“I’ll be fine i just need to uhhhhhhh idk kill” but like…what if i did haha

I think a huge problem in internet Judaism (also sometimes irl!) discussions is often that we're so focused on fighting or pushing back on misconceptions, Christian normativity, and distorted Christian ideas about our theology — that sometimes in the pursuit of this, we forget to approach a more complicated internal reality, or we overlook parts of our own religion while trying to not assimilate.

Things like the Talmud talking about Yom Kippur being a happy day. A lot of folks were surprised and didn't know there's a huge tradition that YK is supposed to be a positive holiday and many Jews observe with joy. Then some folks went on to elaborate that if someone wished them a happy Yom Kippur and they were Jewish it was fine, but if they were gentiles who simply didn't know anything and didn't bother to learn, then they were annoyed by the lack of care re: cultural nuance or whatever.

But like...of all the annoying christian-normative bullshit that exists — someone trying to wish me a happy holiday on a holiday that is noted to be solemn AND positive, but not really knowing anything about my religion — that doesn't really make a list of things I have time to be mad about! Or even irked by!

There's a lot of ways in which people are shitty and careless or make it obvious they consider our non-christian holidays an annoying quirk they have to acknowledge, but "happy yom kippur!" Is not one of them. Sometimes I just have to remind myself that I want other people to assume the best of me, even when I am the one who is socially awkward or ignorant, or stumbling around just trying to be an okay person. And sometimes I am the clueless one who has only a shallow understanding of someone's interior life/culture and I said/did nothing actually offensive but treated the situation the same way I treat similar ones in my own life because everyone has cultural blinders somewhere.

So sometimes, I have to look at other people doing The Thing and ask myself if it's at all malicious or harmful, and if it ISN'T, shouldn't I assume the best of another human bumbling around like I do all the time? "Hey thanks. Yeah I had a meaningful holiday."

Likewise, YES, we do have a history of wrestling with G-d and pushing back and asking questions and so on, but no, stiff-necked isn't wholly complimentary, it's...frequently the opposite of that. And the knee-jerk reaction is often to push back against Christianity and Islam vilifying Jews and their stubbornness/failures/wrongs in the Bible. Which is totally reasonable, there's a huge history of a theology of antisemitism and blaming there that impacts us today.

HOWEVER, we can push back against the antisemitic theologies and interpretations of these stories without necessarily having to recharacterize everything beyond recognition?

Yes, Abraham yelled at G-d that one time, and it was great. It may have even been a test of Abraham. Yes, Israel wrestles with G-d. Yes, the Jews in the desert complain to Moses they are dying of thirst and ask what was the point of leaving Egypt if they should only die while wandering instead?

Great. Love that. BUT ALSO: yes stiff-necked is not always a compliment. Yes, the Israelites struggled and made mistakes, and are utterly and painfully human just like people are today. Flawed. We are not so stiff-necked as to say we have not sinned!

Is anything as scary as a group that admits no flaws? No errors of judgment? Never questions themselves or learns from past mistakes? Idk to me, it's all very "with great responsibility comes great accountability, and power isn't the point here." Yes? If we take pride in the moments of arguing and the pushing back, then by that same token, we have to own the failings just as much to learn from. The relationship between G-d and Jews is a two way street.

It's not a failing to be an imperfect human, but it would be a failing to screw something up and then never admit it or keep doing it when you can change.

Idk I just...there's got to be ways we can dig into meaty and interesting stuff without having to constantly be like "just because some ancestors screwed up and G-d was angry at them doesn't mean you can say Jews lost the love of God and the covenant and were replaced you absolute weirdos."

I’ve seen some wild theories out there about how Phee and Jin are going to end. I personally think that either they are both killers and planned this out and get away with it scott free or they both sadly die.

White and Tee seems much more straightforward. Tee is marked for death (imo), it’s just a matter of how he dies. Will he still be selfish or self -sacrificing?

What are your theories/speculations about how the couples might end up?

I'm so glad you asked me nonnie because I have a lot of thoughts in no cohesive order and wasn't sure where to put them 😂

I don't know if I really have a theory or speculation more that I have a lot of pieces of a puzzle that don't quite make a picture yet. I've seen a lot of theories and speculation around Phee and Jin in particular as well and I'm not entirely sure if I can yet predict what direction the show is going to go in because we still have a lot of unanswered questions about them. So let me start with Tee and White.

I think there are 2 possibilities for Tee and White at this point. Either they both die, or they both live but they break up. And that's because White shows so much horror to any of Tee's even small suggestions of crime, and he defends Tee to Tan and Phee when they talk about thinking that the original crew did something to Non.

If we take White at face value, he seems like a good kid and I think if he found out what Tee did to Non he wouldn't be able to conscience it and would have to break up, even if Tee genuinely loves him (and I believe Tee does).

There is always the possibility that White is more than he appears (you've all probably seen me speculate that White could be Non's brother New) but given what we know about him so far, that's what I can see happening, unless there's some reveal about his character that we haven't seen yet.

So, now for Phee and Jin.

I'll make it no secret that I really want them to end up together, so that is likely coloring my analysis of events. But as of right now I just... don't really have a prediction for how things will end between them. I've seen speculation ranging from Phee is using Jin for revenge and will kill him, to Phee is there to protect Jin from someone else seeking vengeance and truly, I don't have enough information to make a prediction. Here's what I can say about them tho.

I don't think that Jin is hiding some deep, manipulative streak. I was on the fence at first, but then a scene in episode 4 tipped me over the edge. And it's the one where Jin is with his friends, talking about how they'd won the film contest, and while he's there, he defends Non and credits him for their sucess.

If Jin was trying to manipulate Non or use him in any way, then why defend him in this moment when Non is nowhere around, and will never hear about it? To me that's a pretty huge sign that Jin is genuinely kind, because he risks upsetting his friends to defend a person who isn't even there.

There's always the possibility that Jin can betray Non, of course. I've also written a meta about how Jin calls himself a coward when he's talking to Phee, and I still wonder if part of the reason he views himself that way is because of whatever happened to Non before he disappeared. If he feels like he did something cowardly or abandoned Non, or should've stood up for him more, or something along those lines. But I can't see a deep, malicious, manipulative betrayal coming from him.

And that leads to Phee, who we all assume is seeking revenge. Though there's an equally likely plotline that he's there trying to figure out what happened to Non, we don't know yet. There's still so much about Phee that we don't know. Why he's been with the friend group for so long, what's his angle for approaching Jin, if he's a murderer or caught up in the mayhem somehow. But currently I don't think that Phee is trying to trick Jin only to betray him later, for one simple reason.

Because they were fuckbuddies.

That might sound like a stupid reason, but bear with me. If Phee was really trying to hurt Jin as revenge for whatever happened with Non, why would he keep Jin at arms length by saying they're "just friends" over and over?

