#col rants

Can I just say... A BIG thing for abusers is to make themselves look like the victim. I admit Col played into the dark fairy tale a little too much himself but he was trying to follow her lead. Every time he said something about their relationship that sounded messed up, it was after she did or seemingly at her direction. If you notice, now he's saying absolutely nothing and being almost too much of a gentleman for the man who wrote-

You just a — hold up let me stop

The Henny shots got the petty talk comin I don't wanna have them thoughts running

Can't believe that I bust in a thot's stomach

-and literally every other line of this song. He's been hiding himself and incredibly quiet even while she tarnished this man's entire reputation to the media and public. Let's be real, she rarely ever wore the ring and I doubt it had anything to do with it hurting. I used to wear one shaped as stars and it was sharp yet it never cut or caused pain when I pulled it off. He was following her lead this entire time and lost so much of his own identity. I'm just so tired of seeing this going around or the rumors about her wrist. I'm tired of seeing 'save her' or whatever people run with simply from seeing a woman who was so desperate to be relevant again she traded a man's soul for it.

Salt Factory | Accepting

Blackwatch is not less than Overwatch and has not been presented as such. Covert Ops does not equal bottom of the barrel.

There’s so many think pieces and stories and whatnot about Blackwatch being this bastion of where all the baddies go.

But honestly if you look at the cast it literally hasn’t happened.

Moira was fired from Overwatch entirely because of her lack of ethical research and the research she published, and was hired on independently by Gabriel to help with his genetic condition. She wasn’t demoted- in fact, her skills were deemed so necessary that she was hired back into an organization that kicked her.

McCree’s skills were recognized- and I’m sure there are other factors that went into the decision to pick him up- and he was brought in. Although he might not have considered it much choice, he chose Blackwatch- and if you think about it, the organization that just busted your whole gang is so fuckin impressed by your skills that they offer you a job? And guaran-damn-teed that shit passed by Jack, who would have okayed Gabriel bringing on McCree despite the Obvious Difference In Morals and What’s An Okay Size For A Belt Buckle.

Genji would have likely chosen Blackwatch, or at least it would have been deemed a better fit for the skillset of a ninja (I refer you back to ‘covert ops’). This was someone Overwatch poured resources into to basically rebuild from the ground up. If you put that much into someone, you want them where they will best serve the organization- not wallowing in what the fandom’s perception of Blackwatch is.

They had pilots, planes, personalized gear- if they were this shameful branch of Overwatch, I doubt they would go through the trouble of emblazoning a wholeass jet with the logo.

Oh for f**k's sake it was a JOKE! The ring would not genuinely hurt to pull off! I've had similar jewelry. Are you kidding me though?! They know the way they're portrayed and looked at and they play into it because what else are they going to do? Do you really think such a strong independent woman would stay in a relationship with and marry a man who was in ANY WAY bad to her?! This woman who has been through too much in Hollywood already and has been forced into a role of a sex symbol before she was even old enough to drink?! She's a loving mother and incredibly strong woman, she deserves the respect of knowing she woul protect herself and her kids. Stop trying to make them seem toxic to each other! They've heard the headlines and THEY'RE PLAYING WITH PEOPLE!

Salt Factory | Accepting

Saying Moira was the mastermind of Rialto/Venice, that she manipulated Gabriel into joining Talon, that she turned him into Reaper to get him to join Talon all takes away Gabriel’s agency and, in general, takes away from his story.

And it’s the same line of thinking of the “Gabriel Did Nothing Wrong” crowd, using a scapegoat that barely fringes on making sense to absolve Gabriel of making the choice to join Talon, an organization that was responsible for the deaths of probably a lot of his own and Overwatch’s agents, including what happened to Amelie and Gerard.

I think that Gabriel’s story could go in a few different directions, but even in the kindest direction, the thought that Moira A) has enough loyalty and clout within both Overwatch/Blackwatch and Talon to pull off this maneuver and B) is able to forsee Gabriel’s decision to kill Antonio and plan accordingly, puts the onus for Gabriel’s changes and decisions on someone else who, at best, is only loyal-ish to Talon because of the funds provided.

We’re given that Moira didn’t turn to Talon until after Blackwatch funds dried up- and even if she started with Talon before Blackwatch and Overwatch were wrecked, I doubt she would have the trust required, in that short period, to be entrusted with turning Gabriel. She’s got more associations with Oasis than Talon, if anything.

She is a great, true neutral character (which is a big step in saying given my horrible first impressions), and saying that her work with Gabriel was only under the intent to change him diminishes both of their stories.

Overwatch’s story has such a big thing about morally grey characters. Sombra, Moira, 76, even Baptiste. There’s such a huge emphasis that thinking in black and white isn’t how things work, that there’s always more to the story.

Unpopular opinions | Accepting

Communicate!! With!! Your!! Partners!!

In reference to darker themes, do write and explore dark or controversial themes that you want to explore but please understand that your partner needs to be completely in the know, communicating their intent or interest in writing that theme, and ensuring the topic does not go into triggering territory for either writer- or if it is, that they are okay with that; and if they aren’t, immediately backing out without guilt-tripping them or making them feel bad. Give your partner the option and freedom to say “No”, and ensure you yourself feel the freedom and comfort to say “No”.

