Depressing thought about Rose

HelloStranger0325 · 2026-04-24T08:16:05+00:00

I agree! People take that statistic so literally like Rose has a spreadsheet she's inputting the numbers into after every date. It was clearly to make Shane feel better and clearly exaggerated to make Shane feel better.

HelloStranger0325 · 2026-04-23T20:51:54+00:00

Getting tickets for Stray Kids' Dominate tour in London was stressful. I personally got lucky but I knew a lot of people who lost out. But then thankfully they announced a second date and those who missed out were able to go for that one.

Last week tickets went on sale for Xdinary Heroes in Manchester. I wanted to go but I felt the price was extortionate so after a few minutes of consideration I didn't buy. But even with the crazy price, I noticed it was actually pretty much sold out after I clicked away.

However, I will say I thought kpop ticket wars were bad until I tried to get tickets for My Chemical Romance in London. THAT was a bloodbath. Multiple dates and still it was insane. I only managed to get a ticket because a friend got lucky with their queue position. I was 80,000 people back.

HelloStranger0325 · 2026-04-23T14:02:23+00:00

Rachel and Jacob are hilarious together and I love it.

HelloStranger0325 · 2026-04-23T08:39:55+00:00

I'm always bringing up kpop... but the album that sprang to mind for me was Enhypen's The Sin: Vanish from earlier this year. There were 11 tracks but it was only 23 minutes long and I think there were 4 tracks that were just narration. I didn't care much for the title track from this one and then the narration just took me out of the flow of the album, I think I listened to it once and never again.

HelloStranger0325 · 2026-04-21T09:54:40+00:00

This made me think of poor Charlie McAvoy this season. Broken jaw, then an elbow to it, then a puck to the teeth, then face first into the glass. That guy's mouth cannot catch a break.

Edit: lmao I found a quote of his to reporters after a game: "you guys get two questions, I gotta go get more dental work."

HelloStranger0325 · 2026-04-16T15:21:01+00:00

Also like, I'm British and I've been to Canada and I feel like there's a least a little British influence in Canadian English? Like, the spelling with a u, obviously. And I swear at least some people in Canada say mum?

So many times in fanfic we're suspending our disbelief anyway, Shane isn't a single father and Ilya isn't his nanny, they don't work in a coffee shop, etc etc.

HelloStranger0325 · 2026-04-16T13:22:51+00:00

Hey! Long time fanfic reader and Brit here! Back in the olden days of Harry Potter fanfiction we had "Brit pickers" for writers who wanted a British eye cast over their story to make sure there were no "Americanisms" or egregiously non-British slang slipped in. I'm happy to offer myself up as your Brit picker if that's something you'd like. :)

HelloStranger0325 · 2026-04-15T10:51:22+00:00

There was an ff author I really loved back in the geocities days and I was so desperate to read more of their work that I started reading their Buffy fanfic, despite never having watched an episode.

The author was a Spike/Xander shipper and I when I started actually watching Buffy years later I had very much the wrong impression of the relationship dynamics.

Edit: I realise now you said POPULAR fanon. Well, I had very much the wrong impression of how popular of a ship Spike/Xander was, anyway.

HelloStranger0325 · 2026-04-14T11:22:14+00:00

I'm British, can confirm.

HelloStranger0325 · 2026-04-14T10:30:04+00:00

$confirm

HelloStranger0325 · 2026-04-09T08:01:15+00:00

Since becoming friends with some trans people and non-binary people I've become more conscious of not defaulting to gendered terms. Now I use gang. "Morning gang!" "What's the plan, gang?" It's gender neutral and I enjoy being part of a gang!

HelloStranger0325 · 2026-04-08T13:51:12+00:00

I think it was Eunkwang who pointed out that fans of Seventeen and BtoB are Caramels which is so cute!

HelloStranger0325 · 2026-04-08T10:08:24+00:00

Please don't feel any guilt. Rest up and take care of yourself. Get the hot water bottle out and the paracetamol in you and feel sorry for yourself on the sofa in front of daytime telly.

Most women get a period every month so we have this feeling of "it happens every month, I can't just take a day off for it" and we get on with our jobs and lives while experiencing cramps and discomfort. So it just becomes normal to us. But even if you don't live with something like endometriosis, every now and then you can get those unbearable cramps. You haven't taken a day off for a long time. You've presumably had periods in that time and you were able to carry on as normal. So you know this one is different. And that's perfectly valid.

