Shallow Assumptions

Can I Play That? is a good resource for fellow disabled folks who want to play video games, as well as non-disabled video game devs who want to make their games more accessible. I highly recommend checking it out!

Ok I know I said I was done with the main cast in my last post and that Felix and Lila won't be significant to this AU, but i was stricken by really cool ideas for both of them, so they've been upgraded to main cast status. Here's Re-verse Felix, and I'll probably do Lila pretty soon.

In the Re-verse, Felix is the complete opposite of his canon self. He's a complete goody-two-shoes baby. He is the kid that would remind the teacher that they had homework. He, Adrien and Kagami are still sentimonsters, but when the Supreme gave Gabriel the peacock miraculous, he reserved the right to keep all of the rings that control the sentimonsters. Gabriel managed to switch Adrien's ring with a fake one when he betrayed the Supreme, but he's still in posession of Felix and Kagami's amoks. After the special happens and Adrien leaves the Supreme, he uses Felix's ring to basically summon him to Paris and make him Adrien's replacement, giving him the Dog miraculous. This results in Kagami and Luka having to train this absolute goober into a proper villain, but he keeps being really bad at it and accidentally being a good guy and all sorts of shenanigans ensue. The dynamic between Kagami, Luka and Felix as villains pretty much becomes that meme with the three dragons where one of them is silly. He is the Meowth equivalent of their Team Rocket.

Full Re-Verse cast below

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what the actual fuck

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ooh that sounds- what the fuck

unfinished

don't care

the best fic ive ever read in my life. this absolutely ruined me and ill never be the same ever again

hello! I work in tech and here are some important things to know about "tumblr is going into maintenance mode." please note I do not work at tumblr, I've just worked at tumblr-adjacent sort of companies for my entire adult life and i've gone through this before.

what does maintenance mode mean?

literally what it sounds like -- Automattic is not going to be hiring new staff, investing in new product features, or doing anything new on tumblr. the staff that remains working on tumblr will be maintaining the status quo. most of the staff will be allocated elsewhere (or possibly laid off, though it looks like from that memo that's not what they're planning to do). it does not mean tumblr is shutting down. you should still buy premium, get merch, etc, because this is definitely step one of the shutdown process, but a maintenance mode designation is basically to see if tumblr will generate a revenue without putting more money into it than strictly necessary.

why did this happen?

obviously I do not know directly. from my observation, it's in part because Yahoo had absolutely no idea what to do with this platform, and then when Automattic bought it they also... struggled... but it is also in part because the user base has been so viciously anti-monetization that most attempts were killed outright.

yes, the user base is part of the problem. the absolute feral anti-premium, anti-ads, anti-tipping, anti-everything tumblr tried to do to make money is part of the problem. it's not the only part of the problem by a long shot, but I would be remiss not to mention it.

what do I do now?

use the platform. just like, keep using tumblr. do not abandon ship. buy premium, get yourself some badges, get yourself some merch, but use the platform. ad revenue is based on impressions and clicks. if a ton of the user base gives up, that revenue disappears.

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tumblr is extremely special. I've never seen anything like it in my 20-odd years of being Very Online, and I was a minor BNF in WolfStar during LiveJournal days. I don't know that it can be recreated elsewhere. I don't know where fandom will go. I know that something else will exist after tumblr and that nothing gold can stay, but i don't think the specific kind of joy found here can be recreated. i say this not to be a downer, but to be realistic. I guess I should find a Bluesky invite.

Re-Verse Nathaniel, Marc and Alix! The three of them were part of Mylene and Ivan's resistence group, protesting against the Supreme's influence on the world before eventually joining Gabriel's resistence. These three are responsible for all the ominous graffiti that every dystopian setting needs. Character-wise, Marc and Nathaniel are pretty much the same as their canon counterparts, aside from Marc being a bit less reserved and meeting Nathaniel much earlier than canon Marc. Alix has a very personal reason for fighting the Supreme. Around two years ago, her dad was involved with their shady underground activities and attempted to steal the rabbit miraculous. The Supreme "made him disappear" which led Alix to investigate what her dad was up to. This is what eventually leads her and the rest of Mylene's group to find out about the Supreme and Gabriel's resistence. Her brother Alim didn't take their father's disappearance well and, similar to canon Alim in Reunuion, he fell down a bad internet hole of Supreme propaganda. Full lineup of Re-Verse designs below!

You all *really* liked my Re-verse designs so I did Rose and Juleka as well! The initial idea was to switch up their aesthetics, but being goth is like Juleka's defining trait so I just made her a slightly different flavor of goth jhkjjfjl I've been throwing around some worldbuilding and backstory ideas for the Re-verse. The current idea for these two is that this Juleka is even more shy and reserved than our Juleka, since she never got to be friends with the other girls, and i feel like Anarka would be much more of a strict and controlling parent in this universe, similar to how Marinette seems to have the opposite homelife in the Re-verse. As for Rose, she didn't recieve proper treatment for her anime coughing disease™ due to the Supreme's influence on the healthcare system or something, so she's still sick. Due to Rose being bedridden most of the time, she also has little to no friends. Juleka and Rose are each other's only friend pretty much. The two of them would *eventually* join the Resistence some time after the events of the special (my hc is that by the time of the special the resistence consists of just Gabe, Alya, Nino, Max and Kim) Full lineup below

Do you have your own therapist?

Why did you get into this job? (“I just like helping people” is not enough and also a bit of a yellow bordering on red flag for me)

How many people do you typically see at one time and how many are you seeing now?

When can and can’t you disclose our conversation with others (also who are these ‘others’)

Where do you stand politically? (Im kinda 50/50 on this question because for me it’s really important as both a trans girl and as someone who’s issues often stem from capitalism and if I have to explain that capitalism ≠ good then that’s not gonna fly with me)

For my fellow queers, I know it can be limiting but please please try and find a queer therapist. It helps soooo much. If you can’t, ask them about their sexuality/gender regardless. Asking straight/cis people to reflect on their identities is a great way to figure out what color those flags are.

Same goes for any racialized people! I’m white so I can’t speak to it with the experience but I would bet my left AND right hand that having someone of the same culture/lived experience is gonna be such a better environment to do therapy in.

Remember, you’re paying the therapist! I know there are some situations where people can be required to be in therapy but even then you aren’t stuck with any one of them.

Listen to your instincts, if things feel not 100% tell them that if you’re comfortable and otherwise finish the session and get outta there!