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carriesthewind · 11 months

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Hey, I love your writeups for the ChatGPT case! There's one thing that's kind of confusing me though. You (and the judge) seem to be saying that the good faith argument makes sense for the March 1st opposition but not the April 25th affidavit. I'm not a lawyer, but the more I think about it the more I feel like the other way around makes more sense.

Regarding not reading the cases: if I was looking for a book, even because someone said it doesn't exist, and I found a book that had the right title, author, and cover, and wasn't obviously a fake book (like, no words on the pages, or something), I think I'd be convinced. If I'm supposed to think it could be a forgery, I don't know how I could tell by reading it. How hard is it to write a fake opinion that looks real? What tells would you look for? And why would anyone write one? It seems to me like the only thing that reading the cases would prove is whether or not it was generated by a bleeding-edge large language model. (This is setting aside all the warnings they had to ignore that ChatGPT specifically isn't a reliable source. And the fact that they didn't even annex the "entire opinions" they were ordered to. And that they didn't even seem to realize that they were being accused of citing bogus cases. And that they should have read the cases anyway, possible fakery or not. And the way they tried to downplay it afterwards. God, there is so much stupid in this case. "The ChatGPT lawyer" really doesn't do it justice.)

The opposition seems less defensible. Schwartz didn't just find and submit documents, he submitted assertions about the contents of cases without reading said contents. Why would you use a "search engine" to write your arguments for you? That's your job. How can you claim in good faith that precedents you didn't read are in favour of your position? Even if ChatGPT really was incapable of making up cases, if they'd found all the cases on Google Scholar and annexed them, they could still be in deep shit, right? They could be sanctioned if they misrepresented the contents, or at least lose the case if the interpretations are dubious. Not to mention the legal argument about state law in a federal case - that's something I would expect a lawyer to know to check for.

Am I missing something? You've anticipated all the judge's points and it's probably me who's wrong here. Just trying to understand.

Hi! Thank you for the question. I think I understand your confusion, and I am going to try to clear it up - let me know if this makes sense.

The difference comes down to the idea that when he submitted the opposition, he was doing very poor work and was not acting reasonably. However, when he submitted the fake cases, he was knowingly lying to the court.

For example: for my job, I use secondary sources that other people have written to explain the current state of the law. Those secondary sources refer to, cite, and summarize various cases. When I use a secondary source, I don't rely on the source - I use it as a jumping off point to look up the cases myself and do additional legal research. But, based on my experience, I expect the summaries of cases in good secondary sources to be more-or-less accurate.

Now, that doesn't mean it is okay for someone to submit a legal brief based solely off the summaries in a secondary source - as you say, you can't know for sure the summaries or correct (and "more-or less" leaves a lot of wiggle room). And there is a lot of potentially relevant information that is left out of the summaries. And even if they are correct, you don't know if they are still good law - they may be out of date.

But "being a bad lawyer" is not sanctionable misconduct. Especially because with sua sponte sanctions, the question isn't whether Schwartz was reasonable (he wasn't), but if he was acting in subjective bad faith, which in this case means essentially that he was knowingly lying to the court.

If he, as he says, genuinely thought the cases he was citing in the opposition were real cases and the bot was accurately summarizing their contents, he was not knowingly lying to the court. He was doing terrible work, but again, being a terrible lawyer is not sanctionable misconduct.

But - and here is where maybe I think the confusion is coming in? - when he submitted the fake opinions, he was making an assertion to the court about the contents of the cases. He was telling the court, "these judges wrote these specific things in these specific cases." (And in terms how hard is it to write a fake opinion that looks real - those cases did not look real. Anyone with any legal training, even just glancing at them, would realize something seemed wrong.)

It was unreasonable for him to cite the cases without reading them in his opposition, but at that point, he can at least try to argue that he had reason to believe the citations and summaries were accurate. Once he was put on notice, continuing to "assume the cases were real" without checking and reading them was no longer plausibly good faith.

And to return to your analogy - he didn't just "find a book" that had the right title and author and so on. He went back to the same source that had given him the titles, and asked it to provide him the full text of the book.

For an analogy: Imagine you are writing a research paper. It would be like if you were emailing a friend looking for a published scientific article to support your research, and they gave you a citation and a summary of the article, and you relied on that article in your paper. That would be unreasonable, but you could honestly say you thought your friend was being honest in providing you information. But now image a bunch of reviewers came back to you and said, "hey this article might be fake, we can't find it." And so you went back to your friend and said, "hey, can you give me that article?" And then they sent you an email back that said, sure! And they sent you about a thousand words in the body of the email. And those thousand words were complete nonsense, where in the beginning it says this was a study on the evolution of bacteria and in the conclusion it was talking about the behavior of the two sample groups of primates. In that case, if you printed out those thousand words and gave it to the reviewers and said, yep, look, the article is totally real, here is the text of the article, the reviewers could reasonable conclude that you were intentionally lying to them.

That was a lot of text, but I hope it helped!

#ask

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emmabirb8 · 4 months

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So I've only just recently gotten "back into" Invader Zim after not having watched the show or been involved in fandom stuff related to it since 2011. And as someone who was never knowledgeable about Jhonen Vasquez back then especially, I gotta ask: where did the idea of Jhonen being a "jerk" even come from??

I've been watching his Twitch streams for a few months now, and I am honestly appalled and confused as to how anyone could come to that conclusion. The guy is a total goofball! Hilariously insincere. The very definition of 'sardonic' in human form. Almost everything he says is with his tongue planted firmly in his cheek. He doesn't even take himself seriously! I suppose some people who struggle with tone and social cues might misinterpret him, but you can tell he tries to make it obvious that he's behaving that way on purpose for comedic effect. (And, in my opinion, it works!)

Obviously I don't really know Jhonen, and I've never met him, but personally, I get the impression that he's great. In fact, he's intrigued me to the point of hunting for a decent deal on JTHM online. (Years ago, I assumed it wouldn't be my cup of tea, so I never looked into it, but now I have a feeling I'd really enjoy it.)

Overall, he seems like a genuinely nice, funny, weird dude who likes to do and say weird stuff to (mostly) make people laugh. And like, I also get the impression he's a bit introverted (can definitely relate), but even so, he still goes to conventions every once in a while to meet fans and such. I've never been to one, but a convention looks like an absolute nightmare for people who don't overly enjoy social events and talking to strangers. So that's kind of a big sacrifice of time, energy, and social battery (and money for expenses!) given willingly and fairly frequently in various locations for the sake of fans...

... for someone who's been accused of being a "jerk" who "hates his fans."

Like, truly, ????????

I'm over here thinking "please say sike" because I don't get it. At all. At this point, I'm thoroughly convinced the rumor was just made up. That, or we are not talking about the same guy, lmao.

#i just think he's neat #i'm not even sure if anyone believes that rumor anymore anyway but #i personally kind of assumed some level of hostility before actually paying attention to him lol #just... don't spread stupid bs about people esp people u don't know and will never know #like for the love of god be normal about real life humans PLEASE #jhonen vasquez #invader zim #johnny the homicidal maniac #my posts

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mimibwi · 10 months

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Unpopular(?) BTS shipping opinions

These are some random points I wanted to talk about regarding shippers and my opinion on some specific ship moments:

1. The most likely possibility is that no ship is real in a romantic way.

We really should start swallowing that cause people might die… I genuinely don’t get how some of you would rather die before accepting the fact that your ship probably aren’t dating, they aren’t friends with benefits or exes or whatever narrative it is being pushed these days. If we’re looking at this seriously (and I am saying this as a shipper who likes to explore the possibility of my ship being romantic) those boys are most likely just friends, coworkers, family at the end of the day.

I mean obviously the possibilities for any ship being romantic still exists but I just don’t think shippers should be as confident as they are that their or any ship really between the boys is romantic or sexual. I can’t explain this well because I genuinely am not against shipping but I just think some people are incapable of doing anything casually— that’s problematic.

2. None of us know who is actually close and who isn't, especially not right now.

The little they share with us right now isn’t enough to prove anything. We have no clue who sees or calls each other and that's fine. Why are shippers so quick to push the X and Y are drifting apart thing? Nothing much seems to have changed between the ships themselves but the content we get and the member’s approach to social media has changed. I think this is how things have been for the most part on the social media front for a long time. Whilst the guys have been known for their use of social media in the past, they got the paper award for a reason lol, I think they have been gradually reducing their use for a while now so none of their behavior in chapter two is really striking to me. The only thing that really has changed is the lack of constant in flow of BTS OT7 or subunit content.

The lack of this type of content is what makes it seem like members aren’t close because shippers and other fans have no other content to distract themselves when the boys don’t post on social media, even though they are posting or not posting the same amount than before chapter 2 started. In other words, social media interactions have never been the sole indicator to determine the status of anyone’s relationship much less the boys. What shippers usually focused on in chapter one were clips from Bangtan bombs, ITS, BVs, Run, Memories, Summer/Winter packages etc. but with the lack of that now it seems like some ships aren’t close anymore when that probably isn’t the case. It’s obvious that they don’t spend as much time together anymore but that was the entire point of the hiatus and chapter 2: for them to branch out and do their own thing. However, that doesn’t take away much because if you have ever had long term friendships like the ones Bangtan have, you will know that those are the ones where you can go months without meeting up regularly and still be close as ever once you get back together.

I’m ranting but all this to say I don’t see what many of you do when it comes to “drifting apart” narratives cause there isn’t much to go off of.

3. 'Letter' is not about Jungkook.

Not gonna even speak too much on it. I'm sorry for my fault— not really😐

4. Matching clothes or accessories doesn't always mean something (to me).

Yes those moments are cute but it isn't that significant in my opinion, especially if it's matching for a stage or anything for work cause those outfits don't seem to be completely their choice sometimes.

5. None of the boys are intentionally malicious to each other.

They don't see, intentionally ignore and then do things that would directly result in hate towards the other members. Yes, I am talking about Taehyung. I will never get over the fact that some of you basically think Taehyung is admin of every Taekooker group chat out there. So many of you are CONVINCED that this man sees everything toxic Taekookers do and say. Even if Tae does browse ARMY spaces sometimes, who are you to tell me what he does and doesn’t see.

This isn’t really a shipper conversation but pjms and some ARMYs attitude to Yoongi regarding scheduling can also fall under here too. I won’t spend too much time on this because it falls under a subset of BTS related things I don’t like entertaining i.e. their work decisions. It really isn’t mine or any of our places to speak on in my opinion. These conversations are very manti-coded and they’re almost never productive so I’ll move along swiftly.

6. Not every shipper from a toxic shipper fandom is toxic.

This is probably the one and only time I’ll defend some shippers but you can’t group everyone like that. Even if most of the shipper fandom are a bit much, it isn’t any individual shipper’s fault their co-shippers are toxic. It’s sad bro. I feel more sorry for them to be honest like they’re living with psych ward escapees, it’s scary out here. Though this kinda contradicts with this point, I think that’s the reason why these huge toxic fandoms continue to get bigger. I can imagine it’s difficult not to get enveloped and start sharing those opinions when you’re surrounded by them all the time. I still maintain that not all of them are like that though and along those same lines majority non-toxic fandoms also have some rotten eggs. Anyway, non-toxic taekookers and jikookers I’m rooting for you. Fighting!!🥺

7. On the contrary of that last point, I think some non-toxic or seemingly unproblematic shippers reinforce or enable the behavior of the toxic ones.

It’s a very rare occurrence to see these seemingly non-toxic shippers calling out toxic behavior from the co-fandom. I kinda get why so I am not completely blaming yall because I can understand why you may not want to be at odds with the masses. However, I think it’s problematic because some of you start making excuses for their behavior even if you don’t share their opinions or exhibit that behavior yourself. This reinforces and spreads these narratives to more people who now feel justified to make the same comments or act the same way because of all the excuses.

