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writingwithcolor · 5 months

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Not all Second-Language Speakers are Made Equal.

@waltzshouldbewriting asked:

Hello! I’m writing a story that features a character who’s first language is not English. He’s East African, specifically from Nairobi, Kenya, and is pretty fluent in English but it’s not his primary language, and he grew up speaking Swahili first. I’m struggling to figure out if it’s appropriate or in character to show him forgetting English words or grammar. From what I’ve researched, English is commonly spoken in Nairobi, but it wouldn’t be what was most spoken in his home. For context, this is an action/superhero type story, so he (and other characters) are often getting tired, stressed, and emotional. He also speaks more than two languages, so it makes sense to me that it would be easier to get confused, especially in a language that wasn’t his first. But I’m worried about ending up into stereotypes or tropes. For additional context: I’m monolingual, I’ve tried to learn a second language and it’s hard. A lot of how I’m approaching this comes from my own challenges correctly speaking my own, first and only language.

Diversity in Second-Language English

You seem to have an underlying assumption that second language acquisition happens the same for everyone.

The way your character speaks English depends on so many unknown factors:

Where does your story take place? You mention other characters; are they also Kenyan, or are they all from different countries?

Assuming the setting is not Kenya, is English the dominant language of your setting?

How long has your character lived in Kenya vs. where he is now?

What are his parents’ occupations?

What level of schooling did he reach in Nairobi before emigrating?

What type of school(s) did he go to, public or private? Private is more likely than you think.

Did his schooling follow the national curriculum structure or a British one? Depends on school type and time period.

Does he have familiarity with Kenyan English, or only the British English taught in school?

Is this a contemporary setting with internet and social media?

I bring up this list not with the expectation that you should have had all of this in your ask, but to show you that second language acquisition of English, postcolonial global English acquisition in particular, is complex.

My wording is also intentional: the way your character speaks English. To me, exploring how his background affects what his English specifically looks like is far more culturally interesting to me than deciding whether it makes him Good or Bad at the language.

L2 Acquisition and Fluency

But let’s talk about fluency anyway: how expressive the individual is in this language, and adherence to fundamental structural rules of the language.

Fun fact: Japanese is my first language. The language I’m more fluent in today? English. Don’t assume that an ESL individual will be less fluent in English compared to their L1 counterparts on the basis that 1) it’s their second language, or 2) they don’t speak English at home.

There’s even a word for this—circumstantial bilingualism, where a second language is acquired by necessity due to an individual’s environment. The mechanisms of learning and outcomes are completely different.

You said you tried learning a second language and it was hard. You cannot compare circumstantial bilingualism to a monolingual speaker’s attempts to electively learn a second language.

Motivations?

I understand that your motivation for giving this character difficulties with English is your own personal experience. However, there are completely different social factors at play.

The judgments made towards a native speaker forgetting words or using grammar differently are rooted in ableism and classism (that the speaker must be poor, uneducated, or unintelligent). That alone is a hefty subject to cover. And I trust you to be able to cover that!

But on top of that, for a second language speaker, it’s racism and xenophobia, which often lend themselves to their own ableist or classist assumptions (that those of the speaker’s race/ethnicity must be collectively unintelligent, that they are uneducated or low class due to the occupations where they could find work, or conversely that they are snobby and isolationist and can't be bothered to learn a new language). Intersections, intersections.

If you want to explore your experiences in your writing, give a monolingual English speaker in your cast a learning disability or some other difficulty learning language, whatever you most relate with. And sure, multilingual folks can occasionally forget words like anyone else does, or think of a word in one language and take a second to come up with it in the other language. But do not assume that multilinguals, immigrants, or multiethnic individuals inherently struggle with English or with multiple languages just because you do.

~ Rina

#asks #accents #speech #language #languages #bilingual #bilingualism #ESL #immigration #east africa #african #writeblr

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nekropsii · 13 days

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“Bad Representation” is actually a topic I’m really passionate about and interested in, I could talk about it for ages. The way people handle “Bad Representation” as a concept is genuinely fascinating, too, so this is both an analytical fascination and an anthropological one.

For clarity, I thoroughly do believe there is such thing as “Bad Representation”, especially when it comes to expressions of pure bigotry from the person doing the representing… But I personally think everyone’s bar for what counts as “Bad Representation” is set a little bit too strictly, has no real account for capitalistic and/or historical restrictions - For Example: Language and common understanding of queer identity being far different in the 1950’s than it is now, and Studio Meddling - and also, interestingly, tends to take no account for the opinion of those getting “represented”, or the idea of individual satisfaction.

There’s been many, many times where a character is objectively pretty bad representation by modern standards, but discussion surrounding it takes no account for the concept of Resonance. Sometimes a character is not “Good Representation” as an objective concept, but they are relatable, likable, and quite fun to watch. I’ve seen quite a few instances of people talking down to the mentally ill or disabled for enjoying a Slasher in part because of their disorder/disability, or queer people for enjoying Hays Code villains. Sometimes a character isn’t written kindly, or isn’t written well, but they really resonate with you… And that counts for something.

One of my favorite characters - one who has helped me come to terms with my cPTSD and OSDD - is a representation of PTSD + DID that is objectively not very good. He’s basically a Vietnam War veteran, who gets an Alter in the middle of the war that is basically a self defensive Murder Mode. It’s literally the PTSD from The War and Evil Alter cliche, but there’s just some aspects that really hit for me, like the fact that he’s considered the nicest, kindest person in the cast, and the alter is portrayed clearly as being in constant self defense mode, thinking he’s still in the middle of the war, and also being quite silly. There’s several details I view as being done pretty well, a whole arc about him grappling with his mental health in a way I find quite fascinating and visceral, and I enjoy him quite a lot! But many would agree that he’s “Bad Representation” because of the War PTSD and Evil Alter tropes. Even I agree that those things kinda suck, but that’s not stopping the fact that this character has meant a lot to me, and that I really would not be the same level of okay with myself if I hadn’t discovered this character.

I’ve caught flack for this. I’ve seen many other people latch onto a character who is not executed very well because they find them personally relatable, or are using them to figure some things out about themselves, and also catch flack for it because the character is not “Good Representation” for a group as a whole. No account for Resonance, no account for Individual Experience. It’s a fascinating lack of a sense of nuance.

I think people have forgotten - or perhaps do not realize - that criticizing a base concept, or base execution of a concept, is different from criticizing individual experience. It’s like the difference between criticizing the makeup industry vs. criticizing someone’s personal choice to wear makeup. It is good to point out when something is written or executed poorly, but you do not know the reason why that one individual disabled person enjoys a poorly written character who shares their disability. I would even say that they probably know more than you do that it’s written badly, because they have lived that character’s disability and you likely have not. I think you should maybe step off if a blind person really likes Terezi or something. You do not need to patronize them by telling them that she isn’t “Good Representation” because her quirk isn’t screenreader friendly, and that her blindness has a magical workaround. I think they already know that these are facts about her that are true. They like her for a reason, and that reason is Resonance.

#homestuck #media analysis #disability #representation #bad representation #good representation #nekro.pdf #nekro.txt

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chaoticace2005 · 1 month

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I’ve seen a lot of people talking about how the exorcists look like demons, and while I do understand where the complaint is coming from I also wanted to talk about how them looking like that kind of supports the narrative.

I’m going to start this off by staying this is from a perspective looking at the narrative presented to us in the Hellaverse, not any specific religion because 1) I am an atheist who doesn’t have the knowledge or background for making any calls on that and 2) the canon hasn’t confirmed this adheres to a specific belief system. There’s Adam and Eve and Hell and Heaven and yes, but this show arguably works as a parody of all of that.

Now that that’s established, I want to bring up one of the main points in the show: the idea that those in Heaven and Hell aren’t that different. In Helluva we’re shown the experiences of hell-born, and we even see cherubs later on who seem to fulfill the parallel role of them in Heaven (with the IMP vs CHERUB fight.) We also know that Lucifer was an angel in this canon. So some of the characters with the most authority in those domains are from the same stock.

The main difference seems to be punishment. Lucifer was punished for his actions and was given those who were deemed “Sinners.” The Hell born seem to be just natives living there and many seem to be products of their environment. So while Sinners may be “bad” and Winners “good”, all those born in Heaven or Hell have no reason for being there.

Whether exorcists are brought to heaven or made there, there is still that view of superiority. The way Lute talks makes it clear she’d be willing to kill the hellborn if she could, despite them not having done anything to be there like the Sinners. It’s similar to how some people born into high economic status view those born into lower. It’s just luck of the draw but now you have access to different opportunities and that influences the way you view others. Those born in Heaven probably look at those born in Hell and argue that if hellborn aren’t bad, then why does Hell suck? Ignoring the fact that Hell is established for the purpose of containing Sinners, who often end up being more powerful that the majority of hellborn.

Even some of the Sinners likely fall into that issue where people who gave to endure harsher environments may have to resort to more extreme measures to get by, and then punishment for it just causes them to need to do even more because their conditions worsened. As seen with the rate of people who keep returning to prison. With Hell some may have fallen down this path (think of Angel, who was born into a crime family, it’s likely a lot easier to fall into drug addiction then when you have access and more things you’d like to forget, but drug addiction can be a slippery slope and the other stuff he needed to do to survive basically condemned him.) Obviously not all Sinners fall into this category and are just monstrous pieces of shit, but they likely isn’t the case for everyone.

Then, once you get to Hell it’s essentially a larger prison, except you aren’t separated and are given powers, causing some of the more malicious individuals to rise up and acquire power, making it even more of a nightmare for everyone else. This continues that cycle of having to do certain things to survive. Similar to have in jail that fear of getting hurt by some violent people make you align yourself with slightly less violent people. Except now in Hell there’s that added issue: there’s no escape.

(Also, Hell is a prison but you STILL have to pay rent and work to survive, so you really get the added stress of both worlds.)

Anyway, this whole cycle causes a similar effect to the growing class disparity we see in many countries. Those on top (Heaven) continue to have power while those lower have to deal with most of the burden. Reinforcing that belief in exorcists that Heaven is “good” and Hell is “bad” because they are unable to see the full picture. They just see it as “they blew their shot” without thinking of why that may be or considering the people who didn’t even have a choice being there— like how some people blame others in poverty for being that way because “they are lazy.” That’s not even remotely the full picture. But because certain things come easy for you it’s hard to understand why it can’t come easy for others.

Exorcists are then given the excuse and opportunity to kill others, people who they believe are lesser than them. And some take genuine joy out of it, yet they continue to see themselves as the “good guys” because that’s what they are and the others “deserve it.” And this shows how when some people are given the opportunity and reason to be assholes they’ll take it- millionaires don’t HAVE to exploit their employees, but they view it as being to their benefit and helping the bottom line.

So now, both exorcists and those in hell have reason and excuse to be violent, albeit for very different reasons. Yet because of this exorcists are still “good” and those in hell are “bad.” And this is largely because of the lack of consequences for their actions. Heaven reinforces their behavior, before episode 8 there was no push back from Hell, so they could continue to use their reasoning as an excuse to kill others.

They’re blind and don’t see it though. They only see the world from one perspective, which is ironic given the exorcist mask is missing an eye. They can put masks on and hurt others and then take them off without dealing with the consequences. They “go down” to the level of the very people they despise and then write it all off, because they have the comfort of taking their masks off at the end. Of having a choice.

It’s also interesting how their masks don’t resemble sinners but Hellborn. Which almost reminds me of mocking another’s culture while actively hurting them. They may not be able to physically hurt hellborn, but they’re still viewed through the same lens as Sinners. They’re still “bad.” So exorcists can don caricatures of their appearances, go around “pretending” to be them by committing violent acts, and when they’re done they can take it off. As I’m writing this I’m now thinking about how in the past black-face has been used to reinforce racist stereotypes, making racist caricatures.

This also camouflage in a way, maybe they were previously asked to “fit in” before things got all crazy, and when told to look for “demon disguises” they all fall back onto the stereotype and dressed up like that.

The usage of exorcists wearing demon-looking masks could be them both “playing bad” while also clearly showing the fact that at the core people aren’t so different. For as much as they hate those in hell, they’re just as likely to fall into the same traps and patterns as them.

