I had logged everything I needed and would be building my case (and that he is an asshole). Jericho was reinstated, though I'm not sure what the conditions of his return were as that was after my ban and I didn't ask since I didn't want to stress him out further. Benjimir also reprimanded someone for discussing asexuality, stating in a DM to them that the conversation was somehow ERP related. I called him out on this via DM as well. Tessariel was not much later caught posting my last DMs to Benjimir in an entirely unrelated server, though she didn't include the part after that where I brought up his aphobia (during Pride Month, in a server with a rainbow icon no less). Benjimir for some reason decided to suddenly start following my FC's Tumblr well after our falling-out.

And as of today (6/24), Crystal RP now has seven pages of draconian rules, because it wasn't micromanaged hard enough before or something. Notably, a lot of these rules describe behaviors that they wanted to punish Jericho for but couldn't at the time justify, or that they'd like to punish me for but have nothing they can do to me. Or they exist to justify their own behavior, as now seen in the very beginning of the channel:

"This approach also provides our volunteers with leeway to act in good faith without the burden befitting a professional occupation."

"So we afford them the means to speak openly, vent, lament, candidly and yes, sometimes crassly and raw about everything and one."

Not only did they behave unprofessionally and shit-talk before, they have now encoded in the rules that this is acceptable and even good moderator behavior, because they saw someone else do it so it's fine (a lot of this wording is very similar to what I was told when I protested it). So rather than address anything I ever said past or present, Benjimir is choosing to double down and giving himself and his team explicit permission to be shitty, right in the opening paragraphs where you'd have expected a mission statement or at least some sort of welcome.

Which is about all you need to know about that server and its owners, in my estimation. I'd considered not even posting to Tumblr about it, but given that it's only getting worse, I think it should be generally known that this is how you can expect to potentially be treated.

[gracie-p8-officialblog]

Spilling Tea On Phantom of the Opera 2004

DISCLAIMER: I just want to say from the start that it is not my intention to offendanyone, you're entitled to your opinions and I'm allowed to have mine...

Ok, so, I just watched this movie a few days ago on my laptop and it was pretty much my first time sitting through the movie. I watched a few clips of the movie on YouTube but... Then, I decided to watch the whole movie. And this was my reaction.

Don't get me wrong! There WERE parts I liked but... That was just half of the movie... But overall... Um... It was meh. Ahem. Down to business!

My opinion on Gerard Butler as the Phantom? Um, wow. And not in a good way. I feel like this was a case of a talented performer being grossly miscast as the Phantom. I think this Tumblr post best describes on what I thought of his singing.

"He's supposed to have the voice of an angel, but it sounds like he's been gargling vinegar" ~Quoted by @faded-florals

Don't get me wrong. His voice is quite good for an untrained singer but... The Phantom is one of the biggest musical theatre roles of all time! It's right up there with Jean Valjean. It's really not a role that could go a competent singer, someone who's never sang professionally before but could be good once they've been trained up a bit. The role demands a truly great singer... And he wasn't right for the part.

His voice felt too strainy, growly and rock-ish for the Phantom. I didn't like how Joel Schumacher bought into the whole "sexy Phantom" thing and cast a hunky heart-throb, who was nowhere near disfigured enough. It's meant to be a gothic thriller novel with a small romantic subplot, not a B-grade vampire romance movie!

As for Emmy Rossum as Miss Christine Daae... it's true, her voice is good. She should know though, should she wish to excel, she has MUCH still to learn (Heeeeehee. Sorry. Couldn't resist.)

Emmy's Christine had little-to-no character growth and personality but I don't think it reflects her as an actress, but reflects more on the director and casting director because of how young she was (but more on that later)

Not only that, her Christine was SIGNIFICANTLY dumbed down and oversexualized. I mean, the entire point of the story is that Christine grows strong enough to overcome the trauma of an abusive relationship and make sure that her abuser never hurts anyone ever again but still shows the Phantom compassion and sympathy. I mean, her story arc is her becoming strong-willed enough to overcome the Phantom's pull/spell/enchantment/hypnosis or whatever you percieve it as on her! And don't get me started on her costumes because of the SEVERE lack of modesty.

The chemistry was a little flat because she was underage and her two male love interests were both in their 30s (which totally isn't HER fault, of course, but the directors could easily have cast someone else older)

Her voice, too, strikes me as being much too young and undeveloped. She has a very pretty, sweet-sounding quality to her singing but she doesn't sound rich and operatic enough to be a convincing Christine. Rebecca Caine and Amy Manford do the best job of singing the way I think Christine ought to sound- a maturing opera voice! Though POTO is NOT an opera (you wouldn't believe how many people actually think it is...), it does revolve around opera, and Christine is an opera singer, not a pop star.

