#I’m insane I AM the target demographic.

[dryya-doesnt]

“Perhaps some night we’d learn to fly together.”

Brainrot so insane I make so much content for this niche ass ship 💀💀😭

[sailormoonandme]

In my observations, there is a certain fandom narrative that has been perpetuated over the years regarding the adaptation of Sailor Mars from the manga into the original 1992 anime. In my travels through this fandom for the past 10+ years, that narrative essentially boils down to this:

In the manga Sailor Mars/Rei Hino hated men and was uninterested in relationships with them. The anime changed this because the men in charge of it were being sexist.

I...respectfully disagree with this narrative for various reasons I want to discuss in this (probably very long) post.

Now, before I go on, a confession. I’m not going to pretend I have extensively researched this by checking out old interviews or anything, nor am I an expert on the production of anime or manga. So, if anyone has some important info I am unaware of please let me know so I can be more informed for the future. It may be that you have this tidbit of info that completely upends everything I have understood about the topic in question. With that out of the way...

Regardless of the topic under discussion, the single most important thing to bear in mind when talking about the relationship between the Sailor Moon manga and anime is that it was incredibly atypical compared to most manga and their corresponding anime adaptations.  

In the majority of cases, a manga will begin publication and then, if it finds sufficient success, will be picked up to be adapted into an anime. More often than not, the anime will be aimed at the same age and gender demographic as the manga and both will be released at roughly a weekly schedule. Or at least, this is the case for the most popular anime you have probably heard of. Moreover, the anime will likely begin a solid year-two years after the manga began, giving the anime production staff plenty of material to work with.  

Let’s look at two examples. The first chapter of Dragon Ball was released on 3rd December 1984 and the first episode was released on 26 February 1986. The first chapter of One Piece was released on 22 July 1997 and the first episode was released on 20 October 1999. In both cases, very little was changed between the manga and the anime, they are almost word for word, shot for shot identical, exempting filler of course.

None of the above was the case with Sailor Moon. The Sailor Moon manga was created specifically for Toei to turn it into an anime before even a single page was drawn of it. This is because Toei and Takeuchi had actually agreed to work together after the success of Takeuchi’s Codename: Sailor V manga, which was a predecessor to Sailor Moon. At some point along the way it was also decided the anime would be aimed at a younger and broader audience than the manga. Whilst the manga essentially exclusively targeted tween-teenage girls, the anime primary (but not exclusive) audience would be pre-tween girls, boys of about the same age and then their presumed older siblings and parents, in that order of priority. In other words, the anime, whilst still being have female audience at the forefront, was aimed to catch families too.* Furthermore, whilst the anime would be released weekly, the manga would drop monthly.  

Thing is, Sailor Moon Chapter 1 was released on 28 December 1991 and Sailor Moon episode 1 was released on 7 March 1992! That’s an INSANELY small amount of time from a manga to anime adaptation to be working with, even if Takeuchi was giving them relevant info before completing the chapter herself. Anime episodes, naturally, take a long time to make and longer than a manga chapter might take to be created from scratch.  

These are all critical factors in understanding why the 1992 anime is different to the manga on most fronts. Whilst they do not account for every difference, they do account for the vast majority when you bear them in mind for your analyses. Such is the case for Sailor Mars.

So, lets put things into a bit of a ‘timeline.

28 December 1991: Sailor Moon Chapter 1 is released

28 January 1992: Sailor Moon Chapter 2 is released, introducing Sailor Mercury. I do not actually have confirmed release dates for manga chapters, so I am going to be presuming that each chapter was released on a consistent monthly schedule.

28 February 1992: Sailor Moon Chapter 3 is released, introducing Sailor Mars.

7 March 1992: Sailor Moon Episode 1 is released, which adapts Chapter 1

28 March 1992: Sailor Moon Chapter 4 is released, featuring the trinity of Moon, Mercury and Mars as a team, without any new additions to the Sailor Team.  

28 April 1992: Sailor Moon Chapter 5 is released, introducing Sailor Jupiter. There is something more relevant in this chapter but I we will return to that a bit later.

2 May 1992: Sailor Moon Episode 8 is released, which adapts Chapter 2

16 May 1992: Sailor Moon Episode 10 is released which adapts Chapter 3

23 May 1992: Sailor Moon Episode 11 is released. This is the first filler episode featuring Sailor Mars and establishes much of her characterisation and relationship with Sailor Moon going forward in the anime

15 August 1992: Sailor Moon Episode 22 is released, which adapts Chapter 4

15 September 1992: Sailor Moon Episode 25 is released, introducing Sailor Jupiter to the anime. It has very little in common with Sailor Moon Chapter 5. Perhaps a mere two or three scenes are adapted at all.

Not how there is less than a month between Chapter 5’s release and the release of Episode 10, and just under a month between Chapter 5 and Episode 11.

Why is this relevant?

Because Chapter 5 is the very first time Rei expresses any kind of negative opinion towards men.  

Now, I might have missed something, but skimming through the rest of the Dark Kingdom arc, I couldn’t find Rei ever mention anything about men again in that arc., certainly not along the lines she mentioned in chapter 5** Rei’s attitude towards men/relationships is also unmentioned in the Sailor Moon Materials Collection:

Not only does Sailor Mars look different in the Materials Collection, but there are some specific details that never crop up in the manga or anime, such as Mars occasionally not wearing gloves and being able to shoot lasers from her nails. This is because the Materials Collection predominantly contains early notes Takeuchi had dreamed up for Sailor Moon, not necessarily stuff that wound up in the final product. This demonstrates how Takeuchi had not intricately plotted out details of her characters or story ahead of time. A more poignant example is the fact that, even as late as the release of Chapter 2, Takeuchi intended for Ami to be a cyborg, establishing a hint to this when Ami observes Usagi playing an arcade game.

What does all this mean though?

Well for starters, I think it is HIGHLY unlikely that the anime staff had read chapter 5 of the manga when they began scripting Episodes 10-11 which established Rei’s anime personality and dynamic with the other characters. There simply would not have been enough time for them to have done that. Furthermore, there is no evidence to suggest that, at the time she created Chapters 3-4 of the manga, Takeuchi herself had settled on the idea of Rei’s attitude towards men/relationships being an important aspect of at the character.***  

Lets also consider that Sailor Mars was the Senshi of fire, an element commonly associated with passion and love. Whilst there is a wonderful irony that the Senshi of passion rejects romantic relationships, it isn’t an idea that is immediately obvious. That is to say, nobody reading Chapters 3-4 would presume Rei was a downer on relationships with men, or mistrustful of men in general. From the anime staff’s POV, the idea that the fire character was interested in love and romance was likely a very safe bet.

Not to mention, if we are all being brutally honest here, it isn’t as if Manga Rei’s attitudes towards men/relationships (as presented in Chapter 5) were somewhat atypical. Whether in 1992 or today, most people (regardless of sex or gender) do not hold an intrinsic distrust/dislike for the people of another sex/gender and wholesale reject the idea of having relationships with them. Whilst an important component of Sailor Moon was the diversity of female personalities present within the narrative, Rei’s attitude towards men/relationships was not common even amongst the other female protagonists of the story, Usagi herself being taken aback by it. It was unique enough in fact that Takeuchi wrote ‘Casablanca Memory’ as a wholesale origin/explanation of how and why Rei had such attitudes in the first place.  

In light of all this it isn’t really fair to hold the anime staff in contempt for establishing that Rei felt an attraction to Tuxedo Mask or to men in general, especially when they likely did this to generate conflict and character dynamics for the show’s utterly essential filler episodes. By the time the staff read Chapter 5 they were more than likely deep into production on various episodes that were written with their interpretation of Rei in mind. To course correct at that stage likely would have been needlessly difficult and expensive, if it was possible at all. Not to mention it’d involve explicitly contradicting how they’d established Rei up until that point. And doing so upon the basis on what Rei said in some side comments in a chapter that wasn’t even about her in the first place? I think that was a big ask of the anime staff for the sake of fidelity to the source material, especially given how stressful and time consuming anime production is at the best of times.   

I think these production realities also help explain all the other ways in which Sailor Mars differs in the anime and the manga. For the most part, AnimeRei’s personality is not an unreasonable extrapolation from how she was portrayed in Chapters 3-4. Her very first interaction with Usagi involves her instinctively attacking the blonde bun-head and knocker her unconscious. In Chapter 4 she chastises Usagi for being late and is embarrassed by her antics at the Masquerade. When talking to Luna in that same chapter her dialogue can come off as bossy and self-important. 

Whilst these moments are not typical of Manga Rei as a whole, for the anime staff who had to generate filler episodes and who were seeking out character dynamics, these moments likely stood out to them. Combined with the fact that the Senshi of fire who’s guardian planet is named after the Roman God of War, you can see how they arrived at the idea that Rei had a fiery personality and would come into conflict with the lead character a lot. Given that the anime had to generate episodes with Moon, Mars and Mercury, that dynamic was probably quite appealing to them as it gave each girl a clear cut personality archetype to bounce off of one another and could be applied to any situation. 

Usagi was the goofy clutz.

Ami was the shy genius.

Rei was the bossy hothead.

Sure, the show could still have worked with Rei’s manga persona, but it would have been more difficult. Manga Rei’s somewhat stoic and serious persona doesn’t generate plot or conflict easily and (if we are being honest) in a three person team likely treads on some territory that Ami’s character covered anyway. And again, that is presuming the anime staff were aware of what Rei’s personality would ultimately be like in the manga. Based upon even her first three chapters that isn’t entirely clear. It is only was the arc and series built up that we understand Manga Rei’s personality. But without that wider context I feel it is all too easy to read Chapters 3-5 and misunderstand that, as she could be interpreted as rather ‘neutral’ if you get what I mean.  

