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beevean · 1 month

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Hey I found your post about the Castlevania shipping somewhat unlike you, in the past I have seen you defend nsfw art of Sonic characters who are minors, or brushing of shipping kids with adults but you're clearly upset at problematic power imbalance and noncon tropes in shipping adults. I just wonder does that mean you have changed your mind on the topic ???

Alright, I can see why it seems that I'm being a hypocrite. I'll try to explain myself in the best way I can, even if I question your wording.

I don't hate power imbalance and noncon/dubcon at all. They're some of my favorite tropes, and I am not particularly shy in talking about it :P and it's precisely because I an fascinated by them that poor writing incenses me and I can't stop thinking about it. However, this is the part I have to highlight: poor writing in official products, because comparing a very popular Netflix show written by a respected professional who got paid and promoted for his work, with a 20 kudos fanfiction written by some nameless teen for free, is disingenuous. One has tremendous reach and the other has not.

In the responses in that post (I'm assuming you're talking about this one - hope it's this one because otherwise I'd look dumb lol), I eventually said "I have more respect for the fans who just find the abuse hot". There are thousands of fanfics that are irrealistic when it comes to abusive dynamics, that are literally nothing more than fetish fuel - and that's fine. I wouldn't read them, I would appreciate if people did more research, but they're harmless. Disgust is not harm and in this I have not changed my mind.

My problem with that particular ship is not necessarily the "noncon" part (which is not even noncon: it's dubcon, it's deliberately murky). It's that the noncon part, and not even in a porn fic but in an official product that is praised for the depth of its writing, gets brushed off, because the writing was rushed and made artificially more "wholesome". The dissonance of morals is too big for me to ignore, and the resounding success that it got from its audience even more so - not even from the "step on me mommy" crowd or the "wow I love toxic relationships, they're so fucked up <3" crowd (hell I'm one of them), but from the people who genuinely agree with the story that "yes, this is cute".

I wouldn't care so much if this was just a non-canon ship. There are plenty of popular non-canon ships that make me angry because I think they have a terrible dynamic and I don't understand the appeal. I don't care. But this is not a ship, it's not just some dozens of fans findind two characters hot: this is a story. And this changes everything.

I believe that an official product, that is incidentally praised by nearly everyone, should have been more responsible with its messages. Not in a "fiction affects reality" way, but in a "this story is terribly written, I try to understand why I seem to be in the minority in thinking so, and the justifications are eerily reminiscent of real life abuse apologism" way. I'm not saying that NFCV fans will watch the show and think "oh boy! my eyes have been opened! maybe if I, a woman, raped a man into slavery, he'll love me too!"... but let's be real: unlike the boogeyman of incest, female-on-male abuse is still widely misunderstood. Rape that is not "man violently forces himself on a woman he doesn't know" is still widely misunderstood. The show had the chance to challenge those misconceptions, but instead, it only confirmed them. The fact that it happened mostly out of shoddy writing makes it even worse, because there is not even full authorial intent.

I can safely say that the overwhelming majority of people who draw porn of Tails are well aware that sexualizing real kids is wrong. This sort of moral cannot be influenced by porn, because it's too rooted in our consciousness (people who sexualize real life kids are born that way and it's a completely different topic). Those people have their own reasons for drawing that kind of porn. I don't want to know them, I don't want to see them, please keep it in your corner and tag your shit, but it's just tasteless fanart at worst and I don't care. I grew up in a much edgier era when genuine graphic torture porn was written for no reason other than to shock others, so I don't really bother to wonder why someone would write or draw something disgusting. As long as it's avoidable, it's fine. It's harder to avoid a popular official product that is always touted as an example of excellent writing and also happens to be the adaptation of a franchise I've grown to love, considered superior to said franchise to boot.

It doesn't help that there is proof of the writer in question being a prolific sex pest whose crimes eerily match its writing. So in his case, I do wonder why he wrote certain things.

Just as a note, I don't really talk about it here, but I used to be a fierce anti-Twilight back in the day, and it was for similar reasons: I was appalled at that series' sexism and misanthropy and abuse apologism and I thought it was a real issue, because I think widespread stories ought to be more careful with their themes than fanfics and fanart. Not even necessarily to "teach" a lesson (NFCV is for adults anyway, it's not meant to be educational), but... well, as respect for your audience, you know?

And as for the people who don't see any issue... again, I don't want to assume anything about their morals. Maybe for them it really is just an intriguing ship. But I would like to at least urge someone to think about what they're saying, because when you say "no, he wasn't raped, merely seduced, and anyway he deserved it for being stupid, and he got a good deal out of it so why did he have to ruin such a beautiful relationship?", now that is the thing that could affect real people, not shipping a 12 yo and a 15 yo cartoon hedgehogs.

tl;dr: official stories and ships/fan content have different impacts and I judge them differently. This also happened to be about a topic I very much care about.

#just to be clear: while that post was about a fanfic i found #those comments were mostly related to the main show #the fanfic was good. i was just lead astray by the tags #and i'm not going to bother the author lol #for tagging purposes #anti netflixvania

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starrylayle · 7 months

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no it's not "forced diversity", you just hate seeing minority leads.

I really didn't want to comment on this, but as someone who has recently rediscovered monster high and loves the new show, I've seen so much criticism that isn't exactly...constructive?

I've seen a lot of people say that making Frankie non-binary is 'forced', 'lazy' and 'uninspired', when that is just simply not true?? Let's unpack their character for a moment. They are made of a ton of different dead body parts, some male and some female. If you were to use the 'biology excuse' it wouldn't even make sense in this context -- they literally have male and female organs!! Also alot of nonbinary people feel as though they have lots of parts to themselves,, what better way to portray that than through a monster character struggling with the same thing? It's literally such a cool allegory!! Creators have been using magic/fantasy to describe/symbolise real world issues and feelings for ages,, why is it such a big deal creators do this for more marginalised people. [also,, the orginal Frankenstein creature was heavily queer coded in the first place so its a sweet easter egg).

I also see people say,, 'oh why couldn't they just have made a new character be non-binary instead of changing the pronouns of a former one'. I hate this argument so much because it sounds like it's in good faith, but really what they're trying to say is "stay away from my white cishet characters and go make one of the irrelevant side characters queer or or just make a whole new show starring them that I have no interest in watching'. Just admit you don't want to see queer characters as leads.

I also think that sometimes cishet ppl (or non-marginalised ppl in general but i've mostly been seeing an attack on the queer characters hence the example) forget that we also grew up watching monster high?? and related to the characters?? And we would be so excited if we saw our favourite characters with similar traits to us?? Like sheesh,, cishet ppl have so much representation like let us have this pls 😭 😭

Actually speaking of representation in Monster High, g1 was already pretty diverse and inclusive, and its nice to see g3 follow in its legacy and become even more inclusive as times change! Like, they really said 'fuck you' to all the conservatives and included a drag queen character, a non-binary main character, autistic side character and so many more!! It makes me so happy to see and its probably why its one of my comfort show rn amidst the rise of the anti-lgbt rhetoric, especially concerning children's media.

So respectfully, to all those people claiming that the new monster high is "forced diversity" --- fuck you xxx

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meowthefluffy · 8 months

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An update on my unfinished au’s!

I have over the last few months fallen deeply out of love with the Sanders Sides series and as a result I have not updated any of my projects in some time. At the current point I am at I am only planning to do the final two installments in the cupid au (because I pretty much lost my affection for the ts series right before the big finale of the project!!) and the lust Roman au (as it is my longest running work to date and I want to comple the project as a show of dedication to my younger self) although it will most likely be on a much quicker time scale than I was intending originally! (Instead of the 11 more parts I was hoping to produce it will probably be closer to 5 and I will most likely skip a few parts of the story that weren’t as important)

I feel a lot of affection for the work I have created but not a lot for the actual series so I’m trying to find a way to rework the stories I’ve created for the au’s to become independent creations that I will enjoy continuing to make! (Aside from the Lust au which I feel is mostly a story I don’t feel the need to come back to/rework since it relies so heavily on the source material) Most of my au’s function as stories mostly separate from canon material except for the characters archetypes present in each, so I’ll be working on retooling/reskinning said work to be more original and workable as long term projects! (Since u guys were really invest in my plots which had almost nothing to do with the canon characterization)

I’m currently working on retooling the Zombie au (Which I used as heavy inspiration for my oc Sophia I sometimes post about and her girlfriend) the Cupid au (I’m putting together more creative designs for the characters so that I can hopefully redo the comic- since I’m super in love with the concept) The sleeping beauty au (since it functions entirely the same as a stand alone story- and I could use the designs of my princess characters from that comic I made a long time ago for Valentine’s Day ) and the Super hero au! (Which I never properly defined and thus have a lot of incomplete ideas for, and my only struggle is coming up with better super hero names for them)

The only one of my main au’s I probably won’t rework is the Evil king au- just because I’m not sure how I could retool it to not just be a story about abuse(I feel more comfortable creating a story where everything is horrible and bad and the people involved are just bad for eachother when it’s an au- because there is other work of those characters where they aren’t that way to balance it out- but if it were my own new characters I feel as though it wouldn’t be nearly as fun to read or write)

This is a series of decisions I’ve been trying to wait on for a long time because I have been hoping something sanders Sides related would come out soon that would re spark my interest but nothing so far has happened- and with the way the story is going I don’t think it’s something that is going to happen. I still love all the work I have created for this fandom and I am so proud of all the collaborative projects I have been able to create with you all! I will happily re-read your asks and comments on my comics and I am still really proud of the community I’ve been able to create!

I’m sad to let this part of my life go (it’s taken up a solid 4th of my lifetime) and I understand that a lot of you all won’t follow me to my new projects- because I understand you guys didn’t come here for random oc projects- or original comics. And Altho it breaks my heart to see some of you move on and leave my notifications I am happy I the time with you all that I did!

Thank you all for everything- and I’ll see you soon 💖

#Im going to use the Prinxiety tags so that more people will see this post- since I am one of the bigger Prinxiety centric creators)#prinxiety #ts roman #tsvirgil #virgil sanders #cupid! au #sanders sides #roman sanders

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adickaboutspoons · 11 months

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So we've talked a lot about the different illustrations of Blackbeard used in the show and how they differ and compare to actual historical depictions, and the subtextual significance thereof. But today I want to talk about the metatext.

Because it's weird that three such radically different depictions of Blackbeard should be contained within one book, right? And not a book called, like, "The Many Faces of Blackbeard" or something to suggest that said book is specifically about him and only him.

And, would you look at that - "Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates is a really real text that was published in the 1920s and is therefore available for free on-line (CW - this text is very much of its time and contains extremely repugnant racist depictions of characters of color). Short side-note, and then I want to get back to talking about the book itself. Howard Pyle was an author and illustrator in the late 19th/early 20th century, who is credited with being THE GUY who created the modern idea of what the pirates of the Golden Age of Piracy looked like, with billowy culots, long, wide sashes around their waists, head scarves under broad-brimmed hats, and gold hoop earnings.

And it's a total fabrication. Yeah. He based The Look largely on the Spanish Romani. So in the show we've got all these contradictory and erroneous illustrations of Blackbeard in this book of this guy who gave us That Pirate Look, knowing full well those illustrations were made up of whole cloth. And I just think that's a neat little extra layer of subtext.

So is Blackbeard even actually in the really real book? Yes. Ish. The first chapter of the book is dedicated to talking about real pirates of the Spanish Main and Blackbeard is featured from page 28 - 32 including a black-and-white illustration entitled "Blackbeard buries his treasure".

