#it would just make you feel like you don't need to think about racism anymore.

[fallingdownhell]

If it's no bother the whole meeting family and sister being favoured ordeal but with Wanderer, Xiao, Childe and Tighnari please! Yummy comfort...🤤

Honestly.. I did my best with it, but I don't know if I'll do another addition to this from now on. It feels like I'm always writing the exact same thing, and I feel like it's getting boring and repetitive...

Let me know what you think about it, please, because I really don't know.

Characters Included: Wanderer; Xiao; Tighnari

Content: gender neutral reader; established relationship; reader has a sister; hurt/comfort; mention of past (child) abuse; mention of child neglect; insults; slight racism against Tighnari; not proofread yet

Word count: 3,7k words

Requested by: @ahtopoteyto

Enjoy everyone<3

Wanderer

When you suddenly hit him with the question of wether he wanted to meet your parents or not, he was confused and slightly shocked. From what he had gathered over the time you've been dating, you did not have a very good connection with your parents.

You never really talked about them or told him stories about your childhood. The first few times he asked you about them, he vividly remembers how your face became pale and you simply stating that you didn't want to talk about this. So he let it be, not bothering you with it anymore.

So for you to suddenly ask him this after months of not even mentioning anything related to this subject, he found it highly suspicious.

"Where's this coming from so suddenly?", he asks, taking your hand and sitting you down on the couch next to him. He can already tell how much it cost you to simply ask him that question.

"W-well... I just thought that maybe it's something you'd want. I mean.. normally, in relationships, you introduce your parnters to your parents. So, I thought, maybe we should do that, too..?"

You sounded so meek and unsure of yourself, he hated to see you like this. He may not know the full story about what happened between you and your parents, but if it made you that uncomfortable just talking about them, then that's all he needed to know. He would never knowingly put you through something horrible.

So, to reassure you, he circled his arms around you, pulling you against his chest while placing his chin on top of your head as he just held you like this. "Don't force yourself to do something you don't want to do. Our relationship isn't exactly normal anyways. I don't care about meeting your parents. You don't like them, that's enough for me to also dislike them."

That made you laugh a bit, and he also relaxed a bit, knowing that if that could make you laugh, you were already feeling a bit better.

"Even so.. I think you should know why I don't have contact with them anymore..", you quietly spoke after some time.

"Only if you want to tell me. You don't have to force yourself.", was his answer, but you insisted, finally wanting him to know, since you've already kept it to yourself for so long.

And so, you told him about all the things you went through when you were younger, still living with and depending on your parents. You told him how you were the oldest child of your parents, and for a while, everything was good. There were normal, loving and even spoiled you a bit as a child.

But when you were 6 years old, your parents decided to have a second child, and so, your sister was born when you were 7. And suddenly, it was like you didn't exist anymore.

Your parents focused all their love and attention towards your baby sister, leaving you to figure things out by yourself. They at least still provided food for you, but anything else you were left to your own devices.

By the time you were 12 years old, you were practically living by yourself, though you were still in your parents house. You were cooking your own meals, doing your own laundry, managing school stuff and all that your parents were supposed to do for you.

Your sister was only 5 years old, she was just a happy child and didn't know about the clear favouritism and neglect going on. She was just a sweet child that wanted to play with her sister. You couldn't hate her, since she didn't do anything wrong.

From time to time, you tried to get your parents attention, either with your grades or other achievements, but they always brushed you aside to focus on your sister, since they claimed she needed their attention more than you did.

It hurt, and you kept on trying and trying, until eventually, you realised that it had no sense and you just stopped. You knew that they would never love you like they did with your sister. So, as soon as you could, you started a part time job to save up some money, so you could leave when you needed to.

The older you and your sister got, the more she also became aware of the favouritism. Luckily, it didn't grow over her head, and she tried her best to get your mom and dad to focus on you, too. But they never did. Instead, your sister spent time with you, which you were really greatful for.

When the time came, you were old enough and had enough money saved, you left your home. You told no one, except for your sister. She was sad to see you leave, but she understood why you did it, and wished you the best of luck. Even to this day, you hold some sort of loose contact to her.

Your parents however? You haven't heard a word from them since you've left. You weren't even sure if they've noticed your dissapearance, if they even remembered that they had an older child. But you were glad, you didn't want anything to do with them in the first place.

While listening to your story, Wanderer felt himself get more and more angry on your behalf. How dare they treat their own child in such a way? What kind of a parent would do such a thing?

He was gritting his teeth, clenching his fists. He wanted so bad to make them pay for what they did to you. But then he focused back on you, still in his arms, sobbing as you were telling him your story. No matter how much you reassured him that you were fine, it was still affecting you.

So instead, he focused and channeled his anger into the love and worry he had for you. He tightend his hold around you, planting a soft kiss to the top of your head. "I'm sorry you had to live through something like that. But that's all in the past. You're here now, with me. You've achieved so much for yourself and by yourself, so you can be proud of you. And I'll be by your side for each and every step in the future. I won't let something like this ever happen to you again. And if you ever want me to pay your parents a little visit... let me know."

That last statement brought him a small hit to his side, but he merely laughed it off.

You'd always be his number one. Forever and always..

Xiao

Having an Adeptus as your boyfriend, the Guardian of Liyue himself at that, you tried to spend as much time with him as you possibly could. For you, that meant spending ever second of your free time in or around Wangshu Inn, sometimes even spending the night there despite having your own living place.

Xiao appreciated this gesture of yours. You knew that he liked the Inn as his place of operation, and you didn't want to force him into spending time at your place, when he would only be anxious the entire time. So it was a compromise you were willing to make.

Today was a nice summer day. You were dressed in soft clothing, allowing the occaisonal gust of wind to cool your skin down as you were standing on the top balcony of the Wangshu Inn, observing the scenery before you. Xiao was currently out somewhere, so you had decided to wait for him here.

While you were observing, leaning your body against the railing, you suddenly felt the presence of someone behind you. Before you could turn around, a pair of arms came around from behind you, encircling your body as his hands found purchase on the railing, next to yours.

You immediately recognized him, a smile spreading as you felt his body leaning against yours, his soft lips pressing against your exposed shoulder.

"You should be more careful. I wouldn't want you to lean to far over and falling to your death.", he mumbled, staying close to you, searching for the physical contact.

You loved how openly he showed his love and affection to you when it was just the two of you, no one else around to witness this soft moment of his. "I'm sure you'd catch me before anything could happen to me.", you reply, intertwining your hand with his.

"And you'd be absolutely right."

You smile but don't say anything more as you stay with him like this, enjoying the way his body feels against yours. If only this moment could last forever...

But alas, it didn't last nearly as long as you'd want it to. Soon enough, you could hear some shouting from below, coming from the reception. You heard the Boss Lady, Verr, call after someone. "Sir, please! You can't just barge up there!"

But whoever that man was, he just ignored her as both you and Xiao could hear the heavy footsteps coming up the stairs. With one last look at each other, you break apart to an appropriate distance, figuring that whoever this was was probably here to seek the help of the Adeptus.

However, as the man arrived at the top balcony, your breath got caught in your throat as you recognized the man standing in front of you.

His eyes found yours, and you saw a glimpse of something wash over his face that you couldn't quite name. Xiao also noticed this, choosing to remain silent for now, but closely watching both of you. He may not know who this man was, but it was obvious to him that you recognized him.

"Dad?", you then asked, still hoping that this was just some bad dream you'd wake up from any second now.

"(Name)! I finally found you! You weren't at home, so I've been searching everywhere for you."

The man, your father, made a step towards you, but as soon as he did, you also took a step back. The motion didn't go unnoticed by Xiao. You were clearly uncomfortable with your father being here, so he was preparing to step in the second things threatened to go out of control.

"What do you want?", you ask him, not wanting to spend any more time in this mans presence than you absolutely have to.

"What, a father can't visit his child?", he asked, letting out a chuckle, but everyone present could tell how fake it sounded.

"Just tell me what you want already."

Your father threw you a glare, but relented nonetheless. "Fine then. Your mother and I were hoping for a bit of financial aid from you. Your sister wants to study at the Academiya of Sumeru, but we lack the money to help her with that. We heard that you were doing pretty good for yourself, so, naturally, you'd help out your family a bit. Right?"

