Hey y'all- lemme get a little honest about white privilege and ignorance for a second. We're talking about me in this case. Bc I wanna send a thank you to people I've seen on Twitter discussing the use of the 'nickname' Calico Jack uses for Edward in fanfics.

I've been working on a reunion fight between Stede and Ed for weeks now and in my first draft of it I wrote something like: "Ol' *Nickname*, really is an evil monster down to his evil heart, right?" being said by Ed to Stede.

The intention was to use this nickname as the painful characterization it was in the show as a point for Ed to push how he was feeling. That he felt like all the blame was being unfairly thrown his way, like Stede was looking him as nothing more than the monster everyone else has seen, like Stede was seeing the same racist caricature that so many have assumed was all there was to him.

I thought this reasoning to use to nickname as the slur it was, was enough to justify using it. But when I started seeing the discussion of it, I started to get worried. Most of the posts about the use of the name were to not include it as a nickname, as it isn't really one. To instead replace it with "Beardie" or other things in a context of friendliness. But I wasn't really using it that way, so I wasn't sure how the input applied to the scene I was writing... But I chose to err on the side of caution.

I've gone ahead and re-written the line as: "’The ol’ Demon really is rotten, all the way through his evil fucking bones right into his evil fucking heart’, right?" to just use a different nickname, though the passage loses as bit of the point I was going for...

But - as a white fic writer - my priority is not to be "making points" at the expense of my POC readers.

Just food for thought in case other fic writers run into this sort of question themselves. Lines can be rewritten, even if they don't work in the same way as you as originally wanted the dialogue to go. But POC people in fandom deal with enough racism as is, I do not want to pile onto it in making this space further unsafe for them to participate in.

Remember, education is a never ending endeavor. There are more than a few times when lack of education will fail you. Listen and adjust, it something we all need to keep working at because adding to the suffering of POC's for one's own self interest will never be the right way to go about things.

Controversial opinion but we need to apply anti-cringe culture shit to "edgy" art too. Like songs/poems/art/etc are not bad just because they're angry or sad or otherwise emotional and they're not bad for dark and violent. So much "edgy" stuff is just explorations of dark topics and/or mentally ill people working through shit via art.

Cringe culture isn't just bad when it's applied to positive expressions of emotion, it's also bad when applied to the angry and sad shit too. Let people be angry and sad in their art. It's fine.

Aphrodite

tbh I really like the idea of married Adrien and Marinette adopting their kids. Both because it's kind of a flex on Gabriel and Emilie (who thought that the appropriate response to difficulty conceiving was to hunt down ancient magical artifacts and then create a magical son that they could puppeteer and control...... because adoption/surrogates were apparently.... beneath them. or something.) but also because I just think it'd be really cute.

Like, imagine Ladybug and Chat Noir, heroes of Paris, adopting Parisian orphans. imagine Marinette and Adrien struggling to get on the good side of a "difficult" traumatized child who used to spend their days in the foster system fantasizing about Ladybug and Chat Noir saving them without realizing the new parents trying to connect with them rn ARE Ladybug and Chat Noir. Imagine them fostering kids themselves and just being A+ stellar parents between Adrien's patience and Marinette's attentiveness and both of their affection. idk I just think there's a lot there and it could be sosososo sweet

v1 is a cat lover to me

Reasons Why Megumi Fushiguro is a Boy Kisser:

Todo tells him, "If you prefer men, that's fine too." He doesn't ask anyone else about their type this way. Todo's Grade 1 senses and 530,000 IQ accurately assessed the Boy Kisser in Megumi

Megumi uses gender netural pronouns to describe who his type is when he does answer. Boys are a gender!

Subsequently, in the JJK video games, Megumi is too embarrassed to tell Yuji what he said about his type. Why, if he wasn't talking about him? Boy Kisser Behaviour

Megumi conspires with Ozawa and Nobara, Known Boy Kissers, using his precise observations of the Aforementioned Boy's romantic interests

One of his character themes is Island in the Sun by Weezer, which has the lyric, "We'll run away together, we'll spend some time forever." Who's he running away with? Boys, probably

I, the person who wrote this post, am bisexual, and I will project my experiences onto any character I like

Been watching that new Hazbin Hotel show as it's coming out (🏴‍☠️) and I'm pretty disappointed with it. I'm not super familiar with the Everything about it, but I remember watching the pilot way back when and liking the premise.

