#I was not totally oblivious

[marzipanandminutiae]

I’m nervous to respond on the actual AG post for personal reasons, but I actually saw a very similar outfit was featured in the jan/feb 1999 edition of the american girl magazine; even if not featured in their doll clothing at the time

Sorry if I made you feel nervous by anything I did! I know it's not that deep; the discussion is just interesting to me.

I should clarify: it's not that those outfits don't look believably 1999. Nothing about them isn't something I'd believe in a fashion spread from that year. It's just that they're...I don't know. Weirdly polished?

Like I said, the hair and makeup look way too mature for a 10-year-old back then, based on my memories of what The Big Kids at my school did. I recall Lip Smackers tinted balm or maybe lip gloss for really fancy occasions. Can't say I saw a ton of girls that age with the two-front-highlights look, even though it was popular with teens. But the clothes aren't wrong, per se.

They're just very. Surface-level, I guess? Again, I'm having trouble articulating my actual objections to the visuals of these dolls. But to me, they look like modern teens mimicking what they think "Y2K Style" looked like. (Again, teens, not 10-year-olds.)

I just. Okay. Here is the Nicki Hoffman doll:

and here is an actual American Girl of Today doll from 1999, wearing the New Year's '99-2000 outfit (a very fashionable look, one assumes, albeit a party dress rather than casual attire):

It just. The newer doll looks fake by comparison. It looks like a parody, even though "stretch knit dress with spaghetti straps and a t-shirt underneath, converse, backwards baseball cap" is an entirely plausible outfit for 1999. And I cannot for the life of me pinpoint why.

[pointyshoesmf]

Hob talks a lot about nothing in particular; Dream wants

Finally finished this one, so have some 80s Dream(his ass is not listening)

[zellaspinna]

the cowboy hat rule:

wear the hat, ride the cowboy ;)

[starry-bi-sky]

do yall ever think about bruce/batman!clone danny standing in front of his bathroom mirror after finding out he was a clone and silently tracing his face. The slope of his jaw and point of his chin. The high angle of his cheekbones and the shape of his eyes, the curve of his brow bones and the shape of his nose. The volume of his hair and the way it curls and gets fluffy when it gets too long.

His hair is black the same way a crow's wing is black. His dad's hair is black the same way a black bear's fur is black. His dad's eyes are blue like the ocean is blue. Danny's eyes are blue the same way a glacier is blue.

His dad has a square jaw and straight flat hair, and he tans and gets a face full of freckles when he's out in the sun for too long. Danny burns like a lobster and his face remains untouched. Danny has a sharp jaw and tall cheekbones, and Sam says when he's not smiling there's almost something regal about him. You would never call Jack Fenton "regal" when he's not smiling.

Sam says when he's not smiling he looks scary the same way a stone statue is. Jack Fenton when he's not smiling looks scary the same way that german shepherd staring at you across the street is.

Do you ever think he grew up wondering if he was adopted. Because of course, he has black hair and blue eyes like his dad. But having the same color doesn't make you someone's child.

Or, worse, things he's heard from the other kids and the other parents and even some of his teachers growing up; that he was the product of an affair. And that his dad was just too stupid to notice. And Danny would defend his parents until the day he died, because Jack Fenton wasn't an idiot and Maddie Fenton wasn't a cheater.

But doubt comes in with fickle tongue. his parents swear up and down that he is their child when he asks about either. That Danny just had his grandparents' features, but he was their son and they loved him.

But Danny doesn't look like either of his parents. His mom's eyes are blue like an aquamarine and Jazz's too. And they burn like lobsters in the sun too, but Jazz gets freckles on her face and so does Maddie. And as Danny grows up he doesn't bulk up or get stocky like his dad did, and when he hits puberty he doesn't shoot up like a tree like Jack Fenton did.

He stays small, and they say he's a late bloomer (and he is), or that he just has his mom's height. But he's fast and has good stamina, and some days it feels like he's built entirely different from his family. That the things they went through growing up just didn't apply to him. Jack and Maddie Fenton both had acne and breakouts when they hit puberty, and Jazz inherits it and he's seen the amount of skincare products she keeps on her side of the bathroom.

