#and the worst part is they don't even know to CHECK THE VALIDITY OF WHAT THESE PEOPLE ARE SAYING. they don't have info literacy | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

suffersinfandom · 6 months

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I feel for the Izzy fans, I really do. It sucks to have your favorite character killed off, especially when you feel like their death serves no narrative purpose. It genuinely hurts to lose a character that you identify closely with, and it's okay to be sad and grieve. The character might not be real, but the grief is. Let people mourn. Don't be rude to the ones who are just being sad in their little corners of the internet, yeah?

That said.

Some of the stuff I've seen in the OFMD fandom today? Worst shit I've seen in a fandom that I love and care about, and grief is no excuse. I know I'm a no one in this fandom and I'm mostly typing into a void, but I've got to get some things out:

The show doesn't deserve to be canceled. None of the creators, producers, or writers deserve to be canceled. Nothing queerphobic, homophobic, or ableist happened.

Izzy's death was not an insult or a cruelty or a targeted attack.

David Jenkins and the rest of the writers did not gaslight and abuse anyone (yeah, those are take I've seen).

It wasn't "objectively" a cheap or meaningless or badly-written death. You can hate it and that's okay, but that's still subjective!

Izzy was not the main character or the "heart" of the show. The heart of the show -- the show itself -- is Ed and Stede's relationship. We have been told as much.

"Ed hasn't faced any consequences for his actions." He has though? He didn't gaslight girlboss his way back into everyone's hearts. Izzy is not Ed's hapless and helpless victim. He was almost beaten to death and ran around in a penitence onesie with a catbell on; I think those were consequences.

"How do you feel when gay characters are randomly killed off to help a straight couple progress their narrative? Not good, huh? That's how disabled fans feel." It's okay to feel that way, but don't make any sweeping assumptions about disabled fans. I'm disabled and I'm gonna say that's not what happened here.

"How dare you kill off this character who's abused, flawed, suicidal, disabled, and queer!" Ed is still right over there, yeah? Check, check, check, check, and check. (Little note: I've seen a lot of "he's not disabled!" Even if you don't buy the kneebrace ((Ed Teach with bad joints is so important to me, shhh)), what about invisible disabilities? What about mental health issues? I'm not here to diagnose a fictional character, but it's clear to me that Ed has mental health problems that dramatically impact his life.)

"It's sick that Izzy died in the arms of his abuser apologizing to him." I don't even know where to start with this one, but I get the feeling that some parts of the fandom only consider physical abuse valid. Mental, verbal, and emotional abuse are pretty fucking damaging and I think it's sick that some folks think they aren't actually abuse.

People who enjoyed the last episode of season two aren't media illiterate. People who love Gentlebeard aren't abusive narcissists.

I just.

I really, truly feel for Izzy fans for I too have lost a blorbo. I'm giving a huge hug to the Izzy enjoyers who aren't out there making threats and calling everyone abusers and being outright hostile to anyone who had the nerve to enjoy this season. Like, I genuinely hope you guys are doing okay, and if you need an ear, I'm game.

#ofmd #ofmd s2 spoilers #cw: abuse #tw: abuse #i'm just frustrated and sad #fandom critical #day two: still bad #but i've seen some very cool izzy fans out there talking down their friends #as well as some kind and patient words from neutral parties #this fandom is still mostly good and kind #day three: i think we're doing better!#day four: backsliding :(#me typing things

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profounddefendorcrusade-blog · 29 days

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I feel bad for Starlo. (pt. 3)

Starlo's friend, his BEST FRIEND, the woman who he's been in love with long ago (maybe he still is, we don't know because he's so nice as not to act on his feelings or even show them), the person who was supposed to be there for him, be understanding even tho she doesn't share the same passion, be considerate of the feelings Starlo's always been dealing with (hating being born a farmer, hating himself, hating feeling worthless and unappreciated)... Now, don't get me wrong, there were instances where she did try to understand his obsession and pretend she was into it, but it kinda just... fell flat. Even Ceroba herself admits:

Then there were moments like this:

Yeah, Ceroba's not trying too hard to "roll with his punches" here. It feels like she's constantly trying to figure out whether to be accepting of Star because he's so passionate, or annoyed because they're not on the same wavelength.

Then we get these:

Well, based on all this, you'd think she'd be understanding of him later on, at least on an emotional level (aka understand as to WHY he's been more 'selfish' and 'reckless' ever since Clover arrived,) but...

What now??

You mean how, instead of being miserble like when he was just a farmer who couldn't do much for his community, he now pretends not to be miserable by entertaining you all? Right??? Or do you mean he's changed in a DAY because of Clover?

But what?

huh

So you want to see the farmer who feels worthless, just being the Nice Guy™ he always has been (I decided to check out TV tropes for Star, and found out how he's basically been the "Nice Guy" archetype before Clover came. So I repeat: what's the issue with him stepping out of that for a day? I explained already how the guy's NOT to fully blame here and I really mean it. Yeah he has flaws, yeah Clover's presence brought out the "worst" in him, but we mustn't forget who he's been before that and that his true motivation has always been lifting up everyone's spirits).

The guy made all the sacrifices he could (not only worked hard to make the entire Wild East thing come to fruition, but basically became a rebel, when you remember humans are hated by monsters, and he's basically openly idolizing them) for his loved ones and even strangers. It's always been him relying on outer validation and doing stuff for others in order to feel important. But he never felt truly understood. By training Clover, he actually got to spent time with a human kid who's so much like him and shares not only the same love for westerns but the same "justice" quality. Sure, Ceroba had tried to understand, but ultimately failed and Star himself had to explain to her why he'd been acting the way he did, after Showdown.

You don't want him to have pride in himself and feel cool for a single day, Ceroba? She mentions how he's never been as ecstatic as he was that day. So in other words, Star's always been a wild card when it came to the sheriff business but not THIS wild. Which I'm sure means how other monsters have always been his main focus, and not him acting all arrogant (ties in well with that "Nice Guy" archetype). Even the training didn't feel too crazy to me, tbh. He only locked Martlet up because of the potential of his town being shut down. It's a town that he's been working on for so long, the town that makes him feel like he's more than just a nobody. Plus, he says how locking Martlet up was only a temporary solution:

I feel like I've said this a million times before, but Starlo's not a bad guy or a jerk, he just wants to be appreciated and loved and understood. Yet even his closest friends couldn't put themselves in his shoes and think: Why? What's the true motivation of Star idolizing Clover? Of him apparently acting "out of hand"?

I'll post the last part of this huuuuge rant sometime soon

#btw some part of me thinks how clover is given the chance to lie to ceroba that they're not into the training #based on their little western themed costume #plus we know this kid is a jokester #uty #undertale yellow #uty starlo #starlo uty #uty clover #uty ceroba

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bambisnc · 3 months

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the leaving someone at the airport trope is so so crazy to me because what do you mean we know we love each other so, so dearly that it actually feels like how a thread would when it's stretched too far apart. what do you mean we have to say goodbye because we both know it's better for you to leave. we know you'll get better opportunities there, we know your reason to leave is totally valid and this is not a fucking movie with the trope that “oh love <3 love is all i need i'll leave everything to be with you <3” and even if that is, in fact, what they feel they should do you won't let them because you want what's best for them, even if it completely destroys you - one painfully beautiful memory at a time.

and oh my god the actual moment when they have to leave. you're there at the airport, they say goodbye to all their friends, family, whoever there is with them but you just can't bring yourself to say it. obviously it goes unspoken that you both want the other to wait for you but how could either of you say that? how could either of you ask the one you love to suffer, to be in pain, to be without that one constant in their life and not seek other companionship? so in the end you just end up not saying anything. there's too many people, there's not enough words, you can't express all the feelings you have unless they physically become one with your skin and even then you doubt it'll be enough, how could it ever be enough? but of course you can't let this show for fear that the other who seems to be oh so calm and cool about this would start to question their decision.