And now onto... Everyone's favourite vicomte!!!!!!

C'mon people, put your bottles down. It is a truth universally acknowledged (or at least in the wee Raoul Defense Squad Circle) that Raoul is one of the greatest and most underrated boyfriends to ever exist in musical theatre and it's almost impossible to hate him because of how relatable he is.

Ladies, puh-leeze. He's much more relatable than you admit and face it, we all have a little bit of Raoul in us. Failure to see things staring us in the face, saying or doing the wrong thing at the wrong time, having a 'see it to believe it' attitude when we have little-to-no evidence on something... yeah, don't pretend you don't see a trend. Raoul is relatable whether we want him to be or not.

My thoughts on Patrick Wilson as Raoul, he was one of the few redeeming qualities of this not so great movie. Yeah, the swordfight and Tarzan leaps were a little too much but can you blame him?! And though I feel like that foppish wig made him look more like a magic elf prince than a vicomte, he couldn't control that!

His Raoul was so gentle and caring! Yeah, his acting was a bit stiff but at least his voice wasn't a chore to listen to, it has this warm, tender, comforting quality to it which suits Raoul. I really loved the way he sang "Don't throw away your life for my sake" and "I fought so hard to free you" in the Final Lair (😭😭😭) It feels like Raoul is genuinely apologising to Christine.

I know, I know... The Hadley Fraser fans are approaching with menacing expressions as we speak but let me clarify. I still think Hadley is amazing but... His Raoul kinda felt a little too shouty for me and his Raoul was closer to the LND-canon than POTO-canon (not his fault though).

Miranda Richardson (aka. Rita Skeeter) as Madame Giry is kind of weird. I mean, I know Madame Giry's supposed to be a little Strange and Mysterious. But this Mme. wasn't really Strange or Mysterious at all, or even slightly Spooky at all. She was just kind of an oddball. Popping up in random places to give warnings about the Phantom and looking at people as if she were questioning their life choices or something. As for her daughter... well, Jennifer Ellison's Meg was so-so. She's got a sweet-sounding voice and that added scene where she looked for Christine in the lair was a nice touch... But... Her Meg was kinda forgettable and uninteresting. Meg is supposed to prance around shrieking that the Phantom of the Opera is here, not whisper it in a blase manner that you half expect to be followed up with, "by the way, what's for lunch?" Not to mention, she rivaled Christine as far as low-necked costumes went.

Minnie Driver as Carlotta was spot on! Yes, I know she didn't sing the score but her acting was alright. She was very over-the-top and self-centered, which is great for Carlotta, but I felt her portrayal was a little too childish to be accurate. Carlotta is a successful middle-aged diva who's willing to scream and storm when she doesn't get her way, but she isn't a two-year-old pouting and throwing tantrums. (Yes, there's a difference.)

Ciaran Hinds and Simon Callow played Firmin and Andre, respectively. Their managers kinda felt like twits and nothing more. Also, Firmin's masquerade costume was ridiculous. The stupid kind, not the funny kind. ...Well, okay, it was a little funny.

I'm not going to touch on every song here, but I will say that "Hannibal" was beyond awful (if you thought the costumes in the stage version were a bit risque, you should see the movie ones- no, actually you shouldn't) and that "Think of Me," while very nice, was not particularly memorable. Christine's dress, however (despite its less-than-ideal neckline) was GORGEOUS, even though it looks completely out of place in a musical that supposedly takes place in ancient Alexandria.

"Little Lotte" kinda lost its charm by being spoken instead of sung. And Gerard Butler's voice in "The Mirror" was too rough and raspy for my ears and made me cringe in sympathetic shame. The title song was like a cheesy, campy B-grade horror movie tbh, trying way too hard to be spooky and chilling ("ooh, look, Phantom's Lair! It's DARK and SCARY down here!") and succeeding only in being cringeworthy. Not that I've actually ever seen a bad horror movie- or any horror movie at all, for that matter. Unless you count this one.

Christine's costume, too, annoyed me no end. She was basically wearing a corset and drawers under the dressing gown. *facepalm* The dressing gown is supposed to go OVER your COSTUME to keep it CLEAN, peeps. It's not a BATHROBE. And the amount of eye makeup she had on would terrify a raccoon. Yikes.

Though I liked the random horse because of its nod to the Leroux novel.

"Music of the Night" was so blah-slash-touchy-feely that it made me summarily uncomfortable.

I'd like to be able to say something nice about "I remember/Stranger than you dreamt it" but I have none. One thing that bugged me to no end was how Christine is no longer wearing stockings, like dude, that gives some GROSS implications. Anyways, let's skip to Il Muto!