It would be significantly bigger of a betrayal for Phee to become Jin's boyfriend and then later betray and kill him. If that's what Phee was after, then why would he half-ass it that way? Why push him away?

I feel like there's gotta be something deeper there than simple revenge. Especially when compounded with the fact that we haven't seen Jin do anything nasty to Non.

I think my money is currently (and very tentatively) on Phee genuinely protecting Jin because Jin was good to Non and doesn't deserve the havoc being wreaked on the others, especially since Phee has gone out of his way to save Jin's life already.

As for their ending... I don't know yet. I think that if the writers really want to break our hearts they'll have Phee and Jin genuinely love each other and one will die trying to save the other. But it kind of depends, it's hard to say at this point in the show because we've only had one major character death so far. I don't know how far the writers are going to go in the end, if they intend to kill almost everyone or only the ones who "deserve it."

Thanks for the question nonnie, hopefully you don't mind the novel I left in reply for you! As the story unfolds I'm sure you'll get more character analyses and speculations from me but currently I'm a big fat ❓ over what is going to happen with Phee and Jin. And that's on purpose, of course. So we'll just have to see how it all plays out, I guess!

From some random post we saw while doomscrolling through syscourse(which, are you alright? You're the top poster, which isn't really something to strive for in one of the most hate and rage driven tags systems can find themselves in on tumblr... should take a mental health break every once in a while):

Because, frankly, the anti-tulpa narrative was manufactured to shutdown created systems, and present bigotry in a way that appeared progressive. People aren't actually against words from other languages and religions being used in new ways. They're against these words being used by endogenic systems.

As a pro-endo mixed/POC system who has spent hours upon hours trying to understand the tulpa language discourse argument- I'm honestly really fucking hurt by this hugely inaccurate assumption. I don't see how we're trying to shut down created systems, what i see is trying to educate and steer people away from a term that was created through ignorance, racism [albeit not forwardly malicious], and cultural appropriation.

Tulpa creation bears no connection to Tibetan Buddhism anymore —not that it ever really did, given this exact phenomenon is not actually mentioned to exist, ever, by, i forgot the name of the person who invented the term but i know she was a) white and b) racist in ways outside of this — but is still touted around as being connected and part of that spiritual practice.

It's not about "we dont want endos using this term." It's that we want the term to stop being used ALTOGETHER. We personally have witnessed traumagenic systems exploring creating headmates, and we have steered them away from using tulpa language in favor of "parogenic" as a term.

It saddens us that you can just so brazenly dismiss it as a whole as shutting down created systems while so much else is going on that you're choosing to ignore.

You have a good heart - do more research into why people are saying what they are and don't just dismiss them like that. Please don't speak over those people who are a part of the culture being appropriated, simply because of refusal to change.

And yes, we asked this on anon not out of cowardice, but because we'd really rather not start getting a bunch of death threats on our main blog.

-Enzo

Okay, let's try a thought experiment. Imagine for a moment that there are two universes. In one universe, the anti-tulpa narrative begins and is popularized because it's harmful to Tibetan Buddhists as an ethnoreligious group.

In the other, the anti-tulpa narrative is concocted and pushed heavily by anti-endos as a way of delegitimizing one of the strongest and most well-researched endogenic communities.

What would you say the differences would be between these two universes?

Personally, I think if one were to enter the first universe, you would find several things.

Anti-tulpa sentiment probably would have begun in the early 2000s as the internet was coming into more sidespread use and shows like Supernatural and X-Files would use tulpas as horror monsters.

Similar to above, once backlash started, it would be hitting all presentations of tulpas, including in creepypastas and its use by the SCP Foundation.

Much of the backlash would be coming from members of the Tibetan Buddhist community, including at least some spiritual leaders because yes, religions have hierarchies of leadership.

Well, what about the second universe? What would we expect that universe to look like? Personally, I would expect the following:

There would be zero trace of anyone ever taking issue with the tulpas in shows like Supernatural or X-Files prior to tulpamancy being formed.

All backlash would be focused solely on tulpamancers. Nobody ever would mention the SCP Foundation, Mandella Catalogue or creepypastas about tulpas.

Most of the anti-tulpa backlash would be coming from system circles, and would be heavily pushed by anti-endos. While you might be able to fund a small handful of Tibetan Buddhists who have been convinced by anti-endo rhetoric that it's bad, there would be no spiritual leaders getting involved and most Tibetan Buddhists you ask outside of system spaces wouldn't care.

Which of these two universes do you feel most resembles our own?

Before you answer, here's a fun thread comparing the differences in people's opinions on r/systemscringe vs those on r/Buddhism

When r/systemscringe is pushing a narrative that the word is appropriation while actual Buddhist communities on the same site shrug their shoulders and don't care, this should send up immediate red flags as to the legitimacy of this whole controversy, and which groups are actually interest in pushing it.

Now, I am not suggesting that none of the very small handful of actual Tibetan Buddhists who have taken issues with the practice don't legitimately feel as they claim to.

The problem with propaganda is that it's often very good at manipulating people's emotions. If it couldn't do that, it wouldn't be effective.

We've seen this with similar anti-endo smears, like the ones claiming "system hopping" was appropriated from RAMCOA systems. And sure enough, despite its use in the plural community predating any RAMCOA connection by a full 16 years, this claim still persisted. And some RAMCOA systems were even manipulated by these lies and convinced endogenic systems were stealing terms from their community.

We actually see this same tactic over and over again.

We see it with "system hopping" which they claim was stolen from RAMCOA systems. We see it with "sysmed," which they claim is stolen from the LGBT community. We see this with the very concept of plurality itself.

The fact of the matter is that this has become a core manipulation tactic in the anti-endo playbook, designed to sew division.

Hey M! Argh now that some time has passed since that crazy ass flirty jikook live I've come down from the high and I'm at a loss again. I don't understand them... On his latest live Jungkook seemed to not know that Jimin would perform at Yoongi's concert the next day, so much so that he asked if he could perform again. Also it was his day off today and he didn't go to the concert to see Like Crazy live for the first time. I really think those two aren't dating at all and something strange is going on between them. Maybe there's still some feelings/attraction between them, but it seems they don't want to take those anywhere. I would say Jimin is the most reserved and that perhaps even doesn't want to be shipped with Jungkook anymore. I don't know. I'm very confused by them.

I may be talking a bit differently about jikook now, but that doesn't mean I'm going to spiral into shipping mode completely, leaving my logic aside. I just can't, my brain doesn't allow it. So let me offer you an explanation that to me, sounds a bit closer to reality.

Do you really think Jungkook didn't know Jimin was going to perform the next day? Do you think this is some decision taken on a whim? Like Suga just had a thought, asked Jimin and kept it all a secret?