I hadnt kept up with it after the pilot because I wanted to see it with fresh eyes. Now that the show is coming out, somehow I feel like an outsider watching it lol. It presents a lot of concepts, but it just assumes the watcher is already familiar with the characters, and it makes the pacing reeeeally odd. It's all payoff, no buildup (unless you count the years fans had to wait for it as 'build up'). I feel like I REALLY need to look for supplementary material to understand what's going on,, like.... why was there a whole emotional power ballad for a character who was only introduced 10 minutes prior?? Was I supposed to know who she was?😭 (her heels were cool though)

Tonally it's strange, too. It feels like an adult show written for teenagers a lot of the time, which is the BIGGEST disappointment. I was really hoping for more thoughtful explorations of the characters, but we really only get that for Angel Dust and like .... no one else lol. (Sir Pentious is the 👏FUCKING👏BEST👏)

Charlie and Vaggie feel ESPECIALLY underbaked. Considering how overtly sexual the show is, it's SHOCKING how little chemistry they have. Like, it's not there at all. I watched the show with a friend who had no knowledge about Hazbin Hotel whatsoever, and during episode 4, she asked me,"So why is Vaggie helping here?" which I feel is the best example I can give for how poorly developed their relationship is.

I like the music. The song transitions are usually really jarring (Respectless and Hell's Greatest Dad come to mind) but the songs themselves are usually bangers. I'm a big fan of Loser, Baby.

The designs are ..... not for me. But that's not necessarily a criticism. A lot of the character designs feel very dated, but I respect them for sticking so hard to the aesthetic they present, even if its not for me. I wish there was more outfit and body type variety in the characters, but literally EVERYONE says that, so I'll just leave that there lol.

Overall I think this show is a shining example of why """"filler"""" episodes are so important. If this were a 12 or even 24 episode season I think it'd be way better, but as it is, they're trying to cram like 15 different character arcs + a dramatic overarching story into 8 episodes, and it's really REALLY suffering for it.

Jesus Christ how many stores have you worked at (/nbr/gen)

WELL SINCE YOU ASKED!

First I worked at a dog kennel. I liked working with dogs but I didn’t like the crazy owner or working holidays so I jumped ship after eight months to-

Red Robin! I’d always wanted to work there as a kid. I wanted to be a server but couldn’t get a promotion she said I wasn’t personable can you believe? and switched over after two years to-

Pizza! I got a pay bump and a very unhealthy work environment for eight months before I got fired! So then I applied at the-

Sex shop! I adored the job but the pay was absolute crap so after three years I got a job selling-

Mattresses! It was ”holy shit I’m above the poverty level for the first time” money. It was also hands down the most racist/sexist/homophobic place I ever worked. But ultimately I left to move to Arizona with my at the time long distance girlfriend and I sold-

Oil and vinegar! It was artisanal olive oil and vinegar that we bottled for them which was kinda neat but the pay was crap so I tried to get a job at-

Sleep Number! But the manager used the word “opportunity” fifty times in one day and I couldn’t stand it so I left to go back to oil after a week. Then my girlfriend dumped me and I moved back home to-

More mattresses! Again great money, awful culture. I did that for two years before my company got sold and the good pay went away so then I-

Sold jewelry! This was hands down the best company culture I’ve ever experienced, which made up for the medium pay. A coworker literally told me she thought it was a cult based on how gruntled we all were. But I realized sales was kinda killing me (along with an undiagnosed viral infection) and I went to-

School! If it hadn’t been for covid I couldn’t actually have done this part but because classes were virtual I was able to keep up despite my illness thanks to extremely careful time management. Now that I’m graduated I’m-

Unemployed! I’m applying at my old standby, mattresses, while keeping an eye out for rigging positions in the gaming field.