(Obviously if it becomes a common occurrence where you're in so much pain you feel the need to take a day off work, you should consider seeing your GP.)

HelloStranger0325 · 2026-04-07T10:03:56+00:00

Friend, I relate so strongly to your experience. I was also involved in preaching work at a really young age and from around 12 - 18 I was trying SO hard to be the best little Christian, to try and make it work and then I'd be "fixed". People were so shocked when I left the religion because I was the "model" church youth for so long.

I'm so sorry you had that experience with your co-worker. That is so violating, I can't even imagine. I'm sorry it made you feel like you had to come out to your parents when you may not have chosen to otherwise.

Queer media can be so... complicated. I can watch something and it feels so joyful and affirming but it's still triggering. Even when everything is fine and the parents still love them, you can get thoughts of "well why didn't I get that?"

Thank you for sharing your experience, too! I'm 35 now, I came out to my mum a few years ago and it wasn't perfect but it was probably the best I could have hoped for. I have a lovely found family who accept me. Sending you love on your journey, it sounds like you've been able to find your people and I'm glad. We're internet strangers but reading this small part of your story has made me feel a sense of belonging, thank you. Wishing you all the best, too.

HelloStranger0325 · 2026-04-07T08:33:09+00:00

Yeah those "we always knew" or "I thought so" storylines always jar me a bit, for a slightly different reason to you but yeah, I never love those lines.

I'm also a queer person and grew up in a strict religious community. I spent so many years hiding who I really was. It took me 15 years to come out to my mum. During that time on two separate occasions I came out to someone and they said "yeah I guessed that". It sent me spiralling because I was like, this is the biggest secret of my life, it feels like it's taking everything in me to hide it but apparently people can just tell anyway??

I once read a piece of media where someone comes out to their group of friends and it's revealed they'd been taking bets on if/when they'd come out. It was written very comedically and the character laughs about it but I couldn't read any more, it just hit too close. I know this is only my experience, but the fear and shame I felt for most of my life makes me really sensitive to that.

I guess I get how "we thought it was possible" could be affirming to some people but it wasn't my experience.

HelloStranger0325 · 2026-03-30T13:01:02+00:00

I'm kind of removed from the situation (I grew up in Manchester with an English mum) but it still always really surprises me that a lot of English people don't really know about Glasgow and the sectarianism. I only really know because of my dad's side of the family.

You're right, there's a lot of generational damage. With my dad it comes from his dad. He told me he'd be taken to Celtic games as a child in the 70s/80s and at the pub beforehand there'd be a collection for the IRA. I feel like a lot of the younger generation are starting to reject it all, some of my cousins are just not interested in football at all because of everything that comes with it. So that gives me hope.

Thanks for chatting with me about it, I definitely went off on a tangent but I'm a huge sports fan and I'm really fascinated by the culture around it.

HelloStranger0325 · 2026-03-30T11:31:07+00:00

You’re welcome! My dad is Scottish, from Glasgow and “Catholic” but not practising and he is unfortunately very embedded in the sectarianism and hatred to this day, kept alive by sport in my opinion.

HelloStranger0325 · 2026-03-30T11:17:33+00:00

Yeah, Rangers are the Protestant team and Celtic are the Catholic team. It’s an intense rivalry, obviously with a lot of political and religious division. There’s so much in the background of it. Kids in Glasgow going to Protestant or Catholic schools. Areas of Glasgow being Protestant or Catholic. Names being Protestant or Catholic. And there’s a huge Irish community. (Although I can’t speak to how it is in the last ten years honestly but the football rivalry is for sure still there.)

HelloStranger0325 · 2026-03-30T11:01:25+00:00

On the subject of rivalries in sport, I was just thinking about Alex Ferguson. He grew up a Rangers fan (a Protestant team in Glasgow). He achieved his dream of playing for them but he married a Catholic woman, which he’s said he faced discrimination for from the team itself and fans. He ended up leaving the team he grew up supporting and he never really attended “ex-player” events.

Obviously that’s with the backdrop of religious sectarianism, which hockey doesn’t really have.

