#Connecticut doesn’t exist

[iaminyourbones]

GOD DAMNIT THEY GOT TO YOU TOO

Question

Do you believe in Connecticut?

Like do you think it’s real?

-one of moth’s friends

WHAT????? WHAT DO YOU MEAN DO I BELIEVE IN CONNECTICUT??????? LIKE. THE STATE???????? YES??????????????

[suzukiblu]

WIP excerpt behind the cut; "Tim's free cloning lab". (( chrono || non-chrono ))

“Red Robin’s commitment issues are his own problem, not mine. I’ve got a schedule to keep,” Luthor replies dismissively, then knocks back the last of his hopefully-actually-a-protein-shake-and-not-Bane-venom-or-something and gets to his feet, picking up his tablet again as he does. He does not seem concerned to be alone in a lab full of sharp objects and computers with two only negligibly-restrained Bats. Admittedly Luthor doesn’t tend to seem concerned during literal multiversal apocalypses, but Tim is vaguely insulted on principle. A multiversal apocalypse couldn’t do any worse than uncreate Luthor and everything he’s ever done in his life, after all. He could tank his stock prices and drive up all his insurance rates, and then make him have to live with it. 

A little respect isn’t that much to ask, is it? 

“Wow, called out by the supervillain,” Steph mutters to him under her breath. “The Metropolis supervillain, even.” 

“I do not have commitment issues,” Tim mutters back to her. 

“Yes you do, the issue is you commit yourself to somebody and then become an insane person about them but never actually mention the existence of said commitment to them,” she retorts frankly. 

“I do not–” 

“When did you go for the red and black suit again and how long did you stick with it?” 

“. . . we’re in a supervillain lair in Connecticut, I don’t have to answer that right now.” 

“Oh, so you will later?” 

“So anyway, new supervillain trap, how’s that going for you?” Tim asks Luthor. Steph snorts at him; he ignores her and all her baseless, ridiculous, baseless accusations that are definitely not currently reading him for absolute filth. “All coming together nicely, no tech issues? Because we could troubleshoot those for you while we’re waiting for extraction, no charge.” 

“The chemical breakdown of the necessary stabilizer you missed when you were cleaning out my old labs is laid out in file B-2.13, speaking of ‘troubleshooting’,” Luthor mentions, and Tim . . . pauses. 

“‘Stabilizer’,” he echoes carefully, and then glances around the sunroom lab. The sunroom cloning lab. 

The sunroom. 

Ah. 

That is probably a connection he should've made, like . . . literally instantly, yeah. 

“Oh my god, do you think you can actually convince Red Robin to make you another–wait, why do you even want Red Robin to make you another Superman or whatever, you did it better than he ever did,” Steph says, squinting in bewilderment at Luthor through her mask. Tim’s much more insulted this time, even if it’s objectively true that Kon is objectively–never mind. Luthor just looks dubious. 

“I don’t want another Superman, there are already far too many of those running around and being an issue as it is,” he snorts dismissively, waving her off. “And I’m willing to provide a useful little resource or two, of course, but it’s hardly traditional to have to make my own grandchildren, now is it. Besides, Supernova won’t be as annoyed about it if they come from you. Though I did include some potential design notes for your consideration in the C folder, of course. Streamlined the tactile telekinesis a bit, for starters. It really didn’t come out as effective as intended, unfortunately.” 

“Of course,” Tim echoes, perfectly aware of that one time that Kon took apart every single gun inside the exact city limits of Los Angeles and nothing else without even meaning to, and also that one time last week when he very much did mean to disassemble a bomb immediately after its trigger mechanism had been tripped, and did it so fast that it didn't detonate. 

So as politely as possible, that makes Luthor’s use of the word “effective” slipped in there a little mind-numbingly terrifying to consider. 

More than anything else, though, Tim really hopes that he’s just gone insane and hallucinated all this, because otherwise he’s going to have to write all this down in a report, and Steph will not lie for him about this one. 

Case in point: she is currently laughing her fucking ass off at him.

[floradinterlunium]

What The Perilla Leaf Debate Revealed. . .

The Maknae line is the “more” jealous line, whereas the hyung line is well...not!

Jimin, Jungkook, and Tae all expressed reservations with the question, “Is it okay for your significant other to peel Perilla leaves for a friend when you are there Or is it okay for your friend to peel perilla leaves for your SO when you are present.” JK was the most vocal about how this would 100% not be okay with this. The second most adamant was Tae. Tae was trying to convince everyone why this would be crossing the line by finding analogies like peeling shrimp and exchanging saliva via chopsticks. It was clear that JM too would not be okay because he tried to help RM see why this would be wrong...he also said why would my friend do it if I’m the boyfriend. 

The HYung line on the other end was confused as to why this was even a debate. RM found the conversation silly, Hobi reasoned that if we trust each other then such a thing shouldn’t be a big deal, Yoongi didn’t see it as a big deal unless there was heavy flirting involved, and Jin was the loudest about how this debate aggravated him because it wasn’t a big deal. 

Now why do I bring this up! Well I bring this up because people love to paint this picture of the maknae line being in this weird love triangle. Or mainly, toxic taekookers like to paint both Tae and JK as these nonchalant boyfriends. Tae doesn’t care about the fact that JK made a romantic ass vlog of JM or spends hours late at night with JM giving him hickeys, sucking JM’s ear right in front of him etc. JK doesn’t care that Tae self admittedly hangs out with Wooga squad more, doesn’t show up to his birthdays, and doesn’t mind not talking to him for two months. However, this debate shows if they were in fact dating...THEY WOuLD BOTH 100% care about all of this.

 TAe was salty about sharing chopsticks and peeling shrimp...he said he’d fight his friend if this happened. How much more upset would this man be about Jikooks NYC and Connecticut trip, Tokyo trip, late night hang outs etc, how they touch each other If Jk was his boyfriend? Tae would fight JM not say things like “I like you most!” 

Some might say well the same can be said of Jikook. Wouldn’t JM be jealous of Tae, if they were a couple? And to that I’d laugh. JM has no reason to be jealous of Tae and JK’s relationship because they don’t do anything suspicious. They hang out, go out to eat, talk to each other...they do things friends do! Have they shared a bed,...yes but they share beds with everyone...it’s also culturally not that big of a deal for two men to share a bed in Korea. They don’t do anything romantic together or exclusive. They are friends. JM wouldn’t be jealous of that. That said...if JM doesn’t like something he 100% says something. 

For example, BV S3 Tae and JK shared a room and Hobi I think came into their room in the morning and JK was at the foot of the bed hugging Taes feet. JM did not like that AT ALL. He chimed in and was like “what/?!?!?!”  Now we can’t control what we do in our sleep but JMs response was telling. He wasn’t pleased. Whereas TAe laughs and Jikook’s shenanigans and encourages it. He laughed at their rainy day story even though it sounded romantic, he laughed when JK said his mom made seaweed soup for JM’s birthday even though JM was not there, he laughed when he talked about thinking JM’s room was JKs, he grins when he mentions Jikook hanging out together late at night! THis boy doesn’t give any craps about who JK spends his time with because they aren’t a couple. Whereas JK and JM do care where the other is. JM said once that he gets nervous when JK doesn’t respond immediately to his calls or texts. When JM had to leave to do an interview he questioned him about where he was going and why. 

SO what did the Perilla leaf debate reveal? It revealed that this love triangle nonsense is not realistic. It revealed a key aspect of vminkook’s personalities...It revealed that if any pair existed in BTS it would have to be Jikook. Tae and JK’s reactions regarding each other don’t match how they self admittedly would react if they were partners. 

[aziraphales-library]

Hello! Thank you for the role you play in this fandom, I don't know what we would do without Aziraphale's fic library

Today I wanted to ask if you knew fics where Aziraphale and Crowley are bitter exes who end up realizing later that they haven't stopped loving the other.

Thank you 💛

Hi! We have #getting back together and #reunion tags you can check for plenty more fics like this. Here are more to add...

Even Now, I Still Love You by Zakani_Donovan (T)

It had been 6 years since Crowley had last spoken to Aziraphale, and considering their nasty little breakup, he hadn't expected their next conversation to start with them suddenly being neighbors.

Down to the River by CemeteryAngel725 (E)

Twenty-five years ago, Tony Crowley walked out of Azi’s life and broke both of their hearts. Since then, Azi has been living in suspended animation, working in the army/navy surplus booth he inherited from his dad and writing horror novels. Now Tony is back from the city, flush with success and wanting to catch up with Azi. Should Azi risk his heart and try to reclaim what they’ve lost? Or is it too late to start over?