Talking more about First Kill and how the queerness is well written but the rest is “not” thus purposefully fulfilling the shitty teen tv drama niche but for gay ppl:

Lesbian main characters are BOTH main characters they get equal time devoted to their history, motivations, feelings, and family dynamics throughout the story

Calliope, Juliette, and Ben are already fully comfortable in their sexualities and their families are fully accepting and don’t ever question it or say anything even mildly homophobic, even the shitty relatives

Calliope: She is a black, darkskin lesbian that is not treated as a love interest but as a main character in love. She’s ADORED by her girlfriend. She’s framed to be gorgeous, intelligent, sensitive and kind by the narrative. She is also treated as the child she is by her family!

The Burns: relatively healthy, loving family, the kid from a previous relationship is still THEIR kid and brother, no one dies, they are NEVER villainized, they communicate with eachother, their love and devotion to eachother is apparent, they are actually all relatively fleshed out characters with distinct personalities and motivations

Juliette: she feels like an outcast and sort of is one, but that’s due to her own internal conflict and social awkwardness not any external conflict with peers who are kind to her!

Ben: he’s a star athlete/jock, but still emotionally available and kind, a stellar student, well liked, loyal, the lil communication game he has with Juliette??? Hello???

Small queer things: Cal being friends with her ex, Ben and Juliette dating and figuring themselves out and staying best friends, killing off the closest case jock that refused to meet Ben even halfway and kept disrespecting him, NONE of the characters experience homophobia, tentative respect from parents about their “monster” gfs

The lore exists and is very plot relevant. And its also interesting and poetic?

Basically, this show lacks horrible stereotypes and is therefore a lesbian teen drama made for the genuine campy fun of it!

the entire point of the blue food was that it was the only way sally could consistently rebel against gabe without getting her or percy punished. sally is not and never was submissive in the books. percy himself says sally has "a rebellious streak, like me." however, sally and percy were under threat of serious abuse from gabe and therefore had to pick their battles. blue food was sally's way of telling percy "i am here and fighting with you" and "there is hope in the world still."

Another PSA about this because I hate myself but with the return of Hazbin Hotel, I feel like it needs to be said again:

Alastor is not a w-ndigo.

No, I do not care if he is ever referred to that way in canon. He is not a w-ndigo.

W-ndigoag are sacred Anishinaabe spirits representing greed, cruelty, and desperation. They are often associated with cannibalism, but that's because they're the embodiments of the hunger and desperation that comes with a deep northern winter. Many modern Anishinaabe artists associate them with things like pollution and environmental destruction instead. Reducing them down to cannibalism ignores everything else about them.

Since they're winter spirits (again, DEEP NORTHERN WINTERS), it makes no sense for Alastor, who is still from Louisiana as far as I'm aware, to be one.

Also he's not Anishinaabe. Please leave our cultures alone, thanks. If you want to headcanon him as Anishinaabe, have fun, but leave our sacred spirits out of it.

W-ndigoag are not deer.

W-NDIGOAG ARE NOT DEER.

Repeat it with me, folks: W-ndigoag. Are. Not. Deer.

The deer association was completely made up by people turning our cultures into their profits; it has absolutely no basis in either traditional or modern Anishinaabe stories. W-ndigoag, in cultural stories, are either emaciated humans or massive ice humanoids with the person frozen inside of them. They're not deer.

Alastor can just be a cannibalistic deer demon. That's okay. Hell, real deer have been recorded eating meat and even scavenging on human remains. You don't have to appropriate from Native cultures to make him a freaky deer.

Please don't try to argue with me about this, I am so tired and I will start crying.

Diomedes

Sejanus was definitely a physical manifestation of Coryo's good conscience. Sejanus represented kindness and innocence that borders on ignorance due to his upbringing, the same upbringing that Coriolanus should have had, if his father hadn't died. Sejanus lingers around, annoying Coryo with his goodness that reminded me of an angel on your shoulder.

And then we have this scene that I just can't stop thinking about where we can see how Coriolanus is not quite at Dr. Gaul's level regarding her ideas about the Hunger Games, but they're the only ones standing. She literally comes down to his level to hear his ideas. And in between them, Sejanus. She asks him what he thinks the Hunger Games are for and his answer in this moment doesn't satisfy her, and then when Sejanus dies, the barrier dissolves, and he knows the answer she wants and sets himself up to become her.