It's this very strange tone of being worshipfully tantalized by how he was a REAL pirate (as contrasted with Captain Kidd who was just a namby-pamby PIRVATEER 🙄) and just EVER so CLEVER, but also breathlessly scandalized by what a v. bad, awful, TERRIBLE curr he was. Here's a sample so you can see what I mean: "But with 'Blackbeard' it is different, for in him we have a real, ranting, raging, roaring pirate per se—one who really did bury treasure, who made more than one captain walk the plank, and who committed more private murders than he could number on the fingers of both hands; one who fills, and will continue to fill, the place to which he has been assigned for generations, and who may be depended upon to hold his place in the confidence of others for generations to come." All in all, it's mostly just a gloss the likes of which you can get out of glancing at the Wikipedia page. It doesn't even mention Stede in relation to Blackbeard except as an offhand comment about how apparently "Major Bonnet" (who is otherwise only mentioned in one paragraph that dunks on him for being unable to commit to the bit of being a "proper" pirate) swung by and picked up a bunch of sailors Blackbeard had marooned. No mention of the fact that Bonnet and Blackbeard sailed together for awhile. Or that said maroonees were prolly Bonnet's men who stuck with Blackbeard after the breakup they went their separate ways.

After the first chapter, the book mostly seems to be stories of fictional pirates (or at least wholly fictional stories that happen to use the names of real pirates incidentally. You know - like our little show).

But so what? Surely the show just used a real book as a prop and stuck their homegrown Blackbeard fanart in willy-nilly to make it look like part of the text, right?

About that.

So I actually found Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates by doing a search for the text on the pages opposite the illustration when Stede presents Ed with the book for his approval, and again when Izzy is perusing the book before he goes on his "THIS is Blackbeard" screed. And the stories from which the texts are taken are somewhat revealing.

The story opposite the illustration Stede presents is "The Ruby of Kishmore". It's about a man who is fundamentally opposed to committing acts of violence (he's a Quaker), who is indirectly responsible for the deaths of three men. The first dies when he attacks the Quaker, and in the course of their struggle, is accidentally stabbed by his own blade. The second dies when he attacks the Quaker, and in the course of their struggle, accidentally shoots himself with his own gun. The third lures the Quaker to a secluded spot and attacks him, and in the course of their struggle, he drowns (no cannonball to assist, but I think you're picking up what I'm putting down).

The story opposite the illustration Izzy is preoccupied with is "Tom Chist and the Treasure Box". The eponymous character is an orphan from Bristol. He's called Tom Chist because he was found as an infant inside a chest bearing the initials T.C. that washed ashore from the wreckage of a ship from Bristol and the woman who found him had recently lost a baby named Tom; so the new baby is Tom from the Chest (and, incidentally, isn't "Chist" an interestingly Kiwi pronunciation of "chest"). The man who raises Tom Chist is an abusive alcoholic. One night, Tom chances to spy on a pirate who comes ashore to bury a treasure chest. But when he goes back the next day for the chest himself, he finds that, while it does contain treasure, it mostly is full of blackmail material. So the abused orphan from Bristol, who is named "chest"-with-a-kiwi-accent unearths a chest full of sensitive material that can be used for leverage. It's hardly even a metaphor at that point.

I don't think there's anything particularly deep going on here - just a fun little Easter egg for those who go looking.

#ofmd #our flag means death

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pandorkful · 2 months

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Replaying Lunar on stream has been kinda wild, like man there are some things I either missed 20 years ago or completely forgot about.

Like how rotten these punk kids are! I feel like a mortified chaperone leading a field trip that's gone completely off the rails, half the time I'm reading out their dialog. Kyle and Nash are definitely the worst offenders, but Jessica's earned herself a slap on the wrist a couple times too.

Nall can be annoyingly childish, but he's not dipped into the abhorrent social behavior nearly as much. Mia and Alex remain on good terms with me, by being blessedly quiet most of the time.

I miss Ramus, he was my good boy! The one braincell that held the party together! He gets a bad rap for some misogynistic comments he makes, but those get completely blown out of the water by Kyle's toxic 90's "it's funny to hate women" masculinity. And to be honest, Ramus' two points of character flaw effectively cancel themselves out:

Whines that Luna shouldn't come on the adventure because "girls just keep guys from having fun." (A very mild and childish form of misogyny. )

Later hires a squad of bunnygirls to work in his store, proving that maybe he's grown and learned that his prior protestations were unfounded. (And his employees adore him, so he's definitely not mistreating them!)

And then there's Luna. Dear sweet, angry and tormented Luna. She also earned a few slaps on the wrist due to some carelessly judemental comments, but was mostly well behaved while she was with us.

Some of her dialog was written to be nagging, but I chose to interpret those moment as raw anger and it really adds to her character I think. She has every right to be angry, growing up in the worst village on Lunar!! Surrounded by weirdos who shipped her with her brother-by-adoption from the moment she showed up!!!

Oof, that's a plot quirk that I didn't pick up on the first time I played the game. WD did a decent job trying to bury it, but there are a few moments of "I miss OUR parents, Alex" that really had me feeling the Folger's holiday awkwardness.

Tbh, the main thing WD did to hide the lede was avoid publishing that Luna and Alex have the same surname (something that later game localizers didn't bother hiding,) and calling Luna a foundling as often as possible. Idk, maybe it's just me, but if you grow up from infanthood together, nursed by the same woman, and call the adults raising you "mom and dad".... you're siblings. It doesn't matter that you're not related by blood, you experienced the sibling relationship dynamic and therefore it is still incestuous to date eachother. Ew.

More worryingly, there's the argument that the Noah's didn't raise Luna as their daughter, but just as a "foundling." What does that entail? A cold, emotionally neglectful distance. An orphan kept close at hand only for her miraculous ability to keep their "real" kid from crying 24/7. (According to one early tie-in manga.) That's worse, I hate that. Though.... that would explain a lot of Luna's anger and frustration.

Does the second scenario make a romantic relationship between Luna and Alex okay? No. If anything, it makes it even worse.

It's too bad there's basically no mental health support on Lunar, because all these kids need intensive counseling of one sort or another.

Last night was the first appearance of Tempest and Fresca, two kids that I always forget, like, exist in the game. They're introduced like they matter, but, well... if you stick with my streams, we'll probably uncover why I'm so lukewarm on those characters either this upcoming Sunday or the Sunday after that (depending on whether Myght's tower is as annoying as I remember it being or not.)

For all my grousing, I still love the cast of Lunar so much. They are an absolute mess, in a way I don't see from other rpgs of that era or any other era if I'm honest. An endearing mess. I could just use a little less of some of the worst stuff that was mostly left behind in the 90's and early 00's.

On the other hand, sometimes it's good to be reminded of the things society has grown past. Because nostalgia can be a very dangerous thing.

(Also, I really need to work on writing out my Queer Lunar Thesis. Because I've got a queer reading for every one of these characters. Maybe even Tempest and Fresca? We'll have to get through their story before I can make up my mind on them. It'll be hilarious if they turn out to be the only hetero cis characters on the moon.)

#lunar silver star story complete #lunar rambles

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canonizzyhours · 5 months

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idk if this is appropriate since it isn't about canon izzy directly but i need somewhere anonymous to complain about 'the canyon.' i'm not in a lot of fandoms so i don't know if this is normal fandom behavior or what. I hope it isn't. this has been a uniquely upsetting experience for me. I have, like, next level autism for this show so of course i had to find Every single scrap of information about it and in the course of my obsessive 'research' i encountered these guys a lot, almost from the very beginning.

at first i thought it was funny and cute, like when people are hot for hannibal lector or some fucked up little guy. they wrote the worst ever fanfiction. that was fine, I could forgive that. but then they started saying things like 'if you watch it from izzy's perspective you'll see that he's the real hero and ed is the villain.' like girl no I've watched it 96 times and never once found this authoritarian incel karen good or relatable. the one that really got me was 'in any other show he'd be the protagonist.' yeah bro that's why i like this one? go watch one of those?

by like the fourth month they already had a bizarre victim complex. I just avoided talking about him completely because they would get really rude and start in with the guilt trips if you mentioned izzy even in a neutral way, let alone if you said anything about homophobia or psychological abuse. they called people abusive and homophobic and racist (?) if they said anything negative about fictional white man izzy hands. they threatened to sue someone. remember when there was an essay about him in a zine that was actually pretty positive? and most of the comments online were about how the actors and writers would definitely read this and be heartbroken. probably cry. maybe not even want to make the show anymore. it was a fan zine.

i didn't even like izzy except as an antagonist, but somehow they almost convinced me that i was watching it wrong. i started to seriously think, like, what if the writers were on his side all along? what if they really were making the main (queer, indigenous) love interest abusive and my very favorite thing was not as good as i thought it was? why not, when i've always had to twist a story to pretend it's for me? maybe i'd done it without realizing this time. i would have been so disappointed. and the way season two was done, there was like a week where i think i really believed it. it made me feel like i couldn't trust my own judgement. probably I was depending too much on this one tv show for serotonin because I cried a lot during that time, but you know how it is. the point is, it should have been a fun time for me but it was not.

i was so happy when he died, though. that cheered me right up and i'm fine now. i know I'm being dramatic and none of my complaints are very important in the grand scheme of things (i didn't even get into the racism) but they almost fucked up my Autism Favorite Thing for me and i want it to be documented somewhere that i will never forgive them for that <3 <3 <3

#31.

related posts: #29

(so i'd have posted this anyway bc of recent posts talking about questioning their views of izzy bc of the prevalence of canyon takes insisting he's a protagonist etc. but even without that, this blog was literally created because of a need for a space to talk about canon izzy and a need for acknowledgement that fanon izzy has become very widespread, mostly due to the canyon actions you mention. so it's difficult to separate the two when the blog was partially born from people thinking they were the only one to feel this way!)

#canonizzyhours #ofmd #izzy hands #fandom critical

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mariacallous · 3 months

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On Monday morning, the organizers of the Take Our Border Back convoy kicked off their road trip to the Texas–Mexico border in Virginia Beach. Though they claimed that up to 40,000 trucks would be joining, only 20 vehicles made up the convoy as it rolled into Jacksonville, Florida, 14 hours later. The promised support had not materialized—not a single truck showed up, tires were reportedly slashed, participants got lost, and paranoia struck the group. In short, the convoy was a complete mess.

The convoy was organized last week as a show of support for Texas governor Greg Abbott and his decision to defy the federal government and President Joe Biden about the installation of razor wire along the Texas–Mexico border in Eagle Pass, Texas. While at least one organizer initially said they planned to hunt down migrants along the border in collaboration with sympathetic members of law enforcement, the group appeared to walk back that assertion on Monday, issuing a statement that the convoy would not be heading to the border at all but instead going to Quemado, a tiny town in Catron County, Texas. The group’s website, however, still lists the route of the convoy as “Virginia Beach, VA, to Eagle Pass,” and members of the planning group on Telegram still say they are going to the Texas border.

The organizers also repeatedly stated that the event was peaceful, though online chats in a related Telegram group show members discussing “exterminating” migrants. A known white nationalist who was kicked out of the People’s Convoy in 2022, Ryan Sanchez, is among those most active in the group. Sanchez was previously a Marine Corp reservist who says he was kicked out after he was reported to have been demonstrating alongside the Rise Above Movement, an alt-right street-fighting group that took part in the neo-Nazi rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, which led to the death of one counterprotester.