Now, even with all this said, surely there would have come a point where the anime staff had read Chapter 5 and were in a position to write scripts from scratch that respected Rei’s attitude towards men/relationships? Perhaps such a point existed before they had Rei and Mamoru begin dating. If not then, then surely well before Yuichiro was introduced as Rei’s love interest, right? So, don’t both examples represent an open and shut case of the anime staff disrespecting Takeuchi’s vision? 

Perhaps so…or perhaps again, production realities come into play here. The idea that Rei liked men and was interested in romantic relationships with them was established as early as her first episode where she clearly had a crush in Tuxedo Mask. In Episode 12 (Rei’s third ever episode) she drags Ami onto a ship for the explicit purpose of finding dates, even going to far as to try and pick up men who were on the rebound.  

As mentioned elsewhere, it would have been awkward to have squared Rei rejecting relationships with men after instances like this. But even if you do not think so, I propose that by this point the anime staff had at least begun to go adopt the idea of the anime being a looser adaptation of the manga. By the time Rei began dating Mamoru they had already kept Jadeite around longer than he had been in the manga, writing him out in a wholly different way, and also introduced Nephrite in a very different manner as well.  

Remember, production realities meant that the non-manga based episodes were the anime’s lifeblood. Orientating the show to accommodate them had to be top priority, hence why Jadeite stuck around longer and why Nephrite’s gimmick involved the stars rather than his shadow. In other words, the anime had already begun to become its own thing, with its own lore and own character dynamics in play. Indeed, the Nephrite arc is utterly fuelled by this. Zoistie’s rivalry with Nephrite. Nephrite’s relationship with Naru. Mamoru  blacking out and transforming into Tuxedo Mask. These were all critical story elements of the Nephrite arc and none of them are in the manga whatsoever. The fact that Nephrite dies in a completely different way and the very next episode introduces his killer (Makoto) in a story almost entirely different from her manga debut is the natural evolution of the anime’s creative direction. In this context, is it really disrespectful (let alone sexist) for the anime staff to have simply committed to the characterisation of Sailor Mars they had already established for themselves and therefore, for the sake of generating new episodes and conflicts, had her entangled with Mamoru and Yuichiro?  

It is entirely possible that Takeuchi had a clear cut idea about Rei’s attitude towards men/relationships, had intended for it to be the case very early on and informed the anime staff to that effect. They in turn could have been in a position to establish this as part of Rei’s character in the anime but actively chose not to because they felt a woman rejecting men/relationships in such a way was a bad thing that shouldn’t be allowed.  

But, whilst that is entirely possible, without clear cut confirmation of that, I for one do not feel it is fair to presume bad faith on the part of the anime staff. 

Thank you for reading. 

*Which, from a business POV, makes sense as reading manga by its nature tends to be a more solitary activity compared to watching TV. Family members of the little girls Sailor Moon were aimed at would inevitably catch bits and pieces of the show from the glowing box in the corner of the living room and therefore might be inclined to watch it too.  

**Yes, the side story ‘Casablanca Memory’ essentially revolves around this subject, but whilst that story was set during the Dark Kingdom arc it was created after it had concluded and is therefore not something the anime staff would have known about at the time.  

***Indeed, that isn’t even clear 100% certain in Chapter 5.  

Whilst Rei clearly expresses a negative opinion of men and relationships, she is not the focus of the chapter, Jupiter/Makoto is. And since it is an attitude that is exclusive to this chapter in the Dark Kingdom arc, only coming up again in later arcs and side stories, it basically doesn’t appear consistently enough for any reader to say with absolutely certainty that Rei hates men and rejects the ideas of relationships. It is merely the fifth chapter of the story and we haven’t even fully established the team yet. For all anyone knew, Rei might go on to have contradicted that opinion, or she might have been expressing from a place of immaturity given her age/inexperience with love and relationships. Almost as if it is a flipside to the ‘girls are lame’ attitude boys grow out of during puberty. Or again, maybe it was something they just figured might be a one off component of this one chapter she wasn’t even the focus of. 

Regardless, it was very early on the anime had already established the idea that Rei and Usagi were quite similar and both interested in Tuxedo Mask, subjects that they leveraged to generate more filler episodes going forwards.  

From a business/production POV they were not going to overhaul the character and revise the scripts/episodes they had already worked hard on to awkwardly readjust her to this particular character trait Takeuchi had given her for this one chapter that then never came up again.

[findingtheperfectcharacter]

Dear CHRIST Happy Feet is one of the movies ever- Okay so first there’s the autism. Like- Mumble can’t express himself in the ways other penguins do and does it in a very specific way. His dad recognizes it and is immediately like ‘hey, don’t do this in front of other people it’ll get you in trouble.’ And- and ‘I was a backslider myself’ and ‘don’t ask me to change pa cause I can’t’ like??? HEWWO?!?! The way their relationship is repaired by them dancing together showing Memphis reuniting with his sense of self haha. GOD.

AND ALSO Mumble’s relationship with his mom <3.

AND ALSO ALSO fucking Gloria. Look… LOOK the way she immediately recognized the song wasn’t Mumble’s because it didn’t seem like him. The way she stands up for him when he comes back. The way she tries to run after him when he leaves- THE ENTIRE BOOGIE WONDERLAND SCENE IS A SCENE WHERE ATYPICAL EXPRESSIONS OF JOY ARE CELEBRATED AND AHHHH.

AND THEN THERE’S THE CLIMATE CHANGE PORTION.

Look. Look. I’m not kidding when I say they portray humans as horrific Eldritch horrors, but since WE are the horror’s there’s the idea that we have the ability to heavily effect the world of these smaller beings… And I’m not sure how effective it actually is- it’s a huge matter of the movie’s target demographic being kids and this portion of the movie… Seems like it’d confuse them and it’s a bit of an intense mood whiplash.

BUT I ALSO THINK FOR WHAT IT IS IT’S REALLY WELL DONE. Like… Genuinely the way the human world is framed. It’s insanely alien to the world of the penguins. Someone who knows more about cinematography and lighting and at a point where it’s not 2 am could write a thing about… The strange uncanniness of the zoo’s pallet and the human world in general.

By morning I will probably be normal about this movie. If not I will be back. But for now, goodbye.

[picathartidae]

Thanks for the tag, @vestigialpersonality!

Three Ships: I’m not a big shipper and I don’t really understand shipping as a concept (blame it on my aro/aceness). It isn’t how I prefer to engage with media, but I’ll try to come up with some pairings I like anyway. 

Resist!Dark Urge/Spawn!Astarion, Baldur’s Gate 3. To the surprise of absolutely no one, I like these two together a whole lot. I tend to prefer a male Durge over a female one, but whatever. It’s a good fun time and they vibe. I like how Durge is the one character that forces Astarion to step up and be the responsible stable one. I love how you see this more emotionally available side to Astarion in a Durge run. I love how two objectively terrible people can end up bringing out the best in each other, despite the odds. I love the mutual and simultaneous redemption arcs. 

Jonas Kahnwald/Martha Nielsen, Dark. These two are a fucking disaster and I am so taken with how their weird obsessive love for each other is so destructive but also so pure and how that is so tied up with the themes. The way this show deconstructs relationships and the lengths people will go to for the sake of their loved ones is really compelling to me.

Shen Qingqiu/Luo Binghe, Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System. Another trash dumpster fire of a pairing, but whatever they are my boys and I love them. All of MXTX’s main pairs, really, but sqq/lbh are my absolute favourites, likely because Scum Villain is by far the easiest read of them all for me. I like the relationship in how it is used to actively deconstruct masculinity and support the overall themes of the novel.

First Ship: I’m pretty sure it was Scott Summers/Jean Grey from X-Men. Scott was always my #relatable vaguely autistic king, and Jean was genuinely just so cool and interesting to my young self. I’m still salty about it and I will never forgive Marvel. 

Last Song: I have been playing Die For You (ft Grabbitz) on a loop for maybe a month now. This is what happens when my partner rewatches Arcane and then listens to all of the League of Legends and Valorant music and sends me their favourites. And also the song perfectly fits in with my stupid Durge and his stupid Durge vibes, so… yeah. A song from Valorant for you. I have never played it and I barely know what it is, but this song is great.

Last Movie: I think it was Dune Part 2? It’s fine. It’s a good movie. I think it had the same problem as the book for me, in that the messaging was like getting hit repeatedly in the head with a sledgehammer because it didn’t seem to trust that people would get it, but since I’ve seen plenty of people completely miss said message, I can’t really blame it for that. It's very visually impressive and Denis Villeneuve is an insanely talented man who clearly knows the book series so well. Give him all of the awards.

Currently Reading: an eclectic collection of BG3 fanfictions.

Currently Watching: I’m making my way through Teen Wolf for the first time, because I’m legitimately shocked I never watched it when it was on (I was directly in its target demographic and never saw it? Who even am I). At the moment, I’m about three episodes into season 4. It’s a whole experience and I have so many feelings. Is it good? Not even slightly. Does it make sense? Barely. Am I kind of loving it anyway? Fuck yeah. Teenage me would have been all over this show. I’m so mad.

Currently Eating: Carbs! Always carbs. Just finished some spinach and feta scrolls, specifically.

Currently Craving: a decently written character-driven genfic. Please, I am begging.

Favourite Colour: dusty blue

Current Obsession: pretty much anything D&D related. Mostly BG3 specifically.

Last Thing I Googled: lots and lots and lots of Forgotten Realms lore. 

Favourite Season: Autumn, purely for the aesthetic.

Skill I’d Like To Learn: figure drawing, for sure. I am desperate to be able to produce decent character art for OCs, especially since I am poor and can’t currently afford to commission someone.

Best Advice: You shouldn’t have to justify every facet of your existence to others. You’re allowed to take up space.