Oh, but first I should say that "Notes" was rather a flop and that "Prima Donna" is unmemorable and indeed should probably be fast-forwarded as there's a rather unsavory bit involving a crew member showing the audience what he thinks of Carlotta's behaviour.

"Il Muto," I must say, was pretty doggone funny. Carlotta's "Your part is silent. Leetle toad," cracked me up into a bunch of giggling little pieces, and the little vignette of the Phantom tinkering with Carlotta's throat spray made her croaking later on a lot more believable.

Now for "All I Ask Of You", SQUEEEEEE!!!!!!!!! I honestly can't understand how anyone could listen to this song and still maintain that Christine and Raoul don't belong together. He represents everything she needs- stability, protection, a guiding hand and affirmed affection. She represents everything he needs, in turn- someone to show affection to and his childhood friend.

One thing I definitely think could have been left out was the scene in which Erik kills Buquet- we totally did not need to see him being chased, terrified, through the rafters and finally strangled. Gross.

And the Phantom and his rose crouching behind that statue... I think this was supposed to be sad, but there was too much snot mixed with tears for it to be sad. It was, again, gross. So was Gerard Butler's pathetic attempt at the "all that the Phantom asked of you" line. And the lack of a chandelier crash in that scene made the song anticlimactic.

And "Masquerade" was so-so but... The Phantom's entrance is anticlimactic somehow, and his Red Death costume (if indeed it's supposed to even BE the Red Death) is unimpressive. I don't like how Raoul just runs off to desert Christine as soon as things start looking ugly (yes, I realize he was going to get his sword, but still... something could have happened to her while he was gone. Duh, did this guy learn anything from "Little Lotte/The Mirror"? Just sayin)

As for Madame Giry's flashback immediately following, I like how it gives us some of the Phantom's backstory, but it seems really abrupt. You don't even realize until she's done that she was talking to Raoul the whole time- it sounds like she's just randomly reminiscing about Stuff, and if you didn't know the story you might be sitting there thinking, "who is this strange woman again?"

Also, Christine leaving wherever-it-is at, like, five in the morning to go to who-knows-where, completely oblivious to the fact that the Phantom is driving her. Whaaaaaaaaa? How'd he know she was planning to go for a graveyard stroll? Was he watching her through the mirror again? THAT'S JUST CREEPY.

"Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again" was rather mediocre and dulled down the fact that it is a Christine Empowerment™ song. Why, exactly, does Christine's father have the biggest monument in the cemetery? If he were a rich and famous violinist as his crypt seems to suggest, why on earth was his daughter struggling along as a chorus girl taking free music lessons?

The swordfight... Well... I had mixed feelings about it. Sword fights are all well and good, but... The swordfight takes away the element of mysterious danger to the Phantom. Okay, fine, Christine getting Raoul to spare the Phantom's life is a nice touch, I guess, but did it strike no one else that his "now let it be war upon you BOTH" makes absolutely NO sense after that? If she just saved his life, why would he suddenly be all, "thanks, but no thanks, I'M GOING TO MURDER YOUUUUUUUUUU"?

And "Twisted Every Way" was after "Wishing" which made ZERO sense. Plus, I didn't like how they cut most of it because in the musical, it gave Christine a spine!

"Point of No Return"? Hooooooo boy....... There are so many things wrong with this number. Let's just a list a few.

*HOW did no one recognise the Phantom through his "disguise"?! At least in the stage play, it made more sense because of how he was wearing a cloak that obscured most of his body.

*Christine's sleeves falling down over and over again were REALLY annoying.

*It was just too touchy-feely for my taste.

*The fact that Emmy Rossum was a teenager during filming made this scene gross because of the way they oversexualized Christine in this scene.

*Gerard Butler's voice in that scene made me cringe and shake my head in sympathetic shame.

*In the stage play, Christine ran from him, showing her own agenda and resistance to his pull! While in the movie, she didn't resist him!

*Now for the one that took the cake... The disfigurement! Or it would be a disfigurement if it actually made him look, y'know, deformed. Instead, as several people have put it, he looks like he got a bad sunburn or something. It's really rather pathetic. It makes him look more like a drama queen than he already is! Yeah.... I really don't like this movie.

On to... Final Lair!!!!!!!! It was a flop. From Raoul's whining and flailing around and his stringy hair flopping about (shallow complaint, I know, but it's so ugly) to Christine's sappy melodramatic "don't make me choooooooose" faces to the Phantom's prancing around with his ropes and maniacal laughter that somehow wasn't really scary at all... yeah, it was a flop. A major, major flop. And though The Kiss wasn't all that bad, all I could think of was, "She's SIXTEEN! SIX! TEEN! THIS IS CREEPY, DISTURBING AND GROSS!"