“I think the Eagle Pass rally is going to be the ’main event,’” Sanchez wrote in the convoy Telegram channel. “We need to think strategically and concentrate our limited resources where they will have the greatest effect.”

But on the first day of the convoy, some attendees woke up to find their tires slashed, according to one of the main livestreamers who posted pictures on X of the cars outside a motel. The meeting point also had to be hastily rearranged on Monday morning when the owners of the original location told the organizers they couldn’t gather there.

When the convoy did finally come together in a hotel parking lot in Norfolk, Virginia, there were a few dozen people and around 20 vehicles, based on video footage reviewed by WIRED and comments made by the livestreamers responding to questions from supporters.

The day began with a speech from Craig Hudgins, one of the organizers, who stressed that the event was a "peaceful, peaceable demonstration.” Hudgins also claimed—without evidence—that he had heard that up to “40,000 truckers from all over the country and Canada” would be joining the convoy—although not a single one of those trucks managed to join the group during the first day. The convoy members also heard from Ivan Raiklin, who was involved in the efforts to block Joe Biden’s election win and is an ally of disgraced national security adviser Michael Flynn.

Finally, after a prayer from a pastor linked to the Church Militant, a far-right religious website, the convoy rolled out an hour later than scheduled and headed down I-95. It was spearheaded by a bus covered in MAGA slogans.

Almost immediately, one of the vehicles in the convoy got lost, according to messages posted in the Zello walkie-talkie app that the group is using to communicate while on the road. Later, when the convoy linked up to discuss evening plans, the meeting quickly descended into an argument about where they were going to be staying. Even trying to meet up at a gas station was difficult: Due to the size of a Buc-ee’s in South Carolina, convoy members couldn’t locate each other.

A few hours into the trip, the lead bus pulled over onto the highway shoulder and kicked out one of the people onboard, who had traveled on his own from Washington, DC. It was unclear exactly why he was ejected, but the man, who is part of a group that protests daily in support of people jailed for rioting at the Capitol on January 6, was left stranded in Florence, South Carolina, without his wallet, according to details discussed on a livestream of someone in contact with the man.

Throughout the day, the half-dozen people livestreaming the convoy spent much of their time responding to questions from some of the thousands of people watching.

Most of the questions were about the conspiracy that the convoy is a “setup” by the federal government to “entrap patriots.” That sense of paranoia has been present in the group from the very beginning, according to leaks of the group’s chats on Discord: “This will end up loaded with trolls and feds in no time,” one member wrote a week ago.

Paranoia was also prevalent on the Telegram channels used to coordinate the convoy in different parts of the country. “I hope it’s not another J6 trap. People need to pray for discernment about this. But after 3 years of this people are sick of it,” one member wrote, referring to the widely debunked conspiracy that the Capitol insurrection was a left-wing plan to trap Trump supporters.

On Monday, after the cars had started on the road, organizers issued a press release, claiming “groups are forming to infiltrate the convoy.” The statement also claims that “nowhere on the website does it say anything about the convoy going to the border,” which is inaccurate, as the route for the main convoy clearly states the final destination is Eagle Pass.

Additionally, one of the organizers of the convoy, Pete Chambers, told Alex Jones last week that his plan included traveling to the border to hunt migrants and work with local law enforcement to capture them. Among those traveling with the convoy, multiple people on Monday mentioned going to Eagle Pass. “We’re all going to the border,” one member declared on the livestream on Monday night.

Though the convoy’s start was full of mishaps, others planning to join the convoy still appear to be taking their plans seriously. Online, a number of people are openly talking about going to the border: “Those going to Eagle Pass on Saturday, message me,” one member of the Texas-focused Take Our Border Back Telegram channel wrote. “I'm organizing level 2 security detail composed of veterans and prior law enforcement guys. We're not going to engage any threats or go in guns blazing. We'll just keep a watchful eye and report any suspicious behavior.”

As the convoy has gained some media attention, the Telegram channels have been scrubbed of a lot of the more virulent, racist, and violent language used by members. However, leaks of the Telegram chat detail clearly how members spoke openly about “exterminating” migrants.

Since Abbott issued his letter in defiance of the Biden administration, he has seen support flow in from dozens of GOP governors and former president Donald Trump, who has urged other states to send troops to Texas. The convoy has been portrayed in right-wing media in recent days as part of a wider right-wing effort to support Abbott and resist Biden’s immigration policies, and as a result, its organizers have been able to raise over $140,000 on a Christian-focused crowdfunding website.

On Tuesday morning, the convoy departed Jacksonville for Baton Rouge, Louisiana, with a few more vehicles joining the group—but still no trucks.

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wen-kexing-apologist · 9 months

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Hi.....Do you mind if I ask you some random thing? I used to love shounen and shoujo manga equally....But ever since I found BL manga 3 years ago, my interest in shoujosei (especially het romance) decrese a lot, and what I search for is just the dynamic between mc (male) and male lead...I don't want to read mc (female) and male lead or mc (male) and female lead...And what I want to read mostly are just mlm or wlw stories....

What do you think is happening to me? Is it really weird?

To be honest, I do not know much about shounen and shoujo manga, but my quick search says they are manga that are written for the target audience of adolescent boys and girls. Same with shoujosei, I don’t know much about it, how they are structured, how they portray relationships between people. So I won’t speak to those specifically, but I will say that the there are very *very* few heterosexual relationships that I am interested in seeing play out, partially because I find the majority of heterosexual relationships I have seen in fiction to be rooted in misogyny, have some very troubling dynamics, or are just…boring. Obviously that is not always the case, but I think I can count the number of heterosexual pairings I care about on one hand. That won’t be the case for everybody, but I am almost certainly not alone. It is also worth meaning that I am queer and therefore just inherently find queer stories to be more relatable and interesting.

So, here is what I think is happening to you:

I think the kinds of stories you are interested in are changing over time. This is completely normal and not weird at all. I promise.

I have been on tumblr for over ten years at this point. If you had followed me from the beginning of my time on tumblr, you would have seen me cycle through SO.MANY. different interests in books and shows. Even just six months ago, my blog was a chaotic mix of multiple different interests, my username was a reference to Word of Honor, my profile picture was Benoit Blanc in a pool from the movie Glass Onion, and my cover photo was a meme from The Owl House. Somehow, at this point in my life, my interests have been completely consumed by QL.

I don’t know your sexuality or what your relationship to queer/LGBTQ+ identities are, so I won’t comment on that for you. But I will say for me, I only realized, or at least admitted to myself, that I was queer three years ago. But my entire life, since I was old enough to have complete control over the media I was engaging with, I was drawn to queer stories. Even if the main plotline wasn’t about queer people, or gay romance, if there were gay characters there, I was there. Carmilla, Wynona Earp, Shadowhunters, Sense8, etc.

BL, GL, QL stories, casual inclusion of queer characters, etc. are really really important to get people used to how it feels to see queer people existing, to use them as a test against your own thoughts, feelings, and experiences. I think engaging with QL is a really good way to explore your own identity, to think about what it is that you like about it, how you think, how you feel. This is just my opinion, but I think men love men differently than they love women, and similarly women love women differently than they love men. I think seeing how those differences play out in relationships is important to understanding the type of love you want or are drawn to, and if that is something you want or are drawn to. Thank you for trusting me with these questions, I am happy to answer more, or just to chat, and I wish you all the luck on your QL media journey, there is a lot of content for you out there :)

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luckyshotwrites · 1 year

Text

Ch. 61 // Gust Front // Day 48

Contents (Warnings): The wedding day approaches (Angsty, vore mentions, and character/monster info). Read full chapter on - A03

Wordcount: 3,345

Side note: This will contain experimental writing; first person (Lynette's view) will be implemented alongside third person for the two other essential characters, (mostly) Alexander and (occasionally) Drake. All their text will be italicized for those third-person moments, with the characters' names in Bold at the start and their thoughts in Bold. There may be other characters I write for using this.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

(Nov. 10th, Thursday)

There are a lot of girls I've never met here. They were of different sizes and shapes, Charletta had seven other bridesmaids, excluding Wenna. And I was the maid of honor.

I was given the rundown at dinner yesterday, what I should be doing, and how I should direct all of the other bridesmaids, but it was a scary feeling being in charge with prying eyes on me. I didn't know who was safe, what they were, and whether I did everything right. It also reminded me of the lie I'd have to pull off with the others.

"Mom and Dad both agreed, we are telling everyone you're a magus tomorrow if they ask, so play along," Charletta said. She had her checklist in hand. She looked over it one more time before handing it to me.

"Is that a good idea?" I asked, not looking at the list yet. I know next to nothing about magic.

Charletta smiled, "I think it's much safer for everyone to assume you're a magus as they do now." She stretched her arms up, "moreover, most magus's can hide their energy and magic from monsters or other magus's. So they'll assume you're powerful."

"When I'm not."

"You may not be powerful in magic, but I admire plenty of other qualities about you." Charletta glanced back and put her hands on her hips.

What could you admire about me? The question didn't leave my head, "I get it. Wicks and you are much cooler though." I pushed a smile.

Charletta giggled with the excitable brightness in her eyes, "shush up, Lyn." She pressed playfully at my shoulder, and I took it.

"Lynette!" Wenna chirped, her eyes lit up as she entered the dressing room. I finished my Rapunzel braid.

She quickly jogged up to me. She circled me like an excited dog. I tried to keep up with her. Wenna swiftly got behind me and put her delicate hands on my shoulders. I lightly squeaked. She made me face the mirror, "THIS," she picked up my braid, "braid is so cute!"

I could see the worry on my face, more evident than her smile in the mirror. I exhaled, "t-thanks."

She let go and chuckled, "don't worry, I won't bite." She flashed her fangs, "I know when a magus has me beat."

Her giggle was far too on the nose. I felt comfortable around Wenna, because she didn't eye me like the others did.

I noticed another approaching us from the array of mirrors. I glanced back.

"Hello, Wenna, Lynette." The proper vocals shook hands with my ears. I scanned over the well-dressed female. Even though it was a casual rehearsal, she wore a gray business suit with a unique collar that showed off her white button-up. "Should we start heading to the main wed hall?"

"Hi, Koianada-"

"Koi is fine,"

"Koi," I nodded, then patted over my jeans pockets. I pulled out my phone and checked over the family group chat. "They are doing their final run with the coordinator. Charletta will meet with us when we can go." I replied, looking up from my phone.

Koi gave a bob of her head, "right." She glanced up at a few of her bangs that escaped the bobby pins. She turned to the mirrors.

"I don't think I witnessed you during the marked game yesterday," the white-haired girl said.

What do I say to that? If I mentioned anything magic related, I'd sound like an idiot.

"Lynette would have beat us all if she played," Wenna covered me.

Play along. I thought to myself. "Wenna, you're embarrassing me." Even a simple comment like that hurt. I disliked lying. It only helped remind me that I wasn't candid with Wicks that night. I saw the frustration and anger festering in him when I talked at length about a few events. So, I refused to go into detail about all of them.

I don't want anyone to fight. I'm not worth the effort. From what I understand...you all have a lot more on your plate and you shouldn't worry about me.

I could feel the deep ache. I pinched at my arm. Stop it. It's okay. This is a break. Please. There was so much I didn't understand, wanted to ask questions about, and...overall, I felt apart from it all.

"HEY, EVERYONE, LET'S GET GOING!!" Charletta popped her head into the dressing room, where the small groups were chit-chatting. I turned to head out and heard a voice beside me.

"You've got this, Lynette." Wenna patted my head. I held up a thumbs up.