The last word sounded almost threatening, like refusing would cause you serious consequences. You knew that tone in your fathers voice all too well, having been "disciplined" by him most of your life if you ever dared refuse him.

This entire situation was almost laughable to you. You haven't had contact with either your parents or your sister in years, since you finally left their home for good. And now, after years of silence, they suddenly remember you, only to come crawling and begging for money. Which they plan to spend on your sister.

As it always was. It's always been her over you.

"..No.", you say after a few seconds of silence. Hearing your answer, your fathers forced smile drops and he stares at you, like he couldn't believe the word that just left your mouth.

"What did you say?", he asked, his voice ice cold and you flinched a bit, hiding a bit behind Xiao as you were still scared of this man, but you refused to subject yourself to him again.

"I said No. I'm not giving you any money."

Your response was hanging in the air for a bit, when suddenly, anger started to show on your fathers face and he then began lunging towards you, one arm raised as if to slap you.

"You ungrateful, little-!", he yelled and was about to take a swing at you, when suddenly, within the blink of an eye, he was laying on the floor, face pushed onto the ground, with Xiao standing over him, restraining your fathers hands.

"You will not put your hands on them. I won't allow it."

Your father was cursing and screaming, trying to escape the hold Xiao had him in. But the more he struggled, the more force Xiao put into holding him down, which only worsened the curses thrown at the both of you.

Witnessing this, the reality of what would have happened to you if Xiao wasn't there with you sank in, and you felt your knees giving out, sinking to the floor as tears subconsciously began to run down your cheeks.

Noticing this, Xiao quickly reassed the situation as he leaned down to your father. "Leave. And don't you dare ever come back. If I see or hear you bothering them ever again, I won't be so mercyful next time."

Then, he let go of your father and rushed to your side, checking in on you. Your father cursed some more as he finally got to his feet again and quickly left the scene, and hopefully, your life as well.

You on the other hand, were a mess right now. Tears running down, you were sobbing as you held onto Xiao like your life depended on him. He let it happen, soothingly running a hand along your back as he just held you, letting you cry it all out.

After you've calmed down again, he just has to talk about what just happened. "I take it this happened more than once to you?", he asked softly, referencing the moment your father tried to lay hands on you.

You couldn't say the words, so you just nodded as a response. Xiao felt anger rising in his chest, but he held it under control focusing on you, since you needed him right now.

"What else has he done to you?"

And so, with shaky breath and lots of pauses in between, you tell him about all the abuse and the clear favouritism of your sister you've been going through your entire childhood, up until the day you ran away from them for good.

Xiao was in shock that parents could do such a thing to their own child. And even if he wanted to go out and make them pay for their actions, there's nothing he could do. He was bound by a contract to protect the people of Liyue. He couldn't harm them. But he could protect you..

So, he takes you in his arms again, holding you close to him as he softly speaks into your ear. "I'm so sorry for everything that happened to you. From now on, you won't have to worry about them any longer. I'll protect you. From them and any other harm that tries to make their way to you."

And you knew that he meant every word he said. You knew that you could trust Xiao with everything, most importantly your life, and he'd guard it as his most treasured possession. With him by your side, you finally felt safe for the first time in your life...

Tighnari

Working as a Forest Ranger has always been a lifelong dream of yours. Doing so with the love of your life by your side was that dream actually coming true to you. Sometimes, you just stare at Tighnari, wondering what you did to get so lucky to have him as your partner. How you deserved him in the first place.

He always laughed a bit and softly reprimanded you, but he never did so with ill intent. When he did that, you could always see the genuine love he held for you in his eyes, clear as day.

When it came to your relationship, everything happened a bit slowly, as per Tighnari's request. Since his species only has one partner their entire life, he wants to make extra sure that this will work out.

You take your time with going on several dates, where he explains to you the basics of his kind, what to do and what not to do, with him and others of his kind. But nothing he told you ever scared you away from him. If anything, it made you fall for him even more.

Then came the day when he wanted you to meet his parents, before you were making things official with him. You were nervous to meet them, but luckily, his parents instantly took a liking to you, especially his mom. She was over the top with her sons choice in a partner and the both of them gave you two their blessings.

The day after, you finally made things official, telling everyone of your friends that you were dating, and everyone was congratulating you. Word also spread among the other Forest Rangers, and soon enough, you were also bombarded with congratulations from them, as well.

Life was going good, but there was one thing that Tighnari was still thinking about.

You've met his parents, but he's never once met yours. Matter of fact, you don't even talk about them all that much. He's asked you one or two questions about them, but he soon came to the conclusion that this wasn't a topic you were too fond to speak about.

He did ask you why that was, but when you only gave him vage answers and excuses, he dropped the topic, figuring that it wasn't too important anyways. The main issue was your relationship, not some outside opinion. He thought that you'd come around and tell him more once you felt ready to do so.

Unbeknownst to him, that day would arrive much sooner than he anticipated.

One day, as Tighnari was about to head out for one of his patrols, he noticed you standing at the entrance to Gandharva Ville that led to Sumeru City, talking to two figures he didn't recognize. He thought for a second before he decided to head over to see what was going on.

As he got closer, he began to pick up on some signs of distress coming from you, which already set him a bit off edge. Then, he picked up on the voices and realised that you were arguing with those two individuals. He didn't know what it was about, but that wasn't important.

".. you understand, (Name)? We only want the best for you, so-!"

"Excuse me. Is everything alright over here?", Tighnari interrupted the conversation, and as you turned around to him, he couldn't help but notice the relieved look on your face. He gave you a sympathetic look before turning back to the other two visitors, who looked upset at being interrupted so rudely.

"And who are you?", asked the man, while the woman nodded along with him. Before Tighnari could say anything, you were already at it.

"This is Tighnari, Leader of the Forest Rangers, and my boyfriend. Tighnari, those are my parents.", you said as you vaguely gestured with your hand between them.

Tighnari's eyes widened as he heard you introduce them. He cleared his throat before extending a hand to your parents. "It's nice to finally meet you."

However, instead of taking his hand, your father simply ignored him, while your mother looked at him for a second, before scoffing and focusing back on you. "Seriously, (Name)? You got involved with someone like him? You could do so much better for yourself.", your mother said, looking at Tighnari with disgust, specifically at his more animalistic features.

"..Excuse me?", Tighnari asked again, retracting his hand. He couldn't believe what he had just heard. When he looked back to you, he saw you gritting your teeth, yet when you spoke again, he heard the strain in your voice as you tried to remain polite with your parents.

"Like I already said, I'm happy with my life here. I'm happy with Tighnari. Nothing you do or say can change my mind about it."

"Quit being stupid already, (Name)! Now that your sister isn't taking over the family business anymore, we need you to come back and take over. We also found a suitable marriage candidate for you. If you would just-!"

"I said No!", you interrupted them again, this time however, all the politeness has left your tone.

"I know you only never bothered me about coming back till now, because you were betting on my sister to take over. You'd never force her to do the things you want her to do, but doing it to me is fine for you?

I'm done with that. I have my life here, doing what I always wanted to do, with the love of my life with me." To undermine your words, you stand next to Tighnari and take his hand in yours. The action fills him with pride, as well as the fact that you're standing up for him to your parents.

"So, you can either accept that fact, support me and still be a part of my life. Or, you can leave, and never bother any of us again."

You finish your little speech, your mother gasping at your words, but your father quickly takes her and ushers her away, leading them back to the city.

As the two walked away, you let out a deep breath, relief washing over you as they walked away. You were still holding onto Tighnari's hand when he spoke up again. "I take it that was why you didn't want me to meet them, am I right?"

"I'm so sorry about that. I know I should have told you, but I never wanted you to have to go through that. I already don't have a very good relationship with them, and I didn't want it to affect you, as well."

Hearing that, Tighnari smiled as he turned towards you to take you in his arms. "Thank you", he whispered into yours ear.

You nodded against him. You'd always stand up to your parents again, without another thought, if it meant you were doing it for him...