Because the issue with certain themes written on a platform like tumblr is that the content is public unless you’re a private blog.

You have to understand that controversial/dark topics are controversial/dark, yes, but that those topics aren’t written about as much because they’re full of triggering content or even content some people just don’t like to see as in squicks, etc.

No, you don’t have to meticulously tag everything, but you also have to recognize that if you don’t, if you just throw shit out there to the winds, people don’t have to follow your blog or interact with it. You have to respect how you present and frame things because every thread is an interaction between two people, and to build a healthy relationship oocly, you have to take into account the other mun’s feelings. You have to understand that if you want to write it, especially on here, tagging is a way to safely write things while- in a sense- broadcasting “Yes, this is triggering content. What’s contained here is not supposed to represent something healthy/normal/okay”. Because writing and rping does not have to reflect the real world and not every relationship, interaction, and otherwise is going to be a shining example of health.

I write dark and triggering content- I’ve written smatterings here and there on tumblr and there’s a bunch of it on my discord, in private servers. Where the content can be safely explored between two people who have communicated about the content, agreed that’s what they want to write.

unpopular opinions | Accepting?

This is long, and all about ‘softness’.

Softness is not weakness.

I’ll probably talk about the other side of the spectrum as well, but I see these characters and people who seem to equate softness with weakness, or that softness is something to be ashamed of.

Oversoftness, to the point where the character is willfully incapable of handling even the slightest pressure- especially those characters that are capable of handling harsh things (ie soldier, reaper, etc)- is where there is an issue.

Like with dozens of things, it’s about a balance between allowing a character to be soft and recognizing that it doesn’t take away from the character, and turning the character into a 24/7 marshmallow when that does not fit their world, environment, or situation.

I see stuff from people, and this is an issue across fandoms and interpretations in general, that a “hard” character can’t be soft. That it makes them weak in some manner or that their character would never be soft. It’s this whole notion that sweeter emotions are somehow ‘lesser’ than the tough emotions, and that someone who has been through Some Shit(tm) can’t ever be soft again because it takes away from their character/their experiences. The truth is that everyone is soft in some ways. I don’t care if it’s animals, if it’s food, people/a person, there is softness to each and every character that can be chosen to be expanded on in a myriad of ways.

But the truth is that it takes strength to allow yourself to be vulnerable, and through that to allow a character to be gentle in a situation. Static characters become repetitive after a while. If your character isn’t growing, isn’t becoming something more, isn’t expanding- it should either be a plot point with which you can work on (why isn’t this character learning? Why have they decided to not change?), or it’s representative of an issue with not letting your character grow outside their pre-defined mold.

Because the draw of playing with any characters, in my book- and especially in a canon like Overwatch where there are still so many holes, are not only the interpretations, but where you take this character. For example, Jack. In many of my threads, particularly with OCs or people who are first meeting 76, he is volatile, rude, standoffish, and usually has to be pushed into being cordial- or there are extenuating circumstances that cause him to be some kind of accepting of being in this situation. From there, a relationship of sorts can be built- either ships, or just a friendship/alliance. It’s not easy with Jack, and it can take a while, but if both characters benefit, both muns will enjoy the journey.

If I did not allow Jack to grow, to change, to adjust, Jack would just be angry and I would get bored writing him. People would get bored writing with him, and similar character types. He wouldn’t soften for anything, he’d just be angry and mean 24/7 and frankly, if you know anything about anyone that shit is fuckin exhausting and after a while it’s nothing more than the same two arguments over and over. Jack is stubborn, he’ll argue and be shitty and bratty sometimes because that’s in his character, but gradual development, and adding in different people who give different arguments in different situations cause him to change and adjust to that New Information.

The fandom has this deal with going 1000% in either direction. Either softness uwu is supreme, or softness is bad 5ever.

Balance your character between the two. Realize that softness is an integral quality to development- having your character be wrong, be vulnerable, make mistakes, all of it is necessary to grow and learn and develop your muse into something wholly your own. It doesn’t make your character less if you take a hardass and show a softer side for a ship, developing their feelings over time and letting them realize that they have a softer part of them open for this person (or insert your own subject there in general, could be any number of things).

We have seen how he reacts in lore to Ga.be. Lament is one thing but 90% of media and shit i see is just

Him crying over Ga.be, him associating literally anything to Gab.e so he can cry over Gab.e, him being incapable of doing anything without sniffling and whinging about Ga.be.

Literally, in comic, the first time Ja.ck realizes Reape.r is Gabr.iel he immediately tries to beat the shit out of him. And I'm not saying J.ack can't be sorrowful over Ga.be; especially if they were in a relationship, but fanons love for making him essentially useless against Ga.be emotionally because he's just so in wuv with a former ally that for all we've been shown potentially had a hand in the downfall of Ja.ck's life's work and now works for Ja.ck's literal greatest enemy i do not understand. He has no emotional backbone. Everything he sees touches and fucking smells reminds him of ugu Gab.riel waaahh and I'm so tired of it.