These things are decided in advance. There are meetings over meetings where every single detail is discussed. There is a producer who oversees how a concert is done from start to finish. You can find interviews about this exact thing about BTS concerts. Or just look up information on google. I'm sure there must be music documentaries that show the process.

Jimin, Jungkook, Yoongi, a possible fourth person who might be a guest today and an entire staff group and other people involved must have met and had been part of meetings where details over the concerts were discussed. Then these people rehearsed their number at the company. You see where I'm going with this?

Of course Jungkook knew Jimin was going to perform the next day, just as they all know who is the guest for the last day. During the livestream, Jungkook was being his emo self and way too harsh about his performance and was trying to negotiate with Suga. But I thought it was obvious that he knew and Suga knew that this is just post performance talk, not an actual request. They know each other a lot more than we think we know them. Each night was set for one other BTS member to be on stage. It's as simple as that.

You and all the JM solos and some which found their way into my inbox could try and see the situation from this perspective which does not involve any malicious intent on anyone's part. Seeing Jungkook as some number one enemy who has an agenda of sabotaging Jimin is too absurd to even consider debating.

As to everything else you said, I don't see how you made all those connections? And why it's a big deal. How are we supposed to know what JK did for the entirety of his off work day? Why should I be concerned with something I don't know about? Which seems to be the biggest issue with so-called jikook shippers. No matter how much they get to witness coming directly from Jimin and Jungkook, it's not enough. It never is. There's some weird doubt settling in immediately. If actual interactions don't satisfy you, than what is the point of all this? What is the expectation? For both of them to be seen together all the time in official content? And to be seen out together daily, especially through cctv footage if possible? Add in some rumor for the package to be complete. Attached at the hip for public consumption. Is that what people get from confirmed couples all the time? Not really, because even them try to keep their private time private. And now this is the expectation from two people who are not even confirmed as a couple in a situation in which fans are merely been speculating for years and which might turn out to be nothing. Let's not even talk about the entire context of queer people in SK, cause that's a huge element that has been ignored so many times.

Going down the rabbit hole and having some specific type of expectations are the ways in which some shippers are setting themselves up. You can go with the flow and enjoy what is out there to enjoy. That can be enough if you want it.

Also, you have to understand something really basic that might offer you a different perspective. If today or in the future, it is revealed both of them have other partners, Jimin and Jungkook will still act with each other the same way they have been for years. Because they have a specific dynamic that is only applied to them. And it will also be an indication that they have had partners throughout all these years. And somehow we all still enjoyed whatever they had in their relationship with each other, regardless of its nature.

4, 22, 25, and 29 for Tysinno, please!! 🥺🥺💐✨

thank you so much!! he's my best guy 🖤🖤🖤

4. Has your character ever witnessed something that fundamentally changed them? If so, does anyone else know?

so yeah, the 13th birthday :') I don't know exactly what he was like growing up, but I do know that before it happened, he was comparatively more lighthearted. the loss of his mother and his father's growing depression took a toll on him, but he was processing it and dealing. the Maratis family was doing better. he wasn't a huge social butterfly or anything, but he was a happier, more outgoing kid until that night. his disposition took an understandable turn to the gloomy and macabre after that, and while he's not hurting as much as he was then, he's still far from the happy kid he used to be.

as far as other people knowing it, that one's kind of on a need-to-know basis in his eyes. I really doubt he would've told the Shepherds as quickly as he did (if at all, to this point) if he hadn't caused that disruption in the compound in his sleep, and his reasons for telling them were... a bit on the self-punishing side? he's felt guilty for what happened to Maj ever since the day it happened, and there was a part of him hoping for some bitter vindication in that the Shepherds would turn him away for what he perceives as his biggest crime. hoping for it, fearing it, same thing. his self-image isn't pleasant.

22. What does your character like in other people?

honesty and integrity, first and foremost! he prefers to be around people who are honest and open with their intentions, and absolutely with people that have good intentions. he's tactful and doesn't mind that, but he'd prefer to talk to somebody who'll tell him the truth even if it's ugly, instead of trying to comfort him with a nice lie. kindheartedness honestly goes a long way with him.

...and this one isn't a strict necessity by any means, but if you have the same dark/macabre sense of humor he does, that's a bonus lol. stuff like whatever the Blest equivalent of this is

25. How quick is your character to suspect someone else? Does this change if they are close with that person?

this one probably depends on his initial impression of you and/or the circumstances. he's quick to be suspicious of more unpleasant or suspicious strangers if there's something weird going on, and like... triple that if you're a noble, a Vice Guard, or work for the Autarcy. he's a lot more likely to give the benefit of the doubt to people who make a good first impression, are Diminished like him, or aren't really people in huge positions of power.

if he's close with somebody, he's a lot slower to suspect them of something malicious, and might need a third party to help him see the evidence past his bias.

that said, it also depends on what it is he'd be suspicious of lol, the above kind of fit for more serious stuff? if there was somebody cheating at a group game, for example, then he'd probably suspect everybody involved equally, but also find it funny enough that he doesn't care, if that makes sense?

29. What did your character dream of being or doing as a child? Did that dream come true?

I feel like a younger Tysinno expected he would grow up to be a farmer like his own parents were. continue taking care of the Maratis family farm in Maj, you know? but in terms of what he dreamed of, I think he had a phase where he dreamed of being this infamous actor or opera singer or what have you lol. that one definitely did not come true, but adult Tysinno is happy for it; a life on stage would probably make him miserable lol.

he's also had a life-long dream of owning as many cats as he can. he's already got one unofficially! he's off to a good start.

ʚɞ nct taeil reading for october 2023

ʚɞ his current energy?

the whole situation is causing him to have sleepless nights. he is feeling more depressed and anxious than usual, feels he is experiencing a major life crisis and the accident has messed up his plans. he also feels afraid for the future. however, he is forcing himself to stay positive among his negative feelings.

he has a lot of energy that he wants to give despite not being able to, so he is using that energy to manage his emotions. he's doing a lot of self-reflecting due to the situation which can get him down in the dumps. but again, he is relying on himself to not allow himself down a dark path.

he feels like he's hit a stalemate in life, indecisive. he may also be presented with an important choice which he is dwelling on. but despite this, he is generally content with the situation because he knows he had to compromise due to his injuries and this was the best option.

and lastly, he feels ignored. he wishes he was able to take full part in the fact check comeback. he believes he is falling behind his members and might also feel he is being ignored by his members although they are simply busy with their promotions. he feels left out and wants to be part of the team again.