Tagging: I think everyone I would tag has been tagged already, so I’m just going to leave it as anyone who wants to participate, consider yourself tagged. 

[dynamite-anonymous]

Weird that I feel more comfortable having a libido around my vanilla friends than I do around other kinksters 🧐

Because I’m not actually interested in having sex with community members until I’m more settled in it myself, and because I’m inherently vulnerable as someone who is both younger and a newbie, I’m insanely cautious and semi-paranoid about trying not to come across as a sexual person. The last thing I need is to be propositioned by someone when I’m still not confident vetting people or super familiar with everyone’s reputations.

…I’m also much more shy in person than I am online, and while I feel confident in my boundaries when interacting with people on fet (or alternatively, ignoring/blocking them), I don’t have enough experience doing that in real life to know if I’m good at it.

While I love and am enamored with the kink community, whenever I’m in it, I feel like I need to put on this persona of the extremely respectful, cautious, well-educated, newbie so that people will still show me the ropes, but predators won’t think I’m a super easy target, even though I fit in their target demographic. It’s fun, but it’s not relaxing or freeing like some people describe their first adventures into the kink world to be.

[heyheydidjaknow]

Seriously, what makes L so attractive to people? What makes him so attractive to you? Is it really just how fucking insanely intelligent he is? Like by all means he’s not that physically attractive unless you’re into that sickly-Victorian-dying-child-that-occasionally-lacks-eyebrows-in-some-panels thing (no judgement because apparently I myself am entirely into that), and he doesn’t look like he showers daily.

Is it just deadass because he’s that smart? And his unique personality? Because other than that he is most certainly not the most eligible bachelor out there.

I say this with more love towards L than anyone could ever dream of.

This is a totally valid question and I think we should talk about it, actually.

So, first things first, let’s take a second and acknowledge that the bar for romantically viable characters in Death Note is a bit low. We have Matsuda, sure, and Misa is obviously a goddess but, if we’re being honest with ourselves, Matsuda’s a cuck and Misa’s clearly red green colorblind, and unless you want to just completely disregard common sense and want to go with Light “Women are so simple” Yagami, the dating pool is shallow unless you want to add Soichiro or any of the characters outside of that main pool. Between the Wammy kids it’s an easy pick. Within the Kira task force it’s a slightly harder but still relatively easy pick.

Following up on that, he is solidly the second most relatable character in the cast from a personality perspective. He’s funny, sociable, and actually talks about embarrassing things that he’s done. He’s honest most of the time, clearly passionate about what he does (if only in regards to the Kira investigation) and is delightfully petty against someone that, if you like L and his moral ideals, you are going to hate. L, while eccentric, is still a relatively caring person who obviously can and is willing to attach himself to other people (albeit on a surface level) and doesn’t let that get in the way of things that need to be done, which is indicative of his strong work ethic and drive. Also he’s smart which makes the show less frustrating to watch.

Let’s talk brass tax here for a second. Let’s be selfish. Let’s acknowledge that the man has a stable job and an obvious sex drive and romantic desire. Let’s acknowledge the smoothness of “I could actually fall for you.” If you were to get into a permanent relationship with him, would you have to worry about your finances ever again? No, because even if you’re the main provider he is apparently so good with money that at the age of 26 he has enough savings to construct a building on his own and keep safety funds for the people around him. You never have to worry about him cheating, he’s gonna make sure you’re taken care of, and he is actually an active person which is just a wonderful thing to know.

Let’s not kid ourselves; L is hot. He is the alt boy ideal. That is the target demographic. He is so easy to dress and he looks so comfortable in his own skin and one could argue that his looking like that is a stylistic choice and not his just not washing. He is athletic to an extent and has proven his physical strength so you know he’s not just skin and bones under his clothes. He is very doll-like, which is my type and the type of a lot of the people who watch/read death note.

But why do I like L Lawliet? I like him because he’s smart and because he’s fun to write. I like him because he’s relatable and because you know that if he ever left the house long enough to actually get himself a spouse that he would treat them as well as he could manage and love them passionately. He’s fun to talk about and he’s fun to hang around and I’m a sucker for a good voice and that’s all I really need in a man. Is he eccentric? Yes. Do I think that there are aspects of his character which might impede his ability to be a 10/10 boyfriend/husband. Yes. Can I ignore those things because I like him so much? Absolutely.

[phoenixyfriend]

Legally Horny

Read on AO3

Written for @rexwalkerweek, and I am late again. Aug 2nd: Tatooine | Form II: Elegance, Precision, Convergence

Got a bit bogged down in the worldbuilding for this one, so it takes a few thousand words of setup to actually get to the main ship 😅

------------------

It starts with Padmé popping up in the middle of the night and scrambling off the bed to look up an obscure law or precedent-setting case. Anakin wakes up long enough to ask what’s going on, and she waves him off with ‘it’s not an emergency.’ He’s back asleep before he finishes processing what she’s said.

He’s only got a week planetside. He’s not going to waste a second of sleep while on leave.

It takes three days for Padmé to approach him with an idea.

--

Anakin doesn’t know most of the ‘command class’ clones personally, but he does know Bly and Cody, and he runs into Fox relatively often, so he pokes Rex into inviting them to a meeting with Padmé, and Obi-Wan, and Senator Organa.

Rex follows him with an air of long-suffering, one that Anakin knows has been perfected as a defense mechanism against Anakin’s own propensity for intense levels of insane bullshit.

It’s a valid response, Anakin has decided. Rex still puts up with him, so the occasional lack of respect is fine, so long as it means Rex hasn’t asked for a transfer.

They sit down. They set up security measures. Anakin laments the fact that he’s not allowed to invite the Chancellor. Obi-Wan kicks his ankle.

Padmé calls them all to order.

She looks them over, and glances at Senator Organa, but he just gestures for her to take the lead.

“I’ve come up with a possible avenue towards securing citizenship,” Padmé finally says. “It’s a very high risk, high reward situation, but most of the risk would be on the part of a Senator or similarly ranked natural born citizen, rather than on the part of any given clone.”

“We’ve heard that before, Senator,” Fox points out. “Never got off the ground.”

Anakin wonders how well Commander Fox knows Padmé, to be comfortable with such bluntness.

“I’m looking into securing a court case precedent,” Padmé says.

Fox tilts his head, and sits a bit straighter. He laces his fingers together. The others seem content to let him take the lead. “What kind of case?”

“One that requires a senator in good standing and galactic popularity to be targeted by a manufactured scandal,” Padmé says.

She and Fox stare at each other for a few seconds, and then he huffs. “Walk me through it.”

Padmé nods. Anakin shifts his weight, antsy about whatever weight is in the air, and Rex brushes their forearms together. It doesn’t help as much as it usually does. The air is too… prickly.

“At this time, your people are in a state of limbo,” Padmé begins, probably for the benefit of Anakin and whichever commanders aren’t up to date on the political status. Fox is, Anakin thinks, but he’s the only one for sure. “Several policies are being held in place to maintain the illusion that you are not enslaved by definition. The official word is that you are drafted, though such a draft cannot legally be implemented to affect only one demographic. You are paid a stipend, and officially provided with residence and full health coverage. You are under the age of majority by all standards, but you are also physically mature; to treat you as humans would require legislation to address your physical ages and chronological ages being disparate, as you are otherwise child labor.”

She takes a sip of water, and continues. “You are not considered citizens, but neither are you considered foreign nationals. The Republic cannot claim you without putting many of the statutes keeping you in the war in question, but your two main possible claims, Mandalore and Kamino, do not claim you either. The Republic is legally required to offer routes to citizenship to any sentient being who does not have citizenship of their own and sets foot on Republic soil, generally of the planet they have made their way to, and that process is supposed to be expedited for those who enter service to the Republic or the planet they are applying to gain citizenship in.”

“Which the Senate has managed to delay indefinitely by processing all cloned beings as subsentient beings,” Fox finishes for her. “I’m aware we are currently of the same standing as a bantha, Senator.”

Someone chokes on their breath. It might be Bly.

“Just the point,” Padmé says. “Now, as of the last time we checked, there are approximately five hundred and thirty children resulting of relations between a natural born citizen and a clone trooper; several haven’t been born yet, and I’m sure others have not been reported, but there are quite a few floating about. Despite Kaminoan attempts to lay claim to those children, courts and governments have unilaterally ruled that the children have inherited the citizenship of the other parent.”

Anakin hadn’t known that. He’ s glad to hear it.

(Continue on AO3)

[alrightsnaps]

This is probably weird to say but I am so thankful for your blog. As a bisexual woman with anger issues (which I’m getting help for!) it’s been tough going on social media recently because I can so easily imagine myself in a similar situation to Amber and this whole thing is like a massive reminder that if I ever came forward this is how they’d react because I’m not a “good victim”. The real slap in the face was seeing Amber’s bisexuality weaponised against when she allegedly had a threesome with Cara Delevingne and Elon Musk, as if that isn’t the oldest bi stereotype in the book, and people believed it. So to see a blog like yours, consistently defending her and providing sources no matter how horrible the depp stans get, makes me feel a little less lonely, and that if I came forward there might be someone who’d believe me. So yeah, sorry for dumping this on you but you should know the impact you have for people like me <3

So happy to have a bisexual woman in my inbox! sending the warmest wishes your way anon! 💖

This trial has been so tough to watch for so many women (especially DV victims). The public response and unhinged vitriol towards Amber Heard, the insane... I'm still trying to process the fact that this is really happening not 5 years after MeToo. My heart just goes to abused women every time I read all the comments demonizing a woman for using violence against her abuser, because the reactions to this trial have really shed a light on how little support victims will receive from their environment and ultimately encourage them to stay silent. I cannot stress this enough and idgaf about that asshole's stans flooding my inbox: abused women using reactive violence does NOT make them abusers nor does it make their abuser a victim. That's DARVO and it's straight out of an abuser's textbook. The fact that so many women are running with it and trying to turn Depp into some poster child of men abused by women is just disturbing. It makes me feel hopeless for the future because this trial will set a precedent both legally (Marilyn Manson has already filed a defamation lawsuit against Evan Rachel Wood so watch the public rip her to shreds as well in a while) and on a social level.

