I Watched Me Before You At The Ripe Age Of 9 And It Really Shows.

I won't lie I'm one of those annoying people who prefers reading the physical copy over the digital copy. Especially if it's a story I Iove. Id much rather own the physical book and be able to come back to it whenever I want then having it on something digital. what if the thing breaks what then? And I know backing up stuff exists however I do not have the time nor energy to do that. I'd rather own a physical copy. For me it's much more stimulating to have the book in my minds. And if that means I have to wait to read the stuff I wanna read, thats fine I don't mind waiting because it means I get to appreciate it even more.

(I'm also a download over stream person but I don't have a laptop to be able to do that anymore. It's so much better to own a copy of something rather than borrow it like streaming does. It's leading to losing so much unfortunately)

okay so I'm a chronically online teenage girl who loves analysing anything and everything and recognizing patterns with people. And there's several things I've noticed as of late. and this may be all over the place because it is late but I need to get this out of my head and put it somewhere. this is also a long post I'm so sorry

The rise of Whataboutism, fandom spaces becoming main stream and how it ties to the internet. (I fear this may be already talked about but wtv please let the other analytical people find this and discuss with me)

So there's this phenomenon I've noticed on TikTok (please don't come for me but I've noticed it's largely Americans too) with Whataboutism. I'm going to use a more literal example that I've seen with my own two eyes. Someone will post a recipe and it will contain coriander. Someone will comment "what if I don't like coriander?" (I've noticed this especially on non-western recipes too) Or someone will draw a beautiful ship fanart and someone will comment "love the art hate the ship!" Or "imagining this is x ship"

And it drives me (and others probably) insane because just scroll, don't comment.

ANYWAYS how does this tie to fandom spaces?

Well recently since around 2020 I have noticed fandom spaces growing larger. (I have been in fandoms, using wattpad since 2018 I believe HP girlie's unite) And it makes sense everyone was inside so we could only engage with others online and therefore already established online communities would grow larger. However this also meant that people who have never engaged in fandoms are now joining. Which means fandoms are becoming largely mainstream. Even "mainstream" fandoms becoming more mainstream like marvel, DC and Harry potter.

And this isn't only limited to fandoms I've noticed this with reading now too.

I started watching MHA back in 2020 and let me tell you the fandoms were shit. Then in early 2021 I discovered the dreamsmp and oh my god that was another shit show. Everyone was online and that meant everyone was in this vacuum of "contraversies" it gave me a headache I remember literally only using discord and YouTube bc of all the drama.

okay sidebar done sorry.

What does newer fandom members mean? Well it means people who haven't engaged in fandom culture are now reacting in a new way to this new community. Which leads to ship wars blown out of proportion and people getting wayyy too involved. And people posting spoilers. Yes fandoms spaces are a fun way to engage with other people who have similar interests as you especially if you don't have many people who share the same interests. But this also means people live in a bubble where you are only engaging in like minded individuals and not talking to others who oppose your thoughts and opinions. Which is important to grow as a person. (I know fandoms are meant to be fun but if you're critiquing media you have an opinion and opinions can change)

this is sounding so pro conservative IM SORRY I'M SOUTH AFRICAN I'M NOT AMERICAN NOT PRO CONSERVATIVE I'm just trying to say listen to other people in fandoms with an open mind when they talk abt why they may ship or dislike a ship. That relates to anything and everything too regarding opinions, theories etc.

As we know the internet is a vacuum and algorithms mean you will see content you like. So you will only engage with like minded individuals. So you will not generally hear thoughts, feelings, opinions of other fandom members unless you go searching for it. It's a similar phenomenon to the gym bro/trad wife to alt right pipeline. So on top of your internet being directly curated to you. Meaning you essentially live in a bubble both online and in real life. You're also becoming increasingly individualistic. Resulting in shit like "Well I don't like this ship so this doesn't concern me" okay fair but babes scroll. Like it genuinely confuses me why people don't just scroll, even when I was even more chronically online than I am now I would just not interact with shit I didn't fuck with? wtv I wna touch on reading spaces since I've been into reading since birth

Also there was the "reading isn't political" bit a while ago. Which is so fucked. I think fandom culture and generally "nerdy" hobbies and interests becoming mainstream due to online spaces growing in 2020 did a number on already troublesome fandoms. Like the does it contain smut thing on TikTok. People liked reading smut as a relaxer which fair, so they joined online communities to find more book recs and other people. Which made reading as a hobby grow and dark romance grow in popularity. This then led to a once relatively small portion of the overall book internet community growing into something much larger. And because the internet is a vaccum this meant they were only being recommended smut books or they just enjoyed it. But didn't consume in moderation so obviously they got a bit addicted. So now they were in other spaces within the book community. I understand that reading for some is a form of escapism however you cannot turn off your brain while reading, this is not a show. I actually cannot relax in any way while reading or watching a show because I am analyzing and paying attention. Reading will always be political because in some parts of the world you weren't allowed to read because you are a woman. ALSO I understand these communities existed beforehand and I'm not trashing smut (I like reading smut as much as the next person) But now because of the overwhelming popularity of these different spaces and as well as these people living in vaccums it's becoming a tad insane.

