#I have genuinely put a lot of thought into exactly what I'd need to make this a reality

[its-hai-time]

Just gonna throw It out there, that there are a few members of AA's fandom who have made fangames- and a few are working on a redo of AJ rn. Perhaps one day, if you happen to run into someone who can make it a reality, you can run AJ2 by them. (Sorry if this came out of nowhere, just thought I'd mention it.)

No worries! I'm super aware abt AA fangames and casemakers and stuff, I've had several people come to me abt them and I've even had friends offer to learn how to code an aa fangame to make AJ2 real. It's just such a big commitment that it's hard to say whether I can do it or not. I'd definitely need a larger team of writers, coders, and artists than my tiny friend group, lol.

Not that this is a call to action for anybody, if you wanna make something for my AU I say absolutely do it and tag me, but for now it's gonna stay in text and comic form.

[helslastangel]

I'm back bxtches

Random Observations #9

Y'all still need the disclaimer or will reason prevail?

🦂 Scorpio Mars are POWERHOUSES in my not-so-humble opinion. If you are prone to procrastination, especially in your career or as an entrepreneur, Aries Mars might hype you up but a Scorpio Mars (esp in 10H) is gonna make damn sure you finish your to-do list.

I had a friend with this placement and she literally bribed me with weed to come to her house, then she took my phone and house keys and made me sit and finish designing my business cards and send them to Vistaprint before she'd give my damn keys back. Made over $5K USD from my next few clients though so I wasn't even mad about it lol

🦀 I don't care what the astrology girls like to say - my observations of Cancer moons is that they are FORGIVING AF. Like it takes a lot for a Cancer moon to be really done with you and chances are you're more wrong than they are.

Cancer moons come off as manipulative to a lot of people. But when you actually dig below the surface, you'll notice this common thread where people who aren't good at seeing other people's points of view unless they need something immediately project that attitude onto people who genuinely give a shit.

Obviously there are evil Cancer moons and they're extra terrifying for the above reason, but they're the minority and the slander is unnecessary imo. The people who have literally put up with my WORST behavior the longest and genuinely dropped it after a good open conversation were all Cancer moons.

👬 Which leads me to another interesting astro trope I'd like to kick over right about now. Gemini moons. Love them but in my experience they are usually what people think Cancer moons are. Gemini moons, from my observation, don't soak up as much, if any, of other peoples' energies. They're gonna keep it moving emotionally regardless of how you wanna be in the moment. That means they can easily smile with you for years if that's the path of least resistance, but that does NOT mean they particularly like, care about or think highly of you at all. They MIGHT, but you will NOT know unless they want you to know or you somehow trigger them enough to rip the black tape off the redacted parts of their mental file on you.

If you're someone who is used to everything being totally transparent and straightforward, you're in for a wild ride with a Gemini moon in your life. I've had quite a few as friends or coworkers, etc., and I promise without fail there always came the day where I ended up wiping tears of laughter from my eyes, feet up on my desk, twiddling my thumbs listening to the 11-minute voice note from the latest Gemini moon in my life. Pretty much telling me in no uncertain terms exactly what they thought of me, where I should go, why, and how happy they would be to direct me there personally.

As a Capricorn moon, I never have the kind of reaction they'd like to this but it's always interesting to see the abrupt change as they can literally seem perfectly cool 3 minutes before the other twin takes over. I don't even think it's a good or bad thing, just how it goes.

Cancer moons seem this way but chances are you chose to ignore the VERY OBVIOUS SIGNS THAT SOMETHING (probably everything) was wrong, lol. Cancer moons can't hide their feelings for shit (reason #101 why I love them; it's easier for me to fix a problem if i can quickly see there is one 😂).

🦁 Let's change tracks and talk about Leo mercuries for a minute. Y'all get your inside and outside voices mixed up a LOT, lol. Every Leo mercury I know had trouble speaking quietly in quiet-appropriate situations but then catch them outside trying to get their friends attention at the other side of the street and suddenly it's like Tom got their tongue and tossed it to Jerry. Can barely get a sound out. Why is that? I know it wouldn't be all Leo mercuries but for those who experience this, please tell me what it is, I'm genuinely curious lol. As a Libra mercury I kinda have a similar problem. On another note, I've noticed that Leo mercuries can be highly persuasive people even if solely because of the amount of power and confidence they put behind the things they say.

My ex-husband has Leo Mercury at 24° (Pisces degree) and I promise you that man could make you believe anything against your will 😂 One time he was trying to get out of having to go to a friend's event and rather than just decline like a normal person, he crafted this masterpiece of an excuse that somehow involved me needing his attention (I had been on the couch under his arm half the day so no lol) but the way he spoke on the phone?

I swear to God even I caught myself nodding along all like "yeah, yes I did feel a bit neglected today and wanted more time with babe"... 😂😂😂 like NO TF I DID NOT FEEL NEGLECTED AT ALL but I got second-hand convinced lol. And yes he was loud when I or his friends were 12 inches away but couldn't raise his voice for shit to order through the drive-thru at McDonald's lol it was cute, though, I'd do the yelling into the intercom thing 😂

🐟 Lemme say this about Pisces suns - you are very underrated, from my observations. I've noticed Pisces suns in particular struggle with one of two major issues when it comes to others' perceptions of them - either people seem compelled to minimize/infantilize their contributions and achievements, or people fail to notice they exist altogether (or forget about them easily). I've always held my Pisces sun friends close for as long as I could and hyped them up because nearly every Pisces sun I've met has been incredibly talented and usually creative in some way. I'm talking genius levels of ability in some area that goes completely overlooked or undervalued by the majority of people in their circles.

These are the people who you vaguely notice as the cool server, hot bartender, friendly delivery guy, helpful sales associate, only for you to run into them somewhere else and you find out they run a whole personal training business or play 6 instruments perfectly and give lessons to kids, or taught themselves professional photography and have a camera in their bedroom worth more than your savings account. I've met so many Pisces suns who seemed to be one way and then there were so many layers to them that it was like reading an interactive novel.

That's what was on my mind for now, drop your favorite placement from your own chart in the comments, I'll compile them for random observations #10 😘

[rogueddie]

Eddie couldn't take his eyes off of the ugliest, evil looking polo top that he's ever had the misfortune to lay his eyes upon. It's everything he hates in one piece of clothing, so horrible that he'd gagged at it when he'd first seen it.

His friends had laughed, agreeing that the top is an abomination and crime against humanity.

But Eddie couldn't stop looking at it.

It's the exact type of thing that Steve would wear. It's the type of thing he would love and brag about.

Even though the party, with the help of Robin, have been trying to 'fix' Steve and his taste. They're currently targetting his wardrobe and they're almost wearing him down enough to get him to stop wearing so many polos.

It's making Eddie feel... conflicted.

He agrees that Steves taste is horrible. He listens to bad pop music most of the time, he has no sense of fashion and loves romance so much that he thinks awful rom-coms are the height of cinema.

But it's Steve. Those things are what make him so... Steve.

He sneaks back to the top when his friends aren't looking, crouching behind racks to get to the till and quickly buy it. He buries it in the bottom of his bag, ignoring the bored and judgemental look the staff are giving him.

"There you are," Gareth squints at him when he rejoins them. "Where did you go?"

"Fainted," he sneers, throwing an arm around Jeffs shoulders. "All these neons and pop are making me dizzy."

They laugh, quickly moving on.

After dropping them off, he goes straight to Steves house. He doesn't want the ugly shirt on his person longer than necessary and the last thing he needs is someone finding it in his closet.

He nearly cheers when he pulls up to Steves house and his parents car isn't parked out front.

They'd only caught him in their house once, when they'd come home early, and he's sure he only escaped with his life because the entire party was there too.

"Eddie?" Steve frowns when he opens the door. "What are you doing here? Are you ok?"

"Yeah, fine, just..." he huffs, rubbing his eyes. He digs through the bag, grabbing the offending shirt, and throwing it at Steve. "Got you that. I thought- whatever. There. Good night."

"Woah, woah," Steve quickly catches his arm. "It's ok, man. If the others ask then I'll say I got it. It's... this is really nice, Eds."

"It's ugly."

"Sure," Steve snorts, looking back to the shirt. "But it's definitely my style. This really means a lot to me. I think it looks cool."

"Uh, yeah, I guessed," Eddie shifts, squirming with how genuine Steve is being. "It's just a polo."

"No, it's not. It's special to me."

"Right, because you think that pattern is 'so-"

"You saw it and thought of me. Like, you hate it, but you knew I'd like it and... it just means a lot to me, that you're thinking of me."

"Alright, it's just a shirt, calm down."

"No, I don't think I will," Steve gently tugs him inside so he can shut the door. "I get it if this is difficult for you but I'm getting impatient."

"If- what?"

"Do you need me to make the first move? Or- is this a move? Is your love language gift giving or something?"

"You've lost me."

Steve huffs, putting his hands on his hips and giving Eddie a look that he can only describe as 'disappointed parent'.

"We've been flirting for months and you haven't done anything about it." Steve falters quickly when he sees the shock on Eddies face. "Or... am I missing something? Is it the whole, like... keeping it secret thing? Because I don't mind! It's not safe to be out in Hawkins, I know, and I'm not expecting a big date at-"

"You knew that I was flirting with you," Eddie interrupts. "This whole time?"