It solidifies the gaslighting abused women everywhere already suffer. The only good victim is the dead victim. And even then, their abuser will find a way to smear their name.

And the whole thing definitely hits harder if you're a bisexual woman given our demographic's increased risk of intimate partner abuse. The homophobic abuse Amber suffered by Depp during their relationship is sickening enough, seeing so many comments specifically targeting her because of her bisexuality (I've seen some similar comments about Evan Rachel Wood too) and trying to paint her as the abuser of the uwu pure powerful white man who talked about raping and burning her corpse? It makes me sick to my stomach.

I've legitimately never seen people treat actual Hollywood pedos and rapists with half the amount of demented hatred they're directing at Amber and that's a message to women everywhere. MRAs must be having the time of their lives.

[croesow]

@intcrpol​ asked: 🔥🔥🔥 [Just GO OFF]

1. Having characters be OP for the sake of being OP is boring and overdone. This goes for protagonists the most, as I have already addressed how the games are designed around the idea that the Prodigy Child who started training two weeks ago will befriend the local deities, but it can theoretically go for any character. I understand the appeal of being strong in the pokemon world, but when everyone is fighting to be the best with no actual thought behind it, it feels like a paper-thin attempt to simply one up each other and win the unspoken game of Who’s The RPC’s Best Trainer. I want to see characters who are strong, very strong, but have an actual reason behind how and why they’ve trained themselves (or are currently still training themselves) to reach such a goal.

Fun fact: This is partly why I lean so heavily into Leon’s postgame and vastly prefer interactions post-Swsh. Having him be undefeated gets boring so fast, and imo it’s a more compelling story to show that you can be strong without being perfect, you know? He’s still able to defeat most opponents he faces, but there’s an ever-growing list of people he’s more on the fence about, or more likely to lose to. I actually made a little HC list of his outcomes against the Champions and Villain Leaders.

If you want to see a positive example of the type of power I’m describing, I will once again recommend my friend @cosmoscourge !! As the hardest League in the world with a ton of very impressive lore behind it, it makes sense that many of the people involved in Unima would be insanely talented with teams most other Trainers wouldn’t even dare dream of raising. It’s a mature League designed for a mature target demographic, and everything about it has been so wonderfully explained and expanded upon that it all makes sense. It’s a brilliant example of how OP-ness can be used to help push a narrative, rather than getting thrown into characters just because.

2. The heavy emphasis on sex and shipping is legitimately draining at times. Like I understand if you want to write smut or have a million ships - that’s great! I’ve had NSFW discussions myself with a few close friends and shipping partners and they are always enjoyable conversations that help me understand my muses better. 

But when every meme on a person’s account is suggestive, or about one night stands, or infodumps about how many times a certain person has bumped uglies and what kinks they have.... I’m so tired of feeling like I’m expected to provide the dash with constant Horny Fodder. Again, people are free to write what they want, and smut can be used to further a character’s development or illustrate some new parts of their personality. It’s a fantastic way to show an intimate relationship moment and how they deal with the accompanying emotions. But when every post someones makes or reblogs is NSFW in nature... How do you expect me to interact with that? 

3. And finally, the endless pessimism in the pokemon fandom is exhausting. I know the internet loves praising negativity and telling us all that everything new is bad and terrible and deserves a hundred page rant, but I truly couldn’t give less of a fuck. I am choosing the enjoy the games despite their faults, and I’m sorry if you can’t do the same but that’s really not my problem.

❝ But the inanimate designs- ❞ Voltorb’s a pokeball. There’s always been item-based designs, and tbh a lot of the modern pokemon more creative than just taking an already existing animal and recolouring it purple.

❝ But the graphics- ❞ My first game was Diamond where everything was basic and pixellated to shit, and yet I still thought it was beautiful. I don’t care if the Wild Area’s tree leaves look clunky and the grass doesn’t wave in the wind, the environment has never been something I paid much attention to when I have six adorable pokemon to look at instead. Use a little imagination if you’re that upset.

❝ The writing was- ❞ One of the major letdowns of Sword and Shield, yes. The story could have used some revisions, and the characters were poorly balanced in terms of their development and screentime, but this is something that’s been a continuous fault with pokemon. Aside from a few notable exceptions, their storytelling always seems to come secondary to everything else.

[luke-patterson-owns-my-soul]

Tiny Pretty Phantoms

Charlie Gillespie x Reader

Title: Tiny Pretty Phantoms

Words: 2241 (only a short one)

Summary: Charlie and his girlfriend are separated by work.

Requested: Sort of. The lovely and talented @dream-a-little-bigger-x​ got this request. Charlie x reader where the reader is on a tv show like ahs or something that’s not necessarily “kid friendly”. But as she’s not taking them atm, I decided to swipe this one. I hope the anon who requested it doesn’t mind.

TW: Swearing, alluding to sexual intercourse. That’s it I think. If I miss anything, message me so I can edit.

Author’s notes: I’m baccccckkkk. This was my way of getting back into writing reader fic. It’s been a while, and I hope y’all haven’t forgotten me. Also, while I’ve seen Tiny Pretty Things, I know nothing about the cast, so anything I’ve written, is completely made up.

Being back at home in my parent’s home was both reassuring and strange all at the same time. I’d been living in L.A. for almost two years, hundreds of miles away from home. While I missed my family like crazy, I loved being out in the world, being independent, and chasing my dreams.

However, rejection after rejection after rejection were beginning to weigh heavy on me and I had been starting to regret making the move. I’d been considering heading back home and teaching dance to kids. Then, I met Charlie through a mutual friend.

From the moment I met him, there was something that drew me to him; it wasn’t particularly hard. He was charismatic, funny, and crazy talented. The good looks were an added bonus. From that first meeting, we’d been inseparable and after six months, I gave up my apartment and moved in with Charlie and his friends.

We both booked jobs on upcoming TV shows within a week of one another, and we’d celebrated the news hard. A week of partying with your friends had wrecked the apartment, but it had totally been worth it. The main difference between our shows were the target audience. His, Julie and the Phantoms was aimed at a younger demographic to mine, Tiny Pretty Things. I was just glad to be using my ballet background as well as my acting abilities. He was also playing a main character, while I was to be in the background.

I was jolted from my memories by my phone ringing, Charlie’s face filling the screen. With a smile, I answered the facetime call.

“Hey, you.”

“Hey, babe. I miss you.” Charlie was still in L.A., but he was at a boot camp thing that the legendary Kenny Ortega was running.

“I miss you too. How’s it going?” in answer to my question, he held up his hand. I could see band aids wrapped around his fingers. “What did you do?”

“It’s nothing. Guitar war wounds.”

“Poor baby.” I snarked, grinning at the mock upset look on his face. “Oh please. You’re loving every minute.”

“Babe, I really am.” His grin was wide. “When do you fly out to Toronto?”

“Not for another three weeks. I’m back in L.A. the day after tomorrow though. Will I get to see you?”

“I don’t know. I’m not sure if we get any time off before we head up to Vancouver for filming.”

I couldn’t help the groan that escaped me. I hadn’t seen him for over two weeks, and I was going insane. It was one of the reasons behind my trip to see my family. They were enough to distract me, at least until I climbed into my childhood bed, the bed that only held me at night. That was when I missed him the most.

“That sucks.” I felt the lump in my throat, an indication I was close to tears.

“I know, babe. I know. I’m gonna try and get back, even if it’s just one night.”

“Please do.” I missed him, missed waking up next to him, missed just goofing around and hanging out with him. He was the man I loved, and I hated us being apart.

:: ::

I’d been in Toronto for almost six weeks. A month and a half had passed since I last saw Charlie, and it was killing me. It wasn’t as if I was alone, far from it. I may not have been playing a main character, but the entire cast of Tiny Pretty Things were close, even those of us in the background. We’d all been put through our dancing paces until we were exhausted – that had a habit of bringing people together.

Charlie and I spoke most days, if we could, and when we did, we were often interrupted by cast mates. Through our facetime calls I became friends with Jeremy, Owen, and Madison, and he became friends with the girls I was rooming with, and Brendan who played Shane. He and I had been partnered up during rehearsals and had become close. It didn’t bother him I wasn’t a main character and he was.

I had a rare night off while the main cast were working hard on some night scenes, so I was able to kick back in my room and relax. And I made the most of it. While a hot bath was running, I connected my phone up to my speaker and hit play on a relaxing playlist Charlie had made for me before we’d had to say our goodbyes and fly to opposite end of Canada.

I’d just sank into the steaming water, bubbles up to my chin when my phone rang. Reaching over, I managed to pick it up, and saw Charlie’s face on the screen. Quickly swiping, I answered the call, despite wanting to stare at the photo I’d taken almost a year ago when we’d gone camping.

“Well, if I’d have known you were in the tub, I would have called sooner.” He grinned as he spoke, making me roll my eyes.

“Charles Gillespie, you’re a damn perv.” I attempted to scold him as he pretended to try and look around the screen to see if he could see anything. Joke was on him, the bubbles came up to my neck.

“Only for you.” I laughed at the corny line. “Hey, why are you in the bath anyways?”

“Because I ache like a motherfucker and I don’t have any night shoots tonight. So, a hot bath is in order. I’ve been dancing almost non-stop for ten hours a day for six weeks. I never did this much when I was with the company.” I knew I was whining; knew I sounded like a petulant child, but I needed to get it off my chest. All of us in the cast moaned to one another, but it wasn’t the same as venting to my boyfriend, no matter how much I loved my job.