I'm losing braincells I'm so sorry I feel like I'm rambling.

OVERALL

living in a bubble is bad for your brain. Give your brain a break maybe indulge in other hobbies where you can switch off your brain. like baking or running or gardening. I also think this has ties to seratonin and being stuck inside making us all sad so this stuff gave/ gives us our dopamine hits so we get too emotionally involved. But even though I am in a biology elective I am wayyy too uneducated to delve deeply into that. Anyways touch grass and realise nothing (regarding fandoms) is ever that deep and in a few months/ years you'll wonder why you were so high strung abt this stuff. If you like reading take a break from the smut, read a whodunit, (me personally I love Hercule Pirot) and touch grass.

Also if you thinking reading isn't political crack open a history book about a topic but from opposing sides and tell me its not political. Read a poem.

me prior to watching iwtv amc: i don’t know, i just don’t like that they had to recast claudia, i mean, she’s a BIG character and it seems like it would be difficult to just replace her with a new actor, im so big on consistency, i don’t think it’s going to work for me :/

me after watching iwtv amc:

Jayce looked at Viktor and turned into those girls thats like "Viktor look at me, look into my eyes this isn't you babe".

Those who shine brightest, often burn fastest

GUYS, IM SO HERE FOR THE VAMPIRE RENAISSANCE, GIVE ME MORE LORE ACCURATE VAMPIRES NEOWWWWWW

How the different jjk characters would ask you to their matric ball (south african prom but fancier bc it's only in your last year)

Gojo: goes overboard, purposefully slightly cringe. He does it at school too. He has a poster, a fat bouquet of flowers with Lindt chocolate. Even a box of condoms as a joke (not really) He makes geto film it so he can post it on tiktok and go viral (he does) he makes a playlist to play off of a jbl speaker too.

(This one specifically)

Careless whisper and that one boys to men song are the top two songs. He also makes a song and sings it loudly and obnoxiously. For the rest of the day he's trailing behind you holding everything he got you as punishment for embarrassing you. He's humming careless whisper for the rest of the day too.

Geto: He's more subtle. He gets your favourite flowers and sweets. He doesn't do it at school he shows up to your house when he KNOWS you'll be cute so you can take pictures.

Nanami: flowers, chocolates, card, the whole nine yards. He plans the night too. Takes you out to formally ask you at your favourite restaurant. He also gives you a necklace to wear with your dress (he already knows the style you want of course)

Toji: passes a note to you in class and asks you. When you say no he waits by your locker to ask you. When you say no again he FINALLY buys some flowers to ask you.

Choso: He's sweet, similar to geto he asks you in private. He's super nervous, so you can tell he wants to ask you something. He has your favourite book or manga and a card that he shoves in your hands while quickly asking you if you'll be his date to the MD, but it's okay if you say no. You two are the ones that end up a couple after MD (and the only truly cute couple)

Sukuna: does not ask you. Shows up to your house with a nice car. You wonder how he got your exact dress colour to match the hankerchief in his breastpocket.

Shoko: She's nonchalant. She wasn't even planning on going until you kept hinting and hinting (no subtlety at all). Then she started asking about your dress colours and plans so she could work out her own. Then one morning you opened your locker to a card and a singular rose asking you officially and apologising for not realising you meant as dates for the longest time. (Oblivious lesbian shoko is MY CANON)

Yuki: Said you're her date from grade 8. And she meant it. Except she didn't think you'd be going as dates and not as friends. (YEARNER YUKI) Does the whole nine yards. Flowers, chocolates,sweets, and cutesy teddy bear, she makes a big fat deal of it.

trying to act older than you are but also wanting to stay young forever

I think what really sold Grant Ward being a double agent was that the actor was genuinely acting for the first few episodes. Apparently they only told Brett Dalton about the plot twist the day before filming it so his interactions with the team feel authentic.

I don't think I'll ever be able to wrap my brain around how clever the Ward plot twist is

Bc what the writers do, in regards to a "wolf in the herd", is draw all suspicion off him by having him screw up the past episode. By killing the fake Clairvoyant, "for Skye", the other characters treat him accordingly: he's locked up. He's in a cell when the others learn about HYDRA, and given what he just did, no one (characters & audience) is questioning whether he's really S.H.I.E.L.D.

And so we point fingers at everyone else. Coulson is an obvious no, and unless Skye feels like switching again, she's a no. May feels far too obvious, and Fitz seems as far removed from HYDRA as possible

In fact, the one we all start to suspect is Trip. He only showed up a few episodes ago, and he suddenly gets along with everyone. Not only did he train under Garrett, but he's the one who's with Simmons at the Hub. And everyone is being secretive, everyone's anxious, and Trip certainly doesn't plan on being taken out. Since it's told largely from Simmons' pov during her parts, we're the ones seeing her fear, her cautiousness. Her whole "I can't trust anyone" thing. Trip seems suspicious

And he seems suspicious enough that we don't see the true wolf, the one who's been with the team the whole time

I need a Phoebe Hong duology.