Tumgik
#just be aware there might be some people going in and out
ao3commentoftheday · 16 hours
Note
How many words is considered plagiarism?
I write for a small ship, and there's a new author (new to the ship but not to fanfic, they say) who not only takes inspiration from plots and headcanons of mine and other authors (which could be flattering for the writer and 'two cakes' for the reader actually) but plain reuses the exact same sentences. I am well aware that writers don't own words, but we're talking about full 10ish word long strings of text here. As I said, small ship, so all these 'similarities' stick out like a sore thumb. We never even saw this person commenting on our works. So, should WE say something? And how? It's a peaceful community, and I'd hate it if we broke that peace.
Generally speaking, plagiarism is directly copying something like 10% of another person's work and claiming it as your own. This is very much a ballpark figure and not a number that you can apply to all cases by running the word counts and doing the math. For example, with song lyrics, it's something like 2 or 3 lines.
Whatever the percentage might be in the cases you're talking about, they're very much feeling like plagiarism (rather than an homage, for example) and that's a really negative situation to find yourself in, especially when you want to keep the peace.
You have a handful of options for what to do, I think, and I'll leave it to you which one to choose.
Pretend it's not happening. Bite your tongue, grit your teeth, clench your fists and just be silently annoyed/frustrated/pissed. This will basically be your current situation, continued.
Block their works from showing up on your feed and mute their comments. The person may likely continue with what they're doing, but there won't be any fandom drama about it - at least not because of you. This way, you don't have to see them doing it.
Vague (or not-so-vague) post about it. The fandom is small and the author or a reader will likely be able to identify who you're talking about. Once the author is aware that you're calling them out, they might disappear from the fandom or it might start that drama trashfire you want to avoid. Less likely, they might edit their works and stick around.
Reach out to the author and accuse them of plagiarism one-on-one. This will probably have the same results as option 2, with the addition of maybe having screenshots of your conversation floating around your fandom.
Reach out to the author and welcome them to the fandom. Let them know that you're glad to see another writer for your small ship. Ask if they're new to AO3 and/or how long they've been writing fic. If they're new to fic or to AO3, you can let them know that they're creating an unfortunately bad first impression amongst the other authors. You can then help them navigate their new fandom waters. No fandom drama should result, and you'll get to keep an additional author for your small ship without the current frustrations. With this one, you really do want to go in with an empathizing mindset rather than a manipulative one, otherwise you'll end up screenshotted in drama like in option 4.
You can report their fic(s) to the Policy & Abuse team. PAC keeps all reports confidential, so the author would never know your name. If PAC investigates and decides it's not plagiarism after all, they'll let you know and the author will never know you sent in a report. If they decide it is plagiarism, they'll reach out to the author (still keeping your name out of it) and request that they edit their work to remove the plagiarism. The relevant fics would be hidden from view while the author edits them. If the author fails to edit them, PAC will delete them from the Archive. Whether this results in fandom drama will depend entirely on how the author reacts. Some people will make a public show about "false accusations" and others will quietly edit or delete their works. The quiet authors will likely end up leaving the fandom. The loud ones? Harder to say.
For more information on the PAC side of the plagiarism report (and how to write a report with all of the relevant info), I'll link two answers from PAC takeovers of the blog: answer 1 | answer 2
Are there any options anon has that I might have missed? What would you do in a situation like this?
196 notes · View notes
the-badger-mole · 3 days
Note
You know what really irked me, even as a kid watching ATLA? Any time Aang vented about his crush on Katara to anyone, they would pat his head and assure him she would come around eventually. Some even implied since he's the Avatar, she basically has to. No one ever told Aang to maybe respect Katara's boundaries and choices, and not see friendship as a stepping stone to being her boyfriend. That bothered me then, and it bothers me even more now.
It should bother EVERYONE! One of the things I hate about Kataang- the MAIN thing I hate about Kataang- is how little Katara matters in the relationship. She is Aang's prize. Whatever she might actually want for herself is irrelevant. I hate how little care was given into Katara's side of this relationship. It was so poorly developed that when pressed, the only examples of Katara's feelings being more than friendship are that last scene in "The Fortuneteller", which has Katara literally only considering Aang for half a second because someone outside of herself pointing out that he was a powerful bender, and then never mentioning it again, or that scene in "The Headband", which has Katara giving Aang bedroom eyes FROM HIS PERSPECTIVE, but again, not talking about it or giving him any actual signal that she wants to pursue something with him. I'm convinced the only reason those scenes exist is because Bryke were just aware enough of how romance should be structured that they knew that Katara should have some sort of participation in the romance. Too bad they didn't care enough about her feelings to actually center her feelings.
Meanwhile, Aang's feelings get explored, discussed (with everyone EXCEPT Katara) and validated. We can't NOT know how he feels. The reason all those people reassuring Aang that he'll get Katara is so insidious is because Aang never considers her feelings. He can't even fathom her turning him down. It never crosses his mind that her answer might be no. That she has the right to say no. So when she says no in EIP (and it was a no. If👏🏿 it's👏🏿 not👏🏿 a👏🏿 yes, 👏🏿it's👏🏿 a 👏🏿no👏🏿), Aang can't respect that boundary. He stomps over that boundary because he's the Avatar, and he wants her, so of COURSE she's not going to turn him down. She can't say no to him. And Bryke agree with him! They don't ever address how messed up it was for Aang to kiss Katara without her consent TWICE, and they don't ever address Katara's feelings. Instead they make it so the only charitable explanation for why Katara's feelings changed between EIP and the finale is that she feels like she owes Aang.
She is not romantically interested in Aang until the moment she sees him on stage being hailed as tH3 r3@L h3R0!!!11!!! He was the Avatar she'd been hoping for. He ended the war. He wanted her. Bryke, instead of giving Katara moments of having Aang support her, give emotional validation, or even just helping her with chores without being a baby about it, ignored developing Katara's feelings altogether-ignored the fact that Zuko was right there giving her in like 5 episodes what Ang never gave her in the entire series- in favor of presenting her as a literal prize for their boy.
245 notes · View notes
leclercsluvs · 3 days
Text
CL16/DR3 | Already Over | smau
part 9
part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5 | part 6 | part 7 | part 8
an: this is going to be the last part, and this is happening about a year after the last part ended. daniel is also now racing for redbull, because i want max and daniel as teammates :) pairing: charles leclerc x fem!reader, daniel ricciardo x fem!reader
Tumblr media
yourusername
Tumblr media
liked by pierregasly, maxverstappen1 and 3.189.461 others yourusername guess who went and performed at coachella? it was such a nice crowd!! absolutely loved it.
danielricciardo fuck racing. i'm going to all your next live performances
yourusername not if i have anything to say >:( maxverstappen1 wow am i really that bad to be in a team with? danielricciardo i didn't want you to find out like this... maxverstappen1 guess i won't let you win the next race then 🤷 danielricciardo you don't have to let me, i will win yourusername hey hey, no fighting under my post maxverstappen1 sorry danielricciardo sorry
charles_leclerc looks beautiful
yoursister *cough cough* you aren't together *cough cough*
yourusername
Tumblr media
liked by logansargeant, mickshcumacher and 3.357.816 others yourusername was i invited just to take photos? yeah pretty much.
georgerussell63 and you snapped the best photos ever
yourusername yeah but i'm not on any! might as well not have been there 😔
oscarpiastri you all went out???
yourusername you weren't invited??? landonorris yeah he was he was busy oscarpiastri that was a lie, i wanted you to force me landonorris i can't force you when i thought you had plans 🤨 oscarpiastri yes you can. landonorris fine i'll force you the next time
lewishamilton at least you know how to take nice photos so we don't end up with the most blurry photos of all those cool outfits
yourusername oh you mean my outfit? that's on none of these photos? because i had to take them all? lewishamilton i was, in fact, talking about my outfit. but your outfit was alright
lilymhe wow i would have loved an invite
yourusername alex didnt mention it?? lilymhe no he just said he was going out for a quick dinner with the team and then he'd be back alex_albon well it was supposed to be just the team, and then it turned into an after party with all the drivers and we sort of forgot time yourusername smh i was at the redbull dinner because daniel invited me, and kelly was there with max, why didn't you invte lily??? 🤨 alex_albon i wasn't aware we were allowed to invite more people maxverstappen1 oh i just did it, i didn't know either danielricciardo oh i was told to bring y/n
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
yourusername
Tumblr media
liked by charles_leclerc, georgerussel63 and 3.722.261 others yourusername went on a nice well deserved vacation with some friends. refreshing tagged: yourbff, yourfriend, yoursister
yoursister thanks for finally bringing me on one of your adventures
yourusername always a pleasure to have you there to annoy me ❤️ yourbff i was, in fact, invited as the first person yourfriend LIES i was yourusername i literally invited you all in the group chat what are you talking about??? 😭
landonorris now why was i not invited AGAIN??
yourusername do you not have races to attend? landonorris oh... right oscarpiastri yeah i can't race for two people danielricciardo and i am not racing for mclaren anymore so i can't help landonorris right you ditched me for redbull danielricciardo bitch i was FIRED
charles_leclerc looking beautiful as always
scuderiaferrari
Tumblr media
liked by charles_leclerc, yourusername and 3.722.261 others scuderiaferrari good weekend with charles on the podium. again next weekend? tagged: charles_leclerc
charles_leclerc hoping for the best next weekend, hoping to be back on the top though
y/n/n4ever soooo did anyone else see y/n in the paddock today? i swear she's his lucky charm. whenever she's there he does amazing.