Reason Enough by ffonippop (E)

Crowley and Aziraphale’s entire relationship spanned just a little under eleven months. If dissected, the entire affair can be categorized very neatly into three parts: a rocky beginning, a rocky middle, and a rocky end. It devastates Crowley, how something that was so promising and held so much potential could end in such a shitstorm. Diminished to nothing but a hungover, sad, and lonely stain on his couch, Crowley is left to wonder if it was always going to end this way— or if it’s ended yet at all.

Like a Martyr, Not Enough (The Decoy Bride) by vines_and_vellichor (M)

Author Aziraphale Eastlowe had been a dutiful son for the entirety of his life… mostly. After a bout of teenage rebellion, he learnt that disobedience only brings misery and heartbreak to those he cares about; it’s better for everyone to toe the line and make the most out of the plan that has been laid out for you by your family and God. When a courtship with the famous Christian singer Gabriella Archer presented an opportunity to exit the dog-eat-dog world of city life, the last thing he expected was an existence plagued by writer’s block and a wedding so enticing to the British press that the privilege of a private ceremony was tantamount to successfully teaching a duck to play the accordion. In desperation, they turn to Taddesfild, a remote island in the Outer Hebrides, to marry. Things go south when a convoluted plan by Gabriella’s agents culminates in hiring local resident Anthony J Crowley as a decoy bride to put the paparazzi off the scent. The very person Aziraphale distinctly remembered dumping nineteen years ago. The situation is less than ideal: his fiancee is missing, the island is infested with bloodthirsty photographers and he has just accidentally gotten married to his ex.

Borrowed Words by sunrisesinthesuburbs (M)

Anthony J. Crowley, best selling author, has writer's block. He could blame the Accident, but deep down he knows his block started way before. He hasn't written anything in too long, if we choose to ignore the dozens of unsent letters addressed to the angel he lost two decades ago, when he moved to New York City. When his best (and only) friend convinces him to take a little vacation in a small town in Connecticut, he expects peace and quiet. He doesn't expect to see the smile that still haunts his dreams again. Apparently, small towns are full of surprises, and how late is too late? The world stops spinning on its axis or, at the very least, Crowley stops breathing. This is absolutely impossible. He forces himself to swallow, to take a deep breath, as he doesn’t want to scare this girl off. Muriel, who is still smiling, all bright and wide and just like- Oh, God. “A bookshop, you said?” He chokes out. This is impossible, and he’s being ridiculous. He is in London, this is just a sick coincidence and his stupid brain playing stupid games. “Yes, you can see it if you turn around.” Crowley doesn’t move. “It’s called A. Z. Fell Books.” Now, the world definitely stops spinning.

Sinking Ships by AppleSeeds (E)

The world is practically on fire and it feels like nobody's doing anything about it, but Crowley's outlook brightens considerably when a new member arrives at his local climate action committee. Crowley is immediately smitten, and is thrilled when he and Aziraphale become fast friends, although he can't help but hope they might one day become something more. When all of his wishes come true, Crowley starts to feel like life couldn't possibly get any better. He can picture exactly what his future is going to look like, until something happens that feels like a powerful bolt of lightning has struck and split Crowley's life right down the middle, with everything before that moment on one side, and everything that is to come - scorched, lifeless and devastated - on the other. With the help of a counsellor, Crowley begins the difficult journey of picking up the pieces and working through what's happened. When Aziraphale unexpectedly comes back into his life, Crowley finally has the chance to get some answers, revealing that the truth is very different from what he was led to believe. Now he just needs to figure out whether that changes anything.

- Mod D

[rodwacker85]

andre HCS

- he’s an engineering guy. (he got accepted to the connecticut school of engineering, he knows how to make bombs, etc)

- i think this has also given him some info on cars, so he helps out with mechanics whenever his dad can’t figure out wtf is going on with his car. he acts like it’s a chore and he hates doing it but it makes him feel good. not to help out his dad but to know something he doesn’t. it makes him feel smarter than everyone

- andre has bpd and autism. this is me projecting, absolutely, but he’s very much borderline (his fp is cal LOL.) he’s autistic in the way that he just doesn’t get along well with others and the way he is so focused on zero day

- very much internalized homophobia

- he doesn’t listen to much music other than whatever cal shows him. he sometimes listens to german music that his parents grew up playing

- he likes birds (this is me projecting again.) he’ll sometimes bird watch. cal makes fun of it

- he is not close with his older brother. doesn’t acknowledge his existence most of the time

- drives cal EVERYWHERE because cal can’t drive.

- cigarette smoker, not because he likes it, but it makes him look and feel cool

- he’s very militaristic. he likes cal calling him lieutenant in a weird way— he LOVES guns and studying wars, when he was younger his mom would buy him countless textbooks on guns and wars and he’d read through them in a day. he has them on his bookshelf, but burnt them because he figured it was a dead giveaway of the idea that he did indeed get it from a book

[lizardthirty]

Ideas for Monkees episodes

- Micky, Peter, and Davy stage a prison break after Mike is arrested for tax evasion

- Davy falls down a storm drain and has a Big Adventure

- They find the secret fifth member of the band, Bill, living in a crawl space. He is played by an actor who has no record of ever existing and the character is never mentioned again.

- Davy gets carried away by a giant bird and the rest of the band has to save him from being eaten by the bird’s horrible wretched offspring (this one is partially @androcola’s)

- Body Swap Episode. Mike ends up in Peter’s body, has a panic attack, and locks himself in the bathroom. Davy in Mike’s body has a great time getting things off of high shelves. Micky is in Davy’s body and takes the opportunity to follow his dreams of fitting inside a shipping crate but it goes wrong and he gets sent to Quebec. Peter is in Micky’s body technically but he doesn’t even notice that anything is going on.

- Micky wants to learn stage magic so he apprentices himself to a guy who turns out to be a real literal wizard

- Davy falls into the space between his bed and the wall and they just lose him for a week

- an episode from the perspective of the ambiguously Soviet agents sent to kidnap the boys for stupid microfilm reasons. They consistently fail due to mishaps indirectly caused by what the boys are up to, which is of course attempting to wrangle the several dozen snakes which have been let loose in the pad for reasons which are never disclosed to the audience. The boys never even notice that there is somebody trying to kidnap them.

- the boys go to Connecticut to visit Peter’s extended family. It turns out that Peter’s folks are deeply unpleasant old-money New Englanders and also are members of an “Innsmouth” style cult, who try to sacrifice Micky to their god, Shmagon.

- Peter gets lost in a parking garage (scary)

[ryuichirou]

Replies

Anonymous asked:

Are there any rare pairs you find yourself enjoying? Or ships you hadn't considered before? I think Ace and Malleus would be funny to entertain if he could get passed the intimidation. Just normal boy and etheral prince (giving Connecticut Clerk and Malfina vibes, lol)

It’s difficult to say, Anon, apparently the majority of our ships are considered rare ships…

Ace and Malleus does have potential, the contrast between a normal boy and ethereal prince is always fun + I still think about that one time when Ace called Malleus out during the Halloween event. The boy is ballsy, and with Malleus this is both a plus and a hazard lol

We actually did this chart not that ago, so might as well post it here! It must have some rare ships lol

Anonymous asked:

Does this mean he’ll kiss inanimate objects too? 🤨

(related to this post (I think))

He might! Rook doesn’t discriminate, and Tettere doesn’t discriminate either, so combined they are unstoppable lol

Anonymous asked:

I’m surprised Ace didn’t just hire Ruggie for the hickeys. He seems to have more experience than Epel who seems to vacuum skin up like french fries

(this is about this sketch from ko-fi)

Ruggie is indeed much more experienced than Epel-the-vacuum-sucker, but Ruggie would take money for that, and Epel was kind enough to help just like that! Plus, Ruggie is a senpai with whom Ace doesn’t talk too often, so it’s probably very awkward for him to ask for something like this…

Anonymous asked:

This is a long ask and about dumb takes so feel free to ignore it, but most made me laugh at how absurd they are so I wanted to share.