#genshin impact #genshin impact x reader #genshin x reader #genshin scenarios #genshin impact scenarios #wanderer x reader #scaramouche x reader #wanderer x you #scaramouche x you #wanderer hurt/comfort #scaramouche hurt/comfort #xiao x reader #xiao x you #xiao hurt/comfort #tighnari x reader #tighnari x you #tighnari hurt/comfort #wanderer x reader hurt/comfort #xiao x reader hurt/comfort #tighnari x reader hurt/comfort

[formulatrash]

I was working on gaining experience in motorsport but now I don't want to anymore due to the news. I have been torn up about this since it was announced. Am I even safe working in this industry? Is it only a matter of time?

I think there are two things to take from this: even in an organisation as closed-ranks as Red Bull, this was investigated. And although it's depressing to see many people either expressing disbelief or seeking to discredit the victim, there are a much larger number of people outraged. Not just that it happened but with the entire process, including the way it is being played as a political trophy within Red Bull as an organisation and the wider reaction of Formula 1 and the FIA.

In every industry, there are imbalances in power that lead to exploitation. Ableism, racism, sexism and homophobia go hand in hand with unfairnesses like nepotism and favouritism. Some industries, especially those that people really want to work in and where there are limited opportunities, have it worse - you see it in acting, in games, in music, in motorsport.

Nowhere is safe from the structural inequalities that frame the world. In any job you'll be in some level of danger. That's not intended as a blanket scare or as some way to minimise or dismiss the specific (and extremely unpleasant) case being brought this week.

I definitely have experienced sexism and outright attempts at exploitation/abuse in motorsport. A man who's still a popular pundit spent several years lying to me and even though I'm really not this naiive, somehow convincing me to exchange lewds. Another one who's in a senior editorial position routinely sends me obscene messages. Men from teams and championships and heritage programmes have tried to get me to fuck them and I'm not young or hot or particularly desirable - it's just that I was there and a woman and so it's almost seen as obligatory that they do it, so they can dismiss you as a slut.

I wrote a little about this when the Mazepin thing came out a few years ago. It resonated with a painful number of women across motorsport, I got hundreds of messages after it was posted.

But. This is being taken seriously. There is a clear level of discomfort within the wider paddock about Horner's presence - some of that is political, it is in the teams' interests for there to be disruption at Red Bull. But a lot is clearly pretty visceral horror and anger at both the reputational damage to the sport and what's happened.

Do not let the fact that there are gross people out there deter you from a dream. Do let yourself be angry about it and mould that anger into a toolkit to address it. Look out for the people around you, try to promote positive workplace cultures, call out unpleasant behaviours, especially in scenarios where you are relatively unaffected. (eg: if you're a straight woman and someone says something gross about a gay man, if you're a white person and someone says something racist, etc)

Motorsport needs good people to work in it to change. It needs you far more than you need it. Don't let it reverse or exploit that and you will have a level of power that constitutes safety because you won't let it damage you for the sake of getting something it isn't offering. (If someone is behaving exploitatively then they are not giving you anything, they are trying to see what they can take)

It's been a shit week. I feel awful for the woman who's been doxxed, robbed of compensation and had her career ruined. Who's being discussed and discredited by the paddock, by journalists, by the most toxic fans. In a just world, people would be protecting her but that would need the population of all those groups to change significantly.

So don't let it put you off. Let it make you keener to displace them.

#f1 asks #cn: christian horner

[failureface]

thoughts on "Welcome Home, Franklin"

(SPOILERS AHEAD)

Okay, this special was really great.

I love Franklin. He's a sweet boy who never had a unkind thing to say about Charlie Brown- he was the straight man to the wacky antics of the Peanuts gang. But I never got the feeling he was more than that in the strips. This special serves as the backstory and character that Franklin didn't originally get, but sorely needed.

And this special beautifully and gracefully rights some of the wrongs that past Peanuts media made.

I was surprised this film even went there in terms of discussing racism a little. Peanuts is an IP that you expect people to be overly-protective of. 'No, the scene in "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" isn't racist- and it's NOT weird that all the kids are white' is more of what I expected to hear from this. But refreshingly, this special addresses it. Like, YEAH, there IS a lack of diversity! It feels so much better for that stuff to be acknowledged rather than swept under the rug.

I love the fact that Franklin is unsure of himself and his ability to make friends. This makes him super relatable and sympathetic, and also makes a clear connection to why he gravitates towards Charlie Brown. The two of them bond over their shared feeling of being "the Underdog", and not knowing how to make friends or navigate social landscapes. Franklin also opens up Charlie Brown to new experiences and knowledge, telling him about discrimination and introducing him to music he hasn't heard before. Not only that, but Franklin encourages Charlie Brown to be less anxious and push himself further. And Charlie Brown is a much needed friend and sympathetic ear for Franklin. They have each other's back and their bond is undeniable.

That's what this special is truly trying to get at. That friends of different backgrounds and experiences from us can help us to learn and grow as people. I think that's a really wonderful message and one that we all need at any age, and one that we especially need now.

Overall, this special really blew it out of the water, and I gave it five stars.

Special shoutout if you were able to make it to the premiere stream in the Peanuts discord, that made it twice as fun to watch!

Some miscellaneous thoughts under the cut

Franklin's music taste is so elite

The music picks in this movie are honestly fantastic. The soundtrack really elevates the experience and every song is awesome

THE BEACH SCENE! It's so rewarding as a fan to see moments that are plucked straight from the strip. It feels like the people making them really know Peanuts

All the little tiny schrucy crumbs- I eat it up. I know screenshots and gifs will be made and posted and I will be reblogging them.

Lucy and Franklin's beef- I wasn't expecting it but it's so funny and adds some really great dynamics into the fold

Since this is about the friendship between Charlie Brown and Franklin specifically, minor inaccuracies Franklin actually being on Peppermint Patty's baseball team in the strip are forgiven. Some fans more scrupulous than I would probably have an issue with this, but I'm not one of those fans. This isn't 100% faithful to Peanuts Lore but I don't mind.

I LOVED the scene where Charlie Brown wants to pull the breaks and Franklin wants to keep going. It shows so much without saying anything, and it gives way for great conflict that makes sense and comes from real places within the characters

And I love how Franklin is allowed to be mad, and he and Charlie Brown fight. We're not afraid to rock the boat anymore, and it makes Franklin feel so much more human

Just the right amount of Snoopy scenes, this one reached the perfect balance of Snoopy and Story

Everything is just so overwhelmingly cute here I had to restrain myself from writing "cute" or any of its synonyms in my review

"We saved you a seat!" <3333

#Welcome Home Franklin #my posts #reviews #Peanuts #franklin armstrong #Charlie Brown #theres so much stuff im forgetting to mention but my ADD mind cant think of everything at once sorry guys

[majaloveschris]

I need to vent a little.

Even though we had the Page Six article of Chrisba meeting Harry and Meghan and that Mark started following Justin, things had been relativly quiet. No big drama, no something that seemed too important. This morning I woke up to this whole Carlisle and IMDb thing, and I don't know why, but it's usually the Carlisle house and blurry pictures that make me realize how much I hate this whole situation. I'm just tired of it.

I made this account around April 2022, a year and a half ago. Looking back at it, it's crazy how things have changed. How all of us changed. How our view of Chris has changed.

My only goal with this blog was to share my opinion about this and my point of view. In the beginning, I think most people were confused about what's going on here and why everything was so weird. People were freaked out because of her age, and 16 years turned into racism, fatphobia, and people who support nazis.

We all said and still say it's going to get better, but when? I find myself not wanting to talk about this or deal with this whole situation, especially on those days when life feels too much for me. I don't want to argue with anyone; I don't want to argue whether the Carlisle house is his or if they are going to live there or not. I don't want to argue whether he was in a blurry picture or not. I don't want to argue whether they are real or not. I just don't anymore. I never wanted to convince people that I'm right or that I know what's going on, because I'm not. I only want to share my opinion; that's it, and sometimes people here make me want to leave much more than this weird whatevership does.

I'm just tired of them. Tired of their stupid followings, likes, and comments...Of their stupid stories filled with little signs and tired of them tiring to make this believable when they are clearly incapable of selling whatever this is. I'm tired of their games, and I'm surprised that they aren't tired of playing them. I'm tired that now even those who aren't involved are trying to "troll" the fandom for attention.

Whenever we think it's getting better, they just do something even worse, and it obviously has an effect on us. His actually being in love with her and wanting to spend the rest of his life with her (which seems very unlikely when you look at them) would mean he is okay with their values and that he agrees with them. I think I could "forgive" him for this being PR, but if he wants to actually be with her, I don't want to support that with my money and time.

