#I have to add the networking thing because I have SEEN PEOPLE DO THIS and it causes psychic damage to everyone in the vicinity

[archaeren]

how did you get into game writing and VNs and such?? i did one freelance job a while back and loved it but since then its been so hard to get into the industry…. i keep getting rejected despite having writing experience/publication in other areas 😭

(omg I didn't realize I have a bunch of messages in my inbox oops) Unfortunately, my game industry work that pays the bills is mostly as QA director, for which we are contracted by other studios. I do writing for our own studio, but I tend to not pursue contract work for writing because I don't want the creative pressure. (Though I was spontaneously offered work on that by another studio recently, so who knows, maybe I'll cave XD) But I will tell you what I tell people who ask me how to get into the games industry. Sorry if you already know some of this, I can't tell from your profile how much experience you already have in the industry! >.< 1. Build a portfolio of game work. You can do this by participating in game jams, itch.io has tons of them running all the time. If you can find in-person game jams (such as the Global Game Jam), even better! They'll help you build connections. If you can show you have strong skills in branching narrative, that's a massive plus. (yeeeeah, this involves basically doing a lot of unpaid work in your free time. but hey, nobody else is getting paid for it either! game dev notoriously pays like shit anyway. XDDD as the joke goes, if we wanted to make money, we'd work in software dev.) 2. Go to where the game developers are. In person. I can't stress this enough. If you want work in the games industry, the best/easiest/quickest way to do it is to meet devs in person. Some people may argue this is not necessary and that you can find work online--in my opinion, those people are either very lucky or very hopeful. You can maybe find some work by hanging out in game dev spaces online, but from personal experience, every client our studio has EVER HAD was either someone we met in person or someone we were introduced to through someone we met in person. Every single one. Here's a list of ideas of places to meet developers: - IGDA meetups, see if there's a chapter in your area. (Or if there isn't and you have the time and ambition, maybe you could start one!) - Local non-IGDA dev groups, you can sometimes find these through Meetup or Facebook - If there are colleges in your area that offer game dev degrees, you could try asking their professors if they know of any local events - See if there are any local game studios in your area that would be able to point you toward the community. Game dev studios aren't just in big cities!! It's not necessarily comprehensive, but you can check out https://gamecompanies.com/map - Game conventions/expos such as PAX - Game developer conferences/events, such as GDC or language/engine-specific conferences such as PyCon (GDC is WAY more worth it than PAX, but extremely expensive. I don't advise going to either until you have a solid game plan of what you're looking for there. There are also organizations that are willing to sponsor people with less means and underrepresented perspectives to attend GDC, so make sure to investigate that!) (And if you do go to a major event like PAX or GDC, make sure to google the afterparties list) And final protip for attending any sort of in-person event: We don't use the word 'networking'. It is a cursed word. We are not networking. We're meeting new friends and like-minded creators. <3

[bluewolfangel01]

How the brothers make sure you're safe in the Devildom: Older Bros edition

Lucifer

Papa Luci mode activated

He has to know where you are or where you're going if you want to go out

It doesn't matter to him that you have 7 of the most powerful demons under your command or that you're training under humanity's most power sorcerer

You are required to have someone with you when traveling anywhere in the Devildom

If he doesn't know where you are, for some reason, he while be doing everything he can just to figure out your location

Of course he isn't going to panic just yet mind you, he'll first ask his brothers if they know where you are

Ex. he makes Levi track your phone or asks Mammon to locate you via crow familiar

If none of them know, then he's going to ask the dateables and side characters

And if they don't know?

He (and the everybody else of course) are going to tear the Devildom apart to make sure that you're okay

And if you are not? May Father have mercy on whoever dared to lay a finger on you cause Lucifer won't

If he starts getting on your nerves about always having to know a general area of where you are, don't hold it against him to much

He just doesn't want you to get hurt, cause if you were you'd have a very said and pissed off Luci on your hands

Mammon

Two words: Crow familiar

Around when you made a pact with him, he gave you a crow familiar

He claimed that it was to make sure he didn't have to deal with Lucifer's punishment if you ever died or even got hurt

Don't let him fool you, that man just wants to make sure you're safe cause he cares about you so much

He has so many crows he sadly can't keep track of ALL their names, so he let's you name yours

The crow will of course love you to bits and do things for you because of his connection to Mammon and cause you treat them so nice

Pls have some seeds on you, the crow will adore you even more if you do

Whenever your out the crow will follow and watch you from a distance or maybe even close by depending on how big the crowds are

If you're ever in trouble and can't handle it (or even if you can) the crow network is put into use to alert Mammon

The second he is told he drops whatever it is that he's doing and he's rushing to get to you no matter what

He'd take out the threat so fast, you blink and it's gone and in its place is Mammon

He's smiling at you and saying how he just so happened to be in the neighborhood

Whatever the threat was seems to have disappeared and Mammon leads you away saying how he wants to show you something he wants to buy nearby

But if you listen closely, you can hear a series of loud caws coming around the area you were just at

Simp

Levithan

Although he doesn't go out of his room much, that doesn't mean that he can't protect you from the outside

Like previously mentioned, there's a tracker on your phone (all the brothers have the same on theirs, don't feel bad)

The only reason he checks it is either because Lucifer asked him or it's been a bit since he's seen or talked to you and wants to know that you're okay

The other way he protects you is checking online and keeping a lookout for any potential threats or nefarious plans against you

He won't intervene unless said people seem to be very serious or actually putting their plan into motion

If such a plan is in motion, he warns the rest of his brothers

No matter what arises if he either ends up stopping or warning the others about there's always the same result

Anything they want online, somehow they can't find it anywhere

They want to simply look about the internet? They best be prepared for all the pop up adds and bugs imaginable

Levi is making sure they never even think about hurting you ever again

This turned out longer then I originally thought it would be.... I promise to write about the other brothers!

[loveemagicpeace]

🌞Sun in Houses🌞

☀️Your sun is your basic personality. It helps you to find your individuality and who you really are. Your sun sign is giving you natural talents. It's your ego. It's your self sense. It represents your will to live. Where you have the sun in your house is where you find light and where you find the most inspiration. And also shows how you can inspire others and help them find the light.

🫧Sun in 1st house- people, for some reason, will always find you to be an inspirational person. They will always somehow find the light in you or something positive about you. You can give off a very positive energy. And even if you are not confident, others will see you as if you are. A lot of inspiration comes through you. And you find a lot of light when you delve deeper into yourself and your personality. And your ego is visible on the outside and you show it that way too. Your will to live shows through what you do.

🍹Sun in 2nd house- you can find your inspiration and satisfaction through money, food, music, luxury. I won't lie, money and expensive things can actually inspire you, and maybe through that you can find hope and the will to live. You can also compete with people who has more money. Or you want to have everything the best or better than others. Since the sun is your ego, you can feed yourself in a way that shows how much money you have or with material things. You show your pride through material things and your value can also be shown in this way (depending on other signs, but sometimes you can feel that you are important or worth something if you have money). People with this placement sometimes find it difficult to find a personality that is not associated with materialism.

🏝️Sun in 3rd house- you find inspiration through books, writing, reading, communication. You want people to see the light through your way of expression. Your ego shows through writing and communication (maybe you always want to have the last word). Your natural talent is to remember a lot, to encourage people with your speech. You can gain a lot of people on social networks. Your will to live is shown through your thinking and thinking. You can be most inspired through your thoughts.

💕Sun in 4th house- You find inspiration in your family or through your family. It can also be a home that you create yourself. Many times you protect the family. You also find the light through family. They become the owner of immovable property, which also adds to the assets that they possess. You do everything to help your friends and you are very supportive for them. In the family, you can often be seen as a person who gives positivity and light - you can also bring the family together. You are very attached to yout home and dream of a beautiful domestic life that you can make for yourself to feel secure. The way you evolve and make things happen later in life would be pretty much connected with your memories.

💜Sun in 5th house- the sun is at home here, so your energy here is very good and positive. You can always find happiness, joy - you know how to create an environment for you that suits you best. You find your motivation and light through your hobbies, joy, playfulness, childhood, romance. You may be very attached to your childhood and want to always have it with you. People always notice you and your talnets too. Usually these people become recognizable. In love with sports and very dramatic. Because they love life and children, they can make the great party organizers for the birthdays of little ones. With this placement, you should be careful not to become too self-absorbed.

