Phrasing Of This Is Taking Me Out

The Dream Team cats!!! :D (these little babies are so cute to draw 💚🫶🏼)

HELLO new person here i'm a little late but do you think is this still valid? :)

I do art and cosplay (and writing) and spend probably way too much time thinking about c!dream and my dear friend convinced me to get tumblr so now i'm looking for mutuals who don't wanna murder me <3

nothing funnier to me than when AI does math wrong. like I get why it happens, it's a language model that's treating the numbers you feed it as words rather than integers and then giving you an answer based on how those words typically appear in a block of text instead of actually performing a calculation. but the one thing computers are genuinely incredible at. you fucked up a perfectly good calculator is what you did, look at it it's got hallucinations

To be honest, something I see a lot in fanfiction is the reasoning for Dream’s mask being about how Dream can’t control his facial expressions well and is too readable, making him vulnerable to people knowing exactly what he’s thinking and feels. Personally though, especially now that we can reasonably say that Dream is autistic, I think it’s actually the opposite.

At least in my experience, with myself and with other autistic people, often the trouble is making the appropriate facial expression with the proper enthusiasm. Like telling a joke and people not know if you are kidding or not because you say it with such a straight face. Something I really struggle with is emoting excitement and joy so I have to be extra conscious of making sure my face is portraying how I feel so people don’t get the wrong idea.

The other thing I have to be aware of facially is eye contact, making sure to do the proper amount and/or don’t look somewhere else that makes it seem like you aren’t paying attention. (This is something I’ve realized since diagnosis that I am good at but hate, which is why I plan socializing around activities so I can focus on that instead of looking at the person.)

These are just a couple of the things on my mind when having a conversation (along with body language, tone of voice, what I’m saying…etc), that can really change how people perceive you. When not executed well people can really get the wrong impression of you, even thinking that you’re super intense, serious, a bitch, cold because your facial expressions are so stern and neutral, when in reality you could be feeling a lot of things (many people in high school didn’t talk to me and when asked later they said they were intimidated by me, and I think this might be one of the reasons why).

So, because of this, personally, I think Dream wears a mask not because he’s too open, but because he doesn’t emote properly or just doesn’t want to bother to try and emote properly, and dislikes eye contact. To not have to focus on making proper eye contact and facial expressions takes away that factor of misunderstanding and just makes conversing a lot less work and more comfortable. With a mask on, he doesn’t have to work on that part of his social masking (;D lol), now he can look where he wants and just have a resting bitch face if he wants to without worrying about how it comes across. That’s what I think is more likely the reason Dream wears a mask because he is actually naturally less expressive.

Furthermore, perhaps if he lost his mask in prison then maybe that’s a reason people in the prison are generally more cold to him and see him as less human because his expressions are so blank, giving people the perception that he’s very cold. Therefore making it easier for Sam and Quackity and even Tommy to hurt and dehumanize Dream in prison because subconsciously they are put off by his lack of emoting, which only further adds to the idea that Dream is some embodiment of evil…

So, if in the finale c!Dream’s helmet, that he takes off for c!Tommy, represents his mask, does that mean that when c!Sapnap puts on c!Dream’s armor, Nightmare, he is putting on and stealing c!Dream’s mask? - Because I’m not gonna lie that really puts a new perspective on that betrayal… Furthermore, when c!Techno brings c!Dream armor in prison, did he make him a mask and bring it to him… and then take away the mask later? - If so, again that’s kinda screwed up. Though you could argue that perhaps he made c!Dream a mask for the jailbreak so he had one to face the server with and then because they were trying to not seem like allies he took it back, knowing that c!Dream would get another one. Which also begs the question, did c!Punz make c!Dream a mask for after prison or is he simply handing over one of c!Dream’s masks?… When c!Tommy in the minecart skirmish stole c!Dream’s armor, was he taunting him with his own mask? - Because oof that’s some serious violation and disrespect…

In other words, if you think that c!Dream’s helmet in the finale represents the mask (which I’d say is implied by c!Tommy) does that same logic apply across the board or is it just for that moment? And if it does apply to rest of the lore, wow does that have some implications…

Whoever needs to hear this. Please know.

"Closed at 6pm" does not mean "The entry door locks up at 6, but if you're already inside you can keep on shopping."

It means, "you should be finished and out of the store at 6pm."

This is not up for debate

This is just how things work

Pope Francis has died.

I know to a lot of people on the left and in the LGBTQ+ community, he wasn’t exactly seen as a holy herald of progressive values. That said I think he was more helpful to our community than we have ever really given credit.

The Catholic Church is hugely entrenched in the past. They may not ever accept gay marriage within our lifetime. But if you compare Pope Francis to any other Pope that came before him, he did more to progress the Catholic Church than anyone else ever has. He constantly spoke out saying that the church needed to accept LGBTQ+ members. He has denounced laws that criminalise homosexuality. He supported same sex civil unions—which I was literally taught was evil and dangerous when I was in Catholic high school. Transgender people can be baptized and same sex couples can be blessed because of him.

He was never enough, of course. He has affirmed the teaching that gay marriage is not spiritually possible and prior to becoming pope he opposed the legalization of same sex marriage. He has said gay children should seek psychiatric care. He has also been even less accepting of transgender people than same sex couples.

But at the same time he was the most empathetic Pope to have existed in the past several hundred years. I have left the church because I no longer believe in God, but I do recognize that the Catholic Church has power over huge swaths of the world. My mother still believes in her Catholic faith and has always stood by this idea: it’s impossible to move a behemoth organisation like the Church overnight. She stays in the community because she wants it to become better. She pushes, in her own small way, a little bit every day towards what she thinks is right. In this conversation, that is the acceptance of LGBTQ+ youths. Pope Francis was helpful in moving the Church away from a stance of hate. Now I hope that whoever the cardinals choose next for pope is someone who joins her in pushing that ball forward.

hope you're doing okay 🫂🫂

thank you anon <33 I hope you’re doing okay and taking care of yourself

to be honest? I feel very calm right now. I just think that, no matter the outcome, we’re all gonna be okay <3 and I’m not gonna expend extra energy being upset before I even know the full picture. Which is so much easier said than done but somehow that switch got flipped in my brain so.

I think I’ll probably have more to say after george’s statement. I doubt I’ll be this calm forever and it’s likely I will cry again at some point. But that’s okay. It’s all a push and pull, and however you’re feeling about the situation is totally fine and valid.

hm. I don’t think fandom should ever be more of a source of stress than comfort. I know you didn’t ask, but as of right now, I feel like my level of investment in the dream team and related creators is at a very healthy level. Especially compared to how I was in oct ‘22 lol. But as it is, I have other interests I can fall back on. A lot of my creative works have always been about the dsmp characters. My point is that taking a step back whilst this unfolds has been almost surprisingly easy for me. And, honestly, after the first few hours when I was processing everything, I feel pretty level headed about everything.

Anyway, it’s okay to be not okay right now. It’s okay to step back. It’s okay to leave regardless of the outcome because this fandom can be stressful. And if you ever reach a point where that stress isn’t worth the good parts of the fandom? then it’s okay to leave.

okay that’s all I have to say right now sorry for rambling. to anyone who’s reading this: go get a drink of water and be kind to yourself <3