the worst feeling though, is when the doubts start to creep in. what if.. the reason they seem so unaffected is because you simply just don't mean that much to them? you know it's logical to leave, hell you more or less forced them to make that decision but it stings so, so much to think that they may have, subconsciously or not wanted to get.. away from you?

but hey what can you even do now the plane's already left; they're gone. maybe forever. they’ll never be yours again but what if they weren’t ever yours to begin with? maybe they'll move on, maybe you'll move on, maybe you'll both be reduced to nothing but a nostalgic memory, to old playlists, to borrowed clothes, to photos in that special folder named after the other; none of which you can bear to part with. the dazed, out of sorts state you're thrust into exists like an omnipresent cloud but you can't, no you must not let it affect your daily life.

so you go about everything just as usual even if for no other reason than to satisfy that little spirit of spite and yeah you hear about them every now and then; it's not like everyone around you has a lingering grudge (or a crush? to be fair, in a way they are both rather fitting, aren't they?) against them, you can't help but wonder if they hear about you, think about you as well? if they feel all the feelings that torment you every second of every day till you're not even sure what exactly it is that you're feeling anymore and if all of what you're feeling is still for them or is it somehow, for some reason targeted towards yourself? for falling for them in the first place

wc : 614 dang 2 away from 616 /pensive notes : man. last ep of friends s1 really got me in my feels huh. anyw trying out a new font?? (made some more edits bc the font was not working out + grammar rarely ever grammars like how it's supposed to grammar) (edit #69420 WHY DOES THE FONT KEEP UN-SMOLIFYING??) also -> rb's + feedback appreciated!! ^_^

[check out my masterlist for more <3]

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am-i-the-asshole-official · 7 months

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WIBTA if I stopped going to Family Suppers every weekend?

So in my family it's just four: My Father (76M) and Aunt (72F) live together in the same house, divided in two. My Brother (38M) and me (34F) live on our own in separate houses. We are expected to go have supper with FA(FatherAunt Combo) every weekend and holidays.

This is basically a four hour event every S and S which occupies half the day and my Brother and I both work all week long and have only weekends to rest. My B is a teacher (in school and afterclasses) and I am a Customer Care Specialist, which means we both have to constantly deal with people and we are wrung out one by rambunctious children and unhappy costumers that behave like them respectively.

FA are very needy, wanting constant validation, and are the sort that complain if, for example, I do not call them everyday to check on them, expressing how "callous" and "ungrateful" I am for not "getting interested in them". But I honestly deal with clients all week and I'm all talked out, so to say. Sometimes when I finish I just want to not talk again in the whole day and lie down and not feel like another cog in the machine. I am still expected to fix everything wrong with them or their houses when I finish though, which is what exhausts me.

It might seem easy to say don't give in, but thing is, they have done so much for me and my B. My A helped me rebuild my house and F helped my brother fix his: they're always there when we need them and I love them to bits. They worry and love us and if we're in trouble they're the first to be there. My father helped me with my tumors and the expenses and my Aunt helped me get out of awful situations.

Thing is, this is reciprocal as much as it can be: B and I have always been ready to help where we can, but we don't have the same resources they do (both boomers who basically were hired before they even finished university whilst B and I had to fight years of unemployment and minimum wage and their relentless mockery of it) so what we can do is limited. We still do our best. To an almost unhealthy point. When things break, I fix them - even if I have an art degree and what broke is the washing machine or my fathers boat (my father has a sailing boat and I can barely reach the end of the month with 50uds in my bank account jfc). I cannot buy them a house, but I do my best to repay them for everything as I am.

But this expecting me to come every weekend and be in my Best Mood, never complain or rant and basically entertain them, prepare the table and food and clean the dishes and fix the Tv that broke and the phone that is not working is sucking me dry. My B stopped going at some point, because he finishes work at 21:30 and weekends are his only days off and he said he's exhausted and cannot deal with these expectations, but now I take the brunt of the FA complaining on how awful he is, the asshole he has become, how ungrateful, for not being constantly at their whim and call. And a part of me knows they are toxic, but this is also the people who brought me up, helped me at my worst and the only people who really stood by my side when I needed someone, so maybe it really is asshole behavior to not repay them in some way.

I have tried talking to them about it, explaining that sometimes my body will not work right and my brain shuts down and I need to unplug, but they do not understand and get offended at the simple notion that being with them to us is not as simple as just enjoying their company. Because truth is, to me it is almost an extension of my job: It is CC voice and face and mood, always jovial because I get shit or "have you tried not being sad/tired/angry" and fixing the toilet flush. Do not raise your voice, clean their house (return to clean yours) and maybe get back home at 4 to rest a bit. This every weekend. And I owe it to them for having taking care of me for years when I was at my worst. I already managed to avoid going to make their grocery shopping too, but they're also a certain age and they need the help. Jesus why is this so hard, they're not even my kids and they should be able to take care of themselves and I feel like a mother but they do need the help.

So the question is, WIBTA if I just... did not go? Follow my brother's example, even if I know how they will take it, and just reduce the number of times I go to them? Or would I actually prove myself to be the asshole they consider him to be?

Ah also I am expected to go visit my F after work too, or call him or else I am the unfilial daughter who does not remember she has a father, haha. Man, just writing this makes me exhausted and feeling like a dick because they're old and need the help.

What are these acronyms?

#aita #am i the asshole

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crookedkryptonitebeliever · 2 months

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Best and worst of both worlds (part 43)

Tw: graphic body brutalization, mutilation, mentions of blood and urine

Vote down below guys will only consider first 21 votes

Part 44

You had your forehead in your hands as you read the assignment requirements. You couldn't understand a thing and that stressed the life out of you. You turn your head to the side when Yves sets a bowl of crunchy, seedless grapes. They're all cleanly peeled.

Yves stood by you, resting a hand on your shoulder. His thumb is massaging small circles on your flesh, which does calm you down considerably.

You began stuffing your mouth with the grapes out of stress.

Yves lingered for a while as you reread the paragraph the fifth time, trying to make sense of it all.

"Would you like my help, dear?" He asked. You nodded furiously, you needed all the help you could possibly glean.

Yves smiled. He lets you go so he can retrieve a spare chair nearby. He sat next to you and adjusted his reading glasses, as if he predicted you needed his aid.

A hand of his was occupied with smoothing your hair as he explained your assignment in words that you understand. He was soft-spoken, patient and sympathetic, unlike your previous teachers who only knew how to yell and brag about themselves.

From what you understood from your boyfriend, you had to write a 2000-word essay, including some statistics and other maths-y things. Luckily for you, that is up his alley.

He laid it out in simple terms on what you have to do, as it turns out, it was very easy.

You thanked him and went straight to work, opening up a document to type in the cover page and other necessary details.

"(Name), it's late. It would be wiser to start tomorrow." Yves reminded.

You checked the time. It's ten in the evening.

You told Yves that you pulled all-nighters before, this should be nothing since you know what to do.

Yves shook his head at you disapprovingly, his emerald eyes never leaving your tired ones.

You ignored him and tried to proceed with your work. Your boyfriend watched you in silence with his cheek propped up on the back of his hand. You didn't notice how his focus switched between your face and the clock on your laptop.

In the end, you caved in and said that he was right. You couldn't concentrate on the task at hand, all you wanted to do now is either to sleep or scroll through the web.

Yves rose from his seat to help you to your wheelchair, so you could get ready for bed.

You asked Yves to sleep with you. Which he gladly complied, so now you're tucked into bed with him being the big spoon. You're tired, but you can't fall asleep; thinking about how your life now is completely different from what it was a month ago. Now you're cuddling with a crazily wealthy man who is the definition of the perfect lover, it seems too good to be true.

Should you tell anyone about what's happening? Your friends back home haven't received an update from you in ages, but you didn't want to come off as braggy. You don't even want to think about how your parents would react.