There are always and will always be people who cross the line when it comes to their favorite celebrity, but this situation seems to get the worst out of everyone, of those who are directly and indirectly involved. Since the very first Las Vegas day, we have been shown that if you want to know what is actually going on, you need to look for clues. On videos, on pictures, among somebody's following list, or among those people who liked something, I know that now people say, Why do we even care about whom he dates? I didn't really care that much about them being real or not until her and her friends pasts came out. Up until that point, the only thing that bugged me about this whole thing was that Justin and Alba seemed to troll the fandom for attention, and I didn't like the way they tried to take advantage of Chris and his fandom.

Some people can't seem to understand the actual problem with him being connected to them. I don't want to support someone who is okay with the behavior of Alba and her friends. But it's hard to believe and seems impossible to me that the man we'd seen for 20+ years has never existed. He is not that good of an actor, and I don't think somebody would be able to play a role for decades.

I have a lot of movies with him in them that I love and want to rewatch, but this whole situation makes it really hard for me. I only see him. I see him when I look at Colin, or Andy, or Ransom, or Steve, or any of his characters. I miss that guy who was always smiling and laughing during an interview. I miss the guy who seemed happy and healthy. Right now he isn't even the shadow of his old self.

I don't want this to come across as me complaining. I know that nobody forces me to be here. I know that I could just delete this blog and go on with my life, but I like having my blogs. I like coming here and talking to my friends; I like seeing funny edits; and I like making funny edits. I would love to talk about his projects, make edits, and share photos and videos. I had so many things in mind prior to the whole wedding thing, which may always remain in my gallery and my drafts.

I will still continue with this blog, but I needed to write it down how I feel, because I think a lot of us feel this way. I'm staying; I'm not leaving because I need to know how this whole thing is going to end, and I still have some hope in him.

#maja's random thoughts #cevans-love

[nicosraf]

Sorry if this gets rambly, but I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate and admire you for turning down a traditional publishing offer to continue to write the way you want. There's a certain level of tender rawness in your works that I know would be completely stripped away by a publishing house. From the topics you write about to the way you portray queerness, it would all be soulless and devoid of any beauty if you signed it all away. I don't think I would love your work as much as I do if you didn't self-publish. From the topics you write about to the way you portray queerness, it would all be soulless and devoid of any beauty if you signed it all away. My previous experiences with reading self-published books has always been 50/50, and most of the time, I felt like they would've been better if they were polished and cleaned by a traditional publisher. In reading Angels Before Man, I've come to realize how important it is to read books outside of the "approved publisher" bubble. It feels so liberating to read something so unapologetically queer and dark and emotional. In a world where queer works feel like they're getting more and more santitized for the comfort of cishet corporate overlords, it's comforting to know that we're able to tell our stories on our own terms.

Hello!!! Thank you for saying this. I'm sorry if I also get rambly but I have a lot, a lot, of thoughts on self-publishing and the industry after I've taken some big steps away from it.

I need to make the small correction that I didn't turn down a deal itself. I was in limbo waiting for the deal and had already gotten a rejection or two on ABM getting picked up. I'm not sure how much I'm allowed to talk about but I'll try to be clear

The series of events goes: I posted ABM online in November 2022, my agent reached out to me in January, ABM immediately gets sent to a "very interested" publisher in February, then I revised the book before I sent it to other "interested/excited" publishers around March. I lasted until early August, had a meltdown, then begged my agent to tell the publishers to let go of my book so I could work on the sequel.

I'm giving context because "stripped away by a publishing house" really struck a cord with me.

Here's the thing: the publishing industry is in a downward spiral. The author dream is gone. If you sell a book, your advance is more likely to be, say, 50k instead of 100k and that 50k is going to split into 4 payments over 2 years. Publishers don't market books anymore; they just make you open up a TikTok account and tell you to dance. Editors are overworked and picking up books that either are or feel already developmentally edited and (some) are asking for blurbs from big name authors (?!) before they look at your manuscript. They want books they can line edit quickly and send to market — but it's not their fault. HarperCollins editors were on strike for an absurdly long time and have gained... well, basically nothing. Agents and editors are leaving the industry. Publishing houses are "poaching" successful indie books and stroking indie author egos to take half their royalties.

I haven't even gotten to the racism and white liberalism problem. Look at Xiran Jay Zhao having their work being held hostage by their publisher for being anti-genocide. I worry about how queerness is represented in tradbooks but maybe more deeply worry about the race problem. There were calls for diversity 10 years and they've led absolutely nowhere. "Diversity" focused imprints keep getting shut down and leaving their authors in limbo.

But about editing again — so I'm sure you've heard of this book Babel by RF Kuang. It's popular but gets critiqued for hand-holding a white audience too much. Here's the thing though — I made a similar comment to my buddy and he told me whether that's the fault of Kuang or the fault of the editor. And that made me think — how many books are critiqued for what authors may have been forced to do? Yellowface by Kuang, written after Babel, goes into a manuscript getting heavily changed to appeal to white readers. Editors say "But I'm confused" and "But it doesn't make sense to me" because your editor is themselves the inescapable, white audience. And usually the cishet audience too — the straight person sighing that your fags are too problematic in these scary political times.

So why am I saying all this?? Look, I've never thought ABM was perfect. I think it's got some mediocre lines, some things I attempted that I don't think I pulled off. I, also, got into the habit of looking at self-published books (my own included) and thinking, "Oh this needed a professional hand-holding it." Tradpub was exciting to me because I could have someone hold my hand and work on the prose with me. I wanted to make the prose better.

But so I step into tradpub and it all goes wrong. They don't know what to do with me. They suggest a revision to cut it down to a novella. I get angry and then get angrier when I'm treated like I'm being spoiled; it's not about my "vision" here. Imagine if I announced to ABM readers that I cut ABM to 80 pages for a little bit of money?? Others started implying Part 2 basically needed to go; it's too confusing, too fucked up. Part 1 was perfect. Rafael, have u considered it being more of a romantasy? Have you considered a happy ending. Have you considered Michael and Lucifer having romantic virgin sex and have you considered cutting that other part with God entirety. Have you considered whether you're just trying to shock people and maybe you need to calm down

Well, I responded to all this with "What about the readers?? I can't make any big changes. They wouldn't like that." But I saw that they didn't want my readers.

There's a publisher right now who has Angels Before Man by rafael nicolás slapped on their "type of books we want" brochure they sent to (I believe) agents. They never contacted me though. I started to see that maybe no publisher ever wanted ABM. They wanted something like ABM, the idea of ABM and the idea of rafael, the mysterious queer mexican guy. you see, the publishing dream is not dead! you too can be like rafael. you can be a nobody who gets their book picked up by Penguin Random House and Fixed to Be Good and make a hundred thousand dollars and youll get to sit at the cool kids table.

Anyway, I love to read self-published, 0 rating books. They're usually weird, full of typos sometimes, but I never care. I don't read to judge something on a merit of goodness anyway (what does that mean) but just to experience something. I love reading porn, but I'm not usually sexually tantalized but it; I just love how insane it is. And seeing someone put their whole heart in something full of typos and pacing issues and plot holes is a thousand times more fulfilling to me than reading a polished husk of 3-act structure, perfect clean characters, strong prose that was worked on by 19 people and doesn't hold the dreams/desires/flaws of anyone.

I'm really happy to self-publish. I like not having a censor and pouring my heart into something. And work! Hard work is incredibly fulfilling to me; I care more about the work I put into A&M than the product it'll end up being. But I also keep thinking of situations like Babel and I think that if my work sucks, at least it's because of me and my skill, or lack thereof. It gives me a little bit of dignity.

thank you again for the ask. i appreciate it very much.