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
yourusername
Tumblr media
liked by charles_leclerc, carlossainz55 and 3.722.261 others yourusername my man finally got p1 in his home race. so proud of you 🥹 tagged: charles_leclerc
charles_leclerc i thought you said "not too public" 🤨
yourusername well that was before you won and before twitter spotted us charles_leclerc that makes sense
leclercs well this was a hard launch for sure
scfty/n and i'm here for it
lecswrld so so so proud of him!!
georgerussel63 congrats mate!
oscarpiastri 1-2 for the leclerc family
yourusername i'm sorry what-? charles_leclerc sorry i should have talked to you about it.. i adopted a son
charles_leclerc
Tumblr media
liked by yourusername, oscarpiastri and 3.722.261 others charles_leclerc i think i have a good luck charm yourusername we need to go on a date before every race ❤️ tagged: yourusername
yourusername invite me out whenever, i'm ready to say yes
charles_leclerc move in with me? landonorris woaahhhh yourusername maybe a bit too soon.. charles_leclerc hm i tried. i'll try again at some point.
carlossainz55 i thought me being in your team was your good luck charm 😞
charles_leclerc you were my teammate since 2021. would have thought i'd have some more wins if you were my good luck charm carlossainz55 i guess you're right
pierregasly congrats mate!!
landonorris us 🤝 ruining max's win streak
lewishamilton so deserved! proud of you!
-
aaaaaand thats a wrap! honestly thanks to the monaco gp i finally found to motivation to actually write something for this. i can't think of anything else to happen. i hope you enjoyed this. feel free to send any requests or anything. i'm currently working on something involving a few drivers
taglist: @exotic-iris13 @callsignwidow @destinyg237 @lanadelray1989 @dullypully
119 notes · View notes
creauchiergh · 3 days
Text
guys, guys, guys. jax isn't an npc; he's a game dev/mod who got trapped in the circus.
Tumblr media
i'm sure someone has already put forth this theory, but with the series still being in its early stages, it's hard to say exactly which direction it's going. while i don't think the npc theory is bad, i think it lacks a foundation and is more so the fandom's attempt to justify jax's moral greyness or give him depth where there currently isn't any. i just wanted to share some of my own thoughts about what his deal might be.
Tumblr media
firstly, his design, which is honestly just my own speculation but bear with me. i know goose made some jokes about his clothes being farmer's overalls, but when i look at him, i almost get mechanic vibes? like if he wasn't such a prick, he'd be in charge of fixing any bugs that crop up during the adventures, which is pretty much what a moderator does.
Tumblr media
speaking of which, he has keys to all the rooms, which is already pretty sketchy in itself, but it makes sense if you consider that he helped make the circus. naturally, he'd have them on hand in case he needed to access any areas of potential danger. to me, it's a bit like having cheat codes, which definitely gives him an upper hand above the other circus members. (but again, it's not like he's ever going to do his job.)
Tumblr media Tumblr media
there's also the "figurine thing," which is probably either a throwaway joke or a thinly-veiled attempt at foreshadowing the npcs-- since their models resemble figurines-- but it's still worth noting. if we assume that the "figurine thing" is referring to the npcs-- which it probably isn't, but again, bear with me-- then it shows just how much jax knows about the circus. as far as i remember, none of the other characters have ever brought up the outside of the map, but obviously, if jax made the game, he's going to know its layouts and inner workings like the back of his hand. i won't go so far as to say he's all-knowing, but i'm sure he knows a lot more than he lets on, and i have a feeling we're going to see that in later episodes.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
if he really can predict caine's adventures and whatnot, since he designed them, it explains why he's so unfazed by everything that happens at the circus, from zooble getting taken by the gloinks to running into the gloink queen. the only time he really seems to be surprised is when the game glitches-- when the one gloink started bugging out, when kaufmo abstracted, etc.
i think the mod theory explains jax's personality and motivations. when he first arrived at the circus, there might've been a time when he acted more responsibly, fixing all the bugs, trying to stop the abstractions, etc. he could've been caine's right-hand at keeping everything under control. but maybe he slowly gave up these responsibilities when he realized that people were going to get abstracted no matter what, as we can see from the crossed-off doors in the pilot. it's very possible that he became consumed by his mod privileges when he began acting more recklessly and faced zero repercussions for his actions. essentially, he's a step above everyone else in terms of knowledge, awareness, and grants of power-- probably just below caine on the power ladder, though pomni could also rival him as she comes to learn more about the circus. depending on how jax uses his abilities, he could either help everyone find the exit or slowly lead them towards abstraction, and given what goose has said about the future of the series, it's not looking very optimistic for anyone involved.
but what do i know? this theory could be completely nonsensical and riddled with plot holes. i just like to hyperanalyze jokes 🥲
103 notes · View notes
teriri-sayes · 2 days
Text
Reactions to Crazier Bastard's Chapter 300 + Author's Note
Brief summary: Game tries to eliminate Cale. Tutorial boss saves Cale. System AI makes a deal with Cale.
==========
Cale entering the game world was confusing to his ancient powers who were unfamiliar with it. Cale and DA then discuss the possibility that the saint and GoC were related to the game world. But Cale made a mistake here. He should have kept his conversation with DA to himself and not spoken it aloud. 😂
Cale: I think there's a high possibility that they (GoC) are at the center of it. Game: Would you like to use the nickname "I think there's a high possibility that they are at the center of it"? Cale: Damn it. Game: Would you like to use the nickname "Damn it"? #%f@%fd Cale: Huh? Game: $#&*#%System^%error^%^#occurs$%$^ Cale: ???
The game then classified Cale as an unauthorized user and proceeded to eliminate him. Cale thought he was just going to be kicked out, but his meeting with an NPC made him realize that something dangerous might happen if he did not escape here.
The NPC was a demon dressed in aristocratic attire and described as a masculine, "decadent", and handsome man. In Korea, having a "decadent appearance" could mean several things:
Black theme - black hair, black clothes, dark atmosphere
Mature look - sensual or captivating eyes
Gloomy air or drowsy look - dark circles on eyes, uses goth or emo makeup
Some are described to be yandere or have mental health problems
This new NPC fit the black theme definition because he was the Count of Darkness, Lupe II. Cale thought Lupe II had come to attack him, so he tried to defend himself. But Cale and the APs were shocked when he couldn't use any of his powers!
Why? Because Cale was inside a game and was in the process of creating a new account. He still did not have a level or any skills. So he couldn't use any of his "outside" powers inside the game.
Fortunately, Count Lupe II was not an enemy. In fact, he was urgently trying to save Cale from the game which wanted to eliminate Cale. But something seemed to be hindering him from approaching Cale, so Cale had to run just to grab Lupe's hand. 🤣🤣🤣
Game: *tries to eliminate Cale* Cale: Ah, seriously! *runs to reach the demon's hand* Cale: (If I want to survive and not get destroyed, I have to catch that demon's hand!) DA: *scared* Hey, hey! Catch it! Cale, catch it! Shield AP: You should have exercised. Narrator: Cale somehow ran. Yes, his Kim Rok Soo self that contained all of his long years of life experience did. And he believed in the physical talent of Cale Henituse contained within him, in the power hidden within his muscles. Cale: *finally grabs the demon's hand*
Glutton priestess, what? 🤣🤣🤣 Why did you have to bring up Cale's lack of physical exercise? 😂😂😂 And the narration wasn't helping. 🤣🤣🤣 DA though. I noticed this in the past chapters... but wasn't he actually a coward who liked to bluff? DA was always portrayed as someone who loved to dominate people, but in the recent chapters (their encounter with the gods, and now this game), DA kept getting scared easily. 😂 A coward who liked to bluff? Wasn't that CJG? So was DA really CJG? 🤔
Back to the topic, the game's elimination mode was turning everything around them red and having alarms sounding off all the time. The red sky split, and a red hand with vein-like red tubes filled with black liquid descended, trying to grab Cale.
But Lupe II managed to escape with Cale from the red hand, teleporting to his dungeon, Hell of Darkness. It turned out that Lupe II was the tutorial NPC final boss. Befitting his Count of Darkness title, his room was full of dark/black furniture fit for a noble. And despite his dark theme, he was an emotional man who easily cried.
More surprises appeared. Lupe II was an NPC who was aware that he was an NPC and in a game. He knew about the hunters and the world outside the game. It all started when the game's System AI, the one in charge of managing NPCs and giving quests, began acting strange. This led to Lupe II becoming self-aware and gaining outside knowledge. And Lupe II was frustrated because no one knew about the System AI acting strange, even the game developers.
Lupe II was hostile to the hunters, so he almost cried in relief when Cale said he "hunted" hunters. And as if the System AI was watching them, a system window appeared in front of Cale, giving him 2 quests.
[Quest 1. Find the hero with Count Lupe and stop the terrifying @#%&^* god who is trying to destroy this world!] [Quest 2. Please find my 'oppa' with Count Lupe]
In the end, Cale figured out that there were two AI involved here. One was the AI that Ahn Roh Man (ARM) considered as his "hyung", the AI his parents secretly hid in the game and mentioned in previous chapters. The other was the System AI mentioned today, who called ARM's hyung as her oppa because she was an AI created after the first one.
Ooooh... Since Alberu was the "hero", then the System AI was making Cale the "hero's companion" together with Count Lupe. Would Cale meet Alberu soon in the game world? But what happened to her oppa? Did something happen to ARM's hyung?
Cale told the System AI that he would tell her information about her oppa. In exchange, he wanted her to create a user account for him without the knowledge of the hunters. Of course, this wouldn't be TCF if there wasn't comedy... 😂
System AI said she couldn't do that, but because there was a huge update patch coming soon to the game, she sneaked in Cale by making him a half-demon and giving him the account of a... Tutorial Hidden Final Boss NPC. 🤣🤣🤣
Meanwhile, Cale's second group arrived at Exion's place. It had been 6 hours since Cale fainted, according to Raon's timer. Ron was gently smiling while cleaning Cale's bloodstained clothes, and Eruhaben was staring at Cale as if he was a cute grandchild.