Which is why it's so difficult for me to admit that, um, I... cried at the end.

I COULDN'T HELP IT GUYS HE WAS ALL ALONE THERE IN HIS LAKE WITH HIS MONKEY AND HIS SMASHED MIRRORS AND HE WAS CRYING AND IT WAS SAD.

And then that rose on the gravestone? That single red rose? And the look on Old Raoul's face (still Patrick Wilson, by the way, under all that makeup) when he saw it and realized he wasn't the only one visiting Christine's grave? Yup, I lost it again there, too. And I really didn't want to. Because I tend to cry over movies I love, y'know? And I didn't love this movie. At all

Yet I still cried at the end. I'm not really sure why. I think perhaps it had something to do with the way the story still "got" me, deep down inside, despite the lousy casting and less-than-perfect singing and ridiculously unnecessary elements that totally didn't need to be there. It's still a tragically beautiful romance, and even a bad film can't kill that.

In conclusion, I think Mary Poppins can best express what I thought of POTO 2004.

In conclusion, I rate it a 2.7/5

[jmshearer]

Passing Thoughts On: Elon Musk's Twitter

Well, this certainly is a spot, isn't it?

I'm sure by now, most folks reading this know that Twitter's not in a good way any more, and it's largely due to Elon Musk's decision to go through with buying the damned thing, wheather or not he wanted to. As I sit and reflect on it, this is something a lot of folks I follow kinda saw coming a mile away, and for the most part, they were saying it was going to basically wreck the site. From the looks of things, they were right on that.

A good many of them are on their way to other social media sites because of that. For at least two that I can think of, it's a move that's been hastened along by Elon letting his good buddy Donnie Boy come back to the site. It's a sentiment I'm inclined to agree with, of course. From what I've seen over the last couple weeks, things are really not going so swell for Twitter, to the point that it might not be a thing come this time next week.

With that in mind, am I planning on leaving Twitter myself? Yeah, eventually, if only because I must. In the near term, I'll still be there awhile, mostly because I'm not sure where I'm gonna go once I do leave Twitter for whatever reason. I'm on a few other social sites, so I've got options, which is good.

There's only a handful that I'm going to advertise here, for now, because there's a couple that I want to keep more or less private, at least for the time being. For now, though, here are the ones I am going to advertise:

My YouTube Channel: This is where my JMShearer Tries and Coffee Time videos go, but there's also quite a lot of other stuff I do there that's mostly just me passing time between shifts at work and on days off. A bit of a content warning, mind you: there's some content there that's at least potentially questionable as a result, and some of it is even my own. There's also a fair amout of NSFW stuff outside of my own work

My Tumblr page: Another place that's about a third my own stuff and two thirds sharing other people's stuff. There's also a fair chance of finding NSFW material there, as well. I don't post as much to Tumblr as much as I do other places.

Blogger: Probably the place you're reading this, because it's where I post the biggest majority of my written work. Most, of not all, of the content here is my own work. I would consider most of it safe for work as well, but that's just my assessment of my own work, so it might be wise to read all this stuff with a cautious eye.

Mastodon.social: @JMichaelShearer@mastodon.social or @JMichaelShearer@mastodon.social . Pretty much the same handle as the one I use on Twitter. There's not much there yet, so I can't say for sure what the content's going to be like. I'm going to need some time to figure out how this one works, as well.

And that's the list, for now. Things are in more of a state of flux now than they have been lately, so it's hard to say how all this is going to play out. I'm not sure where I'm going to wind up, exactly. There's still a handful of folks I follow on Twitter who's plans I don't know for sure. I'm planning on following them once I know where they're going, but as of this writing, I don't know that yet.

If you're following me on Twitter, here's a short list of other places to find me if things go south as quickly as it sounds like it might. If you're following me or know me other places, see you there, and I hope this list helps some.

Until next time, stay safe out there. See you around, if I don't get a chance to say it later.

==================================

As noted above, this is also on my Blogger page. I'll be sharing the link from that in case this version doesn't come through the way I think, soon as it goes live.

[crwatters]

I posted 3,431 times in 2021

56 posts created (2%)

3375 posts reblogged (98%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 60.3 posts.

I added 462 tags in 2021

#good vibes - 100 posts

#lol - 58 posts

#find: ar - 56 posts

#omg - 51 posts

#cute - 40 posts

#find - 36 posts

#my ramblings - 35 posts

#lmao - 32 posts

#im dying - 32 posts

#kitty - 22 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#did training for my new job tonight (nothif fancy just a pizza delivery person) and i got more and more agitated at the corporate propaganda

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

lockdown browser and its ilk is literally the most orwellian bullshit I’ve ever seen

14 notes • Posted 2021-01-12 16:51:38 GMT

#4

Alright hp fandom, I've had a question that's been bugging me for a while and I want your help answering it: is it stated in canon somewhere that Blaise Zabini's mom has had 7 husband's die of mysterious circumstances? Or is that just really, really widespread fanon?