Tumblr does have some odd takes but I think Pinterest/Reddit has more...not bright people.  NSFW ship art of the 1st and 2nd years always has some people upset that there's kids in sexual situations cause they think you can't have or know about sex till you're 18.  SFW ships between 3rd years and not 3rd years have people saying it's illegal cause adults dating minors is always wrong (people seriously think the only stages of life are legal adult and legal minor.  I never thought saying someone younger than 10 is different than someone going through puberty was mindblowing...  So happy I found an adblocker that hides comments).  Reddit had someone freaking out that Yuu stayed in Leona's room even though Leona's 20 and Yuu could be 16 (existing in the same space as someone a different age than you is wrong now I guess), people taking Malleus' age literally and thinking this non-human fantasy species ages the same as humans so since he's older than 18 he's an adult like the staff are (which had gems such as people saying thinking he's a teen/not an adult is infantizing him and that he may be not an adult in fae years but he's a tax-paying adult in human years), and my favorite, people seriously debating who's on the inter-school spelldrive team and how could they lose with Malleus cause even though he's not in the club there's still a chance to be on the team since one person from every dorm has to join it... (I...I guess they don't know what a sports club is...)

But my top favorite take is from Tumblr:

Someone said they like that TWST's fanservice is always tasteful and NEVER suggestive. (???)

+

Anonymous asked:

An amendment to my ask about dumb Pinterest/Reddit takes.  People think 18 years old dating 16 and 17 years olds is illegal cause the 18 years old is a legal adult and the others aren't

Anon, I am super late with my reply, sorry for that, but honestly this topic is unfortunately evergreen… I wanted to add both of these ask to our replies from yesterday since the topic is similar, but unfortunately ran out of time. I’ll reply to you properly now though~ Thank you so much for your ask!

I am trying my hardest not to start yelling about forced purity again and how it ruins everything for everyone lol At this point it just makes me sound like a broken record, so I’ll try to word it in a slightly different way this time: people (the type that you’ve talked about) reeeeally love using the “this is inappropriate” excuse to police others, and it always freaks me out just how similar it is to a certain other category of people. You know, the type to boils everything down to “I don’t like it, therefore it’s illegal or at least immoral”. I don’t like them using illegal and immoral interchangeably in general because ultimately it’s just them going “this shouldn’t exist because I say so”.

I genuinely think that all those people don’t give a shit about sexy art of the 1st and 2nd years’ characters, they don’t actually give a shit about the 17 y.o. characters being shipped with 18 y.o. characters either, this is just such a convenient excuse to use when attacking someone. It isn’t consistent at all, they ship whoever they want if they really want to, or try to find a way around their own logic.

You mentioned Malleus (that poor thing), and he is actually a great example of that: is he too old to be shipped with other characters? Is he too young to be shipped with Lilia or too old (or too young because “mentally!” he’s 17 or whatever the fuck that means) to be with Yuusona of someone who is over 20? Who knows and who cares, but with these folk you have to care, and don’t you dare to assume that maybe fae’s maturity (mental + sexual) doesn’t relate to their age in a way that human’s does. Or maybe it actually does, so it makes him a 170+ year old senior citizen in our eyes, and us literal 50 year old children in his eyes. God forbid we treat anything with a fun and fantasy approach, god forbid we use TWST as a dollhouse it was intended to be lol No one should give a fuck about any of this.

I don’t think minors should date 18 year olds if that makes them uncomfortable, I don’t think anyone should date anyone if they’re uncomfortable, but those of us who were dating as teenagers once know how weird this whole thing is and how for a lot of people this isn’t a big deal. This transition from minor to non-minor feels very “on paper”, that’s why a lot of teenagers joke around as they turn 18: yesterday I was a kid and today I am an adult. Does it make sense legally? Yes, it is a very important distinction, and a very important turning point. But mental maturity doesn’t work like that: if all of your friends are 17 and you turn 18, you are still of the same age group. Even if they are one school class younger. Katsu and I have a little less than 2 years of difference, but since I started going to school when I was 6, there was a period of time when Katsu was still in middle school and I was already a university student. We made tons of jokes about it back then, and this was exactly what it was: jokes. Because we knew that both of us are kids, and we were even younger kids when we first met and started dating. And this is just one example, tons of people have examples like that.

There are some aspects of life where putting a hard “NO” in terms of allowing people of certain age to interact with people of younger age is a good and very necessary thing, we have this minor/adult differentiation for a good reason. But character shipping just isn’t this kind of aspect: it doesn’t exist. All shipping is fiction. And I refuse to believe that the type of people that you mentioned don’t think so, the more I look at them, the more I genuinely think that they are intentionally lying to cause trouble. People can’t be this dumb (although after reading what you said about the Spelldrive thing I started to doubt that lol they really don’t know how sports clubs work huh).

Some of them also love to use made-up stuff in an argument lol Like people who think that Ortho is 8… or was it 6? Honestly, he ages down every single time the antis try to bring up how wrong it is to ship him with anyone.

Well, at least I can’t say anything about twst fanservice. Can’t argue with that, it is indeed very pure and almost nonexistent… especially this Riddle card <3

[tomorrowusa]

Matt Gaetz, the MAGA Meryn Trant, is now out of the running for US Attorney General. Not that Pam Bondi is much better in terms of policy.

But Gaetz was not exactly the only problematic Trump nominee for office.

Trump has stated that he wishes to abolish the Department of Education. Perhaps to facilitate this, he's nominated a totally unqualified individual who looked the other way when 13 to 15 year old boys were being sexually exploited.

A recent lawsuit alleges Linda McMahon, who President-elect Donald Trump tapped to lead the Department of Education, knowingly enabled the sexual exploitation of children by a World Wrestling Entertainment(WWE) employee as early as the 1980s — allegations she denies. McMahon is the former CEO of the WWE, which she co-founded with her husband, Vince. As head of the WWE, Linda McMahon oversaw its transformation from a wrestling entertainment company into a publicly traded media empire. She stepped down in 2009 to run for Senate, but shelost in Connecticut in 2010 and 2012. As McMahon — who co-chairs Trump’s transition team — vies to be confirmed as Education secretary, a recent lawsuit raises questions about her care for children’s safety at the WWE. The suit alleges McMahon, her husband, the WWE and TKO Group Holdings, the league’s parent company, knowingly allowedemployeeMelvin Phillips Jr. to use his position as ringside announcer to sexually exploit children. The filingalleges Phillips would recruit children to work as “Ring Boys,” helping him set up and take down wrestling rings at WWE events. However, the job was a guise for sexually exploiting the children, which Phillips would do even in front of wrestlers and executives in the locker area, the lawsuit alleges. He also would often film his sexual abuse, according to the filing. The suit was filed in October in Baltimore County, Maryland, on behalf of five John Does, who say they were ages 13 to 15 when Phillips met and recruited them to work as “Ring Boys.” Each of them say they suffered mental and emotional abuse as a result of the alleged abuse.

These allegations are not exactly new.

Phillips’ alleged abuse at the WWE was reported by the New York Post as early as 1992. “It was common knowledge in the WWE — among the ring crew, wrestlers, and executives — that Phillips surrounded himself with a posse of underaged Ring Boys, including when he traveled across state lines and stayed in hotel rooms with the children,” the lawsuit alleges. The McMahons fired Phillips in 1988 after allegations about him sexually exploiting children continued to surface, according to the lawsuit. They “rehired him six weeks later on the condition that he ‘steer clear from kids,’” but he continued sexually exploiting young boys with the McMahons’ knowledge, the lawsuit alleges. “After decades of suffering in silence from their childhood trauma, these survivors come forward now to hold Defendants accountable for their conduct in allowing the systemic and pervasive abuse by Philips,” the lawsuit alleges.

The McMahons are rather typical Trump friends.

Allegations of sex trafficking and abuse have followed Vince McMahon for some time. In 2023, Vince McMahon paid a multimillion-dollar settlement to a former employee who accused him of rape, and he stepped down this year as executive chairman of TK Holdings following allegations of sexual assault and trafficking. He has denied the allegations. Most recently, Vince McMahon is a subject in a federal criminal investigation and a separate lawsuit in federal court in Connecticut. That lawsuit was put on hold this summer until early December. A criminal investigation around McMahon also exists in New York, though it doesn’t carry legal risk for Linda McMahon, who left the WWE over a decade ago, according to multiple sources familiar with the investigation.

[iaminyourbones]

Do you have a proof that Connecticut doesn’t exist?

Do you have proof that Connecticut DOES exist?

[submarinefleet]

Relationships, Freelancers, Part 2

How Agents York, North, South, and Connecticut behave in committed relationships.

York: Bad jokes bad pick-up lines bad puns. His partner gets the worst of the worst at all hours of the day. No place, and no time is sacred. They’d be filthy rich if they got a penny for every time he ruined the moment. Has a latent possessiveness that doesn’t come into play very often, but still very much exists. Means well, but takes a lot of things at face value, and has misunderstood his partner’s actions and feelings plenty in the past. Otherwise, he’s very accepting, and very rarely judges (if ever). He’s the type to feel loved when spending quality time with you, and he rarely if ever turns down an opportunity to do just that. In fact, it doesn’t even matter what you do together-- just that it’s together.