Having written this all now, I wanted to bring up Vaggie. Vaggie who took her exorcist mask off to show sympathy for someone only to be punished and marked with an “X” that mirrors her mask. Vaggie who previously was part of the “elite”, where she could forgo consequences until she couldn’t for not following them and was cast out, being permanently marked. Vaggie, who was previously allowed given the gift to “play bad” due to being in Heaven, but when she was cast out “playing bad” wasn’t an option anymore. Taking off her mask can’t get rid of mistakes anymore, and now she has to display them for the world to see.

I don’t know if the “X” was intentional on her part or irony, but if she did choose it it could also be her recognizing her role in the system. Her realizing she can’t go back and using the “X” to remind her of what she’s done. Because she doesn’t have the luxury of pretending she’s a good person anymore— she doesn’t want to forget.

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tobi-smp · 2 years

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How to watch the Dream SMP

So ! I’ve decided to take another stab at making a post laying out the options for new fans interested in the Dream Smp who don’t know where to start or where to look in the first place! We’ll be going over multiple options that will hopefully give people a rough idea of where they want to go depending on their needs!

at the risk of people scrolling past, I’m putting this under a readmore, so it can be updated as we get more information and so this isn’t an eyesore on the dash.

*This is an edit, discussing important information*

I’m leaving the majority of this post unaltered from when it was written, however I’ve taken the liberty to add information about the dream allegations directly under the cut. I’m doing this both to be informative and to express my own stance on the situation as clearly as possible.

I’m saying this under the cut because that way it’ll show up under every reblog of this post, instead of only being available in the edited version. It’s taken me a while to say this, not because I’ve been avoiding it but because I’ve needed time to process and chew on what I would actually like to say.

Dream, the real person, has been caught in a scandal that is at least partially proven to be true. He has confirmed himself that he has dmed several underaged fans, knowing they were underaged, and sent them to his snapchat to continue messaging him. The allegations beyond that are that he groomed these girls, including sending them inappropriate pictures.

There’s a post that has collected sources for this and several other (many related) incidents involving dream [Link]

[Update, November 20th 2023: a new victim has come forwards about dream, along with nsfw video evidence, tread carefully as this may be triggering [Link]]

I can’t say why this information hasn’t blown up the way that it should have. It might be in part because of the lawsuit currently on-going about said situation, it might be in part because of the fatigue involved with drama associated with dream, it might be that dream is a big enough name in the industry that people are afraid of the reaction they’ll receive if they Do speak out. I don’t know.

But what I Can say is that I have a responsibility to inform anyone potentially interested in the series so they can make informed decisions about what they want to do.

The dream smp is, ultimately, not the brainchild of one person. There are 30 odd people involved with the smp, some of the most popular of which were underage at the time the potential grooming was taking place. I would say that it’s not fair to lay the blame of the actions of one awful man at the feet of these individuals that had no part and no say in what happened.

I would Also say that the reactions from these other members are also very important, even if they don’t implicate them in the crime. The Vast majority of people associated with the server have made explicit efforts to distance themselves from dream. For some that’s been simply cutting contact with him entirely and refusing to associate with him (to interesting results on dream’s part [Link 1, Link 2]). Others speaking negatively about dream in a broader sense. And a select few who have spoken about these accusations specifically, albeit none of them in a very comprehensive way.

Is that enough? I dunno, I’m not the person to ask about the question of accountability vs privacy. I don’t know who’s Allowed to speak on it and who isn’t in regards to the court case, I don’t know whose avoiding speaking on it because of personal negative experiences with the kind of trauma that dream potentially caused, and neither does anyone else. [Link]

I can’t blame anyone who can’t involve themselves with any of the content or the creators that they associate with dream, I also can’t blame anyone who feels uncomfortable with those creators who Haven’t spoken up about the situation regardless of them not associating with dream.

However, personal comfort also isn’t the same thing as blame. At the end of the day creators need to be able to distance themselves from someone toxic and potentially dangerous when they personally haven’t done anything wrong.

That said, I Do also think it’s worth pointing out that that there Are several people who have either openly supported dream through this, or aren’t likely to ever say anything. including “the dream team” (meaning sapnap and george, his roommates and childhood friends) and badboyhalo. they’ve continued making personal content with him (Including buying a trump flag on stream as a “joke” [Link]), and in the case of sapnap and badboyhalo, they’ve openly supported dream while speaking about these allegations and speaking about other creators having dropped contact with him Related to these allegations [Link]

what does all of this mean for someone who’s potentially interested in the series? I don’t know. That’s up to the individual to decide for themselves.

I Will say, the majority of the options for viewing old content given on this post are not directly affiliated with the streamers, being channels dedicated to reuploading vods as well as compilation channels that intentionally break down the footage to make the series easier to digest. I will also say that none of the official vods channels that are linked are associated with any of the dream team.

but of course, dream himself will be in the content linked here. that’s inevitable and largely unavoidable. and if that makes anybody uncomfortable then it would probably be within their best interest not to dive any deeper into the series.

personally, I think anybody is within their right to avoid the series either for moral reasons or for their own personal comfort. I also think it’s possible to engage with the series without being held accountable for the actions the man on the tin. as a long time fan I won’t and Can’t engage with any new content, but I also can’t undo my connection to the story that I’ve sewn into my brain either. so I’m somewhere in the middle, “engaging” only through tumblr posts and ao3.

all of That said, I will be leaving the rest of this post unedited. I frankly don’t want to reread it at all, so if there’s anything below this point that is now ironic then it’s out of my hands.

2023 edit: Inniters stay winning [Link]

youtube

so lets break down some of our options!

1: Summaries and Compilations

This is the most Accessible time wise, which is obviously Very necessary in a series like this where watching every perspective just Isn’t Possible and dedicating yourself to one story line or streamer can still be a Very daunting time commitment.

But it also means sacrificing Detail. When you filter the events through a retelling that means that whoever creates that video is choosing what’s important to tell the audience and How that information is presented to that audience, which can warp someone’s understanding of the events. this is, unfortunately, an unavoidable aspect of this option no matter how unbiased the creator is trying to be. However, there are some options that are better than others. So lets lay them out.

- Blueberry TV [Link] Blueberry TV is a channel dedicated to telling the complete story of the dream smp through clips from All perspectives on the dream smp. They don’t do commentary of their own, they don’t summarize the events, they let the clips speak for themselves. This makes them a very Accurate resource that will give a more complete view of all of the arcs than watching any individual perspective ever could, but that also means that it’s still a pretty significant time sync Because it’s a trying to show you everything.

They have a playlist for season 1 [Link], season 2 [Link], season 3 [Link], and season 4 [Link] for their complication videos that cover the major events in each season (with 3 and 4 being the thinnest because there Aren’t many major lore events).

- The Dream Smp Carrd [Link] Like blueberry tv, this project attempts to make the entirety of the dream smp accessible by breaking it up into smaller digestible clips! Unlike blueberry tv, it does so through a series of playlists collecting those clips from different sources that are all linked together in an easy to follow hub of links organized by season!

this is still a Massive time sync, even more so than blueberry tv, but it’s also more navigable. it’s easier to pick and choose what story lines you’re Specifically interested in and digging into those at your leisure thanks to the dedication to organization! this is Especially useful for smaller creators and story lines that don’t get a much of a spotlight in the main story of the smp! such as the egg arc.

it does, however, stop at season four. though that’s understandable considering the circumstances Surrounding season four.

- Wilbur’s Dream Smp Playlist [Link] This covers wilbur’s story up to the end of season one, meaning the L’manberg war through to the end of the manberg v pogtopia war (november 16th 2020). This is an excellent summary for understanding wilbur’s early story line, especially to supplement his more recent streams as a newer fan. It is, however, worth noting that this is obviously heavily filtered through wilbur’s perspective and writing style, this will give you a complete look into wilbur’s story line but not, for instance, fundy’s or tubbo’s.

- Tommyinnit Main Channel Playlists [Link 1, Link 2, Link 3] Tommy has a few playlists with videos summarizing streams and story lines on his main channel! would I Recommend these? Not Really. they exist for entertainment value, and are made so inconsistently that they don’t really function as Summaries of any given story line, let alone his character as a whole. the exile videos in particular tone down many of the darker aspects of the story, which is part of what contributes to a general misunderstanding of that story line in the fandom. they exist and you can watch them, but I wouldn’t recommend Only watching them.

- Do Not Do This People who are familiar with the dream smp may have noticed a lack of or been expecting a certain channel to appear in this section. That’s understandable, it’s one of the most well known, it’s been used and advertised by multiple streamers, it’s theoretically the most accessible resource in the fandom.

it’s also the resource that has single-handedly spread more misinformation in this fandom than any other single creator or poster there is.

Evanmcgaming is a channel dedicated to making full summary videos for the dream smp, summarizing each arc himself through voice over with professional looking graphics in a Manageable amount of time. He has also outright admitted that he intentionally leaves out entire streamers from story lines when he doesn’t find them personally interesting and to including outright False information in his videos when he thinks that’d make his storytelling more exciting.

Evanmcgaming does not summarize the dream smp, evanmcgaming Rewrites the dream smp and presents that as summaries. this is an extremely important distinction, and one that he never makes in any of his videos. from the very first video all the way through he is tweaking every single bit of information to craft a narrative based on the story that he wants to tell, and this gets worse the further his narrative drifts from the reality of what happened.

This means cutting fundy fully out of the manberg v pogtopia war despite having been an integral part of it, this means telling his audience that tommy faked his own death to trick dream at the end of the exile arc when the reality was that it was a suicide attempt that he’d decided against last minute. If you’ve only ever watched evanmcgaming’s summary of an event, it’s very likely that you’re carrying misconceptions that change the entirety of how any given story line would be understood.

I don’t blame evanmcgaming for being a teenager that made videos for fun. I am, however, haunted by the fact that he is the most well known face in this niche, and that it’s very unlikely that anybody will ever try to do what he’s doing more accurately Because he’s as well known and endorsed as he is. there are streamers on the dream smp who have watched his videos to understand the lore, some of them have streamed this process to their audience. there is no justice in this world.

2: Full VOD playlists

This option is, obviously, the most Accurate, being the raw streams completely unedited. It is, however, the least accessible as far as time is concerned and it’s not an option for most streamers. Not many of the creators have dedicated VODs channels, and not all of the streamers who upload their VODs despite that upload all of them, and while there are fan uploads it can be difficult to keep track of.

And even besides that, the accessibility of this method fluctuates wildly between streamers because of Stream Length. There are many streamers who do many multi-hour streams that aren’t guaranteed to contain any lore. It can be really difficult as a new fan to know which 3-8 hour video has what you’re looking for and Where in those 3-8 hour videos you need to look to find what you need.

To that end, lets go over some of the best options that we have right now.

Dream Team Smp VODs Playlist [Link] This is a fanmade channel dedicated to collecting streams from the dream team (meaning dream, sapnap, and george), and they’ve created a playlist for all of the early streams on the server. At 35 videos, this covers the creation of the server up to the declaration of war on l’manberg. so if you want to understand the Early history of the dream smp, what set the stage for everything that came after it and the Very early lore (meaning the disc war) from the dream team perspective this is the way to go. this is all mostly pre-canon, but it’s a good resource to have!

Tommyinnit VODs [Link] - Tommy has a dedicated VODs channel where he uploads every single one of his VODs. He doesn’t have his own dream smp playlist, but that’s where I come in. - His streams are roughly on the shorter end, mostly averaging around an hour though the absolute high is around 2 and half and the low is around half an hour. - Tommy is Heavily involved with most of the story lines on the dream smp from beginning to end. He obviously Doesn’t and Can’t see everything, but he’s one of the very few perspectives that you can watch and get a general idea of what’s generally going on with the majority of the server. - However, while his individual streams aren’t very long (comparatively), his heavy involvement with the main story line on the server means that there’s quite a bit More to watch than some other perspectives. Currently we’re sitting at 178 videos in the playlist. - It’s also worth noting that tommy’s perspective will give you insight into dream’s character that you won’t get in full from any other perspective. If that’s what you’re interested in then it’s Most relevant during the exile arc, the disc war finale, the prison arc, and the prison escape.

Note: if Tommy’s perspective is appealing to you, but the amount of videos is overwhelming, then @zeta-in-de-walls has playlists collecting the plot relevant streams for seasons 1-3 ! [Link 1, Link 2, Link 3] This obviously means that you’ll be losing some content and some context, but it’s just a bit more digestible.