Why is Yves so nice to you? What could you possibly bring to the table? You're scared that Yves is going to leave you high and dry once he has his fun with you.

"(Name). You're catastrophizing again."

You whipped your head to face Yves in the warm, dim light. How did he know that?

His eyes are closed. "You were clenching your jaw and tensing your neck."

You were about to ask how could he see that, but then you realized he was resting his lips on the top of your head. He probably felt the slight shift in muscles there.

"Close your eyes." He murmured. You did as you were told.

"Breathe." You let out a breath that you didn't know that you were holding. Your body relaxed as your breathing normalized.

The room is quiet once again. It didn't take long until those valid questions and worries returned once more as there was nothing to distract you from them. You were conscious about those small twitches and contractions, not wanting to wake Yves anymore.

You thought about how Yves is now feeding you and housing you from his own pocket. The guilt was there, he didn't have to do that. But then again, he is rich. Filthy rich. So taking care of you this way is as cheap as buying you a candy bar once in a while. However, he isn't hiring anyone to cook your meals, clean you up or even to be your doctor. It was all his doing.

Does he see you as some sort of a project? A... lab rat?

Your train of thought was interrupted by Yves's melodious voice singing softly behind you. The song isn't in English, that's for sure. It was heaven to your ears though and drowned out all the other thoughts that were keeping you up. Allowing you to gradually slip into slumber.

You were so focused on his singing that you didn't notice the beeping of his pager on the other side of the room.

Once he confirms that you're asleep, he ends his song and gives you a kiss on the temple. His shoulders visibly heaved up and down as he sighed in exasperation. Yves would rather accompany you for the rest of the night, but him receiving a page means it's severely urgent.

He hates the biting cold whenever Yves is forced to part from you. No matter how slowly he tries to tear away from your body heat.

There was a horrid scowl on his face as he marched up to the device. He swiped it off the desk and swiftly left your room, soundlessly closing the door behind him.

Yves booted up his system in the office, connected to a nearly incomprehensible online chat server. At least, it's incomprehensible to the average person, it's as legible as modern day texting applications to Yves and his associates. The only reason it's this way, is because this is the safest mode of communication through the interweb without getting caught by the authorities.

Yves did wish that they chose a less atrocious font and colour when building this programme, though.

Yves had a straight face when a low-res picture of Evangeline with her genitals and chest mutilated popped up on his screen. She appeared to be unconscious, covered in blood, urine and other bodily fluids. Her prison uniform was tattered and chunks of her healthy, golden hair were torn out of her scalp.

Her leg was bent at an awkward angle and something was stuffed into her mouth, it appears like her jaw was dislocated too.

The photo had the shadow of the photographer cast over her body, the wet tiles beneath her allowed Yves to deduce that she was brutalized in the showers.

He ran a few checks over the image, making sure it was genuine and not doctored. Once he deems it to be a true copy, he deleted it off his computer and turned his computer off.

Yves pulled a drawer from his Mahogany desk to retrieve a pair of latex gloves. He puts them on before walking away from his seat.

It's like a routine to him at this point. He isn't really using his conscious brain, he was running purely on muscle memory. The security measures that he has to bypass, the passcodes and locks, he's doing it while he isn't present mentally.

Once he reached his first destination, he had to walk for a further five minutes, past the shelves housing binders upon binders of research regarding your habits, health reports relationships, likes and dislikes.

He crouched down to twist the knob on a medium sized safe. Yves opened it to reveal stacks upon stacks of cash, none of which are counterfeit. They're real, yet have an uneasy miasma around it. They're not earned through honest and kind means, the notes held an air of depravity to them. But Yves is immune to such degeneracy, he nonchalantly took a couple banded piles and slipped it into the unmarked envelope.

Once he has handled his business, Yves puts everything back into place and goes back up to his office, not desiring to waste another second without you in his arms.

There is a schedule that you have to follow. Wake up at eight in the morning, freshen up, eat breakfast at 8:20am, Lunch at 12:30pm, afternoon tea at 3pm, dinner at 6:30pm, a bowl of fruit at 7:30pm and finally, lights out at 11pm. While it may seem like you're eating less than what you would when you binged on junk, you felt full and satisfied.

While there will always be fruit an hour after dinner, there may or may not be any during the day. The only pattern you could discern from his behavior is that whenever you're visibly stressed, you will receive some of nature's healthy desserts.

Whatever Yves is doing, it's doing wonders to your mental health. You're way more productive than ever, finishing your assignments on time without feeling the world was crashing down on you. Catching up with the lectures were a piece of cake with Yves's explanation and reward methods.

He has made exercise fun. Something that you didn't think was possible, but he would give you low intensity exercises in his home gym to do. It wasn't agonizing or horrible despite your cast. Yves would join you, praising you for completing another successful session.

You felt great about yourself, you didn't give a damn that you haven't stepped foot outside for another half a month now... nor did he ever teach you how to use your crutches. Speaking of which, where are your crutches?

It was as if you were solely relying on Yves to wheel you around. You don't think you have ever tried moving on your own aside from his daily exercise programme. He always comes in at the exact time where you wanted to go somewhere, be it either the bathroom or otherwise.

You submitted your last assignment and realized: oh god. You haven't stepped foot in your university once for more than a month in total.

Oh god. You were so dependent on Yves that he saw you completely naked; he was the one who would wipe you down from head to toe every day. You couldn't take showers due to your cast. Yet, you have no idea what lies beneath that turtleneck.

Oh god. You were supposed to ask him for advice regarding your next home.

Oh god.

What the fuck have you been doing? What in the hell is going on?

You stared at your healing leg. How were you so comfortable in him cleaning you up like that? You remembered not feeling embarrassed at all, it felt so natural for him to just... take care of you like that. He felt like a close family member that saw every aspect of your life. This is someone who you only knew for around three months.

Isn't he supposed to be in the library? How is he staying at home 24/7 now? You have never once seen him go out to do his errands, not even for a grocery run.

Something doesn't feel right. With a cast on one leg while the other is perfectly fine, you shouldn't be on a wheelchair at all times. Where are your crutches?

You looked around, now your goal is to look for them. But... where? You don't remember coming here with them.

Just when you're about to stand up from your office chair that feels a bit too warm now, a knock on the door could be heard before Yves comes in. He looked a bit distraught and his sleeves are unusually rolled back to reveal his scarred forearms.

You stared at him as he sauntered over with a portable fan in his hand. He set it next to you, allowing the air to cool you down.

You were enjoying the wind, ignoring that Yves was holding a folded stepladder in his arm. He walked up to the air conditioning duct, setting his ladder beneath it and began climbing it effortlessly despite wearing heels.

He spent the next minute working to remove the filter media from the air grille. Yves appeared annoyed when he saw that it was free of debris, hair or dust. Of course it is clean, he washed it right before you got discharged from the hospital.

You asked him what was going on as he placed everything back to its original spot.

"There must be a leak somewhere in the ductwork... or it could be the dampers." He sighs, rubbing his forehead. Yves began to step down from his ladder. "Whatever it may be, I have to call in the professionals."

He was fast, you didn't realize that he scooped you up in his arms until you felt your feet dangling. Yves took large strides out of your room and into the living room, where it was much colder and pleasant to be in.

Yves sets you down on the sofas.

"You will have to remain here until the air conditioning in your room is fixed."

You asked how long it would take.

"It will be corrected by tonight. However, there will be contractors entering and leaving through the main door." You craned your neck to try and imagine the scenery. You think that it would be quite chaotic with no privacy.

You could ask to go upstairs, where you could hide in Yves's room. You know that there's a bathroom there too, so you wouldn't need to face the strangers downstairs.

However, it means you would need to rely on Yves a lot more for mobility. You're already unsure how you feel about being hyper dependent on your boyfriend who probably has better things to do.

It's just for a day anyway. Not like any of them would bother you with Yves around.

You took a second to think about what to say next.