8. Toxic shippers are the same thing in different fonts.

All of you claim your groups are better than each other but turn around and act the same exact way. You hate on members for the same reasons and push many of the same narratives. I really don’t care to say or call out whose worst because all of you are bad in my eyes. I definitely am not kekeke-ing with toxic, delusional shippers about other toxic, delusional shippers being toxic and delusional. Some of y’all are so quick to call out other shippers but it’s crickets when it’s your co-fandom exhibiting the same exact behavior.

9. Shippers are the reason some ships aren’t talked about more—

Take this with a grain of salt because these ships are talked about quite a lot despite all of this. I have seen shippers from very big, majority toxic shipper fandoms say “ARMYs aren’t talking about x ship but if it was y ship they would be celebrating” and I am really sorry to say this but your big, majority toxic shipper fandom is sometimes the reason why. It is really sad and I am not encouraging or defending any of this but it is evident that many people refrain from talking about some ships because they don’t want to be associated with the shippers or attract those shippers into their spaces.

It’s also frustrating because many times the distaste for certain shippers and even solos translates as hate towards that ship or that member and most times that isn’t the case. There are cases where shippers’ behavior actually produces disdain towards the member’s relationship and even the individual members. This point is one I don’t support in any regard because if you present yourself as a fan of these men, there is no reason why random people’s behavior on the internet should interfere with that. I’ve expressed this here before but fandom behavior should not reflect on the boys. Although I do wish we all acted in a way that will be a good reflection of them especially in online spaces, that isn’t always the case unfortunately:(.

10. Jimin didn't give Jungkook a hickey.

And even if you argue "sure friends bite each other on the neck scoffs", it's hard for me to take that moment seriously /especially/ if you are looking at it from a ‘jikook are dating’ perspective. It just doesn’t make sense to me that a closeted couple under their circumstances would even want to imply something like that or something that can even be interpreted like that, especially coming from Jimin. Also the way they talked about it didn’t come across as a couple secretly sharing their relationship. It just seemed like a fun, little joke/story but that’s just my perspective.

11. The message Tae wrote for Jimin on 'Let's BTS' was just what he said.

I find it hard to believe there was any secret message on the note considering the circumstances i.e. filming with a crew they most likely aren’t familiar with and the whole thing being on live TV. If Tae was serious about the note being “for Jimin’s eyes only” and not the other members, I doubt he’d want the crew to see. I think the blurring was only done for dramatic effect and it worked because I'm sure many were floored when Tae said he likes Jimin the most.

12. Car sharing as “proof” is ridiculous.

That’s it, that’s the opinion…

13. Some ships don’t make sense as a romantic pairing.

I think all the boys are close and every pair has had moments that make you do a double take but if I am seriously considering a ship to be romantic, many if not most of them just don’t seem likely to me. I know shipping is a lot about personal perspective and that we all won’t see the same things in the same way but some shippers act like some ships are so obvious and I don’t see it half the time. I swear sometimes I watch these shipping videos trying to force myself into thinking some of these ships are romantic but I simply can't. I feel like some of you are lying to me to be honest.

14. The taennie situation is strange.

Do I even want to go here… This isn’t me claiming that they’re fake or real because I really don’t know. I just want to say that the progression of this situation since the insta follow has been so weird in my eyes. If you told 2021 me that this is where we’d be almost two years later I think I would laugh in your face. The whole Gurumi situation— what even was that? Then the walk… I don’t stand with any cosplayer narratives about that video especially, maybe drop that one cause it’s not looking too good for you guys. I think I have the same outlook on Taennie as any other ship really and that’s just that it’s possible. I don’t think they’re fake but I also don’t think they’re real— I’m just here shrugs.

This was a whole pile of nothing lol. It’s just hard for me to form any decisive opinions with how strange the progression has been. If they are together, good for them and if they aren’t…good for them??

The only thing I’m sure of is that I don’t like taennie shippers. Anyone who spread those alleged leaks just to prove something and supported someone who has posted and threatened to post the types of pictures that Gurumi did for half of their ship— JAIL. I think a lot of them hate other shippers and want to be proven right more than they like the two people in their ship but i’ll just leave it at this (that’s how a lot of shippers come across to me tbh). Sooo… I wrote this weeks before Jennie’s insta post lml I guess cosplayer narratives are completely out the window huh? I maintain what I said in this post. Taennie is still strange to me even after that post but girl do your thing I guess😐

15. JK isn't the possessive alpha male people want him to be.

How so many shippers look at that man and see that is beyond me. I know he has the whole strong, beefed up, tatted up fuckboy look going but something I have always found interesting is that Jungkook, as a person, isn’t that stereotype. He is a total sweetheart and must be protected at all costs. And I obviously don’t know what he’s like off-camera or what he’d be like in a romantic relationship but all shippers go off of BTS content and he doesn’t come across like that to me in there. Half the time you all talk about him being “jeonlous” (the fact that there is a name for it is part of the problem) is just him staring while zoning out or being nosey which he’s so real for because same.

Editing this after ‘Seven’ and I don’t know if seven era proves or disproves my point but I maintain this opinion🙃

16. Pushing the jealousy narrative so much makes me question if you think these people are in a happy or toxic relationship.

Don't get me wrong, jealousy is a normal emotion (within limits) and I think it can even be a little cute sometimes but the amount these jealousy narratives are pushed is concerning to say the least. My thing is why do you think X is jealous because another member touched Y's shoulder so he moved closer to them to show his possessiveness(?). Like I can bet on that not being the case. Even if a ship is real and a couple does exists among the boys, they are not jealous every time their partners so much as touch another member. They’d be mad every second of the day if that was the case. I guess I can see how some of it can come across as jealousy based on how you look at it but frankly, most jealousy moments are stupid. I don’t know how people take some of them seriously.

17. Even if a ship is real, the lives of the members involved in that ship doesn’t revolve around whoever their partner is.

Well this applies to any relationship ever but you can be in a relationship and still be your own person. You should be able to have your own wants, friends, interests etc. outside of your relationship and I can argue that you’re encouraged to do so. Some of the ideas and theories shippers push are borderline toxic, unhealthy and unrealistic expectations of what relationships are or what they should be.

18. I find it weird to use 2013/14 moments as hardcore proof of a ship being real.

There are multiple reasons for this including: I find it creepy *shrugs*. Not only those including JK but especially those including him because he was underage at the time. In general though, I personally find it a bit weird to obsess over the love lives of people 19 years old and younger. Some may argue it’s weird to obsess over anyone’s love life in general and I can agree with that too cause I specified 19 but I cant really explain why 20 is different or acceptable so— Not saying you can’t see things or find it cute but some of these theories especially the sexual ones need to go. Another reason it’s strange to me is because realistically, there most likely isn’t anything there. Maybe a small crush at most but it doesn’t make sense that these boys were really focusing on relationships very seriously back then. Or maybe they were, I would never know. Even if a ship is currently real (that I won’t know either), it doesn’t mean they were into each other back then.

This just reminds me of those taennie shorts I always see on Youtube trying to say they were looking at each other in a blurry clip from an award show in 2017/2018, some of you are very unserious people. Like even if they are (allegedly) dating now— bro I am not gonna explain this cause it’s so obvious (not obvious that they’re dating now but obvious that they probably weren’t dating then. Well no but— sighs bro idk just don’t ask me if I am a taennie shipper ever again I beg). I get a good laugh out of those shorts though so thanks I guess.

I’m in the middle of writing this and just saw a video with 23K likes saying Taekook showed up with hickies the day after JK’s 18th birthday. WTF??? Some of you are so fucking disgusting. I don’t think some shippers even consider the implications of your words because you would shut the fuck up otherwise. Also the people who consume content from people who think like this are also fucked up in the brain. There’s no way y’all are normal seriously. I was having fun writing this but this shit got me heated and threw me off so bad. It’s crazy that that’s the exact same thing I was trying to talk about here. (I never want my posts to be overly explicit but I can’t hold back from being angry about this because really WTH??)

I’ve been thinking about this since I wrote it and wondering if people may see this as an exaggeration or over reaction of that Tkk video so I’ll make my point clear. I don’t think Taekook’s age difference at that point was necessarily wrong…I kinda side eye it (if I look at it from the perspective that they were dating or something back then) but it’s not the worse thing ever. HOWEVER, I think you, AS AN OUTSIDER, pointing out a “hickey” on a freshly 18 year old boy’s neck (there didn’t even seem to be any but that’s besides the point) is very gross, much less implying that his older bandmate was waiting for him to turn eighteen??? I hope other people can see how absolutely disgusting that is because 23 THOUSAND people didn’t.

19. Speaking of youtube shorts— shippers need to stop editing moments out of context or fusing different parts of videos to make their ship seem real.

There are so many times that I watch a short or reel of shippers making it seem like something then go back to the original content and the things didn’t even happen within the same 5 minute span. Why do y’all do that? It’s so annoying and obviously misinforming. This is why it’s very important for fans especially new ones to look at the original content and form their own opinions because some of you cannot be trusted.

20. Shippers need to let go of the eye contact narrative.

People are allowed to look at the people around them especially if they’re speaking or doing something. I might even find it kinda strange if you don’t look in some instances. It comes back to the jealousy thing again but some people also say it’s flirting which… each to their own I guess. This is one where I am torn again because I can sometimes see what you guys mean, there are even staring moments that I hype up sometimes but some moments just don’t give what shippers thinks it does.😕 The funniest ones when it comes to this are those ships with members from other groups. I don’t know how to tell yall that JK isn’t in a long term, loving relationship with Tzuyu or Lisa just cause he looked at them for 3 seconds one time in 2016. The way I’m talking about all sorts of ships here, I did say I am noseyㅠㅠ.

21. It’s okay to form your own opinions even if it differs from the general consensus.

I’m saying this because I am tired of shippers being called “insecure” because they question moments and the validity of their own ship as a romantic pairing. Emphasis on romantic here because I am not a supporter of people questioning if the boys are friends or not— let’s not go too far😑. Anyway, this is for you if you’re scared to be called insecure for your unpopular or out of the box thoughts about your ship— it’s okay. It’s okay and I would say natural, maybe even better to have doubts. None of us know anything for sure, so being completely secure and sure of any ship is delusional, boraward escapee behavior. It doesn’t mean you love them any less, it doesn’t mean the boys love each other any less even if the only thing that exists between them is friendship. It’s okay to not agree with everyone on what a particular moment means. It’s okay to doubt and it’s okay to be the outlier— so question things all you want. As long as you’re respectful and aren’t hating members or other ships or anything along those toxic shipper lines, everything is fine by me (not that you need my approval lol).

22. ALL OF YOU NEED TO GET OUT OF EACH OTHER’S BUSINESS!!!

This is very hypocritical of me cause I’m always in everyone’s business. Well not always but I did tell y’all I’m nosey. The problem with looking into other ship moments comes about when it starts making you mad. If you think it’s gonna upset you that other shippers are blind and they haven’t seen the light (your ship) then stop going into other shipper’s spaces. Stop provoking other shippers, stop engaging in ship wars cause all of you look dumb as hell. Stop trying to get other shipper’s opinion of your ship only to be mad when they don’t agree with you. What did you even expect? Stop putting ships against each other and start realizing that every ship is it’s own thing. I don’t get why there needs to be a scoreboard and we need to prove why certain moments mean something while others don’t. Just enjoy the moments from your favorite ship(s) when you get them and move tf on. Are y’all not tired??? Y’all are draining the fun out of this shipper business. I don’t get how y’all do this day after day, I get tired just reading one or two of these posts sometimes.

23. Shipping just isn’t that serious.

I’m writing this after the next point so sorry if my disinterest in this comes across. I’m just gonna keep it brief— Jikook, Taennie, Taekook, Yoonmin, Liskook etc. etc. are not losing sleep because some people on the internet think they aren’t dating and neither should you. You can relax! Some things just aren’t that serious. You can rest easily knowing that that Jikook won’t break up or Vmin won’t suddenly become mortal enemies because Amanda from South Wales thinks they don’t hang out and aren’t friends anymore. It’s okay! Breathe! In the same way, Yoonmin and Taekook aren’t dating just because you and your moots say they are. Let’s all just get a grip. Y’all are just on Elon’s broken ass app fighting day in and day out and for what…

24. No ship is worth shipping right now.

I’ve been adding to this post for over a month and my outlook on shipping has been evolving during that time. I’ve held back on posting this because I’m not sure if I want to include myself or share these opinions in any public shipper spaces. I just don’t know if I want to talk or hear what anyone has to say about these ships right now. Shipping has just been so boring recently and it’s understandable why— point 2 of this post is one of the most significant reasons plus others.