Technoblade VODs [Link] - Technoblade streamed on youtube natively, that means that all of his VODs are uploaded directly to youtube! Likewise, he has his own dedicated playlist for his dream smp streams. This makes him one of the Most accessible streamers out there. - That said, his streams do average out to be much longer than tommy’s, with the general stream coming out around two hours. The longest his streams get is 5 hours, while the shortest is around an hour. - However, techno preferred to only stream when he wanted to move his character or the plot forwards. So while his streams may be longer on average, he has much Less of them. There’s 39 in total, which makes it a much faster watch. - That said, for that reason technoblade’s perspective is both generally pretty central for pushing the overarching plot forwards, And very isolated. He’s involved in most of the major events on the server, but watching his perspective will give you very warped ideas about what’s Happening on the rest of the server Because he’s a very isolated character, especially season two onwards. which isn’t a bad thing at all ! it’s just something to be aware of while watching.

Quackity VODs [Link] and Wilbur VODs [Link] - Quackity has an official VODs channel, as well as a dedicated dream smp playlist. wilbur is the only streamer on this list that doesn’t upload his own vods, but he’s also been completely documented through fan uploads. - Quackity and wilbur have very similar stream times to tommy, though wilbur is more likely to have streams on the shorter end (half an hour to an hour) while quackity is more on the slightly longer end (one to two hours) - Conversely, the Amount they stream is more similar to techno (47 videos for quackity, and 32 for wilbur. - These two are both a sort of middle ground between tommy and techno! They’re both pretty central to the overarching narrative of the dream smp (like techno) while being more involved with other parties on the server (like tommy). Taken with tommy and/or techno’s perspectives they add more Context to the over-all narrative. - It Is worth noting that there was a large period where wilbur Did Not stream his perspective (for all of season two and a good chunk of season three), this was done for plot related reasons, but it does mean that you will be missing information about what his character was up to if you Only watch his perspective and nothing else.

It’s worth noting that niki has all of her lore streams directly available in a playlist [Link], fundy has his own VODs channel with a fan playlist for his dream smp streams [Link], and phil and tubbo both have fans attempting to collect all of their vods into playlists [Phil Link] [Tubbo Link].

ranboo also has an “official” VODs channel [Link], it isn’t run by him but it does appear to be uploading all of his VODs, however it doesn’t have a full dream smp playlist. It Does have a playlist for lore relevant streams that’s quite short [Link] and a playlist for every stream he’s ever done period, which is absurd and not recommended [Link]. That said ! there Does appear to be a fan playlist that pulled videos from a different VOD channel that attempted to collect all of his dream smp streams, though it stopped early 2021 [Link].

Karl Jacobs also appears to have a fan-run VODs channel, though it’s entirely unlisted. The twitter account associated with the channel links this playlist [Link] It’s incomplete and doesn’t appear to be in any sort of Order, but it’s there. Edit to say that there’s updated information for Karl Jacobs here ! [Link] courtesy of @jezily

I’m listing these separately because they all have Varying levels of accessibility (niki and fundy both make their perspectives really easy for fans to find, but you wouldn’t understand the major beats of the narrative by watching them. tubbo Would be a very good option for understanding most of the story on the dream smp if he actually backed up his own VODs, which he doesn’t), but they’re still Available and still worth looking into if you’re interested in the stories of the individual streamers !

likewise, just because I didn’t list a perspective here doesn’t mean that they aren’t worth watching, it just means that they aren’t Accessible. the best way to watch the dream smp is through the perspective you enjoy the most, so if you find a streamer you like then it’s perfectly valid to hunt down their VODs to sink your teeth into, it’ll just be a bit more work than the options above!

3: I want to watch Everything

So lets say your goal is to do the impossible and watch Literally Everything the dream smp has to offer indiscriminately. I wouldn’t recommend this but it’s a goal that a person could have. Lets start with the option that’s actually physically possible and work our way up.

- Blueberry TV’s Plot Playlist [Link] Blueberry’s TV’s plot playlist combines all of their compilation videos with individual clips to make a 405 video lore bomb that attempts to show you every single plot relevant moment on the dream smp in as consumable way as possible. It is physically possible to watch and would likely give whoever sat down to watch it a more complete idea of the dream smp than most people have. I don’t think I’d personally call this the most Enjoyable way to watch the dream smp, but it’s definitely the most Accessible.

- Dream SMP in Order [Discontinued] Playlist [Link] This is a playlist that attempted to collect Literally every single VOD available on youtube in order. They stopped somewhere in early 2021, frankly I’m amazed that they did this for that long. This is 964 videos long, this contains videos that are over 8 hours long. I don’t know why anyone would do this to themselves. some people may take that last statement as a challenge, and this option is for them.

- @fairy-rave [Link] Possibly the most powerful individual in this fandom. They have playlists for all of the Notable streams in the dream smp, intended to cover all of the plot relevant streams on the dream smp. They have playlists divided by season [Season 1, Season 2, Season 3a, Season 3b, Season 3c, Season 3d, Season 4] As well as one master playlist for All plot relevant streams, sitting at 905 videos [Link]

On top of that, they have playlists for Literally Every VOD They Can Find On Youtube In Order [Season 1, Season 2, Season 3, Season 4] This Comes Out To 1907 videos in total.

- @dream-smp-archives For some people, that’s just not enough. For some people, they need to inject the dream smp directly into their bloodstream. For some people, the dream smp archives is their only hope. This post will tell all [Link]

4: Tales from the Smp

What happens on the dream smp itself of course isn’t the only thing relevant to the dream smp. Karl Jacobs’ Tales from the Smp dives into both his own characters’ lore, as well as lore for the history of the land the dream smp takes place in and the gods that pull the strings behind the scenes!

I have a playlist with the full VODs ! [Link] @fairy-rave helped me recover two of them that had been seemingly lost :> thanks to them “The Masquerade” and “The Wild West” are viewable in full!

5: Animatics

The dream smp fandom has absolutely no shortage of animatics, animations, or pmvs, and if you’re interested in getting into the series odds are that’s what drew you to it in the first place!

That said, I have a playlist dedicated to laying out the dream smp story line in order through these videos (animatics, animations, pmvs, fan songs, etc!) [Link]

#dream smp #dream situation

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singularsoldier · 11 months

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Why Scout and Miss Pauling are a terrible ship

Alrighty, if you’ve been into tf2 for awhile, you’ve definitely seen this pairing pop up. This whole thing is probably gonna sound like I’m beating a dead horse, but I wanna give my full two cents on these two using canon material (comics, game, and Expiration Date). Before I dive in, my stance on these two is 100% never gonna change. Save the counterarguments and keep scrolling

VOICE LINES

In the game, Miss Pauling has a lot of voice lines both towards the individual mercs and to the player themselves. However, how she speaks to Scout vs everyone else is drastically different. Let’s look at Scout’s when given a contract:

Starting off, Miss Pauling is…pretty rude towards him. “Wrap up whatever you’re bragging about” “I’m assuming you’re talking right now. Please stop” and others. It’s evident that she doesn’t want to hear a word out of his mouth. As we all know, Scout talk A LOT, but if she liked him to any degree, she wouldn’t be this mean towards him. If anyone even tries to say “well maybe she’s mean bc she likes him” no. Sorry, not how healthy relationships work. If anything, that further proves my point on why they’re terrible together.

Now, lets look at other lines (I’m too lazy to add everyone):

See the major difference? Miss Pauling isn’t mean, rude, or dismissive. She’s friendly! She’s joking! Lines like these show that Miss Pauling considers Engie (and everyone else) her friends. Scout gets nothing like that.

By the way, Miss Pauling canonically hangs out with the mercs (and Saxton’s assistant Bidwell). When you look at her contract lines with everyone else (including Bidwell), she’s cheerful and having fun. Scout on the other hand? She’s a frustrated dungeon master because Scout wants to make a muscle wizard and won’t stop flexing.

My experience with dungeon masters has been “fuck it, be whoever you want”. I had the dumbest, weirdest characters, and the DMs didn’t care! That’s the fun of d&d (g&g for tf2). Miss Pauling not letting Scout have a buff wizard, and Scout not even trying to follow the rules, shows how incompatible they are. Neither of them are willing to make a compromise especially because of the fact that Scout’s a pretty narcissistic guy. He’s a pathological liar in the comics (which are coming up) to impress people. Who wants to date that?

Onto the congratulations:

Pretty standard, right? Nothing extraordinary or, honestly, anything outside of standard professionalism. Scout gets a quick thanks and the line goes dead.

For anyone else:

The other classes get something Scout doesn’t: enthusiasm. Miss Pauling is beaming in her lines for the other classes. Also, Scout has the least amount of congratulations (only 5) out of everyone. Miss Pauling also says to a few other classes “i owe you one” and “i knew you could do it”. Again, ten times friendlier than how she speaks to Scout. If she liked Scout, she would have similar lines or ones that are even a bit flirtatious. Nope. Nada.

COMICS

If you’ve only played the game, you’re missing out! The comics are great (and unfinished), and they also reveal more of how Miss Pauling engages with Scout. For example:

Immediately stopping him from talking again, and straight up letting him get hanged. If that was my crush, I would, you know, not let go so they don’t die. She has very little regard for Scout outside of “annoying guy I work with”. Hell, she canonically spends more time with virtually every other class (aside from Engie obviously and maybe Medic) than with Scout. Another thing in the comics:

This right here. Scout has been working for Mann Co. for six years (meaning he joined at 21). In six years, Miss Pauling has made zero indication of liking him. What person goes six years without even trying to flirt or even hit on with their crush? Especially when Scout is VERY LOUD about his infatuation. Even the biggest introvert would jump on that free chance.

Oh, another thing! When Scout tries to get some alone time with her (while fighting for their lives) she turns him down. Pauling would rather watch Soldier and Zhanna fight naked while cover in honey than go with Scout (who wouldn’t?) which, when you think about it, caused Scout’s death because he faced the Spy bots alone. Sorry Scout, ass and tiddies are more important than you!

EXPIRATION DATE

The long adored sfm video. While the video pretty much cements Scout’s feelings for Miss Pauling, it also cements her lack thereof. Lets dig in:

First off, we know that Scout only had the bravery to ask her out because he thought he was dying. How does he invite her? By setting off the briefcase alarm!

As Miss Pauling says, it’s “the one button he’s never supposed to touch”. Not only that, but it wasted her only day off of the year. A fact she is visibly pissed about and refers to a couple times. Scout was pretty selfish to do that. Another thing, Pauling repeatedly refers to the “date” as a prom. (“Are you guys having a prom?”) She literally had no idea Scout was asking her out. Why? Lets face it, she would say no or dismiss him yet again. Even Scout knew that, so he faked a literal emergency that forces her to visit. Once again, lying to try and impress her with a date.

So, Scout comes up with an elaborately self centered plan to get Miss Pauling to come to the base, and when she wants to storm out, he desperately tries to save face with dinner. Cue our bread monster fight where Scout confesses that he likes her. And her response? Nothing. Throughout the whole sequence, Miss Pauling doesn’t answer or even respond to a word he says. You’d think if you were in mortal danger, you’d tell your crush “i love you! Now help me kill this bread monster”

At the end, Scout says “so its a date?” To which our beloved Miss Pauling says, “well, no. You did waste my one day off”. Not only that, but Pauling even offers for him to join her on missions, which he instantly says no to. Idk about you, but I’d bury bodies with my crush any day of the week. The fact that Scout was offered multiple chances to even be near Miss Pauling willingly, yet turned them down, is pretty telling of his character.

Scout wants a date, yes, but how he envisions it. Typical candles and pretty lights with a pretty girl. Meaning, what he enjoys and what he sees their romantic life being like. Not shaving off fingerprints or hiding bodies. Things Miss Pauling does literally 24/7. You know, things she likes doing. Its evident in her vacation lines that she wants to go back to work and that she isn’t a fan of vacations. Once again, Scout’s selfishness stops him from getting anywhere near the girl he’s obsessed with.

So, we have: Pauling doesn’t want to hear Scout’s voice, she’s barely cordial with him, she sees Scout as at best a coworker, and she was, indirectly, responsible for his death. (Note: not making this into A Point, its just fucking hilarious).

All in all, these two have no chemistry. Scout has a six year long obsession, and Miss Pauling has a six year long distain for our quirked up white boy. Their whole dynamic is the age old “dumb jackass loser wants pretty girl” and lets face it, we’re sick of that. Scout couldn’t even come up with a reasonable, honest way to see Miss Pauling in person. He selfishly wanted a date (that fits his myopic view of what dating Miss Pauling looks like) and didn’t care how he got it.