#yandere #yandere x reader #yandere oc #yandere male #oc yves #yandere concept #tw yandere #yandere x you #yandere oc x reader #male yandere oc x reader #oc Evangeline

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dieselpvnk · 3 months

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Why don’t you like your least favorite campaign in rw?

Spearmaster is just. I dont like it so bad. Most of this is btw not objective critisism but just stuff I personally don't like for reasons varying from pretty valid to plain stupid.

there' just way too many moments that I find frustrating and not fun. Sure, you could say skill issue and that I should just get better at the game, but

I did this with chaos + enemy randomizer, I make myself suffer in this game for fun and Spearmaster just hits different. (also yes I'm just taking a chance to bring up this screenshot again because I kinda slayed)

random, but this is the only time I get to mention I was so excited at the start of the campaign, just to get upset upon realizing cool new starting region is just Outskirts, the first few rooms made me hope for a mix of Shaded, Drianage and Superstructure kinda region. I guess seeing what's behind the Surv/Monk starting pipe is cool, but I hoped for something different. Also sad you can't go back there.

The mechanic is nice ig, I like killing things, holding two spears is cool ig, but tbh, a pebbles and a spear is even more effective in most situations. The way Spearmaster gets food is pretty cool and very unique, but I do miss munching on corpses. Not having a stomach slot isn't a big deal, until you remember Spearmaster has a bunch of unique lore pearls bc nobody else has access to pre-collapse Moon. Imo it's much much worse than the story pearl.

Speaking of, the story pearl. It's whatever, don't care, prior to Spearmaster I played Hunter bringing both the pearl and the neuron to Moon and it was much more difficult, as Spearmaster I just used a passage. What IS a problem tho, is having to go between iterators back and forth. I wanted to know what Pebbles was talking about, so I went to Moon first, then I had to go to Pebbles to get top surgery, then I had to go back to Moon again to give her the pearl, and then I had to go to Sky Islands, which is also going past Pebbles through the Precipice.

The spawns are brutal, which is not an issue itself, I liked Artificer's camapaign a lot. The issue id that it feels "bullshit" brutal instesd of "challenging" brutal.

The regions are also not something I enjoy. Past Garbage Wastes? Better as Artificer with brief acid immunity and awesome mobility [and high threat level to compensate]. The only really good part is build-a-ladder room. Waterfront facility? It's whatever, and again better as Artificer because I can make shortcuts myself, as a little treat. any wall is scaleable and gap is crossable [unverified information], the Precipice is bad. Tight jumps, no shelters, missing a jump.is very punishing and a lot of threats on top of that. Yes I know you can bring a grappleworm, but I hate them so I'm not doing that. Moon's Underhang? Struts, I believe. Also very fucking bad, just. she has an awful infestation she should get it checked out. The only and only thing that made me get get that awya from me mod and remove spiders. Also it's hard to navigate and it doesn't have enough shelters to compensate. Moon's superstructure? I don't like superstructure regions because zero-g is the worst mechanic every concieved for rain world. also getting food from neurons is annoying. I know I don't have to I can just go through Superstructure in one cycle. but I still hate it.

The lore? Don't give a shit honestly, I was kinda hyped for the broadcasts but then I just didn't care, I was just hoping I can skip them faster. I don't care about iterator drama stfu!!!! Like it's cool and all. in theory. but in reality I really just ended up not caring at all. Call me a fake fan but I wish they just weren't in there or there was a lot less.

Spearmaster is a lot more enjoyable if you disregard the camapign and do whatever. But at that point I'd rather play slugcats I enjoy more anyway. No dual-wield and no unlimited spears isn't a deal breaker

#rain world #just rambling

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husbandhannie · 2 years

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old times

pairing: scoups x reader

word count: 1150

genre: fluff, angst

warnings: talks of breaking up and making up, food

a/n: ah it's here! i had a scene in my head and i just wrote it. honestly this is so self-indulgent, i don't know if it'll get to anyone like it gets to me. it's the feels, you know? i'll proofread later.

taglist: @itsveronicaxxx @zurikyo @husbandhoshi @starlightjoong @kimhyejin3108 @junhui-recs.

part 1 (later)

"oh, it's good to see you two together again. it was so sad seeing you alone here".

seungcheol's fingers pause in his wallet, his head snapping to look at you while you try to maintain a neutral expression. you used to come here, you can almost hear him think, you visited our places too. you give the owner a polite smile, choosing not to respond to the comment directed at you.

he hands her the money, tilting his head and following you to the water dispenser to make ramen. you had tried to argue with him about the bill, but he had waved it away. "i'll take this one, you get the next", he had said, averting his eyes from yours. taking turns, just like old times.

"so", he starts, pulling up a chair, "what have you been up to?"

[...]

"'you're so valid'?", you tease, repeating the phrase he had uttered, "hanging out with vernon, are we?"

"actually, yeah", he chuckles, adding soberly, "believe it or not, since we - you know, i'm assigned someone every week".

"oh?", you murmur, "i don't know whether to feel glad they care or to feel sorry for you".

"that was my reaction too", he laughs, "but i got annoyed quickly. they kept wanting me to talk and i just - i didn't have anything to say, you know?"

"yeah", you give him a small smile, your eyes mirroring his, "i get it".

how bad has it been for you?

"vernon never tried to get me to talk, he's just....there", he adds, seemingly to himself, "jeonghan is the worst. he knows me too well, he sneakily kept trying to get me to talk to you".

you stop yourself from asking: why didn't you?

"well", you clear your throat, "you aren't the only one suffering. i think i've talked to my family more in the last few months than i have in years. the worst part? none of them even mention what happened".

"oh no", he shakes his head humorously, knowing exactly how much you hate talking on the phone.

"there was one positive though", you raise a finger, "my aunt sent her fried rice recipe".

"no way, the secret one?", his eyes light up and he leans in subconsciously, "the one she said she'll leave in her will?"

"uh huh", you match his smile, "wanna know the secret ingredient?"

he nods excitedly. you wonder if the temptation to kiss him will ever lessen.

"it's just one thing", you lean in and whisper conspiratorially, turning your head and checking for eavesdroppers, your heart skipping at seungcheol's fond giggles, "virgin honey".

"virgin honey?", he repeats, astonished, "in fried rice?"

"uh huh", you lean back and nod sagely, "surprised me too. but apparently, a bit of honey makes all the difference".

[...]

"how are you feeling about master's?", he asks, referring to the news you had given him earlier, "excited? nervous?"

like i want you to drop me off to classes, you think, like i want to talk about it, about everything, laying in your arms.

you've completely lost track of time, sitting on the old plastic chair for hours while empty food containers lie on the table. the urge to reach out your hand to hold seungcheol's has only gotten stronger, the safety and familiarity brought by his presence not helping matters. you wonder if it's the same for him.

"i don't know, really", you decide to answer honestly, finally mentioning how you've been since the break-up, "i haven't felt much since we - since we", you swallow, hoping the lump in your throat goes away.

seungcheol's hand reaches out to cover yours. you close your eyes, sure you'll break down if you look at his.

"i missed you", you murmur tearfully, "so - so much. i missed you so much".

"oh baby", plastic scrapes on the old floor and you feel his arms around you, the awkward angle not doing anything to hinder his warmth, "me too", he returns shakily, pressing a kiss on your hair, "so much".

[...]

"so", you start, exhaling quietly, "what now?"

seungcheol hums, not surprised at your question. the two of you have finally calmed down, sporting matching red swollen eyes as you sit comfortably entangled. just like old times.

it was a little embarrassing when the owner silently placed a bottle on the table, waving away your apologies for the scene you had caused. a closer look revealed the bottle to be honey lemonade, accompanied by two straws. just like how you used to drink it when you were together.