The conversations I see in shipper spaces have been more or less the same for the past few months: who’s wearing matching clothes/jewelry, who is and isn’t hanging out, who is and isn’t fanservice, debunking or supporting taennie to prove or disprove different ships, who supported who, who went live and talked about who and the list goes on and on… None of these conversations are stimulating or interesting to me in any way and personally I don’t see how anyone can enjoy these constant circular conversations about the same mundane topics. I don’t think there is anything from any ship worth discussing on this scale right now and I’m honestly just bored🫤. The lack of content from your ships is making a lot of you miserable and I can tell cause the conversations y’all are having are making me feel the same way. I log on and all I see are people thinking they got a hold of a life boat and bragging about it despite the life boat being deflated or in many cases non existent, when we’re all sinking with these ships.

Like I mentioned in point 1, the possibility of any ship still exists and I don’t think this period really proves that any one in particular is “real” or not BUT as shippers, it’s okay to admit that we have nothing to work with right now. There’s nothing worth obsessing over for more than 5 minutes and there’s nothing worth fighting for on the bird app the way y’all do. I think it’s okay to give it a rest for a bit. Get a hobby, read a book, touch some grass, go on a walk, fill out a job application—ANYTHING!! Anything else is worth doing than obsessing over these slowly sinking ships. I’m not against anyone talking about their ship or anything (you do you) but the continuous pulling sh!t out of thin air to fight about and talking about the same fucking ring for 5 days in a row is an interesting way to spend your time to say the least.

So I guess what I’m trying to say is it’s not the fact that anyone is still shipping but it’s the way it’s being done. It’s the fact that very minuscule interactions and occurrences are being given any significance. And I mean shipping has always been like this but it’s becoming increasingly annoying to me and whilst I was somewhat engaged before, i don’t feel any need to care that shippers are being shippers (dumb) right now. I’ve still been watching videos of my ship and all of BTS really (I miss them so bad) and I’ll definitely be one of the first ones up when my ship breathes but even then I don’t know…

Anyway, those were my opinions! I may have others but these are all that have come to mind thus far. I don’t think any of this is particularly new or really controversial to be honest. They have all most likely been said before by other people but I just wanted to give my take I guess. Whilst I gave opinions on general subsets of shipper moments (eye contact, jealousy etc..) my views are quite fluid and can change from moment to moment.

Please note that I am not claiming that my views are “correct” because I don’t know anything for sure either so I am not trying to change anyone’s mind here. This is mainly in regard to the specific ship moments I mentioned. I was wracking my brain about whether or not I want to give any of my opinions on specific ships here cause I really want to talk about shipping from a general stand point on this blog. I came to the conclusion that no one would die if I said one thing about jikook or vmin or taennie right…RIGHT???🫣

I didn’t write this in order so the change in tone in different parts compared to others is crazy to me. I went from being so enthusiastic about sharing some of these to not caring much at all lol. I have a few interesting posts about shipping and other BTS-related things I’ve been slooooowwwwwllllllly adding to but I am not sure when or if they’ll ever see the light of day at this point.

~🐝

#opinions #BTS #bts ships #jikook #taennie #vmin #taekook #Yoonmin #bangtan #solos #i'm tired and bored #shippers are being shippers #touch grass or something #let's give it a rest

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emeritus-fuckers · 1 month

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Hi, feel free to ignore. I don’t know why this is making me panic so much but I’m a writer and I write Sodo being called Sodo instead of Dewdrop, some ghost fans seem to be getting a little mad that he’s not being called Dewdrop and I was wondering why you decided to call him Sodo?

Im unfortunately a chronic people pleaser and this is kind of tearing me apart part, I’m so very confused.

(I admire you very much by the way rat for sticking to your own beliefs and Hc’s and not going against your beliefs to please one person you don’t even know through a screen)

hi!

i believe the reason people get pissy about sodo being called sodo and not dewdrop (bleh) is because the man behind the mask is called the sodomizer and even has a tattoo of the word on his stomach, which leads people to apparently lose their minds because "it's disrespectful" to him by "blurring the line between him and the character" which is just nonsense, honestly.

sodo started out as a bassist, which would make him a water ghoul, so he was named dewdrop because compared to the rest of the band at the time, he was relatively small.

however, he is now the main guitarist. a fire ghoul. i do not see how a fire ghoul would be called dewdrop.

it's even more silly when you realize that papa called sodo that (well, sodomizer, which sodo is a short form of) multiple times. hell, at my own ritual, we were yelling out sodo.

the people behind the ghouls masks are very much aware of what we call them. at least some of them (sodo, aether and phantom definitely) are and they have no problem with being called that. sodo reacts to being called sodo.

fun fact, there was also a discourse about how apparently he's uncomfortable with dewdrop, but from what i've read, it wasn't from him, it was just misinformation which spreads in the fandom at a ridiculously fast pace.

for me personally, there are a few reasons i chose sodo over dewdrop.

one, it's a fucking fire ghoul. i'm not calling a fire ghoul dewdrop.

two, i view switching elements as something similar to being trans. partially because i'm trans myself. calling him dewdrop feels to me like deadnaming him.

three, it's a bit similar to mary goore's pronouns for me. while mary can be a he/they or a they/them, calling mary goore a "he" makes me uncomfortable. calling sodo dewdrop also makes me uncomfortable.

and lastly, i just don't like the name, in all honesty.

in the end, i believe that what he's called will depend on your own opinions and maybe when you joined the fandom, but calling sodo anything other than sodo feels wrong to me, so i'm sticking with that. i do accept asks where he's called dewdrop, but i always call him sodo either way.

if people are getting mad at you for this and making you panic, inform them that this is your choice as a writer and they are free to leave whenever they fucking please. it's your art. as long as it doesn't hurt anyone, you should be free to do anything you please with it. and calling a character a different name isn't gonna hurt anyone, trust me.

the people getting pissed at you probably have nothing better to do with their time. if i can skip a post with sodo being called dewdrop and ignore a post with mary being called a "he", they can ignore your posts/fics if they don't like a name or a headcanon. and if they don't and they seek out drama over something so petty, their opinions aren't worth caring about.

i used to be a chronic people pleaser, too, back when i wrote fanfiction on wattpad. and let me tell you, it made me feel terrible. i was pushing out chapters and publishing pieces i didn't like because people liked them. i was genuinely convinced my work was bad because it made me feel bad to write it.

eventually i decided to let go, completely switched out a fanfic in a way that people hated but also made me much happier. it's your writing and your decisions. other people don't get to dictate that. i'm sticking with my own headcanons because it's my blog. i made this blog. i am the main writer. if you disagree with a headcanon, you can move past my blog and go read someone else's fanfiction.

the best piece of advice that i can offer you, anon, is to remember that you're one of the people you're supposed to please. and the only one that truly matters in the end. if you ever wanna talk about those things, send me an ask on my main and i'll dm you (non-mutuals can't dm me for personal reasons) so we can talk more.

people suck. have fun writing.

- nosferatu

#ask #anon #nosferatu's asks

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balanceoflightanddark · 2 years

Text

On Whitewashing the Fire Nation

I've already talked about some of the problems with whitewashing various Fire Nation characters in my past posts. In particular with Ursa in regards to the comics, and how Azula got an unfair treatment compared to everyone else.

The thing is...Ursa was not an isolated incident. In fact, I would go so far to say that almost all of the Fire Nation characters (sans Azula of course), gets off easy in the narrative. At least in comparison to the victims of their campaigns of conquest during the Hundred Year War.

Now again, this was present in the original show. After all, the Earth Kingdom soldiers that went after Iroh were portrayed in a negative light while Jet and Hama were ultimately portrayed as antagonists for lashing out against the Fire Nation (ultimately in destructive ways but still). And again, this was mitigated by the Fire Nation being the ultimate bad guys and having needed to be taken down.

The problem comes along the moment when the Fire Nation become the good guys...and not a whole lot about their behavior changes.

I'm gonna be using images from the comics so...get those goggles on.

As mentioned before in various posts, the comics seem to take a belief that colonialism isn't inherently bad, and that progress supersedes tradition and whatnot. Case in point:

He says things are better in the colonies...despite seeing a citizen in Earth Kingdom garb shine the shoes of an old Fire Nation citizen.

Now there have been a lot of discourse and posts about the pro-colonialism on display in the comics so I'm not going to go into much depth there. What I am gonna go in depth though...is Zuko. I will admit I am not the biggest fan so feel free to take my opinions with a grain of salt.

I feel Zuko's character has regressed to his Book 1 self without the narrative actually calling him out on his bullcrap. Aside from his colonial attitudes, he does a lot of the same shit he did in the beginning: being hungry for the throne, hotheaded, picking fights, and overall just making things worse. Yet because he's now a "good guy", none of these actions are called out on.

Hell, in *North and South*, he shows up in this:

Yeah! That's not gonna cause problems for a people who got raided and brought to the edge of extinction!

Oh! And when somebody rightfully questions Zuko on why the hell he's even there and calls him an Ash-maker (an apt title since Zuko did raid Katara's village and ash became a feared substance following the raids)?

Zuko is able to get away with shit he pulled in Book 1 because he's on the "good side" now. And anyone who's against him is automatically treated as being a bad guy or at the very least in the wrong.

To be fair, it's not like Zuko can't regress. That is obvious. The problem comes when he's not called out on any of his shit. Which of course includes:

No I won't let him live that down. Ever.

Also let's talk about Azula for a minute.

In stark contrast, Azula's demonization often goes hand in hand with this whitewashing. Aside from Zuko of course, almost every character from the Fire Nation hates Azula's guts and think she's some kind of bogeyman out to get them. Since Azula is our designated villain here, that means that whoever hates her is automatically a good guy or at least treated better by the narrative.

There's just one little problem with that.

None of the characters who hate on Azula automically look better. In fact, I'd argue it makes them look even worse.

Take Mai and Ty Lee for example:

They just flat out admitted that they were fake friends to Azula. Even though she genuinely enjoyed their company in the series proper, otherwise their betrayal wouldn't have affected her so damn much.

Not to mention this is a piss poor attempt to garner sympathy since even if they didn't like Azula, they sure as hell didn't mind going along with her to cause trouble in the Earth Kingdom and conquer Ba Sing Se.

Hell, Mai was raring to go without much convincing:

As for Ty Lee...did you see her face when she was ambushing Katara?

Yeah, I call bullshit on their attempts to whitewash those two.

Then we get to Ukano. Ukano...you know this asshole:

The guy who canonically was in control of an occupied territory by the Fire Nation, the guy who canonically was responsible for Mai's terrible upbringing and made her feel like a doll, the same guy who wanted to put Ozai back on the throne...STILL GETS TREATED WITH MORE SYMPATHY THAN THE LITERAL CHILD SOLDIER!!!!!!!

...clears throat...

I'm sorry, but you cannot have Ukano pull all that shit and have him be sympathetic when he's against Azula.

And the same goes for the rest of the Fire Nation characters. Azula is a scapegoat to try and make them look better, but it fails since it seems like they're trying to dodge responsibility instead of improving themselves. And they STILL haven't changed meaningfully at all from the series proper. Meaning they still have that Fire Nation colonialist and imperialistic attitude yet somehow they're the good guys.

In the process of whitewashing and playing the blame game, the writers made the Fire Nation look holier-than-thou and thus utterly despicable. Like they never needed to change outside of having Zuko as a ruler. Sorry, but that's not how it works people. Especially since these guys are the ones in power while Azula is labelled a terrorist despite not pulling any of the crap mentioned above.