North Dakota: Ridiculously lovey-dovey, ESPECIALLY in public. Doesn’t stop no matter how long you’ve been together, even decades down the line. Gives you all the attention you could possibly need, and then some. To say he’s a bit of a nag is an understatement. Worries like a momma bird, and will go into disapproving big brother mode whenever you’re doing something he deems unhealthy or dangerous. Likes picking you up and carrying you, and is strong enough to bench-press you no matter how big you are. He’s the one in the relationship who remembers all the important dates, including all your friends’ and relatives’ birthdays. Definitely remembers anything and everything that has to do with you: allergies, what you like and dislike, and that one offhand comment you made once about needing to get a new wallet soon. Overprotective, and gets jealous easily.

South Dakota: Also strong enough to bench-press you, and often does so. Again, doesn’t matter how big you are. If you thought her temper would decline--or even vanish--around a romantic partner, you’d be wrong. It’s still as explosive and unmanageable as ever, but if you’re visibly cowed by her yelling and hitting things, she starts being more conscientious of it-- and at the very least, puts physical distance between the two of you when she’s in one of her moods. As your relationship progresses and her feelings deepen, you become her rock. The person she trusts to hear her out and help her come back down. When she’s calm, she’s a total showoff with the biggest smirks and grins, and says the dirtiest things. Making you blush is one of her absolute favorite pastimes. Like North, she’s prone to jealousy, but even more so. Don’t tell her I said this, but she’s pretty clingy too...

Connie / CT: Connie is a complicated woman. She has many, many secrets, and you know barely a third of them. According to her, you’re safer that way. The secrecy can put a strain on your relationship, but she does her best to make up for it in other ways. She’s not only a great listener, but she's the person who gets angry on your behalf, and raises the standard for how people are allowed to treat you. If someone’s giving you trouble and she finds out about it... well, she deals with it, but once again you’re safer not knowing how. Just as it’s important to her that she have your back, it’s important she knows that you have hers, too. You’re the only person who’s still allowed to call her Connie. She makes you keep a single bag packed with essentials at all times just in case she needs to spirit you away in the middle of the night without explanation.

[stevetonyweekly]

SteveTony Weekly - Jan 21st - Week 3

Here’s everything I read this week! I hope you find something you enjoy! 

~*~ 

Hello. I've Been Waiting by j_gabrielle

Non-powered AU where Steve and Tony are in their late 20s and were high school sweethearts, married a year after their graduation - as Steve had wanted to save and then use his own money to buy Tony a ring. Though it hurt him to let Steve go to join the army, Tony knew it would have hurt both of them even more if Steve had stayed at home, miserable. They skype when they can, send emails (and the occasional letter because Steve is old fashioned that way - although Tony will never admit the amount of glee that fills him at seeing the physical envelope in his mailbox), and keep in touch as much as possible.

But there are still the long periods of time when there is no contact, and Tony can't help but worry and fret terribly about his husband overseas. One such period of time, Steve and Tony's friends (Bucky, Rhodey, the rest of the avengers, ya know), are surprised to get a group email from Steve - but happy at seeing that the reason: Steve is coming home early from his tour and wants to surprise Tony.

arei’s thoughts: I’m a sucker for Steve surprises Tony with a military homecoming. Short and sweet and lovely. 

A ghost for Christmas by gottalovev 

When she died, Peggy left Steve an old house in Connecticut. When he decides to spend Christmas there, Steve finds out that it's already inhabited... by a very handsome and kind of annoying ghost.

arei’s thoughts: this was so cute and the way that Rhodey came into it was really great. Loved it. 

Something On My Mind by Thahire

During a team game of Never Have I Ever, Tony finds out that Steve has done—some things with men.

Things spiral from there.

arei’s thoughts: tony finding out about steve’s sexual past in a game with the team is a pretty niche trope and one i absolutely adore. Loved this. 

Arrangements by Neverever 

Tony has a no-strings attached, no-personal information, all-sex relationship with Steve. But things can change, can't they?

arei’s thoughts: FWB that doesn’t stay FWB is always a lot of fun. 

Magical Moments by Becci_chan

It hadn’t been Steve’s best idea when he’d asked Tony to go with him to the Christmas market. Steve had only needed someone to keep him company, because sometimes crowded places still made him nervous. And because he liked Tony. A lot.

arei’s thoughts: it’s pure Christmas fluff. Plus, you know, Steve not knowing he’s head over heels for Tony is always fun. 

Teeny Tiny OctoTony by MountainRose

Tony finds something in a HYDRA base, and it's about four inches tall and has a goatee.

And tentacles.

arei’s thoughts: i’m a big fan of tony as a octopus. They’re so smart?? And this one’s telepathic-ish bond with his octo counterpart was adorable! 

All Roads Lead To by Anonymous

After Obadiah's betrayal, Tony hides in the depths of the Midwest to become a mechanic.

The Avengers come into his life anyway.

arei’s thoughts: I love the idea that some things are inevitable, and how this team came together was lovely. 

Beyond Imagination by nakurumok

Tony swears he is fine. Really.

Sure, he was injured in the battle (only slightly), his suit was shut down after he was hit by some magical beam, crashed into the ground and lost conscious for nearly a day. But he is fine. Totally. Unquestionably.

Except, if he would admit it, he feels like he had gone through a few rounds of boxing with Hulk, while without the suit. He feels dizzy, and the ground seems floating under his every step and his head hurts like hell. But despite all of these, he is fine.

… and has he mentioned he sees Captain America, who should only exist in the comics, standing in his kitchen?

arei’s thoughts: The way things came out slowly and then all at once was lovely. It was clear that something was wrong, but how it played out was just--so nice. 

we pick ourselves undone by laramara

It might appear that award-winning surgeon Tony Stark, the head of neurosurgery at Shield Hospital, well and truly has his life together. Now if he could only figure out how to tell people that his father, world class neurosurgeon Howard Stark, is locked away in a nursing home with Alzheimer’s, devise a way to get Chief Fury off his back for good, and work out what the hell he’s going to do about the weird on-again-off-again thing he has going with the head of cardio, he’d finally have everything sorted.

arei’s thoughts: I loved the setting of this and the softness between Tony and Steve in contrast to everything around them. So well done. 

[chevelleneech]

to me Jimin seems more apprehensive of the two, which is understandable with ms upcoming etc, but jk seems so carefree and happy, idk where people are seeing this disinterested-ness, bc he seems constantly happy and even trying to make sweet moments (like the snowfall comment ahah)

I agree JK seems carefree, but I have to be honest, I don’t see either of them as being any more or less apprehensive than the other. During AYS nor outside of the series. I think they have different personalities, thus a lot of the time what we’re seeing is them just being themselves.

To me, Jimin has gotten older and has found comfort in both being exactly who he is as well as being mindful of his surroundings. Personally, I think Jimin it’s cutesy and affectionate, but I do think he plays it up for the camera as well. It’s a thing almost all idols do, but for people who enjoy it like Jimin, it slips easily into their personalities.

That said, Jungkook is also naturally cutesy and affectionate, but we only really see him be that way with Jimin or Hobi. Those are the two members we’ve seen him gravitate toward as his comfort zones over the years, with the main difference seemingly being Jimin is also his emotional landing pad.

To get back to the point, I think both of them seem chill. They’re laughing and drinking and eating and doing a small bit of adventurous things, which must have been all they wanted to do anyway. I mean, Connecticut and Sapporo in particular are trips we know were planned by the two of them, without any change of plans, meaning they intentionally chose nothing to do. Yes, they went canoeing and snowboarding, but that’s not the same as planning their trips around specific events. They didn’t go to a summer or winter festival. They didn’t go camping with other friends. They didn’t do anything big, is basically what I’m saying. They chose what appear from the outside, couple-like activities. I mean, starting with a cozy, single bed cabin in the woods, is a crazy thing to do for just friends, lol.

The last day in Connecticut was in what I assume as an air b&b house, for whatever reason. And I don’t say that to dismiss them sleeping in different beds, but the second episode wasn’t really about anything. They woke up, cuddled in bed, went grocery shopping, then went out to dinner and the episode ended. What made the episode worthwhile, was getting to see Jimin and Jungkook existing alongside each other in what according to them, was their first hangout in a bit. The first two episodes were really the one time we saw them rekindle a thing, after whatever they’d been through, and the result was, “Let’s keep doing this.”

So I do understand that with all we know about the members, and with all we’ve seen from other travel specials over the years, AYS is different. We’re seeing a dynamic between JM and JK that we’ve only really heard about in passing.