"Well, yeah, I was also flirting with you."

Eddie stares at him for a moment. "And you've been waiting for me to make a move on you?"

"Exactly. Was I not being obvious enough? I didn't want to out you or anything..."

"No... in retrospect you were being very clear. All of Robins cryptic advice makes so much sense now. Oh, God, even Wayne figured it out."

[petalsonmoon]

you hang from my lips like the Gardens of Babylon.

"it's ridiculous." then he leaned his body foward, his fingers meeting his toes. an elongation you would take embarrasingly months to be able to do that flawlessly.

"and really fucking stupid" he proceeds his thoughts.

"oh please, do go on." you look down to your notes and continue to write your ridiculous ideas.

the sun was far too bright and where its glow met the leaves of the large number of trees around you they were gleaming, like they were immensely happy.

"i hope your little notebook accidently burns to ashes."

"kind of you to say accidently."

"yeah no problem at all"

you glance up to find that he has his knee bended to his chest and quickly look back to the pen in your hand. quite misteriously your hands are stained from it.

"you making the walking sleeping bag one too?" his voice is raspy and angry and very clear. how does he sound so good while doing post training stretching?

perhaps you're looking too much into it. your crush makes you a bit giddy, idiotic in a lot of senses. makes you feel a child just like the word itself is infant. crush.

you sigh heavyly.

"still deciding" you draw a little explosion on the corner of the page.

"might as well do it for class b too."

"if i got a penny for every dramatic sentence that came out of your mouth-"

he had his back to you but he insisted on turning his head to you to send you the most chilling glare for exactly 3 seconds. that's his stupidity. his eyes were already too pretty in your eyes for you to feel an ounce of that anger.

"-only today i'd have like," you scrunch your nose "the amount of money equivalent to the ferocity of all might's powers."

he doesn't bother to look at you again and you smile.

"would you look at that. i should look for the person with this quirk."

he growls. loud. and you're smile is genuine.

he sits up straight, his back to you and starts leisurely move his neck. that's the sign he's almost done.

"putting too much money for those idiots.”

"it's not that much" you reason. "don't feel that way for too long, you're getting one too."

with that, it's over.

he turns to you and when those red eyes meet yours the trees are for sure shinning somewhat brighter.

the response for your affirmation it's a furrow between his eyebrows. his skin glowing a bit but that's not your absurd heart speaking, it's just his sweat.

"uhum" now you're messing with the grass. it estabilizes you. "yours is actually the only one that i drew and painted myself. the other ones i made with suna from the support course"

an ant crawled into your point finger.

"but don't tell them that." you whisper.

the ant made it to your pulse when you feel a literal body falling on top of you.

"you motherfucker! you are drenched-"

"that shitty little brain of yours-" his face on your neck. his words and breathing warming your whole body. you are exploding on the inside. how ironic.

"-and your stupid handmade keychains for the whole class" and then he lighly bites where your neck meets your shoulder.

his hands trails your arms, his fingers are burning pathways in your skin until they meet your hands and they interlock with your fingers. then he finally lifts his head and looks at you and what you're feeling is something words can't understand.

"i was gonna wait until graduation."

"tomorrow, you mean."

he bites your chin and you're so fucking certain you'll melt any second now. "because of that fucking tone i'm going to burn all of your little gifts."

you smile at him trying to match his damn audacity. his charm? his mind blowing handsomeness? "i'll murder you."

you blink and feel his breath on your neck again. "do it now, cupcake." then. his maddening warm and soft lips leaves a kiss under your earlobe. you close your eyes. "you have the power to."

"don't wait until tomorrow."

he lifts his head again and there's a smirk with a softness in the corner of it on his face. "or?"

"i might die." you whisper. it is serious to you. you need his lips on yours this very second. with his eyes on yours, telling you every adoration you thought about him for the last couple of months before going to bed, you think might. actually. die.

"who's the dramatic one now, brat?"

[should-be-sleeping]

Tough day today... and friendly reminder that being human is easier when we help each other.

I saw one of our neighbors, an older woman we sometimes talk to in passing, sitting outside of her house. I don't know what exactly made me look twice, but on second glance as we drove by I realized her walker was in the grass. She was otherwise just sitting there, like she had a thousand times before, so it would have been easy to assume she was fine and go on with my life as normal but something told me to go check in on her anyway.

She was not fine. She was the polar opposite of fine. Just diagnosed with terminal cancer not fine. No next of kin not fine. A veteran facing eviction from her house for missing rent while in the hospital not fine. In constant debilitating pain not fine. Only semi-lucid not fine. She was extremely alone not fine.

I thought, at most, she might be bored while unable to pick up her walker not fine. A five minute detour from my day not fine. A help her back into her house and say "see you later!" not fine. Instead I spent the last three hours with her because she was so scared and alone and no one should be alone.

We talked a lot while I was there. She's actually two years younger than my mom (who also has cancer but slightly better luck, I guess). I helped her into her house and got her a drink and we talked about what all is going on with her. None of it was good. I was as reassuring as I could be, but there's only so much of this I can actually help her with.

"Why did you come?" she asked through tears.

"Because you looked like you might need some help."

She called me an angel. I told her I was just doing my best. I told her that kindness should never be rare. That we should all try to make the world just a little bit better than it was.

She offered to pay me but I told her I was just there as a friend. Before today we were basically strangers. No need to repay me with anything other than her company, I assured her. She cried, a lot. I managed not to somehow. Something tells me she had needed to cry long before this but in being Strong she never had the chance to.

She needed to get her mail, which is a long walk when you're disabled because it is not at all handicap accessible (across a parking lot, over a bridge, across a small field). So I helped her get her mail. We stopped every three feet because her pain was so bad, but she was determined to be able to go do this with me and not just send me on an errand. I patiently stayed with her and reminded her, through her apologies, it was fine to take our time: there was a nice breeze and birds were singing. She appreciated this. She loves nature.

Halfway back she said she wanted to go to the pool. To put her feet in the water. She loves water, and has not been able to even see the pool in a month. Neither of us were dressed for swimming, but I took her to the pool anyway. There is a stair leading down to it, meaning she couldn't bring her walker, so I offered her my arm.

We went to the pool. She put her feet in the water and then, with more energy and enthusiasm than I'd seen the whole time, she jumped in. In her fancy dress! She was instantly ten years younger at least, clear and happy, floating in the sun. Dress and all. She grew up with a pool and had been on a swim team.

I sat by the edge of the pool while she swam, keeping her company and also making sure she was okay. When she got tired I took her back home and then had to help her get undressed and redressed. I made sure she felt no shame. Getting out of wet clothes is hard for anyone, let alone someone with like twenty pounds of tumors racking them with constant pain.

She was so fucking happy to have gone swimming.

She is trying to "make everything right" before she goes. Trying to repay her debt to society and her debts in general. She couldn't understand why the corporation that owns our houses wouldn't take her money. She was genuinely distressed -- not to be homeless on her deathbed but to not leave this world with a clean slate. I told her intent matters. She can only do her best.

This company not letting her repay her debt was their fault, not hers.

When I finally needed to go, I told her to let me know any time she needed a hand or just wanted company. She told me she was going to die tonight. I told her I hoped not, so I could see her tomorrow. I offered her a hug, we hugged and she sobbed for a solid ten minutes into my shoulder. I told her she was okay. That it was okay.

When I got home I cried myself, because I could not believe she was going through all of that alone. I cannot even imagine how isolated she must have felt. Once I pulled myself back together I sent her a text reminding her to reach out any time and I'd do my best to come over. Like, any time at all.

I hope she is here tomorrow.

[evilbihan]

Kuai Liang is not "nice"

This is technically the second part of my character analysis for Kuai Liang, so be sure to check out the first part focusing on Kuai Liang's personality, goals and his relationship with his brothers and Harumi.

This part will focus on how Kuai Liang treats other characters and upon closer inspection, the image of the "sweet wholesome guy everyone adores" that the fandom crafted for him starts to crumble very quickly.

Kitana and Mileena:

Mileena: My bond with Kitana can't be broken. Scorpion: I'd once thought the same of mine with Bi-Han.

Why exactly is Kuai Liang trying to make Mileena doubt Kitana's loyalty to her? We have all seen Kitana's tower ending. She has gone out of her way to secure her sister's reign, she defends Mileena fiercely and is genuinely worried about her. It upsets her to see other members of the court conspiring against her sister. Kitana is nothing but loyal to Mileena, in a way Kuai Liang was never loyal to Bi-Han.

"I'm disappointed in my brother's decisions and therefore everyone else's siblings suck too." That's not a healthy or mature mindset. He's projecting his own family issues onto Mileena and Kitana, who actually share a wholesome bond, and tries to create distrust and dispute where there is none. And why? Out of jealousy? It's hard to tell, but this was uncalled for.

It's particularly awful because Kitana is actually trying to help fix Kuai Liang's relationship with his own brother while it seems Kuai Liang is trying to ruin hers with Mileena.

Kitana: You've broken Kuai Liang's heart. Sub-Zero: It won't be the only part of him I damage.