“I’m sorry, babe. If I could take the aches away, I would.” I knew he would too.

“I know. Ignore me, I shouldn’t be putting this on you. How’s your set?”

We chatted for almost an hour, Charlie making me laugh about his previous night’s filming eating what he said felt like hundreds of cold hot dogs, making me laugh so much, my stomach was starting to hurt when I climbed out of the bath – much to his enjoyment – and wrapped myself up in a large, soft towel. We carried on talking as I made my way into my room and got myself ready for bed.

“Look, I gotta go. But I’ll call you tomorrow?”

“Yeah.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.” I couldn’t help but sigh when the call ended, and as I snuggled up in bed, wearing one of his t-shirts, I also couldn’t help crying. It was the longest we’d been apart in over six months, and even though I was loving my job, it hurt how much I missed him.

:: ::

When I walked onto set the following day, it felt as if everyone was acting a little shifty. No one seemed to look at me directly and whenever I initiated a conversation, they either found something else to do, or the director made us begin working.

“Hey, we’re all going out for dinner and karaoke tonight. Make sure you look pretty.” Brendan whispered in my ear as we got into position in the ballet class, ready for our scene.

“Uh, okay. Sure.” He gave me a smile before walking away.

We’d all be out a few times during filming and the rehearsals we’d had before, but this was the first I’d heard about plans for tonight. Rolling my neck and stretching my arms, I put it out of my mind as I followed the instructions of the director as the scene began around me.

By the end of the day, I was yet again exhausted, and the last thing I wanted to do was go out. But, as I packed up my gear, putting my comfiest shoes on, Brendan came over.

“Don’t forget we’re going out. We’re all meeting up in about an hour. Make yourself pretty.”

“Can I give it a miss? I’m ready to have a shower and crawl into bed.” He knew how I was feeling, I could see it etched onto his face too.

“Not tonight, sweetheart. Attendance is mandatory for all.” He flashed me a wide smile before spinning away from me, no doubt off to get ready.

When I got back to the apartment I was sharing with a couple of the other female background cast, they were almost ready. The three of them ushered me into the bathroom to shower, telling me to find a nice dress.

The shower did reinvigorate me, and by the time I was dressed and applying my make-up, I was feeling much better, and was even looking forward to some great food and a good night. There were no shoots the next day, so we were able to let our hair down for the night.

When we all met up, the atmosphere was electric. We’d all worked so hard, and were more than ready for a night of not having to worry about getting up early or having to be in hair and make-up at the crack of dawn.

“Ready for a great night?” Brendan asked, linking arms with me as our huge group began to walk to a restaurant nearby we’d all been to on more than one occasion.

“I am actually. Thanks for making me come.”

“No worries, sweetheart.” He placed a kiss on the top of my head before turning to talk to the two guys behind us.

:: ::

Moving from the restaurant after dinner, we all made our way to a club where all of us were able to let go. I got myself a drink from the bar, and stood on the edge of the dance floor, watching my cast mates and friends having the time of their life, showing off their dancing skills. Laughing, I finished my drink, I put my empty glass down and joined them, losing myself in the deep bass. Brendan was in the center, lapping up the attention in a way only he could. He and Barton, who played Oren in the show, were busting out one of their routines from the show and had attracted a hell of a crowd.

As everyone whooped and hollered, I moved away, needing to head to the bathroom. I pulled my phone out of my purse to check if I’d missed any messages or calls from Charlie, but my screen was blank beyond a photo of the two of us. Disappointment flooded me as I shoved the phone back into my purse. Just as I zipped it up, I crashed into someone, strong hands grabbing my waist to stop me falling over.

Thinking my mind was playing tricks on me as my senses were invaded by the aroma of Charlie, the aroma I knew as well as my own. I looked up to find my boyfriend smiling down at me.

“What… how… huh?”

“Surprise, by airplane, Brendan organized it. Hew knew you were missing me as much as I missed you, So Kenny gave me a couple days off while Madi does some scenes with Jadah.”

“You’re really here?” I still wasn’t sure I was hallucinating.

“I’m really here, until tomorrow afternoon.”

With a squeal, I flung my arms around his neck, and kissed him. The evening suddenly got one hundred percent better.

:: ::

Waking up wrapped up in Charlie’s arms was the best thing. I’d missed it so much, and I knew I was going to struggle when he had to leave again, but I felt so happy being with him.

After he’d surprised me at the club, we’d mingled with my friends for a while before slinking away, going back to the apartment and making the most of the quiet as we got reacquainted with one another, multiple times, all night. So much so that when I managed to untangle myself from Charlie’s arms and legs to go to the bathroom, I ached in a completely different way I had been from work.

Once I was finished in the bathroom, I swiped my phone off the counter in the kitchen and sent a text to Brendan.

Thank you. I owe you one.

Once it had sent, I set the phone down and crawled back into bed with Charlie, making the most of having him with me. Especially naked.

.

.

.

.

.

.

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Tagging: (strikethrough unable to tag) @dream-a-little-bigger-x​​ @calamitykaty​ @crybabyddl​​ @xplrreylo​ @morganayennefertyrell​ @lovesanimals​​ @sunsetcurvenotsunsetswerve​ @echocharm17618​​ @kinda-really-lost @n0wornever​ @all-in-fangirl​ @5sosmukefan​ @kcd15​ @charliesmountains @amazinggracy​ 

If you want to be added to my taglist, drop me a message.

[figonas]

Twilight Re-watch Notes Pt. 1 - A Contest for the Worst Movie Quote in History

I'd like to think I'm funny so please enjoy my scene-by-scene notes from a recent Twilight Saga re-watch.

Hey Catherine Hardwicke, opening with the death of an animal was probably not the best choice but go off I guess??

There is a lot of general Bella awkwardness that I'm skipping over here but the scene in gym class is so horrifically, painfully uncomfortable that I almost passed out from the second-hand embarrassment.

Jessica trying her best to be fake nice to the human embodiment of a crumpled soda can: "Aren't people from Arizona like....really tan"

Bella with all the cadence of a child who just found out Santa isn't real: "yeah..I guess that's why they kicked me out"

Mike clearly just trying to get his dick wet: "HAHAH you are funny"

no mike she is not.

I'm not gonna go into the biology class scene because god knows tumblr has beaten that particular horse to death. BUT the scene in the administration office immediately after that is a TRIP. Edward has one of his most dramatic lines here when they won't let him switch classes: “I’ll just have to endure it” ?!?!?!?!?!?! This is INSANITY, he sounds like he's going to burst into tears like Edward please chill you aren't even being a little subtle.

I will never get over Bella trying to put Ketchup on her burger and then just???? giving up???? when it doesn't come out after she limply shakes it approximately once.

“HOW YOU LIKIN DA RAIN GIRL” Is our first contender for the worst and most unnatural line in movie history, and trust me there are plenty more.

Bella accusatorily saying “you were gone” to Edward as if this dude who she met for approximately 30 minutes 2 weeks ago owes her even a PALTRTY SCRAP of an explanation about anything???????

Actually, this whole scene is a horrific nightmare of awkward intrusive conversation:

“You’re asking me about the weather” HOE WHAT ELSE ARE YOU GONNA TALK ABOUT YOU DON’T KNOW EACH OTHER

“hey did you get contacts” WHO JUST ASKS THAT?!?

and of course; “it’s the fluorescents” [RUNS AWAY]

Charlie and Bella have the only organic-sounding dialogue in the entire movie. Any awkwardness they have is BELIEVABLE father-daughter awkwardness and not like "I'm being forced to film this against my will" awkwardness like every other exchange in this film series.

Bella asks Edward ALL OF ONCE about him saving her from the truck and Edward gets so haughty and smug thinking that Bella won't figure it out

“you’re not gonna let this go are you?” “no” “then I hope you enjoy disappointment” [storms off] MY DUDE LITERALLY 2 SCENES LATER SHE FIGURES IT OUT IN 3 GOOGLE CLICKS

“I had an adrenaline rush, it’s very common you can google it” contender number two for the terrible dialogue award.

Edward saying “if you were smart you would stay away from me” AFTER HE APPROACHED HER LIKE FUCK OFF [skeleton throwing its own skull gif]

Kstew got a lot of flack for her performance in this movie but when she has a good partner to exchange lines with she SHINES. The scene with Angela and her at the beach where she tells her to ask Eric to prom is GOOD. EVERY scene with Charlie in THIS ENTIRE FRANCHISE is GOOD. It is nothing but pure misogyny that Rpatz didn’t catch any flack for his truly, horrifically awkward performance

I cannot believe Stephanie thought it would be a good idea to have Edward save Bella from potentially getting gang r*ped like I get it girl is about the drama but still this is just a TOOOUCH too far

“your hand is so cold,” WHO SAYS THIS TO SOMEONE THEY BARELY KNOW COMPLETELY UNPROMPTED???

SHE TRIES TO REFUSE CARRYING BEAR MACE WHEN SHE WAS ALMOST R*PED NOT 4 HOURS PREVIOUSLY LIKE SIS CARRY A KNIFE?!?!?!?!?

The “you’re impossibly fast & strong” monologue is so bad I want to barf

“I’ve killed people before” “doesn’t matter” BITCH YES IT DOES WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU

“MY OWN PERSONAL BRAND OF HEROIN” IS SO BAD. Like we all recognize how bad this is right? Especially when one considered the target demographic for these films, i.e. teenage girls, have NO FUCKING FRAME OF REFERENCE FOR THIS WHAT.SO.EVER.