🛁Sun in 6th house- you find your light through routine, health, body. It is important that you are connected to your body and that you love yourself the way you are. Because the sun here can become critical of your body. Which means you can find yourself through imperfection. You do things that are healthy for you and your body. At the same time, you can find a lot of good energy and inspiration through animals. Your ego can be noticed many times at work. Maybe it's better if you do something you see passion in it. You can inspire people through a healthy lifestyle or sports.

🧸Sun in 7th house- you find light through the relationships you have with people. It is important for you to get along with everyone and you like to inspire others. Relationship with this one person is also important to you, perhaps this is what complements your personality. Sometimes it can be difficult for you to be alone or to find inspiration outside of it. You can also be strongly influenced by others’ opinions on you, be it from your partner or someone from work. You are very proud of your negotiating skills and ability to bring the peace everywhere. You can also be a person who motivates others with your relationship (and that everyone can achieve a beautiful relationship).

���Sun in 8th house- your true personality is hidden from others and you usually find light through things that are deep, hidden, behind the scenes. Your ego shows itself many times when you are jealous or when someone notices others before you. You you may find yourself driven to understand the depths of your own nature so that you come to terms with the power you hold within. You like power and control. You could be fascinated by the workings of psyche, helping to create emotional transformation and lasting change. Self acceptance then comes from seeing others in their true light. You can find your will to live deep within yourself.

⛵️🎸Sun in 9th house- you find inspiration in travels. You see life as full of opportunities and new things. Places can take you over and you can always find your favorite place. Many times you can look for a place under the sun. You are a person who can teach others a lot and can tell many interesting stories. You get to know the most things when you travel, and that's also good for your soul. Places by the water or places that take you over are the best for you. Your belief is best seen through your passion for life. You can be a very good teacher to others and help them find faith and inspiration. Sun here indicates that you will understand who you are by exploring the world. Intuitive about deeper meanings and following what life has to offer for the soul, they will look to experience with people and situations that make them develop as philosophers.

☁️Sun in 10th house-you may feel motivated to fulfill your ambitions and so will drawn toward accepting responsibility or embracing executive positions. It can be harder to find motivation, inspiration and light - but it comes later in life. Many times you look for yourself through the audience, your parents or your father. You want to find the personality that suits you best. Sun here motivates you to have a strong influence and to get recognized while you’re also satisfying your thirst for power and make your dreams come true.

🪷Sun in 11th house-you are most motivated through your dreams, goals, friends. You find a lot of happiness and inspiration through friends. You are also very open minded. When you don’t have the same interest as someone, you prefer to leave that person behind. Because you adapt almost instantly to new groups and situations, you’ll fit in everywhere. These people also post a lot on social networks. Usually these are some things with which they inspire others. Maybe when people see your profile they feel better and you give them hope.

🩵Sun in 12th house- you find inspiration through everything that is hidden from others. Your personality is hidden from others and you like it because that way you can feel the safest. You are more productive when you do things alone and when you do them at night. Belief can be found through spirituality, subconsciousness, dance, music, art, or something related to your thoughts. Meditation and yoga are also good here. Sun is the representative of the ego and identity, this house is among other things, about limits and the line between what’s real and what’s completely strange. This means natives with this aspect are confused about who they are and about life altogether. Finding yourself and becoming determined, confident and starting to believe in yourself and your abilities is the key here.

✨Ig- bekylibra✨

-Rebekah🫧🌊🩵

[ladymostdeject]

Vox - Pre-flatscreen

Are you writing about Vox, pre-flatscreen, but you’ve never seen a CRT screen before in your life because you are A BABY CHILD (affectionate)?

Come gather round, sit upon my knee, and listen to this elder-millennial tell you all about it. (if you want to I guess, I'm not the boss of you).

CRT’s don’t glitch the way we see Vox do in the show, but they had all sorts of ways to go wrong. If you flipped to a channel where there was nothing broadcast, you’d get solid static or those multicolor bars we see Vox with.

But also, if a channel had bad reception, you’d get a little static over the top and sometimes the image would distort. We called this “snow/ a snowy channel.” 

Sometimes you could get better reception if you fiddled with the antenna a little. Sometimes grabbing the antenna made the channel better, and then letting go made it worse! Because your body became the new antenna! 

I’d like to introduce you to something even before my time: Test patterns!

TV didn’t used to run 24/7! At the end of the day, the network would “sign off”, say good night, play the star-spangled banner, and end with a test pattern. Later, test patterns looked like colored bars, but early ones in the 50’s and 60’s looked like this!

One of my FAVORITE things about CRT’s is when they had been on for a while, if you ran your hand across the glass, a very gentle static would crackle wherever you were touching, and could make your hair on your arm stand up. Tell me that doesn’t have fic applications, my friends!

You can HEAR a CRT when it is on, even if nothing is playing. It’s a very high pitched whine.

I cannot explain to you how nice it felt to change channels with a dial. They were heavy metal, and there was resistance, and a very satisfying click!

If you held a magnet up to the screen you’d get crazy rainbow color distortions, but if you left it too long you’d get those color distortions permanently burned into the screen.

CRT’s are VERY heavy in the front, where the glass is, and MUCH lighter in the back where there's empty space.

CRT’s don’t have fans (only vents), or processors (they only receive, there’s nothing to process!) What they do have is something called an electron gun and vacuum tubes! This is what their insides look like:

But, Lady, you say, how do they work? I don’t know! Ask this guy!

Other things to consider: 

The word Podcast didn’t exist until 2004, and I'd never heard it until 2013 or so (who even taught Alastor this word????) I remember the first time I heard it, and I needed someone to explain to me what it was.

Emails weren’t widespread until the 90s. If Vox is communicating with his employees via text, and it’s pre-1990, the word you’re probably looking for is “Memo” which were literal sheets of paper people could send each other via an in-house courier. 

If I’ve forgotten anything, please feel free to add on! 

[headspace-hotel]

so, in regards to your recent posts on kane-tucky and usa food industry, do you / how do you keep active hope and not slip in into apathy and "looking out for my own" get out of dodge mentality? im having a hard time articulating this, but what makes you not curl up into a shaking mess in anger resentment and a deep desire for change that likely, if ever, wont happen in our lifetime.... any advice is appreciated

The short answer is "getting out and doing stuff in the real world, educating, volunteering, whatever is within your ability"

I will add that "looking out for your own" is not...bad. Like I don't know precisely what you mean by this phrase, but it's actually very important to come to terms with the fact that your impact is strongest where your feet touch the ground, and you have a responsibility and relationship to the people immediately around you, the place immediately around you.

This has not been a popular opinion of mine in the past, but...you can't and shouldn't care about literally everything on the planet. There is of course huge global disparity with access to resources and aid networks, and the largest communities we belong to are: all of Earth and the whole human species.

However: your level of agency is so low with issues that are happening on the other side of the world from you, compared with issues that are happening in your home town. And we're seeing people just get completely burned out from compassion fatigue without ever doing shit because the global responsibility is pushed on us and the local responsibility is not.

I hated my hometown for a decade. In high school I wanted so badly to leave. It's one of those desolate-feeling towns that's developed enough for a shopping center and big chain retailers but not enough to have a sense of community or a single bookstore. I've never been able to place myself precisely along the urban-rural spectrum because I feel isolated from even isolation: there's nowhere to go that doesn't feel razed by human development, where you can't hear the noise of traffic on roads, but it's all cattle pastures, sprawling storage facilities, auto parts stores, big, empty churches. One wrong turn will put you in a dark valley where there are rotting, derelict trailers on cinder blocks hidden back in the woods, and this place has that same feeling of "nowhere to go."

And I felt paralyzed by everything bad happening around the world and the fact that I was just one person, and I had gotten the horrible impression that the only thing I could do about anything was vote and donate money to links I saw online. The worst lie the internet taught me was that in saving the world, nothing matters except Power, Money, and an unclear third category that involves throwing bricks at cops.

But I touched grass. And the weeds taught me something. Do you see the parking lots, the harsh pavement and gravel and brick? I saw. I was surrounded by this landscape of brutal, totalitarian surfaces, impermeable concrete locking the soil away. But in the cracks in the surfaces, dandelions, purslane, and spurge were thriving.