Kitana: I understand congratulations are in order. Scorpion: How did news of my marriage reach Outworld?

Kitana: Weapons. Soldiers. Whatever you -- Scorpion: I have all that I need to defeat Bi-Han.

She's also offering him her and Outworld's support and is really just being nice to him, yet he never once shows gratitude and even tries to plant doubts about her in her sister's mind behind her back.

Nitara:

Scorpion: If you would only feed on lower species -- Nitara: Humans are a lower species.

"Lower species"? What species exactly is Kuai Liang talking about here? What's his definition of a lower species? Tarkatans? Netherrealmers? One could assume he means animals, but then why doesn't he say so? Instead, he's using a term that's often used in f*cist language. Who or what he's referring to isn't specified either, but it's definitely a questionable choice of words regardless.

Let's be honest, the mindset that there's "lower species" that are not deserving of life, as Kuai Liang basically implies by claiming Nitara should feed on them instead, says quite a lot about the kind of person he is. No matter what he's speaking of here, I still think this is pretty fucked up from any standpoint, especially because Kuai Liang doesn't explicitly say that he's talking about animals.

This is just my opinion, but even if he were to "only" be talking about animals here, I think it's downright wrong to say any animals are a "lower species", given the fact that we very much depend on certain animals for our own survival. Even if we give Kuai Liang the benefit of the doubt, he still sounds incredibly uneducated and ignorant. To not value the life of other creatures is not a good look on him, but then again we've seen how much he values his own brother's life so the bar is quite literally in hell.

Raiden:

Scorpion: Liu Kang's revelation has shaken my faith in him. Raiden: Understandable, given what he chose to hide.

Reptile: Am I right to put faith in Liu Kang? Scorpion: He's always proven worthy of mine.

Oh, has he now?

Kuai Liang is beginning to sound two-faced. He's certainly not conflicted because he still continues to follow Liu Kang and advices others to do the same. He also doesn't openly criticize or doubt Liu Kang like Tomáš and Bi-Han do. But he himself has lost some of his faith in Liu Kang, yet he judges Bi-Han for having done the same thing? Where does any of that make sense?

Bi-Han:

Scorpion: You would shed your brother's blood? Sub-Zero: Because you choose to stand in my way.

The first blood shed was Bi-Han's, not Kuai Liang's, but because Bi-Han doesn't bear a visible scar, no one acknowledges that.

Kuai Liang is once again showing manipulative behavior here. Blaming everything on his brother and pretending he did nothing wrong. Guilt tripping Bi-Han for something he himself has done.

Kuai Liang's actions are not even the biggest problem here. You can somehow justify what he did with him being hurt/angry when he found out about the true circumstances of his father's death. It's the fact that he refuses to take any responsibility for what he did and acts completely innocent although he's anything but, that shows he's not who the fandom makes him out to be.

Even Bi-Han stands by what he does. Kuai Liang can't even own up to his actions.

Liu Kang:

Liu Kang: You allow vengeance to consume you. Scorpion: I should not punish Bi-Han for his crimes?

So, Liu Kang seems concerned with Kuai Liang's thirst for vengeance. What's even more noteworthy is that we have Kuai Liang, a mortal, speak to Liu Kang, a literal god, about punishing someone else as if he's entitled to do so? Should it not be up to Liu Kang to decide whether Bi-Han deserves forgiveness or punishment? Do we need to add a god complex to the list of Kuai Liang's flaws?

There's nothing honorable about vengeance. It's honorable to be the bigger person and to forgive.

As Chinese philosopher Confucius said:

“Love thy neighbour as thyself: Do not do to others what thou wouldst not wish be done to thyself: Forgive injuries. Forgive thy enemy, be reconciled to him, give him assistance, invoke God in his behalf.”

Kuai Liang has none of that honor he claims to value.

Tanya:

Tanya: Liu Kang says we can trust you. Kuai Liang: As long as Outworld's goals don't conflict with Earthrealm's.

Let me translate it: "No, you can't. I'll stop being a reliable ally and might betray you as soon as our interests no longer align." Which is fair enough, he doesn't owe Outworld his loyalty. It's, however, funny that that's exactly what Bi-Han did with Liu Kang/Earthrealm too, but for some reason Kuai Liang is still delusional enough to think he's a more honorable man than his brother?

Kung Lao:

Kung Lao: I bet I could be Shirai Ryu. Scorpion: First, you must learn humility.

Also Scorpion:

Ashrah: I'd do well to follow your example. Scorpion: Then start by studying my kombat.

Quan Chi: Your brother told me of all your weaknesses. Scorpion: A short conversation, sorcerer?

Kuai Liang is a hypocrite who doesn't practice what he preaches. These are just two of many dialogues in which he comes off as overly confident and boastful. He will try to force his own values and ideals onto others but will not uphold them himself. These dialogues are not even the only example of his hypocrisy, but more of that to come later.

Smoke and the Shaolin monks:

Scorpion: Was it worth it, training with the Shaolin? Smoke: Let me show you what I learned.

Yet another example for Kuai Liang's arrogance. "Was it worth it?" What's that even supposed to mean? Admittedly, this might not sound as bad compared to everything else he's said but I invite you to go and listen to this specific intro and pay attention to the tone of his voice. To me, it very much sounds like, as a former Lin Kuei, he thinks there's nothing the monks can teach him and Tomáš anymore and therefore he sees training with them as a waste of time. Overall, Kuai Liang seems to hold little respect for his allies. He might not outright say it, but there's definitely a superiority complex there.

Johnny:

Scorpion: Your mansion was unduly extravagant. Johnny Cage: It came with the megastardom. Package deal.

What gives Kuai Liang the right to judge Johnny for what he does with his money that he's earned from his movies? Judging people and acting like he has the moral high ground over them in any situation is something Kuai Liang does a lot. That alone might not automatically make him a bad person, but it's tasteless and impolite nonetheless.

Johnny Cage: With your skills you'd be a hit, Kuai Liang. Scorpion: Do I look like an entertainer?

Again, if you listen to the actual intro, the distaste in his voice is obvious. He seems to not have much respect for Johnny's profession or for most of his allies' professions, really. Remember his reaction to Tomáš training with the Shaolin monks?

Rain:

Scorpion: Like a dog, you bit the hand that fed you. Rain: You've no right to judge me, Earthrealmer.

He doesn't -- because did Kuai Liang not do the same to Bi-Han? It doesn't matter that Bi-Han chose the wrong side, Kuai Liang's oath was to his grandmaster, not to Earthrealm. Bi-Han broke his oath to Earthrealm and by breaking his own oath to his brother, Kuai Liang is no better. And as I already explained in the first part of my analysis, Kuai Liang always meant to overthrow Bi-Han, even before Bi-Han abandoned his duties to defend Earthrealm. Bi-Han gave in to corruption and became a traitor, Kuai Liang was always a traitor in disguise. Kuai Liang is yet again being a hypocrite in this situation and displays double standards.

Kenshi:

Scorpion: Do not let Sento become a crutch. Kenshi: I could win this fight with or without it.

Does anyone else think this comment sounds a lot like ableism? Who is he to tell a disabled man how to handle his disability? Kenshi is a badass, he's proven that countless of times and he doesn't need Kuai Liang's advice, but Kuai Liang has a habit of acting like he knows better than others.

Bi-Han (again):

Shang Tsung: It was all too simple, pulling your brother's strings. Kuai Liang: It sickens me that he was so easily exploited.

Bi-Han fell victim to Shang Tsung's manipulation, yet here Kuai Liang is, blaming the victim. Meanwhile, Tomáš:

Smoke: I rue the day I ever met you. Quan Chi: No sense dwelling on the past, Tomáš.

Tomáš regrets ever meeting the sorcerers because he rightfully blames the people responsible for this whole mess, Shang Tsung and Quan Chi, not Bi-Han. Kuai Liang is miles away from the same level of emotional maturity Tomáš has.

Scorpion: "Bi-Han's trail has led me to Sun Do." Li Mei: "I'll abide no vigilante justice, Kuai Liang."

Scorpion: If you know where he is, tell me. General Shao: As if I would spill your brother's secrets.

Scorpion: I need help to find Bi-Han. Johnny Cage: Y'know I was only a TV detective, right?

Kuai Liang is making his own family feud everyone else's problem.

SPOILERS: At the same time, when Bi-Han will crash Kuai Liang's wedding in the dlc according to leaks, Kuai Liang will "apologize" to those who attended that they got dragged into his war with Bi-Han, once again painting his brother as the villain. Could he be any more duplicitous? I think the main reason why Smoke is not mentioned in any leaks is because the writers might deliberately not want him to be there because the way Kuai Liang acts (wanting to kill Frost, leaving Bi-Han to suffer and die) would go against everything Tomáš believes in and they can't have someone make Scorpion look bad, so they decided to just have Tomáš not be there at all. If that doesn't say it all, I don't know what will.

Kuai Liang:

Scorpion: I won't be consumed by vengeance. Scorpion: How can your father's death not burn you.

You know it's bad when your own alternate self starts judging you and criticizing your ways.

Geras:

Scorpion: I want to see the moment my father died. Geras: You are not ready to receive that knowledge.