Ending Remarks
Why does this chapter feel like an info dump? But I never expected Cale to become an NPC, a hidden final boss at that. 😂 I'm excited to see Alberu's reaction when he meets NPC boss Cale. 🤣🤣🤣
Oh yeah, the author posted an Author's Note, celebrating the 300th chapter of Part 2:
Author's Note Greetings, this is Yoo Ryeo Han who doesn't know when Part 2 will end. To celebrate the 300th chapter of Part 2, I bring you this author's note. It seems like only yesterday that I left a note for chapter 200, but it's already chapter 300... Every time I leave a note like this, it feels new and I am grateful. Maybe I'll give my greetings at chapter 400 soon, right? Hahaha! Thank you always for being with us. I will continue to work hard to write this series so that it can be a small joy in everyday life. Thank you. -Yoo Ryeo Han
109 notes · View notes
ambrosiagourmet · 2 days
Text
Dunmeshi characterization mumblings…
Laios tries. That’s the guiding principle of his characterization, to me. He tries more than he realizes. He thought he gave up during his years with the military but he never did. Something dragged him to Falin, after all.
He cares about people a lot and he wants to do well by them. This is usually specific people but also can be groups (eg the orcs or the residents of the Golden Kingdom). His hit rate on noticing what people like/want/need is not anywhere close to 100% but once he has locked something in he’s Locked It In.
He wants to be better than he is, and he isn’t always good at noticing what he does do well. Some part of him does want to run away, and he’s not always great at accepting that. He clashes with it, and doesn’t even always know whether he’s winning against it (framing his past of leaving Falin as running away when it wasn’t necessarily that simple). When he does self-reflect he can have a pretty dismal view of himself, and he prefers to act instead. This leads him to help as often as it leads him to step on toes, but it does very much do both. He’s working on getting better about this by post-canon though - on some level I think he’s aware that it’s not how he always wants to be.
He supports people by Physically Being There. Lots of worried dog laying their head on your lap energy. Voted most likely to stay by someone’s bedside until they wake up.
~
Marcille is still figuring out where she fits in the world. She's still figuring out who she wants to be. She can be extremely confident about some things, and completely doubt herself in other areas. She's got a little bit of fake-it-til-you-make-it charm. She DOES know what she's talking about, she just doesn't always know how to apply it. Very #gradstudentcore. She's still only just starting to explore the world beyond the safety of her parents or her school!
She has such a big heart and she emotes loudly, every time. That doesn't mean that she shows EVERYTHING she's feeling, but if she does show it, she shows it big. She loves romance and big gestures and the zest of life and people. She likes to meddle and snoop because she wants to know the whole story and wants to be in on it all. I think sometimes she might have trouble realizing that she's PART of the story, though. Like, she views her meddling gossip seeking as neutral or good acts, when they can affect people more than she realizes, and sometimes even hurt them.
In general she's not great at predicting the repercussions for her actions. I do think she reflects on herself, but sometimes she's trying to learn and do so much that some things get lost. She wants to be better, and she's always learning and growing and taking things in. I genuinely think that someday Marcille is going to be a little more sure of herself and a little more experience and she is going to be an AMAZING woman. She's just not always good at handling the fact that she can't just be THERE already.
She supports people by cheering them on. The force of Marcille Believing In You could give someone the power to move mountains. Yes, she does also fret and fuss over people in ways that can undermine that. But like the Marcille smile and "you got this" encouragement? Literally confers The Power Of Love.
~
Kabru... Kabru is building the future he wants to see. He's not very good at putting that work down, though (I know, workaholic Kabru characterization, deeply insightful). He can be prone to seeing himself more a part of the process of creating a better world, though, rather than a person who deserves to live in that world. Like, I think he'd be more likely to daydream about a statue or plaque dedicated to him than about himself actually just hanging out and being content.
He thinks about everything. I definitely don't think he's always manipulating people, but he is almost always observing. And since he's prone to following those observations to plans and ideas, he's not being great at turning off his Planning brain, and thus measures his words and actions even when he maybe... shouldn't be....
I don't think he'd describe himself as an "ends justify the means" person (he's very opposed to that way of handling things from the Canaries), but he is rather more concerned about the ends than the means. Bit of a hypocrite there, maybe? I do think his ends are kinder and more inclusive than the Canaries, though. So maybe it's something where he believes that if one has good enough ends, the means must be worth it. Especially since he directs the cost of those means at himself as much as possible. He views himself as expendable in pursuit of a worthy goal.
He is getting better about that but I don't know that he's consciously acknowledged that it's a problem. And so he's probably prone to relapse into those self-minimizing behaviors, especially given he very much has a new Goal to focus on with the kingdom.
Honestly, Kabru doesn't really self-reflect nearly as much as he might think he does. This is actually taking me a little by surprise as well. But he reacts more from emotions than logic in a few points in the story (esp the part where he stops Mithrun from killing Falin), and doesn't really... acknowledge that?
Maybe it's more accurate to say that he's kind of hit or miss with it. He is learning and growing all the time. But he's also something of a blind spot in his own excellent understanding of what makes people tick. Maybe he's better at understanding himself through the reflection of how other people see him.
He shows his support by making other people's lives easier. That might mean giving them a friendly ear, helping them navigate a tricky situation, or assuaging worries they didn't even realize that had. This isn't always true, but I think sometimes he might like some his support to be a little invisible. I don't think he has a problem with receiving praise and gratitude, but I also don't know that it does much for him, either. And being able to help without being noticed can help him hide the vulnerability of the depth of his attachment.
Also, Kabru would probably be more emotionally destroyed by one person helping him with something than a hundred people praising him for his help (but would claim he prefers to help and be appreciated for it).
60 notes · View notes
noodyl-blasstal · 3 days
Text
Cool, Calm, and Collegiate ch 1
It's @blupjeansweek!! Lup's returning to IPRE summer school for the first time since she attended it as a kid. Some of her colleagues are pretty awful, but one of them... Well... He's very interesting.
Find here or on ao3
--
Lup [14:45]
Made it safe, don’t burn the plants down and remember to water the kitchen.
Taako [14:45]
Instructions unclear. Filling bath with mayonnaise.
Lup [14:46]
You’re the worst <3
Taako [14:47]
Stop texting me and go teach kids space magic or whatever.
Lup [14:48]
You need to know I’m flipping you off right now.
Taako [14:48]
Never doubted you for a second, now go do your thing. Be safe, don’t talk to dogs, pet a lot of strangers.
Lup [14:48]
<3
Taako [14:48]
<3
Lup double checks the instructions, then stows her phone in her pocket, adjusts her rucksack, and definitely doesn’t give herself a pep talk, she doesn’t need to, she’s Lup fuckin’ Taako. They’re lucky to have her. These kids are gonna know so many things about space and magic and no one’s gonna act like she doesn’t belong.
“Eward! It’ll mess up my hair!” A tall elf looks perturbed as Edward, (her twin? Judging by the fact they look like mirror images they have to be, plus, twin recognises twin) holds out a satchel bag.
“It’s your bag, Lydia, dear.” Edward, clearly an optimist, continues to hold it out.
“Can’t Harry get it?”
“Oh yes. I’m sure he can come and sort this out.” Edward makes a sweeping gesture to the ever growing pile of bags and cases the poor taxi driver is piling on the pavement.
“I’ll call him.” Lydia snaps open her clutch.
Lup’s transfixed by her acid green nails and the wildly impractical heels. Not to mention Edward’s wearing a short sleeved suit jacket with embroidered shorts that Taako would kill for… how rude is it to photograph strangers?
“Harry… yes… sure, whatever… uh huh… well you’ll be glad to know that we’re here… yes… so can you come be a darling and get our bags?... I’m not sure that Daddy would like to hear that you’re being so unfriendly on our very first day… Thank you so much darling, we’ll see you soon.” Lydia grimaces and slides the phone back into her bag and shakes her head at Edward. “Such poor service here.”
It takes everything in Lup not to say something. Sure, their fashion sense is glorious, but they’re a caricature of awful if this is how they treat people. Lup’s ready to swing on poor Harold’s behalf. Not to mention the taxi driver they definitely didn’t tip, just waved her off once she’d finished hauling their ridiculous bags out of the minivan.
“Oh there you are, Harry, we’re just over here. Don’t worry about not being out front to meet us.” Edward smiles broadly, as if he’s not aware of precisely how much of a dick he’s being.
Lup’s willing to wager he knows exactly what he’s doing.
Harry though, assuming that’s the guy in the blue jeans who just walked reluctantly out of the front of the building, doesn’t look so confident. “Uh. Hi Lydia, Edward.” He tugs at the sleeves of his white shirt, clearly uncomfortable.
“So good to see you again.” Lydia says without looking at him.
“This is everything.” Edward points, as if there were a chance Harry might have missed the small mountain of wealth piled at the side of the road.
“And you need me to, uh, get some luggage trolleys?” Harry, poor sweet Harry, asks.
“If that’s what you need to move them to our rooms.” Edward shrugs, already scrolling on his phone.
“Did you check us in?” Lydia asks.
“Er… the accommodation office is…” Harry starts.
“Oh darling, these heels aren’t made for walking, are you sure you can’t just bring us the keys and let us know where we’re going?” Lydia titters and flutters her eyelashes at him.
Lup sends a beam of strength to Harry. Don’t fall for it, my dude, make them do their own life admin. You’ve go this.