I observed that the spurge stretched out like a shaggy rug and padded the concrete surfaces. The old leaves of the dandelions, as they withered, caught bits of dirt as it flowed into drainage ditches after rains. Soil was forming, and the sprawling structure of the early weeds seemed specially adapted for the task. In older cracks, more plants moved in; I found a wild ruellia blooming in a paved road, an evening primrose. And in some places, seedling trees.

Have you seen what happens when a sidewalk is left unmaintained for years? It disappears. The roots slowly buckle and break it into pieces, and it vanishes beneath lush leaves and moss. A tree growing in a crack in concrete will slowly pry the slab apart.

This is how my IRL rewilding project got started—just pulling plants from the pavement cracks, raising them in pots. I was surprised and awed at the resilience of the plants. I found little trees in concrete with at least two years' growth on them, that had survived being mowed down multiple times.

The weeds changed my viewpoint on the world forever. Up until that point, certain facts about power and politics and money had seemed like law, but I'd suddenly seen that there was a deeper magic.

The dandelions' survival made it possible for others to survive, which in turn made even more life flourish. They could not demolish and remove the concrete and pavement, but they could overcome it by refusing to be destroyed, because the power to take care of each other is in their nature.

People have made fun of me for telling others to go plant a tree. I think culturally we have this ingrained dismissal of things like that due to the twee, cutesy associations of "tree hugging" environmentalists, except in this instance it's because planting a tree is pointless in light of something something systemic issues, not because climate change isn't real, or...whatever reason people have for finding environmentalists cringe. (That is kinda sus now that I think about it.)

And I'm not saying planting a tree will fix climate change. I'm saying that something in my brain had broken and planting a tree unbroke it.

Go outside. Touch grass. Do the work in the immediate community you belong to, in the place you are in, where you have the best and most impact. We have the power to take care of each other, and that power grows stronger the more we are cared for.

The internet is a good place to share information, but that's fucking it. The real stuff, the stuff you can touch with your hands, the stuff that will heal despair, is out there in the real, touchable world. You need to see and feel what you are doing. Don't just give help—accept it. The power to take care of each other is in our nature, and by nature we can give more when we thrive as a result of others' care.

I hope this helps.

[queeranarchism]

When non-hierarchal decision making breaks down

I already posted this here but I wanted to make it into a post of its own. There are a lot of things that can go wrong in non-hierarchical decision making. This post will be focusing on what coordinators (assigned or informal) can do that can undermine the non-hierachical nature of the group and can put more power in the hands of the coordinator.

Within groups genuinely committed to non-hierarchy, everybody needs to be committed to maintaining a space where it is always socially acceptable to say ‘I think you’re having too much power over this decision making process’ and we all gotta teach each other how to recognize dynamics like that.

Some examples of what to look for:

One person is coordinator for a long time and takes offense at the idea of someone else taking over. Someone taking over would not be seen as a normal rotation of tasks but as a judgement on the coordinator.

Alternatively: a group of close friends rotate key positions and nobody else in the group ever holds a key role.

The coordinator proposes what must be done, instead of letting the group come up with ideas together. The thing the coordinator wants to do ends up being the thing the group decides to do a lot of the time.

Some people talk far more in meetings than others and the coordinator does not take steps to restore the balance and create space for the quieter members to speak.

If the coordinator is sick, the meeting does not happen or no key decisions are made. If anyone else is sick, the meeting carries on as usual.

Meeting dates and times are set by the coordinator alone or by a small group who inform the others.

Access tools such as keys to the meeting space, access to the back account and passwords of the groups email-addresses, website and social media accounts, are not shared with the whole group. 

Important skills, knowledge and networks are not shared. Group members with a less central position can not take over key tasks because they have not been allowed to learn how to do them or build the connections to organize them.

The key decision makers all live in the same house or hang out together a lot, other members find that the plan is already 90% done by the time the actual meeting takes place and they can’t really go in a different direction anymore.

Members that challenge the coordinator(s) are ‘accidentally’ not invited to meetings or meetings are always planned on a day when they have other obligations. 

Meetings in which the coordinator(s) does not get their way are dragged on until members get too tired and agree to the coordinators proposal to get out of the meeting.

Members that challenge the coordinator(s) are told they’d have a bigger part in decision making if they’d do more work, attend more meetings, etc. A few members use the fact that they have a lot of time and a lot of energy to dominate groups and efuse to change their decision making process and meeting schedule to better incorporate members who have a demanding job, or young kids, or who are often low on energy or who can’t travel much, etc. This often ends up putting marginalized people on the side lines, as they often have a lot more stuff on their plate to deal with, and it especially impacts disabled people who can not conform to abled ideas about productivity. At worst, people who can’t keep up with the grueling pace set by the high-energy abled folks face to choice to either burn out or get out.

This is an incomplete list. Feel free to add your own.

None of this means that non-hierarchical decision making can not work. I would argue that it is the only decision making that really works. But we have to keep working at it and recognizing when it's not functioning as intended and we have to be ready to accept the idea that our decision making process needs to be improved upon.

[al-the-remix]

I know nothing about 911 but seeing all the bucktommy posts makes me really interested, if you don’t mind could you give a short introduction of the ship/which episode(s) to watch for them? Thanks!!

Hi! So the ship is a very new one and they don't have a lot of screen time yet, so their relationship only appears in season seven, episodes: 7x3 to 7x6 and then 7x9 and 7x10. Tommy Kinard as a side character also shows up in episodes 2x9, 2x12, 2x14 (in an off-screen capacity) and 2x16.

As for the introduction, the lore with this show runs sort of deep, but as condensed and simplified as I can give it to you: the decision to introduce bi!Buck and Tommy and his love interest was made very last minute (like as the first few episodes of season seven were coming out kind of last minute...) as the tv show switched networks from FOX to ABC and was working with a protracted season, (10 episodes in stead of 18), so this first season you see them together in has a very "let's see how well this works and if the general audience approves of it" kind of vibe.

Obviously, it worked for me! And the general reception has been good. Personally, I find their dynamic fun and genuine; the show runner was aiming for a non-heavy coming out story with a romcom twist, which I think they succeeded at. Buck (or "Evan" as Tommy calls him) is sort of the obvious favourite of the show in the audience and the writer's eyes, he's gotten a lot of development over the years, but has stagnanted recently on the romance side of things and also in his professional development, (which is partly the fault of the writers and partly just bad luck with maintaining actors). So I think a lot of fans are excited to see him "off the hamster wheel", as they say, in the love department. This opens up the possibility to explore other plot lines with him as a character in his professional life and personal life now that hes in a steady relationship.

Tommy we don't know much about yet, other than he was deeply in the closet when we first see him in the season 2 flash-back episodes. He's not initially a very warm, welcoming, and accepting person, but it's implied that a lot of that behavior was influenced by his environment and poor upbringing, and he is quick to make amends and befriend the main characters when he's shown to be in the wrong. He used to be in the army, and is a fan of cars, martial arts, and rom coms. The way he talks in the season seven episodes makes it clear that he's done a lot of self reflection since we've last seen him (and since he's come out). He's shown to be an open and honest person who does his best to show up for the people he cares for, and once Buck is in his line of sight, all that attention is turned his way.

I think with this ship what people are most excited about is the potential it demonstrates: Buck as a character is someone who's been on an aggressive misson of self discovery and understanding, he's been actively looking for a romantic partner to have a committed, mature relationship with, he's someone who's willing to give a lot of himself away to his partner and is desperately hoping to have that attention and affection mirrored back at him.

What little we know about Tommy so far makes it clear that he's mature and willing enough to be that person for Buck: if it works out and the writers allow him to be. I just really enjoy what little I've seen so far, and with the show being back to its regular 18 episodes next season and Tommy pretty much confirmed to return, I'm interested and invested and hopefully in where they may take this relationship next.

Also I feel like I need to add if you're going to engage with the fandom specifically for this ship, do it through the #bucktommy tag on tumblr, because it's a real mine field out there right now, lol.

[ncisfranchise-source]

When Mark Harmon first read the guest role of Naval Criminal Investigative Service special agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs on JAG in 2003, one thing stood out immediately.

"The name caught me," Harmon, who couldn't have known then what a TV mainstay Gibbs would become, tells PEOPLE. 