Top 5 most annoying Tamlin scene misinterpretations

1. ''There is no such thing as a high lady'' I hate this one, because it is always taken as some sort of proof that Tamlin is a raging misogynist who doesn't want an equal woman by his side or some similar type of nonsense. I don't know where this is coming from. Tamlin never wanted to be a high lord. He would probably welcome for someone to take over most of the work so he could just keep running through the woods. He also has absolutely no issues with taking advice from women in power (Ianthe? Hello??). His first reaction to the high lady question is literally this:

“Is everyone just going to call me ‘Tamlin’s wife’? Do I get a … title?” He lifted his head long enough to look at me. “Do you want a title?”

And let's not forget that Feyre's first reply is ''No, I don’t know if I can handle them calling me High Lady”. To which he then answers that she doesn't have to worry about that, since ''there is no such thing as a high lady'' because the magic choses the title and it keeps chosing males. Also this whole scene happens while he eats her out. Not that it's relevant or anything, just saying...

2. ''Tamlin killed Rhys' family'' No. Tamlin's dad killed Rhys' family. I have no idea how Tamlin doing it is ever the takeaway from that whole story. Let's just quote the actual scene:

“Tamlin’s father, brothers, and Tamlin himself set out into the Illyrian wilderness, having heard from Tamlin—from me—where my mother and sister would be, that I had plans to see them. I was supposed to be there. I wasn’t. And they slaughtered my mother and sister anyway.”

Yeah okay, Tamlin gave the information (supposedly) and was there (supposedly) sure, but it's highly unlikely that he was so willingly. Let's not forget that it's established that Tamlin was afraid of his father, that Tamlin's father is worse than Beron (who, I might remind you, tortures his sons) and that Tamlin was friends with Rhys at the time - which neither family approved of. Even Rhys doesn't actually believe Tamlin did anything besides being spineless:

''I didn’t care that Tamlin had been there, had allowed them to kill my mother and sister, that he’d come to kill me because he didn’t want to risk standing against them.''

In the end we don't know the details. Tamlin could've been tortured and tied up or whatever. Making him watch could've been a cruel form of punishment for being friends with Rhys. We don't really know until SJM graces us with Tamlin's side of the story.

3. ''It's really Tamlin's own fault that the spring court fell'' Alternatively also phrased as: 'Feyre just opened everyone's eyes to Tamlin's incompetence' and....honestly? This low key makes me question the reading comprehension of people.

Yes, Tamlin made a deal with Hybern, which was extremely risky, but the war was coming regardless (as we learn from Rhys in the first half of ACOMAF) and the spring court would be the main target because of its location next to the wall. Inviting Hybern into his lands in a trade is actually a pretty smart way to avoid a lot of death on Tamlin's part - plus he needed help to rescue Feyre and get her out of the deal she had with Rhysand (people forget that Tamlin didn't know Feyre didn't actually need rescuing from the guy that was abusing her in front of him in ACOTAR).

So yeah anyway, Feyre did several things to make the spring court fall: 1. She manipulated the solstice ceremony to make herself seem cauldron-blessed in the eyes of the people, 2. She made a sentry accuse Ianthe (who WAS doing sneaky shit) which essentially did nothing except putting Tamlin on the spot in front of Hybern, so he was kind of forced to throw the sentry under the bus. Good job Feyre, you got a poor sod whipped! But it also built resentment within the soldiers, which was her plan all along and 3. before leaving, she did this (let's just quote the whole thing):

''I had a people who had lost faith in their High Priestess. I had sentries who were beginning to rebel against their High Lord. And as a result of those things, I had Hybern royals doubting the strength of their allies here. I’d primed this court to fall. Not from outside forces—but its own internal warring. And I had to be clear of it before it happened. Before the last sliver of my plan fell into place. The party would return without me. And to maintain that illusion of strength, Tamlin and Ianthe would lie about it—where I’d gone. And perhaps a day or two after that, one of these sentries would reveal the news, a carefully sprung trap that I’d coiled into his mind like one of my snares. I’d fled for my life—after being nearly killed by the Hybern prince and princess. I’d planted images in his head of my brutalized body, the markings consistent with what Dagdan and Brannagh had already revealed to be their style. He’d describe them in detail—describe how he helped me get away before it was too late. How I ran for my life when Tamlin and Ianthe refused to intervene, to risk their alliance with Hybern. And when the sentry revealed the truth, no longer able to stomach keeping quiet when he saw how my sorry fate was concealed by Tamlin and Ianthe, just as Tamlin had sided with Ianthe the day he’d flogged that sentry …When he described what Hybern had done to me, their Cursebreaker, their newly anointed Cauldron-blessed, before I’d fled for my life … There would be no further alliance. For there would be no sentry or denizen of this court who would stand with Tamlin or Ianthe after this. After me.''