“The accommodation office is over there.” Harry points.
Yes! Go, Harry, get ‘em!
“But darling, how will you know where to take our bags if you don’t check us in?” Edward asks, not looking up from his phone.
Lup watches the fight drain out of him. He fought a good fight…
“I’ll go to the accommodation office, which is over there.” Harry bites out.
At least he’s not trying to pretend he’s not pissed off any more. This is most definitely and absolutely not his job, for sure. Lup was under no illusions when she took this role. Science educator at a Summer education programme was never going to pay well, but coming here set her on the path she’s on now, and the least she can do is give back (and be legally allowed to make explosions for educational purposes.)
“Hey, Harold, mind if I walk with you? I haven’t been to the accommodation office before.” Lup catches up to him quickly, closing the distance in a few long strides.
When he turns to look at her his face is sour. “Please, uh, just, there’s no need to keep doing it.”
“Doing what?” Lup tilts her head, but doesn’t break her step. “Cha’girl needs to find the accommodation office, and you look like you know what’s up. It’s Lup, by the way.” She stops abruptly and offers a hand.
Harry stops too, looks at her for a moment, sizing her up. Then he smiles. “Barry.” He says, shaking it.
“Oh hell no.” Lup can feel the flush of heat spreading across her cheeks. “I’m so sorry, I just heard them say it and…”
“Yeah, well, they’re not always right.”
“Not often right, from what I’ve seen.” Lup mutters.
Barry laughs, once, sharp, perfect. “C’mon, I’ll show you the office.”
“Thanks Barry!”
His smile is glorious.
“I’ll help.”
“It’s fine.” Barry huffs as he tries to work out whether it’s better to wheel two suitcases at once in front or behind. “You’ve got your own stuff and you need to get settled.”
“Cha’girl has a single hiking bag because she’s not a complete maniac.” Lup rolls her eyes. “Plus, they’ll just complain if you leave anything on the side while you drop the first lot to their room.” She grimaces so Barry knows how wrong she thinks they are.
“You, uh, well, can’t argue with that.” Barry shrugs. Then adds, softly. “Thank you.”
Lup bumps his shoulder with hers. “Lup’s got you.”
She ends up with her rucksack, three bags on each arm, and the hair-mussing satchel (hair completely intact because she’s capable of operating a strap, thank you very much.) Barry wields two cases with his meat hands, and one with his mage hand. Lup copied him to get the last of the cases.
“How do people even have this much stuff?” Barry asks while they wait for the lift.
“Dedication? Perseverance?” Lup nudges him with her elbow, hands blessedly free as she’s laid the bags down to wait for the world’s slowest lift. “How much did you pack?”
“I didn’t have to, I live just off campus, uh, the street behind the student accommodation.”
“Oooh, happy accident that the job came up and you lived nearby?”
“Well, I… you know… work here. It’s new. But I said I’d help with the, er, the programme.” Barry looks embarrassed about this fact.
Lup raises her eyebrow. “I thought you said you were Barry?”
“I am.”
“They didn’t mention a Barry on any of the forms.” Lup knows for sure because she googled the fuck out of everyone and everything about the programme when she found out she got an interview.
“I’m not sure they put me on the letters or the websites or, well, uh, that stuff… plus, it’d by a different name.” He pauses. “It’s a long story.”
Lup points at the cheerful lift floor light which is currently still stuck on 19. “We’ve got time, my guy.” She’s going to go rogue and hack into the computers to fix it if this school is deadnaming him or something.
“Okay, it’s not really a long story, but I’m not on the forms because I help unofficially, and Barry isn’t my government name.”
“Okay?”
“I prefer Barry.”
“Barry Bluejeans.” Lup points at his denim-clad legs.
“Why not?”
“Do you not want them to use your other name?”
“No no, it’s fine, it’s just for, you know, business. It’s what’s on my office door, it’s Sildar.”
“I never thought I’d know two! Sildar! Elf King of the Forest, Thirteenth of his Line…” Lup swishes her imaginary cloak and laughs gently. “Destroyer of…”
She stops, Barry looks stunned. Shit. Maybe he was more sensitive about his name than he made it sound. She’d fallen into a comfortable pattern. Lup closes the distance between them. “Oh, my dude, sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you, that’s an…”
“...In joke.” Barry finishes for her. Then draws himself up to a majestic height and swishes his own cloak. “Destroyer of Ill Informed Zombies.” He’s smiling.
“Hallwinter?”
“Tacco?”
“Barry?”
“Lup?”
“What the fuck?” Lup swears she’s buffering, she’s usually not short of words, but this? What is she supposed to do with this? Sildar, in the flesh, not just a guy in a computer. “You’re real!”
Barry laughs. Hard.
Lup pokes him in the side.
“Ow!”
“Just checking.” She smiles her biggest smile.
He laughs again and it sets Lup off too. They’re still gasping for breath when the door the lift light finally blinks another floor down.
“Did the last email help?” Barry asks, pressing the lift button again, as if that’ll help.
“Yeah! The way you explained it made a lot more sense than the textbook.”
“Cyrus.” Barry says like it’s a particularly awful curse word, and shrugs dismissively.
“So you have roughly three thousand degrees?” Lup asks.
“No!” Barry protests quickly.
“Uh huh. Have you forgotten how many you have?”
“It’s only four PhDs. It’s fine. Erm… Look! The lift’s moving.” Barry points enthusiastically at the blinking light which shows a whole floor’s worth of progress.
“You can’t distract me from the fact I’m with academic royalty right now.”
“I’m not academic royalty!” Barry looks offended at the very thought.
Lup just wiggles her eyebrows. “Oh Sildar, can’t I please have your autograph?”
“Lup!” Barry looks genuinely distressed enough that she decides it’s time to stop bullying him.
“So what’s the best meal on the canteen rotation? I figure you’ve been here a little bit? You said you were moving in your email last month, right?”
Barry’s discomfort fades immediately. “So they make this mac and cheese with asparagus in it and the summer school kids hate it because it’s got green bits so they always give you extra. I figure it’ll be different once the students are back, but uh, I guess you’ll be gone then?”
Lup shrugs. “Gotta wait on the post docs to get back to me, but my cheese yen thanks you for the baller tip! What else you got for cha’girl? I’m gonna plumb your depths.”
There’s a long moment. Lup dares Barry to double her entendre. He thinks about it, she can tell, but he doesn’t. She’s not disappointed exactly… but.
By the time the lift finally arrives Lup knows where the quiet libraries are, has a few routes for her morning runs, and, most importantly, knows where to get the good coffee (The Davey Lamp Cafe or Barry’s office. She’s inclined to try the latter first, because Barry has good taste, obviously, no other reason.)
“Okay, tetris time!” Lup zoops the mage hand suitcase into the lift, Barry shoves his in close behind.
“Do you think we can do this?”
“Cha’girl has better things to do than wait another 84 years for the lift, Barold, prepare to get cosy.”
Lup shoos him in with the suitcases next.
“Okay, if I put the bags on top of the cases, and then…” Lup scooches into the, admittedly small, gap next to Barry. “Is this okay?”
“Uh, yeah, fine… er.. Good… I mean… Yeah.”
“Do you want me to get the next one?”
“No! No. I mean, this is okay.” Barry’s swaying very slightly, Lup’s pressed against his side, so sways with him.
“They’re floor 26, right?” Lup asks.
“Oh, fuck, hang on.” Barry lunges towards the buttons. “Yeah, there we go.”
The lift grinds slowly upwards.
“So why IPRE? I imagine everyone was clamouring to get their hands on you?” Lup wiggles her eyebrows and Barry flushes bright pink.
“Well, uh, you know… I really liked their er… ethos?” Barry starts tentatively.
“Funding?”
Barry laughs, relieved. “Yeah, that. They have plenty of funding available. Plus, they seemed interested in letting me, you know, work on some of my own stuff.”
“Bonds?” Lup hisses quietly, as if anyone could hear over the slow grinding noise of The World’s Shittest Lift.
Barry nods and his face lights up. “You remembered?”
“Hard to forget when someone’s so passionate about something, Barold.”
“It’s also closer to Mum.”
“Of course. How is Marlena?”
“Still raving about the cookies you sent. She said they were as baller as you promised, and that you’d promised you would only send them to her so I had to come visit if I wanted to try them.”
“Who am I, but a girl who is willing to engage in cookie crime to help a Mum out.”
“I visit her!”
“I know.” Lup nods, he’s talked a lot about wishing he was closer, especially as she gets older.
“Now I can go more.” Barry adds.
“You sure can, I’d better look at the recipe book.” Lup winks at him.
“Leave them here.” Lup shrugs. “You’ve done your bit.”
Barry dithers, and knocks again. “I don’t know why they went ahead of me to get the key when they specifically asked me to check them in.”
“Weird power play.”
“Really?”
“Definitely, I’ve met their sort before. Just leave their stuff here, don’t hang around waiting. You’re the guy, they’re nothing in the scheme of research. This is absolutely not your problem.”
“Yeah. Yeah…” Barry keeps his hands on the cases.
“Barold?” Lup takes his arm gently to pull him away.
Barry twitches slightly, like he’s about to pull his arm back, there’s a moment where Lup worries that she’s gone too far. Sure they’ve sent some emails, they joked in the lift, but this is Sildar Halwinter, Magic Science guy. He wrote the textbooks, or should have, he’s got the cutting edge papers… He’s not just a cute nerd for Lup to boss about. Thankfully though, he relaxes, lets himself be tugged away towards the lift.
“Yeah. You’re right. I’ve given them enough of my time.”
“Yes! That’s the spirit.” Lup punches the air. “Let’s get out of here.”