I’m not trying to attack anyone with this post. Its a ship analysis, and I hope it at least points out the major flaws between them. Unless Scout changes his entire personality (he won’t), Miss Pauling is never gonna like him.

#long post #i went off here actually #tf2 #team fortress 2 #tf2 scout #miss pauling #not tagging the ship but yeah #ship analysis

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kradogsrats · 4 months

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A Song of Love and Loyalty (and Loss): General Miyana

So thanks to @raayllum I have been thinking about Miyana. Miyana is a very interesting figure in the cast of a story where the central conflict is shaped around what an individual will do for the sake of love, whether to themselves, to others, or to the world—because Miyana, in her initial arc, is characterized by what she won't do for love. She's very much a facet of the same theme, but in a way that people are liable to find unsympathetic: she doesn't support Karim when he's relatively harmless, to the point that could be considered a betrayal of him, but then she does when doing so means doing serious harm in a definite betrayal of "the good guys."

But I love a complicated woman, so why not do a deep dive on the motivations, story arcs, and thematic future of a character most of the fanbase probably can't name and most of the rest likely hate?

So What is Miyana's Deal?

Miyana is one of the "Six Horns," the best and most respected of the Sunfire generals, named for the six horns of Sol Regem. The Six Horns, as at least part of their duties, form a tribunal that is is implied to be the highest level of Sunfire justice. Their role appears to be determining innocence or guilt, and the sentencing is left up to the monarch—however, they are also powerful enough to completely displace the monarch if they unite in intent to do so.

In their role as judges, the Six Horns adopt ceremonial regalia that hides their emotions and gives at least a symbolic curtain to their identities, creating a sense of impartiality... but it does not appear to be any kind of secret who they are. Miyana is still one of the Six Horns when out of "uniform," and she and her colleagues freely mingle and discuss things among themselves.

From her role, we can assume that Miyana is smart, politically astute, likely good at reading both people and situations, and has demonstrated loyalty to the Sunfire kingdom (... empire?). It's difficult to tell whether being a warrior is also part of her skillset, because she doesn't demonstrate any combat ability or inclination in her appearances—ex. she does not walk around armed. The "general" title would seem to imply some amount of combat experience, especially with our one other "general" example being Amaya, an extremely hands-on commander. However, given the intertwining of government and military there appears to be in Sunfire elf culture, the position is more strategic and advisory in nature than front-line combatant.

Miyana and Karim: a Secret vs. a Symbol

Miyana and Prince Karim are engaged in a romantic relationship that is secret... but also not particularly subtle, at least on his part.

When Karim bursts into Miyana's... office? Quarters? Whatever, she's the one who is disturbed and slams the door behind him. He doesn't really appear to give much of a shit.

This makes sense, because Miyana is the one with something to lose if their relationship gets out. She's meant to be an impartial judge, even against the monarch—an entanglement with the royal family significantly compromises her. Presumably, if she wanted to be with Karim openly, she could relinquish her position... but she does not, either because she doesn't want to, or because Karim doesn't want to make things official.

Speaking of...

Karim, somewhat hilariously, suggests to Janai that she keep Amaya as a permanent consort, rather than officially marry her and have that marriage be a "symbol" of what he perceives as the beginning of the end for Sunfire power and culture. This suggests that it could be Karim who insists on maintaining secrecy over his and Miyana's relationship, assuming he feels the same way about making sure his own eventual marriage is appropriately symbolic for his people.

Personally, given the way Karim behaves, I think it's Miyana who isn't willing to abandon being one of the Six Horns for him—whether because of the power and status it affords her, or because she values being in a position where her service to her people has a strong impact, or because it took her a fucking long time to climb the ladder. Who knows.

But basically, Karim? Not subtle:

Look at this guy, he might as well have literal heart eyes. He also doesn't avoid openly socializing with her:

Not to mention that they have matching earrings, for fuck's sake.

Anyway, he doesn't even respond to Miyana's concern about them being seen together when he barges into her space. He's not exactly behaving as if he's committed to the secrecy.

Season 4 Arc: Gently Convincing Your Royal Boyfriend that He's an Idiot

Miyana is introduced in the s4 Sunfire arc when it pivots toward Karim moving directly against Janai. Immediately after being dissatisfied by the result of Lucia's trial and Janai revealing the Sun Seed to him, Karim meets with Miyana and their relationship is revealed to the viewers. She does appear before that, with Karim (the three previous screenshots are from before that point), but this is where they are formally connected.

This scene, immediately before Karim tells her that he has seen "the truth" that Janai must be removed, is the last time we see Miyana smile until the end of s5. She spends the entire rest of the season going through various stages of concern and doubt about Karim's... frankly unhinged plans.

She questions him at basically every turn, but never goes so far as to say outright that what he's proposing is a bad idea. She acknowledges that the others of the Six Horns might be sympathetic to his take on Janai's direction, but more than once cautions him that she does not believe they will be willing to turn against her.

So how does she really feel? Karim certainly implies that he sees her as his "woman on the inside," secretly feeding him information on the Six Horns and influencing them in his favor, in turn. There's a cut segment that has been referenced in interviews in which Karim cautions Miyana that she must not be the first to vote in his favor, because that will possibly reveal their relationship—which, while he may be thinking about her preference for secrecy, would also kind of invalidate the entire vote.

Miyana, on the other hand, expresses a lot of concern for Karim. She's very worried that he's misjudged the situation and will fail—possibly because she knows she cannot rescue him if he's wrong. And she doesn't, even when he cries out to her, specifically:

I bet that was real fun for her to try to explain. It's possible she could have helped him more after the fact if he hadn't implicated her that way, but it's also entirely possible there's nothing she could do—the monarch, after all, is the one who sentences the guilty.

Even if Miyana is 100% behind Karim's vision for the future of the Sunfire people, at no point does she appear to agree with the way he's pursuing it, and in the end she refuses to go down with him. (Contrast with, say, Sarai... who firmly expresses her disapproval to Harrow about his approach, but then backs him 100% with action.)

Season 5 Arc: Can You Even Trust Yourself?

Miyana does not appear a single time in s5 until she reports Kim'dael's infiltration of the camp to Janai. At this point, Janai entrusts her with concealing and protecting the Sun Seed.

This is an interesting exchange, since on Janai's end it indicates that she and Miyana probably don't know each other well. Janai at least suspects what they are facing, based on the description of "a ghost"—if she suspects that it's Kim'dael specifically, she would be aware that the only person who could have sent her is Karim. It's not clear whether some of Miyana's involvement with Karim might have come out after s4, but even if it did, it was probably brushed off because she didn't stand with him in his ill-judged coup.

Also, like... what does Janai expect her to say? "No"? This isn't really a question—Janai has decided that, absent other immediate options, she can trust Miyana as a member of the Six Horns to safeguard the future of their people. She's indicating to Miyana that she is being given an incredibly important, secret responsibility.

And personally, I fully believe that Miyana thinks she is being 100% truthful in her answer. I don't think she's been sitting around waiting for the perfect moment to run off to Karim—she loved him, and still loves him, but she chose being able to continue having a role in shaping her people's future over throwing away everything for him. She has no idea where he is or what he's doing. He's gone. Exiled. No longer a factor.

So what changes? The ransom demand:

Karim sends Pharos with a message that says, simply:

He has Janai.

He wants the Sun Seed in exchange for her life.

He wants Miyana to come to him with it.

For Miyana herself, this potentially changes everything, because what she's hearing is:

Karim is alive.

He is still fighting for his vision, and has gathered allies powerful enough to overcome Janai.

He has some kind of plan requiring the Sun Seed, which likely plays to his actual strengths (he's a mage, the Sun Seed is a powerful magical artifact).

He wants her at his side.

Personally, if I was her, I'd be at least a little worried that he wants her as the delivery person so he can punish her for her betrayal of him... but he's also such an unbelievably soft boy that I can see why that might not cross her mind. Like, his reaction to seeing "Miyana" riding toward him is unrestrained joy and affirmation that his belief in her was correct—if anything, what he's expecting here is that Miyana will convince the others of the Six Horns to agree to his demands, thereby getting him the Sun Seed and reuniting them.

Miyana, for her part, is now in a position to significantly shift the balance of power. She still loves Karim, and she presumably still believes in his direction for the future. She can bring him the Sun Seed. She can bring him her segment of the Sunfire army. Both of those will significantly weaken Janai's position, while putting Karim much closer to success. Unlike Karim's s4 plan, this is a good bet. This is worth throwing away what she has, in favor of something she could gain.

Removing the Mask: Miyana's Final Turn (So Far)

Bear with me for a moment, because we're going to briefly circle back to s4 and Miyana's position as one of the Six Horns. Throughout s4, there is demonstrable tension between her role and her relationship with Karim, for both of them:

Each of them, in a private moment, contemplates the mask she wears as tribunal judge—a symbol of what keeps them apart. Both of them know that this is her central choice, between her love for him and the duty (loyalty?) to her people that she won't let go. Karim, poor fool that he is, thinks that those will never come in conflict. Miyana spends all of s4 knowing that they will. Maybe even knowing what her choice will be.

In Amaya's deception to rescue Janai, she puts on Miyana's clothing and mask, pretending to be her in order to get close to Karim. Karim completely falls for this, and thereby suffers a second emotional betrayal from the "General Miyana of the Six Horns" mask.

He's so happy that his faith in her wasn't misplaced, and then he gets literally hit in the face with it:

So that sucks for him. However, when Miyana ultimately returns to him, she has stripped all aspects of her Six Horns role, wearing neither her tribunal mask/robe nor her usual fancy tunic and adornments (what Janai was wearing):

She professes her loyalty to Karim having only the most basic layer of her personas: the bottom-layer red tunic and pants that go under both outfits. She has, it is implied, completely discarded the position that previously held her back from Karim.

She also claims that her loyalty has never wavered (debatable), and equates her loyalty to Karim with her love for him, also unwavering (probably true).

This, the moment when Karim receives her (after literally starting to cry), is the first time she smiles again. She continues to smile through the end of the sequence, revealing to him both the Sun Seed and the army she has brought. She appears to have zero conflict about this—she has shed it all with the shell of her identity as one of the Six Horns.

So What Does This Mean for the Future?

Miyana has explicitly equated her love for and her loyalty to Karim. And what is love, in this series, but something to be tested?

Even having stripped away all the aspects of her dedication to her people that are related to the Sunfire mainstream rather than Karim's rebellion, Miyana is still going to have to reckon with whether Karim's vision is the future she wants and whether she can support how far he may go for it. She has handed Karim, and by extension Pharavos, a great deal of both magical and martial power. When Karim's ambitions collide with Aaravos's, he will almost certainly double down—accepting what Aaravos offers and/or foolishly believing he can somehow come out on top.

Miyana is the only one of this trio who is potentially even a little clear-eyed, though she could absolutely be blinded by love. She may follow Karim to the bitter end and self-destruction. She may try to save him. She may try to save others from him. She may realize she can only save herself.

Of the characters with close relationships that carry this loyalty/love tension of loving someone but not necessarily being able to support their decisions and actions, we have:

Soren, who was unable to continue following Viren's downward spiral and instead chose loyalty to his king. His father may be a lost cause, but he still believes he can save his sister.

Terry, who has been left by Claudia with the aggressive guilt that she has robbed herself of his support because she believes he will eventually abandon her, and has several directions he could go: doubling down on his loyalty to Claudia and aggressively following her descent, prioritizing his love for Claudia and focusing on finding a way to save her, or he might cut his losses and fuck off completely (unlikely).

Lissa, whose precise situation we don't know the details of, but who left behind everything she loved and never looked back (or was never allowed to).

While I'm sure whatever resolution they write for Miyana will be fine (*grits teeth*), at this time I think the best one for her would be a Lissa-style ending. Janai's path may lead to the end of Sunfire history, as Karim put it, but his path will lead to the end of their future. Miyana will eventually recognize that, and that like in s4, she can't save him from himself. However, this time she has already irrevocably cast aside her former position—leaving Karim also means giving up her chance (or perception of her chance) to be someone who actively shapes and safeguards her people's future. If she returns to Janai, she faces exile at best. Might as well skip the painful part of that and just... go. But in having given up her complex loyalty to Janai, and finally separating her loyalty to Karim from her love for him, she's left with an opening where loyalty to herself and her own principles can blossom.