...

We finished rehearsal. I couldn't believe so many new faces came to talk to me. I'd never remember them all.

I needed a breather. I stepped back and leaned on the wall. Wicks squinted at me and gestured back to the group he was part of.

I shook my head. I put my two palms together, then pressed the back of my left hand to my face and made a 'sleep' gesture.

"Hey, Lynette."

I shifted my body to the cyan-haired male, "hi, Ace." I matched his friendly smile.

"Are you taking a break? I saw you rushing around earlier." He said with a slight chuckle.

"Yeah..." We went over everything quicker than they expected, so we had to wait a little longer before we headed out to the dinner. I know there were plenty of other things I should have done, but my family handled a lot of this. I'm trying to make up for it now, though. "I wasn't really doing much."

"Nonsense," Ace said, "I can tell you are dedicated to the part for your sister. It's honorable." He looked above at the marble statues, beautiful fake trees with white leaves, and the chairs along the white-carpeted aisle. "I think this is a nice place for a wedding. The upstairs has such a pretty view of the garden too."

I nodded, "it is." I looked at Charletta as she joked with a few girls and guys next to Ulysses. "I'm glad I get to see her at her happiest." I could feel my eyes watering. No, not in front of a stranger!

He ran his hand through his slicked-back hair and attempted to study my turned-away face. "I bet you'd look amazing at your happiest too."

ME?! I couldn't even fathom anything like that. I had no one in my life romantically. I couldn't even go on dates. I chickened out whenever I was invited. I will never get over throwing up on Kyle. His name was ingrained in my head after my first and only date.

"You too," I replied. I didn't know what to say in response. My gaze brushed Ace's cool, ice one, then drifted to the blush at his cheeks.

Wait, did he say amazing? Me...oh... I felt the queasiness.

He changed the subject after our eyes intertwined. "So, Lynette, what do you do for fun outside of magic?"

"Uh, I read and play video games occasionally too." I feel like I haven't had much time for either of those. "I do rock climbing with Wicks sometimes on my weekends too."

His thin lips uplifted with a curl, enthralled by the mention. "Rock climbing? We should go some time. I know a place nearby. We could ask Wicks, Charletta, and Ulysses to tag along."

My raised chest deflated with relief. His tender reassurance calmed me. I was glad he included them in his invitation. I agreed, and our conversation continued.

A tick in the back of my mind reminded me that Ace still had to be some sort of monster, but his niceness and interest reminded me of June. He was less bubbly. However, nonetheless, he was the ease I needed right now. I hated to think that Ace, a total stranger, was someone I felt more relief from now than my family.

...

Drake

He was the barrier between Wicks and Alexander. He sat in the seat between them and could feel the burning gaze from the magus on his right.

I am willing to bet Lynette told him EVERYTHING. The thought then occurred to him, and his eyes slipped to his new sister-in-law, at least starting tomorrow.

That means I'm on the hit list next. Drake slumped in his chair. He hadn't worn a hoodie today. His mom and dad would tear into him if he dressed too informally. He at least put his hair back comfortably over his face. His right hand under the table fidgeted with the white table cover, and he looked over the fancy, shimmering silverware. Each looked freshly cleaned and sharpened, or new. This place is nice.

His ears started to pick up the conversation between Ace and Lynette. He was complimenting her quite a bit. Maybe Lynette reminds him of Charletta? Or perhaps she said something that really enraptured him? He questioned the thought. Is Lynette really the romantic type? She acts far too timid most of the time, compared to Charletta... Drake exhaled aloud. In that competition, she was a menace.

"You looked nice with your hair back earlier, Drake."

He perked up at the sudden compliment. He figured it was because his head was turned in her direction even though he was really looking past her out the window to the street. I did not.

"It wasn't my choice." He brushed over the bangs over his eyes.

"You do clean up nicely, Drake. You should work on being presentable more often." Koi then gestured to Alexander, who sat on her left in between her and Drake. "Just as Alexander should stop wearing that scowl, he'd look more attractive without it."

"Bite me," Alexander grumbled with a roll of his eyes.

"I already regret it the first time, do not remind me of the horrendous flavor you hybrids possess," She uttered.

He squinted at her, finally taking his eyes from Wicks. Drake shivered, "why do you have to remind me of that, Koi."

"I thought you only bit humans...?" Lynette questioned Drake.

He could tell by the sudden quickness of her heart's change. She didn't mean to say that allowed.

Alexander rubbed at his arm, "he used cheap tricks to try and beat my ass in a fight."

WHAT? Drake cocked his head in his Best friend's direction. "You're just mad. I almost beat you without magic."

"ALMOST beat me? I was going easy on you."

His shoulders rose, "you're lying."

"You think I wanted to hurt you. If I did-"

Ace butt in before they could get too wild. "Hey, since you guys are a little magic enthusiastic. I was thinking we can have a training session tomorrow, to test our skills? Maybe give each other pointers?"

Wicks chuckled, "oh? That sounds like a great idea." His hazel hue locked onto Alexander, "I think I'd love to give you guys some pointers."

"Hell no."

Wicks inched forward over the table, over the empty plate. "Are you saying your scared?"

The blonde stared directly at him, "scared of your ass? No."

You're lying. You're definitely worried.

"I can already tell we don't have the same specializations. It'd be stupid to "train" together." Alexander knew what Wicks wanted. The other two at the table were confused about the whole situation as to why Wicks looked excited to destroy him.

This whole Lynette's a magus lie... His hue fell on the prim female. If Koi pays too close attention to how Alexander looks at her, she'll know we're lying.

"What about you, Lynette? Maybe you can help Alexander?" Ace suggested.

Lynette, who was mid-drinking water, lurched forward. She almost spit it up. She quickly swallowed and put her cup down.

Drake saw Alexander's mouth open, and he pressed his claws to extend on his fingertips. "If only she-" He quickly jabbed his two fingers into Alexander's side. It stopped him mid-sentence. He didn't break his skin or anything. It felt like he ran into a metal wall with them.

Alexander's vision darted to Drake. The person to Drake's side caught it first. The vampire beast knew not only was Wicks P.O.ed but that Alexander might have said something to spill the secret. He was also riled up by the fact that Alexander would have most likely commented about Lynette's unwillingness to let herself get eaten by him.

Alexander sat back and crossed his arms. The two awaited his response. "If only she wasn't as annoying as her brother." He shot a gaze back to Wicks.

The male with the ponytail laughed, "you didn't just call my sister annoying."

They looked ready to both throwdown here. "And what if I did, fucker?"

"Maybe a training session is not a good idea," Ace muttered.

"Not at all," Koi said.

Lynette tapped the table in front of her, "please!" They both turned their gaze to her. "I don't think Ulysses or Charletta want a fight a day before their wedding."

Drake glanced at the two, and they both stopped their heavy gazes. Lynette hit them both with the people they respected and cared for. Or at least Drake knew Alexander respected Ulysses and would protect him the same as everyone else. He figured Wicks was the same, especially with how protective he was over Lynette.

It was not long after the toast from the event host, Drake's dad.

Edgar stood up from the bride, groom, and parents table after getting everyone's attention with the classic glass TING TING TING.

He cleared his throat before speaking, "as I look around this room, it warms my heart to see all of the love in here that people have for dear Charletta and Ulysses." Edgar surveyed everyone, a charming smile on his face.

"If you have been to a wedding before, you know it takes a lot of hard work and planning. It truly is a group effort, and this rehearsal is the last thing on the to-do list before the big day." There was a slight cord fluctuation in his voice. He kept himself together.

"I know Charletta and Ulysses are so happy and grateful to have you all here, and I am so lucky to meet and eat with all of you." The parents had been table hopping. They sprang around this disaster table earlier.

Drake hadn't gotten to engage a lot with Lynette's side of the family, not that he felt like he should. Mainly since he stuck around the problem. His eyes went to Alexander.

After the small speech with his brother, thanking everyone received their food and started to eat.

That was when he heard his mom's voice beside him. "Drake, Alexander." She warmly rubbed at their shoulders, "how are my favorite boys doing!" She gave Alexander a kiss first on his forehead.

Then she leaned over to Drake, brushed his hair away, and did the same to him.

"Are you drinking enough," she asked him, studying his drink.

"Yeah, mom," Drake replied. He saw her inspecting more at his face.

"You look so much paler. Are you sure?"

Drake pulled away lightly. "I'm fine." He grew embarrassed as the others looked at him.

His mom popped up and bowed to the others, "hey, Ace and...oh! Yes, this is where Edgar said where you were. Ulysses and Charletta wanted to talk to you both."

Ace raised a brow, "me?"

Koi got up without much hesitation, "we should see them."

They both got up, leaving the table. Drake's mom made her way over to Wicks and Lynette.

She happily spoke, "I am so glad you both look like you're having a wonderful time. Hopefully, my boy are making it fun for the two of you."

Wicks half smiled, "fun is the word I'd use."

Lynette agreed, "fun is a word."

You can tell Wicks hates us, right? Drake thought to himself.

"He doesn't hate you," his mom replied aloud.

Wicks raised a brow, "whose thoughts did you read."

His mom held her mouth, "oh, apologies. Sorry, Drake happens to think a lot in his head, and I've gotten used to reading them" She looked back at him and went to hug him. He sat there and took it. His body trembled. And her thoughts went back to him. "Don't worry, I'm sure Wicks doesn't hate you for your mess up during the festival. It's a good thing Lynette understands-."

She released him once he stood up in her grasp. He put his cup down on the table gently. He turned to her, "I'm going to the bathroom."

"Drakie," she said, but he refused to turn back and face her. He heard the other chair push out too. Alexander told Danee bye and went after Drake. He tried to calm his temperament and hold his thoughts as he left. He ignored Alexander, who came beside him.

"You're not walking back," Alexander said to him.

Drake continued to walk around the corner and into the main dining hall instead of their closed-off sections. He didn't respond. For some reason, the lights irritated him, even though the place itself was darker than most restaurants.

"Drake," Alexander tried to grab his arm before they made it outside. Drake avoided it and pushed out. The air felt chiller than the previous nights. And the slight breeze pushed away the repetitive calls of his name.

Alexander, this time didn't give up. "HEY, ASSHOLE."

Drake stopped and whipped around, "YOU DON'T HAVE TO FOLLOW ME. I DON'T NEED YOUR PROTECTION." His lip raised and his fangs became more apparent. "I'M TAKING A BREAK."

"You think that's why-" Alexander groaned and pressed up his glasses, "I don't want you doing something stupid like walking back to the house because she loves you."

ME? Drake laughed aloud and threw away the last part, "are you serious? You think I'd do something stupid?" He shook his head and nodded up at him "You're the one that doesn't think before you open your damn mouth!"

Alexander narrowed his gaze, but Drake didn't hear it. Why doesn't his heart sound angry... What Drake heard instead was pained.

It momentarily distracted him. Alexander grabbed his hips seeing the time to strike. Drake instinctually went to loop his arm over and twist Alexander's head away.

"Stop it fucker; we're going back now." Alexander fought to keep his head in place. He lifted Drake from the concrete and the few people that walked the streets didn't seem to care.

"YOU AREN'T CARRYING ME BACK!" He snapped back.

"THEN HEAD INSIDE ONCE I DROP YOUR ASS." They let go simultaneously. Drake caught himself, and Alexander's eyes glued themselves to him.

I basically called you stupid. Drake thought. He looked back at the restaurant and then at Alexander, who waited for him to move. He took a breath and walked toward the doors again. "Sorry."