Because I cannot think of a single fic off the top of my head with Blaise in it (in a semi-significant way) that doesn't mention this. So either it's some canon thing I missed, it's some obscure factoid that everyone loves, OR it's a really, REALLY specific piece of fanon that everyone partakes in. Because it's almost always 7 (I think I saw some fic say 6), always Blaise's (who's a pretty insignificant side character in the OG series) mom, and it's almost always implied that that's where their wealth comes from.

So please, where does this come from? Because I love it but can't for the life of me come up with a definitive answer

14 notes • Posted 2021-02-21 04:49:15 GMT

#3

Fair warning:

While I'm going to try to keep things regulated to my depression sideblog, some of my sad thoughts will undoubtedly leak here, but it shouldn't be anything too bad.

This will probably last at least a few months, although it's hard to say. So if you have to unfollow me or something I 110% understand-- you gotta do what's best for you and your mental health.

27 notes • Posted 2021-06-30 22:56:45 GMT

#2

Rewatching Good Omens, and can we talk about how when Newton gets pulled over by aliens he immediately calls Shadwell and all Shadwell had to say is "you're a witch finder, not an alien finder"??? Like isn't that the best most ridiculous response??

35 notes • Posted 2021-03-05 04:40:26 GMT

#1

I wish we could have an extended version of the iceberg of tumblr lore (I'd do it, but I have no idea how to sort the following), including but not limited to:

The johnlock conspiracy

I said young man, take the bread sticks and run /I said young man, hand hook man car gun (or whatever order that went in...)

Bullet point fics

Broken notes

Vertical replies

The mobile vs desktop feud

Left beef

"potterheads draw your wands"

Finding out who an anon was by blocking them

Godspouses

The humans are spaces orcs subgenre tumblr invented

That girl who has at least two child skulls that were probably definitely illegally acquired

On a similar note the debates on the ethics of human leather

Knock off "do you love the color of the sky" posts

Countries fighting over what lemonade is (and that really long post where britain and america were more or less personified and there was something about dumping britain's tea in the water to make iced tea, I think)

That shooting star post

Superstitious posts in general (including money cat, that madam who might curse your family, etc)

"this could save a life"

Internet Explorer memes

That time we found out tumblr was staffed by only like 2000 people and felt collective shame

Obama cosplay

"I like your shoelaces"

The war against porn bots

Infinite chocolate

Ik there's more that aren't coming to mind rn, and I know some of these are definitely surface tier bc they're more popular/recent, but I think they should at least get an honorable mention

66 notes • Posted 2021-02-07 08:14:26 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

Who spoke this into existence. I just wanna talk

[daesungindistress]

1.Hi, I came across this post (daesungindistress(.)tumblr(.)com/post/161838867627/i-used-to-love-todae-too-but-then-realized-theyre) but unfortunately I deleted my tumblr some time ago and can't reply on it so here is something that came to mind while reading through it. This might get a little long. Bare with me :) .. I actually started liking BB not long ago through Dae and his amazing voice and started looking at some videos and concerts and such and one thing that struck me was SH and Dae

Besides the fact that he is literally the other half of Dae in every Dae related show out there. Their relationship is something that sticks out from the group although it is the one they Seung Hyung and mostly Dae goes out to put little focus on. If they did the whole GD+Ri and GD+Top that Ri and GD does then they will blow them all out in terms of “fanservice”. Something they barely do.

I enjoyed reading through both your thoughts and like I said, I haven’t been listening or paying attention to them for long, a couple of months at most. I do agree with both your posts. From what I’ve seen of Seung Hyun, he is more impulsive as far as his emotions goes and he says and does things that some times makes you go what the hell is you doing baby. I remember seeing one interview where I think it was PSY who diverted from the whole mess he was digging himself into.

He is not someone who hides things or goes out of his way to really hide it. You give him the opportunity to talk about something that he doesn’t mind talking about without any backlash and he will tell it all. And then you have Dae who is more “calculating” on how much he lets out. Something I’ve noticed is that during interviews he mostly says the same thing where he either takes something out and add something new or shift it a little. And he makes it so funny that most are like awww and

and then goes so funny like you said the smiling angel until the times comes where things like Seung Hyun talking about calling him whenever he is feeling down and then people goes oh, that was serious. I’ve been watching k-dramas and such for almost a decade so I know the K-Entertainment is brutal and sometimes how you conduct yourself can come back and bite you in the ass. I do have artists that I like but in general I stay far far away from the K-Pop/music world.