Yes, we knew they were attached at the hip. We knew they had similar senses of humor. We knew they cuddle and smacked ass here and there. We knew JK was a Jimin-pedia. What we didn’t know, was how deeply that ran off camera. And yes, AYS is obviously being filmed, but the part I think people are either refusing to or having a hard time grasping, is that it truly is unscripted. I don’t think the other specials were scripted down to the bone either, but there was always something they were expected to be doing. The closest thing to AYS was ITS, and we saw how chopped up that was to paint the picture that the members were always doing something. They edited stuff out of order just to keep the episodes moving.

AYS does not appear to have that. There are time jumps, but it doesn’t appear to be any: “This happened at 10am, but it’s going to be edited into having happened after JM said it’s 5pm.” It honestly just seems like they told BH where they wanted to go; restaurants and resorts wise, got some cameras and a crew, and started filming. So it was planned as far as the company had to make reservations and ensure their safety, then the crew likely went ahead to set up cameras and ensure their reservations were ready. But we didn’t see any of that. We only saw JM and JK’s pov, which was happening at the same time the crews were doing their jobs.

I’m getting long winded again, lol, but yeah I think a lot of what we’re seeing in AYS is just them being them. Jungkook isn’t “going through the motions” more so than he’s just not an overly outward expressive person when he doesn’t have to be on. And Jimin isn’t being apprehensive more so than he’s probably much more calm and laid back when he isn’t on.

And I think maybe that comes across as them seeming different in some ways, because we’re seeing just how often they really are on, even during past vacation specials. So I think the reality of Jimin and Jungkook’s bond and dynamic is that they are just soft for one another. When they don’t have to put on a performance in too big of a capacity to be entertaining, they simply meld together. They breeze about, going wherever they want, and even if they don’t have a destination in mind, something as simple as shopping or hiking is enough. Hell, they even like brushing their teeth together and sitting around playing card games.

So again, I don’t think it’s apprehension, I think that’s just Jimin. He is a ball of energy, yes, but he also seems to enjoy sitting back and watching JK live and explore life. Boyfriends or not, he likes seeing Jungkook happy, and Jungkook likes Jimin to feel taken care of.

[icestarphoenix]

Magical States: All Powers and Weapons

Finally some content from this AU. Big thanks to @the-phoenix-heart for helping with ideas, couldn't have done this without her!

In addition to getting new snazzy outfits, each state has been granted a power and a weapon in the dreamworld. Not all sets are created equal. Some are more combat-oriented, some more support-oriented, some only help themselves, and some only help others. Some states haven't fully realized extent of their powers when they first entered the dream, so the qualities listed here are their baseline abilities.

This is a long post, so the list is under the cut.

Alabama

Power: Cotton Cloud

Alabama can create a red cotton cloud that can slow down whatever is in it.

The cloud is reportedly very comfy.

Weapon: Hammer

His Cotton Cloud makes it easier for him to land hits with his hammer.

It is yellow in color. hehe yellowhammer

Alaska

Power: Bear Form

Alaska can transform into a polar bear at will. Whilst transformed, he still keeps his human mind and ability to talk.

Weapon: Bear claws

In addition to the bear claws from his transformation, the claws on the mitts of the long flaps of his hat can also be used.

Arizona

Power: Hot Hands

Arizona can heat things that he touches.

Weapon: Stiletto daggers

The heat conductive quality of his copper-like daggers allow for him to superheat things in a small point.

Arkansas

Power: Diamond Spikes

He can sprout red diamond spikes from his body. These can be used for defense and/or offense.

Weapon: Hog helmet

Arkansas cannot grow diamonds from his head, so the helmet offers him head protection instead.

Colorado

Power: High Haze

Colorado can emit red smoke from his mouth that gives the effects of altitude sickness to whoever breathes it in.

He cannot control who gets affected so this power is very prone to friendly fire.

States with higher average altitudes will be less affected while lower states will be more affected. Non-personification entities will all feel moderate altitude sickness.

Weapon: Two ice axes

Connecticut

Power: Werewolf

He can partially transform into a wolfish form that enhances his physical speed and strength as well as give him more heightened senses.

Weapon: Shark Grillz

The nutmeg-colored metal over his teeth are sharpened, and they become more effective with Werewolf giving Connie a longer snout.

Delaware

Power: Spot Swap

Delaware can swap places with anybody by saying their name.

Weapon: Shield

It is styled like a kite shield, though more diamond shaped.

Florida

Power: Dragon’s Breath

Florida can shoot fire from his staff, able to shoot fireballs, streams of fire, or maintain a flame for light.

This fire has a magical quality, allowing it to even exist underwater.

Weapon: Gator staff

The gator head at the top of the staff is slightly sentient, and the two trailing ribbons can act as hands.

Georgia

Power: Rest Stop

Georgia can create a circle with a six foot radius around him that can gradually heal the physical injuries of anyone standing in it.

The corresponding area glows peachy pink when he does so.

Weapon: Fiddle

Playing the fiddle allows tree roots to sprout and encircle the circumference of the Rest Stop. As long as Georgia is playing, the roots can move to defend the area. He can do this even if he doesn’t make a Rest Stop.

Idaho

Power: Green Thumb

Idaho can instantly sprout a full grown and healthy potato plant from any solid surface in any environment.

The plant is easy to pull out for harvest.

Weapon: Potato Launcher

He can use the potatoes grown from his Green Thumb as ammo.

The potatoes explode on contact after being launched.

No need to worry about fuel, it’s powered by magic.

Illinois

Power: Danger Sense

Illinois has a heightened instinct for danger and has magically enhanced reflexes.

Weapon: 12 gauge shotgun

The gun shoots buckshot rounds.

Indiana

Power: Superspeed

Weapon: Bullwhip

Inspired by Indiana Jones, this whip is just as versatile. It can be a weapon as well as a grappling tool to grab items, to swing off from, and be used as a rope.

Kansas

Power: Whirlwind

Kansas can manipulate wind.

Weapon: Broom

Combining Whirlwind with his broom, Kansas is able to fly like a witch.

Kentucky

Power: Tune Up

Kentucky can enhance the powers of one person whilst creating music.

Weapon: Native flute

Louisiana

Power: Flight

Louisiana’s pelican wings are larger and finally let him be able to fly. Out of all the other states, his flight is the most agile and precise.

Weapon: Saber

Maine

Power: Ice Breath

Maine can use his Ice Breath to create ramps to launch himself up as well as freeze enemies and create small walls.

Weapon: Ice skates

His skates will always keep the ground under him icy enough to skate on. However, the ice quickly reverts to normal ground the moment he leaves it.

Maryland

Power: Shadow Clones

Maryland can create at most four shadow clones that are equal to him in every way, except that they cannot create more clones.

The four are silhouettes of Maryland tinted red, yellow, white, and black.

Weapon: Lance

Massachusetts

Power: Ghost Troop

Mass can spawn spectral soldiers that fight for him. They’re the same as his Spirit’s. There’s just a small troop of six now.

They use rifles as well as bayonets.

When he spawns more, they rise out of the ground.

Weapon: Polearm

Mainly used to command and direct his soldiers by pointing at whatever needs fighting.

The spearhead resembles that of an upside-down cross.

Michigan

Power: Sharp Frost

By slashing the air, Michigan can project slices of ice or snowy wind. He only needs to create a swinging motion to form and shoot them out.

Weapon: Claw gloves 

Claws can extend from the knuckles of Michigan’s gloves, similar to Wolverine.

Missouri

Power: Foresight

Missouri can sometimes see a spectral image of potentially dangerous events happening seconds before it really happens. It's visible as a short flash in his eyes.

This always triggers if the potentially dangerous event is going to directly affect himself.

Weapon: Mirror Marksman

Missouri has a ray gun that shoots a small laser blast. By itself, the raygun does very little damage.

He can augment his damage by tossing mirror coins into the air that reflect the laser. The more coins are chained, the more damage the laser does.

His Foresight aids him by giving him prediction lines.

Montana

Power: Shooting Star

Montana can call down small golden stars from the sky to strike his opponent with.

The more open sky is available to him, the stronger this power is. The opposite is true as well.

Weapon: Hunting rifle

He shoots the stars from his power as bullets.

Nebraska

Power: Plant manipulation

Nebraska can command plant life to grow and move to his will.

Weapon: Scythe

New Hampshire

Power: Geokinesis

New Hampshire can move and throw earth with his mind. He can even cut out sections of earth to use. However, he cannot shape it.