"i want to try again", he answers after a moment, his voice resolute, "i know i fucked up - no", he shakes his head when you open your mouth, "let me finish. i know i fucked up, i know i should've done things differently. i know it might happen again", he inhales a sharp breath, composing himself, "but i love you. as much as i did before. that hasn't changed. i love you, and i've missed you. so much. i want to try again".

he looks at you, anxious eyes waiting for your response.

"me too", you give him a half-smile, "i fucked up too. and i - well, ofcourse i love you. i've never loved you more. i want to try again too. let's try again, cheol".

"okay", he smiles then, the most unconstrained smile he's given you all night, "okay. but first", he adds seriously, "we need to talk about what happened - why we broke up, how we can not repeat it".

"okay, yeah", you answer, feeling a little anxious about bringing up old issues, "makes sense".

"i can't promise i will never cancel", he swallows, "with my schedule, i - "

"cheol, i know. i don't expect that".

"i'll try to make plans only if i know i'm sure i can make it", he looks at you apologetically, "but that'll mean most dates will just be random nights in convenience stores and creameries".

"those are my favorite", you smile, "listen - i get it. i don't really care about the fancy ones anyway. i just - i think i resented how many were cancelled, you know? and it was bitchy of me to only bring it up - "

"no, i should've known - "

"let me finish", you bring a hand up to cover his mouth, almost losing your train of thought when he presses a kiss on your palm, "less planned stuff, and only when we're both kind of sure we can make it. and i'll tell you if i mind anything, how about that?"

he raises his brows meaningfully, his lips pouting under your skin. you remove your hand, the stupid grin on your face probably matching his.

"sounds good", he nods.

"okay", you nod back, "good".

"so"

"so?"

"am i your boyfriend now?", his cheeks redden slightly, his eyes hopeful.

"yeah", you giggle, "yeah, i guess you are".

"okay, so", he leans in, "can i kiss you?"

#seventeen fluff #seventeen angst #svt fluff #svt angst #seungcheol fluff #seungcheol angst #scoups fluff #scoups angst #seventeen x reader #seventeen imagines #svt imagines #seungcheol imagines #scoups imagines #scoups x reader #seungcheol x reader #scoups #seungcheol #choi seungcheol #not satisfied with the picture maybe ill change it later

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my-jokes-are-my-armour · 9 months

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Normally im anti gatekeeping but can we make a rule that if you just read the headline of an article and don’t read the whole thing and/or check its source, your not allowed to be a witcher fan, how am I supposed to believe someone read a 7 book series if they can’t even read past a headline

This is common sense to check and verify but in the ere of social media, the truth is "feelings". And headlines and short reads are sadly the norm. And they (those who write these articles) know it. Basically if they get your affect they win. Because it is way easier to believe your heart than try to work out your head. And a good title is sometimes just all they need.

Personally, I can't believe someone has read the 7 books saying that this season is not book accurate enough. Of course this isn't 100% book accurate. There are deviations (some bigger than others) and inventions. But for the big parts, the framing, and even some details, this is.

You know, I clashed with an internet friend who told me she read the books and was saying things like I see on hater posts. I just learnt after few precise questions that she stopped at Blood of Elves. She was repeating just other hater stuff because they pushed every buttons that triggered her about what she knew. She is a witcher fan but for the frame she knows. She still doesn't like the show and I respect her real arguments for that but I just saw here the work of confirmation bias.

We have a tendency to believe more someone who say something close to our own feelings or inner belief. And if you made your opinion beforehand there is no way you get out of the pit easily. It needs work and patience to compare and verify, and read the books to check again etc.

Also when you play the games, the experience is very different and very compelling in its storytelling. I knew the games before the series and the books, through let plays and I loved it. So I bet there are a lot of gamers in the frustrated mass. They are fans also, of course, but through a different lence. And they probably want a different experience from the show. Experience they will never get since the framing stays the books. So ... frustration again.

And I can give a "funny" example for people don't read but say they have just to push the cursor on the down level.

When you see people downrating episode 7 to the worst episode ever with so many complaining about the source material, you know that they have not read the books. The 7th episode is the worst noted ever and this is the most book accurate thing of the whole series, period !

They downrate it mostly because there is not enough of what they want in it. Again. Feelings and frustration are speaking not the head.

And that is exactly what those articles do or what attracts people to the hater videos. A lot of people are frustrated since S2 and locked on that frustration for months, so they were already willing to burn the season before hand. They find here and there other people that express frustration and anger and each deviation from the source material is more commented than what is correct. And I don't even go to the place where this is only to deguise shady discourses.

Bonus :

I just put that picture here again since it's lost in my big review of S3 and it amuses me a lot to play dumb to confront people to reality. Too much politics, mages and Ciri... Well this is the books... You're welcome 😅

I am sorry if I deviated in my answer but I need to say things clearly. And I am sure that conclusion won't be read by those who believe I agress them.

For me there are different kind of fans. All valid. But in terms of opinions about the show I discard almost immediately the headline burst of anger ones and I value those who can articulate both positive and negative points of view.

#answer time #tws3

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thecarnivorousmuffinmeta · 1 year

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So, I was about to ask "what if Bella lost all her memories after being turned?" Buuut I quickly realized that the answer would be "Edward mercy kills Bella bc vampirism took away her soul, as he knew it would."

So, here's a different question: What if Bella really did hit her head in the van incident and lost all her memories for real?

What if Bella Lost All Her Human Memories After Turning

For the record, I actually see Edward as too guilty for that given he turns her himself. I imagine he leaves to be miserable.

But anyways, you had a different question.

What if Bella Lost All Her Memories After the Van?

Well, the van incident goes a little different then.

Edward still saves her but when he turns down to look at her she's not responsive. She's very much still alive but she's not answering his questions or even seems to hear him. Without being able to hear her memories, he has no idea what's going on.

Edward feels a pit of dread open in his stomach as he realizes something irreversible may have happened to Bella.

Bella's carted to the hospital where Carlisle confirms she just had a major concussion. Some time later he notes she has major amnesia and appears to have lost most of her longterm memories.

She doesn't know her name, doesn't know her parents names, doesn't know the date, doesn't know where she is, doesn't know why she's here, nothing.

Bella is likely transferred to a hospital in Seattle where Charlie heads in with her and Renee and Phil are called from wherever they're at.

What About the Cullens?

The Cullens give Edward a hard time, as before, but they're not concerned. There's no "kill Bella" vote as Bella doesn't remember what happened. Her short term memory is completely toast. Everyone thinks this is a great thing as it means there's no need for any of them to be concerned.

Edward agrees it's great but he's internally very upset as a part of him wanted Bella to notice him rescuing her. He doesn't know why he needs that, what does this human validating him mean to him, but he wants it just the same.

He's even more upset that he'll likely never see Bella again. They'll return Bella to her mother, who raised her longer and will likely be able to resurrect more memories, and Bella will move back to Phoenix and not even remember Edward existed.

His family's perfectly safe now, Bella doesn't remember that first Biology class or how Edward saved her with inhuman strength, and she's leaving town and taking her damnable scent with her, it's the best possible outcome.

But he hates it.

"Ah ha ha ha, this is great," Edward tells everyone.

Rosalie points out that Bella's sure to move back with her mom meaning the Cullens don't have to move because of her scent. Wow, this is great.

"AH HA HA HA, THIS IS GREAT," Edward agrees.

What Does Edward Do?

Too tormented, telling himself he needs to check for sure that Bella's not just pretending to have lost her memories somehow realizing what a threat Edward is, he goes to visit her at night without telling his family.

There he's disappointed and even angry to find that she genuinely doesn't seem to remember who he is. He's even angrier that, his anger, appears to alarm her as she tries to call security on him as this strange beautiful boy started snarling at her at three am in her hospital room.

Edward, spiraling into madness, concludes she's the devil after all and that this memory loss is just God tormenting him personally as she is the worst thing that has ever happened to him. Especially now that it appears she'll leave his life of her own volition without him having to lift a finger. IT ALL WORKS OUT PERFECTLY, DOESN'T IT?! Edward snarls.