“Which floor are you?”
“3.” Lup says. “I don’t have fancy parental connections to get the good view.
“Well, at least you’re in luck if the lift goes out.” Barry says wrly.
“You truly are a genius, Dr Hallwinter.” Lup nods cheekily.
Barry throws her a sideways glance, and smiles. There’s no blush this time, maybe he’s easing into it.
This time, they stand slightly further apart in the lift.
“Is there anything I can help you with?” Barry asks. He sounds like he means it.
Lup wants to say yes immediately. There’s absolutely nothing she can think of that Barry can do for her right now, but she likes hanging out with him. He’s fun to talk to online, and more fun in person, if just for the immediacy… also she gets to look at his face. Er… she means… shit.
“I’m not sure I need a hand with my bag, but you’re welcome to come check out the digs if you want?” She realises too late that it sounds like she’s propositioning him. ‘Come look at my room’, she may as well ask the guy in for coffee.
“I’ve actually already surveyed the rooms, so I’ll let you get settled, but if you decide you want coffee before the staff briefing this evening then stop by my flat, I’m heading home for a few hours.” Barry smiles warmly.
Uh… did Barold just uno reverse her? Bam! Proposition me will you? Here’s one right back! No, no way, he probably just means coffee. Would she go if she thought he didn’t just mean coffee?... Nope, stop! Bad line of thinking. He’s being kind, it’s generous. They’re friends! She’ll see.
“Cool, I’ll get settled, write a postcard, then maybe head over when I go to post it?”
The lift dings to announce its arrival at the third floor. “No pressure, I’ll see you later, Lup.”
Hey Ko’
I know you’re gonna roll your eyes, but you’re getting postcards, just like we wrote to Tia back in the day. Today was fine. Those twins I messaged about are fucking awful (that’s right, I can swear in these now, when you’re the teachers no one checks!) they kept calling this guy Harry, turns out his name’s Barry. Barry Bluejeans (well, not officially the last bit, but he was wearing them, so sue me.) They made him carry their bags, so obviously I helped, and we got talking and I was all “he’s really cool. No idea why they’re so mean to him”. Anyway, anyway, turns out his Government name isn’t Barry. It’s Sildar fucking Halwinter! That one, yeah. So I guess my pen pal is my person pal for the next 8 weeks… I’m gonna make the most of it, I just need to figure out which questions to ask.
Anyway, I’m running out of postcard space, but it’s all pretty similar to how it was, the room’s slightly nicer, only one bed and a private bathroom (thank every god going, I’ll never forgive Greg Grimaldis his bathroom crimes), but it’s still student digs.
Love you always,
Lup xxxxx
---
Thank you for reading! Find chapter 2 here.
31 notes · View notes
Text
post of some disability aids/equipment that i hope for in future. (or think could help me). with pictures.
some of this is specific for disability, some is more general.
inspired by @aleswell post!
my body is very weak and floppy (low muscle tone). also have joint hypermobility. i need a lot of support to hold my body in good posture.
i need to be very reclined/tilted majority of the time. i spend a lot of time in bed, semi-propped-up with pillows. i hate my current bed a lot. it doesn't support my body well at all. it is also way too high - hard to get in and out of bed.
even if i get good supportive seating, i will still probably need to spend majority of my time in bed.
beds:
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
first picture is a montessori floor bed shaped like a house. i could put blankets or sheets over the top and make a safe den! i could make it really comfy for sleep. and low to ground is good. also wish for more "normal" bed like this one.
second picture is a safespace. basically same reason for why i like it. but also it is safer and maybe more comfy than the wood. it just looks nice to be in there.
third picture is a profiling bed. this is the best option for controlling my position and good support to sit in bed and keep everything aligned. but it is medical looking and i don't like it. it doesn't look as comfy or safe.
i wish there was a way to "merge" these into something perfect for me...
special chair:
Tumblr media
picture is the Hydroflex chair from Careflex company. it comes with different back options and support options. so not always look exactly like this. it tilts and reclines with a remote. i think this is the chair i will try soon!
i hope 🤞🏻 if i get this, i will be able to go downstairs and be somewhere else than bed all day. (but that comes with its own challenges of being around people and more sensory input).
wheelchair/buggy:
Tumblr media Tumblr media
first picture is a Permobil powerchair (don't know which one).
second picture is an adult buggy. brand is Axiom i think.
a powerchair would be great for tilt/recline options. BUT i don't know if i could manage to drive it myself all the time. it takes so much focus and effort and energy. and so hard, especially outside. i have low awareness of surroundings, so i feel scared and unsafe in powerchair outside.
so maybe a buggy or manual wheelchair with high level of seating support would be better. but i might get frustrated about can't control where i go. 🤷🏻‍♂️
for both of these, i would need a lot more extra supports and straps.
things i already have:
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
this exact bath lift, and this exact non-custom powerchair (bad👎🏻). i also have a stairlift (not this one).
the bath lift is good 👍🏻. but i can barely sit in this wheelchair. i hate it. it has no support and i can't tolerate this upright position for long at all. and struggle to manage drive it.
but it is the only reason i can go to appointments. so i am still grateful to have it. just hate the pain and fatigue and the difficult-ness.
sorry it got so long! i hope it is read-able.
33 notes · View notes
buckttommy · 16 hours
Note
do you think that tommy is *truly* aware of the importance of buck and eddie in each other's lives though? i know he's aware generally that they're close but i'm not sure if he knows the true depth of it at this point. from what we've seen in canon i mean.
idk i just find people get a little defensive about even the possibility that tommy might have some trouble with the importance they have in each other's lives (and i'm not tryna say this in a ship war kind of way, i actually think it could be an interesting thing to navigate in the buck/tommy relationship)
I don't know, to be honest. I only know what canon tells us, and right now, canon is saying that
Tommy acknowledges Buck and Eddie have a deep bond,
He doesn't want to be the cause of any issues between them
He is actively invested and Buck and Eddie being and remaining on good terms
He's good friends with both of them
He's not here to replace Buck (this statement suggests to me that he is aware of the space Buck has carved out in Eddie and Christopher's lives, indicating more than a surface level awareness of their dynamic).
Now, I can only assume Tommy heard stories about the shooting, the lightning strike, etc, but Buck and Eddie's thing isn't something anyone can really understand unless they see it in action, even if they know it exists intellectually. I don't think he's ignorant or will be caught totally off guard, though, is what I'm saying. He might be surprised the first few times Buck has to put Eddie first, but Tommy seems very willing to roll with all of Buck's punches so far. He meets him where he is, as Caroline kirkaut puts it. But it's worth noting that, Tommy or not, this prioritization would be the same in any co-parenting relationship when one person dates someone who is not the other parent. Because the family unit and the child will always come first even when the parents aren't together (anymore). So until or unless Buck and Eddie get together, Tommy is the best they're going to get.
40 notes · View notes
howlsofbloodhounds · 2 days
Text
Was thinking about how, when asked, ST2 Killer said he “dislikes everything.” Got me thinking how he struggles to feel genuine joy or happiness by much. But also how he’s a dissociative character with complex trauma, and how his triggers might seem “small” and his reactions would appear disproportionate to the situation to those who don’t know his trauma history.
Like, he probably eats food and doesn’t actually feel anything about it—it doesn’t inspire joy unless it’s something he’s never tasted or seen before, until the buzzing dopamine of “something new” wears off—it all taste the same most of the time to him, even if his body reacts differently.
Things like ketchup and chocolate can get his body reacting to just the smell of it, trembling and sweating; flashbacks and throwing up if he tries to consume any of it. He avoids those steadfast, his body clearly remembering that anything associated with those things—with Sans—is a big, big, big NO-NO. (The aching in his bones is suddenly so sharp, the stinging pain of a knife digging in between cracked ribs, willing to painstakingly take him apart if he questions his maker further.)
But I wouldn’t be surprised if his body reacts that way to most food; simply because it’s used to either being forced to go without any, or being forced to take more than it can handle. And I doubt ST2 truly stops to care about any of that.
He won’t eat if he doesn’t have to, he’s not attached to the body and doesn’t much care if it starts lagging behind—apathy drowns out nearly every sensation. If Nightmare orders him to, or if Chara did, he’d do it in a rather robotic fashion because it’s an objective to be completed—not seemingly noticing the way his body shakes with every bite of food and how he has to force his jaw to unclench.
Somatic flashbacks, I suppose. Every time he eats, his body instinctively wants to gag it all back up—phantom sensations of claws (nails, nails that felt like claws) digging into the jawbone to keep the mouth open, the throat burning. Sometimes they would crack under the strain of trying to keep them clenched together, prevent anymore from going down.
But despite how strange it could be to watch Killer eat and physically tremble, he still does it as if he isn’t quivering in his seat—probably doing something like scrolling on his phone as he eats, his eyes dead and his grin empty, clearly just dissociating and not actually aware of it.
But he doesn’t stop until the food is all gone or until Nightmare tells him to, even if some of the food might be thrown up later. He’s unlikely to remember much of meal times when thinking about it later, especially if he’s eating alone that evening.
It might get easier to adapt once his body slowly comes to realize that its intake isn’t going to be violently denied or enforced, but it’d likely tremble and shake anytime someone has to order or convince Killer to eat for his own good.
Especially if anyone’s watches him eat too intensely, because his mind and body register it as a command regardless and he instinctively wants to shut down and retreat inside whenever he feels like he has no choice but to do something he doesn’t want to do.
(To anyone else it isn’t that big of a deal, but to someone who had no choice for most of their remembered life, he’s hypersensitive to signs of authority. He’s just gotten good at managing to convince himself that he wants it too; to sink into that apathetic, blank state and convince himself he doesn’t care and to just get it over with.