ʚɞ how does he feel about the comeback?

he feels overall quite joyful about the comeback. it is a very important comeback to him and he knows the other members believe this is an important comeback. so they all went into it with very positive energy, especially taeil.

however, he feels regretful because of this. he knows the budget was quite large compared to past comebacks and the group and staff worked hard for this album release and he feels disappointed in himself for not being able to help support them all.

he enjoys the comeback, album and music videos. and watching the promotions. it is giving him a lot of positive energy and pleasure in this hard time. though, he may be a little bit obsessed with the comeback as a whole due the setbacks that happened to him.

i think he is also wishing that this comeback might follow with more concert dates or a world tour, so he still has a chance to travel and perform for fans. but he also recognises that this is wishful thinking. overall, he is still enthusiastic about fact check despite not being a huge part of it and it is helping him cope.

ʚɞ his thoughts/feelings on the teaser image mishap?

he feels quite helpless about it. he understands it was a mistake but he also feels betrayed and believes the staff should have known better. he feels sort of embarrassed too. he also feels as though the teaser image mishap has alienated him from his group and from fans because of the negative light it is shedding. he thinks it is bringing him a lot of pity also which is something he is feeling uncomfortable with. he'd rather not talk about the issue because it feels really tense.

he kind of just wants to overcome it, move on and not talk about it again. he also feels like many people are only giving him recognition now because the situation was in the headlines, which again feels embarrassing to him. he has also speculated that the company may have planned it to make headlines and gain traction for the comeback as this is a trending behaviour among kpop companies recently.

ʚɞ what really happened with the teaser image?

i do not get the vibe that this was a malicious attack on him or intended by the company in any way. i believe this was an honest mistake due to the rush of it all. there are no hidden agendas behind it, just bad luck. but the actions that took place lead to future consequences. good and bad things happen, this just happened to be a bad thing. the company reflected on this internally and made certain sacrifices to stop something like this from happening again.

i believe with the rush of it all, a lot of things in preparation for the comeback were done on impulse, meaning things may have not been checked and double checked, a lack of real care from those involved. however, i believe some staff may have been manipulated or berated into getting things done quicker and cutting corners. i'm seeing toxic management were the root cause of this, and the staff carrying out the tasks made mistakes and are getting all the blame.

ʚɞ his feelings towards the staff and company?

he feels backstabbed by them. he believes this careless incident was the last thing he needed given he was already sitting out this comeback. but he also feels like they backstabbed him because they still made him to show up for photoshoots and mv filming even though they told him he wasn't promoting the comeback with the members. he did all that for them and they still did him dirty, intentional or not.

however, he has accepted it and is trying to not have bitter feelings towards the company or staff because it was a mistake. he just hopes that something like this doesn't happen in the future for him, his group or any other group for that matter.

he also strongly believes the company should put more care into planning for comebacks, to have better strategies for the groups success. he wants to continue being creative with the company and staff by making music to share with the world, and as i mentioned before, i think he is still expecting some concert dates or tour to happen and he wants to be a part of it.

ʚɞ his energy going forward?

he is taking this time to explore a lot of things, such as new music or new skills, and developing on his own skills, especially his vocals. he is also working hard to find ways to complete his usual responsibilities with his injuries. he is also putting the adequate energy into working on his mental health as it worsened due to the events. he is trying to find the silver lining in everything, finding even small things to remain positive about despite feeling like he has lost a lot.

he is also working hard to become more focused and clear with his life goals as they may have changed with the obstacles brought by his injuries. he is slowly finding inspiration to feel victorious once more. however, there are still some things which he is neglecting or leaving incomplete. and he may be misaligning his goals. but overall, his energy going forward is calm and ambitious.

Also I will admit I’ve never heard of those dollar bill thingys. And maybe this is an American thing and you all do this to each other and it’s no problem 🤷‍♀️ idk I’m not American (idk if you are either lol)

I’m sorry if I came across as harsh. I just. I would be horrified if I came home and my neighbour was messing with my mail. I’d wonder forever what else they’d done, or were will to do, because they decided to they were in the right. I can’t wrap my mind around it. Sorry.

Ok I’m going to answer all of these together in one post and just use this so you get your notif.

1. This is not mail. It’s brochures being left on people’s doorsteps. If they were being mailed to specific people then yes, it’d be messed up (and illegal) for me to snoop in people’s mailboxes and take them. But flyers aren’t mail and it’s illegal to place them in people’s mailboxes, and technically you’re not supposed to place them on a property without permission from the property owner (which these guys undoubtedly do not have. And tbh I was creeped out that they even got in my building. It’s locked behind a key-code. Someone probably left the door open bc it was summertime).

2. CW: sexual assault, abuse, child death, homophobia, transphobia: These are brochures for a harmful, deceptive hate group. I use hate group very seriously in the full sense of the word. I grew up adjacent to their beliefs and have friends that grew up in this group. Take the worst kind of transphobia you can think of, the worst kind of homophobia, the worst kind of racism and sexism, and make it even worse than that. These are people that teach parents to physically abuse their children in order to save their souls from hell and how to sneak it under officials’ noses. These are people that teach women to stay in abusive marriages because it’s a “sin” to leave. They cover up child SA (which is rampant in their organization), victim blame, and don’t allow their children to go to school, and discourage women from holding jobs. These are bookburners. They adopt children specifically to convert and abuse them and have a history of children dying in their care due to neglect or abuse. They will ruin your life, and ruin how you think about the world, and they hit every single part of the BITE model for cults (behavioral control, information control, thought control, emotion control). So no, I don’t feel the least bit bad about taking down their predatory, deceptive pamphlets off people’s doorknobs.

3. Like I appreciate where you’re coming from anon, but with respect: unless you’ve lived here I’m not sure you’ll truly understand how prevalent and malicious these cults are. We had cult missionaries on my college campus who would single out young women and prey on them for recruiting, because they knew them to be vulnerable. If this was a normal situation with any kind of normal organization leaving a normal kind of doorknocker brochure (or Mormons or JWs, even), I wouldn’t dream of taking it down and throwing it away. But these people are predatory and malicious and they cause harm and destroy lives and generate a huge amount of lasting trauma for the people they manage to ensnare. If they leave brochures out, I’m taking all of them and they’re going straight in the garbage.

Could it be easier for people to start talking about their dislike towards Tae since he hasn't been connecting as much to army and at least on screen to the other members (apart from the runbts episodes we got). We know there's a lot we don't see, even Hobi told us that Tae was very supportive of his solo stuff when it was happening, but we just didn't see it. And now what we see is Tae hanging out with his other friends and doing non-bts related content. He is free to do what he wants as are the other members, but it has felt like he's been making a boundary so to speak, either consciously or by accident. I personally miss seeing more of Tae in bts related things or with the other members so the live was a fun surprise. But I don't blame him from pulling back, if that's what he's done, there's a part of the fandom that hasn't really treated him well, especially last year. I don't always understand him and I don't have to, I'm just a fan, but I can't really think he would have any malicious intents behind his actions. Maybe he's a little bit of a tease sometimes, but they all are.