We now have two routes.

Route A, Edward keeps creeping on Bella and forms an emotional connection with her as he tells her he's a good friend and classmate from school. Bella, being terrified an amnesiac, desperately takes him at his word and tries to recall what she was like as a person with this very attractive and mysterious young man.

Alice later announces that Edward's in love with Bella, allowing him to put it all in perspective.

Twilight essentially happens, as Bella insists on staying in Forks for, uh, reasons and she goes to see Carlisle once a week.

Route B, tormented, angry, and hating himself Edward eats Bella knowing that he has no excuses and no reason to do so. He hides this from his family and likely leaves the family soon after out of his hidden shame.

#twilight #twilight meta #twilight headcanon #twilight renaissance #bella swan #edward cullen #anti edward cullen #meta #headcanon #opinion

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she-waves-at-cats · 1 year

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I don't understand how people can reconcile wearing ear protection for office work with being part of the team in any real sense.

I'm so overstimulated by people talking around me constantly, my brain is fried halfway through the day, but I do my best to listen because I want to get to know my coworkers and their work; this context is important. I want to copy the way they speak on the phone and to each other. I want to be included in conversations even if I don't actually speak.

I know better than to assume that checking reports and filing is my "real work". I was theoretically hired to do that, yes, but there's always this secret second job to validate people and make them feel good around me, make them feel liked so they like me back and (hopefully) treat me like a human. My point is that wearing headphones would make me better at checking reports, but not knowing whose grandma died would lead straight to me being given the worst, most stressful jobs, which in the end would negate the benefit of the headphones.

Do y'all just give up on ever knowing what's going on? Do you resign yourselves to the position of the office weirdo? Or do you just not notice whether people like you and it's all just noise to you? Maybe you can afford not to care because your solitary work is so important and so specialised that being liked no longer matters?

#actuallyautistic #autistic problems #autistic community

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leighlew3 · 5 months

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Hello, I was wondering if you could maybe help out. I have this fic, for like 6 years and I know how to write it. It's done in my head and in a few notebooks. I'm so scared to write. Afraid of disappointing whoever reads it. How would you go about it or how do you get over the fear of just saying "Fuck it" and do it? Thank you for whatever advice you may have.

Hi!

This reply turned out longer than I thought, but here goes.

Off the bat -- I'd suggest just writing it for yourself first and foremost. Get it out of your system and fleshed out into a proper document. That’s step one, so that it doesn’t just sit there inside of you because clearly it's itching to get out. And there's no risk there at all. For lack of a better metaphor it's like creative constipation. You've been holding this load for 6 years, lol. It's time to release it and lighten yourself a bit. Go ahead and write it. Just to express yourself. To check out and hone your skills. Etc. You can do that part at least, I believe in you!

And then afterwards, if you're not happy with it, then worst case: at least you finally know. At least you have closure on giving it a shot, and maybe realizing writing ain't for you or simply that you've got work to do to improve your writing. But best case, if you are happy with it and your confidence has grown a bit, then maybe you have a close friend that you trust to be brutally honest do a feedback read for you. And see how they respond before you then even have to think about putting it out for mass consumption. But that's way down the line. Don't even sweat all that just yet. One step at a time.

And then as for in the future if you do ever decide to publish it -- just know, some people are gonna be haters for the sake of hating. But if people have valid criticism, or they generally just don’t seem to enjoy it or it gets no response, then it’s our job as writers, whether it be professionally or when writing fanfiction -- to work hard on not internalizing it to the point of reactivity or self-hate, but rather simply process it if the feedback all has a similar criticism from everybody, or if nobody reads it or likes it at all, and see if perhaps there's a way to improve our work in the future.

Look, there’s no secret to ever getting used to baring our souls via expressing our stories, and then having to find out what total strangers have to say about it. I wish there was. It’s a very vulnerable position to put ourselves in. And some people handle it really well. Meanwhile some people handle it absolutely horribly (see some pro writers’ past behavior and lashing out on Twitter, yikes). The best thing to do, IMO, is to take it in stride even if it’s a big ouch moment, and then use that gut punch to learn and evolve as a writer. Because honestly, WORST CASE SCENARIO -- something stings for a sec, but you live on, you're still breathing, you still exist. Life goes on.

I mean, if you don’t think you can handle the feedback or you think it could be truly damaging to your mental health to be vulnerable like and have people not like it, that's totally understandable. But then if nothing else I hope you at least write it for yourself to get it out of your system and explore it in the safety of your own document. I will say though, IMO, for me, the good has always outweighed the bad as far as publishing or trying to bring something I'm proud of to fruition, because most of the time, someone somewhere will respond to a story and "get" it and like it. And that truly makes it all worth it to provide even just one person a brief escape from life and a moment to enjoy something. Something YOU wrote! It's an amazing feeling. Either way, I believe you are totally capable of at least taking that first step and writing it for yourself. I'd bet, no matter how it turns out, you'll at least feel like you accomplished something. Like you got it out of your system. Like you tried. And that alone is a great thing, IMO. Because if you don't try, you'll never never know. But I think you're more brave and capable than you think you are. And I think you can do this and at least churn it out into a full story for yourself. Because if it's been nagging at you for six whole years... there's a reason. And I think it's time to let it out. But just remember, it's just one step at a time. So do it for yourself first. You've got this. 😉💜

#writing #writers #fiction #advice

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thegayhimbo · 7 months

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Stranger Things Runaway Max Review (3/3)

If you haven't yet, be sure to check out my other Stranger Things Reviews. Like, Reblog, and let me know what your thoughts are regarding the show or the upcoming season! :)

Stranger Things Comics/Graphic Novels:

Stranger Things Six

Stranger Things Halloween Special

Stranger Things The Other Side

Stranger Things Zombie Boys

Stranger Things The Bully

Stranger Things Winter Special

Stranger Things Tomb of Ybwen

Stranger Things Into The Fire

Stranger Things Science Camp

Stranger Things “The Game Master” and “Erica’s Quest”

Stranger Things and Dungeons and Dragons

Stranger Things Kamchatka

Stranger Things Erica The Great

Stranger Things “Creature Feature” and “Summer Special”

Stranger Things Tie-In Books:

Stranger Things Suspicious Minds

Part 4: Billy Hargrove

Those of you who've followed my blog know I've never liked Billy as a character. I loathed him back in 2017 when he was first introduced to the show, and the following years since have done nothing to improve my opinion about him. If anything, I've continued to despise him not just because of how repulsive he is as a person, but because of the never-ending parade of excuses and abuse apologies I've seen this fandom make for every shitty thing he's ever done.

As a general rule of thumb, I don't like abusers. I especially don't like bullies. In the past, I've been forced to put up with people who've behaved like Billy does. People who constantly projected their issues onto me and others because they needed an outlet for whatever the hell their problem was, and didn't give a damn about how hurtful they were being. These were the kind of people who were snide, cruel, rude, unpleasant, and unkind because they could get away with it, and who enjoyed getting a rise out of others because their lives were so miserable that they could only get satisfaction by putting others down. Whatever empathy I initially might have had for them has been replaced with cold contempt, and I want nothing to do with them anymore.

I want to be clear that I recognize Billy as an abuse survivor, and that the way Neil raised him played a major role in turning him into an abuser. To the book's credit, it does not shy away from depicting the abuse in all of its ugliness, or how Neil's twisted values rubbed off on Billy in the worst possible way. I can understand why Billy became the way he did, and even pity him to some extent.

What I am NOT sympathetic towards, however, is Billy taking his rage out on everyone to the point they become collateral damage, and inflicting abuse on Max to the point her life became a living hell. I have no patience for fans who either victim-blame Max for the way Billy treated her, or victim-blame others characters (like Steve and Lucas) for the way Billy treated them. I also don't have the time or patience for people who want to act like Billy's history gives him carte blanche to be vile and hateful to others. It's the same feeling I have for other characters outside of Stranger Things, including the Roy Family from Succession and Henry Bowers from Stephen King's IT: Even if the writers gave valid backstories to these characters to explain why they are as messed up as they are, it still doesn't make their behavior excusable, and trying to act like it is does not make those characters endearing in any way.