NCIS, on which Harmon starred for 19 seasons until 2021, remains one of TV's most popular crime franchises. It also hit its 1,000th episode this April and has spawned four spinoffs.

Now, a fifth, NCIS: Origins, set in 1991, follows young Gibbs. 

"It's an NCIS-verse you haven't seen before," says Austin Stowell, 39, who inherits the character. Harmon, executive producing and narrating the new series — and appearing in its debut episode on Oct. 14 on CBS — agrees. “We're not trying to do something over again.”

For Stowell, leading a highly anticipated network prequel is “the opportunity of a lifetime.” Watching the two-part premiere, he tells PEOPLE, proved emotional. “I was a mess at the end of it.”

To breathe new life into an iconic character, Stowell “had to become Gibbs’ biggest fan,” he adds. Luckily, in Harmon, he had a mentor with a lot of experience. Ahead of the Monday, Oct. 14 premiere, PEOPLE caught up with the duo for a sneak peek at NCIS: Origins.

PEOPLE: Mark, what do you remember about casting Austin as a 1991-era Leroy Jethro Gibbs? HARMON: I felt the room jump a little when Austin came in, before he said anything. He walked out and someone said, “I'll just say it, that's a movie star.” And there was heavy competition there. There were a lot of good [actors in contention]. 

Austin, what about your introduction to your character?  STOWELL: If I can start imagining myself as [a character], in their shoes, then I know it's working. I read the first episode, and right away there were lots of parallels to my life. I knew the show, I knew the character — not as intimately as I do now — but just as I started to turn the pages, I had these moments over and over again, saying, “Oh, I know this guy.”

So how did you go about approaching playing a younger version of Gibbs, this icon Mark brought to life? STOWELL: I knew I had something that I could bring to the character that was very real, that was palpable. But I also knew that I was stepping into a character that was creative, created and filled out and beloved by this guy for 20 years. And I wanted to pay homage to his acting talent. So I wasn't doing an impression, but I was trying to encapsulate who I thought Mark was. And I do that every day now. He leads by example. We're all here because of him. I think about him constantly. [To Harmon] I dream about you. Which is — HARMON: A little frightening! STOWELL: I dream about the show, almost every night. He's given me the greatest gift that I could ask for… This is the Gibbs who's making mistakes, who's living with ghosts and trying to put his life back together. And that's a lot of fun for me to play. HARMON: Austin has to birth this guy. He's got the challenge and also the gift to be able to play this guy younger and to be able to let him be the newbie.

Talk about balancing making a different show with inheriting such a beloved TV franchise. How are you thinking about its legacy? STOWELL: What the mothership [NCIS] did so well was create this feeling of family. Like you knew the characters that you were inviting into your home. And I think that's a big difference between films and television, especially episodic television like this. You choose to turn on the TV when you have your intimate moments with your family. It's time when you're cooking dinner, it's time when you're relaxing after a day of work, sitting on the sofa with your loved ones. That is a big responsibility for a show like this.

Does that ever feel daunting?  STOWELL: No, it's not. It only means I have to come to that level. And that's okay with me. I like reaching for a bar that's higher, that fuels me when I get out of bed in the morning. The fact that I know that there's 300 million people out there who are waiting to see what this is only makes me fight harder and make me want to fulfill their expectations. HARMON: He's got his eye on the ball. In some ways, it gets bigger every day, the responsibility of it. But right now he's just trying to make the work be the best it can be every day. That's got really nothing to do with what you do in acting class. It's got more to do with who you are as a human being. STOWELL: I got to be writing all this down! This is another part of the value that Mark brings to the table is that he comes and talks to all of us… Immediately, I store all that in my head. I've never been on a show like this. I've never been a [number one on the call sheet] before. This is all brand new to me. So he comes to offer that kind of advice and that immediately, I store all that in my head. 

What is the Origins shooting schedule like?  HARMON: They're working long hours right now. They're working night hours. It's all part of it. STOWELL: You're going to work every day. I wake up, I train, learn my lines, go to set. Wash, rinse, repeat, Monday through Friday. HARMON: And you get questions like, "Well, how do you handle that?" STOWELL: You just do.

What is your favorite thing about creating this new show? STOWELL: We've all worked really hard at this and we're trying to get it right. It looks beautiful. I [am] just really happy for all of our crew, that it's going to be something that we're all going to be proud of... I've gotten to know them, so many, really intimately, I know about their kids and their plans for the weekends. It's not lost on me that a big part of that responsibility is to keep everybody at work. I like that responsibility. It gives me great purpose. I don't just go to work for me, I go to work with everyone… I've been able to concentrate on what I need to concentrate on because I do feel like I have a safety net. HARMON: When I was selling shoes, I used to always look at my watch and I'd go, "Lost four hours today. Where are we going to make that up?" Guess what? At a certain point you stop looking at your watch. Maybe sleep is a little overrated. You care about your crew… You walk on the set, you can feel it. STOWELL: We're a family already. HARMON: And if you can bring that to it too, what Austin's talking about, then you venture into the territory of something special and it becoming a little more than a job. This is a place where everybody's busting their tail because they want it to be good. It’s not about a paycheck.

[theminecraftbee]

On the subject of modpack recommendations, I made a custom one for myself a little while ago and i've been playing it nonstop since.

It's very chill, and lighter on the mods so my silly little laptop can run it without crashing. I put it together cause most modpacks are so complex and overwelming to my lil brain. I've found it a good mix of still feeling like minecraft, but having the benefits of the 'more' from the mods.

The lineup is: Create, Farmer's Delight, Sophisticated Backpacks, Waystones, Comforts (the sleeping bag mod), an animals mod called Naturalist, Xaero's Minimap/Worldmap, Decorative Blocks, Macaw's Doors/Trapdoors/Lights & Lamps/Bridges/Paintings for some more decor options, and Simple Hats (I wanted to wear a fox hat on my head. sue me). There's a few basic quality of life mods too, like AppleSkin and JEI, and some compatability add on mods for Create and the waystones to the maps, but that's it.

It's worked really well so far, and i haven't crashed at all-- though i have fallen victim to the massive sinkhole in the neighboring savannah I've been using as my strip mine and tree farm. I put keep inventory on, it's fiiiinnnneeeee-- I never like having stakes for death anyway, makes it too stressful. Let me throw myself from build height to bedrock without having to do the walk of shame for my stuff--

My game chugs a touch with Create, but all I had to do was turn down my graphics and be VERY careful to not dump out thousands of entities at once But that's just Create, really

oh, this can be a really great approach to playing modded too, especially if you personally know what mods you like and don't care about stuff like recipe compatibility! the main advantage of a 'true' modpack is normally that the good ones balance the recipes of the different mods to each other, and also i really prefer modpacks personally that have quest systems. but if your goal is to "play with mods" mostly, or, say, like you, you have a computer that can't handle heavier modpacks, or you just wanat a few things you like, this is a path that is DEFINITELY an option for a chill modpack!

i will say for those new to modded, here are some mods i recommend everyone include of the QOL variety, even if they're otherwise not doing many mods:

some variety of mimimap; xaero's is the one i'm most familiar with but choose your favorite.

if that minimap doesn't come with waypoints for some reason, get yourself a mod that adds waypoints.

quark. i never play modded minecraft without quark, if only for the rotation lock feature alone (never worry about which direction you're facing while placing a block again). you can go through quark's website to decide which features you'll enable and disable, and this is possible to do through an in-game gui, so even people who don't want to touch .json files can easily configure what quark features they do and don't use! it just adds... so many little qol things.

appleskin. this just makes the food bar more useful and shows you saturation. i don't know why vanilla doesn't do this.

jei (just enough items). you will ALWAYS WANT JEI WHILE PLAYING MODDED I CANNOT EXPRESS ENOUGH HOW HANDY THIS IS. a searchable list of every item in the game, which you can click on in order to see their recipes, and even automatically transfer items from your inventory to a crafting grid for that recipe! it's in every modpack ever for a reason! the larger the modpack, the more you're gonna want this!

a performance mod. personally i'd recommend not using optifine, as optifine is a mod a lot of other mods note break them, but if your particular pack is optifine compatible, go for it! most packs i've seen go with either sodium on fabric or rubidium on forge, but there are also other options! i'd just include at least one.

any other convenience you've ever had in another modpack that you want! personally, i need something like tom's simple storage network, drawers, or both to want to play a given modpack, because i get sad without storage, but maybe you only want to play packs with a variety of crops! maybe you think sophisticated backpacks or sophisticated storage are a requirement in your mind! maybe supplementaries or other decorative mods are a requirement to you! the world is your oyster! add whatever of those!