(by the way I've loved seeing you more on my dash lately, your blog was one of the first ones I followed when I came into the fandom and I've been missing the old times, it's nice to see you're still here)

I actually rarely see hate toward V. The spaces I frequent in fandom are very much filled with love for him. He’s the bias of so many people. I’ve really only seen any “mass” (I put it in quotes because I actually don’t feel it’s widespread at all) negativity toward Tae in jikook spaces..especially of late.

To me…we haven’t seen V less than the other members. (To me the least visible was Jimin - until Face began and of course Jin) V has been posting his photo shoot pictures, random shots and stories, and he’s commented on weverse. He also has his on solo projects - like all the rest - so yes he’s promoting them. Mentioning the Wooga Squad and showing pics with them etc is expected since he’s had Friendcation and Jinnys Kitchen.

Also he’s on a group break, his time is more his own, so he gets to spend time with friends in ways he probably couldn’t for years. I’ve always loved that he had the Wooga squad. It’s healthy and normal to have friendships outside of work. And no matter how much BTS love each other, it is still work for them. So as they’ve mentioned it has been good for them being more apart and it actually has made them closer. 💜

I think the main issue here is lack of consistent BTS content…OT7 content. We don’t have that to pull our focus together so some people are bored and stirring things up. (Not to say that people don’t legitimately dislike Taehyung - his personality is not for everyone) Jikookers especially have no reason (imo) to be saying stuff about Tae. Even if he didn’t say much publicly during Face promotions, JK more than made up for it.

I feel like we took JK’s efforts too lightly. IMO this might have been the biggest public statement he’s ever made. This is a man that consistently pulls in huge numbers of viewers on his lives and he used that to first remind people that SMFpt2 was coming and basically led them to it right at teaser release. Then he spent an entire live watching Jimin content. This is using his platform in a huge way. We should be on our couches still squealing about that and not getting into it with other shippers who are disappointed in their own content and taking out their misery on certain members. I personally have ignored all that (for years) because to me nothing compares to what we get from jikook and I have nothing to debate about with other pairings.

Thank you for following me and noticing I’m back. So kind of you to mention that ☺️

A SINGLE PALE ROSE GRGRHDHDBDHSH,, I don’t have a ton to say (especially since it’s been years since I’ve watched most of su) but PLEASE rant about a single pale rose I beg

Man A Single Pale Rose. That episode was such a turning point it was huge when it came out. For ages one of the biggest debates in the fandom was between the people who thought Rose was Pink Diamond, and the people who thought that the people who thought Rose was PD were idiots. I was part of the latter group i thought there was no way that could possibly be true its just one of those crazy theories that doesn’t make any sense. And then Single Pale Rose happened and shook Everything

Single Pale Rose Single Handedly causes the entire rest of the season, if Steven hadn’t decided then and there to push on it if Pearl hadn’t managed to find a way to actually tell him. If it hadnt have happened the diamonds would have shown up and the crystal gems would have lost, the only reason they don’t is that Steven manages to tell them hes PD, if it had of been a little later the diamonds would have arrived in the middle of That emotional debacle

One part of the episode i really like is how it builds up, it gives you hints and implications as the episode goes on so by the time the actual reveal happens and you see Rose shapeshift into PD you pretty much already know where the scene is going. I just think its a clever way to do it and also the whole pearl-ception thing with pearl inside pearl inside pearl inside pearl inside pearl’s pearl, its played for a joke but has some interesting implications about how gems memories work and weather it applies to all gems or if Pearl is specific in that way

The way Rose is portrayed throughout the series is really interesting to me, people have said it before but her arc really is shown in reverse. The first mentions the audience gets of her is characters praising her and making her look like the most perfect person in the world, placing her high up on this pedestal that everyone put her on and making Steven think he has to try to live up to what everyone else says about Rose, then as season 1 and 2 go on theres little bits and pieces, we find out maybe she wasn’t completely perfect and had some flaws but she was still really really good. And then come season 3 the real cracks start to show, she poofed and bubbled Bismuth and hid it from everyone for some unclear reason, i feel like theres smthn else but im blanking, and then in the last three eps of the season, Beta, Back To The Moon, and Bubbled, its all shattered (he) when we find out Rose Killed somebody, also retroactively making the Bismuth thing worse. And then barely a season and a half later it’s revealed that Rose and the person she killed, are the same person. And that messes with everything. Now she looks like this awful person who lied to everyone who ever cared about her and caused the deaths of thousands of people by staging a stupid war where she was the head of both sides. And then with the movie and future we learn about Pink Pearl and Spinel and how theyve been treated.

And thats the order her arc is presented in because thats the order Steven learns about it in. And so Rose goes from a saint Steven could never dream of living up to, to someone Steven never wants to be anything like. But if you reorganise everything into chronological order, while shes still not a great person and still did some awful awful things, you can see her intentions and that she really wasnt a malicious party in all this. She starts off a kid, and being treated like one by the people she craves to be seen as a equal by. Shes mistreated by the people around her and so tries to get their attention the only way she knows how, by throwing tantrums. Eventually she manages to get her own colony and almost instantly she sees whats wrong with what they’re doing, shes likely never had the chance to see the process in action so she never got it until then. She tries and tries to go back on what shes said but the other diamonds wont let her, so she makes a drastic choice that then has consequences she hadn’t considered. And an all out war breaks out, but shes too deep by now, she can just come out and say what shes done nobody will ever take her seriously ever again, so she has to end it on her own. And she does the war ends. She didnt know what the diamonds would do after she didnt know about the cluster or the gem experiments or the corruption song, if she’d known maybe she would have made a different choice, maybe she wouldnt have who knows. And then she spends the rest of her days loving and protecting the world she fought so hard for, living with the knowledge of the things shes done, and she tries to be better.

I think it's pretty obvious POC (and more precisely WOC) celebs get more hate than anyone else on social media. That's because white privilege is a thing and a famous POC will most likely get more hate in one month than Tom will get in his entire life probably. So no need to worry too much about Tom, because he's getting hate for things other than his race or gender. And racism and sexism are way bigger problems than whatever "hate" he's getting, let's be real for a second 🙃

But if we only focus on white men, yeah I can see him being one of the most hated young actor. BUT it's just become Spider-Man gave him a different type of exposure compared to his peers, and it opens the windows for more comments on his life and career, that's a part of the deal. He's just winning at life and that upset some malicious people, but that doesn't mean he isn't mostly love if you look at the bigger picture. Anon, just look at any youtube video about him. It's literally filled with people saying how much they love him and want to be his friend, from various age groups. He's literally one of the few young male celebs who is known for his interviews and charisma. The LSB goes viral literally every month for the past 5 years and people can't stop looking at it because he's too cool. You go on TikTok, and he's the male actor with the most views and likes. You go on his instagram and see he gets more interaction in his pictures than even ariana grande or kylie jenner sometimes, for random pictures of himself (unfortunately you'll have to scroll a bit to find again the era when he was still active lol, but it's legit). He gets a lot of hate, but gets even more support, if that make sense (and the hate is solely on Twitter, which is an echo chamber and doesn't reflect the entire general public)

All of this! Completely agree Anon. Tom definitely has waaay more supporters than not. And like you said, POC face WAAY more insidious forms of hate in the media AND online. POC don't usually have the same huge fanbase backing either. Just look at IG follower numbers. Black and POC followers are ALWAYS usually lower than their white counterparts. Even when the poc celebrity is A-list. There are only a FEW who have high follower count numbers even though they are POC. Just do a comparison anon. You'll see what I mean.