I wonder why Geras denied Kuai Liang's request. Is he concerned that actually witnessing the event will make Kuai Liang lose his mind completely and he will make even more of an effort to kill Bi-Han? He surely seems to think Kuai Liang is too unstable to receive that information. But then again, Kuai Liang already wants to kill Bi-Han, he already tried to do it and he already knows what happened. When will he be ready in Geras' opinion? Once he already forgave Bi-Han (which seems like it won't happen at all)? Would that not just reignite his old hatred? Could it be that there's more to the death of Kuai Liang's father than we know? Is there something Geras is trying to hide from Kuai Liang on purpose?

Ashrah:

Ashrah: Bi-Han can be redeemed. Scorpion: I don't see how that's possible.

It sounds a lot like Kuai Liang doesn't want it to be possible. He wants to deny his brother a chance at redemption. He's also once again acting like he knows better than everyone else. It's getting to the point where he seems self-righteous and out of touch with reality.

So, tell me again, after all that, why are we calling Kuai Liang a nice guy?

To conclude this, Kuai Liang only appears "nice" in direct comparison to Bi-Han, not necessarily because he's a better person, he's just the more agreeable one of the two. Take Bi-Han out of the picture and it's plain to see Kuai Liang is really not that nice. I also don't see how Kuai Liang is the poor, traumatized victim that never did anything wrong in his life, as fans like to describe him as. Yes, he suffered as well, but victims can also become aggressors. There are plenty of situations in which that's the case for Kuai Liang. Again, this is not hate or an attempt to completely demonize him, just to show that the fandom has a wrong idea of who Kuai Liang is and what he's like.

[bunchofdoodlesinspace]

Stan and Ford Hcs because I Have More Things To Say

[also post-show, just for reference]

The Stan o' War has had some Serious upgrades done to it to suit their expedition needs. Most of these are courtesy of not just Ford, but also Fiddleford, who agreed to help him and Stan with some bits of the machinery. It's built to handle basically anything and everything they might encounter now.

Where Stan couldn't help with boat-construction, he helped with resources. Having lived on his own on such a low budget for so long, the man has had TONS of experience sorting out essentials, portioning out food, and so forth. Oh, and he also dumped most of his guns into it somewhere. Y'know, just in case.

(I say most because he absolutely left at least one of the guns with Soos with some cryptic messaging about the "Pug Mafia" or something. Definitely had absolutely nothing to do with him being concerned for Soos's safety, not at all, shut the fuck up-)

They decided to completely and properly dismantle and renovate the portal room for other uses. I can't decide if it's still a sort of secret lab type place, or if its been changed to be a storage room for some of the Mystery Shack's weirder and more precious items. Regardless, it's significantly smaller now. You would never be able to guess what it was housing prior.

The two of them also took a day to burn/destroy all of Ford's Bill-related items together. It was extremely cathartic and became a fantastic and much needed bonding moment for the two of them.

[Shuffles a deck of post-it notes with various labels written on them] [Slaps the Autistic one on Ford] [Slaps the ADHD one on Stan] yeah. I'll feel like this one's a given.

They frequently do things at exactly the same time (like adjust their glasses, stretch, sometimes they'll even say the exact same thing too) without thinking. It's a twin thing they've done since they were little.

Unfortunately, the memory gun has had lasting effects on Stan's mind. He recovers the memory of the summer immediately, and everything post-portal fight comes to him pretty quickly as well (I'd say over the course of a few days to a week). But many events prior to that remain unclear. Recounting the details of whatever happened and/or showing him pictures will usually bring at least most of it back, if not at least a strong sense of familiarity. Ford can't help but feel a pit in his stomach every time Stan can't remember something. And he feels it grow every time Stan still can't remember it even after Ford explains it to him.

Much like their great-niece and nephew, Stan and Ford help each other through their flashbacks, their panic attacks, and their nightmares, the last of which Ford undoubtedly has the worst of. If you thought my description of Dipper's sleep paralysis was bad, imagine lucid dreaming your body dragging you around to who-knows-where, unable to will it to change course, while a disembodied voice cackles at your futile resistance. And then not knowing if that was a dream or not when you wake up.

While Ford appears to be the more "put-together" twin, Stan is the one who is much better at things like cooking and keeping places tidy. Ford spent so much of his adult life either living in a dorm or a secret lab, and that on top of the way he hyperfocuses on research, regularly forgetting to eat and sleep- Yeah. Stan is usually the one dragging him away to eat something before he collapses.

(Stan is genuinely a good cook, btw. He took a lot of time learning how to do it better over the course of the summer with Dipper and Mabel)

Much like Mabel, Stan will frequently start making stupid jokes to try and bring Ford out of depressive funks. He's never been great with words, that was always Ford's thing, but he's always been good at making people laugh. Or, at the very least, making his brother laugh.

And much like Dipper, Ford combats Stan's low self-esteem with logical reasoning based on what he's seen since he was rescued. In fact, he nowadays often brings up the fact that Stan rescued him as a means to combat it. He wasn't grateful in the moment, for a lot of reasons, and ofc he still thinks it was extremely dangerous and reckless to reactivate it given the risks, but he understands Stan's position better now. He's glad he was able to return. And he's even more glad his brother still wanted him to.

They always try to plan to give themselves time to make the trip back to Gravity Falls right around the start of summer. Often, they're a few days late to the party, but they're determined to never miss the chance to spend time with the kids.

[theobsessedcookiefan]

I promised lol

:ﾟ･*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:

❀•°•═════ஓ๑♡๑ஓ═════•°•❀

Part three. Investigation of a cookie.

"But that's not right!" One of the little ones was genuinely horrified by the story. "Yes! Aren't witches supposed to protect us?" Another asked in a trembling voice.

"Yes yes, that's what I'm getting at, now hush and pay attention." The old cookie said, continuing the story.

❀•°•═════ஓ๑♡๑ஓ═════•°•❀

"O-Oh." Y/N muttered, taking a few steps back as she thought about what her teacher had told her. "Well.. I.. I have to study! Yeah, that, lots of homework and practice to achieve the love potion.... Good night." And with that the younger witch hurried out, heading up the stairs to her room.

Once inside she locked the door and left Blueberry Milk on the table, waiting for some sort of word from him while she made sure no one was spying on them. "Uh.. Are you okay?" He asked her with some concern, after all hearing that one of your creators didn't appreciate you and would eliminate you without a thought was.. Uh.. Discouraging to say the least, but he wouldn't let that happen so easily, he was going to protect his friends and himself from that fate, no matter the cost. "Ah! Yeah, I'm fine, I was just surprised that's all." Blueberry Milk said with a wave of his hand, downplaying the matter; he knew very well how to hide his true feelings for the sake of himself and others. "Are you sure?.. That's not very nice to hear.." Said the apprentice witch as she ducked her head, thinking about what they should do next. "Hey I think you should go, you're not safe here you know-" She continued to which the blue cookie quickly denied. "No! I need to find a way for our SoulJams not to merge with our body, if we find a way for that not to happen you can show it to your teacher and then they won't have to... You know-" He made a motion of squeezing something with his hand. Y/N doubted that, she wasn't exactly the best at magic, she was barely creating potions after all! But her friend was asking for her help, it would be cruel not to give it.

"This is a crazy plan." Y/N said as she walked down to the warehouse with a Blueberry Milk Cookie sitting on her shoulder. "Hey! I proposed that you come in during the day, not in the middle of the night!" The cookie replied, pointing to the moonlight coming in through a window. "Oh because clearly they would let me come in with you by my side right? I'd walk in greeting everyone and when they asked for you I'd say you were a hallucination of theirs, besides, I'm not allowed to be here, I'm barely a level two apprentice and this place is for level ten's!" She opened the door very carefully not to make any sound and entered, looking for the ingredients that his friend was telling him. "No, not that one, look for the one that says magically burnt. I think that one might work. Yes, that one, the one on top."

Once they had gathered everything they needed, they put it in the bag that the witch was carrying while she let out a sigh of relief, it had been easy! Now all that was left was to get out of the warehouse. "And how do you know what we needed?" She asked as she went up the stairs, being careful not to throw anything out of the bag and not to knock Blueberry Milk who was still on her shoulder. "Well, I previously told you: I am the virtue of knowledge! I know a thing or two about magic!" He sounded rather proud of himself so the apprentice just chuckled under her breath. "In that case you should teach me, don't you think?" Him? Teaching someone else?... He hadn't thought about it before, maybe he'd make a good teacher! Who knows, he might even like it.

Upon reaching the top floor Y/N noticed several students who while trying to sneak out of the tower had seen her going up. "Y/N, weren't you supposed to be one of the responsible students?" One of them asked mockingly, luckily it was dark so she was able to put Blueberry Milk in the bag with everything else, not without a small noise of surprise on his part of course. "Hey!" "A-Ah.. Yeah, well once a year doesn't hurt, besides this is for exams.... Yeah.. Exams." She muttered as she walked upstairs more quickly, hiding everything the bag had. Once in her room she padlocked the door shut again and for good measure put a chair blocking the door.