#atla comics critical #atla critical #smoke and shadow #the promise #north and south #the search #anti atla comics #azula #princess azula #azula deserved better

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firefly-sky · 2 days

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What's the issue with people drawing art of Kyle that gives him a negative opinion about what's happening in Gaza? I'm sure he would canonically be upset about all the killing going on. I could understand if people were saying Kyle would be calling for the total abolishment of Israel or supporting Hamas but I haven't seen anyone doing that. The only Free Palestine art involving Kyle that I've seen was actually done by a Jewish person. A lot of Jewish people, even within Israel itself, agree that their government is going too far in their retaliation so why is it bad to think Kyle would be one of them? I'm not trying to start a fight or something. I'm genuinely curious why it's wrong.

It’s kind of an objective thing. It’s not really something that you would want to have people draw. From what I’ve seen nobody drew stuff like that when it came to Russia and Ukraine. It’s also because most of the art is just of Kyle, and because people tend to use it to tokenize Kyle. And the art only ever seems to be of Kyle. And I’m convinced it’s because he’s Jewish. It’s wrong because it tokenizes him and it gives permission for others to tokenize and marginalize him. I’ve also seen that that kind of stuff tends to hurt other Jewish people so regardless of whether the person drawing that stuff is Jewish, it hurts other people sometimes. And a Jewish person drawing art that can tokenize Kyle kinda gives permission for anyone to tokenize him. But I do suppose it isn’t my place to speak. I don’t wanna get political on here. He would be angry about the killing. But I also don’t think he would ignore October 7th. It’s hard to forget that too. That’s where it’s hard with this. Not just the thousands of years of conflict, but also the fact that you can’t ignore the rep it’s given Jews outside and within Israel. Like you said, it’s the government. And tokenizing doesn’t help people. And it just adds fuel to the fire and gives an okay for non Jews to do it too when it’s made by a Jewish person.

I know it’s a stretch but it’s like me making fan art tokenizing Jimmy to being disabled. It’s not okay to do just because I’m technically disabled. Idk, am I making sense?

#idk am i wording this right #south park #kyle broflovski #skipper speaks #asks #anon #answered

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butch-reidentified · 8 months

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Your lack of self awareness about your own "dysphoria" is causing you to justify an extremely antifeminist industry and those profiting from selling marginalized women self-destruction. You have all the expected comorbidities (OCD/anorexia/body dysmorphia plus unresolved trauma from extreme homophobia) of someone in your position, shared with most female people who seek this surgery, and not someone with an implausible, never validated neurological disorder that coincidentally happens to map precisely onto misogynistic and homophobic ideas of the female body. Your "resolution" of symptoms is dependent on defending your decision and not the actual reality of the results. Your comorbid issues (especially OCD, which your wife is enabling) are obviously still raging through your life no matter what you say. It is a direct insult to every woman who feels violated by what happened to them to claim that not only are you one of the only people on the planet to truly need this surgery but that you read their stories of profoundly woman-hating trauma to convince yourself that you were a uniquely informed and more authentic candidate. P.S. I would "pull up" but I have a job instead of whatever grift you run. Good luck and hope you figure this out before too many other women see you as a role model.

LMAO this is so so amazing thank you. when I tell you this reads like TRA arguments... straight up making things up, projecting, absurdity, and ad hominem bs. delightful!

long post incoming but I am gonna break this down on a micro level bc I haven't talked about these topics in a minute + I'm high and it seems like fun, like a satisfying puzzle, kind of, to break this down into individual parts and address each part. Plus, asks like this provide opportunities to really dive into nuance and detail on several of one's ideas, experiences, and worldviews all in one place, which I've always enjoyed.

I am gonna preface by saying several parts of this are blatantly bad faith, and I am answering more for others to read than for anon. In particular, the claim that I said I am one of the few people who "truly NEED" this surgery. Given you clearly read at least some of my posts on dysphoria, certainly you saw that I repeatedly emphasized that I never have or will view this as a "need." It's also worth noting that most of my posts on this were written quite some time ago, and I don't remember everything I ever wrote on the topic off the top of my head, but I 150% do know myself and what thoughts and feelings I've had and which I've not had on the matter.

ok so first off, I have literally not ever ever even once encouraged anyone to pursue a single elective surgery & have very consistently done the opposite. just because I feel chill about my surgery personally does not mean that I support that industry, actually. in fact, if i knew everything i know about that industry now, I would not get the surgery... but that's a matter of choosing to boycott the industry, not a matter of how i feel personally about my individual experience. how I feel has literally nothing to do with my opinions/beliefs/values. I dont choose how I feel, but I fully choose my moral code.

in fact, my honesty about my story is not supporting that industry in a single way - it simply is not lying. people like you would have me lie to further a narrative rather than be genuine and candid, which puts us on the level with TRAs since that is precisely what they do. it comes down to this: you are asking me to either be silent about (lie by omission) or knowingly misrepresent (outright lie) my experiences because you lack the capacity for nuance to fit them into your narrative without harming the integrity of said narrative. But I don't under any circumstances do that, regardless of whether or not I agree with said narrative (and in this case, I very much do agree). If you cannot work the nuances of my lived experiences into your narrative about gender ideology and transition without it threatening the narrative that's on you; it's entirely possible to do. I'm not going to lie or censor myself just because you're limited in that way.

to be clear, my theory about neurological sex dysphoria is not "implausible;" it is also not something I'm insisting definitely is correct, or I would not call it a theory. And do you even have the qualifications to rule it such, knowing that I am a published neuro/neuropsych researcher (though now retired from that field because I recently found my truest passion)? However, it is not based on absolutely nothing. This answer is already waaay too long, bad habit of mine, but my #ntsd tag includes some posts that elaborate on this. The only thing I am going to specifically say on this matter is that having a processing disconnect (which has literally been visialized on fMRI) that caused my breasts to physically feel like a prosthetic attachment... is not "coincidentally mapping precisely onto misogynistic and homophobic ideas of the female body." This assertion doesn't even make sense in the context of everything I've said previously. I have never believed in the "body mapping" theory of dysphoria that you clearly are referring to by "mapping... onto the female body."

Additionally, I am not sure how you see logic in making this claim when misogynistic ideas of the female body are not known for being devoid of breasts. As I've said in practically every single post on this topic that I've made, I never went through a period of actually wanting to reject womanhood, be perceived socially as not-a-woman, or believing that womanhood and femininity were synonymous. That simply was not my motivation, and as I've said before, pain from chronic cysts was a large part of my decision. Lots of women on here have spoken about how they never went through those period either, yet I'm the only one I've seen get shit for it & get accused of thinking I'm better than other women for it. I never claimed or remotely implied that, and it has never in my life so much as occurred to me as even a hypothetical concept to feel superior about something like that. The only difference between me and most of the women on here who never went through those periods is that I had an elective mastectomy - but I did so while still entirely secure and at peace in my womanhood. Whether you find my truthful experience to be inconvenient or hurtful is entirely on you, not my responsibility to bury my own feelings and my own story for your comfort.

My lack of regret is not remotely "dependent on defending my decision." This is another statement that you would never make in a million years if you'd ever had one single irl conversation with me. I have no hesitation about admitting when I'm wrong. I do it /all/ the time. I don't have a pride issue, so "defending my decisions" is not something that matters to me. Again, you are projecting and you are assigning qualities to me without even the most basic knowledge of me as a person. I have not to date had a single human being on here miss quite this hard in an attempt to come at me. There's a lot about me, like anyone, that's ripe for completely justifiable criticism, and you've somehow managed to select some of the least applicable few assertions about me that you could find. Fact of the matter is I'm not prone to regret in the first place, and even factoring the dysphoria thing out of the conversation entirely, I genuinely like not having the inconvenience of large breasts and not having the pain of constant cysts, which i would still have if I'd gotten a reduction rather than mastectomy.

furthermore, you are making wildly unfounded claims. "lack of self awareness" lmfao this is pure gold. the people that hate me most in the entire world would laugh out loud if you tried to say that about me in front of them. I have plenty of flaws, plenty of areas I need to improve, but self-awareness is not one of those, not something I have ever in my entire life before this ask had a single soul give me constructive feedback about. so that was kinda trippy actually!

I literally do not have a single one of the mental health issues you're claiming I do, nor do I have any unhealed trauma at all (and have not in a long time), as I've spoken about in-depth more than once, especially since my first ever Neuropsych research publication was on PTSD and I previously worked as a trauma therapist for patients with comorbid substance use disorders. I have a number of genetic physical health conditions, but my mental health is honestly excellent. Not to say I've just been totally cheerful my entire life, but at this point in my life, I have been healed long enough that it's almost surreal to look back on a time when I wasn't, and I am deeply happy with my career, my marriage, my relationships with my family and friends, my home and my pets, my hobbies... all of it. And I'm incredibly excited for the plans my wife and I have for our future.

The body dysmorphia claim is especially funny to me because one literally cannot possibly be any more neutral and at ease in their relationship with their body than this. I have said it several times on here, but I place as much value on my appearance now as I did when I was 4. Pretty much the only time I consider my appearance at all is to make sure I look professional and sharp for something like a business meeting. I talk about true body neutrality being attainable fairly often specifically because I've experienced it firsthand, so I know it can be done. I have a strict rule against speaking on shit I don't actually know.

but if you think that by reading my tumblr blog, you know my mind better than I do and better than medical professionals, that's just blatantly delusional and peak chronically online behavior. ESPECIALLY as someone who does not know me in any capacity. the audacity to make claims about not only me but also my WIFE, who you know nearly nothing about and does not even use this site.... it's genuinely mind-boggling for you to be running your mouth about some "lack of self awareness" shit given the content and tone of this ask.

same thing with you deciding you are able to speak for "every woman who feels violated by what happened to them." that is lack of self awareness and it is projection. your assertion that I read those women's painful stories of woman-hating trauma before having my surgery "to convince myself that I was a uniquely informed and more authentic candidate" is SUCH bullshit even you have to know you're lying. that comment is so bad faith it's a bit impressive, but mostly just disgusting on your part. I read detrans stories freely shared by both sexes on public platforms, with the specific intention of canceling my planned surgery the second I encountered one single thing I might have in common with those stories in terms of motivation to get the surgery. There is such a massive difference between trying to learn from others' mistakes and using others' trauma to validate your choices. You are lying if you try to act like I wasn't very clear about which one I did. I waited 5 or 6 years from when I learned that this surgery was even a thing to move forward. I waited until my prefrontal cortex was "done cooking" as the internet likes to say. I pursued multiple other treatment options, not one of which was "gender affirming" bc I did not buy into gender ideology back then, either. And I educated myself on the experiences of those who regretted it with the purpose of minimizing my risk of regret by NOT moving forward if I found that I related to any of the motivations that led them to pursue surgery and ultimately regret it. I was not blindly stubbornly committed to surgery; I was always very much open to canceling if it felt right. Yes, having chosen that process of literally informing myself DID make me uniquely informed... that doesn't mean i'm better than anyone else, though. it's just the reality of putting a half decade of work and analysis and thought into a decision that absolutely nobody pressured me into, compared to the pretty common experience of being misled by trans ideology and/or rushing into this surgery. I am very much aware that I'm not special or superior just because I am flat out lucky enough to have not had anyone trying to manipulate, mislead, rush, or pressure me to get surgery, and insanely lucky to have not had pain or complications from it. And yes, despite my unconventional path to surgery, I also know I am very lucky to not regret it. All the more reasons I don't promote it.

you have constructed an image of me, my wife, and my daily life in your mind based on reading my blog and absolutely nothing more than that. even if you are engaging negatively with that image, criticizing it/me, etc., this is a parasocial engagement by definition.