"You better be. You're literal instinct was to try and snap my fucking neck." Alexander said. He rubbed it.

It's not like I could from that position nor do I have enough strength when you link you and your wendigo form.

He looked at his hand for a moment before putting it back in his pocket. He weakly picked up a smile, "Like I could snap your fat neck."

Alexander grinned. "Say that shit again, and I'll pick you up by your fucking legs and drag you back in there." There was the annoyed jokiness.

Alexander held the door open for him.

Drake scoffed, "like I'd let you grab me again. I'll knock you to the floor."

A hearty chuckle left Alexander's lips, " that happened once."

"seven times," Drake corrected, only to hear the playful groan behind him.

Shame fell upon Drake after. He had been so caught up, he didn't realize why it bothered Alexander so much until now. You're wrong, Alexander. Everyone loves those that are strong like you. Not someone like me.

...

Hey, you, thank you so much for reading. It means a lot that I put out a story that people can enjoy! So, I hope you continue to enjoy it as WE have a LOT more to go! YOU BETTER KEEP PROSPERING! (Nonnegotiable).

First Chapter Previous Chapter Next Chapter

Catch up, see some maps/art, or check the latest release dates down below ↓ ↓ ↓

What I’d do for a Livable Income (Synopsis/Chapter - List)

#widfali #vore story #vore writing #v.0re #v.ore #angsty #we are reaching the parts I've been waiting for #THANK You seriously for reading this far #I appreciate all of you <3 #KEEP BEING BOMBAS

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horizon-verizon · 1 year

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I agree with you that the show is bad in terms of writing and characterization, and probably i won't even watch the next season, but if I'm being honest you seem to hate the show so much why are you still searching for posts related to the show and respond to it if it's bother you this much?

FIRST

I don't actively or habitually search for the show or anything related to it in Tumblr with the purpose of fighting with others or proving how smart I am.

I do reblog with corrections, counterarguments, or praise if I feel strongly enough about what's being said AND if I have the energy

posts about it pop up in my feed in the "Based on what you liked!" list because I don't block their tags

OR I get asks about the show's characters and/or writing.

I write of the main experience I have to write against the claim that I "search" for HotD posts as if it is a continuous action. This is what usually happens. And the person sending the asks about HotD are usually those who only ever watched the show and never read the books, are antis, or have skimmed the books and read the wikis instead of actually doing some independent thought and deeper research with comparative analyses.

It is less common/rare for me to begin a discussion from an original green stans or an avid HotD lover. *EDIT* Now, as of 2023, there are asks with links to posts by others (mostly made by green stans) that the asker asks me to consider/think about and respond. I mostly respond to those already responding to others or to those who make comments and reblogs of my own posts, like what happened in my Sansa POST and one Daemon/Nettles POST.

I’m saying, anon, that it could be a lot worse. I could become a greater menace to others on this blog than you presently think.

SECOND

Before I started writing original posts or answers to asks, I collected various team black and team green posts, and I still do so today. Why? Because I actually wanted/still want to know the arguments each team makes. Because in general, I like and want to hear how people think about things.

I came to Tumblr wanting to collect posts and make a blog I can use to reference material and arguments but still have more personal freedoms to do this. (Which is also why I refuse to put “anti” tags just for the sake of “politeness”.)

I basically want to make my blog a reference point thus I will force myself to add stuff about HotD/greens’ opinions as much as I can stomach.

I want to know what logic they present, where does it fall short, what maybe-good points they make, how much they actually know about history, human psychology -- how much I know and need to know about somethings after reading, etc.

Which is related and goes into my next reason....

THIRD

It’s not a matter of superficial “like” and “dislike”. The show “bothers” me more than a matter of bad writing and bad characterization.

After watching the show, you get more people feeling justified by their already existing illiteracy/refusal to learn (beyond their conservatism) and their theories about the canon material. (POST).

You even get people mixing up the show’s events and portrayals and changes with the canon, thus there are people out there with ideas of what this story/part of the Westerosi history is about when they are simply ill-informed or dead wrong.

It’s twisting the narrative, checking all the boxes, to make it more “modern”, “palatable” to performative activism, or/and (thus) make it a lot more marketable to more people. To follow up and revitalize the fervor for the horrid ending of GoT (which was itself sexist as hell) without actually keeping the substance and philosophical/political weight of the original story that lets us know the greens were the unequivocal villains.

Here are a few reblogs/posts/articles by me and others about the actors, marketability, how HotD fails at some things, etc.: POST, POST (you can go to the “performative activism” part), POST, POST, POST, POST (you should really get into this one, it begins to explain how the writing itself doesn’t support accountability), POST, POST, POST, POST, POST, POST (this one talks about Hollywood and Rhaenyra and feminism). Your choice to read all or a few or none.

And after listening to the “neutrals” AND what non “neutrals” say about “neutrals” (of both teams), I found that there is no such thing as a “neutral” unless you really never or never watched/read any ASoIaF product and thus have no existing opinion about its themes and characters and events. But then you’re not a fan, you’re just someone who knows the fandom exists.

Unless you are like the former brideoffires (Tumblr)/starlight and seafoam (Twitter), who looks at the F&B characters--esp Rhaenyra--as set up to Dany's story and recognize the larger composite picture of misogyny-leads-to-great conflict/Dany-is-the-fixture (to put it very simply).

When you read about the Dance and if you know anything about civil wars and how/why they happen, you should know that you can almost never philosophically or ideologically not pick or at least favor a side. It’s nearly impossible once we are acquainted with why the sides are fighting and the historical details of how this civil conflict happened in the first place, specifically when one side has done nothing to the other before, nor present any true, future threat. Of course things change, as they do in the Dance where the sides commit war crime after war crime & lose more of their own kids, but it was very clear the greens began it through the sexist usurpation to gain power for themselves; they also had little to actually fear from either Rhaenyra or any lord if she had ascended peacefully.

Again, unless we don't know, we can't fully care, and once you start actually caring, then you take a side and form strong opinions. In civil wars, there exists hatred or the need for dominance within the territory itself and it usually comes from a particular background that cannot be ignored but can also be messy and conflicting.

Plus, I found that most of the neutrals (not all, one still has to listen to why one says they are "neutral") are really people who think the greens are in the moral right, are the “fun” and “better-developed” characters, or are the more politically savvy. Yet also refuse to look any deeper to see how their arguments make no sense for the story the show rips off of. Basically, team-greeners who refuse or don’t know they are wearing the cape, or are trying to hide it to make team blackers look stupid or get one on them and seem “reasonable” while actually trying to push forward this narrative of “soft femininity wins all”, conservatism, conformity, patriarchy, etc.

This following is only in the observation that there are sympathy-changes made for them while the blacks and Rhaenyra are not only similarly dumbed down but also the writers have been trying to assign them certain negative traits or behaviors that can't be feasible as to what we understand them before the show existed.

HotD is actually fostering that sort of bullshit with its refusal to:

**(in context of the next 3 pts.)**Alicent and Aemond as they are: entitled, sexist, classist, blood purist people who intentionally attack and target Rhaenyra for the sake of power and male privilege

working behind the faux romance/friendship of Rhaenicent.

dumbing Rhaenyra down, watering her passion down

removing almost every character's accountability or drive for power (female for this one) by making them more reactive than active and even then there not much of a substantial or meaningful reaction

sexistly making Alicent a dumber and more sexually abused version of herself, giving all of her accomplishments or actions to her father, Otto. Benevolent sexism.

Thus I cannot ignore the show or its glaring faults. It has such popularity and influence over how people think about women, children, who deserves what and how/why, and how people express themselves and live with such cognitive dissonance, that I feel I have to say something against it. Even if it’s a dumb Tumblr post.

#asoiaf asks to me #hotd comment #fandom commentary #hotd fandom #asoiaf fandom #hotd neutrals #anti neutrality #hotd #house of the dragon #asoiaf

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prettyoddfever · 2 years

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Ryan Ross did not write AFYCSO in high school. He had graduated before P!ATD even existed.

it seems like there’s a lot of current misinformation about early P!ATD, so I’m going to run through some of the main points related to Ryan in case that can help...

2004

January – February: 17-year-old Ryan was in his last semester of high school and hadn’t met Brendon yet. The Summer League was busy trying to record some demos – those are the songs that Ryan wrote in high school. He was thinking of calling that demo “Movers and Shakers: Here’s Defeat You Can Dance To.” (I don’t remember ever hearing The Summer League’s songs, but I was getting into the P!ATD fandom in fall 2005 when the Vegas kids who knew Ryan in hs hadn’t been scared away yet. They all said similar things: The Summer League had been trying to sound a bit like Fall Out Boy, Ryan’s singing needed a lot of work, and those songs had nothing in common with the future P!ATD ones). The songs that Ryan would write usually reflected whatever phase he was going through. From what I heard & saw online, he seemed to be a Fall Out Boy fan in 2004 who had previously worked at Hot Topic, had gauges, wore graphic tees, and dyed his hair dark. Apparently The Summer League’s songs matched that phase. I really want to emphasize this: Ryan Ross was a huge Fall Out Boy fan in 2003-2004. The Summer League had even played Chicago Is So Two Years Ago in December 2003 at the Punks Who Saved Christmas show at the Huntridge Theater in Vegas (here’s one news article that’s still up that mentions The Summer League sharing the bill with a few other bands. Ryan mentioned the song name in the comments on his post here). There wasn’t much useful info in The Summer League’s journal entries... it was mostly Ryan’s typical angst that was a not-so-subtle message to a girl lol. But he did post on January 1st “new songs. new friends. new recordings. new year.” He also called his band “League” for short when he was talking about their new tshirts.

side note: I recently saw a screenshot of a current info site that said Ryan started writing AFYCSO when he was 14 lol. Here’s how Ryan described the actual songs he wrote around that age: “They were some pretty terrible songs! I guess we were sort of growing up listening to pop punk and the whole skateboarding scene. So it was sort of very juvenile, very innocent pop punk.” Maybe the current misinformation came from someone who saw a quote from Ryan talking about starting to write his own songs when he was in his early teens, but they somehow didn’t realize that Pet Salamander or The Summer League existed?? (Pet Salamander was the early garage band that played a lot of blink-182 songs as Ryan & Spencer learned their instruments, but Spencer was clear that they hadn’t been a blink-182 cover band like the media later tried to make it seem. For example, he said in fall 2005 that “It wasn’t like a Blink cover band.. it’s just that the first songs [Ryan] and I learned on guitar and drums were Blink songs. We’ve always had our own songs. It’s just that we would play them too.” But I still think it’s sometimes funny to call them a blink-182 cover band just because of how much the media ran with that idea in 2006).