In Daes case by being “closed”up, there isn’t much people can use against him in any case that isn’t made up situations. Also as an introverted person he charges his energy by being with himself and I get that, after having too much conferences within a week I tend to not want to see anyone during the weekend to recharge. I think they balance each other out, his “need” to always be there for Seung Hyun forces him out of his comfort zone.

They are so silly whenever they are on screen together I question how they are considered adults lol. And that’s like one part of their relationship the part that they can show without showing too much. If their situation was a drowning person and one saving I believe both would have drowned by now. Seeing how even more serious Seung Hyun situation seems to be, there is only so much holding above water you can do before you drown yourself or let go.

Normally when people are in a low place, they go to their therapist and try to work through things or do things you normally do that helps you. And so for him to call Dae in such a situation means he knows he is someone who can help him tip the balance back into his life. I think what Dae does, is to be constantly be there for him in order to make sure he doesn’t get to that low point but that can’t be always the case since they also have a life out there.

There is this translation of I think it was the final concert they did and Dae mentioned always wanting to be there for him and give him strength but not doing enough because he easily gets embarrassed. I found that quote interesting. I think they are so low key with their friendship in the public eye that even meeting in private is something the rest of the world with never know, until they decide it is time to do so. But I get why some times people will be like oh maybe they aren’t that

close because they don’t get “caught” or didn’t post about it. Regarding SeungRi’s mess, from what I’ve read, he has been dropping enough hints about those two relationship. It was interesting how Dae got pissed at him for even dropping the fact that Seung Hyun called him. Like really Dae, it’s not that deep. Which also shows, if it was up to him there will be less shown to the rest of the world about how deep their relationship is.

The fact that they haven’t beaten SeungRi with his mouth yet is funny. Dropping the fact that Seung Hyun loves Dae the most o teasing them as lovers from their recent FM. I’m actually expecting his ass to be whooped at this point lol. Did this whole mess even make sense? I didn’t type it out before and just went with what’s on my mind. Hopefully it made some sense.

So when I said this reply would take “a day or two” evidently what I really meant was over a week. So sorry! 😰

I think it’s really cool that you’ve been able to see all these things despite not being into BB for all that long (since you said you started liking them “not long ago”). The short version of this is: yes, I agree! “Literally the other half of Dae” …I love that! Aaaaand now I’m putting the rest behind a cut because… length. Yep.

About fanservice and how they’d blow the others out of the water if only they did it… I don’t think Daesung is all that into couple-y fanservice. Or shippy fanservice, I should probably say. Sad but (probably) true. In fact, he seems to make attempts to discourage it at times, and I try not to think too hard about why that is. This is in stark contrast to Seungri, who keeps up with the trends and knows what the fans want and enjoys giving it to them (us)… even if that means, yes, fanservice. And not always of the spontaneous variety; sometimes it’s pre-planned and carefully thought out.

What comes to mind first is a pretty renowned onstage GRi moment during the MADE tour that was later revealed in the MADE movie to have been a product of Seungri’s planning. He suggested it to GD well ahead of the concert and it seemed GD balked a bit at the idea. But they did it anyway, because they knew the fans would love it. I think that disappointed a lot of fans, when the truth came out, and I completely understand why. We like our shippy moments between the members to be ~real~ and ~natural~ and ~organic~ and ~heartfelt~

…or something. You know?

WHICH is why I get the sense that what we see between TOP and Daesung is rarely just fanservice, if it’s fanservice at all. I don’t think Daesung is into it, and as for TOP… I really feel like TOP just does what he wants, when he wants, cameras be damned. What we end up seeing from them… I dunno. It feels sincere. Probably part of why I’m so drawn to it, to them. Even if it sometimes leaves me feeling like a creeper, lol. 😅

Another thing: I could be wrong, but I don’t think Daesung is much for PDA (public displays of affection). Taking it further, I’m not sure he’s very handsy at all, with his friends or otherwise. You always see the other members touching and caressing and hanging all over him (except for Seungri?), but Daesung rarely reaches out and reciprocates. The only times I can recall seeing him touch the other guys of his own volition (i.e., when he’s not being instructed to for photos or whatever) is when he’s collapsing against them in laughter. You know, dropping his hands on their arms or shoulders. Safe places. No hands on knees or thighs like YB, no arm slung low around the back like TOP, no soft hugs from behind or chin hooked over a shoulder like GD.