#the dragon prince #miyana #karim #janai #sunfire elves #did she seize my interest JUST because i suddenly thought 'oh she's like lissa?" SHUT UP DON'T LOOK AT ME

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rainbowstargazerlilies · 4 months

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Mechs Ships Tournament: Shipping Round 4 Poll 1

Propaganda:

Polymechs:

They're inseparable they hate each other they would die for each other they actively enjoy killing each other ect ect ect

Look they're immortal and stuck in a spaceship you don't think they've hit all possible combinations over the years and settled into a weird comfortable vibe you can only get if youve murdered, been murdered, and had sex with every one (maybe minus nastya) of your friends?

immortal space pirats.... cuddle piles, romantic... not romanticm... poly mechs <3

(Points to every album) there thats my propaganda. But in all seriousness they are a group of immortals with nothing to do but sing and love each other in their own fucked up ways <3

Chaotic little guys on a ship for a long time, the relationship web they got going on could rival the coven web

you cant tell me you would live with people for millions of years without it getting even a little gay.

Polygamy

when you spend millennia doing music and violence and shenanigans with the same 8 other people on a ship (and when the ship is technically another person), there's bound to be some group canoodling

i care them

they're everything to each other!!!

i refuse to pick

it’s polymechs!! what isn’t to love

Look at them.

how could you pick individual ships when they are so good together!! with the exception of nastya + jonny cos they are siblings your honour.

a lot of people have polymechs with her and aurora being monogamous but she canonically has queer orgies. on mechs tumblr account she describes herself as "The only one seemingly capable of a committed, responsible and fair relationship" so polymechs with all of relationships besides nastyaurora being on and off and everchanging is both the best polymechs and the most canon compliant polymechs to me

The idea that they're crewmates. You ask one of them what their relationship is with another and they say, "That's my crewmate". And then, maybe one of them meets someone on another ship, and they mention they don't have strong feelings about someone because, "they're only my crewmate" And they just cannot comprehend the idea of being crewmates with someone and not having strong feelings about them. They're immortal and half of them hate life, but even if that wasn't true, they'd die for any of the others a million times over. They've murdered billions of people on a whim, but even if that wasn't true, they'd murder anyone if it made one of their crewmate's lives a bit better. Remember how Tim blew up a moon for Bertie? He had only known Bertie for about 10 years. What would he do for people he had known for about 10 millennia? What would Ashes do for the people who would never betray them? What would Nastya do for the people who would always spend time with her and never die? What would Brian do for the people who would always forgive him for following his beliefs? What would Raphaella do for the people who are always willing to help her with her experiments? What would Ivy do for the people who'd always stay and tell their stories? What would the Toy Soldier do for the people who only ordered it to do what it wants to do and always lets it be involved? What would Jonny do for the people he could never permanently hurt? What would Marius do for his family? They all love each other more than anything, even if they don't have the words for it. (via @mchasmfiend)

Loki/Sigyn:

https://youtu.be/TdKCUmOa5Jw?si=Y3owraM96zp4kdrs and https://youtu.be/nxVjWJJmt9Q?si=76dQ6LBg00eldlUY

anti ship lesbians/sappics

Transgender lesbian anarchists.

spsaphics

Round-up for the round here :)

#Mechs ships tournament #the mechs #the mechanisms #shipping round 4 #tournament poll #spumblr #loki tbi #sigyn tbi

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kingsandbastardz · 5 months

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@bbcphile asked about Di Feisheng and neurodiversity and it's something that's been on my mind for awhile, so here we go.

100% thought DFS was on the spectrum when he first popped up on my screen. Cue Leonardo_DiCaprio_pointing.gif I related to so, so many of his behaviors.

Trauma/ptsd can often create symptoms similar to autism/adhd/etc due to how it fucks with your brain

Autism/adhd/etc are often co-morbid with ptsd and trauma due to abuse, bullying, increased sensitivities and higher risk taking behaviors that lead to impulsive decision making which then leads to higher rates of death.

Thoughts regarding why I think so:

1. Hyperfixation/special interest being his obsession with fighting only LXY

2. Extremely high masking - as in almost 24/7 except when alone, in front of Wuyan and possibly LLH. He doesn't have any of the perception, motor skills or speech issues some people on the spectrum have. This means he can fine tune his social skills as much as needed. He's incredibly opaque through the entire drama. His behavior is completely different from how others perceive him, how he portrays himself, what information is known about him. There's a solid disconnect between himself and what is revealed to the rest of the world. I strongly suspect he's the type that makes scripts for every social interaction he has with others and behaves based off that.

Masking at that level for so long means it's basically you. Until it's not. It's internalized. It's hard to differentiate between the you that is a mask vs you the unmasked weirdo that wants to sit on the floor all day in your underwear because it's grounding and limits sensory input.

Masking is also exhausting. He runs off to be by himself as soon as he is able. He stays in locations where he can be alone and limit sounds.

3. LLH's behavior with DFS: Yes, it is due to closeness, past history, and also unexplored emotion, but that doesn't explain the bonkers level of accommodation and lack of vitriol toward a man he spends many episodes believing killed his brother. Yes he was emotionally burnt out after 10 years. He could have been playing along to get DFS to work with him (which he didn't need to because he soft-poisoned him with asura grass - the stuff that doesn't have weird side effects like killing a person. Contrast that with wuxin huai JLQ and SGD use)

But that isn't all there is to it - he fully believes DFS wouldn't try to kill him seriously. When arguing or trying to convince him of anything, he doesn't hide the truths he hides from everyone else. He barely exhibits anger toward him beyond that one early "Do you still refuse to admit it?"

Imo he's like this because he knew DFS well enough to know that being angry won't work; he believes DFS thinks differently enough he there may be a disconnect in understanding the source LXY's anger. Considering how happy and clingy DFS was when he first showed up, I don't blame LLH for thinking this way? DFS certainly didn't share any information regarding his suspicions. More on DFS' style of logic later. He communicates with DFS a certain way because he knows:

DFS is very good at spotting lies. This is both autistic or trauma-related behavior in ppl who are very good at masking. He's hyper vigilant to begin with and pair that with him likely being very experienced at picking apart micro expressions, context vibes, logic holes, etc at high speed -- high masking individuals that create personal scripts for their interactions will often do this as a defense, to create a convincing enough set of behavior to 'behave like a person' with the rest of the world.

DFS will so strongly act on decisions based on the information he accepts that it's imperative he has as much of the needed info as possible. This speaks on a lot of experience interacting with DFS. LLH behaves this way because he doesn't want what happens when he doesn't.

4. Sensory issues: Specifically pertaining to sound/noise and food. He complains repeatedly about how noisy FDB and Su Xuayong were. In the women's mansion arc, the signaling beacon was making enough noise that it bothered him so he goes and pulls it out.

Using other preferred sounds: His preferred locations of the waterfalls or the top floor of the Lotus House makes me think of ambient noise machines where people play certain nature sounds to drown out other sounds and relax to. (again, grounding and sensory control)

He was very likely lying about his sense of taste to LXY to avoid rudeness, but there are multiple scenes implying some form of disordered eating. And there is also a scene where he comes in randomly and takes FDB's bowl of rice and walks out without taking anything else. It implies he may actually have certain food preferences even though there are other cases where he eats fine like at the grave robber banquet where he pretended to be someone else. So imo one partial possibility for this, aside from trauma, is autistic eating issues: not being able to eat in certain locations, having preferred tastes or textures, not wanting to combine their foods, eating very little. One common preference is for carbohydrates or processed foods - aka bread or rice. I know someone who's Special Food was chicken. They wouldn't have a problem having it very meal - but as an adult, understood that wasn't something they could always do.

5. Logic that makes perfect sense to him but not necessarily to others:

looking for LLH by flying to and investigating every single mountain peak until he found him (in a savant level display of power and skill)

end goal of wanting to be with LLH and fight him repeatedly forever (special interest, desire for repetition and a routine)

kidnapping QWM for LLH is totally not a bad thing since he wouldn't hurt her and is strong enough he can guarantee her safety

he doesn't communicate with LXY about his suspicions regarding Shan Gudao's death - which most sect leaders would have lead with. He didn't see this information as important to share until a purpose for it popped up later on.

his special interest takes priority over everything else: handing over control of the sect to JQL in favor of the Guyin map, Dongahi battle full of death and destruction and all he thought about was the dual

well, until his priorities change. The entire drama is his single-minded quest to heal LLH -- but it's still linked tightly to his special interest of fighting with LXY.

also "my only rival is LXY, let's fight fight fight fight"= "I only want to fight LXY" but framed in a manner that people of jianghu will immediately understand. But that's not actually what he wants. Here is a prime example of a communication issue where he's created a presentation of this strong fighter - he walks and talks like one perfectly - so LLH and everyone else is of course convinced he wants to be number 1 swordsman. That is the language he's using to present himself. And he wants to know this because, why wouldn't he want to measure himself against a benchmark? However his end goal isn't just to be number one. He wants to be able to fight and win and lose and win and lose against LXY and only LXY.

possible: won't kill women or even engage with them seriously if he deems them too weak, but will still fill his organization's leadership with them and give them huge amounts of power --- this logic doesn't make sense to me, but clearly does to him??

6. He shows love by allowing people in his personal space (LLH, Wuyan, etc) or sharing his hyperfixation (fighting). So him doggedly trying to get LLH to fight him? Well. Also whining to Wuyan every day for years about LXY? He's... sharing his special interest! Wuyan, feel loved! Also, another common form of showing love for autistics are doing things for people -- and dfs' love language is clearly acts of service.

7. One can argue he's a bit on the savant level of skills, but without typical disabilities. Also he's high masking enough that any disability he does have, you wouldn't see it at all. -- ok this might just make him a regular genius, then.

8. DFS' strict adherence to his own code of honor regardless of what anyone around him is doing

9. Need for routine or repetitive behavior - one can argue that martial arts being a special interest of his would actually make a ton of sense because it's about training over and over and over again until it becomes instinct. Daily training for years and years. You never stop. And you do it in quiet spaces away from people or places that can cause sensory issues.

10. Argument for some form of alexithymia: This one is a reach - as there's no evidence of this. But as it's often co-morbid with autism, I think could be an interesting internal reason for his ability to mask. As in, unless it's a very big feeling or a very large event, he may not recognize his own trauma as trauma. His bar for what is 'bad' is somewhere in the basement of hell, and every other traumatic event are just things that happen. He may not actually recognize fear. He chases happy things because at his age, he knows what anger, sadness and happiness are -- because they have easy to parse physical manifestations.

EDIT: I wasn't very clear up top - but I consider severe trauma to be a form of neurodiversity due to the long lasting and sometimes permanent changes it makes in a person's brain (especially when young and the brain is still being formed). So when I say I think it's possible for dfs to be neurodiverse, I'm referring to a range of things. Autism is very difficult to separate from ptsd/trauma for the reasons above, and will often manifest in the exact same ways with overlapping patterns of behavior. Any one of these things or many of these things collectively can exist without someone being neurodiverse.

Anyway this is just off the top of my had. I have this under a cut so I'll add more later as it comes they mind. (I think this gets called moral stubborness? Something like that?)

#you need quite a bit of evidence to create plausible support so this is mostly me going off what I see and vibes #like i said trauma can result in much of this behavior as well and we know how traumatized dfs is #di feisheng as someone on the spectrum #just one possibility #meta #di feisheng #my royal ramblings #mysterious lotus casebook

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jacky-rubou · 6 months

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Planning to write an essay on the limited Ford and Mabel bonding in the show and well, I thought of approaching you if you have any pointers. Especially dispelling any misconceptions by the fandom whether Ford overlooked Mabel or the bond she shared with her brother.

I think the main misconception I see is that Ford didn't care about Mabel at all in comparison to Dipper. Or, in some ridiculously extreme cases, that he hates her.

People forget that Mabel was the first twin he interacted with, and it was largely positive. Ford laughed and said he liked her when she stated that his six fingered handshake was one finger friendlier than normal.

The Last Mabelcorn being the episode where Ford interacted with Mabel the most gives a big insight into how he feels about her. First, he agreed with Mabel when she stated she was probably the most pure of heart in the room (i forget the exact phrasing but same difference). He trusted her with the unicorn mission, even knowing that the unicorns were difficult. And last of all, he directly tells her that she is a good person without even knowing the struggle she went through with her morality moments prior.