“There’s a shit ton of homophobic bisexuals (genital preference discourse, anyone?), and some well-meaning, naive gays”

Tbh I find this incredibly disingenuous, I’ve seen loads of gay people on radblr doing the whole “the gay people tanking the LGB community are just poor little confused meow meows and the bi people doing it are evil malicious homophobic cretins” thing and… it’s really not that black and white. I wouldn’t say you could even generalise this as true. I know plenty of bi people who I would say are well meaning and just going along with what they’re being told is acceptable, and plenty of gay people who are pushing this genital preference shit HARD (despite knowing they would never touch a cock themselves as a lesbian) in order to virtue signal how much they accept the trans. There have always been people in any group who are willing to throw other members of the group under the bus in order to elevate their own status.

I also have known bi people who were being shitty, and well meaning but clueless gay people! Of course it can happen this way too. But I see this generalisation all over radblr and it’s ridiculous tbh, because real life LGBT activism is done by mostly gay people. Because the majority of bi people are in straight relationships (obviously) and it’s much easier for them in society to pass as straight. There are more bi people than gay people but most bi people never acknowledge their bisexuality, or make it a public thing. The bi people who are out and involved enough with the LGBT community to be doing real life activism, who ALSO spout homophobic genital preference discourse AND are doing it maliciously are a minority within a minority.

Like, yeah, some bi people are being pieces of shit. But there is WAYYY too much blame here being placed on this one demographic. And I know before you even respond that you’ll categorically disagree with this and somehow think it ludicrous that I’m claiming that it’s mostly gay people who speak on behalf of gay people, and make it a huge part of their everyday life and conversations. But like… come on.

I agree, and I’m definitely generalising. But at the same time, you have to consider the harm that can be done by both and why it’s a bit different.

A homosexual can spew all the “genital preference” nonsense they want, but they’ll never be able to practise what they preach. Eventually, people will see right through them. This is why you see so many (and I did this too) pulling the “SOME gays, but not ME” card. Those of them who lie and say they can be attracted to the opposite sex are causing harm, of course… but they aren’t setting the same sort of example the homophobic bisexuals are.

Said homophobic bisexuals set more of an example because they actually practise what they preach. They claim “sexuality is fluid! You can’t just be attracted to genitals, it’s the person that matters!” And can back up that claim by pointing to their opposite sex partner, or their history of enjoying intercourse with the opposite sex. They can claim to be gay and set an impossible standard for those of us who actually are gay.

Plus, I’m much more lenient towards homosexuals because I know it’s coming from a place of internalised homophobia, as well as being squashed by the overall homophobia in the trans movement. I was there. It was awful to be surrounded by people claiming I was wrong for my sexuality, telling me all the ways I needed to change even though I simply couldn’t. And it was either put up with that and find a way to lie my way through it, or accept that I was an evil terf bitch who deserves to die. I get that bisexuals are facing the same pressure to conform to the ideology…but the difference is that it doesn’t actually demand anything of them like it does gay people. I’d argue that the “genital preference” debate favours bi people, as it positions their sexuality as the moral high ground. I’m sorry, but the conditions for gays and bis in the trans community are not the same. The mental anguish is not the same. One group is trying to survive being fed conversion therapy rhetoric, one is not.

And going back to how it feels to be gay in that environment…it wasn’t the lying gay people who made it worse. Deep down, I knew they were lying just like I was. If I saw some lesbian reciting the inclusiveness script, sure it would make me feel bad but I’d always have a little voice in the back of my mind telling me she was doing the same shit I was. What hurt more, was seeing bi people claim to be gay and rave about their trans partners. “I’m a lesbian and I love my trans girlfriend!! I love sucking her girlcock!!!”, that sort of thing. That made me feel like something was wrong with me; why couldn’t I be like this lesbian? Why is what she describes being so happy with, so disgusting to me?

Again, I agree it’s not true that all bi people doing this are evil and all gay people doing this are innocent. Like you said, it’s not that black and white. But personally, looking at the situation from a lesbian perspective, I can’t pretend there isn’t a difference.

Sorry I just saw that post, I now scrolled and saw where was all coming from! About Eden I understand you, I actually said in my post between parenthesis that it still was obviously bad so we actually thought the same😅

And for the rest I didn't say that was the only reason, that's why I said "to say one", as in just an example of other things. Also, I don't think they are mistreating them nor not doing things like the examples you put on purpose (not saying you are), but instead it all comes from a reason: not having time and also bc of planning it for another moment on purpose for marketing reasons like release this thing in another key moment bc it will have more good response(but I wouldn't agree either, I would like them to have freedom without thinking if what's the best moment to do whatever). Which is the root they need to change and put of their part. I get that the guys themselves are workaholics and love their job and also said like Mingi once that even if they don't like it they are freelance so their type of job requires them to work a lot but they still should put boundaries...I don't think there is malicious intent and I can't generalize the company either. Idk, I think is a bigger problem than that from Korea in general (tho can name more countries), of the toxic hussle culture, praising effort and passion to the point of not sleeping much and working a lot..Like, you can see this everywhere including the guys so it's hard to change a whole system and specially in such a competitive world that forces both KQ and the guys to work that much and having to put even more effort bc of being a smaller company, they truly can't afford to stop. But! They still should say no to some things and find other ways bc that's not going to be sustainable long term, everyone involved including the staff that the guys said they even worked even more than them is going to burn out so bad sooner or later🫠

But I'm assuming they will eventually manage that? I mean they will be forced to do it bc.. But also they may thought that once they reach the level of Fame they want they will be able to stop more but that's not going to happen bc they will have to maintain the fame and all that, bts Is the best example. So idk, I hope they find a way seriously😮‍💨

i honestly and truly think that kq are simply terrible at managing ateez well and properly, so yeah i don't think they're intentionally robbing certain members of opportunities but rather they don't manage ateez's time well enough or take enough care to cater to each member's interests and talents well enough either. there most definitely is that toxic hussle culture you mention prevalent all throughout kpop and this mindset of having to move fast and quick as though there's a timer counting down on them and their time as a group. however, i think kq must realize sooner rather than later that with the way they're currently pushing ateez, it's not feasible for them to be able to continue long term solely on account of burnout, mental fatigue, or physical fatigue. i'm not saying they should stop completely but rather slow down for a time. they've got plenty of money. the tours have made them a huge amount of money. ateez pretty much singlehandedly pulled kq out of debt and funded a great deal of other projects kq is doing too, not speaking from a point of bias but from what market reports have shown in recent years. i think they're got enough money to slow down on world tours, festivals, and things like kcon appearances as well.