But it’s best to be careful not to put too much pressure or make him feel cornered if you aren’t Nightmare, that’s a recipe for triggering ST3 if ST2 doesn’t view you as someone he takes orders from. AKA, if you aren’t Nightmare.)
It’d be a lot easier if there’s people around for Killer to make conversation with while he eats, allows him the dopamine kick whenever the topic breaches onto a topic he’d never discussed before—which in turns allows him to actually taste and enjoy food, which keeps the good sensations of “something new” going in loops for a bit. All in all; just don’t let this man escape into his own head when eating, and don’t point how his hands are uncontrollably shaking.
I’d imagine that he actually has an easier time caring for the body while in ST4 for extended periods of time, performing routine maintenance, simply because ST4 views the body as belonging to Chara and its ‘killer’ programming doesn’t allow harm to the body that doesn’t come from Chara or those affiliated with them(heart locket.) Keeping sharp and ready for whatever fashion Chara intends to wield their weapon.
36 notes · View notes
brucewaynehater101 · 2 days
Note
"If it's closer to fanon Tim, he would feel guilty for Jason. Closer to canon Tim would either be indifferent to Jason's troubles or he'd feel glad (maybe even a little spiteful) that Jason is facing the consequences of his actions. He would, however, feel guilty for how the revelation affects the street kids."
I have to say I disagree with this. Firstly; with the whole post you're framing this as though Jason beat up a child... which like, true, but also Jason is hardly two years older than Tim. I know comics make him seem aged up, but its simply not the case. (dont @ me if u know this cuz u probably do know this already)
Secondly, Canon Tim.... doesn't hate Jason?? Like, really not at all. If there is any dislike, I'd see it as when Jason is acting particularly villainous, he treats him like any other rogue. Though they don't necessarily interact a lot when Jason is in his villain moments. It's other bats who take care of that, so there's really no beef there.
When Jason isn't having an evil moment, honestly a good word for what Tim feels for him is either pity at worst, admiration at best. With the admiration, I'm not talking about Tim liking him as Robin 'cause that's honestly pretty fanon, I'm talking about how Tim admires his tenacity and determination to keep going even when he feels like everyone is against him. And Tim wants to support him! He sees Jason struggling a lot and wishes Jason would accept help- hence the pity.
I sincerely doubt that Tim would ever feel glad or spiteful towards Jason. He's gotten him back for the whole 'beating the shit out of him' thing. Which really, wasn't really about Tim? Plus its far in the past at this point.
Not to mention Tim is one hell of a badass, he doesn't wallow in self-pity, and I don't think he'd want to interfere with RH's stuff and would probably stop the information leak himself, or even deny the rumors with something like "Oh that? It was just a disagreement/misunderstanding lol the rumors got out of hand,"
Sorry if this was too much, I like ur blog and the things u say, this one just felt really misinformed.
Thank you for letting me know. Reading the post back, I can see how I worded it wrong. I appreciate you giving me the chance to correct that and clarify.
Yes, Jason and Tim are close in age. However, Jason's age (as far as I'm aware) isn't known to civilians. Because of his helmet and bulkiness, a kid would view Jason as an Adult. If they knew his age and then the fight with Robin, that would probably be an acceptable level of violence for them. That's just two kids beating each other up, then. From their perspective, though, Robin is a Kid and Jason is an Adult. A possible solution to gain back their trust could be to disclose how old they were at the time (they might not even need to disclose any details or reasoning with that).
Later in canon, Jason and Tim start getting along. If the reveal happened at that point, Tim would not feel gleeful and spiteful. He'd feel bad for Jason. That is entirely my bad for not making that distinction.
Tim is, undeniably, an asshole at times. He wants to do good, tries to help people, and overall is kind. He's badass and I love him, but he can be an asshole (particularly to Steph). He, especially his inner dialog, sometimes makes asshole comments. This includes Jason. To add on, when Jason was beating him up and demanding Tim to answer if he thought he was good (skill wise), Tim answered yes twice. To me, this seems like a petty/spiteful response. That or Tim is just being honest af about his feelings, not giving a shit he's taking a beating.
However, Tim would not hold this grudge against Jason. One of his better qualities is to not hold grudges against most people (even those that he arguably should). It's why some villains/rogues/enemies become his allies or end up becoming fond of him.
Tim may feel glad that Jason is experiencing the consequences of his actions, but not for himself. This would be during his time as Robin exclusively. Red Robin would not feel this way.
Spiteful, though, was the wrong word to use. Tim, as the loveable asshole that he can sometimes be, might be sort of happy that Jason, in his villain era, is being shown the effects of his actions and possible wrongs in his ways. Happy also seems to not match, but the emotions wheel isn't really giving me an alternative.
Tim would, despite his feelings, hate the effect of this on everyone. The street kids, Jason, and the batfam would be negatively impacted by this, and Tim would try everything he could to stop or mitigate the outcomes. He would never release this information willingly nor stand aside to let it happen. Robin may internally say some shit about Jason and the situation if it blew up in their faces, but you're right that he wouldn't purposefully make shit worse. He would actively work to fix the entire mess.
I really am thankful that you helped me articulate this.
It's 100% my bad that I dropped the ball so hard. If y'all see me fuck up like that again, feel free to let me know. As long as you're not mean about it, I appreciate constructive criticism.
Imma edit the previous post this is about and link it to this one so that I fix the mischaracterization
41 notes · View notes
810nd1 · 23 hours
Text
Are BTS members aware of the readings people do on them?
And do they know about the existence of my page? 🙈
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
It just bothers me, okay? People have been doing readings on them since 2017. Ain’t no way they haven’t heard of anything within those 7 years. I have to check if they know in real life that people do readings on them. And if they have found my blog 😬😬
Take it lightly!!!! Like a joke!!!! I’m not that delusional to think they know about my mere existence, my Gemini mercury brain just has to ask this!!!
I’m gonna get some hate for this one 😭😭
Jin
Are you aware about the readings?
the moon rev, 6 of pentacles
Literally the card that speaks about uncovering the truth. With the 6 of pentacles. He knows but he might not be into that. He lets us do our thing. He thinks we’re just having fun and it’s harmless. Kinda like „let the kids have their fun”
Has he found my page?
the moon
Nope, he hasn’t.
Suga
Are you aware of the readings?
the moon, the empress, 7 of pentacles
He kinda knows but it’s like someone told him about it. He is more aware of the readings in the 5D but in the 3D like I said, someone might have pointed it out to him. That there are people doing tarot readings on him but he hasn’t seen them with his own eyes. He doesn’t care, he’s too focused on himself and just like Jin thinks it’s funny and allows people to have some fun.
Has he found my page?
8 of swords, 7 of pentacles
A no and a yes? I think he is aware that I’m here as a group of tarot readers that do readings on celebrities. And I am a part of that group. He has no time to actually check it and read any of these posts about him. I’m having a heart attack if one of those answers will be a yes, I will jump off of a bridge 😭😭
J Hope
Are you aware of the readings?
seven of wands, eight of wands, two of cups
Again I think he most likely hasn’t seen them but somebody told him about it. And he finds it kinda creepy when people do tarot on him but he can’t do much about it.
Has he found my page?
3 of cups, ace of cups, the high priestess rev
Maybe he saw my page somewhere or someone told him about me. Anyway he just ignored it. I hope that’s not true and he has never found me or heard of me 🤡🤡
RM
Are you aware of the readings?
ace of wands, the chariot, the sun
Yes, and probably has seen some of them. There’s a possibility he was interested in how that works that we can predict future and did some digging about that topic of cartomancy
Has he found my page?
king of swords rev, the empress rev
That’s a huge no (what a relief)
Jimin
Are you aware of the readings?
3 of swords, 4 of pentacles
Yes and he hates it. Especially the ones that invade his privacy a bit too much. He feels the need to protect himself from that but he’s angry and also kinda hopeless. He can’t really do anything about it. I don’t think he even believes that tarot is accurate. He thinks it’s just people’s fantasy of him.
Has he found my page?
7 of cups, the hierophant rev, king of cups rev
Just like Suga he might have heard about people that do tarot that’s how he knows I exist. As someone that does tarot on celebrities as a group of people, not my page alone. Besides he ignores all of us, he’s just aware that we exist.
V
Are you aware of the readings?
4 of wands, 3 of swords, the hermit
He is. V knows what we’re doing here. He might have seen some of them and liked it. The cute ones. However unfortunately he also saw the dark side of the kpop tarot tag and it hurt him. I mean he saw the readings that invade his privacy too much, like the nsfw readings or all the questions that are out of line. He isn’t angry like Jimin, he is hurt and sad that his fans do that to him. Since the day he found out what is going on he left and never came back. He has more important things to do. He pretends we don’t exist. Yeah, some of you traumatized him.
Has he found my page?
ace of cups rev, 7 of cups rev, king of cups rev
No, he hasn’t. He doesn’t let himself to see any of those readings because like I said somebody traumatized him in the past. He thinks it’s best to stay away from all of us because people just take way too much from him. He doesn’t give himself the opportunity to check any of the new readings cause it will upset him.
Jungkook
Are you aware of the readings?
6 of swords rev, queen of cups, ace of wands
Hear me out, He knows. Some of these readings annoy him greatly and those are the readings he avoids. Or more like he is trying to avoid them, he sees them and then he gets pissed. He knows some of the readings are fake but he has some trusted tarot readers whose work he enjoys to read. He just knows who does those readings with good intentions vs who has some different, not so pure intentions towards him (people that lie in readings about him or use him for money)
Has he found my page?
knight of wands rev, knight of cups rev, ace of cups rev
That’s also a strong no. Guess I won’t be taking a trip to a nearby bridge today
Bonus
Will any of the BTS members find my page? Ever?
knight of swords, the emperor, knight or wands
And that’s a yes. One of them might stumble across one of my readings. Hopefully they will like it and won’t find it creepy.