The above is exactly what you have done. Parasocial interactions don't have to be positive. You are deluding yourself if you truly, genuinely believe you have the remotest understanding of who I am or how I live.

out of curiosity, did you intentionally fail to mention that I had medical reasons for my mastectomy in addition to dysphoria? or did you just conveniently forget about that despite how frequently I've talked about it?

as an afterthought: the implication that unlike you, I don't have a job is fucking golden given that you've clearly been reading a LOT of my posts and I don't believe for one second that you simply missed all the posts where I've talked about the fact that we bought our own home at 24, the fact that my wife and I own our own business, and the extra shit I do just because. but if you like, we can compare our records of how much time per day and week spent on social media 💀

thank you for this ❤️❤️❤️

#mine #ask #anon ask #anon #parasocial relationships #sex dysphoria

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flowerfletching · 4 months

Text

! TW for mentions of trauma and mental health !

Okay so I know this might sound bad but in all honesty...I think we need more Crowley angst. I love him dearly and he's one of my favorite characters, he's even my comfort character, and that's exactly why I need to subject him to as much sad as possible. And I don't just mean angst surrounding the fact that he loved Pauline and had to cope with her getting married to Halt, though I do think there's good angst there and that it can be a great thing to explore, it can also be a great factor in the next thing I'm about to say. The angst I mean is like full blown trauma and mental health issues being explored. Like, you can not tell me that Crowley isn't traumatized at least a little bit. He's been through war, has seen countless deaths, has made so many incredibly difficult decisions that almost no one else may have been able to make, has Halt for a best friend- The list can go on. And then there's also the fact that I genuinely don't believe that Crowley just doesn't have mental health issues. That's because I'm pretty sure that he'd have at least some level of PTSD from all the war and stuff, not only that but he'd also have carry all the guilt and stress that his job brings as well.

I think he also has to be like a constant support for many people so that adds on to his stresses too, though I think that could be one of his reasons to live too depending on the situation. I'm sure he does care about them but I don't doubt that it could still weigh on him. I've also noticed that he jokes around and smiles a lot, which is fine, but it could be like a coping mechanism. Or it could also be a way to hide how he's really feeling. It could be absolute hell in his head but he still might never let anyone know, he may not even think of doing such a thing. The reason could be that he's worries about bothering people with his mental health, that he thinks everyone else is in enough pain that he doesn't want to add on with his own, or that he doesn't think he can even be saved at this point, or it could even be for some other undiscovered reason.

Not to mention that I don't think we even know much about his backstory, though I could be missing something and I could be very wrong. But if I'm right that means that we have no idea of the pains he went through when he was younger, and that we can forge a past for him for him to have to suffer through.

I understand that none of this may be canon and I'm not claiming that any of it is, I just want to see more people explore just how much sad a broken and mentally ill Crowley can cause. I understand that we have established traumas to work with like Will's enslavement and Halt's family issues, and I do think they're good to play around with, just to be clear. But I want to see people mess with Crowley a bit more.

Not to mention the different ways that we can play around with it too. Just him having trauma and horrible mental health alone could be bad enough but just imagine him having to suffer through it alone. Or you could imagine how it could be if anyone found out. That could be through him either telling someone or through them finding out in one of the worst ways possible, or through any other way your mind can create.

There are so many possibilities with this in my opinion and I hope I have convinced you at least a little bit with this ramble of mine, though I completely understand if I didn't and I am in no way trying to pressure anyone into creating something they aren't comfortable with. Like I said before, I absolutely love Crowley and believe that he deserves the world so I have no issue reading and seeing him getting that, in fact I'd love to see more of it! But I also can't help but wonder what it would be like to see his world burn to ashes, or worse, to see the people who see him as their world have to watch him slip through their fingertips just because he could save everyone, and yet no one could save him from himself. But I think that's enough of me so I will leave you with one final question: will you join me in exploring just how traumatized Crowley Meratyn can really be?

#ranger's apprentice #crowley meratyn #angst #trauma

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penname-tbd · 2 days

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omg i have SO MANY thv questions, please brace for impact:

3, 14, 15 for wren

14, 18, 19 for doctor professor AND vale

OH BOY!! Let's start with Wren's questions:

3. How did you choose their name?

I picked Wren because I was picturing them with light brown hair, kind of the color of a wren - so a little bit arbitrary, lol. For their last name, Argent, I think I just picked it because it sounded cool.

14. If you had to narrow it down to 2 things that you MUST keep in mind while working with your OC, what would those things be?

Thing Number One: They're too confident for their own good, and this will always get them into trouble. Thing Number Two: They're too witty for their own good, and this also gets them into plenty of trouble.

15. What is something about your OC that can make you laugh?

Oh, always their dialogue. Either in villain form or civilian form, Wren has been funny from the beginning. I was rereading an early draft today where they (as Phantom) said, in the middle of a fight, "I'm new at this whole villain thing, am I doing okay?" and I laughed out loud.

(I'll put the rest of the questions under a cut; this got long.)

Doctor Professor's questions:

14. If you had to narrow it down to 2 things that you MUST keep in mind while working with your OC, what would those things be?

First thing, Doctor Professor is dry and sarcastic as fuck; this is generally their default. Second thing, though: although they do this to Vale, too, they can never directly undermine him in front of other people. They just won't do it; they know it'll piss him off too much.

18. What is the most recent thing you’ve discovered about your OC?

I discovered that Doctor Professor is a super fun first-person narrator! I wrote a short story from his POV for my fiction class and I had a great time with it. He's very good at balancing humor with seriousness, which is incredibly important in his profession as a villain-medic.

19. What is your favorite fact about your OC?

Doctor Professor was her drag name in college!! She only stopped doing drag because she just doesn't have enough energy for performing, lol (and probably because med school was eating up a lot of her time). She picked it as her villain name because she knew it would annoy Vale.

And last but not least, Axton Vale:

14. If you had to narrow it down to 2 things that you MUST keep in mind while working with your OC, what would those things be?

First thing: Vale handles himself with a surgical precision. Every action and word out of his mouth is incredibly deliberate - if it's not, then something has gone horribly wrong. Second thing: He must be in control of every situation at all times. He cannot, under any circumstances, show vulnerability, which includes any indication that he cares about anyone other than himself. (There are some universes where he's progressed beyond that a little bit, but not in canon, lmao.)

18. What is the most recent thing you’ve discovered about your OC?

Axton Vale is queerer than I thought! He's actually demiromantic and demisexual, in addition to being bi - not that he would ever claim any of these labels for himself. He believes that he's an average heterosexual man, and nothing will convince him otherwise. But he feels genuine attraction much less often than he thinks he does. It would probably be useful for him to at least learn that there's a difference between romantic and sexual attraction, but I'm not sure that he ever will.

19. What is your favorite fact about your OC?

Oh, boy. It's hard to pick one that's unrelated to me laughing at him for being a repressed cishet man. I guess a fun one is that he has unexpectedly strong opinions about interior design. He prefers a certain modern minimalist aesthetic, but he doesn't like stark white HGTV hellscapes, either. He and DP used to watch home design shows just to make fun of them.

Thank you for the questions!! :)

#wip: the hero's villain #they speak #asked and answered #oc: wren argent #oc: axton vale #oc: doctor professor #damn vale's responses are so long lmao 😭#can you tell how much time i spend psychoanalyzing this man??

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pikahlua · 2 years

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As a fellow Bakugo fan I must ask, are you not even a little bit mad that Hori jobbed Bakugo (as well as others) so bad to make Deku look good? As a Bakugo fan who doesn't really like Deku, I'm considering droping the manga and I'm sad about it because I've been reading the manga for 3 years. I know that Bakugo will probably rise and do something but I still find the entire thing distasteful

Given how many asks I keep receiving to this effect, let me make this one thing perfectly, utterly, ear-ringingly clear.

[looks straight into the camera and leans in to place my lips directly on the microphone]

No. I ain’t even mad, bro.

1. I have not been holding back my disappointment or refraining from criticizing Horikoshi out of politeness. I genuinely enjoy what’s been going on with Katsuki in the manga 100% since the beginning of this arc. I don’t think anyone should or shouldn’t enjoy the arc just because they’re a fan of Katsuki. I don’t think it means anything about you as a Katsuki fan if you like or dislike it. The fact of the matter is, I am a giant Katsuki fan, and I like this arc--and it’s clearly because I see what’s going on in the manga differently from the people who don’t like it. It’s as simple as that.

2. The notion that Horikoshi “jobbed” Katsuki to “make Deku look good” is just, like, your opinion, man. I don’t see it. I see the heavy implication that we’re maybe supposed to think that for like a few chapters, but Horikoshi has signaled SO. FUCKING. LOUDLY. how this is a ploy that I can’t even be mad at how my ear drums are bleeding from the volume. I don’t know how many times I gotta say it: when a character SAYS THE TROPE OUT LOUD (e.g. AFO vs Jirou), you just know the trope’s about to be subverted. But to subvert the trope, you first must play with it.

3. Look, it’s easy to forget the big picture when you’re reading such short chapters like this with only one or two major plot beats per chapter each week. If you’re genuinely not enjoying the manga at this pace, I’d advise you to change it. Read a few chapters at a time. Don’t read weekly. I can only explain my own enjoyment by pointing out that I’ve very consistently followed along with the plot beats while demonstrating that I absolutely vibe with Horikoshi.

Remember that time I was the only one who realized THIS WAS LEADING TO SOME BAD SHIT?

That happened in chapter 344. February. Katsuki wouldn’t get bodied until chapter 362 in August. Did it seem like I was despairing over this premonition for half-a-year? (Well, I mean “despairing” in a bad way that implies I wasn’t enjoying myself.)

But this is what I mean when I say don’t take plot beats at face value, because we have to let the story resolve each situation at its own natural pace. Katsuki is supposed to look like he’s been “jobbed” for Izuku’s sake, and for that to affect us properly, we have to sit with it for a while.

The fact that the above interaction exists gives me all the comfort in the world that what you’re describing isn’t actually happening in earnest in the story. Horikoshi is well aware of what the fuck things look like. He’s reveling in the fact that you’re falling for it. With any luck, the resolution will be that much sweeter for you when he finally gets to it.

(Depicted above is Horikoshi lampshading the point even harder.)

If you don’t want to go through heartache to get to the sweet reward, if that’s not to your taste, then that’s cool. Do your thing. I’m gonna keep doing mine, and I’m having a blast with what we’ve got.

And what we’ve got is a plethora of Katsuki at every turn.

We keep joking about how I can make anything about Katsuki whether or not it’s merited, but at this point I’m convinced I’m supposed to be doing that. I haven’t written fusion theory yet because I’ve been so sleep deprived today, but chapter 369 really nailed home the fact that I’m supposed to be seeing all the characters in each other. AFO is Katsuki Bakugou. Katsuki Bakugou is Izuku Midoriya. Shouto and Iida are Izuku, and Dabi and Tomura are Katsuki, and everyone is All Might, and I could slot anyone’s names in any part of this formula and it will all work fine. The characters are converging on a singularity. So when I see any character do anything, including Izuku doing his thing right now, I am perfectly justified in seeing Katsuki Bakugou alive and well (although I do also get a certain smug satisfaction out of seeing his corpse on the ground like Horikoshi is winking at me each time he draws it).

(Like am I even supposed to be mad that he’s dead? When we’ve got so many other reanimated dead people walking around it might even be construed as a theme?)

Everything is Katsuki Bakugou and vice versa change my mind.