So, the sentries left Tamlin because of a lie. A fake story. Without sentries, Hybern decided to take over rather than just be guests and had a prime spot to attack the summer court in turn. Which is also why Tarquin is extremely pissed at Feyre - not Tamlin. So no, Tamlin wasn't a bad high lord. His only real mistake was ever trusting Feyre.

Sure, some argue that Feyre thought Tamlin genuinely sided with Hybern and might be a threat to the rest of Prythian, so taking him down would make sense for her even outside of petty revenge. But there's just one problem with that: Feyre is a mind reader. She could have just.....checked. lol

4. ''Tamlin didn't do anything Under the Mountain'' This one really gets my goat because it's not really true? Things Tamlin did to help Feyre: 1. He sent her away to the human realm. (People forget this, but he basically doomed his court to protect her ass - it's not his fault she came back!) 2. He made Lucien check up on her. (Yes Lucien was Feyre's friend but he still acted under Tamlin's orders!) 3. He ignored Feyre as to not rile Amarantha up even more (Come on, have you seen Amarantha? It totally makes sense) 4. He tries to get to Feyre, begging Amarantha to stop even as he is tied up, bleeding out from a stab wound to his chest that he can't heal because he has no powers - like what do you want him to do??? 4. He literally kills Amarantha the second he is able to

Also personal conspiracy detour: That music that Rhysand supposedly sent to Feyre was SO originally supposed to be Tamlin, you can't convince me otherwise. I will never not believe that this wasn't just a lazily done quick change when SJM rewrote book 1 and 2 to account for the boyfriend switcheroo. Attributing the music to Rhys makes absolutely zero sense. He's not a musical boy at all, come on! Music themes never come up with him again either! Meanwhile Tamlin played for Feyre before, is generally a musical guy COME ON! /conspiracy detour over

5. ''It's Tamlin's fault that Nesta and Elaine got turned to fae'' No. No it's not. He knew nothing about this. Ianthe did this on her own accord because Feyre told her where her sister's lived. Tamlin actually attacks (!) the King of Hybern over it (to no avail, but still).

Some people blame Tamlin for keeping Ianthe around afterwards, despite of what she did. Those people I want to refer to point number 3 in this list. Ianthe was working with Hybern. Tamlin tried to be buddies with Hybern for reasons. No, he can't just throw out Ianthe.

I realized recently, in the first act of Falsettos (specifically the revival staging) the entire cast is on stage for every single song with the exception of Trina’s Song (and i think at the beginning of Jason’s therapy). Then in the second act, the cast is only on stage if they’re actively singing/participating in the number.

I feel like this is meant to show how much Marvin is trying to control everyone in the first act and keep them in his sight/grasp at all times. Trina’s Song is her finally allowing herself to step out from under Marvin’s shadow. In the second act, Marvin has finally matured enough to let everyone live their own lives and “sing for yourself” as it were.

My opinions on Umemiya Hajime must be viewed as a triplicate. Please consider the following:

Umemiya, hair back and jacket on: A threat. The strongest. The leader. Not looking for smoke, but ready to scrap. Don't make him repeat himself.

Ume-nii, hair back and no coat: Oldest brother. Plant dad. Always tells you when you did a good job. Will protect you. Sends you plant pictures. Vegetable enthusiast.

Hajime, hair down and no coat: The bestest most gentlest boy to ever exist. He's just a lad. Pacifist. Love, not war. Don't touch him. Must protect his smile. Too good for this world. He's so excitable. Just look at him. 😭

Thank you for your time.