i also really believe that kq is wildly understaffed still to this day bc they want to maintain the 'family-like' mentality of the company. kq could really make good use of a social media manager, a bigger team of stylists, and certainly more higher-ups who specialize and understand business really well. and i feel like they should have already managed that by this point in time... especially since they debuted a new boy group? like i would hope that they would have had this all sorted and figured out prior to starting a new project like that bc now it affects not only just ateez but also the new group and everyone who manages and works with that new group too. and frankly from the way ateez discuss their trajectory and their fame, i don't see them finding a happy place to be content at in terms of fame. each time they achieve something, they adjust their goals and keep pushing for something bigger and higher than before, which is likely a product of them coming from a company outside the big4 and also just their work ethic in general but i don't see them slowing down any time soon which is another layer of concern for how the company is working them right now

Spiritual Narcissism (One-upping) Part 2

As usual, take my words with a grain of salt. These are my beliefs and concerns. If you find this offensive and send nasty comments, I won't care and block you.

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I still think this modern era promotes and profits off of narcissism like no one's business...more than ever before.

The witchcraft community is definitely not immune. In fact, I arguably see a lot of it which is one of the reasons I'm usually not active in that said community. I just also feel it in my gut everytime I see certain claims and behaviors.

I think it took a sinister turn when it's fused in with one's sense of glorified inflated ego disguising itself being morally righteous. It's used to bully/abuse people instead of educating those whom are learning. It's a bad social parasite.

Even I am watching myself for any of these signs just in case. Anyone is susceptible to fall into it.

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More examples of spiritual narcissism are:

-Taking advantage of others claiming you're a direct mouthpiece of some almighty, famous entity...and use their name to further your personal intentions. -Claiming you're the direct descendent of an almighty entity, and use that title to feel entitled to unquestionable respect.

-Demonizing other religions (Unless that religion glorifies abuse, kidnapping or murder -- duh)

-Spiritual Bypassing

-Downgrading someone's experiences or situation out of the extreme toxcity of "love and light." (I support the term "love and light," not the extreme side of it where it denies the shadow)

-Purity culture ("Culture ever changing and blending with other cultures at its margins. Cultures have never been hermetically sealed from one another, self-contained and exclusive of outside influences. Each one is necessarily a mixture or an agglomeration of its influences. A culture doesn’t spring to life fully formed, a platonic ideal that generated itself from nothing. Just as there is no such thing as a pure race or ethnic group, so are there no pure cultures, unmixed with others, their essence uncorrupted. The toxic extreme side of cultural appropriation breathes new life into old racist attitudes, discouraging us from finding new opportunities for cross-cultural dialogue and exchange." --DAVID S. D'AMATO

(Now, I'm not saying cultural appropriation is acceptable -- as long as you are respecting it and learning it for educational purposes, or you're properly initiated -- it's completely fine. Mocking that culture or religion is not.)

- Claiming certain types of entities/spirits like certain types of people with different sexual preferences or neurodivergent/typical qualities over others (I find this extremely, laughably shallow as it is untrue; common sense. In my experiences, your preferred orientation and neurological makeup has nothing to do with your personality, or being a likeable person for a group of entities/spirits; incel behavior for short)

-Coerce someone to put all spiritual healing over medical needs.

-Simply claiming your style of practice is better than others.

-Copying other people's specific crafts and claiming it as your own.

-Using your spirit team solely as an extension of yourself. -Gaslighting people to discredit their experiences as well as their sheer existence of being and identity -- and use fancy terms/acronyms to cover up its malicious intentions. This can fall under spiritual bypassing, and can fall under the same gaslighting category as people who delve too extremely into "love and light" and "New Age." (For example: "Suffering is not real, thus your experience of suffering isn't real. Dissolve your ego, you don't know anything about yourself.") -- (Guess what, the person in this example has a huge inflated ego, perhaps even narcissism. -Claiming what you do takes years, and higher frequency to master, claiming it's too profound for the masses and somehow you're above the rest in your endeavors, showing off you're without ego. (Guess what, this is an ironic sign of an inflated ego hiding in plain sight...and the only person who can't see it is the speaker)

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There is more to come. More editing will be done.

Griping about fandom, related to 6.2 Panda spoilers.

I think there are some fans out there where if the child in a parent + child relationship dynamic is going ‘I hate my dad, he’s so cold and inconsiderate!’, you could pan to the father basically rocking in a corner having a dissociative episode and barely coherent, then pan back to the kid going ‘SEE! ALWAYS ABOUT HIMSELF!’ And there would be fans nodding and going ‘yeah you tell him king fuck parents.’ Like. Honest to fucking god, at what point do we sit down and go ‘yeah mental illness can negatively impact loved ones and it’s valid, but sometimes priority does need to be getting help for the sick person’? Like omfg. Lahabrea wasn’t abusive to Erichthonios. He was emotionally constipated and distant at points, and struggled to express emotions because he was literally cutting parts of his own soul out due to not being able to process his emotions and being overwhelmed. Guy’s been self-destructing for years. But ‘dysfunctional’ and ‘unhealthy’ are not synonymous with ‘abusive’. We literally see Erich rant about Lahabrea’s ‘a calm heart sees the task to completion’ line and attribute it to disdain, but as players it’s basically announced in flashing neon signs that this is Lahabrea’s own coping skill that he’s trying to share with his frustrated son. Lahabrea gets emotionally overwhelmed and clings to reason/calm as a way to anchor himself and function. Erich is a fiery shonen protagonist and doesn’t get it. Misunderstandings happen. It’s not always malicious. One party interpreting things as malicious doesn’t mean they are malicious. Being upset with someone doesn’t make them an evil bad guy. Like I’ve gone through shit IRL with serious family dysfunction caused by mental health crap before. I really fucking get it. I’m not saying this as someone who’s never felt intense anger and resentment and isolation. But parents are fallible people and part of growing up involves realizing that. Obviously there are cases where it’s just abuse and unforgivable, but there are a lot of cases where having compassion can make a world of difference. I like Erichthonios, and love Lahabrea to bits. They’re both allowed to be in pain and messily figuring out how to relate to each other better. I do have legit analysis at some point I might post lol, but I’ve been seeing a decent chunk of this fan behavior and it’s frustrating. People can feel how they want and talk how they want obv. But like... As a teen, there was a time a classmate had his mom doing a huge favor for him and friends. And there was one detail that wasn’t on-point, so in front of the whole group this kid just started yelling at his mother. I’m talking above and beyond, really personal and humiliating shit. And the mom was just standing there looking at her feet. I felt so fucking upset for the mother and couldn’t imagine treating a parent like that. That’s the kind of energy some of this fan behavior has to me.