Weapon: Gauntlets

New Jersey

Power: Fury of the Leeds Devil

New Jersey can dramatically increase his physical capabilities and go into an animalistic mental state by releasing a battle cry.

Weapon: Claw gloves

Not to be confused with Michigan’s Wolverine-esque gloves. The claws go over Jersey’s fingers.

The gloves also have knuckle protection for punching. When he closes his fist, the claws slide up his fingers for more comfortable punching.

New Mexico

Power: Omni-gravity

New Mexico can alter the strength and direction of his own gravity.

Weapon: Grappling hook

New Mexico can separately control the hook’s gravity to help him get around or use it as a flail.

New York

Power: Stormclouds

New York’s Spirit storm clouds can now shoot blue lightning bolts.

Weapon: Spiked bat

His bat is made of metal and can be charged with a lightning strike for more damage.

North Carolina

Power: Tar Heel

The sticky tar can slow down opponents that step in it and/or are covered in it.

Tar is flammable, and other states can set it aflame.

North Carolina’s tar reflects green.

Weapon: Six flintlock pistols

He can summon as many pistols as he wants through the two holster belts strapped across his chest, though only six appear at a time.

The bullets spray buckshot-style, and they spread tar upon hitting the ground which can slow down enemies.

North Dakota

Power: Brotherly Bond

The closer in proximity he is to South Dakota, the more heightened his physical capabilities become.

Weapon: Compound bow

North Dakota often sits on his twin’s motorcycle and shoots arrows from there.

Ohio

Power: Back Tendrils

Ohio can use these to grasp and swing around on the terrain.

Weapon: “Buckbooms,” remote bombs that resemble buckeye nuts.

He is immune to the damage from his own explosions, allowing him to use the force to fly.

Oregon

Power: Woodchipper

Oregon can shred anything in front of him to harmless bits when he creates a small energy field by opening his mouth.

The stuff he eats does gradually fill his stomach, so if he’s full he can’t use his power. 

Weapon: Axe

PA

Power: Forcefields

Hits to his forcefields gradually make his body more fragile.

Weapon: Musket with bayonet

His body now has a composition like that of stone, which makes him more durable than other states. However, his body is now also able to shatter, which prevents him from using any part of him that isn��t attached to his main body. Luckily, the pieces can be easily put back. It is only fatal if the shattered area corresponds to a vital organ rupture or an immediately fatal injury.

South Carolina

Power: Fort Up

South Carolina can spawn a small, wooden, spiked wall out of the ground in front of him.

He can only spawn one at a time, so when he spawns a new one the old one collapses and disappears.

Weapon: Rapier

South Dakota

Power: Brotherly Bond

The closer in proximity he is to North Dakota, the more heightened his physical capabilities become.

Weapon: Motorcycle

To South Dakota, the vehicle is pretty light. It’s light enough for him to lift and swing it with fairly low effort.

The wheels are magically all-terrain, even able to drive over water.

Tennessee

Power: Mockingbird 

Tennessee can mimic voices and sounds that he has heard before.

Weapon: Microphone chain mace

The head of the microphone is spiked and can extend a chain to be swung.

Texas

Power: Retaliate

Texas can absorb the force from hits directed at him and then hit back stronger than before.

He still feels pain, and damage over time like burning or poison can hurt him without fueling his Retaliate.

Weapon: 10 gauge double-barrel shotgun 

Texas can channel the absorbed force into his gun to release it all in one big blast.

Utah

Power: Busy Bees

Utah can have the spectral bees of his Spirit’s halo build various earth constructs to support his fellow states.

These constructs can include walls, ramps, or to elevate states to give them higher ground.

Weapon: Tome

The pages consist of various building schematics for these constructs. Utah can flip through the pages extremely fast to find what he needs.

Vermont

Power: Leaf Darts

Vermont can command the falling leaves of his Spirit to shoot out.

While the leaves continuously generate, Vermont can run out if he uses too many at once.

Weapon: Knife

Virginia

Power: Charm

Virginia can use an elevated charisma to make enemies more docile and easily influenced.

This mainly works on fodder enemies rather than Nightmares.

Weapon: Parazonium

Washington

Power: Precipitate

Washington’s raincloud Spirit can now form rain, hail, sleet, snow, and various types of precipitation.

Weapon: Umbrella

Their umbrella is for combat only, not to shield themself from Precipitate.

West Virginia

Power: Wormhole

The little moths that flit around him can turn into black short-distance portals of various sizes for West to teleport through.

Weapon: Giant pickaxe

Wisconsin

Power: Slipstream

Wisconsin can swim through solid objects as if they were liquid. This includes floors, walls, and ceilings.

He can breathe whilst doing so, but he can’t do any damage if completely submerged.

Weapon: Battleaxe

Wyoming

Power: None

Weapon: None

Wyoming is the weakest magical state in terms of combat strength due to barely changing at all from his normal self.

[dickytwister]

HELLO HI may we please have an official andy introduction 🤲 and also five fun facts about him and also his top five friends please and thank you

of course my liege 🫡🫡 official andy introduction post time

andy (full name andy rey chavez) is not only the most normal man in night city: he’s also the most feared mercenary that has never existed. not everyone is meant to be a hero, and thank god for that, because andy is far from being main character material. he has a shitty part-time job as a cook in a generic fast-food somewhere in heywood and spends the rest of his time working as a handyman, fixing rich people’s appliances everywhere in night city. it’s a simple life, one that he’s almost content with; he doesn’t need the thrill of mercenary life, or the privilege of being wealthy, but he does wish there was more to life than cooking bad food and busting his back to unclog a pipe for someone who’ll barely give enough tip to pay rent. he doesn’t mean to become a merc, but it kinda just. happens. he needs the eddies and even working two ass jobs simply does not cover his expenses, so he finds a fixer, doesn’t bother making up a cool name like “v”, shows up in his plumber clothes, gives his actual name to the dude, and gets sent on a job to steal some intel from a businessman somewhere in city center. an in-and-out gig, no blood, barely any risk. easy. and he somehow manages to fuck it up so, so bad simply by walking into the wrong room. the moment he opens the door, a dozen men turn to look at him. they don’t look very polite, if the way they glare and reach for their weapons means anything. before he can make his exit, however, the men all turn towards each other and start pointing fingers, accusing one another of bringing in backup. from one second to the next, everyone’s weapons are out and it’s all andy can do to hide behind a couch as gunshots erupt across the room. andy sneaks out—runs out, actually, in a very scooby-doo fashion—and goes back home, his gig completely forgotten. during the following weeks, word on the street has it that a new mysterious merc has left carnage in his wake, brutally murdering many high-ranking gang members, leaving the criminal underworld in shambles. no one knows his name, but he apparently calls himself “the handyman.”  he goes back to his normal life, or tries to, hoping no one traces the event back to him. unbeknownst to him, his actions have attracted the attention of both bella, night city’s most desired flower, and finley, a fellow merc just trying to get some peace. 

that’s pretty much all i have for now!! onto the rest now >:]

fun facts:

1- he puts the bi in bitchless. negative rizz. and YET. he still manages to score not one, but TWO baddies, namely bella and finley. they simply cannot resist his loser personality. 2- he cannot drive. does not own a license. does not own a car. what he does have is a scooter just small enough that he has to bend his back in an uncomfortable position to reach the handlebar. can’t afford anything else in this economy. 3- he was once dared to get a tramp stamp, but chickened out the moment the needle touched his skin, so his tattoo consists of a single dot on his tailbone. he tells people it’s a beauty mark. 4- he’s an amazing solo dancer, yet turns into a klutz the moment he has a partner. steps on toes. knees groins. spins people into walls. he’s very bad at this. he’d rather line dance. 5- all his cyberwares are either outdated or repurposed: an mp3 in his ear, a metal plaque on his forehead from bumping his head too much and the tip of a finger from chopping it off while cooking (he got distracted).   6- bonus fun fact: while he loves cooking, he vastly prefers cooking for others. meeting bella and finley is good that way, because they give him a reason to use his kitchen for the first time since [redacted].

top 5 friends (in no particular order):

1- bella. she’s the malfina to his connecticut clark. she’s the girlboss and he’s the malewife. it works for them. whatever bella sees in him, andy hopes it’s enough for her to stay. 2- finley. being besties-with-a-crush with finley is the most stressful part of andy’s life, but he wouldn’t trade it for the world.  3- misty. it’s not widely known, but andy is quite spiritual. he and misty spend time together at her shop, where the vibes slap. 4- hyun-soo. kinda weird, having a friend who’s definitely got some cyberpsychosis going on, but it’s fine. they have dinner together from time to time and hyun-soo always pays. 5. river. ncpd’s only uncorrupted cop befriends night city’s most feared merc. thank god they’re both actually softies and one of them is just some loser guy.