[soshadysoquiet]

More thoughts

So there's a lot of hate for the characters going on, especially Five and Lila.

Now do I hate the choices the show made for them, yes - I do not think they were truly thinking about the characters and I think they were unnecessary choices for the plot. I do not approve of several choices for the characters, but I could never hate any of the Tua characters.

This is long so rest is under the cut!

Luther: His life is a complete shambles - living in a condemned building. Luther has been seen to be savvy enough to land on his feet when thrust into the real world. His living there suggests he's lacking an ability to find somewhere to live / a support network, yet none of the siblings were worried about him or reached out to help. I thought it was odd that this was never addressed and instead he just gets mocked by Ben.

I DID like: that they brought back some of Luther's intelligence - working out the CIA was fishy. And I love that they kept up the kindness he had developed over the past few seasons and made him be so supportive. His reactions in the Five Lila reveal were hilarious.

Diego: Again, I didn't like that they made him so anti his own life an marriage, and I see a lot of people giving Lila a lot of heat and solely blaming her for the state of their relationship, whilst there are clear problems left over from S3, I do not believe that Diego's attitude would be easy to live with - not debating whether his attitude was fair or not, but to me he did not come across as supportive and doing his best until they got to go on a mission. I thought this was a pretty big disservice to his S1 character also, because Diego is clearly capable of surviving in the real world and used to it's restrictions, so for him to be the one reacting this strongly is bizarre to me. Plus I do feel that the family situation he has is one that previous-season Diego would have wanted and cherished, especially if he'd been able to have an 'out' - work or hobby - that could be where he then gets to feel a different sense of accomplishment. I would have made their season be about communicating that and them deciding where they were going to support each other (i.e. dif job for Diego, time for herself for Lila also). Also, I feel they really made him 'dumber'? Diego is insightful, open to points of view if given time, quite observant, smart at putting things together to solve a puzzle. Whilst I loved that he had his fam groaning when he put on his old outfit, the body-humour was unnecessary and irrelevant when you show a ripped man in 4 eps after that.

I DID like: Him throwing packages into windows. Him sticking his hand out to protect the passenger seat in the car like a true parent. Him winning reindeers for his kids. His enthusiasm. His love for his car, and that he still had a stubborn streak and wanted to always be in the thick of the action.

Allison: She was pretty good this season I thought, I think her and Klaus' relationship with saving him was a little bigger up this season, but we did at least see him keep returning to her in S2 and have background knowledge that they were close, so it wasn't toooo OOC for me, just a bit clumsily bigged up - make it more about her personal redemption arcs revolving around saving Whoever is closest rather than Klaus and you've got a winner that script was already written. I thought that the ending was particularly cruel on Allison, and I did not like the lazy way they retconned Ray. I also didn't love that they gave her (the only female in the siblings, I hasten to add) another damsel in distress bit at the end that took her out of play for the fight when the ceiling fell on her. Why does this always happen to Allison when if the guys get bricked on (Five) they're up and swinging. I've had thoughts about some mysogyny in the show from S3 and others, but this reminded me about it.

I DID like: Her and Claire having time together. her and Klaus. She was so funny in the horrific Five and Lila reveal moment. Love her assertive attitude in the face of their Dad. Her being the face of the cleaning brand was hilarious, and I love her defending the role to others, so funny. Her guilt over having to marigold Klaus under peer pressure too felt so very S1 Allison.

Klaus: I think the main issue I had here was that they didn't portray his powers returning very well, and it took someone else pointing it out to make me see that he got the mothers of agony dude to shoot him so he could get out of paying his debt - did not get it the first time. Also there's no explanation for how biker dude knows that because he's immortal he can summon ghosts and have them possess him for sex? Maybe he didn't and that's what the wind etc was for - a fake. But biker dude calls him a medium so IDK. Also they just piled Way too much trauma on him too quickly it felt so gratuitous, he's always been a bit of a punching bag but being tortured in S1 affected him more than all of this on top of getting his powers back for the first time in years. That we don't see if he knows how Ben died now?

I DID like: His obvious caution and desire to be reliable for Claire and himself. That we saw the negative sides of his addiction. His need for a little brown bag. His desire to be reliable for his siblings. His reactions in the Five Lila reveal were hilarious. That he floats now.

Five: Now I despised what they chose to do with the character - lazy, unnecessary, playing to fantasies and not the character's in my opinion. Would have loved to see them make Five find happiness another way, any other way - and there's a lot in the comics they could use - like him trying to set up an orphanage - how awesome would that have been to see? Do I BLAME the characters for ending up in the relationship? No, I don't think they would or should have, I don't think they were romantic and being alone with my sister for 7 years would not make me want to jump her bones. Ew, no offence to her! Now, I think that Five saw Lila as family - he even calls her that in S3E2(?) that she's family now. The writers / producers obv saw different (which is ew from Lila's end in particular given his 13yr old body when they met). I think it was a wrong choice. I can't hate the two of them for it, because I feel that there is literally some power from above that forced it - I'm going to call it insanity, but I keep being brought round to how I still wouldn't jump my sister's bones after 7 years in the apocalypse. The writers / producers basically decided 'if you're stuck alone with Anyone for 7 years, you'll sleep with them eventually!' poor, poor choice. Lord knows I pity anyone trapped with Them for 7 years now. Aside from the above, the lack of reaction to the apocalypse, the fact that we never see where he Lives, the lack of showing us how he got to where he is in the last Five years when he's an 18yr old with clearance to work solo in the CIA? I need to know How that happened. The fact that we didn't get to see him working out the subway map when he's clearly capable of it and let's be honest; the 7 years spent in the subway had to be a Doss compared to the Apocalypse - they knew stops where they could get food, they're safe below ground, he's with someone - I don't think it would have broken him half as much OR taken these two brilliant minds too long to figure it out, honestly the tube map did not look 7 years long. Plus, they would blatantly have run into the other Fives sooner - and that would have been funny. And they could have worked together. It's Bananas that they were there that long, and the time was poorly shown too. Also we never see him interact with Claire Gracie or the twins. Sadness. Anyway everything from Ep5 onwards was such a butchery that it was too poisoned to take seriously, though that's not to say the acting was bad when he faced off against Diego - he truly looked murderous.

I DID like: him gatekeeping his job from Diego - dick move, but That is a move on point for a Five who got pissed when Diego went to The Commission. Him still decisively taking action with danger / plans. That he's clearly kept close tabs on his family and spends regular time with them. His relationship Supporting Diego and Lila's marriage until The Episode. The diner full of Fives was excellent and I wish we could have spent more time with them / worked with them to realise more of their differing personalities.

Ben: I know that it was kinda amusing for Sparrow Ben to be such a dick, but for me he had no redeeming qualities, barely stepped in to save his last remaining sibling's life. I get that being in prison could make you a dick too - but he was like that before. Prison affected him Zero percent. He then drugged everyone against their will. Continued to be nothing but awful to everyone (with the Briefest pause when Klaus was actively dying) but I started and ended S4 wondering why they would treat him much differently than their abusive father. He was funny, objectively, but so awful to them and they all just took it. It would have been great to see 1% more softness towards them even, he doesn't have to become Old Ben, but there was nothing to like, though I might have forgotten bits. I would have liked to see some character development in 5 yrs, or something to justify why I should care that he gets Bennifered. Plus the Jennifer storyline was trite to me. Ben is the closest I come to 'hating' a character this season, but I don't hate him, I think the writers didn't bother considering what 5 yrs might do (if it's enough to make 2 siblings have an affair, it's enough to drastically change anyone's personality, team!), and they ended S3 showing A Ben looking so peaceful, I hoped he might get at least a little of that in S4. You can still make him a sourpuss but have Some less cruel moments.

I DID like: That he had some funny lines? Idk, he was difficult to engage with for me. No hate if you loved him though, that's just me. If I manage to rewatch ever I'll try to find more good.