#sorry for the ramble agh #mine #ask #publishing #self publishing

[ihatepeoplesomuchuwu]

@abyssleaves GIRL I FUCKING LOVE YOU HOLY SHIT. You dropped this queen 👑

This person right here, you have said it so perfectly and have inspired me to say something. I will also probably get hate but you know what? That's fine at this point 😎

This carnivorekitty situation? I'M SO OVER IT!!! I don't even 100% agree with tom but, most of you guys are getting upset at OPINIONS AND DARK HUMOR LIKE HOLY SHIT. I want you all to think about this. What part of it is beliefs? The belief of not understanding neopronouns? No no no he didn't say "hate." he said he didn't agree with them and wasn't going to hate people for using them. But nah, instead of maybe sitting down with a cup of tea, you all jumped the gun and said, "THE NERVE?! HE DOESN'T AGREE WITH ME?!". Pssst hey lean in close...... I don't understand them either 😐 If you approached me, though, and told me your pronouns, I would never hate you for using them. It is YOUR life and I will respect/use your pronouns(I use any pronouns btw UwU) and I can't tell you what to do, and as long as you're not hurting anyone, who cares right? But don't demand me to understand or get why because I don't want to, and I'm just too stupid to care.

ANYWAY TO THE TRANSPHOBIC TOPIC!! Okay, this confused me for so long on why people called him transphobic because even I understood that people of the lgbtq+ have different opinions on things and deal with stuff differently. Him saying that kids/teens having medication and surgeries are life changing and then most definitely are. Most medications are safe, but did you know that their was a birth control that was FDA approved and it worked for a long time! Until women started having babies missing limbs and parts of them. Medical stuff can happen at anytime, it being safe of not it can still happen. And the surgeries? I agree that people shouldn't have surgeries until they are 18. Why? Because you have jackasses that aren't trans/have medical needs who take advantage of that for their own benefits and you have people who find out that they are not trans/non-binary/so on later in life and detransition.

Also, can no one like dark humor anymore??? A trans person likes a dark humored trans meme it's end shattering, but people still adore famous people making 9/11 jokes? Yeah, okay, love you guys ❤️ and don't get me started on the nazi shit because WOW WE GOING FOR IT WITH THAT ONE!!! Did anyone read the post Tom made at all? Hm? He said, and I quote, "I don't see anything on how he's a nazi however, that seems like a stretch. However, if anyone can provide actual proof of these claims, you can let me know." He ASKED for proof and said he doesn't agree with all of his posts, yet all of you jumped on him instantly calling him a "nazi sympathizer"? I literally saw one, FUCKING ONE PERSON show him the proof of it instead of jumping him like zombies 🧟‍♂️ 🧟‍♀️

My last take is the pride parade stuff which is just silly to get mad about?? As a person who has basically raised my siblings as my own children and wanting kids of my own some day, I can understand about the not wanting children to see half naked people and honestly who would? What I get is that it is a pride parade and they are mostly known for people doing that, they usually make a flyer or post saying if it's going to happen orr not so please look first. What pisses me off is when people defend that and call them something-phobic for not agreeing 😑 "Agree to disagree" is perfectly put for this, People can have opinions on this without being hateful. You guys come OOON

That is all I have to say for this, I would touch on the racism aspect but I must say out of that whole thing I could understand why people were mad/hurt and I am a pale ass white-irish person who has never experienced racism(only the "HA HA YOU'RE AN ALCOHOLIC" jokes due to me being irish 🤣)so I have no right to say anything in that.

Anyway, I'm gonna just rant here, so feel free to hate on me in my inbox because I could honestly just chill with anyone even if they scream at me UwU

#carnivorekitty #lurking for love #l4l #lfl #jacob alden #just ranting #niwinoodle

[icebrooding]

Woke up feeling salty again abt the way they wrote Trahearne out. If I analyse enough, I can find even fitting reasons why, but it doesn't mean it doesn't make me still salty.

Like, I wonder which reason it was for. The right end to his character arc? (I don't agree). Didn't know what to do with him anymore? Because he was very, very disliked amongst players at the time? Maybe even just they wanted to bring the remaining members of DE into the foreground and couldn't really think of a way other than what they ended up writing in? Have Trahearne die, make it another concrete reason for the Commander to quit the Pact, place Logan in there as Pact Marshal so he still would frequently be in contact w/ the Comm, and have Rytlock and Caithe be part of DW and thus be still relevant and prominent characters.

I feel like there's basically a whole slew of solutions, of which I have some. All of these involve him surviving HoT, obviously.

A) Have Trahearne retire and spend his time recuperating in the Grove if you just don't know what to do with him yet. He's been through a lot of trauma, likely would need a long time to recover both physically and mentally, and with the rampant levels of sylvari-oriented racism it would make sense for his character for him to give up his position to someone he knows is a trusted, responsible figure if it makes people less afraid/regain confidence in the Pact itself.

B) Have him part ways with the Commander and the Pact after HoT. For the same reasons above, but this would be him departing on his own to find himself. I would say have him kind of come back and forth from the story, bumping into the Commander on his travels, but this would be too much like Canach's post-HoT appearances. This way they could bring him back if they found another need for him, and can keep him out of mind, but without the need to kill him. Hell, they could have used this to eventually bring back Malyck by having Trahearne find him and his tree during his travels and settling there for a while.

C) Have him join DW himself after stepping down from the Pact. After all, he is very attached to the Commander. This would be a thorn (hah) in the side of players who don't like him, but with the Commander being the de-facto leader, it might mitigate some of the 'he stole muh main character spotlight' complaints going forward. This would also give him ample room for self-discovery, and it would be amusing to see how his 'makes friends anywhere with anyone' trait could come into play in places outside central Tyria.

There is a whole laundry list of things they could have done with him, and I just can't wrap my head around the concept that killing him was the best way to go about it. Like, it's not. Fun or enjoyable at all to see someone who has spent twenty plus years of their life, for their whole life, working towards a goal that isn't theirs, and then dying before even getting a chance to establish their own sense of self.

Maybe I'm just a simp (I am, for him) but I just feel like there was so much more they could have done with him.

#text #trahearne #i have so many emotions and thoughts and i wish they'd just done sth different yknow :sob:

[myteavsricochet]

Nick solo fans have been having content every single day for weeks now and still thinking about spending time making fun of Taylor (I know some of you don't know what it's like to have your own faves promote multiple projects) and who still feels connected with rwrb I absolutely don't understand this attitude and this constant sense of superiority

you know, normally I wouldn't have posted this ask, not because you did something bad but to not make any more noise about this situation... but the timing of this ask with the release of the article on deadline made me smile sooooo

anyway, what they need to understand is that taylor might not make any more films for the rest of his life and still he would be a happier and more satisfied person than them, miserable people with such an empty life that they think that making the career of an actor (who doesn't even knows they exists) a personality trait is cool and that it's cool to make fun of anyone who doesn't work like their favorite in this moment.

It's embarrassing and childish. I'm not lying that this is becoming a heavy and toxic situation for me and my mental health doesn't need all this. I know that most of the time we ignore everything and we have to create your own bubble, which I did but it's normal that those kind of shit come to us one way or another and they are becoming more and more annoying and I fear that with tioy it will get even worst.

It took me more than 5 years to leave my previous fandom despite the extreme toxicity. I don't think I can handle it this time.

Anyway, it's just a rant due to many messages received in the last few days (weeks) and stuff that unfortunately I see around. I'm not accusing anyone specifically and I'm not saying I no longer feel comfortable in the rwrb fandom, there are lovely people and I'm happy here with all of you, but it is certainly an attitude that I don't like and that doesn't help me live peacefully.

+ we can't keep denying it anymore: continuing to make fun of a poc actor because he isn't booked and busy like his white costar is racism. It is. They all should accept that they're racist. And the fact that so many people in his fanbase have this attitude (which also gets them a lot of likes) is absolutely crazy. As well as making fun of those who are still connected to rwrb and that still talk about that film even though they were the first to discover Nick thanks to that film... but as you say there is this inexplicable "sense of superiority" which I repeat only makes them embarrassing.

(I don't have to specify that it's not against Nick, right? I really hope I don't have to specify it)

#ask me anything #im sorry i just had to vent a little #please bear with me #bad day

[hidden-snow]

Just wanted to put this out there for anyone who might think otherwise; I will not apologize for who I am.

I have been accused so many times by people I thought I could trust. I've been taken advantage of, spit on, and treated like shit all my life. So if I come back with a nasty bite, just know its because I'm not a fucking dog. I've not been raised to lay down and roll over to expose my belly to motherfuckers who think they can dictate my life.

I don't give a shit whose feelings I hurt. Because you obviously didn't give a shit when you trampled over mine. So let's get one thing fucking straight right here and now:

Hello people.