And then he hits puberty and breaks out maybe once or twice, but his skin stays clear for the most part and the problems and changes his dad went through just don't happen to him.

And the truth is worse than all of the lies.

How horrifying.

[giisip]

Hangover coffee meet up… but that’s totally not Asami’s sweater.. 🤫

[dykedvonte]

Curly's attempt to prioritize the crew's happiness over safety is very in line with the internal struggles he is going through with wondering if he is happy in his life and path or should he forfeit that security.

It's upsetting cause while as understandable as that projection is, the want to be happy in something you don't feel secure in, he can't see past it and allows it to clog his judgement. This is no longer a matter of happiness but safety, but he in the end was the safest member of the crew in practically every aspect. It's not something he's going to understand the weight of from his position.

His current state is also a reflection and inversion of his mindset at the beginning of the game as well as a metaphor for the exact type of endangerment Anya felt. Where as with Jimmy, he gets to feel that "safety" Curly felt with the position but the lack of happiness he perceived he had.

[doublxpresso]

『So... This guy's been clingy』

page 55 - 56

beginning << page 53 - 54 < . > page 57 - 58

[someawkwardnerd]

late night studying <3

[hotasfahrenheit]

jack and joke just in their own little world right from the get go

how it started

how it's going

all they can see is each other

[jack & joker, 01.01 and 01.09]

[something-random18]

IMAGINE A JEALOUS AZRIEL. Like Gwyn has already realised that she's mated to Azriel but Az is still oblivious about it and so she starts going out and flirting with other men (which is her way of teasing him), hoping he'll soon realise and boy, does she succeed. Azriel has this teeth-clenching, fist-shaking, burning jealousy in him and wants to murder any guy who she looks at before finally realising that oh. Gwyn, an actual goddess, is HIS MATE (he won so bad!!) AND NESTA WILL BE IN ON GWYN'S PLAN. In fact, she'll probably be the one to devise it.

[millidew]

sometimes a family is you, your girlfriend, her husband who's also your boyfriend, your mutual son and his electric rat, a mr. mime, and a baby

[wetsandmemories]

neil: he was looking at me with this plain expression on his face, with his lips tightly compressed and his eyes narrowed thoughtfully. I could imagine he was probably thinking about all the ways he could get rid of me at that exact moment.

andrew: *just being horny*

[insomnya777]

joel etho single dads au .........

[utilitycaster]

The greatest past campaign NPC that could possibly be introduced into Campaign 3 is, without a doubt, Eadwulf Grieve. He's a wizard. Ludinus is his (girlfriend? wife? best friend?)'s boss. He's a follower of the Raven Queen who openly wears her symbol. He definitely knows a lot about residuum and probably knows a decent amount about potions of possibility. His arms are incredible.

[blueteller]

Just Found My Favorite TCF Manhwa Image

[Insert Cale's Group Member Here]: Cale. We beg of you. Stop overworking yourself. Stop sacrificing yourself. And for the love of all things holy, stop spreading your cult everywhere!!!

Cale, Every Single Time:

(Also Cale: Proceeds To Do Just That)

[total-drama-brainrot]

Assistant Noah AU, since Noah isn't a contestant, Ezekiel takes Noah's place as a member of Team Chris...

Ezekiel doesn't lose the stick, so there's no eliminations in the Egyptian Episode...

Ezekiel had become Lindsay's and Beth's platonic BFF, and now has a new better respect for women...

Ezekiel is also a bit smarter, and somehow sees through Alejandro's tricks...

How would Alejandro honestly feel about Ezekiel? 😉

I'll take any oppertunity to "save" Ezekiel from his canon treatment, and having him substitute onto Team Chris in Noah's place is a great idea.

But I don't think Alejandro would like him at all.

You've got to understand; Ezekiel is the equivalent of a very misguided, very lost puppy. He's not exactly sure what's going on at the best of times, and after Island his response to the culture shock between his homelife and his life on reality TV is to adopt a fake "cool" personality from whatever pop culture he's managed to consume... which only serves to make him more insufferable to the people around him than his clueless farmboy demeanour ever did.