Viktor: I just thought they cheaped out on his backstory a little, and I hoped he would come to realise he didn't need Reggie's approval like he thought he would - or that it was so cheaply won by saving his life, an act people do all the time, not because of Viktor's personality. I thought it was a real shame we didn't get to see him happy at all. seeing him light up in S2 was such a delight and he doesn't deserve to always look like he's suffering. He should have gotten a little bit of happiness - from his bar maybe? Something. Also another point for someone getting shot and not being shown to seek any medical care but being fiiiiiiiiiiiine...... ffs. Again, not Viktor's fault, that's the Show. Sad that he barely got to interact with Five at all.

I DID Like: Him blowing the windows in the car. Him staying on-point of the mission most of the time, well done Viktor! Good hero-ing! He had funny lines. Was nice to see him become an essential part of the team as he deserves.

Lila: Again as with Five, I can't hate her, because it's all so ludicrous. He killed her parents, her MOTHER full on says they 'had a history', that would give most people the NO for sure. Lila has also spent the last 5years watching this 13yr old grow into a 18yr old - and has kids, and I strongly believe her desire to have a family would also outweigh her desire to jump her brother's bones. Ew. I thought it was a real disservice to her character development to say that things had to go this way. I would buy her and Five 'cheating' / falling in love with someone they were stuck with for 7 years with if it was anyone outside their family. What TUA certainly Didn't need, was more psuedo-incest. I'm a bit sad that people are taking the line with Lila that as she's married and has kids then she should still be 100% faithful after 7 years no matter what. She's clearly shown to be unhappy, to her, it looks like Diego is too. How many years without someone Would it have been okay for her to hookup with? I don't think we can put a number on it. My problem is that: They decided a relationship to survive 7 years has to be romantic, and that they chose Lila and Five to do it with. For me Five is more the problem here than Lila, (in terms of characterisation) because we rightly (he's been a child in prev. seasons actor-wise whatever the POV is on character age) never see him want to engage in sexual activities, other than maybe (maybe) flirting with a waitress one time at Luther's bar? I think also telling is that Diego's actor refers to Five in an interview as Diego's "younger brother", which tells you Exactly what at least this cast member, and ergo his character from the wording considered Five to be. They see him as younger too, which makes me even more uncomfortable about it.

I DID like: that she wanted to do her own thing and still loved her kids - I think that's very valid, both her and Diego should get to have something they value outside of family. That she got her family back (though interesting how they fell in together? Would have been interesting to see That reunion) Her undercover work - very on point for her character. The moments with her and Five prior to Ep 5, which I will always choose to see as platonic, personally, for my sanity.

I just don't like hate on the characters or that X is irredeemable over Y. It personally gets me down when I see it, especially as is seems to be that some people bash one character while absolving any faults from another one.

I've been Very negative about S4, but did want to highlight some good bits in each of the characters, because I could never hate these guys, they just deserved so much better, all of them.

[whatsa-bi-as]

first time

GN!reader x Haku Shota (Soul)

song; first time - Hozier

plot; a young couple talks about whether it would be worth trying again to make a relationship work

genre; angst

warning; none - let me know if I've missed any

word count; 1.4K

networks; @kflixnet and @k-labels

proofread; by the wonderful @gyumibear go check them out they've been a lot of help!!

a/n; I'm thinking of doing some stuff inspired by songs and this was kind of a test run :)

masterlist is here

“Do you think that this could have worked? You and me?”

It was a risky question, but one you hadn’t been able to get out of your head for weeks. It was eating you up inside, and if you didn’t ask it now, you probably never would. The silence that followed filled the air around the both of you and it was deafening.

“I don’t know. I mean, we tried. We tried twice, and Keeho always says 'third times the charm'. So maybe we would, maybe we wouldn’t.”

This was your ex-boyfriend, but your first love. This was the boy you had loved with all your heart, the boy you had watched grow into who he is now, the boy you had always supported with everything you could give.

“One of my mates tells me about this philosophical idea she read about. She thinks it’s just to make people have hope that things could have turned out differently. It’s the idea that there are different versions of people in different universes. ”

He smiled, but he didn’t say anything. He just let you keep talking and listened to you, like he always had, whether you were together or not.

“Which means that in one universe there's a version of us that never met, in another you were always my best friend but nothing more, and in some far off universe it worked out the first time. We never had to wonder if it would work because we… we knew we’d be together forever.”

“So we’re in the one where we tried, but it never happened.”

“Pretty much, yeah. That sucks, doesn’t it. Out of all the universes to be in, we got this one.”

He took a second to think about it. The idea of alternate universes was a lot to take in, especially when it was randomly presented to you late on a Wednesday night.

“What do you think we’re like in that last universe, the one where we never broke up? Do you think we call each other every night and put our beds together in Minecraft?”

You couldn’t quite tell if he was joking or not, but that was typical of him, always trying to make you laugh, even in the middle of a semi-serious conversation. Once he told you that he did that because he thought your smile was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen, and deep down you still hoped that was the case.

“I like to imagine that we’re planning our future. I’m stressed about university applications and you're telling me to relax, that I’ll be fine. We’re also bickering over what colour the rug should be in the living room because you think it's the perfect shade, but I am convinced that it’s too dark for the colour palette we chose.”

“If we would bicker over anything, it would be over what mugs we have on the side and which ones go in the cupboard. You want the ones we use everyday to be on display and I think that glass ones would go better with the decor."

You could picture that argument, and try as hard as you might that one did make you laugh.

“That's the only right answer! It’s not only practical, but a house isn’t a home unless you add some personality to it, and what better way to do that than with mugs!”

“I guess one thing that doesn’t change between that universe and this one is that I know you better than you know yourself.”

The wind was not the only thing that sent a shiver down your spine. It was the fact that he was right, this boy could read you like a book, you didn’t have to say anything for him to know that you were upset, or happy, or stressed, just anything. He always knew exactly what to say or do, and although you used to love that about him, now it just leaves a bittersweet taste in your mouth.

“It's way too cold for us to be out this late.” He stood up and held out a hand to help you up. “Let’s get you home.”

“Do we have to go just yet?”

This night felt perfect. It was like a bubble had formed over the two of you, blocking out any fear and anxiety, but you knew that the moment you walked through your front door, you’d have to deal with all of it.

“You hate the cold. I’m honestly surprised you’ve lasted this long without complaining.”

You just looked up at him silently pleading for him to say no. For him to sit next to you again.

“We can walk slowly, but it’s late, it’s dark and it’s cold, so I’m walking you home whether you like it or not. And I’m not taking no for an answer, so..."

This was a situation you’ve been in before. He's not going to give in. You wouldn’t either if it was the other way around, so you take a deep breath and take his hand. The feeling sends a sense of nostalgia and hope deep into your soul. There's something about holding his hand that just feels right, like it was made to fit in yours.

The walk starts off in silence, the previous conversation soaking in like winter rain into a jumper. It was comfortable but as you got closer to your house and the seconds began to tick away, there was so much that you had to say, but so little time.

Passing the bench where you spent plenty of late nights when you first started dating you just let it out. All the things you'd been meaning to say over the last few years came out all at once.

“I did love you, you know. Sometimes it's hard for me to realise that I love people because in some ways it just comes so naturally. I know I love my family and my friends, because I mean that's a given, but when it comes to like, romantic love, that's a bit harder to realise. I don’t think I truly realised I loved you until I knew it would never be the same again. You’d never put your arm around me while we talk to our friends, you'd never pick me up for late night snack runs, or send me stupid pictures when I’m having a bad day, and I really, really miss that. I miss you.”

“You love me?”

“I did.”

“Do you still love me?”

“I think a part of me always will. You were my first love. I don’t think I’ll ever stop loving you completely.”

“You were my first love too.”

You had reached your front door. The night was over. You had said everything you wanted to say, so nothing should really stop you back from going inside. You weren’t together, in theory you owed him nothing.

In reality, this boy was the first one to hold your heart in his hands and try his hardest not to let it break. He was your first love and it felt impossible to leave him. His hand in yours warmed your heart more than any blanket ever could. It just felt right to be with him, but you had to leave. This doesn’t work and as painful as it is, you just have to admit it. It would be for the best if you could find the strength to turn away.

Instead, you just look at him, admiring how his eyes shine like the stars, how he’s so young but already has laugh lines, and he doesn’t care because it means he’s lived a happy life. He was perfect, and the fact that it wasn’t meant to be broke your heart into smaller and smaller pieces every time you thought about it.