I'm the one and only Hidden Snow. I had a writing account before with over 400 followers. I was in an amazing discord server. I loved the people in it. I was happy and I'd just started to grow comfortable with the people around me.

And then one day? I talked about my obsession over Hazbin Hotel. Yes. That show that a certain creator had made.

One of the server members made a comment that they hoped the creator would lose the show. And I responded. I stated that I hoped Vivziepop wouldn't lose the show. ONLY because I knew different people would change it. They'd change the characters, the plot line, everything. I didn't want the show to be changed.

And then, somehow, I got accused of supporting Vivziepop and genocide, despite me simply wanting the show to stay the same. Then, my amazing lovely @strongheartneteyam got accused of being racist when she attempted to stop the fighting and to control the situation so things would become peaceful again. The accuser claimed that they were going to go on Tumblr and accuse her publicly. So of course, to support my lovely pookie, I went on Tumblr and warned the people so that they'd be prepared for it.

In response, the accuser posted a "call out" post, claiming that I'd bullied them and that I was racist and "scared of them" because they were black. I CANNOT express how many times this same person, during the argument in the server, showed blatant racism against white women in particular.

To top it off, I never spoke to this person. Not a single time. I was mainly a lurker in the server, but the people I interacted with, I was familiar with them. This person, I didn't even know existed until they popped into the argument. And by that point? I had left the discussion to keep from saying something I might've regretted.

So tell me. Tell me how I was a bully and a racist when I never interacted with that person. Not even once. I have no idea why but I guess a lot of people nowadays only listen to half the story and then judge.

I lost many mutuals. I felt lost and alone, shunned by my "friends" despite me not actually having done anything wrong. I got tired. So I deleted my account. I took a week for my mental health. And I got angry. So fucking angry.

So here I am. And I will tell the truth, blatant or not. You can see it as bullying. You can see it as me being a horrible asshole. But I don't care anymore. Because I'm not going to let some petty big shots attempt to ruin my fight anymore. I'm not going to let them turn off my voice, just because it makes them upset or uncomfortable.

I'm done being a doormat, appealing to the bigger accounts in an attempt to win their hearts over. If you want to try and ruin me, fucking do it. Do your best. Because whether I lose followers or gain followers, whether I receive death threats or not, I'm still going to stand by my word and the truth of what I'm saying.

When I needed a shoulder to lean on? When I needed someone to hear out my side of the story so that I could clear my name, they shunned me instead. They ignored me and chose sides by ignoring my pleas for the truth to be revealed. They say they were "remaining neutral" in the matter, but when you listen to one side claiming something and then turn a blind eye to the other side, you're not staying neutral. You're picking sides. So yeah.

That's all I have to say on the matter. If you've found me through some of the bigger accounts complaining about me? Congratulations. You've found the asshole speaking their side of everything that has happened.

Because of these people, I wanted to end it all. Not just my career on Tumblr, but my life as well. I've never had my name drug through the mud unjustly before and I had no idea how to react. But now, I'm reacting. And I'm going to come back with a vengeance. I'm going to fight tooth and nail to show the sides of these accounts that have been shown to me. The sides that are hidden from their followers.

#angel speaks #a vent #fuck highschool #fuck popular girls #just cuz I'm small #Doesn't mean I don't pack a punch #dynamite comes in small packages #remember? #avatar fandom #hazbin fandom #hazbin hotel fandom #who knew loving a show meant you were a racist? #It's news to me

[canonizzyhours]

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

[oh-my-damn]

Do you mean that he's not talking about it, or what do you mean by vetting??/

Sorry lol; i mean it seems questions about personal life are more forbidden now than ever before; if his thing with Alba was related to ghosted to sell him as a romantic lead, how it makes sense none of the questions are romantic?

Okay, so

I definitely think things are locked down rn because of the backlash. I do believe they intended something different, probably more, than what's happening. The backlash has not only been on Chris and the trolls, but also on Ana and Dexter and it has tarnished the entire movie. I have a feeling Ana and Dexter, if anyone, do not want anything to ruin the release. They were absolutely counting on Chris' fandom to pull in numbers and I'm sure they're worried about what will happen with everything going on. I also think they know that even anything mentioning or hinting at AB will make the fandom angry and not want to support (even less than they already do)

However, I also think the PR thing, while connected to Ghosted, is not connected to Ghosted. It's connected to Chris and the image he needed to sell in a movie where he was the lead. They thought it would be a good idea and work well, both with the GP and his fandom. It worked with neither. A lot of the GP already dislike the pairing due to the age-gap and the visuals of it, they don't even know about the racism etc.

So I think strategy has changed from what they intended. He lost a lot of fans and followers after posting those stories, too. People didn't even know about it until they saw it on his insta and a lot of people think of him as a cliché now. He does not have the cute, loving, husband-material vibe anymore; now he's an old creep dating someone much younger who looks even younger than she is.

Considering a lot of his fans are women (and that many of them are in their 30's and up) that's a really bad look. Just go on tiktok or twitter and you will see people who aren't even that deep in the fandom cringing about the optics all over the place.

I'm not sure why they thought it would be a good idea to begin with, tbh. I don't want to jinx anything but I also feel like there might be hints coming at us right now. The silence, the weird articles about his ex's, the solo sightings and articles with no mention of the pairing.

He didn't necessarily need the image for or during Ghosted. He needed it back in the day because he had simply been single (in the public eye) for too long. That can be ratified by having him seemingly settled down/wanting to settle down and keeping that partner around for the press etc, but it can also be ratified a lot easier (for him in many ways since it does not tie him as permanently and he doesn't have to actually be tied to it physically for as long, like Seb and Ale); by selling a narrative that they have been in hiding for over a year and are happy but that it fell apart before the premiere. It's perfect for them to also blame it on the backlash from his fandom especially, and once again make the fans the bad guys, like they did with Jenny (and ignore the fact that he definitely isn't as he seems, as we could learn from the few hints in her book)

That way, there will be no mention of her anywhere during press, and eventually she fades away until he drops a hint or comment somewhere that he's single.

I also believe we won't get a BUA. I simply believe it'll fade, like it usually does with him, and then months later we'll get some confirmation (like with Jenny, where the confirmation of the break up actually came out months after it had happened, as was mentioned in her Vulture interview after the first round)

#mandy answers #chris evans #pr #pr relationship #ghosted

[gentlebeardsbarngrill]

Thank you for the response. It really shows how much white privilege shields you guys away from everything and I shouldnt expect much from you guys. That was hardly half of the statements Black people have been making about this dude's antiblackness and you still cover it up with "it's not that bad though". Anyways do your research cuz unless you are willing to pay us we are exhausted repeating ourselves to a crowd that refuses to listen to us all these years we have pointed out this show and the creators' racism and zionism. "It's a new thing people are throwing out" no we have literally pointed this out for years.

Hi Anon! Thanks for responding again! I was trying to make my point in my last post that that is exactly what I worry we are dealing with, white privilege. I understand my white privilege is shielding me, I admitted that and tried to show you that was something that quite a lot of people deal with. My point however is we would in fact like to step out of that, and you're right, it's not the job of people of color to come out and explain racial strains to us, that's why I read a lot of books by black artists and writers about racism to try an understand that perspective. While I agree you shouldn't have to teach us about racism, I do think it's helpful for your narrative if you have places where you've already explained your point in the past that show real facts about the specific people you're referencing. The problem with the internet, as mentioned before, is there's too much to parse through. I could read for hours and probably not find what you're talking about. (It doesn't help that algorithms make that worse, you're most likely to see more things on your browser regarding the search terms you've used -- which is why I try to use incognito window, and not turn on shared apps).

I've tried looking into the idea that "Taika is a Zionist" thing multiple times, and aside from literally people just yelling "he's a zionist" I have not found anything aside from the original letter from October. That's why I asked for a good source where people have explained it before because unfortunately there's no wikipedia for this sort of thing.

I don't mean to sound defensive either, although I know I am coming off that way (I have ADHD and an uncomfortable need to be understood). I would also like to say, at no point did I say or mean "it's not that bad though". It's that bad to you, and I get that and that's 100% valid. What I very specifically tried to explain was why me, as someone who has had to accept that they've been ignorant, sees it differently. I have empathy for people who came from a place of ignorance and are actively trying to do things to better themselves. We are human after all.