[enchi-elm]

Location FAQ: The Frontier

[for ambience: listen to a forest walk here]

How would you describe the Frontier?

Apfelessig (AE): [weak laugh] You know, I wouldn’t be surprised if Sheep and I have very similar but subtly different interpretations of the Frontier. I guess a better question is how would we individually describe the Frontier? And what ideas did we want it to represent?

ASheepsLife (SL): Insert “knocking over water and sprinting away” meme here. Not to over-mythologise our own creation, but I find it genuinely hard to picture the Frontier. I suppose one could call it an actualisation of the US-American frontier myth, but one that doesn’t render it real; a place that does but doesn’t exist. No wonder the bastard’s so elusive.

AE: At one point I was thinking of the Frontier as the space between the waterline and the shoreline of the Connecticut coast of the Long Island Sound. Like–this kind of infinitely slim line that somehow expands into this alternate realm. And then in some drafts of the story, it felt like the realm was smack dab in the middle of the Sound and you reached it by getting lost on a ship or on the land… It was never really a defined geographical area, for sure.

Who lives in the Frontier?

AE: Hah, so “lives” is maybe not the correct verb. “Roams”, maybe. “Dwells” might apply to one or two of them. It’s a terrain for undead, undying, unkillable, and immortal persons, as well as one who was dead and came back and another who was reborn.

SL: We do cover the whole spectrum of possible states of (non-)existence, of "no-longer", "maybe", "once again", "never-were" living. In its nature as a space of liminality, of elusive boundaries and boundary crossing, I think the very inability to define is a central part of the whole unsettling, disturbing point.

AE: At its simplest, we’ve got a whole cast of different mythologies. Witches, werewolves, ghouls, etc. Everything that goes bump in the night–but we’ve created a very dangerous and transient place for them to share space.

SL: And I think it’s not entirely clear, even to us, to what extent the Frontier and the war are entangled. In what sense do the dwellers, shall we call them, of this realm have a hand in its shaping in their perpetuating of the war? Obviously different characters have different relationships to this (supposedly) endless conflict, but I think they all are in some form or other entangled with the very existence of this place.

Are any of them ever getting out of there?

AE: We joked a lot about making it like Hotel California, the song, you know: “You can check out any time you like but you can never leave”. And there’s a bit of ambiguity around the Witch and whether he can leave. He seems to occupy a niche no one else does and we often discussed whether he was in fact a go-between of the worlds of the living and the undead.

SL: Interestingly enough, I think that would make him a lynchpin for this world, bringing it from a metaphorical place to somewhere you can actually go - at least if you’re undead. Perhaps paradoxically, it would lend presence to a world that is otherwise so hard to pin down. I can’t really speak to whether that’s a desirable thing or not. It’s all about the ambiguity, really.

AE: As for the rest… if they’re not stuck there by some external force, it’s their own actions and ideas that keep them tethered to this liminal space. But ultimately it’s fuzzy and unclear. Like so much of what we’re being told, we’re not sure who’s lying and who’s telling the truth, and who even knows the truth anyway, and if there’s only one version of the truth or several. Ambiguity was always important to us. It features in both of our storytelling heavily.

SL: Also, getting out implies the possibility of lasting change; is that even achievable for something that by definition requires being perpetually upheld?

____________________________________________

Read the story on AO3 here. // Read the DVD Commentary on AO3 here.

____________________________________________

Search the tag #The Lighthouse AU on @enchi-elm’s and @meretriciouslyloquacious’s blogs for the complete experience as it goes on.

Stay up to date on Apfel’s Blog // Stay up to date on Sheep’s Blog

[sunnydalestudies]

Wrestling with Whedon

Welcome, Scooby Gang!

When we discuss Buffy the Vampire Slayer, it’s impossible to ignore its creator, Joss Whedon. Once considered a nerd god, his fall from grace has stunned fans, leaving them just as heartbroken as those of the Harry Potter franchise. But let’s start from the beginning: who is Joss Whedon? Many consider Whedon the auteur of BtVS, a term used to denote “a film director who influences their films so much that they rank as their author” (OED); think here of Alfred Hitchcock. Although all of Whedon’s projects, including BtVS, were brought to life by an army of creatives, Whedon is still credited as the creator and sometimes writer and director, rendering his name and contributions inseparable from these projects. 

Joss Whedon might be one of the worst nepotism babies of television writing, with his grandfather being a writer on shows such as The Andy Griffith Show and The Golden Girls being among his father’s projects. Growing up in New York City, Whedon lived a life of luxury, attending Winchester College, a British boarding school, and graduating from Wesleyan University in Connecticut. Although this all sounds like a peaceful and privileged life, Whedon has also come out to say that his parents “ran the home as though they were in the thick of” “a writers’-room battle” and that if he or his brothers “weren’t funny or entertaining or agreeing with them, they would cut [them] down or turn to stone” (Vulture). Because of his childhood experiences, Whedon says that “he suffers from complex post-traumatic-stress disorder” (Vulture); yet, despite not wanting to discredit his trauma, I don’t believe that this excuses him for how he went on to treat others in his life. 

In the 1990s and 2000s, Whedon’s career steadily grew and his cult following of fans with it. With projects such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992, 1997-2003), Angel (1999-2004), Toy Story (1995), Alien Resurrection (1997), Firefly (2002), Serenity (2005), Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog (2008), and Dollhouse (2009-10), Joss Whedon became a god and a king among nerds and the comic-book artist Scott R. Kurtz even designed a highly successful shirt in 2005 that read “Joss Whedon is my Master Now.” Even within the workplace, “a sort of cult of personality formed around Whedon” where “the standard reaction to Joss was worship” (Vulture). During this time, many of Whedon’s projects did not succeed to the extent that many believed they should have, beginning with the “painful” interpretation of his vision for the original BtVS movie, as Kai Cole, his ex-wife, put it (The Wrap), and continuing through to the mishandling and cancellation of Firefly. As a Vice article puts it: 

“The culture of liking Joss Whedon was at this point already about defending him from various enemies—networks who canceled his shows, actors who he claimed said his lines incorrectly, or improvised too much. [...] His success was a symbol of success for liberal nerds everywhere, a sign that comic books and genre fiction could be taken seriously by the world at large. If you were wrapped up in that fandom, any criticism of Whedon became an attack on everything that nerds love, and it’s a dynamic that doesn’t exist only in the past tense.” (Vice)

This passionate and often obsessive fanbase aided Whedon’s breakthrough into mainstream culture in the early 2010s, when, within a single year, Whedon released three very different yet successful projects: The Cabin in the Woods (2012), a horror movie satire, Much Ado About Nothing (2012) a black and white DIY production of a Shakespeare classic, and The Avengers (2012), the renowned Marvel superheroes film. This year marked the height of Whedon’s career, with his following projects slowly marking his downfall. 

In 2015, with the release of The Avengers: Age of Ultron, Whedon encountered his first backlash and the first indications of flaws in his feminism. Viewers labelled the film as sexist because of a scene where Black Widow claims to be monstrous since she cannot bear children. Two years later, in 2017, Whedon’s scrapped 2006 Wonder Woman script leaked, and those who read it once again saw his portrayal of female superheroes as sexist, this time regarding his script as a nerd’s wet dream. Later that same year, Kai Cole, Whedon’s ex-wife, released a public statement about her relationship with Whedon and revealed his numerous affairs and over a decade of lying. In this article, Cole explains that they met in 1991 and were married for over twenty years before separating. In this time, spanning the most successful years of Whedon’s career, Kai Cole says: “I loved him. And in return, he lied to me. A lot” (The Wrap). Cole believes that “he used his relationship with [her] as a shield [...] so no one would question his relationships with other women or scrutinize his writing as anything other than feminist” (The Wrap). Whedon even did the opposite and used his feminist reputation as a defence in his marriage when Cole was at times “uncomfortable with the attention Joss paid other women” (The Wrap). She elaborates that “he always had a lot of female friends, but he told me it was because his mother raised him as a feminist, so he just liked women better. He said he admired and respected females, he didn’t lust after them. I believed him and trusted him” (The Wrap). Sadly, Whedon’s later projects—and even earlier projects, although viewers did not notice it—revealed that he did not solely admire and respect strong female characters but sexualized them for his own satisfaction. 