"Phew- that was close. Magic team does it again!" Y/N said as she placed the bag carefully on the table and opened it. "Are you okay in there? I think I hid you too quickly-" She apologized for that as the cookie came out with shaky steps. "Yes.. I forget that I weigh absolutely nothing to you- wait- magic team?" He said and sat down on a book, trying to recover a little from the dizziness caused by the sudden movement. "Yeah! We do magic and we're working together, magic team! And I'm really sorry- but I couldn't let them see you you know? Who knows what they would have done, they're pretty cruel when they want to be and I honestly wouldn't want anything to happen to you."

Hearing one of the beings you might consider divine to your species say that he cared about the welfare of someone so insignificant (from the cookie's point of view) was a bit odd and it made him avert his gaze with some embarrassment, shifting his feet a bit. "Well it's nice to know that at least someone of you do care.." The blue cookie shook his head and as best he could helped Y/N take the stuff out of the bag, once everything was out he remained thoughtful, how would he get it to his studio? Carrying it would be too much, they were giant bottles, too heavy to carry in one trip, ask the witch for help? Out of the question, the chaos it could cause at home would be disastrous, besides someone could follow her and give away the position to the teacher, he could stay to create what was needed right there but it would be too risky for him to disappear for so long, the only option would be to return home and instruct the apprentice by means of letters that a candy bird could carry. "Uhm.. Listen, I know I've asked a lot of you and you've risked too much for me but, could you perform the experiment?" That question to Blueberry Milk sounded like he was asking her to gouge her eye out or something. "Ah! Me?! Look, I really want to help you but- I couldn't, I can barely get the love potion to go to stage two, I don't think I can create the solution to the corruption of something as powerful as the Soul Jams-..." That was something he could understand, after all he himself doubted his own abilities sometimes and it would certainly be difficult. But here the difference would be that in this case he would be supporting him. "I'll show you how! I'll send you letters explaining everything in detail, you won't do it on your own! Besides you'll be able to do it, you have a great talent inside you, I can feel how the magic flows naturally in you, you just have to stop doubting so much. Magic is a type of art, you need to find your own style!" Those words came out with such sincerity and confidence that Y/N was inspired by that same feeling, could she do it? Of course she could! "All right! I'll do what you teach me, besides I wouldn't want anything to happen to you or your friends!"

❀•°•═════ஓ๑♡๑ஓ═════•°•❀

[chemblrish]

Hey Lena, any tips for how to make friends in uni as a nerdy but introverted/socially anxious girlie? 🥺 thank youu

Hi!

I need you to know I saw this ask and immediately thought, "Did I just get a message from my past self?" 😅 Nerdy and introverted? Check. Used to have very bad social anxiety? Check. I was in therapy though and it was immensely helpful! I'm still a little shy but doing incomparably better, so I can tell you what I've learnt and hopefully some of it can help you too :)

Excuse the language, but first of all, you need to give yourself a fucking break. Shy people, we tend to fixate on ourselves: our looks, our posture, on whether what we just said was weird, and so, all our flaws (both real and imaginary) appear magnified tenfold - but only to us. Because truth is, nobody else is judging you half as harshly as you're judging yourself. Nobody is analyzing all your jokes or the way you walk. If you trip or say something awkward, it genuinely doesn't matter. It happens to everybody sometimes, it's okay. Remember that there's nothing wrong with you. Maybe you're shy, maybe you're easily overwhelmed, maybe you have very little experience making friends - but none of these make you inherently weird. So give yourself a break. You're sincerely doing a lot better than you think, I promise.

Small talk is actually not a bad thing, no matter what some edgelords may try to tell you. I used to spark up a lot of conversations early on in uni by bringing up things like the last test (because most of the time I'd get a mildly pained sigh in response and then we'd bond over how hard it was and how the professor was crazy lol) or the upcoming lab class ("Any interesting exercises in your schedule?") or how my commute to uni that day wrecked me and hey are you a commuter? Oh, you live in a dorm, how do you like it? And many other things of this sort, because if you think about it, uni is a neverending source of conversation topics when you're a student talking to another student.

You know how shy people are advised to just ask questions because everybody loves talking about themselves? That's not a bad advice. The trick is to be genuinely curious about other people. Don't ask just to say something, ask to hear what that other person has to say. This is helpful for two reasons: it takes the focus away from you (which is exactly where shy people shouldn't keep it) by directing it at the other person, and it actually helps to keep the conversation going, because it allows you to find either another thing that might interest you about that person or something to share about yourself.

Maybe it's obvious, but don't hide yourself. I know it's a lot easier to just curl up in a corner with your phone, but you gotta put yourself out there. Hang out with the rest of your course mates outside the lecture hall as you're all waiting for the professor. Take your time packing up afterwards instead of dashing straight for the exit. Don't look for that secluded spot where you can hide safely with a book (even though your introvert instinct tells you to do just that), be where the other students hang out.

Sometimes you have to keep choosing someone. Storytime with a moral: I took a liking to one of my current friends very early in the first semester. She seemed like exactly the kind of person I wanted to stick with in uni. I'd always come up to her and talk to her first but she hardly ever did the same. For some time I'd think, "Welp, clearly she doesn't dislike me, but she doesn't seem to like me much either." Now I can't even remember when that changed, but in an honest conversation we had maybe last month (so after almost two years of knowing each other!!), she told me she often struggles with figuring out whether someone likes her and wants her around or not, so she usually just stays away. You aren't the only introvert out there. Maybe the person you're trying to befriend is also a little anxious and needs a bit more time and effort from you. Don't give up too easily!

Not all people are your people and that's okay. You'll find that trying to talk to someone continuously feels like a chore no matter your good intentions. That doesn't mean there's something wrong with you or with them. Everybody can't click with everybody and that's fine!

And lastly: "different friends for different things" is a liberating philosophy. Maybe there's this one person in this one class that you always sit with and get along with well, but it doesn't seem like either of you wants to take it any further than that. Cool! That's your buddy X from Y class. Not everyone has to be your bestie who knows all your secrets and shares all your interests. Be open to the concept of casual friends, so that you don't miss out on the more meaningful relationships by chasing someone who's just not feelin' it if you know what I mean.

Good luck my fellow introvert. Remember getting better at making friends is a process but also a skill that can be practiced and polished. You got this, I'm rooting for you!

[watcherwingedcat]

Hi! So I just found out about essas like this week and the concept is very intriguing to me! I saw that you made a post explaining the basics of that an essa is and that you've also answered someone else's ask about them, so I thought I'd put some questions here. These are directed at the community at large (if anyone who reads this also wants to share) but I thought it'd make more sense to put them as an ask. If they are too personal, please feel free not to answer them!

I think I've got a few questions, so here it goes-

1) How do you bond with an essa? I've seen multiple people mention bonding with them and it made me curious. What are methods you use to bond with an essa? Which do you think are least/most effective? I'm sure these vary from person to person but I'd still love to hear examples.

2) How do you know if what you're doing for bonding is working? Like how fo you tell if you're actually forming a bond?

3) How does an essa help? I understand that they are supposed to comfort their handler/owner (is there a word preference in the community?) but I'm not exactly sure how that works. Again, I'm sure it varies but I'd love some examples ^^

And 4) How did/do you pick your/an essa? Which things do you usually consider while getting one?

That's all the questions I had for now. These are asked out of genuine curiosity and I hope they aren't read the wrong way. Thank you and anyone who reads this for any answers you choose to give. I hope everyone who reads this has a wonderful day!

- 🌌🌃

Hello! So, quite an amount of questions, anon, thanks for the ask! It's crazy how people asked me about it, never thought that my little post would interest people. I'm planning on making some other posts on the matter, but I'll try to answer the best I can. I'm in not means an expert, but I do know how human psychology works (a little bit).

1) How do you bond with an essa? What are methods you use to bond with an essa? Which do you think are least/most effective?

So, the first thing to remember is that essas, even tho we in the community like to make them feel alive, they are just what their name says: They are plushies. We like to pretend they are real dogs/animals or whatever, but at the end of the day they are still plushies.

But well, how do you bond with your essa, knowing this? First, you need to choose which kind of essa you want. Do you want a big plushie? A small one? Think about whether or not you can take them anywhere with you, or not. "Bonding" requires you'll spend a lot of time with your essa, so you know your friend well. Also, yes, it's important to bond with it, otherwise the essa would just be a simple plushie, therefore useless if you already have one. Essas help you. They bring support. So, spending time with it, carrying it with you, you getting used to it, etc, would be the best methods.

The best advice I can give you is to form an especial connection to your essa. Maybe it's a childhood plushie that gives you comfort. Maybe, like me, you chose your essa because of the texture it has for grounding techniques. But you need to bring yourself to care for it.

2) How do you know if what you're doing for bonding is working? Like how do you tell if you're actually forming a bond?

Again, an essa is still just a plushie. But, if you got yourself used to it and bring it with you and it isn't doing anything, maybe you need to try from a different approach.

If you did all of the things I said, and the essa still feels like isn't working, maybe you're still not very attached to it. That's okay. Just try again. How do you know if you're bonding, and the essa it's helping you?

You know your "bonding" it's working when you feel the plushie is actually working. I know it sound obvious, but hear me out. If you are attached to the plushie, you care for it, the plushie will give you comfort, therefore, it will "task" correctly. For example, say you're having an anxiety or panic attack, and you pet your essa for grounding and in order to distract yourself. And... your essa actually calms you down. That's how you know the essa is doing its work, because you are attached to it, and it brings you comfort.