A Court of Fey and Flowers rant-MAJOR spoilers for the ending

Is Rue a bad guy??

To clarify, I don’t mean Bad Guy as in villain, I don’t even mean bad guy as in malicious. I mean bad guy as in selfish and delusional to the point of tearing apart courts and almost restarting wars to suit their own twisted views of how the world should be.

Before I dig into this: I like Rue, I like Oscar, I think this is an interesting character. And I know Rue is a fey and, like the rest of the cast, should be expected to behave in a way that is selfish and self-serving in a way that humans wouldn’t be able to pull off. There’s a certain carelessness for others that fey embody, an indifference for life and limb even within one’s own court. We’ve seen that since the start. But MAN does Rue take it to the extreme here!

Delosso de la Rue got the Court of Wonder to nix the engagement between the Goblin Princess and Prince Apollo. Why? Because they didn’t love each other.

A huge theme for this series has been how magic and love are important and intertwined. I know this is in part because the players are human and can’t pull off the true depths of fey indifference for their fellow being, but also because the fey they’re playing are deliberately different. BINX and her court are closely tied to the material plane and know the consequences of not allowing exchange between the mortal and fey realms. Andhera grew up desperately lonely and turned his desire for friendship and love into a weapon. The Lords of the Wing are ride or die for each other in a way most would find alien, especially given how easily their infatuations with others can wax and wane in an instant. Captain Hob embodies the devotion a person can have for a group, and the desire to protect and uphold that group. And Rue...

*sigh*

Delosso de la Rue is very much a neglected child, someone whose position in the family has always been tenuous. They mask themselves and hide their true nature because they fear the backlash of showing their true colors, the loss of status that would come if their nontraditional beauty was revealed. It’s only their millennia of work and reputation, their bonds between the various courts, that keep them from being shunned when they reveal their owlbear form. It’s this work that has prevented them from pursuing a romantic relationship, and it’s the reveal that allows them to try to start a romance with Hob. But it’s also where things go off the rails.

Rue doesn’t know how to love. Rue has built up an image in their head of a romantic relationship, and how a romantic partner, a spouse, should be the missing puzzle piece that completes a person, a soulmate, their one true love. This is a fairly common problem, but one most people grow out of with time and experience in real relationships. But Rue hasn’t had that chance. Rue has kept hidden, deliberately denied themself opportunities to learn and grow, and kept the idea of ~LOVE~ on a pedestal.

This is understandable, and could be easily forgiven. Unfortunately, since this is a show, a D&D campaign with a schedule to follow and beats to hit, their personal growth and relationship trajectories are all on a deadline.

I desperately wish the season were longer so the players could fully explore their relationships and the consequences of their actions. As it was, they finished the plot portion of the adventure and then just kind of slapped a Happily Ever After sticker on it with some speeches about Friendship and Love and Home. And if it couldn’t be longer, I wish the players could be braver about NOT letting things be wrapped up in a pretty bow where everyone goes home friends.

As it was, Rue declared themselves to be the architect of Hob’s humiliation, the destruction of everything he fought for. A war was fought, and won, and that win provided leverage for the betterment of the entire Goblin Court, a chance to bring the Court of Wonder down from their utter domination and force them to negotiate as equals. A marriage pact to guarantee a place for Goblins in the Court of Wonder, so they couldn’t be brushed off and ignored. Many many MANY such pacts and marriages have been made before this, and many more will be made in the future! You can see them being negotiated between the Lords of the Wing, the Goblin Court, Hob himself!

And yet, it was this ONE marriage that Rue saw fit to annul. This one massive peace treaty sealed with a ring that they decided to cockblock. They had no skin in the game. They weren’t friends with either party. They weren’t even closely aligned with the Court of Wonder. And yet! They stepped in, threw their weight around, and SOMEHOW got the whole thing called off. (And oh I wonder how they managed that, with the Court of Wonder at a disadvantage and the entire court not wanting the treaty, how did Rue of all people have the sway to demand an end to it? How did they have the power to say no when an army could not?)

If this was a pattern that Oscar had established I could live with it. Revel in it, even! Rue the saboteur, Rue the wedding assassin, Rue who manipulated courts and families and alliances from behind their facade as the number one event planner, all to provide unhappy couples with a chance at freedom. But no. It’s just this. One. Marriage. This one time they pick and prod and decide that this must not be, because Princess Gribalba and Prince Apollo

Do!

Not!

LOVE each other!

Truly, this one bond must not be forged! Truly, this one union above all others must not come to pass! Truly, this loveless relationship is the only one that matters enough to require intervention!

Rue, you absolute child. You brainless infant, suckling on the teat of fairy tales, being spoon-fed candy pink hearts labelled LOVE, digesting the saccharine swill and crapping out your own version of Happily Ever After to force down other people’s throats. You don’t know what love is! You feel it by its absence in your own life, but you do not possess the emotional intelligence to learn the shape of it, to measure its depth. You simply see the same void in others, and instead of letting them try to grow together to fill the empty places, you tear them apart and declare the endeavor doomed before it begins.

Which is my main nitpick: political marriages, by nature, tend to all start out loveless. This doesn’t mean they will stay that way! Getting to know one another, finding common ground, building a life and a home and family together is the desired outcome. As audiences we tend to focus on the initial meetings (and titillating, sexually fraught wedding nights,) but there’s a whole lifetime after the honeymoon.

To decide that the relationship is doomed because the parties who step into it do it for reasons that aren’t True Love is such an immature and naive take. For such an immature and naive decision to come from a fey who purportedly has been around for centuries, intelligently and cleverly managing events between every court is just...insane to me. Especially when one of the first things Rue does is challenge TWO people to marry within a week.

Which leads me to my conclusion: Rue acted thoughtlessly and carelessly, out of selfish desire to force their own views of love and marriage onto others, and in the process wrecked the hard work of Captain Hob, whose first love is his Court and his Duty. This was not addressed satisfactorily in the campaign, Oscar and Brennan caved to the internal and external desire for a neat and tidy conclusion with no loose ends, instead of being bold enough to say “Nah, these two have real feelings for each other but need some serious work before they can be happy together” and leaving the campaign with their future a question mark instead of a <3.

Ironically enough, the desire for True Love and Happy Endings prevented both characters from actually getting to achieve those things. And that is a bummer for such a good story.