The other times Daesung initiates touching are when he and Seungri are sharing the stage, such as in their recent dual rendition of Joyful. He gets a little rough sometimes with Ri, grabbing and pulling him in or pushing him away. But the way I see it, he’s deep into performance mode then and can be expected to play it up a bit for the crowd. (But wait, didn’t I just say he doesn’t do that kind of fanservice? God, y'all, I hate when I end up contradicting myself. I’m just gonna call it the Maknae Effect.)

Sometimes I wonder if his reticence to touch has anything to do with GD, YB, and TOP being his hyungs. Possibly he doesn’t feel it’s appropriate to touch them as freely as they do him. But then… nah. Dismiss that thought. I might be projecting a bit, not being a physically affectionate person myself– the thought to make contact never really occurs to me, and when it does? I’d rather not– but yeah, I just think Daesung tends to be more of a hands to himself kinda guy. (Of course, if we were talking about a love interest he’d surely be warmer toward them, but what I’m discussing here is in a more general sense.)

OKAY. Yikes, sorry, went off on a tangent there. Finally moving on from that. I like that you pointed out how Daesung has this tendency to repeat himself in interviews, often telling the same story over and over again but adding or taking away tidbits, just enough variation to keep it interesting and fresh. And yes, often putting a funny spin on it. Humor is not only great entertainment, it’s a good diversionary tactic. Give people that quick laugh they’re looking for and they’re satisfied, ready to move on. I mean, hey, more power to him, but this is largely why I say that Daesung’s air of openness feels a bit shallow to me at times. I’m always left feeling like we’re just scratching at the surface and getting, well… nowhere.

…Which is perfectly understandable, of course! He’s not exactly going to bare all to the public. I keep having to remind myself that because, perhaps like TOP, once I get to talking I tend to tell all (perhaps a better word is “overshare”). Now there’s one good reason to never become famous. hah!

Alright alright. As for everything else you’ve said, really, agreed 100%! I don’t know that I have anything left to add at this point– or that anything I could add would make it any better tbh. I think your observations about ToDae are on point. Thank you for taking the time to type up and send so many messages to get this to me. And now I’m finally freeing it from my inbox so others can see too.😃

*Oh! I do also like that you brought up Seungri casually throwing out a “because TOP loves Daesung the most” in that one fanmeeting. And his teasing when Daesung was asked about his relationship with TOP in another fanmeeting: “Lovers?”😂 Can’t remember if I ever shared those moments here at this blog, but I have seen them (and loooved them, of course).

[setepenre-set]

do u think that genderbends perpetuate cissexism? genderbending always changes the body as well as gender identity and i feel like it says that you can't have certain gender identities without those body parts. this post phrases it better viria(.)tumblr(.)com/post/116908105638

No, I don’t think that. As a trans individual who enjoys a variety of genderbending things, I do not think that at all.

I mention that I, myself, am trans, because I read the post you suggested, and the OP says that a cisgender person expressing an opinion that disagrees with their view is unqualified to do so, which– it is important not to let the experiences of a minority group be defined by people who are not members of the minority group, yes, but on the other hand–well, that sounds a bit like ‘out yourself or be invalid’…maybe there isn’t a perfect way of looking at that particular side-debate.

The OP of that post also says that this type of story “gives fans yet another excuse to ignore female characters in favor of focusing on their male faves.” Which rather smacks of You Are Not Allowed To Like What You Like; Eat Your Vegetables; Mother Knows Best. 

Fandom’s supposed to be fun, remember? You’re allowed to like whatever characters you like. You’re allowed to like whatever stories you like.

I’m getting a lot of purity police vibes, with that post. A lot of You Are Bad And You Should Feel Bad. 

You’re Allowed To Write That I Guess As Long As You Feel Appropriately Guilty For It And Also Publicly Self-Flagellate About It.

(icky puritanical nonsense)

But.

I say again: no, I do not believe, as a trans person, that genderbends inherently perpetuate cissexism. Can there be cissexism in a genderbend story? Yes. There can also be biphobia in a slash story; that doesn’t mean all slash is inherently biphobic.

Now–the first thing to do, I think, is to define what, exactly, ‘genderbending’ is. It actually covers a fairly wide range of narratives. We will divide them into story types. Then we can discuss them, and the OP’s issues with them.

TYPE A: Character X is presumed to be cis male in canon. In the fic, they are presented as cis female. OR Character X is presumed to be cis female in canon, and in the fic, they are presented as cis male. 

Example: my fic, Harriet Potter Is.

This story type is what people are usually talking about when they talk about genderbends. They are also sometimes referred to as girl!CharacterName or boy!CharacterName. 

Obviously, the language here is not ideal–the conflation of sex and gender is not good. 