The bond you have with your essa it's chosen, and it's yours. You choose it. Maybe you use your essa every single day, maybe you don't need it at all times. Maybe you bring it with you everywhere, maybe not. It's up to you, and your essa will adapt to whatever your lifestyle is.

3) How does an essa help? I'm sure it varies but I'd love some examples ^^

An essa brings comfort to the user, and it can have different tasks. As an example, Ramen, my essa, has a texture that helps me grounding. Some essas are heavy because they are filled with rice or gravel, and they help the user with deep pressure therapy. Maybe petting your essa helps distract you from hurting yourself.

Essas also help with neurodiversities. I'm autistic and I'm very awkward in social situations, so Ramen gives me confidence in myself.

An essa can help you getting out of your house, too. For example, I treat Ramen as a real dog, and real dogs need walks every single day. Therefore, I go outside to walk him. You may receive weird looks, just ignore them.

"Plushies are more than just toys. They become confidants and a source of unwavering support. As silent witnesses to our joys and sorrows, stuffed animals are trustworthy allies in our battles against stress and anxiety. Whether you developed a lasting bond with a cherished stuffed animal as a child or found a new friend well into adulthood, an emotional support stuffed animal can help you through your toughest times.

Stuffed animals bring comfort, alleviate anxiety, and nurture emotional well-being no matter your age. They are a testament to simple comforts in a chaotic and unpredictable world!"

4) How did/do you pick your/an essa? Which things do you usually consider while getting one?

How you choose your essa varies from person to person. It doesn't have to be a dog, or have gear, either, it literally can be any stuffed toy. I picked Ramen literally in an impulsive decision: I was researching essas on the internet and one day me and my friend went to Tiger. There, they sold dog plushies for nine dollars, and because it was inside of my budget, I just bought him.

You may want to consider your lifestyle. Do you really need an essa? Are you ready for it, to care for it, to love it? Because if it's something you'll just buy but never use, maybe it's not the solution for you. Obviously, there aren't any rules on owning essas. But if you'll be throwing money away, maybe it isn't worth it.

Please, don't listen to others when they say essas have to be a certain brand or have to be expensive. You don't need to follow certain "rules" or "requirements". An essa can be any plushie. The only difference from essas and a normal plushie is the relationship you have with them, and the amount of comfort they bring you. They are not pets, but also, they are not just plushies. They are your friends, and powerful tools against certain disorders.

[goldfades]

another jump then fall au thought. adam going on a long roadie (ie west coast teams) after being home with his injury. poor paloma is literally inconsolable bc her dad was just home and all of a sudden he's just gone for like a week and shes still to young to understand. and poor cece doesn't know what to do because no matter how much she tries the first couple days she wont stop crying :(

oh my god, YES!!! and cece just doesn't know what to do and is freaking out bc paloma has never given her a hard time until then

─ warnings mentions of overall exhaustion, babies crying (who would have guessed), and adam being a sweetie AND SOME CECE/ADAM FLUFF????!???!

─ wc 805

Cece's head pounded as Paloma's cries rang throughout the apartment, her body sore and exhausted. She couldn't even hear her own thoughts at this point, Paloma was inconsolable. Adam had stayed home for the last couple of weeks because of his injury and Paloma had gotten so used to it but now that he's gone again, Paloma was devastated.

Cece tried every trick in the book to soothe her. She rocked Paloma gently, sang lullabies and even tried to distract her with her favorite stuffed animal, but nothing seemed to work. Paloma's face was streaked with tears, her tiny fists clenched in frustration.

She felt like she had failed Paloma and Adam, she thought that she could soothe Paloma even in the worst cases but she was quickly proven wrong. She tried everything and yet Paloma's cries only seemed to worsen. Cece's heart ached with a sense of helplessness as she watched the baby she had grown to love suffer in distress.

With a heavy sigh, Cece gently scooped Paloma into her arms, cradling her close. She whispered soothing words, trying to calm both herself and the inconsolable baby. As she paced the apartment, Cece's mind raced with worry and doubt. She questioned her abilities as a nanny, feeling the weight of responsibility bearing down on her shoulders.

As the night wore on, Paloma's cries slowly subsided, replaced by the rhythm of her breathing as she drifted off to sleep. Cece watched over her with a sense of relief, despite the aching she felt in her head. Cece held Paloma on her chest as she fell asleep, not wanting to risk waking her up and starting the whole thing again.

──

"I'm sorry she's been giving you a hard time." Adam's voice rang through the speaker of her phone, echoing in the bathroom. The phone leaned on her water bottle as Cece put on her make-up as Adam talked to her through FaceTime.

Cece gave Adam a tired smile. "No worries, it's all part of the job. I just feel bad because she's probably just as tired as I am, if not more. It takes a lot of energy to cry for 5 hours straight." Cece jokes as Adam's laugh echoed throughout the bathroom.

Adam studied Cece through the phone, she looked exhausted but she still managed to emphasize and smile. That was exactly why he liked her so much.

"You're amazing, you know that?" Adam's voice was filled with genuine admiration as he praised her. "I don't know what I'd do without you, Cece. You've been such a blessing to us."

Cece's heart swelled with warmth at Adam's words. Despite the exhaustion weighing heavily on her, knowing that she was appreciated made it all worth it.

"Thanks, Adam," she replied, her voice soft with gratitude. "I love being a part of your lives. Paloma means everything to me, and you do too."

He smiled back at through the FaceTime as she continued putting on her makeup. "Let me repay you, Cece."

"You already pay me, Adam, you don't need to-"

"I'm gonna Apple Pay you a couple dollars for a Redbull, okay? You need it." Adam's voice was teasing but she could tell he was trying to make the whole thing easier for her.

Cece couldn't help but chuckle at Adam's gesture. "You're too kind, Adam. But really, I'll survive. Just knowing that you appreciate what I do means more to me than anything."

Adam's smile softened, his eyes reflecting his sincerity. "I know you will, Cece. But I still want to do something to show my gratitude. And plus don't you have that Chem test tomorrow morning?"

Cece groaned at the mention of the test. "Fine, Adam you win."

With a playful grin, Adam nodded triumphantly. "That's my girl. Just promise me you'll take care of yourself, okay? You work so hard, I don't want you burning yourself out."

"Thank you, Adam. You're too sweet, you didn't have to." Cece felt a rush of warmth as she heard Adam's words, her heart doing a little flip.

"I know, I wanted to."

Adam's gaze held a tenderness that made Cece's heart flutter. "Well, I appreciate it more than you know," she replied softly, her voice filled with genuine gratitude.

Before Adam could reply, Paloma's soft cries were heard from the bedroom. Cece's smile faltered slightly as she heard Paloma's cries, her whole body aching. "Looks like duty calls," she said with a sigh, already moving to attend to Paloma.

Adam nodded understandingly, his eyes reflecting his unwavering support. "I'll let you go then. Take care of our little princess, Cece."

Our little princess, that sounded nice coming from Adam. Cece's heart did another flip, her affection for both Adam and Paloma swelling in her chest. "I will," she replied, her voice filled with determination.

main masterlist

jump then fall masterlist

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

“it could mean that they didn't think further than season five and we're about to get a lot of awkward writing.”

Genuinely, I’m pretty sure this exact problem is about to rear it’s ugly head into the plot so hard. Once it becomes obvious enough next season, I think this is about to become the biggest gripe people have with the show.

I don’t subscribe to the “Chloé was rewritten by TA out of spite” theories—however—it is almost **impossible** that season 5 didn’t, at the very least, have the bones of the plot laid out *when it was still intended as the final season,* and then those bones were **heavily** rearranged when contracts were signed for Miraculous Ladybug to continue production beyond that point.

This is quickly having a domino effect on the plot, where storylines are being re-sculpted left and right to somehow tie-up the arc of the previous 5 seasons, whilst still maintaining pre-reveal status quo for the seasons still to come. The most glaring problem with this is, of course, that they had to royally shoot Marinette in the foot to make that work.

I don’t want to put my tin-foil hat on too much, but Adrinette getting together sans reveal is just a symptom of the show continuing past it’s original intended “end of life”. We were likely supposed to get exactly what is holding Adrinette back from being interesting right now—the reveal—in the original midseason finale of season 5 instead of Kwami’s Choice.

What’s an even more cynical thought—if season 5 was the end of the show like intended at one point, there is ZERO chance that Marinette would have even NEEDED to lie to Adrien about his father. *THAT’S* what frustrates me most about the season 5 finale. Not that it’s shocking, not that it subverts expectations, that it’s so glaringly obvious the main character is making a decision simply because the plot for future seasons implodes on itself if she thinks logically for 1.2 seconds. It’s not interesting. It’s only there because they wrote themselves into a corner they never intended to be in 5 years ago.

And as the seasons tick on and on, the cycle is just going to continue to chase itself in circles under the guise of “drama” and “plot”, but in reality the episodic nature of the show means that none of the plot lines will ever conclude in a satisfying way

(Post that inspired this ask)

it is almost **impossible** that season 5 didn’t, at the very least, have the bones of the plot laid out *when it was still intended as the final season,* and then those bones were **heavily** rearranged when contracts were signed for Miraculous Ladybug to continue production beyond that point.