Dipper and Mabel vs The Future is contentious in this regard, fans often using it as proof that Ford doesn't care about Mabel just because he asked Dipper to stay in Gravity Falls. But honestly, Ford cared enough to observe Mabel's social skills with the pizza delivery guy, plus probably witnessing plenty of instances of Mabel handling herself without Dipper's help. He genuinely believed that Mabel could handle being without her brother outside of the summers.

Plus, it isn't like Mabel was forthright about her feelings about leaving Gravity Falls and growing up until she blew up at the end of the episode. Obviously there are things to be said about Ford taking Dipper on as an apprenticeship being a good or a bad idea depending on who you ask, but Ford didn't know how badly Mabel would take it. He thought he was doing Dipper a favor by giving him a head start on his studies and, as I previously mentioned, that Mabel would be fine at home. That the two could reach a compromise if needed.

Ford isn't perfect though, he does tend to project himself onto Dipper after finding out how similar he thinks he is to him. That might've affected how often he spends with either twin or how he saw their bond, but to say that he doesn't care about Mabel at all is simply misguided. He cares about them both so much. His traumatic experience with his own twin just tainted how he saw the twins' bond being something that could be potentially suffocating. He does sorta have a point though, Dipper and Mabel can't force each other to stay glued at the hip forever or it could potentially stifle their individual dreams if handled badly. But that's just my 'controversial' opinion right there i guess, so take it with a grain of salt if you wish.

And besides, if we were gonna get upset at Ford for favoring Dipper over Mabel, you might as well also get upset at Stan for favoring Mabel over Dipper in some honestly worse ways than Ford ever did to Mabel. Stan literally projected his father's abusive ways onto Dipper and justified being hard on him with 'toughening him up'. Not to mention how he made Dipper the butt of his jokes so often it drove Dipper to seek out time with Ford over him because Ford never made fun of him like that. Obviously Stan does care about Dipper too, but the double standards in this fandom when it comes to how the grunkles treat the twins is honestly flabbergasting. Neither grunkle is perfect in how they handle the twins, neither are 'better' in their methods, and I think that's the point.

it doesn't help that Ford doesn't get a lot of screentime compared to Stan, as i'm sure you're already aware.

anyway, if you have any more questions, feel free to let me know. hope this was a good insight into all this Ford and Mabel business.

#AskJacky #analysis #gravity falls #ford pines #stanford pines #grunkle ford #ford and mabel #mabel pines #dipper pines #stan pines #< didn't mention him much but it still counts #i hope this is reasonably accurate #i feel like it is #but sometimes i fail to realize something and it all flops lol

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sushisocks · 9 months

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Okay, another Sean and Lenny meta post, this time also featuring some stuff about Javier. I wanna talk about why I think Sean and Lenny would side with Arthur at the end of RDR2, and bring forth all my reasoning as to why I will die on this hill.

Rant under the read more to spare my mutuals. (Fair warning this is a LONG one babes, there is so much meta)

So, to start, I don't actually think the story of RDR2 would look the same, if at all, were Sean and Lenny not to die their scripted deaths. Even in a version of things where they survive and they go to the same camps, the unfolding of events would by necessity be different due to the impact their personalities and frames of thinking would have on the people around them. However, let's for arguments sake say that in this hypothetical, things are mostly the same, and we're down to that last scene in Beaver Hollow, the last showdown, with Dutch and Micah on one side, and Arthur and John on the other. We know where Javier and Bill go, but where would Sean and Lenny gravitate?

I've already made my stance on the matter clear, so let's really get into why I think Lenny and Sean would choose Arthur's side over Dutch's.

First off, I think it's important to remember that it isn't JUST Dutch vs Arthur, in this scene. In its essential form, it is Dutch & Micah vs Arthur & John. Arthur points at Micah as the rat, and Dutch believes Micah over Arthur. John arrives and accuses Dutch for leaving him to bleed out and die, and Arthur believes John -- not that Dutch denies it.

The point here is, though, that it's not JUST Dutch or Arthur, they're choosing. It is also the people who side with those individuals, whom we must take into account.

Sean and Lenny are canonically Micah-haters, if you will. There are several instances throughout the game, while the two are alive, where they loudly proclaim their dislike of Micah. Sean calling him an 'oily turd' and getting offended at being compared to him, is a near and dear line from the game, for me. And I doubt I have to explain why Lenny isn't besties with the most outwardly racist member of the gang.

"Oh, but Teki!" I hear you say. "Javier is also shown to dislike Micah, and yet he sides with Dutch in the end!" And, see, now you have activated my trap card, so let's really take a look at Javier, before going any further.

Javier is among the most loyal members of the gang -- Arthur literally says this as a camp interaction with him, long before chapter 5 or 6. The fact that Arthur is the one saying it, should tell us something -- this is coming from the man whose loyalty is such a strong character trait it turns into a flaw, and ultimately leads to his demise. And if you think about it, Javier being exceedingly loyal - to the gang, to Dutch - should not be surprising!

When Dutch met Javier, Javier didn't even know English. Javier was starving, on the run, with no safety or know-how, in a country he didn't know nor understand. Javier's story with the gang literally STARTS with Dutch saving him. He is brought into the gang, and in the four years he's there, he is taught English and also shown more respect and compassion than many other places in the US at the time. There are many examples of how Javier is treated as a Mexican in the US, throughout the game, and he, like the other POC in the gang, is allowed to stand up for himself and punish other gang members who slight him (Micah and Bill, in particular). In many ways, Dutch provides through the gang a safety net Javier probably didn't even dream of achieving when he crossed the border.

And then Guarma happens.

I, personally, cannot overstate enough how much I think Javier's experiences on Guarma reinforce his loyalty and blind faith in Dutch. He is tortured, ridiculed, and humiliated, and who is it that opens that cage door and literally pulls Javier out of it all? Carries him over his shoulder out of a compound of Cubans that would rather see their heads on pikes?

You guessed it, it's Dutch. Yes, Arthur does a lot of the heavy lifting, but let's be real - Dutch is the one who gets the credit, as usual. He made the plan, after all, and notably, he IS actually the one grabbing Javier and hauling him out of there.

That means, that the two times we know of, where Javier has been at his absolute worst, Dutch is the one who has saved him. Javier, who is so loyal even Arthur acknowledges the immensity of it. So who is then surprised that he doubles down even harder, when they return to the US, and things take a turn for the worse in Beaver Hollow?

In that moment, at the end of chapter 6, Javier cares more about siding with Dutch, than he cares about Dutch siding with Micah.

And I'll argue a similar case for Bill; he has speeches, camp events, where he straight up says Dutch saved him, saved the people of the gang. This is literally The Thing, with these two, that makes their choices at the end really make sense, in my eyes.

It's also important to note that Javier is literally the most clueless among them when he makes that choice. He wasn't there for most of the conversation leading up to it -- he literally just came from being on watch, to warn them about the encroaching Pinkertons. And, as everyone knows, he doesn't point his gun at Arthur and John, and he nor Bill are there for the horse chase scene, blah blah, those points have been done a million times, you already know them.

"Okay, but Teki," you say, trying to reason with my rambling fanatic self. "How do you know Lenny and Sean wouldn't go down similar paths, if they survived past their scripted deaths?" And I say onto you, verily; because neither of them really have similar savior stories with Dutch, thematically.

I mean for goodness' sake, Sean tried to ROB Dutch and Hosea, upon meeting them intially. They just liked his guts and invited him along, and Sean was like, 'shit why not, aint got nothin better to do!' - paraphrased, of course, but in my heart of hearts that's what he said.

All we know definitely with Lenny is that he joined the gang while traversing the Grizzlies, the year before the events of the game. Whether it was a savior situation or a mutually beneficial situation, isn't actually fully known. We can make assumptions and speculate until we're all blue in the face, but I have stronger points for Lenny's case so let's move on.

So, as I've talked about before, Lenny is acknowledged as among the smarter members of the gang, despite his youth. He is one of the only ones who intellectually challenges Dutch, and he is clearly not afraid to criticise Dutch's ideas and ideals -- when prompted.

(Side note, as I said at the start but want to really emphasize here, I really think chapter 6 is the one that would be the most impacted by Lenny's survival. He has shown himself remarkably aware of societal issues contemporary to his time, so look me in the eyes and tell me you genuinely believe he, as a black man, wouldn't attempt to intervene in some way when Dutch starts fucking with the Wapiti. That kid has balls of steel and audacity up the whazoo, and he's excruciatingly aware of how black people in the US have been royally fucked over by white men. You think he'd see the Wapiti struggling, Dutch scheming, and be like 'oh yay more white man shenanigans! lets go!' ?? bffr!)

Lenny ALSO is among the newer members of the gang; it provides him safety and respect that's hard found outside it, yes, but in my opinion he straight up does not have enough cost sunk into this fallacy, for it to fallacy properly in his head, if you catch my drift. I think if it's not for the fact that he has genuine bonds with people in the gang by the time chapter 6 rolls around, like Charles and Sadie do at that point, he probably would be smart enough to dip, like other characters do.

And that's sort of the thing, too, with both Lenny and Sean. They don't actually have daddy issues in the same way Arthur and John do.

Lenny and Sean are very similar in that they had good relationships with their fathers, and are proud of their parentage -- what wisdom and teachings their fathers managed to impart upon their sons before passing, has stuck with them. They are not in need of a new father figure, and they certainly do not seek it in Dutch(nor Hosea), not like Arthur and John do.

They find a sense of brotherhood in the gang, sure, and they view the other members as family (you can pry their little brother statuses from my cold dead hands), but Dutch is their leader, not their guardian, not their teacher, and certainly not anything close to a father, in their eyes. The fact that Lenny discusses literature with him is indicative of this -- the conversation is one of opinion between would-be equals, not of mentor and protege. The fact that Dutch only really seems interested in Sean as far as he serves as camp clown is also indicative of how Sean might feel about him, too. Dutch literally yells at Sean for taking a break from being the silly goofy distraction, in one camp interaction -- and from the way Sean talks about him, I don't think that sort of behavior has a lot of fatherly associations for the 'irish terrier'.

And that leads us to my pièce de résistance, dear fellow cowboy maniacs (you must be, if you've read thus far). Lenny and Sean are both closer, and friendlier with Arthur, than they are with Dutch. Example: Both of them poking fun at Arthur in ways they do not with Dutch. Sean telling Arthur he loves him - like an insane amount of times. Lenny chooses Arthur to go riding with, time and time again.

And guess what? When we see Sean and Lenny at their lowest, who is it that helps them out?

If you answered Arthur Morgan, give yourself a pat on the back and a gold star sticker!

We are literally introduced to Sean while Arthur leads Javier and Charles into saving him from bounty hunters. Arthur is the one cutting him down from that tree, bringing him upright, making sure he is okay. Arthur is also the one who saves him from being shot to death on the train robbery in Pouring Forth Oil. When Lenny comes to tell the gang about Micah being in jail in Strawberry, he has also just narrowly escaped being lynched, and it is Arthur who brings him away from that experience, calms him down and allows him to relax and let loose again.

Both Sean and Lenny have a deeper, more profound connection to Arthur, than they have Dutch. And consequently, if they were to survive until the end of chapter 6 and were the then much-more-unlikely showdown scene to happen, they would certainly not side with Dutch & Micah, over Arthur & John.

#rdr2 #red dead redemption 2 #sean macguire #lenny summers #arthur morgan #dutch van der linde #javier escuella #rdr2 meta #rdr thoughts #teki talks #long post #if you read all of this ily #this is several rants and a half but ive been meaning to write it all up for AGES #i get so unironically mad abt ppl saying sean and lenny would side with dutch. this is the hill i die on (among many)

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favvn · 1 month

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Something that I've been processing since Errand of Mercy is that line of Kirk's about being used to the idea of dying. I take it to refer to his experiences on Tarsus IV rather than a willingness to die for Starfleet/some loyalty-to-the-death type deal. Like, he saw a leader make themselves into a dictator in a time of famine and suffering, and said dictator used "personal eugenics" on the people he was meant to aid. Kirk himself was selected to die. Regardless of if Kirk was a young child or teenager when it happened, that event has shaped him (and I can not believe no other writers for the show used it explicitly to develop his character, so now I get to feel like the Pepe Silva It's Always Sunny meme always. It's fine. It's cool. It's fun, even. Thank god for fanfic writers).

But in the episode before Errand of Mercy, The Devil in the Dark, Kirk says that--as individuals--Spock and himself are expendable. The implication is the chain-of-command based on Kirk's rank as Captain and Spock's rank as First Officer. Should Kirk die, Spock assumes command and etc. If both are killed together, there's a larger ripple effect in the chain and more issues to get positions filled, so Spock and Kirk together as a pair are not expendable. (To say nothing of the larger risk of endangering two lives vs one and Kirk takes calculated risks.)