That doesn't diminish or degrade the very real pain you feel, it just means I'm more likely to give people the benefit of the doubt and need corroborated evidence because I am a flawed person and I've been humbled by how much I don't know. This is why I wanted to find out exactly where some of this information was. I appreciate that you don't have the spoons and that you don't want to go through the effort again to find it. It's not your job, for sure, and every anti-racist feedback I've read makes that a huge point, and I agree, that's why I did try to go first to the internet. I'm happy to make a another attempt.

If I may point out a point out something though, we see you taking the very real time and emotional energy to write an anonymous message about how we aren't paying attention, but when someone legitimately tries understand, you're dismissing them which sends a mixed message as well. Just something to think about. It's a tough place to be in because I'm sure you're so exhausted of having to explain something that means so much to you and here we are wanting to understand but you've already given so much that you can't do it anymore. But then for people who can't find the information it's also frustrating because we want to help and do the research but there's an ocean of info to parse through and it's not as easy as just "looking it up". I hope we can find a good place in the middle to support each other, and if not, if all you need is a place to vent, feel free, I'm happy to listen, just let me know that's what you need and you can blow up my DMs.

Again, sending love your way anon. Take care.

#ofmd #anon asks #asks

[hostilemuppet]

Imagine, during quarentine, you got reaallllllllly into a Netflix show. You heard mixed things about it, people either loved it or hated it, but you decided to check it out and. What do you know! It scratches all the right itches!

Then you start to realise, hey, a loooot of the people in this community are in it because they like the actors and not the story or characters. And thats fine! To each their own! But then these people start to dominate all conversation about the characters. People will ignore what is explicitly stated in the story, because it paints a certain character in a bad light, and that character is played by their favourite actor! They are basically experiencing an entirely different story than you are, and it REALLY gets frustrating once YOUR favourite character is demonised to paint the characters played by their fave actors in a better light, despite THEIR faves not being any better than yours is!

You start to heavily dislike these characters that are always elevated to the tippy top despite not deserving it, and although you don't think they've done anything wrong you resent the actors too! But now that your rose tinted glasses are off. You realise the actors? ARE actually pretty shitty people! Nothing criminal (yet), but they're clearly assholes. You stick to your little corner of the community, and you'd LIKE to ignore them, if it wasn't forced down your throat all the time

Then more and more comes out. One of the lead roles was joking about beating women? The director (who also played the titular character) was grooming minors on Snapchat, and basically everyone on the show stands with him This? This is horrible. You feel sick. You can't support the show anymore. You leave, even though its hard and it took up a large amount of the last couple years of your life, and it hasn't even gotten an ending yet! Its been through development hell for months

You learn through your friends and mutuals who are still watching (albeit not happily. None of them support the cast and crew. But they've come this far, they just need the end) that they FINALLY released the ending, but it is increasingly obvious it was damage control. It shows the groomers character in a positive light, being forgiven by the people he abused while doing nothing to earn it. You feel even sicker

The director goes on to announce a sequel. You doubt it will happen, what with the development hell the first one went through, but you judge anyone who says they plan to join the sequel series. Anyone who willingly works with a groomer isn't worthy of support

After ages of thumb twiddling and empty promises, someone who worked on s1 (and was treated very poorly by fans. Well call him Q) announces hes directing his OWN show. Its important to him, and draws from his upbringing.

Two weeks after the first episode, the old director (well call him D) announces HE is ALSO starting a NEW SHOW! WITH THE SAME PLOT! BUT BETTER! AND HE THOUGHT OF IT FIRST! TOTALLY! BELIEVE HIM GUYS!

And people are pissed. Obviously. Q doesn't say anything himself, he's busy with his new show. But his friends, the cast of his show, make it very clear where they stand on the matter. They don't name D, but they do nothing but praise Q for his ideas, and for doing it first.

All hell eventually breaks loose. People from all corners of Hollywood show up. People you'd never think would be within 50 ft of ANY of this. Everyone takes a side. Most people are on Qs side, but are generally respectful and don't name D at all. The people on Ds side? RANCID. Qs tweets about his own show get derailed to be about Ds, and thats not just fans! From people Q once considered FRIENDS

But thats not to say the fans were angels. They were DEMONS. You say you're proud of what Qs accomplished, WITHOUT mentioning D? They tell you to kill yourself, or how they're going to kill you. There is SO MUCH racism and xenophobia directed at Q. D knows about it. He says something offhand. He doesn't care.

More and more people get involved. Q hasn't acknowledged anything, aside from liking a couple tweets that vaguely refer to whats going on. All of Ds remaining friends are choking on his dick "defending" him. They all immediately get torn to shreds, bc the only people staying with D at this point have just as many skeletons in their glass closets

Thats basically the summary of what im going through rn

#text #cannot stress how much i had to leave out #i didnt even get to mention b1tz3l.

[destinyc1020]

Confession: I think this might be last post ever on tumblr, I think I might leave tumblr and social media in general. I feel like its become way too toxic and just not worth the effort nor do I feel happy using it, its just so menatally draining. In addition Im getting a little fed up of fandoms and stan culture, it used to be fairly a fun space but now it feels like a space where hatred, racism, toxicity have kinda infiltrated. Things like movies or just enjoying actors or whatever have become less and less interesting it no longer feels like celebrating but like we are in competition, like the discourse has become lets compare and be hurtful to others and their opinions and I just think fandoms have just been too invasive, too parasocial and I dont want to be in that space anymore.

I do want to say I enjoyed your blog and love how you try to bring as much joy and positivity to this space. You are one of few bright spots and keep doing what you do and thank you for cheering me up at the times I felt a little down . Its been fun but I think its time for me to bid a permanent farewell. All the best ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Awww..... I'm so sorry Anon. 😞

I hope you haven't left Tumblr already and are going to miss my response back to you. 🥺

Oh well.... I'll respond back anyway, no matter if you ever see this post or not. 🙃

First of all, thank you so much for your confession. I really appreciate your honesty on this topic, because I really do feel like fandom/stan culture has really gotten to a point that it's become exhausting in many fandoms... even when the celebrities themselves aren't even problematic! 🤷🏾‍♀️

It's become toxic for sure. 😞 And I, too, don't really appreciate the constant comparisons, the putting down of other actors just to raise up your faves, the spreading of lies and falsehoods in order to make other celebrities look bad, the recurring nonstop complaints about an actor's film career even though their career is going just fine, the immediate "cancel" culture just because someone isn't perfect 100% of the time, the jealousy and downplaying of another actor's talents just because it's not your fave in the role, the annoying film twitter debates, the use of RT as the almighty "gold standard" in a filming project's validity, the over-FOCUS of film critics and their reviews of certain films instead of just watching the film yourself and forming your OWN opinions, the constant bickering among various fandoms and stan wars, the overly-anxious fans who get nervous if their fave isn't in a new casting announcement every 2 months, etc.... The list goes on and on and on....

It's just exhausting.... 😫 And I feel like I see a lot of these comments bts because ppl can literally hide behind Anon on my blog and say whatever they want. 😩

So yea girl...I totally feel you. ❤️

I'm hoping you won't stay away forever, but I totally encourage and support you in taking a break away from here (or social media in general) if that's what you need to stay healthy and emotionally and mentally upbuilt. 🥰

If you ever feel comfortable and would like to come off of Anon and chat with me privately on here, or discuss this in greater detail, feel free to reach out and DM me! You'll always have a safe space. ❤️🥰

Wishing you all the best 🙏🏾🤗

#confession corner Sunday #👏🏾 #sorry for the dissertation

[clonehub]

someone in the tags of that meme said they dont understand why tbb stans take criticism of their shows so personally. while i have a range of theories as to why, in general, fans of a show cannot just let people not like the show, the tbb stans in particular seem to....idk, think the bad batch is Doing Something? i did literally see someone say that you cant criticize the show because the animators work so hard on it, and they conflated negative feelings about the series with a lack of desire to see *any* aspect of the Bad Batch, like "yeah youre complaining but look at these nice visuals do you not want those anymore???" which was a false equivalency.