Now that is a theory I can get behind and will even admit to subscribing to. Season five absolutely feels like it was written to be the final season and we know that it was, originally, supposed to be the final season. It's not a conspiracy theory to say, "I think that they may have committed to elements of season five before they got a sixth season and that ended up making season five into a bit of a mess."

I'd be fascinated to know the behind-the-scenes timing of things and what was written before the season-six greenlight and what they were allowed to change after season six became a thing. Things like scripts, lore bibles, and plot lines get signed off on by a lot of people! It's entirely possible that the writers' hands were tied on certain elements of season five. If the leaked, season-five Bible is to be believed, it says that it was signed off by TF1 & Disney and has a date of 1/29/21, about three months before season six was officially announced, implying that major elements of season five may have been set in stone all the way back in early 2021:

[Image description: footer for the leaked Bible reading "Ladybug - Bible FINAL VERSION updated season 5 - approved by TF1 & Disney 1/29/21 - CONFIDENTIAL]

This may mean that the writers literally weren't allowed to make major changes to season five because they'd already gone through the approval process for the overall plot. It's also possible that they could have redone things, they just didn't have time based on production timelines or maybe they did have time and just couldn't think up a new version of season five in the time they had. There's no way to be sure with the limited information we have. Maybe season five is exactly what they wanted it to be!

It's hard to buy that, though, because a lot of the awkward writing makes so much more sense if there was supposed to be an identity reveal at the end of Kwami's Choice. Like why Adrien is worrying about how to tell Marinette that he's leaving, but he never once stops to think about Ladybug. If he knows they're the same person, that's suddenly perfectly understandable.

I also full agree that the lie at the end of season five feels like another stalling tactic and not a piece in a well-crafted narrative. It's really common for the writing to get stilted in TV shows and movie series that get renewed past their expiration dates because no plot can last forever. Even the best writers can't draw a concept out to the end of time and Miraculous doesn't seem have the best writers. Now that they've been greenlit for ten freaking seasons, I think we're in for a wild ride and I don't mean the fun kind. Serious identity shenanigans like the love square are not designed to last for 86+ hours. (The show has 26 20-minute episodes per season, so if you multiply that by 10, you get a little over 86 hours + specials and such.)

I just don't see how they're going to draw out the identity reveal for another five seasons without making the love square a toxic waste dump, but I also don't think that they're ever going to do an identity reveal in the mid game. They're saving that sucker for the end no matter how much it ruins the story. (Watch season six prove me wrong, lol. You never know.)

[seph7]

J.T. Walsh Roles - Scumbag Scale Edition!

Let's face it, he played a lot of 'scumbag' characters, so I thought I'd collate where I would place some of them on a scale of worst to... least worst!

Starting with who I think was the best of a bad bunch - Ins. Terence Niebaum - The Negotiator (1998). Niebaum took bribe money to help cover up some dirty cops stealing from the collective police pension fund.

Next, Martin Swayzak - Backdraft (1991). Shut down some fire stations, reducing the numbers of paid firefighters, meaning fewer available fighters which resulted in some unnecessary deaths. Again, I think there was money involved.

Then we have Sgt. Maj. Dickerson - Good Morning, Vietnam (1987). A man wound so tight that Robin Williams' character described him as 'in more dire need of a blowjob than any man in human history'. He was just an overall arsehole and his commanding officer called him mean and shipped him off to Guam!

Now we're getting to the larger ego characters - Charles F. Drucker - Crazy People (1990). A man with command and charisma, and very little moral compass as he takes advantage of mentally ill patients who are making him money with their 'honest ads' campaign and getting very little in return.

It was scary how well he was able to play creepy characters, and Cake - Persons Unknown (1996) was definitely a bit of a creeper! Seemed to be playing all angles at once, even going so far as to attempt to assault a woman in a wheelchair.

I wasn't sure where to put Danforth Keeton III - Needful Things (1993) initially, but, he does have a terrible gambling addiction and kills his wife... He's a fabulous character though! This first scene is my favourite!

On the face of it, Wayne Brown - Red Rock West (1993) doesn't seem too terrible, but he does plot to have his wife murdered and did embezzle $2 million...

Lt. Quinn - Black Day Blue Night (1995) starts off by appearing to be chasing down a bunch of bank robbers, only for it to be discovered that he was one of them and has been stiffed of his share! Uses anyone and everyone to track down the money, killing multiple people along the way... Definitely a dirty cop!

Stephen Seldes - Defenseless (1991) starts off as a businessman who unknowingly lets out a building to an adult entertainment company who hires underaged girls to star in their films. It is quickly discovered that not only did he know about the company, he was taking money directly from them and was grooming and pimping out his own underage daughter. Definitely up there in the scumbag rating!

Lt. William Eyler - Gang in Blue (1996) was scummy on a whole other level. He actually starts a baseball team with his partner at some point in the late 60's, early 70's called The Phantoms, using it as a cover to hide racist extracurricular activities against people of colour. His entire department is part of the club and falls under FBI investigation.

Second to last, we have Charles Bushman - Sling Blade (1996). A seemingly sex-obsessed murderer who loves nothing better than to tell anyone who will listen about his exploits before he was caught. The only reason he isn't number one scumbag is largely down to whether any of the stories he told were genuinely true, or if they were embellished...

And, our number one scumbag is... Warren 'Red' Barr - Breakdown (1997). Do we really need to say why?! Kidnapping, extortion, theft, murder... You begin to wonder if there was anything he wouldn't do! He has very few redeeming features, other than the fact that his son seems to idolise him... Which, given what he was spending his time doing, wasn't exactly a good thing...

[iztea]

Iztea I need your help💔💔 I'm genuinely trying to find my art style but I'm not very good at art in the first place, I'm a beginner and I just don't feel motivated to draw anymore because I'm not good at it,, can you pls link your tutorials so I can try to follow them the best I can..😓 I genuinely love your art and your a huge inspiration but I can't draw for shit. A lot of the tutorials on YouTube don't actually help me as much as they do for other people so I'm lowkey putting my faith in you to try and help me lmao, I just can't get the proportions of anything right, like I can't draw a body or head,, and when I trace things it just feels like cheating in art like ugghhjjnn,, can you help me😓☹️

If you struggle with proportions, then drawing over the reference photo (which you should totally have, btw) to get a feel for the distance between things is a great starting point. I also think you should have simplified anatomy references, as well as references from other artists. Basically, everything I mentioned here i don't want to repeat the same points

Tracing is not "cheating" if you're using it to learn. It can be very distasteful if it's used for finished art, where it is obviously meant to replace actual skill, or if it's traced from another artist. If you're using it to study and as a stepping stone to improve your skills, then it's totally fine and even encouraged (it's like doing assisted pull-ups at the gym). But you gotta to play it smart—tracing the actual outline without engaging in critical thought leads to ugly, mediocre, commercialized art that we don't want because we're cool based and always striving to improve ourselves

Okay anyways "But how exactly do I trace references in a smart way, iztea?" Well, like I said, you can lower the opacity of your reference photo and draw over it. Use the general shapes and volume of the body as your guide until you learn to draw without them. Don't follow the outline exactly—exaggerate or stylize the limbs to your liking. For example, I like drawing small wrists and long, slim necks because I think it looks more appealing. So whenever I'm using a reference, I (subconsciously most of the time) slim these body parts down, elongate the fingers, and so on. If you're still not sure what your style is, that's fine too. Use this exercise to find out what your hand naturally leans into

I'm not the cleanest sketcher, and it's been a while since I've done this sort of approach, so excuse the messiness but I wanted to show an example of how I'd tackle this technique. If you look closely, you'll see that I didn't exactly draw over the body parts, especially in the neck and arm area. I exaggerated the posture by adding more gestures—I made the shoulders rounder, the skull bigger, and the arms and neck longer and slimmer. I didn't focus on details like the face or fingers because that's not the point

The next important step after creating your guidelines is to redraw the lines from scratch on a separate layer, but this time without the reference. Set the reference aside and focus on copying your own guidelines. Afterward, compare the two drawings to check if your proportions are accurate. If they're off, take note of any recurring mistakes and correct them. For example, I have a tendency to draw the mouth too far down on the face, so it's something I am always aware of whenever I'm drawing. Other times, I draw the eyebrows too high from the eyes and so on. Another important thing to point out is that not all references are created equal—there are such things as bad or poor references. If the body’s silhouette looks like a blob or the limbs are heavily foreshortened, you'll find it much harder to draw so for practice, I recommend choosing poses that are fluid, clear, and expressive, with good lighting and features you can exaggerate. This will make it easier to understand the form and you'll have more fun in general I've provided a little comparison below. I'm not saying the 2nd pose is terrible and impossible to draw, it's obviously not, you can draw anything you want howeveerrr if you're just starting out, painting the 2nd one can be much more challenging due to it not being very clear in shape, value range, pose, gesture etc. So what I'm trying to say is to choose your poses wisely too

I don't remember doing any tutorials outside that hair one unless you consider my rambling sessions tutorials (i don't) but you can also scroll through the #ask iztea: art talk hashtag for whatever art-related question I might have answered I'm too lazy to link everything so YOU put the work and stalk my page

anyways yeah idk this is how i'd start.... so to summarize:

pull up references, from both real-life people, simplified anatomy sheets, and artists you like

draw over your reference photo and treat it as your training wheels

close the og reference, and use the newly traced, much more simplified outline as your new reference, and now draw the pose again, but "freehand" this time

compare the traced and the freehand version, take notice of your proportions and try to correct them

choose good, readable, easy to draw refs

never give up never what

[peachjagiya]

https://www.tumblr.com/peachjagiya/758985707150884864/i-have-seen-a-few-accounts-say-even-jimin-knew-tae

“Whichever way, I feel like Tae has a bullshit detector. He's been doing this for a long time, right? He knows all the shenanigans. My controversial thought is that this one moment, the only one in the entire episode, is the moment serious Tae comes out to play. Where he doesn't actually seem that amused by it and his laugh doesn't quite reach his eyes. His "really? Why?" is in a serious tone that doesn't actually seem like his mood for the rest of the episode. It's the only time I think he's having to participate in a narrative and he's not here for it. I also wonder if it's annoying being told what it's like to sleep with your own boyfriend.”