I didn’t see/save a lot of Ryan’s older personal lj entries, but apparently he posted this on April 27th: “when i met pete from fob in november i talked to him and Patrick a while about song writing and music, being in a band, and when they came back in febuary, i went up to pete and said hey pete remember me my names- and right then he goes yea dude ryan i remember you! hows the summer league? i don't know why i thought of this but that really left an impression on me that he would remember my name and face and band after meeting tons of kids in every city and learning a 1000 new names a night. i am horrible with names.” Again, I didn’t see that post for myself, but I thought it was most likely legit based on the people who shared it in 2006.

spring & early summer: Brendon met and joined The Summer League around the time he turned 17, Ryan lived with Spencer towards the end of the school year while his dad was in rehab, Ryan graduated from high school, and the band played some small shows while Ryan was the singer. Calling them “shows” is iffy, though. They said they played places like a party, Brendon’s church, and someone’s backyard this summer. I think the July 18/19-ish show was at Brendon’s church. Paulina talked about being the merch girl at a June 6th show, but idk anything about where that was. The guys said the biggest shows they’d played before they became P!ATD were at a waterpark, a hot dog place called Doggy Style, a bowling alley, and a battle of the bands, but idk how many of those happened before summer 2004. The point is that they were still playing pop-punk songs in public as The Summer League for part of this summer and they even had tshirts for sale that said “The Summer League: Adult Contemporary” (some Vegas kids shared pics of those in the very early Fever era). The guys definitely didn't get their practice space until summer 2004 after Ryan had graduated from high school. (Apparently Ryan also posted on lj on July 2nd: “we moved into our practice room today! lots of good sex could go down in there. that place is 24 hours. and i have the keys. hahahaha. but really it should be cool. i hope. well. maybe”). The band made it very clear in future interviews that being in that practice space & hearing all of the other bands that sounded alike was what inspired them to totally change directions and form the new band of P!ATD together (so Brendon could technically be considered an original member). They stopped playing any type of shows in public after forming the new band, so their claim that Panic! at the Disco had never played a single show before they were signed & recorded their first album was legit. (That phrasing was tricky but it was a brilliant marketing move – there’s more info in this post). I’m not clear on exactly which month they formed P!ATD, but sometime in late July – August would fit with their stories.

Here’s some misc summer stuff that doesn’t have much to do with the band: Ryan went to Warped Tour, saw a FOB show around July 28th, and got his dog Shotgun from the clinic where he worked (I think he maybe worked for Brent’s parents).

August: Ryan posted the first draft of what would become the lyrics for It’s Time to Dance on his livejournal. The band repeatedly explained over the next few years that that was the first song they wrote together as a band (they’re talking about more than just lyrics). They were all 17 at some point while working on that song this fall.

The guys were not all the same age, though! I think that’s where some current confusion might come from. Ryan & Brendon were both 17 in summer 2004 when they got their practice space and formed P!ATD, but Brent & Spencer were only 16 (Spencer turned 17 in September, so he wasn’t 16 for very long either... but it’s still true that part of the band was 16 when they got their practice space and worked on their first song that would eventually be on their first album). Brendon, Spencer, & Brent were still in high school, but Ryan had been in the grade above them and had already graduated. Since the majority of the band members were still in high school throughout the next year while they worked on parts of AFYCSO, it was a quick interview answer (and a good selling point) to say that the guys were a bunch of teenagers in high school when they wrote AFYCSO. Even Jon Walker would later say things like “we were in high school when we wrote our first album,” despite the fact that he was a year older than Ryan and didn’t even meet the band until 2006. The guys just needed to have a group statement in interviews.

Ok so back to August 2004: Ryan turned 18 at the end of the month and started college at UNLV, so they were all dealing with “school” in general as they started getting serious about their new band. (side note: in 2006 Ryan said he’d been studying creative writing, but in 2008 he said he’d been studying music production & engineering. He was barely even there for a semester, so maybe he’s just talking about the various classes he took... I don’t think it’s that big of a deal).

fall / autumn: The band was trying to get fans online instead of irl in Vegas. Brendon was now the band’s singer, they recorded the first demo of It’s Time to Dance as separate parts on a laptop & posted the demo to purevolume in late October, and then Ryan proceeded to spam the internet telling people to check out his band’s song. (Slightly related: I know the main masterpost of Ryan’s personal lj posts that was generated through ljseek in 2006 only goes back to like fall 2004, but that’s def not the full picture. It’s only text and it’s missing a lot of content btw – even from the time period it includes. And this version of the old masterpost of Ryan’s lj comments is missing some stuff, but at least that one’s still up). Anyways, Ryan was just a regular guy trying really hard to promote his band & get anyone’s attention. A lot of his bathroom selfies are from those posts this fall. I’ll just add one here for an example... he’s a freshman in college:

Ryan still lived at home and later said he was having a hard time with his dad this fall, so that factored into some of the earliest P!ATD songs he wrote. The band started to record the “Nails for breakfast and tacks for snacks” demo in early November, that untitled demo was posted on purevolume in mid-November (this is related), and then Ryan posted the lyrics on his lj too (I put them in here). And here’s the related tightpants post too because why not.

The guys later talked about how stressful this season had been as they tried to create a legit band while going to school & their part-time jobs. Ryan said he’d work mornings, go to class in the afternoon, and then practice in the evenings. He was also having a harder time commuting to school, and posted on lj about a parking ticket, a speeding ticket, and getting his car towed while he was in class. The band sounded like they had a lot of pressure from their parents and might have been on the verge of breaking up at this point.

Pete Wentz actually listened to the purevolume link that Ryan pestered him with, posted this on November 28th (you can see Ryan’s reply in the comments), and then emailed Ryan saying he wanted to hear more (Pete said in countless interviews that he wanted to sign them right away). Ryan was still 18 & in college at this point and the other guys were still 17 & in high school.

Brent’s brother Blake was the one who later leaked the supposed transcript of the AIM chat between Ryan & Pete. Blake posted that as a myspace bulletin during the mid-2006 season when he was doing whatever he could to aggressively destroy the band’s image, so I’d definitely take the content there with a grain of salt (even if it seems harmless). I wouldn’t trust anything from Blake... and especially during that season.

Pete Wentz rented a car and drove to Vegas on the weekend of December 3-4 (some people went with him too, like his tour manager Dan Suh). The P!ATD guys didn’t even know how to play their new songs live as a band yet, so they basically played It’s Time to Dance acoustically for Pete over & over in their practice space (here’s more info). They still only had 2 songs on purevolume at this point. Pete told the band he wanted to sign them as they were driving back to his hotel.

A summary of the rest of December: P!ATD got their myspace, the band went to visit Pete in LA (Brendon recorded his vocals for 7 Minutes In Heaven), Ryan dropped out of college, and the guys signed their contracts sometime around the new year (with the help of their parents since 3/4 of them were still underage).

January – June 2005

The band went back to LA in mid-January to visit Pete and record an official demo of “Its Time To dance (cause boys will be boys)” that could be used on samplers. That was posted on purevolume on January 20th (Ryan was the one who kept fans updated... because yeah, the band already had fans thanks to their Fall Out Boy connection). Here’s a comparison of the 2 demos for It’s Time to Dance: the first version is the one that Pete heard in November 2004, and the second one is the January 2005 demo he had them record. I’ve seen a lot of confusion over those demos lately for some reason, so to be clear: the second one is not the demo from fall 2004... it’s the demo that was widely used for promotional stuff in 2005. It was even played on the radio in some towns a bit later that year. That’s the song that I think best represents the 2005 season.

side note: many years after the split Brendon claimed that the band spent 1.5 years in their van… so he was counting the entire time he was in a band with these guys starting in late spring 2004 (regardless of what their band name was or whether they were even playing shows or driving anywhere). The trips to LA to visit Pete are part of that timeframe then. Brent claimed that they’d started recording AFYCSO in January 2005, so that was just the second demo of It’s Time to Dance.

the FBR spring sampler with P!ATD on it started coming out around Valentine’s Day, but P!ATD wasn’t officially announced as a new FBR band until March 15th. This is the picture they were using this spring:

Their FBR & purevolume bio called them a dance rock band and mentioned the line “ambitious and desperate for attention” from one of the songs they were working on. Every band member’s contact info had been listed on purevolume in fall 2004 (their AIM names were “stitchesnwalkers” for Ryan, “screenametaken1″ for Brent, “aboynamedskip” for Brendon, and “twentyninepiecer” for Spencer), but by April 2005 they were only using Ryan’s AIM & band email as P!ATD’s official contact info (Ryan also continued to use his blinkexists182 email throughout the Fever era). The Relax Relapse demo was on purevolume by April too.

Pete Wentz obvs had a big fanbase, so the online hate towards P!ATD had already started (because they didn’t “deserve” to be signed and hadn’t “paid their dues” etc etc). Ryan said that “Rather than going to all these boards and writing what I thought, I just put it in the songs.”

During the Fever era the band talked about how much pressure they had been under in spring 2005 when everyone expected them to just come up with an album. However, by 2008 they had a much different perspective and Ryan was making comments about the first album like “we had ample time to write… we had no pressure and all we wanted to do was to put our music out there.” During 2007-2008 they talked about how they were pretty much unknown in 2005 and didn’t have an established sound or image, so there weren’t many expectations in comparison with where the band was at while writing the second album. So everything is relative, but the point is that in spring 2005 the guys still seemed to feel some pressure.

It sounded like a lot of the stress this spring came from their personal lives too. This quote from Ryan sums up a lot of what he said in countless Fever-era interviews (this is from the spring 2006 Alt Press cover article that had a lot of errors from the journalist btw, so I’m only referencing Ryan’s direct quotes):

“When I told my dad after the first semester that I was going to quit college and write a record, he was not very pleased. He definitely threatened to take everything away. I was on the verge of getting kicked out because of that decision… I’d be completely angry with him about wanting to kick me out of the house, but then I’d have to make sure he was ok and take care of him. I’d… try to get him back to being sober, and [it would be] like he forgot all about what I just did for him and go right back to wanting to kick me out. There were definitely a lot of fights, and he was in and out of the hospital a lot that year. There’d be times where I’d be gone doing something for the band, I’d come home and he wasn’t there. There’d be a message on the machine from the hospital, saying that he was there and to come see him. There was a ton going on in my life, all while trying to write a record.”

I don’t think Brendon actually got an apartment this spring, so I wouldn’t jump to conclusions that Ryan stayed with him in a hypothetical apartment (even if that’s a nice story).

Ryan’s girlfriend cheated on him around late spring 2005, which led to a lot of inspiration and a shift in the focus/tone of several song drafts that Ryan wrote after that (notice how 2/3 of the band’s official demos so far had focused on Ryan’s struggles with his dad). The early lyrics for Build God were shared in May.

The band said they needed to wait until Brendon had graduated from high school before they could leave for Maryland to record AFYCSO (Brendon also explained the same thing on lj). They left on June 13th and drove across the country in their van. The sleepover pics were from around this time btw.

Ryan briefly got back together with the girl who cheated on him.

THE LAST HALF OF 2005

Some writing had definitely happened that spring, but Ryan made it clear in Fever-era interviews that he also wrote part of the songs for AFYCSO that summer in the studio. The exact number of song drafts that the guys brought to Maryland changed depending on the interview, but they usually said they had 3-7 drafts ready for Matt Squire to look at (although Ryan said a couple times that he only had a few songs before working with Matt). AFYCSO as we know it definitely wouldn’t exist without Matt Squire as the producer... all 4 band members gave him a ton of credit too. Spencer said in fall 2005 that “As far as the recording goes, all credit goes to Matt Squire. He really helped piece this together.” Brendon said “I love that guy… He had so many good ideas that fit perfectly. I should say we had pieces of songs and put them together. We had seven or eight full songs, and then he edited every single one of them. He really helped us out with some ideas.” Brent said “Also, pre-production – I can’t even say how much he helped us structure those songs and turned them into real songs and gave us a direction. We went in there with 5 solid songs but then we had other songs that were just kind of pieces… that guy – he’s a genius. He really is.” Ryan wrote some amazing lyrics, but Matt Squire absolutely deserves credit for the end result too.