and of course there's the whole fandom-as-identity and stan-as-personality and a lot of people's growing inability to take variegated and holistic approaches to the series. even the ones who admit that the show has flaws regarding how they write wrecker seem to be unable to realize/point out that wrecker's writing is problematic because it is racist.

racism as a factor in the poor quality of the writing is one that ive noticed gets ignored almost COMPLETELY. i and others like me who do not like the bad batch are able to point out the stereotypes and poor optics and everything else while talking about the writing. people who love the bad batch cannot. i guess because then, admitting that the writing and animation are inextricably racist would make them look a little silly for loving the show so much, because you can say the character development was slow but you still love it. but you can say "yeah he's a racial stereotype and there was a weird reverse racism thread to their back story and they do make efforts to prove these white characters are better than these nonwhite ones--but i still love it".

but in general, since ive deviated a little, like....i remember when uwwtbb first came out and it was *incredibly* difficult for people to separate themselves from what they were consuming. people complained about the racism in the show and they complained about the more or less explicitly racist fans of the bad batch and you had other stans (who often had to bring up that they were poc, but obv not always) saying "well im not a bad person for watching the show" or asking if they could watch it. like i cant control what you watch. me passing judgement on you specifically makes no sense. although one does have to consider how much they're willing to tolerate, praise, or brush aside for the sake of their own personal entertainment. i am watching season 2 of the bad batch to keep track of any other racist developments that happen (which, thankfully, have been minimal). you are watching because you find joy in it. we are not the same. we dont need to be.

but connecting to what id said earlier about tbb stans i guess not understanding their own "buying power", so to speak--if criticizing a show means criticizing the people who watch the show, and if a lot of people who watch the show definitely don't care about the whitewashing that much, then there is no sense in acting shocked when the by products of a racist show are racist. the confusion over tech's 1/6th model as if he doesn't look like a boring white man in the series was irritating. you asked for this. you can't say tech is hot and you can't spread whitewashed fanart and you cannot implicitly and explicitly support the racist design and then turn around and be surprised when you are given exactly what you asked for.

#ch posts #this fandom era sucks balls ngl #long post #or it may not be that long #i am on mobile #whats awful about this is the discrepancy in what people consider important #to talk about #how i cant really talk about the racism in the series or peoples responses to it as much as id like #because a) no traction b) harassment #idk this post is kinda all over the place but again like #''why are you saying i suck because i like a show that sucks?'' i wonder how many people are saying that #how many people are saying that specifically and how many people are more specific about it #maybe you suck because youve made it clear the whitewashing is inconsequential to you #maybe thats what some folks are saying #maybe dont refuse to point out a problem and then be surprised when it is not fixed

[lorenzobane]

I cannot believe I am doing this, but it's just driving me fucking crazy. This is about the utterly exhausting and circular and goddamn endless discourse about AO3, and I simply cannot take it anymore. The hyperbole, bad faith arguments, and deeply strange interpretations of what is going on are..... Why. Don't we have enough problems?

Recognizing that this is exhausting and stupid (it was trending on Twitter???? GUYS??) I'm putting this under a cut to not clog up people's dashes. I just feel like there really are solutions and people keep talking around each other and lobbing wild accusations. Come on- CP apologists? Pro-censorship? Let's take a breath. Apologies, per usual, I talked way too much.

First- let's get some perspective. Fanfiction is a hobby. That is all it is- it is not, at its core, more moral or less moral than crocheting. That isn't to say that you can't be a remarkably talented fic writer or that fic writers are never professional writers (though when professional writers are writing professionally, they are not writing fic. Therefore they are not engaging in the hobby of fic writing. They're engaged in the vocation of writing.).

Just like any other hobby, people who do it often get better at it and begin to hone their skills in much the same way that any other hobbyist does in any other skill. But at their core, the point of writing fanfiction is to have fun doing a creative activity with people who are interested in similar topics to you. It is not going to solve racism or cure wealth inequality, or usher in a new shining dawn for gender equity. It, because it is written by very normal people, will always reflect the real flaws and virtues of real and normal people. To suggest otherwise is self-aggrandizing and nonsensical. I'm glad people find joy and pleasure in writing fic (I am one of them!), but we have got to stop saying things that deify fic above other forms of art or writing. AO3 is basically a hobbyist forum and that is okay.

Now- onto my actual point: whatever happened to nuance?

"These freaks will do anything to defend child porn/racism." Okay- well, that is a pretty incendiary thing to say. What is actually being said? People who oppose bans are typically looking at the censorship on TikTok, Tumblr, Facebook's attempts at monitoring, and fanfiction.net and see nothing but colossal failures. So when people suggest potentially banning or deleting erotic works with minors, others who have never seen it done well and have only ever seen it backfire for basically every other tech company are understandably skeptical. Why would it work on Ao3 when it hasn't worked anywhere else? And if these people are still going to write it, except untagged, now we have an even bigger issue because you can't avoid it.

The typical solution for this is "okay, well, hire moderators or build an algorithm," which is expensive and will almost certainly lead to more backlash because they'd need to fundraise for even more money that people already resent having to do at all. Not to mention the backlash when they do/don't decide that something is harmful that other people might/might not. This is especially true of issues regarding racism- unless everyone they hire has a Ph.D. in the topic, I doubt taking the problems to a random committee will solve anything. And maybe I'm insane, but I REALLY do not want a computer taking charge of issues as sensitive as this. As a general rule, I do not want an archive to be making moral decisions about anything. As even more of an aside, I just refuse to describe a dead person as "unalive" in a fic because an algorithm went too far.

Okay- but does that mean we shouldn't do anything about those problems? Do I think the people who sincerely believe we need to fix things are "pro-censorship"? Of course not. There really are existing solutions that are common sense and broadly popular that would put the power in the hands of the readers as opposed to censoring the writers. Instead of focusing so hard on regressive policies to punish or try to eliminate the problem (which is pernicious enough that a simple ban wouldn't work anyway), why not focus on progressive policies that people agree on and can actually work to make people's lives better? People are capable, smart, and thoughtful- when given the tools they absolutely can manage their own online experience.

Author blocks: People should absolutely be allowed to block authors. This one is easy and obvious- it doesn't do much by way of protecting people before they see content but it does help protect themselves from ever seeing it again.

Saved excluded tags: Create a system where you can input certain tags that you always want blocked no matter which fandom you're looking on at the site. This one is another great way to put power in the hands of the reader.

Community fics: Allowing authors to select a group of people that they want to share their particular fic with. If you want to write your cannibal mermaid fic about Hamilton and you don't want to face backlash? Just set it to only be accessible to selected users.

For ideas that go a bit further*:

Stronger age restrictions: If the concern is that young people are being groomed, maybe a solution here could be to have members (I really can't remember how this works because I signed up so long ago) give their birth year. Then just automatically filter out any E or M rated fics for people under 18, similar to how they filter out member-specific fics.

Member-specific fics: On a related note, an option could be to have fics that include an "underage" tag and are E/M are automatically member-restricted.

*Caveat: these two face a similar unintended consequence that would restrict minors from interacting with erotic content at all. Now, for little kids that is fine but for a 16 year old... I mean, there really are teenagers who write porn and there really are young people who are going through puberty and... well. This restriction would obviously be a burden specific to them, but would protect them. Also- they can just lie, lol.

Anyway- as with all policies and all problems, you are always going to deal with unintended consequences of any new policy you put out but you have to be willing to accept that and at least think them through. It drives me CRAZY when people act like we either decide to do an ineffectual ban or we do nothing at all. I am begging you to be at least willing to LOOK for middle ground.

But at the end of the day, remember: This is a HOBBY. It really is not that deep. There are about 5 million users, and even if you say that the real number is closer to 8 million that is still .1% of the global population. I am BEGGING you guys to stop calling each other CP apologists and freaks and pathetic losers and pro-censorship weirdos and purity culture losers. There IS a real problem here and everyone is a little bit right. Just, like, chill a little.

#ao3 discourse #ao3 #what if everyone took a chill pill #its actually interesting because at the base of this stupid internet argument #is a really really fascinating look into different people's views on the philosophy of speech #and the philosophy of loss #it DEFINITELY strikes me that most of the people who oppose bans the most are people who reference other lost archives #they use free speech as their defense but its so often couched in fear #and its not unwarranted! Internet censorship has worked exactly zero times #but there are other solutions and other ways to think about problems