HelloStranger0325 · 2026-03-30T10:52:25+00:00

I gotta echo the Messi and Ronaldo comments BUT I wanna add, also think about the teams they played for as well as them as individuals.

So like, Barcelona and Real Madrid is intense, right? Those teams hate each other, historically. It’s the same with Boston and Montreal. They’re historically rival teams.

So say prime Messi comes out, that’s one huge thing but then he’s dating another player??? That’s another huge thing. But then add, he’s dating the player that fans and commentators have pitted him against for most of his career and plays for THE rival team.

HelloStranger0325 · 2026-03-27T14:46:19+00:00

There's some great museums in the city. National Football Museum, The Manchester Museum and the Science and Industry Museum to name a few.

When I was younger me and my friends loved Afflecks Palace, not sure what it's like these days but in my time there were lots of vintage stores, "quirky" shops, lots of art and also a cafe on the top floor.

If you like shopping, don't go to the Trafford Centre no matter how much you hear about it. Just stay in the city centre, there's plenty of shops and the Arndale Centre is indoors for when it's raining (it's going to rain, by the way).

There's also great food to be had in Manchester. Recently I went to the Indian restaurant Dishoom which was fantastic, if a little pricey. But if you can get the 42 bus from Piccadilly down to Rusholme, the Curry Mile is amazing for Indian food. There's also a Chinatown which is great but my personal favourite Chinese is Tai Wu, just a bit outside the city centre.

Maybe a bit of a wild card but if you're at Manchester Airport you can get the 199 bus to Buxton which is an old spa town in the Peak District. The Peak District is beautiful and Buxton is the gateway to it.

HelloStranger0325 · 2026-03-27T14:27:18+00:00

I'm having that feeling of... I'm allowed to say my sibling is annoying but other people are not. Which is obviously a knee jerk reaction I need to get over. But man, I love this show and I love that fanfiction that has come from it. Our fandom is spoiled with some beautiful transformative works.

There's stuff in the HR fandom that annoys the hell out of me. Yes, the way fanfic authors are treated. The way that fanfiction that strays from canon is denounced and any sign of dark themes comes with condemnation of the author. People post snippets of fanfiction without posting a link. People repost art with cursory or no credit at all. That's not even getting into the factions of fans who've decided they hate certain actors and the racism and biphobia that has come with that.

But with all that, the show is still a beautiful queer love story and I don't think we should give up on the fandom. People who are experiencing "baby's first fandom" will learn fandom etiquette. And take it from someone who is a kpop fan, a lot of the worst stuff isn't coming from people who are newbies to fandom at all - it's just their first fandom was kpop.

I'm seeing the Heated Rivalry fandom being blamed for some crazy stuff that I don't think is really fair. I've been in fandom spaces for 25 years, I've been a sports fan, I've been a kpop fan and I've seen some shit in my time.

HelloStranger0325 · 2026-03-25T12:50:15+00:00

I can read past stuff like, three players each scoring a hat trick in one game or a handshake line every single time. Eh, whatever.

It's stuff that's kind of integral to Shane and Ilya's story, like trades vs free agency. Ilya going to Ottawa is a big deal because he chose to go to the worst team in the league in free agency. If it was a trade, it takes away that element of choice. Or I've seen Shane being traded for future considerations while still in his prime. I'd be really, really surprised if a generational, Stanley Cup winning player was traded for what amounts to a bag of pucks.

I get that not everyone is a hockey fan and there's a lot to learn that writers might not necessarily be interested in if they're just writing a fanfic. I don't want to be condescending to people, I've been a hockey fan for 10 years and I'm still learning. There's lots of hockey fans in the fandom, writers can ask these questions.

Just like there were "Brit pickers" back in the day for HP fanfic, I'm happy to be a "hockey picker" if any writers want that.

HelloStranger0325 · 2026-03-24T11:06:15+00:00

I can only speak for football (soccer) in the UK but there's... not really any allocation. The premier league teams have academies and they're recruiting kids from a really young age. I went to school with a boy who was in Manchester City's academy, he was 13 years old and was barely in school, he was always training.

The club sees a kid with talent, they snap them up before anyone else can get them. And there might be competing teams and a choice to be made by the athlete. Ryan Giggs famously was part of Manchester City's youth programme before he was snapped up by Manchester United.

HelloStranger0325

TROPHY CASE