I point this out because in Operation: Annihilate, Kirk doesn't give a single care about the chain-of-command and who is expendable once Spock is made host to one of the creatures.

(As an aside: yes, I know the usual considerations. Inconsistent writing on the show's part. Nobody would want to work under Kirk if he didn't care deeply for the safety of his crew. Etc.)

Nowhere in Operation: Annihilate does anyone suggest a replacement first officer (despite idk the weirdly vivid memory that it was a conversation Spock and Kirk had in the episode? Did I write my own fanfic while watching the episode and give myself a case of the Mandela effect? I have tried rewatching it and reading transcripts, and I am getting no such scene and I am feeling truly insane, oh my brainworms have gotten worse) after Spock is made a host to the creatures. McCoy comes close in wanting Spock to stay in Sickbay rather than go out to collect a sample, and McCoy also reminds Kirk that Spock is "the best first officer in the fleet" before they put him under enough light to rival the sun and fry his optic nerves, leaving him (temporarily) blind.

(As another aside, while it is one big facepalm that these 3 geniuses in their respective fields failed to conduct their experiment properly--Nurse Chapel, you are due for a promotion!--dare I say that it is still a compelling and entertaining drama? The time-crunch scenario of if Spock can't withhold the pain and insanity anymore, of if Kirk's nephew wakes up, and of when the creatures will successfully leave the planet to infect a new one, so they will gamble and risk Spock's eyesight rather than enact a plan that would kill 1 million people.)

It's just. Interesting to me. Almost as if Kirk believes that so long as he and Spock are together, regardless of what may injure them, they can do anything.

#star trek tos #spirk #errand of mercy #the conscience of the king #the devil in the dark #operation: annihilate #incurable spirk brainworms as always #but like. compelling the way these two just do what they do #ntm the vague parallel between spock ready to kill the horta to save jim vs jim prying the creature off of spock without hesitation #these two have their own beliefs they operate by but they toss them aside the second the other one is in danger hmmm 🤔#trek meta

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earthstellar · 4 months

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A lot of mini-bots (and quite a few other bots) have what might be considered neurodivergent traits (or have been confirmed as such), and I wonder if certain frame types or classes --or Cybertronians in general-- might have physically type-specific processor structures which allow for greater diversity of thought, and if some frame types or spark types might be more or less likely to have or develop neurodivergent traits

We know the Quintessons fucked with the Well of All Sparks in the Aligned Continuity which had unknown effects, and in IDW 1 given the spark as the core of a person's individual spirit (for lack of any better phrasing), it would make sense for Cybertronian sparks to imbue individual personality etc. while the processors are physical hardware with software flexibility to permit and adapt to those unique aspects of self

For example, in the continuities where spark development influences protoform development and therefore what type of frame a bot might ultimately have, it is still simultaneously possible to alter a frame to some degree with armour changes, mass manipulation, etc. (and in most continuities, alt-modes can be altered as well, to at least some degree within the range of someone's core specs)

But the processor and spark are the two things that generally (although we have seen some exceptions to this) cannot be physically altered without incurring significant damage-- Making them some of the few constant components in a species designed to physically change

Sparks have significant individual variation in terms of the personality etc. that evolves from each unique spark, so perhaps processors have some physical elements designed to best accommodate a certain frame type, while also allowing for individual experiences and perception etc. to form unique thought pathways for each individual -- This would allow for any Quintesson or Functionism-related frame alterations or requirements, while also still enabling a spark to produce a unique person as it forms and as experiences accumulate

Sort of like genetics vs epigenetics in human beings; Some things are physical and structural, but some things are informed by environment, experience, etc.

It's interesting that we do seem to see a lot of mini-bots specifically who might fall into a neurodivergent category or exhibit behaviours or thought process that might reasonably fall under the category, but of course it's not universal so there is still greater variation

Although characterisation varies from series to series, here's a couple examples:

Cliffjumper tends to have impulse control problems that are sometimes similar to ADHD impulse control problems, and he sometimes has difficulty prioritising or hyperfixates on one aspect of a situation, leading him to reach the wrong conclusion or focusing on the slightly wrong thing; He also struggles to manage frustration. This could all be related to something similar to executive dysfunction, as it commonly manifests in humans with ADHD.

Bumblebee seems to be conflict-avoidant to some degree in most continuities, and aside from that being part of his friendly nature and kind disposition, it might also hint at something similar to rejection sensitive dysphoria, or a greater sensitivity and emotional response to perceived interpersonal conflict or perceived failure. Some versions of Bumblebee have particularly struggled when faced with high stakes/high risk of failure scenarios, and he has a tendency to internalise blame, directing it towards himself even when a failure is not necessarily his fault or even truly a failed mission. This is often comorbid with Autism and ADHD in humans, but it can also exist on its own.

It's not just mini-bots; Misfire canonically has ADHD in IDW 1, Geomotus in IDW 2 is Autistic and his neurodivergency is even highlighted by other characters, and so on.

So all of this (and how it might work) varies from continuity to continuity, but I just like thinking about how neurodivergent bots do exist, and how that happens and how it manifests and how it is perceived by others and by society at large is interesting

In IDW 2, neurodivergency seems to be viewed in a more understanding and positive light. But in IDW 1, neurodivergency may be viewed in a more ableist way under the Functionist system, and in the Aligned Continuity, perhaps neurodivergency is seen as a potential indication of Quintesson alteration of the Well or of the individual themselves (this would depend on a bot's age).

We don't have too many details on Cybertronian medicine in general, but it's interesting to think about!

It's 8 AM I'm gonna go have a tea now lol

#long post #cybertronian medicine #minibots #maccadams #maccadam #medbay posting #idw 1 #idw transformers #idw 2 #aligned continuity #tf speculation #just thinkin #transformers #tfp #quintessons #disability in fiction #disability in media #tw brief mention of ableism

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former-leftist-jew · 3 months

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i’m a little anxious to send this not on anon but i saw one of your posts where a comment mentioned jewish conversion and you seemed to support it. my boyfriend is jewish and i would like to convert to judaism but a lot of the research i’ve done says that you can’t convert, you have to be born into it since it’s an ethno-religion. i know everyone has different beliefs about this but i worry i won’t be accepted

Hello tyblackthornsheadphones, welcome!

"my boyfriend is jewish and i would like to convert to judaism"

Oooh! Mozel tov! I'm always so happy to meet new people who want to join the Jewish community! <3

"a lot of the research i’ve done says that you can’t convert, you have to be born into it since it’s an ethno-religion"

Oh dear, I'm so sorry to hear that! D: There's so much misinformation being passed around online. :( Thankfully, I'm happy to report that those sources are incorrect: It IS possible to convert to Judaism. ^_^

Like any group, though, how friendly any given Jew is to potential Jewish converts depends on the individual and/or the group they belong in. Just as there's elitism and gatekeeping in every group of people ever (like high school cliques and video game circles--"you're not a REAL gamer unless X"), unfortunately you'll also find some snobbery, elitism, and gatekeeping in Judaism. :(

Though I think Rabbi Friedman has a very loving and accepting view of Jews by conversion. ^_^

youtube

The way I see it, the differing experiences of a "Jew-by-birth vs a Jew-by-conversion" can be comparable to an American citizen who was just born on American soil vs an American immigrant who had to go through a long and rigorous bureaucratic process to become an American citizen--they have to learn everything there is to know about American history, presidents, laws, customs, the legal system; spend a "probational period" living in America to become a naturalized citizen, etc.

(The Jewish religion used to be very conversion friendly, but that came to an end when Christianity and Islam became huge world powers who outlawed the Jewish community "tempting" good Christians or Muslims away from the One True Faith.

Jewish identity also used to be passed down from father to children in ancient times--as you'll see in the Torah--but that was changed by Hillel the Elder during the tyrannical reign of King Herod--yes, THAT King Herod! Hillel did this partly to give the children of Jewish mothers who were abandoned by their non-Jewish fathers a place in Jewish society, and he did this partly as a big old political "fuck you!" to King Herod, whose father was only nominally Jewish and his mother was a foreign gentile woman.)

Chabad is an Orthodox Jewish organization.

And here's a link from a Reform Judaism POV. ^_^

In my experience, Reform Jewish synagogues and organizations tend to be more accepting of and friendly to Jewish converts. (Though it's not universal! Sadly, there are snobs everywhere. D:)

So if I were you, I would just start with checking out some books on Judaism from your local library, attend Friday night or Saturday morning Shabbat services with your boyfriend (that's usually a time when non-Jewish guests attend).

If your local college has a Hillel or Chabad Jewish student organization, I would visit that too! They usually host fun events that are free and open to to all, especially students who're just interested in connecting with other Jewish students, and learning about Jewish identity. ^_^

In the meantime, I'd just take time to study and learn about Jewish history and culture just for fun.

I think Sam Aranow's "Jewish History" Youtube series is a very entertaining way to learn about Jewish history, from ancient to modern.

youtube

Unfortunately I have to go to work now, but if you have ANY other questions, please reach out to me! I LOVE sharing knowledge and resources about Judaism, especially to potential converts who show a genuine interest and curiosity.

(Jewish culture can be, in my opinion, not as accepting and welcoming of potential Jewish converts as they should be, and I want to make up the difference. ^_^ )

#jumblr #judaism #jewblr #jewish #jewish convert #jewish conversion #welcome to judaism!#we're happy to have you ^_^#jewish history #jewish culture #jewish positivity #jewish joy #jewish tumblr #am yisrael chai

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outsidereveries · 8 months

Text

mtl: relevance in south korea - now vs in 5 years

for bts, blackpink, seventeen and twice

decided to experiment with this

NOW

bts

jungkook: it really looks like a fate, so obviously.. he seems to be the most relevant member as of now (wheel of fortune)

suga: he seems to be liked for what he’s currently doing (ace of cups)

j-hope: he is definitely admired and appreciated even in the military, there can be more events, news from there in the future (6 of pentacles, 7 of wands)

rm: there might be some sort of offer for him that’ll be very beneficial to him in the upcoming days/months, the potential is actually there; it looks like the koreans want him to collaborate with various artists (knight of cups)

jin: to me his current relevance back in south korea is quite stagnant, similar to rm, there is potential for the future but it will happen very, very later, like after his military time (4 of cups rx)

jimin: not sure what’s going on too but his individual relevance is also with stagnant vibrations to me, could be affected more or less negatively because of his solo debut that happened months ago (5 of swords rx)

v: there are definitely some sort of losses, this could be in any aspect apart from financial one: there can also be isolation, salary mistreatment and so on, so unfortunately, i am not sure if the korean armys (most of them) are ignoring v’s solo debut (5 of pentacles)

blackpink

lisa: currently the koreans think the most positive for her, they think she invested her time in the group with building her name for herself, also i see them talking about a big house, i specifically imagine a big one in 2 floors, many grass and white walls outside (king of pentacles)

rosé: they could think that she’s very, very emotional to the extent she is too emotional; however i do think that this time this is about her mistreatment from the company she’s been in - the blinks who bias her want her to have more individual activities RELATED TO SINGING or variety shows in some way (queen of cups rx)

jisoo: they’re very divided of how they perceive jisoo, and i do feel a lot of questions: there can be misrepresentation from her side as well as her showing what she truly is; i am certainly unsure if they think positively or negatively for her (2 of swords rx)

jennie: they are so disappointed in her, i only her “whore”, “hoe” inside my head, the people who watched her are in disbelief of what jennie showed in the idol and a little bit before that (after the tv series too) and they don’t seem to like her anymore (mostly; 10 of swords)

seventeen

both s.coups and wonwoo seem to have positive relevance from the korean audience! similar to bts’ suga, they seem to be very happy with what they’re doing; with wonwoo there’s difference though, if he’s lacking activities somehow, it looks like the koreans are fine with that because of what wonwoo is behind the scenes (for both of them 10 of cups, i received others for wonwoo however i cannot share anything)

both hoshi and the8 are also having positive relevance from the korean audience towards them: i can say it’s similar as s.coups and wonwoo; with hoshi there’s the difference that it can be quite stagnant at times so if he’s one of the most active members, don’t wonder why, he has to do it in order to be relevant for longer time (2 of cups; for hoshi i received also 5 of pentacles rx)