And at the bottom of the deck there’s the 8 of wands 😬😬
*opens google search*: bridges near me
22 notes · View notes
danieyells · 2 days
Text
. . .this whole time i figured the spy and the demon were a connected thing but
I had some vague memory of a line of dialogue and i went looking for it. (I didn't find it, I probably imagined it.) And in that time i ran into
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
This. Haku says that the ghouls are punished by breaking the Institute's rules, although he won't elaborate on how or why.
Now think of every ghoul that Darkwick(or, rather, the Institute itself) might have reason to punish.
. . .A lot of them are the ones who're aware of the spy, aren't they?
Taiga does nothing but kill anomalies when the Institute wants to capture them.
Alan killed someone who ultimately lived(came back to life?) and became a professor at darkwick.
Haku hates all of this and probably tried to run away.
maybe Rui did too?
Tohma is perhaps too close to both Alan and Jin and is conniving enough to be a concern for them, on top of being so actively involved in hunting down the spy.
Jin hates his father with a burning passion.
Leo isn't caught in this yet but anon brought up a good point, he mentions wanting to make the people who were responsible(for the misfortunes in his life? For what was going on in the pre-prologue?) pay--if he is indeed talking about the Institute, he'll probably end up getting punished for being too nosy as he gets too into trying to figure out what's going on with this spy business, or trying to investigate something else.
Haku also makes this joke
Tumblr media
which is hot but also. . .I wonder if this is an allusion to that the ones investigating the spy are being closely watched or tracked, or having their movements restricted. . . .
Jin, about 6 months prior to the start of the game, stopped coming out of his room and making public appearances--according to his voicelines he only goes on missions that're B rank or higher and C rank missions he gives to Tohma.
If Jin is avoiding social interaction, Tohma has to attend to him more--and trusting Tohma with administrative things in Darkwick means he has to report to officials frequently, so they can keep a better eye on him. Not sure how long he's been doing that, but I'm pretty sure he transferred in the past year or two? And it's implied he used to be vice captain of Vagastrom, so they may not trust that he's getting so close to Jin either. On the other hand, it separates him from Alan.
Taiga was made captain of Sinostra about 3 months prior to the start of the game, putting his behavior more under scrutiny--ultimately, after sending him on a mission with the intent that he killed an anomaly(only for him to fail, which I find suspicious if we consider theories relating to timelines, loops, or Taiga seeing the future, as one could argue that Taiga deliberately left the anomaly alive for some reason) Romeo's unruly behavior is used as a last straw and Sinostra is put on probation, keeping Taiga on campus.
Alan was given a first year with the second highest scholastic ability score as a vice captain--someone who has a stigma that allows him to hear others from a great distance. Perhaps with the intent that Leo would, due to his academic ability and inexperience, accidentally reveal resistance information for them or put more pressure on them, causing them to struggle more with investigations and resistance.
Haku, in a yet-unreleased chat, says he only goes on low ranking missions so he doesn't have to go to class but can still graduate. They probably aren't too worried about Haku right now, but still keep an eye on him because he was defiant in the past.
. . .i don't really have like. a proper theory here. Just an increasing suspicion that maybe the Institute may not be the best(or the people up top aren't anyway) but Darkwick isn't really aware or they're complicit for the sake of getting work done. . . .
also another random thing that i wonder if it's related. . .one of the wickhive messages is like. "Professor Nicolas would put an anomaly brain in a human body with a smile on his face." and we know he's the advisor for Mortkranken, where Yuri is famous for his experimentation on others--I wonder if that's going to turn out to actually be like. . .a thing. Where Professor Nicolas, the guy who's been like the most chill and normal so far, turns out to be Really Bad or something. . .like maybe they're experimenting on making 'artificial ghouls' or they actually know a lot more about demons than they let on and are somehow getting demons to make pacts with people to see if they can make more ghouls? idk.
Tumblr media
IDK. I DON'T HAVE COHERENT THOUGHTS OR THEORIES RIGHT NOW I'M JUST STARTING TO THINK THAT MAYBE ANON WAS RIGHT TO SUSPECT THE INSTITUTE WHEN I THINK ABOUT IT.
also Hyde is either gonna be one of our first big bads or our greatest ally isn't he.
20 notes · View notes
maingh0st · 20 hours
Note
The hate Taryn gets is way too exaggerated and disproportionate. It’s just straight up misogyny at this point, in my opinion. The fandom needs to get over it.
I could literally write a treatise about Taryn-hate at this point lmao. I’m going to share some thoughts (this actually got quite long), but I want to include a big ole disclaimer: at the end of the day, everybody gets to engage in fandom in the ways they want. everyone is free to love or hate whichever characters they want, for the reasons that feel valid and real to them. that being said, the treatment of Taryn specifically is really troubling and bizarre to me. 
I think it’s worth pointing out that when we say Taryn-hate seems misogynistic, that means a lot more than just “people who hate Taryn hate her because she’s a girl.” in my opinion, fandom misogyny toward her often gets couched in broader terms. some examples of what I mean by this are:
(1) Taryn does things that are bad and I don’t like that - uhhhh okay. everybody in these books does shitty things, so let’s think about why specifically the actions of Taryn (a 17-18 year old girl being manipulated by multiple men in her life) fall into the category of unredeemable for you. the reason we might point to this being misogynistic is because it’s a double standard that doesn’t apply to other characters—we’re willing to forgive Cardan his cruelty, or centuries-old Madoc for the trauma he's inflicted and his ongoing need for bloodshed, but Taryn is just a stupid, evil girl for trying to secure her place in Elfhame through the levers of power that are available to her. she can never be forgiven nor redeemed no matter how loyal she is to Jude moving forward. why is that? what sin of hers are so particularly evil to warrant this response? and we have to answer these questions in the context of Elfhame & its moral code, not in the context of our own world.
(2) I could never see myself acting in the way Taryn does and therefore I don’t like her - okay? I can never see myself acting like Madoc, or even like Vivi (don’t get me started on Vivi & the fact that she gets passes Taryn never does), but that doesn’t mean I can’t have empathy for them. I understand that we experience the books through Jude’s perspective, so we’re automatically more prone to rooting for her—and to be clear, I love Jude! but fiction challenges us to experience the world through other perspectives, and it’s my opinion that Taryn acts in a way that is completely consistent and understandable with her experience of Elfhame. “I’m not like you,” she tells Jude. “I want to belong here. Defying them makes everything worse. You never asked me before you went against Prince Cardan—you didn’t care what it brought down on either of our heads.” 
while Jude’s defiance is held up as girlboss behavior (by me, too! I love a “get worse” arc), Taryn’s more traditionally feminine approach to finding her place in Elfhame is reviled (@slightlyrebelliouswriter23 has a great post on the fawn response to trauma & on passivity). more on this point below. 
(3) Taryn isn’t a “girl’s girl” - I am begging fandom to think critically about why Taryn betrays Jude & what that says not just about Elfhame, but about our world. these girls live in a world that affords them little power and agency. we meet them on the cusp of adulthood, and they’re both hyper-aware that they need to secure their place in Elfhame. Jude refers to knighthood as “earning” her place and is uninterested in marriage, but Taryn seems aware that she’s more likely to secure her place through the latter option (and also expresses the fear that Jude is going to leave her behind). it’s an oversimplification, but a useful one for the sake of this conversation, to point out that Jude chooses a more traditionally masculine approach, while Taryn chooses a more traditionally feminine one.
the tragedy is that this world—and particularly the men in their lives—pit them against one another. Locke offers Taryn the thing she wants most, requires a vow of her secrecy, and then begins flirting with Jude (and that's not even to mention him being a gancanagh!). at a point in her story where Madoc and Oriana are the only family who are still around for Taryn, Madoc capitalizes on Taryn’s ignorance (and also her awareness that she's never been the favorite daughter) & uses her to betray Jude. I almost never see these complexities brought up in conversations about Taryn, which is just gross to me, and echoes the ways that patriarchal power structures pit women against each other in the real world. 
I’ve seen people argue that while Jude’s approach is also flawed, she at least doesn’t betray Taryn. and like… kind of? she certainly doesn’t betray Taryn as directly as Taryn betrays her—but some of that just strikes me as dumb luck. consider what might’ve happened if Dain hadn’t died at the end of book one. what lengths might he have asked Jude to go to in order to prove her loyalty to him? or if we rewind even further—it’s honestly just dumb luck that someone didn’t harm or kill Taryn (Valerian, for example, could've chosen the wrong window). Jude’s antagonism of Cardan & his friends had a direct effect on Taryn’s life, and even though Taryn begged her to stop, she bullheadedly charged on. the difference is that Jude’s risky decisions ultimately work out for her, while Taryn has to face the consequences of hers not panning out the way she wanted them to. 
this isn't exhaustive, and there’s so much more I could say, but this is already so long. so in conclusion, the reason all this matters to me personally is twofold: 
at its best, fiction teaches us empathy. part of why I love tfota is because it takes characters & dynamics that are really messy & helps you, the reader, understand where everyone is coming from & why. the fact that we love Madoc is a testament to fiction’s ability to do this. so why is a teenage girl treated like the true villain of this story? what about her makes us incapable of empathy? why, in the mind of the fandom, is she not allowed forgiveness (or even just a chance at redemption) for the harm she's caused, while other characters are? I see people stanning Nicasia, who actively tortured Jude (over a boy, no less!!) ffs
fandom misogyny reflects our world. why are people eager to forgive toxic male love interests, yet hold the bar impossibly high for girls? why is there such a narrow set of choices & behaviors that we consider acceptable for female characters? Holly wrote a story about two young women carving out places for themselves in a world hostile to them, hurting each other in the process, and ultimately deciding to forgive, love, and root for one another—and fandom has taken that complex narrative and pitted them against one another, upholding one as the girlboss who can do no wrong while treating the other as scum. misogyny thrives on women treating each other like the problem, so if this is our attitude toward a fictional story where we’re afforded direct looks into characters’ thoughts, how much worse are we going to be in the real world, faced with real, imperfect women?
anyways, in conclusion: you're entitled to dislike taryn, but if you feel such vitriol toward her that you're literally making hate posts (or commenting under fanart of her!! holy shit), I invite you to interrogate where that hate actually comes from. fin.