AO3 offers a tagging option that I think works better, and does not conflate the two concepts. #Alternate Universe: Always a Different Sex #Alternate Universe: Gender Changes. The separate tags makes the point that they are separate issues.

(Really, I think the language we use to talk about this story type is going in this direction. The word ‘genderbend’ honestly seems less popular in general, these days, and I think it’s gradually phasing out.)

TYPE B: Character X is presumed cis male in canon and, in the fic, wakes up one morning in a afab version of their own body. OR Character X is presumed cis female in canon and in the fic wakes up in an amab version of their own body.

Example: An Ever Fixed Mark by elsepthdixon (avengers comics-verse)

This story type is sometimes referred to as genderswap or sexswap and sometimes as genderbend.

TYPE C: Character X is widely presumed cis male in canon. In the fic, they are a trans man. OR Character X is widely presumed cis female in canon. In the fic, they are a trans woman.

Example One: Liminal Paraphilia by dontdierob (Rogue One, Cassian is a trans guy)

Example Two: my fic, Fit Together (Megamind, Roxanne is a trans woman)

Example Three: the Bulletproof series (RocknRolla, Johnny is a trans guy)

I give multiple examples of this type because the OP of that post says they’ve never seen any stories like this.

TYPE D: Character X is widely presumed cis male in canon. In the fic, they are trans female. OR Character X is widely presumed cis female in canon and in the fic they are trans male. OR Character X is widely presumed to be cis anything, and in the fic they are nonbinary. 

Example One: Only She, Who Is Beautiful (anonymous fill on disney kink meme, Beauty and the Beast, Gaston is a trans woman)

Example Two: my fic, Fit Together (Megamind is a demiguy)

Example Three: my fic, Code: Safeword (again, Megamind is a demiguy)

Example Four: You Called Her Dot by Dibsanddabs (avengers movie-verse, Steve is nonbinary.)

Again, the OP of that post says they’ve never seen stories like this. So there are multiple examples.

OH! HERE IS A FIC ABOUT RORSCHACH FROM WATCHMEN BEING AN INTERSEX AFAB TRANS MAN: Untitled, an anonymous fill on the Watchmen Kink Meme.

(that post accuses fandom of not treating gender as a spectrum; evil gods, how long ago was it written?)

Now, I understand if you dislike Type A. I understand if you feel uncomfortable with reading these stories. But as a young trans person just beginning to question my assigned gender identity, reading Type A stories gave me a vital tool to do so. 

I was able to think to pretend I was writing one of those stories about me. How would I have been different if I had been presumed by society to be a boy? Would I still be me?

I would still be me, but society would have treated me differently. And as I wrote this story in my head, this story about me-as-a-boy, I began to realize that I did not fit in the original story. I did not fit the me-as-a-girl, supposedly ‘canon’ version. It wasn’t right.

The me-as-a-boy story wasn’t quite right, either, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t need to tell it to myself.

The best and most necessary Type A stories are, I believe, about recognizing that society treats people differently based on their apparent gender. And they help show how gender is, at least in part, a construct–it’s something that develops, that grows, in a person. And part of the way that it develops is through ‘gendered’ interaction with society. 

Often a person doesn’t question the gender that society has assigned them because it simply never occurs to them that they can do so, that it’s allowed, that they can still be them, even if it turns out they’re not the gender they were assigned. 

Reading Type A #AU: Always a Different Sex #AU: Gender Changes stories lets these people know that it’s okay to think about their gender. 

By questioning a character’s gender, a fic author can inspire a reader to feel able to question their own gender. 

It did me.

Sometimes you aren’t ready to start with a Character X is Trans story–it can feel too much like admitting you might be trans and that can be a scary thing. 

Sometimes we need Type A stories to take us there the long way around.

Like I said, I understand if you don’t like Type A stories and don’t want to read them. You don’t have to. I happen to dislike Type B stories; they creep me out. That doesn’t mean that they’re inherently bad, or even inherently creepy, though! Just because it’s true for me doesn’t mean it’s true across the board.

I don’t read Type B stories, but that doesn’t mean that other people aren’t allowed to enjoy Type B stories, or that they should feel obligated to publicly Confess Their Sins And Admit They Are Problematic for enjoying them, as the OP of that post seems to be saying people who enjoy Type A stories should do.

The OP seems to think that people should only feel allowed to write Type C and Type D stories–there’s that ‘you are bad and you should feel bad’ thing going on–the puritanical purity thing. Ew.

Your OP claims that “ ‘Genderbending’ does harm trans people.” 

I say in response: labeling the genderbending narrative as inherently cissexist and transphobic takes a vital tool for self-understanding out of the hands of trans people–like me–and replaces them with nothing but guilt and shame and silence. 

That harms trans people.