So I have question: Why would this happen? Why would they do this to TK aaall these years?!?!?! Is this necessary to go THIS hard?!?!?! I genuinely do not understand!!!

Well I don't know if this is just me thinking negatively, you see.

I actually think BH really presented the whole thing in a natural kind of way and I've been so happy with AYS so far.

So broadly, in terms of why things like this seem to have happened before and why these narratives are in place:

It's good PR. I think all celebrities kind of have these simple stories to pull out in interviews. Maybe it makes good sense to have a curated public image that provides a smokescreen for the private life that exists somewhat seperately. Does that make sense?

It creates a distraction. If you adhere to the idea that there's a same sex couple in this group in a conservative country and their reputation is at stake, they might not want people to look at that. So a distraction from the truth makes sense. So Jungkook being in Jimin's room a couple of times maybe turns into "he's always in my room at 3am" and suddenly nobody is looking at the contrary evidence that he's been with Tae.

Tae isn't supported and his designated character is Weird Loner. This is kind of more troubling to think about but I do personally believe there's been efforts to isolate him in the story. Him being super close to Jungkook doesn't support that.

And you know, I don't think it's a tinfoil hat conspiracy theory that this happened. All of this worked. It did exactly what it was supposed to. There are people even now absolutely convinced that Tae and JK didn't spend any time together over certain periods when we know otherwise.

I don't know why they had to throw particularly Tae under the bus with it by going this hard. It's also put JK and Jimin in an awkward position. I also don't know how they don't see the Streisand Effect of it.

If this is what happened here, and I do completely think it was blessedly isolated in the episode, there's a reason for it. We needed to know they shared a cabin for some reason. Maybe they didn't actually share a cabin and that's not in keeping with the vibe of the show. Maybe it's something as simple as keeping up appearances. Even in a show that seems to be dismantling a lot of previous ideas, it doesn't make sense for your road trippin' besties to not share a cabin? (Even though late twenties and wanting your own space is pretty normal, I think) I don't know, just theorising.

I'd love your thoughts on it. I may have delulu'd too close to the sun.

Thanks anon 💜

Just a thought and unrelated to anon: I don't know why I've suddenly come over all insecure and nervous but I feel kind of bad for putting a negative idea out there when we're having such a lovely time with this episode and since Hawaii really! I try to treat this as my blog to say my genuine thoughts in but I do feel a lot of responsibility to say the right things sometimes. But with all the love in the world, I'm assuming everyone knows that if they don't love any of my energy, they can curate their space accordingly. Or possibly you've interacted with me enough on here to politely disagree in the comments and we'll know it's no big deal. I'm just yapping here, I guess. Maybe I just feel a little way about harshing the buzz with more "narrative" talk. 💜

[pinksatinsashes]

The end of the year is the best time of year for us self improvement obsessed girlies because the planners are out, everyone's making vision boards and its finally time to write a nice long list of New Years Resolutions and achieve precisely nothing! Nothing!

Then the end of that year comes and we start the cycle again, making lists, checking them twice, achieving absolutely nothing, staying exactly the same and sometimes worse! How exciting! :)

When I was 16 I thought I'd have my life together at 18...lol! When I was 18 I figured I'd be totally together when I was 20. I'm 20 now...I think I've genuinely gotten worse.

But this year I am determined! I have said absolutely no more, absolutely no way is another year going to pass me by and I'm going to be stuck here in the exact same place. I NEED change.

Your 20's are meant to be the 'best years of your life'!

This is probably the easiest I'm ever going to have it! I have no children, no husband and I don't pay rent yet, if I don't do it now I will never do it..I don't want this to be my life forever.

Want to know how I'm going to make this year my year? Keep reading.

About two weeks ago I coined 2024 as the year of the Glow Up and started to meticulously plan out exactly what I wanted out of it.

My main goals for 2024 are:

To Hit My Goal Weight.

To Save Up Enough Money to Move to London.

To Be 75% of my Dream Girl

There are tons of other things I want to achieve of course, but If I don't achieve those three 2024 would genuinely have been a waste of time for me.

Now a couple years ago I would've just written those two goals down, put them on a vision board and went about my business...but Oh No, not this time.

I had a nice long think about the person I wanted to be at the end of 2024, financially stable, clear skin, goal weight, ready to move in spring 2025, closer to God, found her signature scent.

Each of these goals had a wider theme:

Routine

Fitness and Body

Food

Skincare and Hygiene

Beauty & Makeup

Hair

Clothes

God

Books & Brains

Music

Budget

I fired up Notion, created a home page that had a sub page for every month and then finally I created the Overall page, which has a sub page for every Goal Category and then I broke down each goal into lots of SMART goals. (Specific Measurable Achievable Realistic Time-Based)

So my 'get down to my goal weight' goal became:

Fitness and Body:

[ ] Size 10 clothes or under and 140 lbs (I'm 5'9 with naturally big boobs so this is my ideal weight)

[ ] Hour Glass Figure, building up glutes and upper body

[ ] Maintain Goal Weight for at least 3 months

[ ] Able to Stair Machine for 10 minutes

[ ] Able to go on a full Run

[ ] Do at least one form of Excerise a day

[ ] At least one form of Excerise a day

[ ] Take the Dog on Daily Walks

Food:

[ ] Try 12 New Recipes

[ ] Learn How To Cook 4 Different Nigerian Recipes

[ ] Form Consistent Eating Routines

[ ] Eat out twice a month or less

[ ] Stay in a Caloric deficit until I reach my Goal Weight

See how much more specific this is?

Having my goals listed like this makes everything so much easier because I'm tackling multiple things at once. First I'm changing the majority of my goals to habits or tasks (things I can control) from outcomes (things I may not be able to control).

Now I know that if I do all of these things written out, staying in a caloric deficit and excising daily there's a 90% chance I'll reach my goal.

This is much more effective than writing an outcome with no plan on how to achieve it.

From here, I'll break the Goal Down Even Further, into monthly goals.

For example, to reach the goal weight Goal by the end of December, January may look like this:

Eat at 1500 calories a day or 10,500 calories a week (to allow for the high calorie company lunches I often attend as part of my work, I'll simply eat less on the other days

Go to the gym 4 times week,

Complete X Fitness plan

Go on one Dog walk a week

Meal Prep ever week.

Lose 10lbs

To Save enough Money to Move to London by the end of the year, January might look like this:

Prep for no Spend Months in Feb and March (stock up on skincare, budywash etc)

Meal plan every week

Sell £200 worth of clothes on Vinted to spend on Spring Wardrobe (I'm not buying any clothes unless I use the money I get from selling my current clothes)

Stick to Budget

My Goal to get Smarter and Stop Mindless Scrolling may look like this in January:

Read at least 1 book

Listen to 4 Podcast Episodes

Limit Social Media use to 1 hour a day

Write 6 Blog Posts

Watch one Documentary

Setting the tasks in this way also allows me to feel a sense of achievement, every month I'm able to tick off my goals which can increase my motivation, instead of writing down a list of things to do and forgetting about it until the end of the year. It also allows me to recognise when I'm going off track faster and adjust for the next month.

You see how this is better?

I was strategic in using notion because I knew that I could then use it not only to set out my goals, but as a home base, a setting point to house all the things I could use to achieve them.

Under each section I've also included a bunch of things to help me, the Food section for example has a list of my go to recipes, so that when I can't think of anything to eat and want to run over to the closest KFC I have something to choose from. The Hair section has a list of hairstyles I've done and the Pro's and Cons, the Skincare section has a list of the products I've tried, if I liked them and If they worked for me.

Each month has its own page with a section for each wider goal and a spot for me to have a monthly write up, detailing what works and what didn't work so I can change and approve the following month and prevent falling behind.

I'm determined to make this year my year so let me know if you'd like me to keep you updated, feel free to ask any questions or send them to my asks. Also let me know if you want my notion template, here's a little peak-

Till we speak again!

-hannah🤍