He was the one who broke the silence first.

“Can I kiss you? One last time to say goodbye?”

“Yes. Yes, you can.”

Breaking apart neither of you really knew what to say. You were both so different from the people you were when you first met, but the moment after you broke away it was as if nothing had changed. You were back to being those nervous kids again, whose cheeks got warm every time you held hands because it was all so new.

“I love you.”

“I love you too, Shota.”

[mystycalypso]

I'm gonna go on a mini rant here.

TW: p3d0ph1lia, and child s/@

God, I shouldn't have to put a TW like that on a blog where I post Hello Neighbor content with my bff, but I need to just- let off steam about this because it's something that seems to happen every time there's a franchise centering around kids facing a big bad adult where- people assume that said big bad s3xually @ buses one or more of the minor characters.

A main big example of this is obviously FNAF, with the P3d0philia William Afton being popularized by PinkiePills with her comics to the point where a large chunk of the fandom believes that it's canonical. Despite that not being the case.

The example that has pushed me over the edge to talk about this today is Theodore Peterson. I have been worried since Episode 6s release that people were going to claim that Peterson S/@ ed Nicky. And today, low and behold I see a post (not gonna name drop them for obvious reasons) saying

"At this point it's obvious what Mr. Peterson did to Nicky" with the teaser image tinybuild recently posted

Now, at first my autistic ass said, "...What?" And I couldn't figure out for the life of me what they were referring to because I mean, we don't even know when this shot is from

Then I open the comments and see people talking about whether or not it was infact s/@ . I know I said I was expecting and dreading this, but it still shocked and bewildered me because- there's genuinely nothing in the show that actually makes it seem like this.

Thankfully, a lot of the comments were openly disagreeing with this idea and sentiment. But- I need to discuss why it's a problem to me, ESPECIALLY with this franchise, which I've already explained is very near and dear to me.

But good FUCKING GOD, especially with WTRB

THIS IS A KIDS SHOW

Is WTRB able to go much darker than most kids' shows because it isn't run on tv or owned by a network? Absolutely. But would TB go that far? FUCK NO.

I've seen this person using moments from the show like this

To call Mr. Peterson, a p3d0phil3, and I need to clearly explain the purpose of this image. It is to show the power he has built in his lies. Trinity witnessed Mr. Peterson kidnap Nicky before her own eyes, but he has built up such a persona as this pathetic old man in the town that even when she can see behind his lies and see his actively horrific behavior, no one else can.

We see this same back and forth in all their interactions in episode 5. From the moment he offers cookies based on Nicky's goggles to the framing of him looming while her parents work the printer. He believes he has won and can flaunt it because there is no one in Ravenbrooks who believes these kids. No one even notices or is suspicious of Nicky going missing in the first place.

And if Trinity was also an adult or even if Mr. Peterson was say- a woman this wouldn't be coming up or a theory/hc. It is only because Theodore is an older male antagonist.

Now, why is this a problem? Why do these hcs and theories urk me so much every time I see them?

It adds nothing. All they do is make the story "edgier" and "darker" in a way that's so- flat and dimensionless. There's nothing gained by saying "oh Nicky was s/@ ed" if anything you have taken so much from the actual story of Hello Neighbor and the themes of feeling helpless to the horrors you see going on around you. You're not taken seriously as a kid, especially after doing something others see as a slip up like Trinity or by not being the model student type like Nicky. You're young and can see through the lies of others easier but no one believes you.

Not only that, but the supernatural theming of Hello Neighbor is lost because of this. The Guest, The Thing, the Cult, everything is lost or disregarded all to make the series dark on a very surface level.

I'm tired of actual themeing and good writing getting thrown to the wayside for hcs that do nothing for victim representation and do nothing to add to the story and I say this with utter genuineness

If you believe in these p3d0 hcs and theories, do not interact with our work.

Kaydin and I are both VIOLENTLY disgusted by the things we saw written by that poster and by the comments agreeing with their sentiment and we don't want to be associated with the parts of the fandom that twist the series that way.

Thanks for reading.

[hibiscus-reign]

I’ll be honest I really love BuckTommy, as a relationship for Buck, it’s written as his most healthy, and on screen it comes across as him being at his most happy, but I am getting kinda scared that it won’t last too long next season (or they’ll break up off screen). And no, it’s not because of the lack of Lou sightings. I don’t really keep up with him, but I’ve seen people are wondering where he is (it’s still too early in my opinion, and I wouldn’t blame him if he’s doing the smart thing of staying off the grid until the show starts).

But what has me scared is what Tim’s opinion of us as a group is. He has made it clear that he’s the type of writer who writes what makes him happy, and although he was happy with himself and the story at the start of the season, I’m not too sure whether that feeling has changed and whether our behavior as a group has soured his perspective. I’m not singling anyone out or removing myself, because I know a lot of us have done that, and I’m not going the B*die route of blaming everyone but myself, but I do think whether people were just reacting to a B*die take or not, he still took that negativity as a bad mark from our side.

Also, I don’t know if the network will keep the relationship around if our side is always calling out Ryan’s questionable behavior (which disappoints me because he definitely should be called out, and they should be smart enough to know that he will always be called out by non BT fans like that tweet from when the season started. Also the big twitter accounts don’t like him so he’ll never escape his scandal).

It really does suck being a BT shipper though. All season it’s been everyone telling us how to react and very rarely telling B*ddie shippers how to act, but that’s beyond the point. The point is Tim didn’t like looking at any negativity, and he was definitely lurking on socials, even if he saw the entire picture there’s some disappointment there.

It saddens me if we lose Tommy. I truly believe he’s Buck’s best relationship to date, and I know we won’t get B*ddie so their side “won’t win”, but it still fills me with a deep sadness that whatever Lou has endured from fans might be brought onto whichever actor comes next regardless of gender (because let’s be honest even Ravi and Josh wouldn’t be suitable partners for Buck in their eyes no matter what they claim now), and this feeling just kinda crept it’s way in me when I thought about Eddie’s next love interest. We need to defend that women when the day comes, because we already know the reality of the situation.

There are times when I wish one of the two would leave the show (whether Oliver or Ryan), but I know that’s not really likely unless a better opportunity comes along for Ryan. The hate from either side is tied to one, and even then him leaving might not appease the toxicity, but I’m just at a loss on how to fix this. The show runners and network won’t do anything, and fans alone can’t fix this problem.

Anyways I just wanted to vent. I’ll only add the bucktommy tag because I want this to stay here, but I know there’s a possibility my words can be twisted and this will find its way outta the tag. Have a good night y’all.

[forgottenthreads]

Alien visiting a human colony

Human: So this is our capital city. We're in our government centre.

Alien: it's fitting for your government centre to be such an important looking structure, by why are there other structures that seem just as grand

*the alien points across the city at other skyscrapers from the observation deck*

Human: we believe that government should serve the people, what you see are buildings other organisations, usually companies, that provide other services

Alien: how.... Unique, so what is that one.

Human: that is a shopping mall, it contains lots of small shops. Usually some places to eat like cafes and restaurants, it's a centre for a community of humans and a tourist attraction for many too.

Alien: I have seen some of this on other worlds but never to this extent.

Human: Really? So your people do not enjoy spending time together? Do not exchange things they have for things they want?

Alien: We do things together, we have things that pull us across the world to see them as with you, we have people who open their homes for anyone to visit and enable meeting new people. There are even people who build things they'd like to do and invite other people to join them in both the building and the experiences. But what would anyone have that they didn't need? And why would anyone want something they couldn't have?

*the human looks at him curiously*

Human: Our society is built on exchange, not all jobs are desirable and so to make them worth doing we add incentives, like money or vacations. Vacations are free time to do things that people want to do. Money is a universally agreed valuable resource that can be exchanged with anyone for any good or service.

*Alien looks aghast*

Human: it is how we've always done things, people work for money, have a certain amount of free time each week and each year to enjoy that money and pay for everything they want and some of what they need, the government takes a certain amount of money from each transaction to pay for the things that are necessary for a good society but would not otherwise be profitable to provide or fairly distributed without intervention.

Alien: People do not do things simply because it helps themselves and their community? You require incentives? ... Wow ... And what do you mean by not profitable or fair?