But even with all this context, none of it makes Billy look better in the book or on the show. If anything, he comes out looking worse.

He's still belittling and nasty to Max when he can get away with it:

He intentionally goes out of his way to isolate Max from others, including driving away the friends she initially had in San Diego (Ben and Eddie), and later tries to do the same thing with Lucas and his group:

At one point, he goes out of his way to break the arm of Max's best friend, Nate, in order to drive him away (and it works):

This event btw (Billy breaking Nate's arm) is the reason for why Neil and Susan decide to move to Hawkins. Billy, of course, doesn't take any responsibility for his behavior, and instead tries to blame Max for what happened:

At one point, Billy sets a dead cat on fire as a means for getting under the skin of his so-called friend Sid, which succeeds in driving Sid away when it becomes clear just how unhinged Billy truly is:

Multiple times, Billy either abandons Max to skateboard home on her own, or threatens to:

He repeatedly treats girls like shit, with the big difference being he's more open about being a sleazebag compared to Neil (which doesn't make him a better person by any means):

Notably, from the show, he speeds up his car the moment he sees Mike and his friends on the road, and Max is genuinely scared that Billy is going to hit them. It gets to the point she grabs the wheel in order to stop Billy. And the moment Max does this, she is TERRIFIED that Billy is going to hurt her for it:

He also breaks Max's skateboard as punishment for her hanging around Lucas:

When Billy finds Lucas later at Joyce's house in the season 2 finale, Max is genuinely scared for Lucas's safety in that moment:

And finally, when Billy starts beating Steve to a bloody pulp, Max is genuinely scared that Billy is going to kill him:

What really gets under my skin is how Billy knows that what he's doing to Max (and to others) is wrong, and still does it anyways. He likes getting a rise out of people. He likes being vicious to others when he can get away with it.

For as much as some fans like to wax poetic about Billy being a complex character...........he really isn't. His character, and the way he carries himself through life, can be summed up as "I'm miserable, so everyone else gets to be miserable with me." He isn't even unique in terms of that kind of character. I can point to other shows and movies (True Blood, Star Wars, Breaking Bad, Succession, Stephen King's IT, etc) where the type of character Billy represents has been done to death before.

To put it bluntly: I'm tired of characters like Billy. It's easy to be a bully. It's easy to be cruel. Nothing about that makes me remotely interested in him.

There's a rich hypocrisy in how people in this fandom will direct their bile at Susan for turning a blind eye to the abuse Neil dishes out to Billy while simultaneously turning a blind eye to the abuse Billy dishes out to Max. I cannot begin to describe how many times I've seen fans either downplay/whitewash the worst of Billy's behavior, make excuses and abuse apologies for him, or else victim-blame every other character for the way Billy treats them. There is clear-cut, irrefutable evidence that Billy is an abuser, and fans still want to pretend that he wasn't.

In a way, a lot of these excuses/apologies are so reminiscent of the ones made for real life abusers that it makes me wonder if the stans who project themselves hard onto Billy (and become vicious towards anyone who dares to say anything negative about him) are going through something awful in their personal lives to make them behave like this. Otherwise, why are they pretending that a character's actions aren't abusive? There's no other satisfying explanation.

And if it sounds like I'm unsympathetic, it's because I am. I have seen so many Billy stans over the years who have gone out of their way to bully and harass anyone who is slightly critical of Billy, or else deliberately go into the #anti billy hargrove/ #anti harringrove tags to pick fights with Billy antis and then play victim when those people (rightfully) get irritated with them. It's gotten to the point my sympathy for them is non-existent.

You guys know damn well why there are out people out there who don't like Billy. Own up to it. If you want to sit there and headcanon Billy being a woobie soft boi who's secretly a sweetie-pie that truly loved his sister and wasn't abusive to her, that's your business. Don't come trying to shove that headcanon down our throats, and then act upset because we reject it.

And last, but not least........let's talk about Billy's *ahem* behavior towards Lucas on the show.

Part 5: Billy and Lucas

When I first saw season 2 back in 2017, even before the Duffer Brothers gave their interview about Billy, I pegged the guy as a racist. Everything about his behavior towards Lucas, to his comments to Max about how "there's a certain type of people in this world you stay away from" and how Lucas was one of those kids, was a big indicator for me at the time about Billy's bigotry. When the Duffer Brothers later came out in an interview and confirmed he was racist, I wasn't shocked:

Last year, Caleb McLaughlin (who plays Lucas) also came out and confirmed this in an interview:

Now Jason is a whole different character that I will talk more about when I review Lucas on the Line, but it's important to note that Caleb was firm in pointing out that Billy was racist, and that Billy specifically targeted Lucas because he was a black kid. Both Billy and Neil were bigots, and Max even acknowledges this in the book:

There is a whole on-going discussion these days about fandom racism, how characters of color in movies and TV shows get the most bile and contempt directed at them, and how there's a tendency to have their pain and traumas dismissed in favor of white characters, and Stranger Things is no different. In fact, this is arguably one of the first shows where I became aware of how prevalent fandom racism is, and it all had to do with how many people were determined to erase Billy's racism towards Lucas and deny that it ever was a thing. Disgusting isn't a good enough word to describe this.

As for the tiresome, pathetic excuse Billy stans offer about how Billy was really being protective of Max...............Seriously? That's what your going with?

We're talking about a guy who drove away Max's friends, sadistically broke her best friends arm, blamed her for things that weren't her fault, repeatedly abandoned Max to skateboard home either because he didn't want to wait for her or because he wanted to shag the next girl he laid eyes on, made it clear to Max that he hated her and wanted nothing to do with her, was repeatedly abusive to her and worked to isolate her from everyone and everything she loved. But now he suddenly cares for her safety?

I know I'm being sharp here, but the constant mental gymnastics people do to make Billy seem less awful than he really is has caused me to lose a lot of respect for this fandom.

As for the people who will inevitably bring up Dacre's take on Billy........... @scoopertroopers put it best in the post I reblogged from them last year: 1.) The Duffer Brothers are the ones who wrote Billy to be racist (and said as much in the interview they gave), and 2.) Caleb McLaughin, a black actor who has been subjected to racism from this very fandom, has a better claim to say whether a white character's actions on a show constitute racism.

Billy was a racist. His treatment of Lucas was racist. Period.

Final Thoughts:

This is defiantly a tie-in book I recommend buying and reading. It's faithful to the show, and it gives more insight into Max's character. There are parts of this book that may be hard to get through because of the subject matter, but it is worth it to see Max come out on the other side and begin to find a place where she can belong and feel safe.

#stranger things #max mayfield #stranger things runaway max #lucas sinclair #caleb mclaughlin #anti billy hargrove #tgh opinions #tgh reviews #neil hargrove #the duffer brothers

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thessalian · 2 months

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Thess vs The Patch/Hotfix Cycle

So ... okay, much as I love Larian, and how much they've grown and developed as a studio between Divinity: Original Sin 2 and Baldur's Gate 3 ... does anyone else feel like we're still somehow in early access, just because of the Patch/Hotfix Cycle?

It's like ... they do a patch. And these patches are huge, with big quality of life improvements, and that's great and everything? But the more they tinker with the code, the more chance you're going to have of coming out with a game-breaking bug somewhere along the line. Patch 6 in particular, with all of its significant QOL changes, somehow brushed up against a change in ... *checks* ah, yeah, Patch 5 ... and completely broke the game for some of us in the process.