“And so the lion fell in love with the lamb” YOU’VE KNOWN EACH OTHER FOR ALL OF 3 SECONDS I CAN’T WITH Y'ALL. AT LEAST THE BOOK HAD SOME BUILD-UP JESUS GEEZUS

Who thought this meadow scene was a good idea, they need to be sent straight to hell. WHY ARE THEY LAYING DOWN LIKE, SIT MAYBE?????? IT’S SO WEIRD AND UNNATURAL THEY LOOK LIKE DOLLS I HATE IT

The scene where they get out of the car and Edward puts his arm around Bella while Spotlight by Mutemath plays in the background is TOP TIER teen drama bs and I love it. Far and away the best shot in the movie apart from The Baseball Scene(TM).

I will never get over the fact that Edward's bitch ass rats Bella out for already eating when she comes over to meet his family. BE FUCKING COOL EDWARD FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE, GOD!!!

Esme is too pure for this world I can’t deal with her, & Emmet waving the knife is my favorite thing in all 5 of these movies

Why tf are Alice and Jasper fucking off doing god knows what in a tree and not helping with dinner like everyone else? Y'all ain't special even Rosalie is helping

Esme talking to Rosalie “Clean this up..now” I LOVE YOU BE MY MOM

Earlier they talk about the fact that vampires don’t sleep BUT the first thing Bella says when she walks into Edward's room is “no bed” girl we know what you after you ain't slick.....

WHAT IS THIS DANCING SCENE IN HIS BEDROOM IT’S HORRIBLE TO WATCH and I want to find whoever thought “well I could always make you” was a good line for Edward to say and slap them directly in the mouth.

“hold on tight spider monkey” excuse me while I VOMIT

Mike offering his opinion on Bella dating Edward HOWEVER justified is automatically invalidated by A. his own romantic interest in Bella and B. the fact that he has also know Bella for all of 10 minutes & has no bearing on her personal life whatsoever

THE PAST COUPLE OF MONTHS THIS MAN HAS BEEN COMING INTO HER ROOM AND WATCHING HER SLEEP THIS IS RED FLAG CITY LIKE BELLA WATCH A TRUE CRIME DOCUMENTARY OR READ THE NEWS FOR FUCKS SAKE

THIS FRANCHISE HAS THE MOST HORRIBLE KISSING SCENES IN MOVIE HISTORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU CAN HEAR LITERALLY EVERY BREATH, EVERY AWKWARD PRESS OF LIPS. You're telling me THIS was the best take of this???? CAN YOU IMAGINE HOW AWKWARD THIS WAS TO FILM

The whole scene when Bella is telling her dad about her date with Edward is absolutely god tier. Charlie snapping the barrel of the shotgun closed, him motioning that he has a halo on, asking her if she still has her pepper spray. BILLY BURKE LIFTED THIS MOVIE UP AND TRIED SO HARD TO CARRY IT ON HIS BROAD, MUSTACHIOED DAD SHOULDERS, WE STAN

WHERE TO START WITH THE BASEBALL SCENE:

Supermassive Black Hole in the background, Alice going AWF with her pitching, Rosalie getting all pissed when Bella says she's out and Emmett yells "c'mon babe it's just a game" like the puppy dog of a person (vampire?) he is, CARLISLE WEARING A SCARF WHILE PLAYING BASEBALL, I WILL NEVER EMOTIONALLY RECOVER FROM JASPERS BAT TRICKS, EMMET AND EDWARDS LAUGH AFTER CRASHING INTO ONE ANOTHER.

A TRULY IMMACULATE MOVIE SCENE. This scene isn’t long enough

“My monkey man” might be the worst line in this movie, I’m so torn between which one is the worst. Also, I'm just now realizing that this is the second time someone has compared a loved one to some type of monkey and I really don't like it.

Bella's defeated “I can’t hurt him” breaks my heart every time. AND FUCKING BILLY BURKE pulling out his acting chops with Charlie’s poor little broken sounding “I know I’m not that much fun to be around we can do more stuff together” & “I just gotcha back” LIKE LITERALLY EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS SCENE HURTS ME ON A PHYSICAL LEVEL AND I AM ENTITLED TO FINANCIAL COMPENSATION

I know I've skipped over a lot but it's just a lot of like star wipe level montage of nonsense, so we are mOVING ON to what is possibly the biggest plot hole I've never recognized before now: How in the hell was James planning on luring Bella out if he didn’t find that videotape of Bella's mom looking for her????? Or was he just going to bust up in the holiday inn, metaphorical guns blazing & toss Bella out a window???

This fight scene between James & Edward is VERY poorly choreographed and you can practically see the stunt wires pulling on their clothes but no one is surprised..this is Twilight after all.

Who the fuck starts the fire in the ballet studio if Carlisle & Edward are with Bella, Jasper and Emmet are holding James's arms and Alice is ripping his head off???? Esme and Rosalie aren't there so the only explanation is that Emmett's power Stephanie never told us about is his ability to start small, controlled, indoor bonfires with his mind.

If Bella was losing blood from her femoral artery it is HIGHLY UNLIKELY that she would have been cognizant enough to tell them her hand was burning + THERE’S A BIG ASS BITE HOW DID THEY MISS IT???

Let Me Sign is such a good fucking song. Actually, while we're on music every song on every Twilight Saga soundtrack SLAPS. At least 1 department at Summit Entertainment was staffed with competent people. (side note, why the fuck do I know the studio by name that made this movie. I need to go lie down)

Bella acting a damn fool in the hospital bed like clingy much

CHARLIE IS SUCH A GOOD DAD FUCK!

The Edward/Jacob beef is so dramatic at prom can you both chill for 5 minutes we haven't even gotten to y'alls bullshit yet that's not until New Moon.

Bella really thought this mfer was gonna turn her at prom in the middle of the dancefloor??????????

Flightless Bird American Mouth. That's it, that's the bullet point

Victoria coming to prom, like we stan a dramatic bitch.

I will almost CERTAINLY post my New Moon (Extended Edition) notes in a few days. & yes I do have notes on the entire franchise.

[cdarkheartzero]

Today’s theme- (another long post, by the way)

“Arcade”- made for @cawareyoudoin who demanded I finally listen to Lemon Demon’s “Cabinet Man”. Thanks man! Now I own the album and listen to “Cabinet Man” and “Touch tone telephone” at least a few times a day.

Zim overheard some fellow classmates discussing the “arcade”. It was apparently a very popular destination for the normal human-children. He had even heard Dib speak of it once or twice. For the good of his mission of blending in (and his insane curiosity), he summoned his mechanical henchmen and promptly headed over after school.

Smelly carpets. Old and decrepit video game machines. These “cabinets” battling to attract the most attention with their lights and sounds. Garbage littered everywhere. So many dirty, disgusting children running about, adding to the ruckus filling the air. And cheap, poorly made “prizes” costing far too much of this building’s currency “tickets”. He could feel the the germs crawling on every inch of this place. This is disgusting.

[[MORE]]

There was also a rule that stated children were to carry around a stool in order to reach the games. Why would an establishment have equipment unsuitable for their target demographic? Stupid humans.

Gir and Minimoose did their best to play these primitive “games” and win “tickets” while Zim walked around and studied the area. He noticed a black tuft of familiar looking hair peeking over the crowd. The Dib was here too. With his sister-beast. She looked quite pleased with herself, carrying a tremendous amount of “tickets” and was close to having the necessary number to win that giant stuffed pig. Dib-stink was probably just ordered here to assist her and hold the stacks of “tickets” as Gaz played to reach her goal.

Regardless, Zim could ask the two of them a little bit more about this place. Get a better understanding of why people would ACTUALLY WANT to spend their time here. So, he tagged along. Periodically stopping to ask Dib what that one does or what the strategic value of that one is. Dib usually replied with a snarky comment but gave somewhat of the answer Zim seeked.

As they passed one machine, given the name “Cabinet Man”, Zim felt a chill. There was something offsetting about that one. He stared at it. It’s black screen staring back at him. His PAK tingled, a sensation he had never really experienced. “What is wrong with this one?” He asked. Dib gave him a strange look. “I mean, it’s new but nothing is WRONG with it. Why?”

He continued to goggle. Underneath his wig, Zim’s antenna picked up a very slight but steady rhythm of beeping. That’s unusual. It almost sounded like...

“Is this one alive?” He asked Dib. Dib gave a face of confusion and annoyance. “You have got to be kidding me. No, space-boy. I don’t know what video games are like in your world but it’s just PROGRAMMING!”

Before Zim could spit venomous words at Dib, he caught the beeping quickening. “Wait... it’s nervous because I am talking about it?” He mumbled. Unfortunately, Dib overheard. “Why are you like this? Dude. It’s a metal box. It’s a glorified gameboy. You sound like you are losing it.”

Perhaps The-Dib had a point for once. Machines cannot be alive. If it was human in disguise, Zim would have detected the beating of a HUMAN HEART. Not this. What need does a machine have for rhythmatic pulsations? Perhaps all of these lights and sounds were giving him sensory overload. He should probably run a scan at home for the tingling in his PAK but it didn’t feel life threatening. Could be a slight bug.

“Zim is not “losing it” he finally said “He is simply disgusted in the practices of your fellow human. This place is filthy. Zim is concerned for all of the germs assaulting the air and surfaces of your “arcade”. Dib rolled his eyes “it’s fine. Change the subject. I don’t even care. Maybe you are one step closer to croaking and you know when that happens, I’m keeping your body for experiments, right?” Zim let out a hearty laugh “in your dreams, pig-stink”. Gaz stomped her foot, silencing the banter. “I swear if someone else gets that piggie before me, I will kill you both and stuff you as my new plushes.”

The two of them gulped and continued walking in silence. Gaz could be scary sometimes. Zim could faintly hear the beeping returning to its normal pace as he got out of hearing range, turning around to take one more peek at “Cabinet Man.” “I’m almost certain it’s nothing...” he said as he turned the corner.