Ryan said in a summer 2006 interview that “we wrote Fever in three months and recorded it in a month.” That timeframe lined up with other interview quotes and everything the band shared online while the events were unfolding. They mainly wrote AFYCSO in spring & summer 2005. Ryan turned 19 several weeks after the band left the studio, so he was 18 for the writing process of the first album.

The band explained several times that the verses for IWSNT were written a day before Brendon had to sing them since the guys had to be done in the studio a couple days later. Brendon also told Hearts & Sleeves in early 2006 that “A lot of the second half [of the album] was written in the studio and recorded in like the last five days. So that was really tough. We were stressing out pretty bad. We didnʼt have some songs written. We still didnʼt get to do some - a couple ideas that we had but that was just due to a lack of time.”

Ryan wrote the lyrics, but all four guys helped create the overall songs. Ryan talked to Helio at the end of the Fever era about the songwriting process for the first album: “when I had a little bit of the music and lyrics finished, I would bring it to Spencer and Brendon and we would all finish the songs together.” The band’s approach to songwriting varied for each song, though. Sometimes Brendon came up with music to fit the lyrics, sometimes it was a group effort, sometimes the lyrics were written first, sometimes the music was written first, etc. There’s more info in this post about recording AFYCSO. The sound of AFYCSO was a reflection of the different musical interests of all four band members (plus Matt Squire’s advice).

Ryan called into DJ Rossstar’s Punk Rock Show on June 30th and fans could submit questions through AIM or online (speaking of which, there was definitely a decent sized fanbase following the band’s time in the studio).

Spencer introduced Ryan to the Beatles this summer in the studio (I think that Spencer might have specifically pointed out the strings/cello in Eleanor Rigby in early July too... but that’s just my own guess). Brendon’s livejournal entry on July 3rd had the title “I look at all the lonely people.” Ryan later named Eleanor Rigby as a song that changed his life. He also said “I started really getting into The Beatles when we were recording [AFYCSO]. Our drummer, Spencer, started playing me some of their stuff.” This is part of why it was so fun to see the band end the Fever era with their own cover of Eleanor Rigby.

Ryan and Brendon didn’t know each other super well yet. Their fighting really got going this summer as they tried to figure out how to work together. Both guys talked a lot about how they were at each other’s throats this summer because Ryan wanted Brendon to deliver each line a very specific way, but Ryan wasn’t able to sing well enough yet to explain what was in his head to Brendon... and Brendon couldn’t read minds. (This post gets more into why Ryan wanted Brendon to front the early band). It wasn’t hard to spot that this general source of conflict was never fully resolved. Basically, Ryan needed creative control and wanted things done exactly the way he envisioned them, but Brendon was never going to be a precise extension of Ryan... and that wasn’t a healthy long-term setup for either guy. They both talked during the early Fever era about their challenges in navigating their work relationship (which is different from their friendship). They would mention the previous fighting and then claim that they were getting along better now, but then a few months later they’d reveal that some of the same conflict had still been happening but apparently now they had learned how to work together. That pattern continued. Ryan told The Miami Herald towards the end of the Fever era that “it was really frustrating at times, too, trying to get across to [Brendon] how I wanted a part to sound or how I wanted it to come across emotionally. We’re still trying to find that balance of understanding each other.” Spoiler alert: they did not find that balance in 2007 lol. (This is definitely not context for the spilt btw... it’s barely scratching the surface of all the creative differences that grew between them. I’m just saying that they did their best to make this early setup work when it was necessary).

Matt Squire had a degree in psychology, which I think probably helped this summer lol.

The Daily Telegraph had a funny quote from Ryan about how this summer went: “We were making things up in our heads that weren't there, and on top of the stress of trying to finish the record, we were living in a one-bedroom apartment with four people on bunk beds. Everyone got on everybody's nerves. Someone would write a new part for a song and someone else would say they didn't like it just because you ate their cereal that morning.”

Spencer & Brent were still 17 while the band recorded AFYCSO. The band sometimes focused on that number in interviews because it made them sound younger to say “we were 17 when we made our first record.” Ryan & Brendon were 18, though!

The band’s first tour with Acceptance was announced in July. The guys left Maryland around the third week of July to head back to Vegas. Then they had a couple weeks to literally learn how to be a band and play their songs live.

Their first show was on August 12th at The Alley in Vegas. They played their second show in Ohio en route to the east coast to join the Take Cover Tour. So their third show ever (as Panic! at the Disco) was on a national tour opening for Acceptance.

Ryan would have been starting his sophomore year of college at the point when the band started touring (if he hadn’t dropped out of school).

Ryan turned 19 at the end of August. Spencer was still 17 when the band started touring, but then he turned 18 in September. Brent & Brendon were also 18 during this first tour.

Ok now the Fever era had started, so I’ll kind of wind down here. These selfies were from late 2005 btw (not high school). Ryan is 19 here:

Ryan started dating Jac around Halloween 2005 (they’d been flirting on lj for over a year) and Brendon met Audrey around that point. Those relationships were really short-lived... they lasted for like 4 months and the guys were on tour for a good chunk of that time. Audrey & Jac took a ton of pictures, though, so maybe that’s why their presence could seem more significant these days? Both Brendon & Ryan had other girlfriends in 2006 who were around longer.

The band was out of their van at the end of 2005. And they were getting really big super fast (like they should not have been opening for TAI in early 2006 – that wasn’t fair to the headlining band).

Ryan wasn’t in high school at any point while he was in P!ATD. I’ve seen a couple fans these days who think that Ryan was like 17 years old in pictures from spring 2006... but those same fans still seem to understand that Ryan’s 21st birthday was in 2007 (so idk how their math works).

Ryan just looked really young in early 2006. He was actually half a year away from turning 20 here:

He wasn’t a teenager during the Nothing Rhymes With Circus Tour either... he was 20 years old and would have been in his junior year of college.

Also, I think the fact that there are a ton of pictures from certain seasons might make it feel like those things happened for a longer period of time than they actually did (ex: Brendon only wore the lavender hoodie for a few weeks in summer 2006). Ryan wore dramatic stage makeup during parts of June–December 2006 and then he was totally over it. He made several comments during the Pretty. Odd. era that were pretty discounting of that phase of his life (and made me feel silly for ever loving it). But I did appreciate how Ryan went through a lot of phases while he was in the band, fully embraced each one while he was in it, and then could totally drop it as he moved forward & kept building on his interests.

Ok I’ll just stop now before this post gets even longer. The point is that Ryan Ross was not in high school when he wrote AFYCSO, but the other band members were. The end.

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ourflagmeansgayrights · 9 months

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i dont really agree with your post about white people in fandom not talking about race, partly because i dont feel like online fandom discussions of these topics are particularly nuanced or productive in the first place and throwing white people who dont feel confident or educated in what theyre saying into the mix and are posting out of social obligation is the opposite of helpful, but mostly because of the inferences you made about the willingness/unwillingness those people have to learn. definitely some of them are uninterested in learning about the topic enough to discuss but ive known plenty of people who preferred to sit back in discussions of race where it wasnt vitally important that they speak up precisely because they were still actively working on unlearning racism/transphobia/etc and didnt want to say something that would hurt me or someone else they cared about by saying something careless, and i really dont see a reason to issue a blanket discouragement of this instinct that i would say most people who care have, especially just to get them to engage in something as inconsequential as fandom discourse.

oh yeah no i definitely agree! that post tho was more abt character analysis and metas and not like, discourse and drama. like basically it was the “if your interpretation of a character doesn’t consider that character’s race, your interpretation is incomplete” convo, i wasn’t trying to say “white fans should jump into every fandom discussion abt race ever.” bc yeah ur definitely right, sometimes it’s better to sit back and work on unlearning shit before we try to insert ourselves into certain conversations!

but also when it comes to the specific convo i was commenting on aka Character Analysis… i mean, white is a race. like, this is an ofmd blog, so i’m gonna relate this to ofmd: there is a LOT to dig into when it comes to whiteness in ofmd, imo most prominently with the main character (stede) and the main antagonist (izzy) but definitely in other characters and throughout the entire show itself. i see no reason why white ofmd fans should feel so insecure in their ability to discuss race that they won’t make surface-level observations abt how race effects the white characters. so that is the kind of situation where im rolling my eyes when fans say things like “i don’t want to overstep or make a mistake, so i just don’t talk abt race in X media ever.” which i HAVE seen, manyyyyy many times, over many years.

ngl it’s been kinda weird to see that kinda oldish post start randomly getting all these notes, but im glad at least that the version w my reblog is the one that’s circulating bc honestly that’s the only part of the post that really matters, imo. i mean, it matters bc it’s a much bigger point than just fandom stuff, it’s advice for pretty much. all of life.

you are allowed to move on and try to do better without everyone forgiving you for messing up! nobody is obligated to forgive you, ever, but that doesn’t mean you should give up on growing and learning! not everyone in the world is going to love you, and that’s okay!

^important stuff for pretty much everyone to learn, me included

#ask #anon #mine #txt #og #fandom crit #disclaimer also that i myself am white and have also fucked up before when talking abt race #i’m not trying to encourage all white fans to barge into every fandom convo abt race. altho ig i wasnt v clear abt that in the post #but yeah that post was abt a specific gripe i have when it comes to metas and stuff #not blanket statement rec for all white fans to do all the time

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soyouareandrewdobson · 5 months

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Nintendo-vember Bonus Round: The art of a Dob

First, I apologze for the late post. I actually had more work to do this week than planned, plus I got really into Hyrule Warriors-Age of Calamity. However, before I unveil the next big post (coming around sunday/monday) I want to do the "bonus round" as indicated in my last post for Nintendo-vember.

What is the bonus round? Not much really. Instead of analyzing anything, these bonus rounds are just me uploading certain Nintendo related things Dobson did outside of the main "level" entries, with little to no comment. In today's case, different fanart Dobson drew over the years of Nintedo characters, particularly Mario, the cast of Zelda and so on. This artwork also goes way back to his very old deviantart days so if you want to more or less see where he started but later on ended up with, here you have it. "Enjoy"

A Zelda comic with a Link design that is off model in a manner, "sexist crap" and lesbians invading personal space...

Mario fanart that really feels outdated in the way it was drawn (that is college level?), Easter Bunnies and a Splatoon comic

His Inktober Art from 2017 compared to a year prior (I actually prefer the more details on Link, but the face really looks wrong)

Okay... on one hand, I kinda enjoy the idea from a macabre point of view. At the same time, Jesus! And once more the wrong number of fingers on each hand

And three Samus Aran's, showing his decline in quality ending in the infamous "commission" piece

some of his multi character pics that actually got him a bit of fame...

And lastly, two pics that were created as ributes to Miyamoto.

While those are not all the pics Dosbon would create with Nintendo characters over the years, they are some of his more well known, but nowadays mostly lost ones.

They also, particularly the oldest, highlight in my opinion actually rather well how simple a lot of Dobson's drawings in the early days are, in the way how washed out and simplistically animesque his characters looked. If you have any opinions on those pics, let me know. I am busy with the next big article.

#adobsonsartwork #soyouareandrewdobson #so you are a cartoonist #so you are andrew dobson #nintendo vember #nintendo #super mario #zelda #tom preston #webcomic

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canonicallyobserving911 · 1 year

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9-1-1’s IMDB ratings comparison for seasons 2-6

When season 6 began, all the main cast members were finally present again which means IMDB episode star ratings should have increased; however they remained relatively unchanged. In season 5, due to missing main cast members and recurring cast members who got too much screen time, users’ comments on IMDB were mostly negative for a lot of the episodes; therefore comments posted for season 6 should have been more positive when compared against season 5 but unfortunately that was not the case. Even though the per episode star ratings didn’t change much, the number of users that rated each episode did change. Those numbers declined by more than 50% and some episodes had an even higher decline percentage.