Whedon’s reputation as a feminist was so strong that he had even previously received awards for his feminist efforts, notably when “Equality Now gave him an award in 2006—presented by Meryl Streep—for his efforts as a male feminist” (Vice). Cole wanted to correct this vision of Whedon, who, as she says, “never conceded the hypocrisy of being out in the world preaching feminist ideals, while at the same time, taking away [her] right to make choices for [her] life and [her] body based on the truth” (The Wrap). In the end, Cole only desired to warn against the previously normalized worship of her ex-husband and explained, “I want to let women know that he is not who he pretends to be. I want the people who worship him to know he is human, and the organizations giving him awards for his feminist work, to think twice in the future about honouring a man who does not practice what he preaches” (The Wrap). Cole’s statement was the fandom’s wake-up call, but many continued worshiping Whedon, simply acknowledging that he was human and made mistakes. At this point, all we knew was that he cheated on his wife—it was sad, but it was not anything out of the ordinary for celebrities and the average person alike. 

Over the years, more women have come forward to share their experiences with romantic or sexual relationships with Joss Whedon. In Cole’s article, she says that Whedon had his first affair on the set of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and years later, after coming clean about this, he told her, “I was surrounded by beautiful, needy, aggressive young women. It felt like I had a disease, like something from a Greek myth. Suddenly I am a powerful producer and the world is laid out at my feet and I can’t touch it” (The Wrap). Whedon has used this feeling of helplessness as an excuse for his mistreatment of the women of BtVS numerous times, explaining elsewhere that “he had felt he ‘had’ to sleep with them, that he was ‘powerless’ to resist” (Vulture). If this reminds you of rapists blaming their actions on their victims’ clothing, professions, or behaviours, saying they couldn’t control themselves, you’re not the only one. Even as a younger man at university, “he admired strong women like his mother, yet he’d discovered he was capable of hurting them, ‘usually by sleeping with them and ghosting or whatever’” (Vulture). In the accounts from women who dated Whedon after his marriage ended, “he was not the hero they had read about in the press, the one who wanted to see women in control; he was more like the cold-blooded men he depicted in his work” (Vulture), and the Whedon at Wesleyan sounds a lot like Parker Abrams from early season four, or even Angel right after he lost his soul. Since his marriage ended, Whedon has sought treatment for a love and sex addiction, a path also taken by celebrities such as “James Franco, Kevin Spacey, and Harvey Weinstein” (Vulture). If Vulture’s article was more recent, I am sure Kanye West would also be on that list. Additionally, celebrities such as Russell Brand, David Duchovny, Tiger Woods, and Rob Lowe have also sought treatment for the same addiction, with many of these celebrities only doing so in response to a cheating scandal. Whether Whedon has healed and grown in this regard is unbeknownst to us, but many before him paved this path to redemption in the media’s eyes. 

The same year as Cole’s statement, Justice League (2017) came to theatres, which Whedon later labelled as “one of the biggest regrets of his life” and would contribute considerably to his downfall (Vulture). The original director of the film was Zach Snyder, who had his own group of devoted and worshiping fans, but he had to drop the project to be with his family after his daughter committed suicide, so Whedon took over the post-production duties. Whedon did more than oversee the final touches, though, and instead made drastic changes to the film. After viewers were disappointed by Whedon’s version, they demanded to see Snyder’s, which the studio released in 2021; yet, before its release in 2020, the cast began speaking out about their experiences with Whedon. What precipitated the avalanche of testimonies regarding Whedon’s workplace behaviour was a July 2020 tweet by Ray Fisher saying that “Joss Whedon’s on-set treatment of the cast and crew of Justice League was gross, abusive, unprofessional, and completely unacceptable.” Following Fisher’s statement, allegations of racist treatment of the actor and character surfaced, and other actors came forward with their experiences. Suddenly, the fans who worshiped Snyder were attacking Whedon online, and those who previously worshipped Whedon weren’t sure what to do. Allegations of Whedon abusing his power continued to emerge over the next few months, but what put the nail in the coffin holding Whedon’s reputation happened in 2021 when Charisma Carpenter went to Twitter to rehash her experiences with Whedon on the set of Angel. This was not the first time she had discussed his “casually cruel” behaviour or her wrongful dismissal; in fact, “the actress has been talking about it with fans and reporters for more than a decade” (Vulture), but it was nonetheless the final straw. By the time the first half-season of The Nevers (2021) premiered on HBO, promising Whedon’s return to television, Joss Whedon had already stepped down as the showrunner, and the marketing did not acknowledge his involvement. In the year and a half since its airing, HBO has cancelled the show and removed the already aired episodes from their library—HBO, at the very least, is treating Whedon to the full cancellation treatment, and we will see who follows suit. 

But what does this all mean to the fandom and scholars? In truth, no one is sure, but they have been asking just that for the past two years. Since so many people around the world love BtVS so much and yet are so deeply disappointed in what has come to light about Whedon, many people have decided to divorce the art from the artist, completely ignoring Whedon’s role in its production, or they have erased BtVS from their lives. These are both flawed responses. The first response, where people have separated the art from the artist, neglects the richness of potential scholarship or understanding that becomes available by analyzing BtVS alongside what we now know about Whedon. As one article explains, “the belief that [Buffy’s] story was something other than a projection of his psyche is ultimately just another fantasy. Whedon did understand pain — his own. Some of that pain, as he once put it to me, ‘spilled over’ into the people around him. And some of it was channeled into his art” (Vulture). There is new and rich nuance to BtVS that fans and scholars alike should not ignore. The second response ignores the contributions of everyone else who worked on the show; it feels inappropriate to disregard the effort of these writers, producers, directors, makeup artists, costume designers, set designers, actors, and the list goes on, especially if they continued to contribute to a project they saw the merits in despite the work environment being less than ideal or even toxic and abusive. If they endured Whedon’s cruelty during BtVS’ production, then we should acknowledge and be thankful for their work rather than dismiss it because of their boss’ wrongdoings. 

After all, BtVS now belongs to the fans and scholars who have made it what it is, and although people throw this sentiment around, it is grounded in literary theory, that being Roland Barthes’ ‘Death of the Author’ essay from 1967. In this essay, Barthes puts forth that we, as fans and scholars, should not study a work in tandem with its author and that an author does not exist in the way we think of it. It’s a complicated essay, so let’s pick out some pieces that help us understand BtVS and Whedon. Barthes makes two foundational statements about authorship: “writing is the destruction of every voice, every origin. […] this gap appears, the voice loses its origin, the author enters into his own death, writing begins,” and “the text is a fabric of quotations, resulting from a thousand sources of culture. […] the writer can only imitate an ever anterior, never original gesture.” According to Barthes, the author does not create anything new but instead translates, borrows, and recontextualizes what already exists; further, he is not doing so with his own voice, but he is merely the medium through which these previous sources move—the author dies as the work is born. Relating this to BtVS, we must remind ourselves of what the writers claimed to be their inspirations, but also what we see within the series since the show as a whole may appear new despite everything within it has previously existed and carries meaning with it. All those pop culture references that the show makes seem inconsequential but may be much more significant than we previously understood since the significance behind these references impacts the meaning of BtVS. 

BtVS’ authorship is further complicated when we consider Barthes’ assertions that “to assign an Author to a text is to impose a brake on it, to furnish it with a final signified, to close writing. […] once the Author is found, the text is ‘explained.’” Although I just explained how I believe that we should acknowledge Whedon’s influence on BtVS, I want to emphasize that we will never truly understand the collective authorship of BtVS since so many talented writers were in the writing room, many individuals worked on the project, and even the viewers were able to impact the show’s development. Finally, Barthes makes the point that art belongs to the fans, saying that “the unity of a text is not in its origin but in its destination,” and I understand this to mean that the meaning of art is not decided by the author or writer but by the reader or watcher, and gives them what they need from it. Each BtVS viewer came to the show from a different place, and yet so many people found something special in it which spoke to them, and the writers may claim to have meant these things or not, but the meaning, or “unity of a text,” is not dictated by the writers, but by the fans, the “destination.” 

Joss Whedon may have written the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer script thirty years ago, and the show may have concluded twenty years ago, but BtVS never truly belonged to Whedon. BtVS has always belonged to the viewers, fans, and scholars, so although Whedon’s actions have added complications to the series and how people now enjoy it, they should not stop anyone’s enjoyment of it. 

That’s that for this Sunnydale study session!

Liz

TL;DR: Whedon sucks and I recommend you read these articles: 

https://www.vulture.com/article/joss-whedon-allegations.html

https://www.thewrap.com/joss-whedon-feminist-hypocrite-infidelity-affairs-ex-wife-kai-cole-says/

https://www.vice.com/en/article/v7d34y/when-joss-whedon-was-our-master