16 notes · View notes
lunanoc · 2 days
Note
Hey I'm doing some fanlore edits (https://fanlore.org/wiki/Daomu_Biji) and do you have any sources for popular ships in Chinese fandom? I basically just cut it down to pingxie and heihua because those were the ones showing up in 2021 lofter data (https://hardwareabstractionlayer.tumblr.com/post/649989752761810944/the-top-100-ships-in-chinese-fandom-according-to) and like basically ONLY pingxie is on ao3 in any numbers but I'm pretty sure HuaXie was a whole big thing I just can't find a source for it... Thanks in advance!
hi! i don't know if i'm necessarily the best person to answer this question because my incursions into the chinese DMBJ fandom are very curated and basically mostly limited to pingxie spaces, so my knowledge of other ships and their hubs is pretty sparse
that being said, finding centralized hubs to get full numbers and stats from for dmbj ships historically in the chinese fandom is complicated for a number of reasons, one of them being that DMBJ is an older fandom, which means a number of fics were hosted on websites and forums that no longer exist. another is that due to the state of chinese internet, fans also host fics and fan art of ships in closed access forums that are sometimes more or less difficult to gain entry to so as to create safe spaces. that being said, there are still ways to somewhat measure the current popularity of a ship. since this is an ask, i figured i'd turn this into a small informative post if anyone is interested in a surface level overview of what's popular in the chinese fandom by comparison to the english-speaking one. just keep in mind that because of all the above reasons, this is only ever going to be an overview of what's currently popular in general and not everything that exists, because arguably probably everything exists in some capacity, and of course this is all very surface level, so i'm sure someone else could do a more in-depth deep dive, especially if they get around more
disclaimer: because i know some might take this the wrong way, to be clear this is NOT meant to spark any kind of discourse surrounding ships, nor is it here to say that some ships are "better" than others. it's purely numbers i've tried to present as objectively as possible, mostly to provide comparison between two different sides of the fandom that behave differently and have sometimes vastly differing preferences
Chinese DMBJ Fandom Ship Popularity
to start off, i think it's relevant to point out that ao3 isn't the best way to measure a ship's popularity in chinese fandoms even if it can give you a rough idea. it can get you rankings to some extent (and even then it really depends), but the numbers aren't going to be at all accurate considering ao3 isn't the platform of choice for chinese fan fiction for several reasons i won't get into here, but that i'm sure people who've been in cdrama/novel fandoms are probably aware of
so your best bet to get any sort of idea of what ships are most popular is by looking at how they rank on big public platforms, namely lofter and weibo
lofter has yearly rankings like the one OP mentioned that people talk about, and it's a fairly good way to get an idea since it's a pretty popular blogging website for fan fics and fan art. lofter isn't cooperating with me right now, but i'll be using the data compiled for end of 2023 (or as of february 2024) by this bilibili video for the 200 most popular ships on lofter. among those 200 most popular ships, 3 of them are DMBJ ships, and are ranked as follows:
XiePing (not to be confused with PingXie, because yes, chinese fandom differentiates ships by top/bottom dynamic) at #120
Tumblr media
HeiHua at #25
Tumblr media
PingXie at #2
Tumblr media
no other DMBJ ships make an appearance on this list, and if nothing else, it tells you not only that both PingXie and HeiHua are by far the most popular DMBJ ships in general, but also gives you an idea of just how insanely popular DMBJ is in china overall to have three ships in the top of a general fandoms ranking
next we have weibo where getting an idea of a ship's popularity is a bit different, and there are multiple ways to do it, but one of the easiest ones to get an idea is by looking at how high a ship's super topic ranks on both the real time and weekly popularity rankings. super topics function similarly to how communities work on X and aren't tags, so not everything tagged with a ship is necessarily going to reflect what's posted in the super topic and vice-versa, but it still gives something of an idea of overall popularity. looking at the today's super topic ranking in the fictional characters category, again the same two ships show up in the rankings:
HeiHua at #23
Tumblr media
PingXie at #5
Tumblr media
for the sake of comparison, because it's easier to actually see figures with weibo super topics, i also looked up both other ships that do get some traction in the chinese fandom despite being less popular, as well as ships that the english-speaking fandom tends to talk more actively about (in tumblr spaces anyway)
HuaXie at #174, which has an audience, but the numbers are already very different and speak to the fact it's generally speaking a smaller ship as of now (for reference, 万 that you see on these pictures is a unit for ten thousand, so here 1.1 万= 11,000)
Tumblr media
HeiPing (unranked), which is in somewhat of a similar situation as HuaXie, but considering HuaXie is ranked, it's safe to say that's probably the only other ship that's even remotely popular by comparison to the two giants that are PingXie and HeiHua
Tumblr media
allXie at #160, which is less a ship and more of a bottom!wu xie enjoyers cocktail that has a little bit of everything under the sun, though is mostly a mix of wu xie being shipped with some of the main male characters (i.e. xiaoge, hei xiazi, xiao hua) as well as other more minor characters such as zhang haike notably. it's not really a thing in the english-speaking fandom, but it's worth mentioning because it does exist enough to be represented
Tumblr media
PangXie (unranked), which is quite honestly one of the bigger contrasts between the chinese fandom and the english-speaking one in that this ship is pretty much non-existant, or at least i've never seen fan fiction for it. again, my view of things is biased because my experience is deliberately curated so it's entirely possible there are things i just don't see, but the numbers don't seem to contradict that impression
Tumblr media
PangYun (unranked), which i'm providing here mostly because pangzi is most often shipped with yuncai (and usually as a sideship that i can tell), though these numbers aren't necessarily representative of what content exists for this ship, since most things tagged as PangYun are posted to the general DMBJ super topic. if anything this mostly gives the impression the ship doesn't have much of a dedicated following, especially given it's part of the other category rather than the fictional characters category
Tumblr media
PingSang (unranked), which is one of the only two ships that have any kind of following that involve liu sang, is also in the other category, and along with PangXie and his other most notable ship, is most definitely a rarepair, which is another notable difference with part of the english-speaking fandom where liu sang ships tend to be both fairly popular and have active communities
Tumblr media
CanSang (unranked), which is in yet another category (CP as in couple as in ship), though this one's rarepair status might be explained by the fact that, if you couldn't already tell, the chinese fandom has little to zero interest in secondary or minor characters, and beyond that, the core of the chinese DMBJ fandom doesn't care much for the dramas/live action adaptations and is largely centered around the books, so given the premise of this ship is based in the adaptations, it's not surprising
Tumblr media
Iron Triangle at #65 is getting a special mention, not only because it is ranked, but also because it's not necessarily what you think. the 角色 or fictional characters category for super topics isn't limited to ships, so you also have super topics for characters on their own in it. what chinese fandom considers to be the six main DMBJ characters, aka wu xie, xiaoge, pangzi, xiao hua, hei xiazi, and huo xiuxiu, each have their own super topics that are in the top 200. the iron triangle topic is ranked, but it's more in the same vein as those, that is to say it's a gen super topic, not a ship super topic. the chinese fandom doesn't seem to be into polyships in general, so that might explain it
Tumblr media
i'm not sure how informative this post is, since i get the feeling some of this information is either obvious or things that people already know more or less, and i'm also not sure it really answers OP's question about finding reliable sources for numbers, but it's a surface level attempt. if anyone has more in-dept knowledge or would like to add onto this with different sources or data feel free to!
15 notes · View notes
stjohnstarling · 3 days
Note
Feel free to answer this publicly or privately: I'm thinking about publishing some of my work on Substack (I already post on Ream,) and I was wondering how you like/dislike the platform?
Oof tough question. You should probably be aware of Substack’s history of catering to the far right. My stance on that broadly aligns with this Julia Serano piece.
The reason I use Substack is that it is the only newsletter platform that’s free for people who have thousands of subscribers (WMOM would cost me something like $40-50 a month to run if I moved.) Most newsletter hosts are free up to a threshold of at least a few hundred subscribers, so if you’re starting out that won’t be a problem for you.
On a pure utility level it is rapidly going through the enshittificafion cycle. Since I joined, the author dashboard has gotten significantly less functional, they have made a few complicated changes to make it harder for authors to take their subscribers and leave, and they have added an entire Twitter-like social network (which they are doing everything in their power to push on users.) Which isn’t to say Substack isn’t functional! But I am prepared to need to bail at some point if they break it too much.
You definitely can use Substack (it’s not as if “enshittifying and catering to the far right” doesn’t also describe most social media sites) but it might be worth exploring a couple alternatives like Beehiiv and Ghost (just the ones I remember off the top of my head.) Substack has a lot of users, but the discoverability is quite poor, especially for fiction. All of my subscribers come via Tumblr or recommendations from other popular newsletters.
15 notes · View notes