Had he retained his pre-Total Drama personality and naivety, then Alejandro would tolerate him, if only as an exploitable pawn (much like Tyler). But it's repeatedly shown in canon that Ezekiel is unpleasent to be around by design. He's talkative and outspoken at the worst times, oftentimes with opinions that aren't exactly palatable, he doesn't understand the concept of personal space and acceptable social behaviour, he smells bad, ect ect. Pair this with him mimicking the stereotypical "rapper" demeanour, and you have the perfect foil for Alejandro's nice guy act.

Because Alejandro is very many things, but patient isn't one of them. At least, not in the context of being around people who annoy him. Just look at his canon relationship with Owen; if he couldn't stand to be around Owen of all people, then he'd really hate Ezekiel.

That's not to say that I think Ezekiel is a hateable character. Quite the opposite, really. He's so interesting to think about from a writer's standpoint, since he has a surprising amount of characterisation for a character who spends the majority of his screentime feral and non-verbal. Just enough to base characterisation on, and just little enough to expand upon in whatever way you'd like and not have it feel out of character.

In the given scenario, I'd have him form a friendship with Owen and and Izzy (by this point in the series he's been educated on how his father's mindset is very outdated and toxic, so he's more than happy to befriend a girl). The two of them aren't concerned with things like "coolness" and social acceptability, which would be a huge part of Zeke's character arc in this season - learning how to accept himself for himself, instead of trying to conform to his skewered perspective of what the media deems "hip".

Pairing this with the somewhat limited but amicable relationship he shares with Lindsay on Team Victory, and the intangiable but nonetheless just as impactful influence of Beth who's stuck on the Aftermath, and suddenly Ezekiel has a whole support system of genuinely kind people who can and will help him learn the ropes of modern society. (Give Ezekiel Friends 2k24‼️)

A direct contrast to Alejandro, who's whole deal is presenting himself as a perfect, infalliable person who doesn't really form any friendships. (Unless you count Heather and maybe Courtney?)

See here's where the two of them play the role of "contrasting narritive foil" for each other. Alejandro and Ezekiel are both fueled by their need to prove themselves by winning, but their methodology is entirely different; Alejandro's game plan is to be as fake and perfect as possible whilst sabotaging the competition and inadvertantly isolating himself, and Ezekiel is just doing his best to play fair whilst learning how to be the most authentic version of himself in the proccess with the help of his friends. (Something something the power of friendship...)

Something to note here: Both of them are trying to prove themselves to their families. Alejandro's trying to prove he can be more than second place (to José, or just in general), and Ezekiel is trying to prove that he can withstand the challenges of the world outside of his family's farm (which he never got the chance to, given he was the first boot of the previous two seasons).

As for Ezekiel being "smarter" and seeing through Alejandro's tricks; I'd like to veto that idea and offer you this instead.

Ezekiel has gullibility and naivety practically woven into the threads of his character, so of course he'd be in the same boat as Owen and Tyler. That is to say, he'd initially be one of Alejandro's most staunch defenders, since he doesn't have the intelligence or the instincts to see past his fake exterior, as Ezekiel isn't worldly enough to know how to spot a fake.

And that's exactly what causes Alejandro's downfall.

As stated before, Ezekiel is annoying by design. Pair his enthusiasm with an idolisation towards Alejandro (for being an objectively strong competitor, or whatever reason you want) and you've got the perfect recipe for Alejandro to blow up at Ezekiel once his already negligable patience snaps. Probably in a scene similar to the confrontation he has with Owen in the Amazon.

All of a sudden, Ezekiel has seen Alejandro's true colours and the rose-tinted glasses he's been blinded by come shattering to the ground - and the knowledge that's been painstakingly imparted onto him by Lindsay and Beth comes into play. Alejandro is a bad guy, just like Zeke's dad.

From then on, Ezekiel is hesitant around Alejandro. Quiet, uncharacteristically so. The sight of unapologetically loud and obtuse Ezekiel being subdued (scared?) of Alejandro has the other contestants beginning to question his performative geniality. If Zeke of all people doesn't trust him, it must be a bad sign.