[brittanybutler]

Sydney to the Max + The Importance of Representation 

Can I just say, I really love Sydney to the Max on Disney Channel??? When I saw promos for it, I was interested in the plot because it’s about a single dad named Max raising his daughter Sydney and they also live with his mother Judy. So it’s this nice father/daughter/grandmother dynamic going on and it’s so cute! Caroline Rhea plays the grandmother, so I knew it was going to be a decent show at least. It has surprisingly good writing for the most part. I absolutely LOVE the fact that it takes place in two timelines, 1992 and 2019 -- showing parallels (and differences) between Max’s upbringing and Sydney’s. The 90s flashbacks are so freaking fun and nostalgic. Max’s best friend Leo is HYSTERICAL. They give him the best lines, omg. I mean, this happens one minute into the very first 90s flashback: 

I was immediately hooked. ANYWAY...

I knew right away that the star Ruth Righi (Sydney) was mixed/possibly biracial and I kept wondering if Disney would acknowledge that or not. Max and Judy are white and Sydney is clearly of a different hue + more ethnically ambiguous. Disney pretty much could’ve gone the entire series without addressing it, but they just recently revealed that Sydney’s maternal grandmother is black and it made me really happy. EDIT: They also finally revealed her late mother as well through flashbacks in a very emotional episode. I love that they’re not making a big deal out of it though. It’s not some big plot point that Sydney is half black. It’s just a casual thing. It normalizes the situation, which is how it should be done imo.

I’m 26, but it made my heart so full to somehow see myself represented on this Disney Channel show, even though it’s 14-18 years too late for me lol. If this show existed back when I was the target demographic of 8 to 12, Sydney probably would’ve been my idol because I’ve never seen a girl that actually looks like me on TV, actually playing a mixed character.

It might be kinda weird to do a comparison picture, but you need to understand how SEEN and represented my tween self feels by the casting of Ruth:

Nearly every time a biracial/mixed actor is cast in a mixed role for TV/movies/advertising, they’re obviously/stereotypically mixed looking: extra ~exotic~ with big curly hair, etc. I don’t look like that. I actually think it’s helpful sometimes to cast actors who are “obviously” mixed. It helps ignorant people make sense of us when they can clearly see it spelled out in front of them. But, it’s important to see other phenotypes too. Some of us are rather plain looking in comparison -- with straight/loose type 2 hair and a tan. We look like we could be a number of different ethnicities. Sydney literally looks so much like I did as a kid. I’ve never seen our “brand” of mixed/biracial represented like that before, especially on Disney Channel! 

I’ve always been very confident in who I am. But growing up mixed, I was still very aware that I was different than most people around me, at school, and yes -- on TV. I was also very aware that I look different in comparison to the rest of my family. In a lot of ways, I’ve always liked being a little different. I actually think my being mixed oddly makes perfect sense and goes hand in hand with the fact that I’ve always been a strong-minded, creative ~individual.~ But, still. It’s always in the back of your mind. 

Me and my cousins circa 2001.

This show sorta feels literally made for me in practically every way, even at 26! I’m a child of the 90s, so I love and get a kick out of the flashbacks. I’m biracial, and I also completely relate to the familial situation. I, too, was raised by my white single mother and white grandparents. Not only that, Sydney is very into music on the show. She plays bass and it’s a big focal point for her character. I’ve been in love with music my entire life and I’ve played guitar since age 11. 

A screenshot from the opening credits. Which features a pretty awesome Third Eye Blind “Semi-Charmed Life”-esque theme song btw. 

It’s just crazy to me. I really feel like I’m seeing my younger self portrayed here in more ways than one, haha. It’s like they took inspiration directly from my life or something. The importance of representation is a big topic these days, but I didn’t truly realize how impactful it can be until now. Seeing my type of upbringing on the Disney Channel today, even if it is many years past my childhood, is very emotional. It makes me want to shed a tear for tween Brittany and all of the little girls today who are in the same boat I was. 

EDIT: Sydney also plays guitar and writes songs. This is FREAKING ME OUT. Here’s Sydney vs. myself at age 14:

You have no idea how insane it is for me to watch this show. In a recent episode, they literally say the word “biracial” multiple times. I just about died. The way Sydney straight up says she’s proud of being biracial and she doesn’t have to choose a side. I’m cryin. If hearing that on Disney Channel means this much to me today, I can’t even imagine how validating it could’ve been for me years ago.

My Disney Channel idol that I desperately wanted to be like growing up was white & blonde Hilary Duff/Lizzie McGuire (which I’m not saying is a bad thing, I freaking love Hilary to this day and think she’s the best) but I just started thinking about how different my youth might’ve been had Sydney to the Max been on my TV screen. Maybe I wouldn’t have felt different than anyone else at all. Because here’s Sydney -- a girl who’s mixed and looks a little different than her family. It’s normal, and that’s awesome. I would’ve felt SO COOL knowing someone like me was the star of a Disney Channel show. 

Here, why don’t we end the post with this photo of me trying really hard to rock gold sparkly jeans like my tweenhood idol Lizzie. 

[leah-jeffries]

I can’t believe it’s been over a week since BookCon rolled out of here! Now another 300-something odd days until the next one and I’m already anticipating BookCon 2020. Insane, right? Before this year is over, I’ve gotta tell you about what went down during one of the biggest bookish weekends in the world. 

I’d been at BookExpo 2019 so by the time BookCon rolled around, the pair of us were tuckered out, our feet were in pain and I was anticipating the large number of convention-goers that would make their way into the enormous glass building. Now if you’ve never been to BookCon, it’s pretty much like BookExpo, but on steroids and with a much bigger fan experience. If you had to measure it against something like New York Comic Con, it’s really like a fourth of what that is. Though, I have to admit that this year was probably the highest attended BookCon the two of us have ever seen! I’ve been going since 2014, so it’s been a good part of a decade that I’ve had the pleasure to watch it grow. 

Now if you didn’t know, the folks that run BookExpo/BookCon have an enormous social outreach. Besides all the standard platforms they have accounts on, they always make it a point to update their app through the respectable stores (in our case, on the Apple App Store) where they seem to have EVERYTHING. It lets you plan your schedule, check out who will be attending, what sort of events are happening, and even lets you connect with other people who will be attending in the community. 

Okay, so I knew that BookCon would be a place where I go to really check out how exhibitors shift their focuses between the industry-targeted BookExpo and the standard community-targeted BookCon. And I knew that people were more excited since there were some heavy hitters that would be in attendance (I feel like it was really about all the celebrity authors this year).

So Saturday morning, I knew I was going to come early just because I love seeing the show floor right when it opens and what exhibitors are offering in their programming and materials to hand-out in the first wave of attendees. When I woke up and on my way to the city, I couldn’t help but peek in on the official Facebook group to see if people were really out and about for the conference already (I was up by 6am) and of course, there WERE people who had been talking about how attendees had been there since practically 4am! There were some really big book lovers out there, which I am totally on board for, but definitely not as big myself. 

Saturday seemed like a wild day and honestly, the busiest that I had seen the 4.5 days between Book Expo and Book Con. And according to a few articles (particularly on PW), it was the busiest and most-crowded. I’m not surprised since Saturdays seem to always be the biggest when it comes to conferences and conventions. There were people EVERYWHERE and not enough freebies to spread amongst the increased con-goers (which I know a lot of people were disgruntled about) according to most attendees chief complaints that I read about. 

To be honest, writing this a week later, the events are all a blur. So I’ll stick to the highlights. 

Back to Saturday! To be honest, the biggest thing that happened that I was really hoping to score was THE TOLL from Neal Shusterman. When the cover was revealed a few weeks ago, I hadn’t thought in my wildest dreams that they would be creating advanced galleys (no matter how limited) for the ARC OF THE SCYTHE trilogy, let alone dropping them during BookCon. From conversations that I had with publishers over the duration of Book Expo, it seemed like they were holding back a lot of their promotional materials until Book Con, which I found pretty surprising. So when RivetedLit announced that there were scythes walking around the floor with envelopes that told you if you were “the chosen one” or not, you bet your tush that I bolted in search of them. I have no idea how many times I asked if they had something for me and how many enamel pins I ended up with and honestly, that was the biggest hardship I faced the entire weekend. With their tote bags full of envelopes, I was convinced that that these galleys didn’t exist. Apparently, there were 25 of them but I sadly, did not get my grubby hands on them. 

September isn’t too long from now, right? (-sobs-) 

(Also, I can’t deny that I waited until the end of Book Con on Saturday in hopes that S&S would do a drop of it since that was what happened with AN ENCHANTMENT OF RAVENS during Book Con 2017. It was my biggest regret leaving early.)

I feel like I tried to steer clear of the bigger booths that had the more ‘coveted’ giveaways happening (like HarperCollins and Penguin Random House) because there always seemed to be an endless stream of people, but I definitely didn’t stray from Simon & Schuster and Hachette. While they were buzzing with people, they had more opportunities for attendees to interface. RivetedLit had a fun lollipop (though people seemed to line up HOURS in advance with no promise of a free book) wall where you picked one at random and the color on the bottom fo the stick indicated which of their most-talked about titles you would receive. And if you got a blank one, you still got a lollipop out of it (which I certainly approve of). 

Between the two of us, we got WINTERWOOD by Shea Ernshaw, SLAY by Brittney Morris, and PERMANENT RECORD by Mary H.K. Choi (I only got a lollipop on Sunday!). I gotta say, those were great choices. I had hoped to get THE LADY ROGUE by Jenna Bennett since it sounded so EPIC and I loved the premise, but again...September isn’t too far away...right? (-anguished sob-). 