See, there's a condition that you can pick up - "Enemy of Justice". It's supposed to be for killing a guard or something. I'm assuming some kind of criminal activity. Thing is, even if you're not doing any criming, you can pick this status up - specifically if you want to try to recruit Minthara on a good playthrough. Because if you kill anything before you knock her unconscious (including, apparently, the 5hp Scrying Eye which'll get you everybody's attention if you're not careful, and the low hp goblins everywhere), whoever struck the knockout blow gets Enemy of Justice. Which I guess makes sense. You assaulted her and killed her guards. She's going to take issue with that, and probably know that you're not as devoted to the Absolute as you pretended to be early on. (Though why anyone should believe her at that point, no idea.)

The problem is ... apparently Enemy of Justice doesn't discriminate. If you killed any kind of guard, anywhere, and left a witness ... everyone will be after you. Look, I first found this out because Lady Esther over in the Rosymorn Monastery literally attacked me on sight. She doesn't know jack from shit about the whole Absolute cultist bullshit, and probably doesn't care because it's not her assignment. So she has no valid reason to attack me. However, Enemy of Justice says that I am Public Enemy Number One for ... killing minions of the big bad, okay. And somehow everyone in Faerun knows this.

And I mean that literally, as some people have gone into Act 2 and found that everyone in the entire zone wants them dead. The Harpers at the Last Light Inn and the Absolutists at Moonrise Towers will both auto-aggro if you've got the bug that sticks that fucking Enemy of Justice to you. It's a pain in the arse, and basically makes the game unplayable. I mean, the worst part is, this only seems to really come into force when you come out of the Underdark and into what's ostensibly Act 2-adjacent content, so you go through the Underdark thinking all's cool and then boom! Just ... everyone hates you. Apparently it all goes away when you kill a certain Big Bad at the end of Act 2, but ... I mean, how do you get to that point if everyone wants to kill you?

So ... yeah, sometimes it feels like we're still in early access, because we're still seeing such massive patches that, just because of how much the code's being tinkered with, is an open invitation for more game-breaking bugs. I do love Larian trying to polish the game to make it the best game it possibly can be. But ... I mean, I would like to be able to play it at some point. And I can't do that if I'm stuck just a bit before the Grym fight, unable to continue because if I'm going to kill Lady Esther (and make no mistake - I am going to kill Lady Esther), I want Lae'zel approval for it. Which I don't get if she just runs at me screaming.

Larian ... please. Make it actually playable, and then stop trying to polish it. Let it be finished. It's a great game. Stop breaking it trying to make it somehow better. We can't play it when you do this.

#Thess plays video games #Thess liveblogs Baldur's Gate 3

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fizzingwizard · 2 months

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work n stuff

This was crunch week at work before graduation. I usually stay late to do stuff, but boy, did I stay late this year haha.

First off we have one teacher who's had to leave for the rest of the term for very valid personal reasons. On top of that, one of her coteachers is being sent to another campus for half or all of every day for reasons I don't actually know. So in her class it's kind of just her third co-teacher. But fortunately the company had time to anticipate for that and they put a leader in her class to train some new teachers while helping the class. So things aren't normal for them but they're stable.

For me things were normal until Wednesday when my coteacher called in sick. My other coteacher was also noticeably sick though she came to work. I was sick last week, and took Monday off. The rest of the week I felt so crappy, mainly just full body exhaustion which is rough when you're on your feet with demanding little ones nipping at your ankles all day. Fortunately I've been fine since Sunday.

On Thurs the same coteacher was still too sick to come in, and my other coteacher ended up going home around noon. Then another teacher went home at the same time because her daughter had a fever. There were also some part-time subs calling out during these days as well. So we were suddenly extremely short-staffed.

Thursday was the worst because no one had anticipated so many teachers being out, especially with my class, and all the help had already gone to other classes. The teacher whose daughter got sick had to leave her class with one coteacher and a sub. Until noon, I had my sick coteacher and a rotating round of subs coming from our other school. They have their own job at their campus and can only stay for an hour at a time and honestly are not helpful. They're good people and teachers, but they don't know our kids or our routine and they're used to older children. I hate getting them for subs except when they were former teachers at our school first.

After co-teacher went home, I had the rotating subs, and... a secret third person! no really. No one knew who was supposed to cover for my co-teacher. It was the admin assistant for a while, until she suddenly said "A visitor is here, I need to go." She would be coming back so I said okay and we would just power through what time she was gone for.

But like five min after that the rotating sub said "I'm supposed to be back at my campus now" and no one had come to cover for her?? The admin assistant was with a visitor, and the manager was also with a visitor! There was no one even to talk to and I had my ENTIRE class in the hallway basically by myself. I couldn't tell this sub she could leave because it would leave me alone with all these two and three year olds IN THE BATHROOM. I don't even have Nanny iPad to help bah.

So I called for the visiting leader, who ran out to help. Then another class teacher said "Oh, so and so from my class is supposed to help you now, and I was going to send her, but no one came to cover in my class for her." So while I was dealing with my own kids, the leader, the manager, and that class teacher were standing in a circle in the hall talking for what felt like forever about what to do. That was one of the most stressful ten minutes I've ever spent at this school x'D or probably anywhere tbh! I have "the difficult class" this year and they're hard enough to manage with all three of us regular teachers there and healthy. Now it was just me!

Finally something got decided and you know what I don't even remember what it was in the end. The point is we survived the day somehow. It was really nuts. Really nuts. The leader though now knew my situation and she kept checking in and helped with lunch clean up and putting out the futons for nap time.

Her being there was a good thing for me, because she kind of validated my feelings about these crazy times. She even went to the manager and asked her to figure out what would be done in the event both of my coworkers were out sick on Friday too and to tell me ahead of time so I could have some idea and not just be surprised by it. To some extent that's not possible because people call in sick in the morning of the day they'll be out. But when you can plan in advance, you should, I think was the message, which is one I really agree with. It seemed to make the manager think about me a little. I had to stay even later than I'd planned, because since my coworkers were gone, I was the only one there to organize all the kids' belongings that they need to take home after graduation, which is a big job: they have a lot of stuff. The manager came in at one point and helped me sort some crafts.

Then, on Friday, both my coworkers did call in sick, so I was on my own again. The teacher with the sick daughter was also still out, and of course the other two teachers mentioned in the first paragraph were still gone. Being so understaffed, I thought for sure I'd lost prep time in the morning to cover their shifts. But I didn't, and I found out it was because the manager did it instead. I think that this was probably due to how crazy a week I'd had especially Thursday, and looking at a crazy Friday too... She took pity on me xP

Friday was easier even without both coteachers because I had finished almost all of the graduation-related stuff, and my two subs were people who are used to our school and know our kids. It wasn't the same but it was much smoother. (Also Thursday was a school event day so it was a little extra craziness on top of all the rest.) I am disappointed that I haven't been able to enjoy my last days with my kids. Normally I'd take it easy and just do fun stuff with them. But I have too much work to do so I'm constantly doing things instead of playing with the kids. I gave everyone hugs and did my best anyhow.

Grad prep this year was especially difficult because the whole staff changed this year except me and two other people, one of whom was one of the teachers out sick, so it was just the two of us actually plus the manager. No one else was familiar with how to wrap up the year. There was a bit of confusion but I am lucky that everyone I work with is a hard worker and helpful to others, so it seems we got everything done. Not as wonderfully as we'd have liked but good enough. I still have some work to do next week but then I have a little break before starting to prep for next year.

In sum, while this week was kind of a nightmare, I'm lucky that I felt really healthy during it so I didn't struggle as much to pick up the slack. And I'm grateful the leader was visiting and validated my stressed out feelings. I'm kind of proud of myself too because I got three teachers' work done with only a few mistakes (still make a few though ;_;) and I did my best to help other classes too, because mine was obviously not the only one shortstaffed and rushing around all week hahaha.

Fell asleep as soon as I got home every night. Now I just wanna veg and play games this weekend. Gotta do some cleaning too though. Cheers to the new term... lol

#work

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