dk is doing great, however similar as blackpink’s jisoo, the koreans are also wondering if that’s really him. these questions really shake dk’s relevance and it can be .. mixed. (10 of cups, ace of pentacles, 2 of swords rx)

woozi has the potential to do great if he tries a bit more. he has already fans, woozi has to just keep himself busy and do some activities alone. (the sun, 4 of pentacles rx)

vernon might be more talked in any philanthropy-related actions from his side in unspecified to me timeframe, he seems to want to do it for quite some time. (page of pentacles, the devil rx, queen of wands)

dino wants to do something individual and it looks like he’s working on it: it can be song? the potential for it to be relased soon can be possible, but it can be uncertain; i think that the koreans are waiting for something individual from him such a song or something else, so that’s possibly why i started with what dino wants to do? (2 of pentacles, page of wands, the empress)

joshua seems to be very brave for the current events surrounding him. the koreans are focused on his current scandal because he can change somehow how idols will date .. (knight of swords)

seungkwan has the potential to change his current relevance with something that he might’ve done or will do in the future. it seems to happen in longer time, possibly months. as of now, his relevance is stagnant. (10 of swords rx)

mingyu’s relevance is similar as bts’ jimin: quite stagnant but possibly worse than before. i am not sure why though, i just don’t have knowledge so.. sorry (5 of swords rx)

both jeonghan and jun’s relevances are the worst out of the group in my cards’ opinion and i do see thoughts that can be similar as jennie’s (blackpink) - i am not sure how both of them are treated individually so it can be mistreatment as well as the koreans not wanting to see whatever both of them are doing now. the koreans can be really disappointed from both of the boys and they might be fans of other people now. they can hate them and want one or both of them to leave the group, or want them to change their individual activities. (2 of cups rx)

twice

jihyo is definitely opening new doors for her individual career, the koreans would love to check her in the future such as solo activities, songs and so on; i personally think that this is what koreans have expected for jihyo to do (the fool)

dahyun has established herself enough and the koreans would love her to do whatever she was doing until now even more (ace of swords)

nayeon has also established herself but with some hardships towards her, although she is booked, koreans want her more and more; i keep hearing “where’s nayeon for real” and “we want nayeon” (ace of pentacles, 7 of pentacles, 7 of wands)

mina is also somehow relevant back in south korea however they are hoping for her to have (if she has, then more) individual activities in south korea, they’re currently dreaming for that, possibly manifesting too (page of cups)

sana’s popularity is very stagnant, the koreans want her, the energy is similar as nayeon when they’re saying “we want to see sana”, “where is she”, “jype, can you make her be in .. somewhere here?”. the koreans think that they don’t do anything for sana in south korea, they want her too (7 of pentacles rx)

tzuyu’s relevance is stagnant overall but has the potential to rise a bit more, koreans are willing to see more of her and would like to give her second chance (permission: 8 of pentacles; 8 of swords rx, the high priestess, 5 of cups rx)

jeongyeon’s career is quite stagnant but they want to move on, i doubt the koreans will change their mind about her and don’t want to see her alone, individually even (temperance, clarifying card: 6 of swords)

momo’s relevance is quite stagnant to my cards, and personally i’m not sure if that will change with the time, they might expect her to do something reckless and they could be afraid that whatever she can do will affect twice (9 of swords rx)

chaeyoung’s relevance is similar to blackpink’s jisoo - they seem to be divided with their overall opinion however i feel that the koreans didn’t liked her anyways, they might doubt what the fuck is she still with the group (2 of swords rx)

IN FIVE YEARS

bts

jin will start his new beginning in 5 years: this can be related to change in his career such as him being more active in variety shows or acting - this will make his relevance rise very, very high, especially in the Internet (the fool)

both rm and jungkook will build their names enough to be as relevant as ever and they will stabilise their names just fine; however if they decide to have a family by that time, the koreans will want more activities from them (ace of swords)

suga will decide to change his path too, specifically in making beats or producing songs: this will make him to earn just enough and i feel him saying “this was worth it” - the koreans will like his path and will like his creations anyways (queen of swords, ace of swords, 8 of pentacles, page of pentacles)

jimin’s popularity will be just fine, but can involve some lawsuits here and there. nonetheless of his relevance in that time, he will be personally satisfied, so i can see him popular just enough. unfortunately, i am not sure if he will be masisvely popular or sort of relevant but up to there (justice)

v’s popularity will also be just fine, he seems to have built his name quite okay, however i see his relevance being stagnant and not gaining at least some fans. he could try to create or start something by that time or his korean audience might want from v to do something new (the magician, 10 of swords rx)

unfortunately, j-hope seems to give up whatever he’s established in five years or will take some sort of hiatus, therefore, hoseok won’t be mentioned (almost). alternatively, he might be very busy and packed with activities and the koreans will want him to take rest but honestly, i personally doubt that it’s this. (4 of swords)

blackpink

jisoo will have bigger relevance than now at least in south korea. the koreans will like her more. (10 of cups)

lisa will also be appreciated a lot in south korea, they will say how professional she is, these things, she’ll be appreciated for her hard work + i’m hearing again investment for some reason (king of cups)

jennie will do better in 5 years in south korea. her it girl impact won’t change, it’s stable. (3 of pentacles)

rosé: uncertain (the sun rx)

seventeen

seungkwan will literally shine like a star in 5 years, koreans will talk about him the most out of 17 (6 of wands)

both jeonghan and hoshi will do very well too, it looks like south korea is their home place for their individual career, they will also thrive there and the koreans will be satisfied (4 of wands)

woozi will also be very happy and in his niche; similar as seungkwan, jeonghan and hoshi will thrive in south korea and the koreans will be happy (ace of cups, 10 of cups)

jun will be also doing well, the koreans will want him to do more opportunities even though he will do enough, so he’ll also be packed with work (ace of pentacles)

dk will also do well in my cards’ opinion, however he has to be cautious of what he’s doing. it looks like dk will be more prone to scandals. the koreans won’t doubt him but the authorities might do. (the moon + with permission: cannot remember the card sorry but it was upright positive minor arcana for sure; the chariot)

the8 can be as relevant as the half of the group but with less activities or so. he will have enough individual fans just to communicate with them but it looks like they will just wait; i am not sure if he will do something outside of seventeen as of now (page of cups)

s.coups, joshua, wonwoo and vernon will have stagnant career; unfortunately it looks like they can drift away from the k-pop idol life; wonwoo might do the best out of them as the koreans might mention about it here and there (s.coups: 4 of cups rx; joshua: 5 of pentacles rx; wonwoo; 3 of swords rx+strength+4 of cups rx; vernon: 10 of swords rx)

dino might be caught into a scandal in 5 years, therefore the koreans might doubt him (2 of swords rx)

mingyu will do the worst out of everyone if he tries to have individual career back in south korea, he might drift away from the idol life and try to do something else (9 of wands rx)

twice

tzuyu will blossom in my cards’ opinion. she will start with her individual activities around that time, the opinions will be very positive (page of pentacles)

jihyo will do very well, she will really shine and will be responsible for many things; she might have creative freedom somehow so i won’t be suprised if she leaves jype; the opinions will be positive, she’ll be the star for the koreans (10 of wands, 6 of wands)

sana will do well, however like dk, she has to be cautious of future scandals. the koreans will love her nonetheless but still.. (the chariot)

nayeon will also do well however she has to be cautious of scandals in the future too, she seems to have hidden traits and it’s more prominent with nayeon than sana because it looks like whatever she hides is true; i doubt the moon is about her intuition this time (4 of wands, the moon + with permission: 10 of swords rx, queen of cups)

chaeyoung’s relevance will be stagnant as i can see possibility of her career path being changed (temperance, clarifying card: 9 of swords rx)

dahyun will be less relevant than now as there’re people who envy her and want to sabotage her (3 of cups rx)

mina will be restricted to do anything in the idol sphere at least in south korea and might even try to change career paths because of it (6 of swords rx, 2 of wands rx)

jeongyeon isn’t even wanted in the korean spotlight in 5 years, i hear “go do something else like work in a office shoo” (2 of swords)

momo: uncertain (the moon + with permission: 10 of cups)

i hope you enjoyed, it was kind of fun to see where it could bring

done on 13th september 23’

#outsidereveries #mtlxor #tarot reading #tarot #kpop tarot #kpop tarot reading #tarot kpop #kpop #kpop reading #bts #blackpink #seventeen #twice

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myobsessionsspace · 1 month

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This whole goddamn taekook vs jikook 💿🐎 is so exhausting. Honestly.

Was I a bit saddened when Jeongguk didn't mention Jimin? Yeah. But for the wrong reasons because my brain was hard wired into thinking "taekookers are gonna run a mile with it".

It's fucked up. But more importantly, it's not Jeongguk's fault - it's purely a me/army problem.

The fact that everyone in army has some kind of version of the members that's mostly fabricated, isn't something they can control.

They are most likely aware of all the hate they get online, especially if it gets really bad. That it gets really bad for Jimin a whole lot, from within army even, can't be unknown to them. But it's not on Jeongguk to change himself on the off-chance it's gonna reduce hate. Most likely that wouldn't work either. Tkkers, akgaes and Solos will hate on BTS every chance they get.

BTS are whole people, individuals that think differently and experience things differently. To reduce them down to their interactions with others is insanely harmful, but it has been normalised. From what I've seen, a lot of shippers (both taekookers and jikookers) reduce the maknae line to what they do and with whom. I did it too, when I immediately thought sadly about the letter when it's the first proper sign of life we've gotten from our golden maknae in ages.

So, as much as I'm f.e. looking forward to the travel show, I'd also advise shippers in particular to watch actual uncut ot7 content. ITS, BV, concerts and behind the scenes - there's a decade worth of videos. Yes, everyone believes in hybe having a narrative to push, so I don't expect people to actually do this honestly, but it might decode some of the army-internal brainwashing.

Hi lovely,

First of allllll

I’m here for what you are throwing down!

It’s not a THEM (the members) problem it’s an US problem.

How does it make sense that ‘fans’ be it solos, shippers, whatever, get mad when people we’ve never met talk about a member who they’ve ate, slept, breathed, played and worked with for 10+ years? How does it make sense to be angry over them interacting, touching, mentioning each other because of what the shippers will say? You damn right it’s exhausting😪.

⬆️An example 😓 They literally had phones in their faces from all sides and so many think pieces about their interactions VS ⬇️

I can’t point the finger without three pointing back at me, cos like you said I too have had moments when I’m like ‘those mf’s are gonna have a field day with this…’ as my first thought?! What’s wrong with me??? I get it when real OT7 say shippers & solos (when talking about those that actually are and not the ones they like to label to dismiss valid thoughts) ruin everything, cos as soon as content and good news drops there’s always gotta be some bullshit alongside it, from any subsection 😪

They HAVE to be aware but kudos to them, they keep it moving, they’re so strong to have millions of strangers on multiple platforms speaking on them like they know them, but still have so much love in their hearts to continue engaging because they know the some isn’t the all.

With every drama and battle online it actually deepens my love and awe of these regular guys, with talent hard worked for, still trying hard to show their goodness to their supporters, not throwing in the towel for their peace. They’re everything 😍

I’m glad people like you are making it your mission to not reduce them to their duos, ships and solo fandoms, but still supporting them as TALENTED INDIVIDUALS. I’m trying too💪. I want to be conscious in appreciating them for them, their talents, their individuality AND their bonds, ALL OF THEIR BONDS.

Obviously I bias some bonds more than others, it’s human nature🙈

We definitely need to keep pushing about original content, we need to keep pushing about original sources not just clips and cuts and edits, we definitely need to keep pushing about doing our googles!

We need to not close our eyes to the other interactions, it’s not scary! It helps us appreciate Jikook’s bond more and appreciate them as members, friends & brothers of the others.

Because no matter what people believe those 7 MEN love each other down.

It helps us be able to filter the bullshit when we do come across misinformation and defamation of character. It helps our confidence in knowing we’re stanning and supporting the right ones.

I’m super geeked for the show coming from Jikook too…whenever it comes 😩 Heck we’re starved, so I’ll start small, I’m desperate for a ‘keep warm, don’t catch a cold’ message from Jiminie even though he’s doing his best in keeping in contact, why are we so thirsty 😅

Thank you for writing in and speaking my heart! 😉

💜

#Jimin #Jungkook #BTS #Jikook #Kookmin #Minkook #Anonymous Asks

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