Human: Well it is prohibitively expensive for a company to build their own transportation network and it would lead to a lot of redundancy if they did, it is more cost effective for the government to provide one network linking every business and home together, so that's one thing we do. While for fairness we provide healthcare, we have experienced times where healthcare was driven by profit motive and it meant some people wasted medicines for little gain while others suffered without access.

Alien: You waste so much time and effort coercing people to act civilized and you enable so much misery. I bet there are people stuck doing things they don't want to do and don't enjoy simply because they need ... What was it again... Money? Right. It feels inefficient.

Human: I agree but in all honesty humans who act for the benefit of society without this are in the minority, they do exist, I feel like I do that though many would argue I'm.... Anyway we're in the minority.

Alien: I don't understand, if you're doing your best and others think you aren't why do you assume others aren't doing their best.

Human: one of the things about money is you can see who is doing things because they love to do their jobs and think it's good for other people and those for whom their primary interest is selfishness and greed

Alien: that's pathological.

Human: funnily enough in the history of modern medicine we pathologized being a good person instead.

Alien: I hope my people can help bring yours a new perspective

Human: I hope we are worth the effort.

[alanaartdream]

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After reading the Danny Phantom a glitch in time I was in the mood to try to sketch Danny with his Friends Tucker and Sam

And then being as yeah Sam and Tucker did get to join Danny in the nicktoons unite game (heck you can play as Sam in the 2nd game witch is the island game as well as in the toy bots one that came after that ) so they did meet Timmy Turner so had to draw that in

And then had to draw my Fairy Timmy with the nicktoons talking with Sam being as he has met them in the games

Now for years I’ve seen maybe 1-2 artists keep the nicktoons unite fandom alive but most of the time the focus was only on the 1st game not on the other 3 in the series so didn’t see and Sam or Tucker getting added into the lineup (witch is a crying shame because Sam was quite awesome in the games; you could even play as her in at least 2 of the games (not sure about the globs of doom one where they took Timmy Turner out and had invader zim & dib as well as some villains join the team in that one; but then Timmy could and would’ve wished them out of trouble like he does for Jimmy Timmy power hour episodes so the game development team must of not wanting to deal with that tricky story plot )

Like now they’re adding in Jenny XJ9 from my teenage robot life and El Tigre tiger boy but forget to add in Sam and Tucker???

Heck Sammy squirrel; Patrick Sat and Squidward were apart of the Nicktoons unite team up for a lot of the games (also didn’t help that nicktoons started to focus more on SpongeBob Square pants more by the last of the games)

Think you could play as Sammy squirrel in the games too

But then maybe their version of nicktoons unite games aus they like to make Danny have darker life or less supportive friends/ family so maybe that’s why they don’t add them but are adding in Jenny Xj9 and tiger boy before adding in any of Danny’s friends and SpongeBob’s friends or they didn’t know the others games?

Enithr way the games have a order to them apparently (I didn’t know what the order was until some YouTube/ google searches later)

So probably just lack of information as to why it’s this way (( I mean I don’t wanna stop people having their own takes on things I love when people are creative and do their own things))

Just seems odd to not add the other characters that made it into the team or how tragic they make Danny’s life seem in their aus when honestly Danny got a very good supporting network of friends/ family & allies who helps him deal with ghosts and being half ghost (in fact he’s a bit of a adorable dork not really something I’d say is depressing gloomy or something tragic in their life)

Making me think they mixed Timmy turner’s tragic life story with Danny’s being as Danny’s the ghost boy with ghost powers they want to make him tragic when really Timmy’s one with only Wanda Cosmo poof/peri and Fairy world to help him deal with his crazy dumb neglectful parents who forget to feed him and leave him with a abusing awful babysitter; don’t really care to teach him anything and don’t care he’s dealing with awful bullies and a crazy teacher who just wants to fail him all the time to get at his fairies AND he’s only 10 years old and has to deal with all of that without any support whatsoever (if he didn’t have fairies/wanda Cosmo & poof) he’d be a dead ghost child Danny & his friends might’ve had to deal with honestly

Heck because they both been created by butch jerkman the creator once said he was planning on making them cousins (like distant cousins) at one point but gave up on the idea witch probably explains why they do look a little alike

So like Danny has a lot to deal with with the ghost and his own school bullies but his family & friends love and support him

Heck like Jimmy Danny with help of his friend Tucker & Sam after all the ghosts they’re dealing with and how emotion is a driving force for ghosts in his world would pick up Timmy only acts snarky/ sassy to protect himself and is honestly a pretty good kid his life back in his world is pretty bad any nicktoons character who’s life might be a little like Timmy’s is maybe Dib’s from invader Zim but the movie changed how Dib’s father is like (if you’d seen the invader Zim’s cartoon show boy dib has some pretty dark moments and thankfully the show doesn’t gloss over those dark moments like fairly odd parents original show use to like to do )

I mean probably overthinking things here it’s just my opinion after looking into things more and enjoying the shows and stuff

Because lately where I use to love how those artist been keeping nicktoons unite fandom going for such a long time; it’s as I go back and enjoy Danny phantom/ fairly odd parents and the nicktoons unite games that it feels like the characterising of these characters feels a bit off now

It’s still good just something is missing or don’t match up

[lazyveran]

omg i just read the Ty Lee Azula Katara situationship. Well now of course you need to elaborate on Mai. What's her relationship with Azula and Katara like? does Ty Lee have a similar thing with Zuko and Mai, as her other besties? What is wrong with Mai, bc i get the feeling you've tossed her in a salad spinner as well?

thank you so much. mai is also being whirled around in the salad spinner. miserably, might i add.

mai for me is someone is who is clinging very VERY tightly to the past, and absolutely refuses to deviate from it. ty lee, azula and zuko are her childhood friends? thats IT. thats all the friends she wants or needs. in her mind any change from that past is bad, wrong, and must be reversed back to safe, normal comfort. this is in part because she was happy and innocent and free right up until tom-tom was born - then she was the spare, seen not heard, not understood by her mother, choked into silence, captivity and an intense depressive state. tom-tom's arrival into her life is so bad that mai goes "ah yes, new people? or My People changing into something i didnt expirence before the age of 12? BAD. KILL WITH HAMMERS." and even though she does love her baby brother, she despises the circumstance he brought her. (she's far more like azula than either of them want to admit. they keep seeing glimpses of themselves in the other, like a shattered reflection of what they could have become - silent and meek, or unloved and monsterous. they never talk about it.)

the fire squad is her one and only support network, and she becomes uncomfortably co-dependant. no one else will do. no one else understands. they're comfortable, normal, the shining happy past that she wants to claw back to. she's loved by them, and understood implicity bc of their shared past. thats all she wants. so she's very, very intensely devoted to them, and especially to zuko. her and azula aren't emotional supports to each other, but they are indeed best friends. they both apprieciate each other's loyalty and stability. mai is comfortable with any change that happens around azula - or Her People - because azula is this steadfast, unmoving pillar in her life. azula values mai highly for her skill, intelligence and general disposition. they're the bitchest besties ever who murder for fun.

SO. if she literally cant handle ty lee, azula or zuko changing into something else. at all. then you can imagine her reaction to katara barrelling in and changing up the vibe of their foursome. mai is outright hostile to katara. she's irritable, grouchy, and does her utmost to pretend katara doesnt exist at all. in her mind, katara is forcing their group to change, taking azula away from their terrible little co-dependency circle. change? bad. threaten the new woman with knives. and quickly. make sure azula is apart from that new woman and back in the safe co-dependency circle. if anything changes - if azula changes - she'll turn into dust.

and on ty lee! she DOES. zuko and mai dating isnt too big a deal for her because they still pay attention to her, and the afformentioned co-dependant stability thing overrides her annoyance that they're not looking and seeing her. but if someone flirts with zuko, or mai? its over. shes throwing a tantrum, getting the person to flirt with HER instead, or flirting with zuko/mai. bc WHY is no one looking at her? helloooo???

mai and ty lee get along famously because mai hates change and people, and ty lee gets to hoard mai greedily to herself. its the perfect arrangement, she can farm all the attention she wants from mai and is guaranteed to it. and mai doesnt care about ty lee wandering off to other friendgroups because she always comes back. and it's funny, ty lee makes things not boring.