#anon ask #ask pika #my hero academia manga spoilers #katsuki bakugou #the boy #the legend #the fictional character #which is at this point the highest compliment i can pay #this manga is so damn self-aware please never lose sight of that

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lakesbian · 11 months

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I’ve been stuck too nervous to start arc 17 because of all the conversation about it making me nervous. Is there anything you think will convince me to get to it?

this is going to contain some arc 17 spoilers because i can't talk about why it's good without saying at least some concrete things about it

anyway. after some research (making a post asking why people don't like it) i have come to a conclusive awareness of the most prominent reasons 4 the two primary camps of opinions abt arc 17

why some ppl think it's one of the most excellent arcs in the book: - extremely well-written fucked up horror tragedy - extremely cool and scary and interesting perspective on the simurgh (give it up for the simurgh everyone give it up for the simurgh) - engaging character writing & dynamics - context 4 a bunch of worldbuilding shit delivered in an interesting little packidge - some of the best character concepts in the book (noelle/krouse) why some ppl find it boring (have not actually seen anyone who Hates it i think just ppl who find it boring/uninteresting): - no taylor PoV or undersiders for the entire arc - flashback that puts the main plot on pause for the entire arc - underdeveloped and/or uninteresting focal characters - unlikable/annoying focal characters

now obviously i am an arc 17 enjoyer. so my refutations to the reasons i've seen ppl disliking it for are: - this is 100% a matter of personal taste. like it's understandable to be less engaged w/ parts of the story that aren't about your guys of choice, but it worked for me because i enjoy the rotating cast of perspectives. i like how it expands the world of worm more. it Is time spent away from taylor and friends, but it's finally providing context for one of the most built-up mysteries in the book, so, like. i do not mind taking a brief taylor break to read what's basically a really good wormverse horror story. we already have like 1.6 million words of taylor so i think if you're going in with the awareness that you're going to just take a little one-arc break from her and then get back to her & try to be open-minded about it you might find it not such a big deal

- i can understand why it induces "AUGH come on i wanted to find out what happens next" syndrome but i'm a "that's ok we get there when we get there :)" person about books so again i personally did not mind. the pacing just works 4 me. like you get the mystery of wondering what's wrong with noelle -> the dread of having it revealed via arc 17 that she's a simurgh plot and subsequently this was always fated to happen and end horribly -> being thrown back into the Noelle Incident afterwards with full awareness that because it's a simurgh plot horrible things are going to happen. which is good! it provides context at the perfect moment to maximize the impact of revealing how tragic and awful the situation is.

- i do agree that the travelers aren't as well-developed as they could be, oliver & cody particularly, but it wasn't an issue for me during the arc. i think they all have the amount of characterization necessary to make it feel appropriately tense. even if they aren't the most distinct characters in the book, they do their jobs Well Enough. i actually really liked some of the genesis/trickster interactions in particular, and i think the most important character (trickster) ends up really well characterized in a fascinatingly detailed way. it overall captures the gist of what we need to know to be compelled by the travelers just fine.

- no none of them are especially likable but this one is like. fully just a personal taste thing. i don't care if characters in a book are likable people, i care if the narrative & themes are well-written and compelling. which they are! also the fact that krouse fucking sucks and the character dynamics are all unpleasant and uncomfortable is genuinely a pro of the arc 4 me. them fucking sucking and causing problems is part of their charm, and also literally integral to why their character concepts are interesting. "found family that never should have been a family" is by default going to involve some level of suckiness. also, like, taylor isn't likable. she's manipulative and violent and uncommunicative and would generally be awful to hang out with. all of which is part of her charm. if you can like taylor for the interesting ways in which she sucks (affectionate) then surely you can like the travelers for the interesting ways in which they suck (affectionate). but even if you don't their Story is still worth breaking down and paying attention to. because it's good.

best case scenario for reading it is you think it's excellent (which it is) worst case scenario you just find it kind of boring. which isn't a big deal, there are plenty of worm arcs that people find meh. if you've gotten thru the rest of worm you can get thru arc 17 too, it's ultimately just another worm arc at the end of the day. one i would highly recommend, but ultimately just another worm arc. no reason not to give it a try, because all that will happen is you'll either go "that was good" or "didn't love that" and then carry on with the rest of the book.

#ask #scarf don't look #worm spoilers #hope that helps

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dr-wormman · 1 year

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Hello and welcome to my very cool Fernando essay. Rant. Thing. Might make sense and might not. I don't know

For those unaware (I can't imagine anyone who follows me for my Paladins art doesn't, but if you don't I still love you dearly), the Fernando that we know and love isn't actually *Fernando*-- he's a guy pretending to be his late mentor (AKA the REAL Fernando. Fernando no.1). This means that anything that Fernando no.2 says or does may or may not be indicative of how he actually feels or thinks, which makes it kind of difficult to get a feel for how he actually is under the armor. but I think I might Get It.

I don't know if I'm going to phrase this how I am thinking it but I will try: Fernando reminds me a bit of Don Quixote… Unlike Don Quixote, Fernando is quite literally a knight who does real knight things, but he’s similar in the way he acts like how he Thinks a knight acts. To the point where it's so exaggerated and comical that it feels like a caricature. He is genuinely courageous and confident (how much of that confidence is genuine I don't know) but that confidence is (translated?) into narcissism and that courage into recklessness. He's definitely reckless, but I think most of that narcissism is an act– a way for him to not only convince others, but also himself that he IS Fernando and he's proud of it. He's likely self-aware that he acts like a jackass (or maybe he isn't and he has more in common with Don Quixote than I think) but he can't really tone it down at this point because he's established That That Is How Fernando Acts. Speaking of jackassery… His flirting with women.

I think two things are happening here; 1) he's leaning way too far into the ‘chivalrous lady’s man knight’ persona he thinks All Knights Have, and 2) he's trying REALLY hard to make sure no one finds out he's gay. (and also the devs did not plan to make him gay. Lol). Based on one of the lines from… I think Cassie? He's been persistent in his flirting with her even though she's said that she doesn't like it…So not cool… I think he does this partly because he IS kind of a jackass at heart but also because he's thinking “if I show that I'm REALLY into women then no one will suspect that I'm Not”. May also be because he thinks all knights do this. Quick detour for a second; I'm pretty sure he's basing what he knows about knights on what he's seen from his mentor, so he's actually doing a pretty good job impersonating him, but he also doesn't realize that he's not obligated to act this way. People can change, even your dead mentor that you're impersonating. He doesn't know this, because he might actually be as silly as he acts (I haven't decided yet). Anyway, back to The Closet of His Own Making… I don't think homophobia exists in the Paladins universe (there are magic crystals and rabbit people and the giant worm who wants to eat the universe. Gay people are the least of their concern) so there wouldn't be any backlash if he were to come out (or even engage in homosexual activity on the DL). So he's not concerned with it having any repercussions on his career as a knight, or public opinion, or whatever, just with it potentially giving away that he isn't who he says he is (which I guess would end up impacting those things anyway. Huh). A lot of people point to Fernando flirting with women as ‘evidence’ of him being straight (I mean, you can HC whatever you want, I don't care, but if the devs say it's canon, it's canon, no matter how… Not Thought Out it Was) but I'm actually really happy about those lines because I feel it adds to the Fucked-upness of his character.

I wrote something a little while ago that I'm basically going to summarize now; I feel like… Fernando is VERY insecure. That's probably obvious, Considering, you know, He's impersonating another dude. It's like he has imposter syndrome… but he kind of IS an imposter– he would be, 100%, if it weren't for the fact that he has actually done things, and accomplished things, he's not just taking credit for things he hasn't done while he sits back and does nothing – all of Fernando no.1’s accomplishments prior to his death do not belong to Fernando no.2, but everything after that Does, and I would say that Fernando no.2 has accomplished more than Fernando no.1 if you look at where he’s at now. He's constantly worried about slipping up, saying more than he should, saying the Wrong thing, etc. He’s like “I could expose myself as a fraud at any moment” but he's NOT a fraud at this point. Would there still be disastrous consequences if he revealed himself? Yeah, probably. It's weird, because he's not Fernando but he also IS… He's fought in battles and won, just not as himself. Do you get what I'm saying. He's done the thing he says he does, just not ALL the things. Fernando doesn't realize this, of course, because he's just as silly as he acts (I've decided) and so his internal monologue is a nonstop stream of “I'll never be him, I'll never be as great as him, my life is a lie, I'm not actually as brave/confident/handsome/chivalrous as he was, Etc.”

This has got to be stressful as hell, so why does he keep doing it? I don't know. Lol. But I have a theory (this entire thing has been a theory. Headcanon. Whatever). Fernando genuinely enjoys the attention, the fame, and the money that he gets as Fernando, that's obvious, because why else would he put himself through all this? We know he doesn't come from a noble or rich family (and also received no formal training!!), so I'm thinking he wouldn't have gotten all this popularity if he had just been himself, and he knew this. I'm torn between the idea that he always wanted to fight and be a knight, or him just wanting notoriety and so he decided knighthood would do that for him (horrible sentence structure, couldn't figure out how to write it). It could also be a situation similar to Kinessa’s and why she left the military– because while she Does like sniping, she wasn't getting the money and fame she wanted while she was working for the Magistrate. If Fernando genuinely wanted to fight, he could have enlisted in the Magistrate’s army (or joined the resistance. maybe? Unsure of how old he was when the crystal war shit all started or if he would actually agree with them) or if he was just obsessed with the idea of being a knight, he could do that. The issue for him would be that he doesn't get any fame doing that as Himself. He is a nobody, and while a nobody could become a somebody, it's difficult, and I imagine it would be especially difficult in this sort of pseudo-medieval setting we’ve got going on where 5/10 people are either skilled warriors, literal gods/demons, magical, or have some sort of high status (leader of a kingdom, military, criminal organization, Whatever). Fernando is obviously skilled at combat so I don't think the knight thing was just for funsies. Uhhhhh I had something else to say but I forgot. Will add it here if I remember. It's like “I have to keep doing this because without it I am Nothing.”

Anyhow, I think while we’re probably never going to see this happen officially, Fernando is going to have a breakdown where he sort of implodes from all of the stress that comes with Pretending to be Another Dude for YEARS. Maybe he's just like “shit I can't do this no more” or… Considering he's with the New Magistrate (Aico) now, and working alongside Rei, Khan, and Lian (at least… We see him next to those three in one of the cinematics so I'm assuming that's the case), maybe someone decides to do some digging. A background check. That would be interesting I think.

#text post #paladins #paladins champions of the realm #fernando paladins #love this guy if you couldn't tell #there are so many more things I would like to say but I couldn't fit them in here cause they're would ruin the cohesiveness

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mimibwi · 1 month

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My thoughts on shipping

I have previously been silently exploring BTS ships and decided to put some of my thoughts on “paper”.

Now, I have been aware of the toxicities of certain BTS shipper fandoms and how messy shipping has been for groups that pre-date BTS such as One direction and Fifth Harmony. I have personally never been much of a shipper before BTS and naturally discovering my ship’s bond and starting to appreciate it. It always baffles me how shipping seems to mean different things to different people or groups of shippers. This is heard often but shipping should be something done for fun and I won’t say I hate that logic or that I 100% agree with it because I personally think its okay if you have a slight inkling your favorite pair may be dating/more than what they say they are and you try looking at it a bit more seriously. I think it’s human nature to be inquisitive and curious. However, like everything, there needs to be a limit and I think that’s a huge problem not only in shipping culture but stan culture in general. There’s been so many times that I have seen jokes or otherwise harmless discourses become a bigger deal than they were ever meant to be.

To me shipping is and always would be about observation, (rational) speculation and possibilities. I am never going to fight with anyone to prove my ship is real in a romantic way because to be frank I genuinely do not know. None of us know and that’s okay. I like discussing the possibility of ships (mainly my ship) being real (this always irks me to say cause every ship is real but anyway) and sometimes even theorize things based on that assumption. This is getting a bit messy because I have so much I want to say but I have no structure to it, bare with me.

Basically, what I am trying to say is, I think shipping is okay within limits. Once again, its all about observations and all of us are only human and can’t help but pick up on things from time to time and who knows maybe your hunch might actually mean something. So I never see any shippers or ship dynamic as a competition. I even seek out analysis, theories and videos of other ships because I love to see the different dynamics and how differently we all think and how things can look solely based on one’s perspective. Despite how frustrating it gets, I find shipping culture in itself very interesting. The way the same things can be interpreted in so many ways, seeing how differently people think from me and in many cases how other’s thoughts challenge my perspective and opinions.