IMDB

IMDB is an acronym for Internet Movie Database and according to the site’s creators, it’s the most popular source for information about movies, television shows, actors/actresses and video games. For television shows, each episode includes a star rating, the number of users who rated it along with comments (if any). Registered users of the site can rate episodes from 1-10 stars and they have the option to add a comment if they choose. Visitors of the site can view the star ratings and read comments while remaining anonymous but since they aren’t registered, they typically don’t have the option to rate or comment on episodes.

This post will focus on the final episode ratings for seasons 2-6 and compare them with the number of users who rated those episodes. Findings should illustrate how the star ratings have practically remained unchanged while the number of users who rated 9-1-1 episodes has drastically declined. Its purpose is to provide a visual representation of the decline to further illustrate how audience engagement and interest in the show decreased for season 6 when it’s compared against previous seasons.

The information included was obtained from IMDB’s website. The first 9 episodes of seasons 2-6 were used for comparison but season 1 was omitted because the season only had 10 episodes.

Episode Ratings

Table

When episode ratings are viewed in a table, it’s easy to see how they remained constant over the seasons. The average number of stars each episode received ranged from 7.2 to more than 8.4 stars for most episodes with only a few outliers (the cells that include extreme outliers were highlighted).

Line graph

The line graph shows how episodes in the Tsunami arc (3x2 “Sink or Swim” and 3x3 “The Searchers”) had the highest star ratings of 9.1 and 9.0 respectively. The lowest rated episode was 5x7 “Ghost Stories” with a star rating of 6.6 respectively. Overall the show’s ratings appear to be good but when the number of users who rated them is considered, the decline is noticeable. Therefore the question becomes, what caused viewers to lose interest in rating 9-1-1 episodes during season 6?

User Ratings

Table

The table above shows how the number of users who rated each episode steadily declined over the years and it also shows the drastic decline in those numbers for season 6. (Cells that include extreme outliers were highlighted.) What caused the decline? Could it be related to lowered audience engagement and interest in the show? In previous seasons, the number of users who rated episodes typically exceeded 600 and in seasons 2 and 3, on average there were 800 users rating each episode. Season 4 is when the steady decline started but the numbers remained constant through most of season 5. The number of users who rated episodes during season 6 is very telling because only one episode, 6x3 “The Devil You Know”, had more than 400 users rate it while the other episodes ranged between the low 200s to the high 300s. The final episode that aired before the hiatus, 6x9 “Red Flag”, had the lowest number of users rate it to date with 180. That’s more than a drastic decline and it’s very telling because it appears users who rated the show in the past haven’t been interested enough in season 6 to offer their opinions about it.

Line graph

The line graph shows the steady decline that’s happened over the years with the largest drop in users who rated 9-1-1 episodes happening in season 6. It’s the clear outlier and the show should question why the audience they’ve spent years building simply became uninterested.

When the information listed on IMDB is compared against the weekly TV ratings that are posted, it’s easy to see how those ratings and demo numbers don’t provide an adequate representation of who is watching and how long they stay engaged in the show. While the number of viewers for 6A ranged from 4.5 to 7.0 million each week, those numbers don’t provide any details on viewer engagement and/or interest for the show’s storylines and its main cast members. While it’s true that views from streaming services are being added to the final weekly TV ratings, it still doesn’t capture all the necessary data that’s needed to determine if the 9-1-1 audience cares or even likes the direction the show is taking. Why is this important? It’s important because if viewers watched 6A but they didn’t like the storylines or the direction the show has taken, why would they tune in for 6B?

It appears there’s could be a larger issue that is either (1) being ignored by the showrunner(s), (2) the showrunner(s) don’t care as long as they hit their demo numbers to get enough advertising dollars to get renewed or (3) they haven’t realized how low interest in season 6 became right before the hiatus. The show being on hiatus along with the Christmas and New Year’s holidays can’t be the only contributing factors to the lowered engagement and interest from the audience because IMDB users typically rate episodes right after they air. The comments that were also posted on IMDB further illustrate the way viewers weren’t particularly interested in the episodes during season 6 due to the direction some of the main characters’ storylines and plots have taken.

Since all the main cast members are back, there’s obviously something else happening with the show that’s not being addressed. That’s why TV ratings and demo numbers shouldn’t be the only source of information that’s used to determine if a show is successful. Will things get better in 6B? Hopefully they will but with several weeks to go before 6B episodes start airing, audience engagement and interest continues to remain uncertain.

#911 fox #911 on fox #911onfox #911 meta #911 s6 #911 season 6 #911 season 6 speculation #Things that are missing from 9-1-1's season 6

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heademptynotasinglethought · 10 months

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I got the apple tv 7 day trial and I'm speedrunning watching all their popular shows

As the title suggests, I've been binge watching a lot of shows :)

A friend of mine was streaming Silo on discord and we got a couple episodes in before he had to leave for the night. But I got stuck on where the plot was going so of course I signed up for the trial just to finish it.

I don't want to give any spoilers of course in case someone hasn't seen it, its all finished for the season though, 10 episodes. Each episode is an hour long too which is good for my attention span, sometimes when theyre too short it gets annoying with the intros.

Anyway I would recommend, I think what really drew me to it was the atmosphere? I love that kinda retro futuristic energy that it caries sometimes, definitely grungier though with all the concrete. Silly, one of the first things I noticed was the tiles that they use in the kitchens, the colored oval kinds.

Also the outfits? Most are mid but some stood out to me. I mostly appreciated the uniforms? (tbh kinda giving attack on titan but its ok). Also really liked one of the characters they introduced towards the end (nothing major plot wise dont worry I dont think its a spoiler) the ginger one. He had good vibes, wish there were more characters like him. Maybe we'll encounter more in the coming season.

I also finished the season they have out of severence. This is one that I've seen people complaining about with the writers strike and everything. People are worried its just going to get canceled entirely. Which would be a shame because I do think the premise is pretty special. Feels current too. As someone who regularly fails to thrive in a regular 9-5 job, I can relate to the wish to completely separate yourself from the work place, idk if I'd let someone put a chip in me though.

Same comment as before though. the sets are super simple. Just the main room where the macrodata refinememt happens, some hallways, other departments and a couple homes. But they make a lot happen just with dialogue and some simple items. I appreciate the silly little additions like using elements that otherwise would have no use for the outside versions to become majorly useful or important for their innies. I'm trying really hard not to give spoilers but also talk about what I want lol. I'm excited to see what they can do with the next season, I was surpised what they did with Helly. I would have assumed it puts the plot into a wall but idk im sure they've got plans.

I'm currently watching that tom holland show, the crowded room? I'm about halfway through and I'm happy I stuck around, it really wasn't drawing me in at first.

Anywayyy those are all the thoughts that I had, nothing too exciting but at least now its not all just jumbled around in my head. :)

#silo apple tv #severance #apple tv #tv show #the crowded room #tom holland #retro futurisitic #writing #messy #dont mind me

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harrison-abbott · 10 months

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Wind flaps at the curtains, sucking them in at the edge of the open glass

In icy whites and greys, mixed with cloudy blue and the green reflections

Of the summer trees across the street. It’s not icily cold; frostily coloured:

With the clouds flung across the sky and these mad brief pelts of rain in

Snaps and rushes, making smells with the long warm concrete road.

You turn in and out of dreams you’ll never remember; the weather with

Control of the unconscious; these imitations of dreams and characters from

The past which seems o so long ago, now – in this bridge-like era of days.

You used to be somebody: a boy compared to the man you are now and yet,

Like with boyish confusion you still haven’t figured out what to do next.

Maybe you’ll fail; perhaps you won’t; maybe you’ll prosper; who can know?

Get up from the bed and put the jeans boxers and socks on and yomp

Downstairs where the radio’s blaring full blast and the kettle when it boils

Cannot overcome the English voices yammering from the speakers and you

Make a cup of tea and return upstairs and return to this book (set mostly in

World War One, in France, the trenches; a famous novel, which you find

Readable enough and yet it’s not linguistically that impressive and the war

Scenes are powerful but you don’t really find the erotic bits in any way sexy

Or give much of a damn about the love story tied to the main character) and

Because you’ve just woken up it’s a little tricky to concentrate on the words.

Alongside the myriad crash and ripple of the leaves flying in the wind.

You put on this TV show you’ve been watching [also very famous; HBO;

Household names; award winners; regularly in all-time lists] and the music

Is amazing at the start and you were watching it late last night and it probably

Contributed to your weird uncomfortable dreams. Yes, the soundtrack is great

And all the actors jump right in their with their whiplash dialogue; this absurd

Mixture of wit, rage, glee & mockery, all bunged up in plush American rooms.

Every scene exudes the top 1% of wealth and every person in it is a total

Bastard and you wonder how on earth you want to watch what they do.

But, you do – you keep watching them – and, one supposes that’s the

Power of fiction; lures you into an enticing realm of make-believe which

You morally don’t agree with?

You wonder whether the superrich really are like this and yet you know of

Real families which don’t have nearly the same amount of wealth (although

You don’t know any rich folks anyway so you can’t really comment) and whom

Are notorious for infighting, both physical and verbal; and have worked in

All kids of joints where the colleagues snipe and bitch and holler and rat each

Other out at all kinds of explosive angles, and so it’s not that other worldly:

And perhaps that’s how we relate. … The episodes last for an hour and by the

End of this one you get a bit pent up with all of that aggro so you decide to

Do something else and bounce out down to the shop for some bread and fruit.

A walk back through the woody path, all the whiles these gnashing showers

Which only last a minute or two with their clouds racing elsewhere high above.

You go back to that novel when you get home; there’s a battle scene in there.

It seems staggering that all of that (WWI) only happened just over a century back.

The sheer waste of life is hard to comprehend; albeit these gory shelling scenes

Perhaps give a glimpse. You remember somebody saying to you, personally, that

You wouldn’t last long in a war, “You’d probably die really quickly,” being the

Insult … And, well, yeah – you don’t fancy artillery or barbed wire or bayonets,

And, yes, you did get battered a lot when you were younger, right here, in the city

You grew up in, right down there on that road through the open window: and you

Remember people making similar jokes about those incidents, too; as if violence

Were something flippant or toyish, something to crack a dig over. But you try

And block that out and you read fifty or so pages more and take a break.

Some inclination reminds you of an old movie you used to watch as a kid.

Nothing particular triggers the memory, it just appears there. And that – the film –

Also had a neat soundtrack. So you read onto the internet and type in the name

Of the theme. And just listen to it on your phone. Small volume. The music arises.

In little bobbles of noise all clung together in lilting dips and bounds, light and

Articulate and bending in ease. You close your eyes and trade your imagination

With the sound; and try to figure whether it makes you feel like a child again.

You grew up with this piece of music and part of you makes you wish you

Could head back into history again, and do things differently with your days;

And another side of you feels upset that you’re 30 years old, now; and even

There’s a small sadness that it might not have the same power over you as it

Did in boyhood … but predominantly, there’s a safeness in the noise: a type

Of security, knowing that it’s still there and nothing can destroy it. And that,

Whenever you’re feeling a little bit low you can scout this song out again.

Because you needed to be a boy, once, to get here anyway. You’re still here, too.

[3 July 2023].

#writeblr #poetry #my poem #poets on tumblr #creative writing #poem

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