The type of shipping I don’t enjoy is the type that:

makes it a competition of who is the closest or which bond is the best.

is already CONVINCED and 100% without a doubt BELIEVES that the ship they enjoy is the “real” one because like I said before none of us know for sure. It gets even worse because this subset of people speak about their theories/analysis/opinions as if its a fact known by many and some of us just need to get with the program.

degrade other members for ships. this is an instant red flag for me and if I’m being honest, many shippers aren’t as forward with the hate they have toward the member that “threatens” their ship. I have seen many shippers say the vilest things or agree with the rudest asks about some of the boys but at the end say “but I love him though” like…do you? do you really?—

push theories and delusions into the boy’s spaces to get confirmation…side eye. This is one of the worst things to me honestly. Shipping is meant to be enjoyed within fandom spaces and no matter how real you think your ship is, there is absolutely no reason to try to bring it to the boy’s attention that you apparently know what they are. Please do not make weird, inappropriate or suggestive comments about ships on their welives, do not DM them about it, do not DM or bug their family, friends and colleagues about it. PLEASE JUST BE NORMAL!!! If a ship is in fact real, they have their reasons for not being public about it and you as a fan of the group and especially as someone who enjoys the pair should be respectful of that. Sure it’s fine to talk about the duos on weverse or tag the boys in cute edits because I’m sure they like that their friendships are appreciated but please be cautious when pushing it to them through a romantic lens.

I think this takes away a lot of the fun of shipping and these subsets of shippers along with others I may have missed out here are the reason that the fandom tries to push out shippers for the most part. I always joke about many non toxic shippers getting thrown into it when all some of us really do is cry and gush about our ship TT its such a shame. But its understandable since the toxic shippers make up a large, VERY LOUD subset of the fandom and with the track record of shipping among groups, I frankly wish a lot of you weren’t around either.

((a lot more below the cut))

My Approach

To me, showing love and appreciation for the very REAL bond that we see is always going to be essential and the basis of everything I do as a shipper. And I am not talking about any theories or analysis of what we’re shown but taking in and appreciating what the boys say and the many ways they show love to each other.

No matter who you ship this is a very easy task to accomplish because the tannies are so loving and every single pair or trio has a special bond that is intriguing to explore. I have learnt so much in the few years I’ve been an ARMY, not only from my ship but from almost every ship and just the tannies on a whole. They’ve taught me a lot about friendship and help me understand the type of relationships I should aim to have and the type of person I want to be for others. These lessons and small appreciations are what I’ve anchored myself to so that I don’t stray too much from this original plot and even if I do, it’s very easy to find my way back.

That being said, I have acknowledged that I can be very delusional. I refuse to believe any of my theories or the theories that any shipper presents to me as 100% fact, no matter how convincing they might sound. I have accepted that everything I theorize about could be 1000% wrong and very very far from what is true and I’m fine with that thought. It’s what allows me to think up far fetch little theories or blip off into these delusional mind bubbles where my ship is real. It’s also why I can get out of my head and acknowledge the fact that it’s likely that no ship in BTS are romantic [ref to My unpopular(?) shipping opinions and this ask]. All of it is because I leave room for deniability.

I’ve expressed this here before but it is very much baffling to me how so many shippers believe with 100% certainty that the pair they like are actually dating and are willing to go to war over it. Y’all are way better than me because I, personally, refuse to look like a fool on the world wide web. Don’t get me wrong, I would definitely defend the tannies from the “not friends anymore” or “fanservice” allegations but I am not going out of my way to fight with delusional people about 2 Korean men (who I don’t know personally😭) being sexually or romantically involved. Y’all can keep that!

Why I don’t believe the believers

Okay now I’ll try to move on and talk about why some shipper discourses or theories don’t hold up to me and why its quite insane and sort of foolish to believe a ship exists in a romantic light 100% based solely on them. The short answer of this is CONTEXT.

Forming opinions and arguments (I am not saying shipping should be an argument but since many shippers treat it like one, I’m addressing it as such for now) about a topic always requires a massive amount of context and a foundation of already factual information to be built from to sound even remotely plausible and valid. That’s why I mentioned before that a lot of this shipping business is speculation and opinions and frankly some of the speculation/opinions I see from shippers just don’t make sense to me. This is all because with BTS and any real person whose life we only see a fraction of, we lack a lot of context and for that reason building a solid argument from a 5 second clip of their life is difficult because we as outsiders are the ones who fill in the blanks. That’s why there usually isn’t any solid or shared opinion on what certain things said or done by the guys mean because we all have different experiences and biases that reflect in the way we see and interpret people’s actions.

Okay, I am going to go into a bit more detail about what I mean and what type of context I am referring to when I say this: (this is where it may get even messier, stay with me)

1// Situational context- This is more for the shippers that breakdown specific moments and (over)analyze them. Personally, I am a big picture person so whilst there may be particular moments that I see as a moment for or against a particular ship being more than friends, most times one clip or period of time doesn’t affect the way I view a ship. I think its drastic to constantly be changing your opinions based on every clip you see or changing it because a ship hasn’t publicly interacted in a while. Despite all of this, there are many things I keep in the back of my mind and maybe even form fun, (tbh) far-fetched theories on but for the most part it doesn’t change much for me. The reason why is because from moment to moment, clip to clip there is so much context that we don’t have about what’s happening in that one moment. Like did x have a bad morning? did he just receive bad/good news? is he looking forward to or dreading what he needs to do after this? is x going through something personally right now? did x and y have a falling out/misunderstanding? is x looking at y or is he just zoned out?

Okay this is going overboard and some of these may sound quite ridiculous but these are some of the millions of things that give context to a situation and for that reason they’re all things that need to be taken into consideration when analyzing the boys. I won’t even lie, I was thinking about Taehyung and Jungkook (to a lesser extent) for these cause if I see someone calling Tae rude or saying Jungkook is jealous one more time I might lose it. I am not saying any of the above ever happened cause once again I don’t know but all I am saying is stating any opinion of yours of a vague moment as fact without even exploring one of the above or any other possible factors is never going to let me take you seriously. I am also not saying every shipper who talks about a moment needs to be able to tell me what x had for breakfast that morning but if you express your observation/opinion as the truth I expect you to be able to give me CONTEXT. It feels like I am going in circles, I told you it was getting messy.

There are moments that hold up quite well on their own and have sufficient context. In other words, some things don’t require much explanation to be seen as truth. I guess what I am trying to say is the amount of factual information you have should remain proportionate to the assumptions and opinions you form. Too many times people use tiny moments to come to huge conclusions and connect dots that make no sense being connected. And I think its fun to be a bit far-fetch and delusional but it becomes a huge issue when nonsensical theories are posted on the internet and pushed to other people who don’t understand how irrational those theories are. Hence, I often believe in freedom of thought more so than freedom of speech; not everything you think needs to be said, you can keep things to yourself or at the very least only share it with one person or two that you trust to understand your intent.

2// Cultural context- I will try not to stick to this for too long because I am not Korean, so I can add very little cultural context to any ship moment minus those I have been told about before. There are some things that the boys do or say that would probably have a different meaning to me vs someone who is aware of Korean culture. There are many times, none that I can pinpoint at this time, that I see a comment or post explaining a clip/moment with cultural context, which changed my view on that particular moment. Like I said, I am threading lightly here cause there is not much I can add to this conversation. I am adding this here to remind you that the moment that is a big deal to you may just be normal for Koreans shrugs. This one is even more difficult than the first because cultural context isn’t something you can just make assumptions about, its something you need to be exposed to to understand. A mere Google search may not even cut it to fully understand as an outsider.

Things like honorifics and politeness levels of speech or even specific translations need to be taken with a grain of salt. The bromance and skinship aspect of K-pop/Korean culture is also a huge part of shipping that may be new to people from different cultures. In many countries in the West, skinship between men isn’t something very normalized or in many cases even socially acceptable so the amount that BTS show physical affection to each other might be startling to many international fans when it’s something that’s more socially acceptable in Korea and normalized amongst their team.

“Holding hands, linking arms, and hugging amongst friends are acceptable ways to show closeness and comfort. So, don’t assume that every two persons holding hands in public are romantically involved! Conversely, public displays of affection by romantic couples are more toned down compared to in societies like, say, the US”. 4 Distinctly Korean Habits To Know Before Going To Korea (sejong.com.sg)

None of this is to say that certain types of skinship can’t mean more to any two members or to say we can’t find the interactions cute or endearing. It once again boils down to the confidence shippers have when using these moments as proof of their ship being the real deal.

3// Differing personalities, beliefs and relationship dynamics- All of these points bleed into each other and are interconnected in some way but I think this one is basically the backbone of all of the others. Despite having situational or even cultural context, its still difficult to draw any clear conclusions because EVERYONE IS DIFFERENT and any analysis or opinion will need to treat them as such—different people with different values, morals, beliefs, likes, priorities, dislikes, experiences and the lists goes on.

No matter how well the boys get on, they have continuously expressed how different all of them are as people. And because of that, no two ship can or should ever be viewed in the same lens. I think this “mistake” is something I see a lot in shipping: X and Y did this and X and Z didn’t hence XY>XZ, I honestly don’t think its that simple. In order to fully grasp a ship and its possibility of being real, you need to have a good idea of who the people you’re shipping are and what their likes, dislikes, values, priorities etc are.

Now this, like all these other points require a lot of assumptions to be made. Firstly, it assumes you interpret everything they say and do the way they meant it to come across, it assumes that their BTS persona is a good reflection of who they are as people OR that you have a good idea who they might be as people. I don’t know how to explain this one cause there are members that we as fans know as being a bit different on vs off camera and some of those differences are known to an extent but once again we’re dealing with a lot of assumptions so its tricky. Anyway, many shipper theories assume that we know how they’d react in various circumstances.

There are a few reasons I am bringing this up and I’ll mention it here to better explain myself. Like I said, I have been searching around at ship content just cause the more you fuck around the more you find out and I have been seeing people’s takes on shipping and forming opinions on them. At some point, I started feeling hypocritical cause of how my opinion may be different for particular ships and I concluded that this point was one of the reasons why. Let me explain-

I saw some people giving % probability scores for certain ships being romantic and the thought came into my head that Yoongi ships, I think they were specifically talking about yoonmin or sope, are not probable to me if we’re seriously thinking romantically. Even as someone who thinks Yoongi may be into men/women/both/none (girl honestly idk). The reason why i think this way is looking at Yoongi and what (I assume) his priorities and goals are in life. I mention in a previous post that I question the member’s willingness to take the risk that would come with being in a relationship with a bandmate and how I think that many of them don’t come across to me as being willing to. Yoongi is the epitome of that opinion for me. I mention this in the next point but dating someone within the same group as you will definitely be a big deal, it will be a PR/HR emergency if anything goes wrong and I don’t see Yoongi as the type of person to want to play around that and sacrifice his work for love whether he felt emotions or even trained himself to the point that feelings don’t develop in the first place. [I’ve said that I never want to date someone in the same field as me and after that, i haven’t found any of my colleagues attractive or as a romantic interest, even when I tried]

I think another example that works really well for this is Jimin and the way a lot of shipper’s interpret him compared to how I do. I think any ARMY or any one who keeps up with BTS for even 5 minutes, can see that Jimin is a very private person. Of all the members, he comes across to me as someone who is very cautious and particular(?) about the way he’s perceived. He’s very careful with his words and his actions. You can watch any video he’s in and see how much he thinks before he says something to the members (especially when it’s of a serious nature) or to ARMYs. A very easy example of this is how concerned he was in the FESTA 2022 video about how we may take what they said and almost pleading for the audience to just take them by their word (something that literally almost every person who watched that video DID NOT do but we move smh…). All of this to say, I can’t subscribe to theories that believe that Jimin is pointing out things between him and his secret partner or behaving risky with them in front of cameras and giggling about it. I can get into this more but I’ll digress.

I am not sure how these examples will come across but these are just some random examples I can think of where I think varying personalities might affect the way I see a ship. This is not me claiming any particular ship is over another or saying that any of these above points are true because my opinions are based on my specific perception of the different members and I am not claiming I know them best.

All in all, there is only so much (little) that we know of them, its difficult to know for certain what any of them would be like in a romantic relationship. However, it seems like many shippers tend to remove the bits of individuality we do see of each member whenever they look into ships which further makes things even more unrealistic and delusional sounding to me.

To add to this, many times shippers interpret things based on their idea of a relationship without really putting themselves in the member’s place. This is totally understandable considering what I mentioned before about us being the ones that fill in the blanks but it’s one of the reasons why we can’t take our theories 100% seriously all the time. At the end of the day, every single relationship is different and something that might be okay for the members in a relationship may not be okay with you or the way the members choose to deal with their relationship may not be how you think it should or would be dealt with. So once again, you can’t take your interpretation of things too seriously. If a ship is real, we aren’t and would never be privy to their private conversations regarding what is okay for them in THEIR relationship. We don’t know what their limits are or how they would choose to maneuver through their relationship on camera so our view of things will always be one-sided.

4// Knowing the gravity of the situation if any ship is real- This one is basically situational context but on a wider scope and might be the most serious of all of these, despite me putting it last on the list. I think a lot of people who ship members romantically do not even consider how serious a situation like that would be. For the most part, I don’t think this is a problem if we’re just having fun but I think people who seriously analyze things the boys do need to take it into consideration. We all are aware at least to some extent of the state of LGBTQ+ in South Korea. Korea is still a very conservative country and though members of the LGBTQ+ community are actively seeking change, things are not as progressive as one would hope.

Taking that into consideration, any two members of BTS— the biggest K-pop group in the world and one of South Korea’s representative brands— being aware that they have more than platonic feelings for each other would be a huge deal. There’s a lot to consider regarding the way the other member’s would approach it, the way the company would approach it and the way the two members themselves would want to deal with it: whether or not they decide to pursue it and if they do, how they go about doing that.

Any two members dating would serve a huge risk for not only those two members but the group as a whole and the other members individually. Aside from the risks of any of the members being queer, the fact that we as shippers aren’t opposed to the idea of two members dating and the fact that many ARMYs would also be open to it if it ever turned out to be the case DOES NOT take away from the fact that such a relationship may be seen as highly unprofessional and inappropriate. We know all the boys are friends who have grown up closely alongside each other and feelings developing is something that is possible but at the end of the day, they are coworkers working together as BTS and many people may not be able to look past that.

I think many shippers look at ships in a very isolated way. They remove the very real world that we live in and all the problems that would come along with a ship being real and opt to live in a world where their ship is real and everything around them is always sunshine and rainbows. And I get it, that’s way more fun but it is not realistic. I think its fine to have this outlook if you are shipping just for fun but that is a lot of the times not the case. Many of these shippers on YouTube, tumblr or X that seriously analyze these relationships tend to feed a very unrealistic, clouded world view to others that may also be very naïve thinking. This is why a lot of theories grow to become these huge nonsensical conspiracies that any rational person can deduce makes absolutely no sense in the real world. Let’s address some specifics:

Addressing some unrealistic shipperverse theories

Any “real” ship in BTS are not being careless with their relationship in front of cameras or when doing other work. All your theories about them kissing on/around cameras or going into changing rooms together during award shows and coming back dishevel will never hold up to me.

If a ship is involved romantically and the company is aware of it, there’s most likely only a small subset of people that would actually know. My guess of who would know is: some higher ups in the company, the members, a select few managers and maybe bodyguards, possibly trusted and long time members of the BTS team i.e. PDogg, Son Sungdeuk, Slow rabbit etc. and perhaps a trusted PR team to advice them on how to deal with things. Even this list feels a bit too extensive. Anyway I am making this point because I don’t get why shippers think that random hairstylists or camera directors or editors would be privy to such sensitive information. And this stands for any relationship really, it’s unlikely that ALL of their staff are even aware if any of the boys are in more “traditional” (heterosexual) relationships so why do some of you act like it’ll be an open secret if any of them are queer.

Theories about love triangles or stories saying a member left a member for another member are so crazy out of touch?? Any one pair realizing their feelings for each other and choosing to pursue it despite the risk it poses to them and to the team is unquestionably a huge deal and would need to be dealt with an immense degree of care. So its very hard to believe that the members are haphazardly messing around with each other, cheating, breaking up and just overall being messy about the whole thing.

I genuinely don’t get why you people think any pair in the group are being blatant and basically trying to out themselves to the public at this point in their career. It’s not far fetched to think that they would have or want some way to express themselves but I doubt it’s as blatant as shippers suggest. Honestly, if a couple does exist amongst the tannies I am not even confident it’s something the public may ever be made aware of…

Conclusion

All in all, I think shipping is something that can be really fun but needs to be done with a huge amount of care and respect. Making assumptions about the boys and being dead set on one particular possibility being the end game can be detrimental, not only to the boys but to you as well. Many shippers are very confident and secure about their ship being real romantically and will stop at nothing to prove their point. This is a very ridiculous approach because I would bet that a secret couple don’t want or need you to prove their realness, they also don’t need you to spread their message to the world and convert people to your side. It really should not be that serious. Shipping should be something that simmers instead of boiling over. Just enjoy what you enjoy without spreading hate and without seeking real life confirmation through the members or dispatch or their family.

With the tannies getting older, it’s important for all of us to have somewhat of an understanding that what we have imagined or want their life to be may just not be what is true. I would hate (though I have already seen it being in the future of some ships😞) to see the larry-fication of any of these ships where 10-15 years in the future, shippers are still making random connections even if the members are known to be married to other people and have 5 kids. With there being 21 unique pairings within the group, even if it turns out that one of them is “real” doesn’t that mean that the possibility of most of us being wrong is greater than us being right. And that is, if we ever find out…

This was always meant to be the first post on my blog but because of the shipper climate around the time I started writing it, I held back on posting it how I initially intended to. I decided to give it a bit of a revamp and edit it to fit with what I want my little blog here to be. I’ve been writing this for almost a year now and have enjoyed putting these thoughts together in a somewhat concise and comprehensible way. Even if you don’t agree with everything I said here, I hope the main point comes across i.e. no shipper knows better than the other, we’re all going based off our own perspective and rational and so we shouldn’t be 100% certain and we shouldn’t be fighting over or confidently pushing ideas that we are probably wrong about. I really don’t care who ships who (ship and let ship) but I certainly think shippers need to be more careful about the things they say and do in the name of ships.

Thank you for reading!💜

~~🐝

links used in the post:

Harry Styles & Louis Tomlinson 'Ships' Into a Delusional Twitter Trend (ccn.com)

Lauren Jauregui Says Those Camila Cabello Relationship Rumors Were ‘So Traumatizing’ | Glamour

https://www.sejong.com.sg/4-distinctly-korean-habits-to-know-before-going-to-korea/

Interesting reads:

Queer Identity in Korea | CIEE

Ask a Korean!: I Love You, Man

It’s all in the Touch – Skinship. (스킨십) | Elwood 5566

LGBTQ Koreans Eager for Anti-Discrimination Bill | TIME

Narrow but Significant Win for LGBT Rights in South Korea (voanews.com)

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mistbow · 11 months

Text

toz negativity rant

it's honestly really disingenuous to say that Z fans can never take criticism and that they always take things too personally when the loudest voices (but ultimately I believe are minority) are always about how bad it is and that the fan environment is not healthy at all when genuinely expressing even the slightest bit of positivity about it in a very unapologetically subjective manner often makes people hostile towards the Z Liker (Opinion Haver), which is far worse than people expressing annoyance at constant negativity surrounding it because at the very least it's still in their own spaces (you don't have to like/agree with everyone, and the least you could do is just leave each other alone. who the heck cares if you like that anime for example, I'm not saying it's wrong as long as you don't bother anyone else. this is actually a proper netiquette/manner in fandoms too to leave others in their spaces for their own preferences, likes/dislikes). I'm talking about unwanted attention like troll replies (both in JP and EN) or recently, something like being downvoted to hell for actually clearing up misunderstandings about Z (not even about any of the game controversies btw) objectively without arguing back (because I sure as hell am already long past convincing anyone who's hell-bent on seeing it as "bad" as actually good, we're not gonna meet eye-to-eye anyway), as if one couldn't say anything positive about it, even if it was a fact.

which is not to say that what I'm saying is a fact. I'm always putting up disclaimers (on here and anywhere else) that my opinions are very subjective. that includes interpretation, and that includes what I value or not in a game, writing, anything. I've always said that I've long accepted that what I often find "good", others often find "bad", and that's okay, but what I don't like is the insinuation that people who genuinely believe something is good must admit that it is indeed bad when you can't force feelings. and yes I say feelings because I'm honest in admitting that these are very personal, very subjective. I dunno what business do people have with me having "bad taste" because I clearly don't mind them having "good taste", just that we will never mix, and oftentimes "good taste" havers will act condescending to me (oh man I don't know how many times people, in this [Tales in general] fandom or not, have lectured me about my own cultures and languages). good for you if you have your own opinions! and I really mean this.

it's hard to put it in words but how can I say something is bad when I do feel it's fine myself? and why must I be forced to think in a way that I don't agree with? that is my actual problem with people who keep saying "Z fans are just coping and lying to themselves and others about it being Good, Actually" (which people often do despite 1) the fans can actually elaborate what they love about it, 2) the fans don't owe anyone any explanation or justification), and it's honestly no one else's business that I'm "uncritical" or whatever. what influence do I have? I barely have any followers here tbh, most are just long-time friends. bannam definitely has long decided that Z is not the way to go judging by how they keep lifting Ar and putting down Z along the way too for some reason. I'm not convincing anyone who doesn't already have Z as their favorite game, because that's pointless. and again, even if people are willing to listen to me? that's... honestly I don't even know why it's my problem tbh?

but anyway tired of people continuing misconstruing what I'm saying lol. there's an honest observation of things seemingly being lost in translation and hard to explain when it largely resonates with a group of people and not with another, but if people want to take it personally when I don't really mean anyone then okay? (though my wording might have been too passive aggressive and I genuinely apologize for that, but really, this is not anything directed/personal) this includes the execution of the narrative btw (I admittedly have really unpopular opinions on writing, judging from how I've often genuinely liked things people, to put it simply, hate). and while we're at this: despite being a part of the group, I will never speak for the entire group (long-time friends can vouch for me), because even then, values are different between each individual. being aware or even understanding doesn't always mean agreeing. the game is polarizing even in Japan after all.

people like Z for the characters, ships, potential (even what they think of wasted potential), it's fine. I personally like it most for the bigger picture of themes and messaging (this includes, yes, the execution of it) and would like to bring up that hey, maybe what you think as objectively bad isn't actually objective. you still can think of it as bad, but other perspectives exist. I happen to like the way things are even before the devs themselves had confirmed that things were intended that way, which meant I had similar perspectives and understanding to what the devs had. a lot of people don't, and that's okay, but then you have people pointing out "this is undeniably objectively bad" even though in a way they are the intended experiences and for people who enjoy it that way, it can come off as condescending too.

okay I'm trailing off because it's been a long day but maybe at this point I should start embracing being an uncritical z fan, because at the end of the day, it really still is just a videogame to me, and I'm not delusional enough to think I have enough of an impact on anyone to change their mind about z. the point is not what actual opinions I (or anyone else) have on the z itself, the point is that please just let me be for having these opinions without people making it their problem that I have these opinions. because people definitely have and are still doing it, and they're doing it when I'm talking about z only and never other games (d2 was a bit controversial when it came out because well it was a sequel lol, yet me expressing my love for what d2 did "wrong" according to people who didn't quite like it doesn't invite uncalled response), and this doesn't happen to just me.

(and yeah I will admit that I will stop caring about others' opinions as well, again I was indeed being a bit passive-aggressive and I fully own up to that. genuinely sorry if people took offense with my wording.)

but anyway back to the usual agenda lol sorry this turned out really long and not coherent at all

#mino rambles

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