My two other highlights of Saturday was meeting Claire Legrand, author of so many delightful young adult novels, but she was there at SourceBooks to promote her latest release, KINGSBANE, the second in the Empirium Trilogy (aka one of my favorites in recent years). The first fifty in line received a complimentary finished copy of KINGSBANE while anyone thereafter got a copy at a discounted price. And let me say that there were A LOT of copies. 

I only got a few seconds with Claire Legrand when it was my turn to meet her and I always feel like I’m taking too long by chatting with them (and I always love getting a photo of them signing their book), so I just tend to be awkward and always keep in mind to tell them to have a great time while they’re there since I know how insanely exhausting it can get. She is always a delight to meet and always decked out in a lovely outfit. 

She was also giving away her preorder enamel pins which I’d missed out on since I procrastinated, so I was so glad I was able to snatch one for my pin board! 

My other signing that day was with Joan He - again, a fleeting moment because I knew there were many people in line who wanted a chance to talk to her and I really would rather have that time devoted for those who want a real moment with her. I was so excited to meet the author of DESCENDANTS OF THE CRANE since it is a jaw-dropping, edge-of-table-gripping story. And honestly, how am I supposed to resist a diverse spellbinding story??? 

I spent the better part of the weekend on the show floor and saw a lot. It’s really no surprise that there were lines everywhere you turned. I can’t exactly figure out the best way for exhibitors to eliminate their lines other than dropping tickets in the morning or reserving them through an online system (like autographing area tickets), but I can say that if there weren’t lines, I think it would be such a great opportunity to network and get to know publishers more. I feel like a lot of the times, bloggers and people from the media (at least small-press media) get a terrible reputation at Book Con and other bookish conferences is because there’s very little room to develop that relationship between publisher and media. 99% of the time, people in both roles are behind the screen and working for corporations that do not allow for much face time. 

Sunday was pretty much the same, but I still enjoyed walking around all day despite having been through the show floor MULTIPLE times in the week I’d been there. It’s just always fun to see what new things exhibitors are doing and to see the demographics of the attendees. According to PW, it was majority white women in their 30s-40s. While that doesn’t surprise me in the slightest and I did see a number of POCs on the floor, I was disappointed that there was not more catered to bringing in those bigger numbers. It was definitely startling to see the sea of “whiteness” when there were plenty of authors/illustrators with culturally diverse backgrounds in attendance and being promoted. 

Truth time, I really wanted to devote my mornings on the weekend to finding totes. If you’ve ever been to one of these conferences before, you know there always seems to be totes flying everywhere from every booth, but it didn’t seem like the case this year. I’d sadly missed out on this AMAZING tote giveaway supporting Karin Slaughter at Blackstone Publishing during Book Expo, but I made up for it by claiming one of their really cute ‘Crazy Book Lady’ totes which is now in my collection of totes to use as my casket lining when I die :).

The only things we had to attend were our autograph signings. We had Sandhya Menon, Cora Carmack, and Tasmyn Muir/Kel Kade. 

Cora Carmack went pretty smoothly. We’d met her earlier that week during her signing for RAGE and we’d wanted to get some of her backlist titles signed, so it was pretty delightful to see her. We’d decided to skip Sandhya because we were disappointed in the rule of having to purchase a book at full price, especially when her books were being sold at the Simon & Schuster for half price. 

Tasmyn Mui and Kel Kade were signing on Sunday and it was our lightest day when it came to a schedule. We were pretty excited for GIDEON THE NINTH which boasts a cast of lesbian necromancers, so what is not to love? Especially when V.E. Schwab blurbs it, amirite? Also, Tasmyn and Kel were TERRIBLY delightful.

 While we were waiting in line for the signing to start, there was a kerfuffle behind us and it seemed as though they’d run out of books for one of the authors which was pretty shocking to me. These autographing sessions are booked WEEKS in advance and while I know there is some negligence on part of the Book Con staff (people who just let other people without tickets in), I just couldn’t believe how short the number of books had been and it didn’t seem like it was a one-time mishap. There were multiple complaints across the Book Con official group in the days following Book Con and I dunno if I would have been okay with it had I been waiting a while for books that I thought I was going to get and ended up not geting (and believe me, there is a lot of waiting).

Two things that jumped out at me on the floor were the very family-oriented activities happening on the other side of the show floor hall. While the right side was condensed with all of the publishers, the left side was left quite empty and most of it dedicated to the queue hall for attendees to line up in the morning. But when you looked around that section, you might have noticed that there were many more merch booths and an area dedicated to a Family Headquarters where families had their own activities and programming. While I don’t have my own family, I thought it was really nice for Reedpop and Book Con to parter with the Children’s Book Council to cater to families that would be attending. 

Not only was the event committee catering to them but also a few of the exhibitors They had tables and little (what I assume were workshops or activitiy time) tables where kids and parents could sit and do a variety of things like color and decorate activity sheets. This has got my 100% approval stamp all over it and of the kids that I saw there, they seemed like they were definitely having a lot of fun! 

The other thing that jumped out at me that I briefly mentioned above and was probably my favorite part of the whole Book Con experience was the section that had exhibitors selling bookish merch. You don’t know this, but I am an avid collector of bookish merch like prints and enamel pins. Anything that is artfully done and for a fandom of mine, I will throw my money and bank account at without a second thought. I was actually really excited to explore it and while I’d browsed through it at Book Expo, it seemed to definitely bump up with a few more vendors during Book Con. 

Sadly, I don’t have photos documenting that part, but I will definitely link anything I bought below that has a buy page or product look for you in case you want to check it out! 

ChickLit Designs had a booth where you could spin a wheel and win a prize! Between the two of us, we won a lovely Rifle Paper Co.-esque Oscar Wilde quote print and a $10 off one of their products! Since they did have inventory there, we naturally had to buy something to avoid shipping costs. 

"The Secret Garden" by Frances Hodgson Burnett - Phone Case

I was delighted to see Wick & Fable there since I am an enormous fan of their products! They had a really cute booth setup and there was no shortage of people looking to buy their stuff! I’m not too familiar with their store, but I understand that their website is pretty much their candles and subscription boxes. While they were selling their candles, they were also selling (what I assume to be) exclusive products from their monthly boxes which typically cannot be found online outside those boxes (which means $$$). While I desperately wanted to purchase their gorgeous Grisha/Six of Crows shadowbox frames, I just didn’t have $35 to shell out for them as much as I wanted to. I didn’t walk away empty handed though. I’m a sucker for THE CRUEL PRINCE and again, if I see anything that catches my eye, I will buy it. So I had to score the below pin! 

The Cruel Prince Enamel Pin 

Speaking of Cassandra Clare (no, I know that Holly Black wrote THE CRUEL PRINCE, but I always feel like I see Cassie and Holly together), I also couldn’t help but pick up the gorgeous tarot deck from the Topatco booth. Once again, gotta love any chance to save on shipping costs (though I had hoped for a discount, no matter how small). 

Shadowhunters Tarot Cards

The only other thing I bought was from a booth I’d been eyeing all week and debating on buying from. If you aren’t familiar with Pinch Me Therapy Dough, it’s basically like a stress ball or kinetic sand - something meant to help you if you’re feeling anxiety, stress, anger, etc. I hadn’t known about this brand until I saw it in an Instastory of Tahereh Mafi’s. What is special about these ‘doughs’ is that they have a really soft, cool texture and are infused with the NICEST SMELLING essential oils. It’s really hard to find a product where the aromatherapy doesn’t go overboard and I couldn’t help myself. The woman there was selling them in large and small sizes as well as sample size packs. After some good smelling time, I settled on the very first one that I’d smelled and really loved. 

Pinch Me Therapy Dough - Holistic Aromatherapy Stress Relieving Putty - 10 Ounce Relief Scent

They are a little pricey and I only got a small size (it was $15), but I really think it was worth it and it has me wanting to get more of them (Chill and Sun were two other scents I loved) but I think I’ll wait until I see the company at another conference and save the shipping fee! 

I was surprised to see a lot of subscription box companies there, but were really only there to promote their boxes as a whole. Had they been like Wick & Fable and sold more of their separate pieces from their boxes, I think that would have made a HUGE difference. I understand that maybe there wasn’t inventory or they didn’t want to break away from their “subscribe to our box” branding and slashing prices, but I just don’t get how you wouldn’t want to make a bit more profit with such a good opportunity! 

What my wishlist for Book Con 2020 is to have more of these vendors AND an Artist Alley. I know it’s odd to think of one outside of comic con conventions, but I’ve seen so many amazing pieces of artwork for books that I think it’s such a missed opportunity for there not to be at this sort of event where people are so willing to put down a few dollars to be able to visualize their favorite stories. And it would give conference attendees an opportunity to get away from the crowded lines of the main show floor and people who are just waiting on loved ones or need time to kill! 

Until next year, Book Con. :) 

[hotpinkdemoness]

I know this sounds absolutely stupid

But I am terrified of my country and the possibility of it becoming a new Nazi Germany.

I’ve got an enormous rant here, so, uh...yeah. It’s a lot to read, a big vent about things I can’t control. I hate talking politics, and so do most people. So, for everyone’s convenience, I’m just gonna use that there “read more” thing. 

The USA is a country in depression and despair right now, with one man finding reasons everywhere to point fingers and accuse, to blame. And, because of how stubbornly divided the entire population is, there’s just as likely a chance he’ll be re-elected. We don’t know if he’ll actually be impeached.

Right now it is a terrifying time to be anything that isn’t white, godfearing, and heterosexual all at the same time because of how many people are now showing their true colors and becoming emboldened to do so. I can’t step outside for even five minutes without looking over my shoulder in mistrust, and this misery we all feel in this country is so well hidden by our corrupt government that people that visit my local area from other countries are genuinely shocked at the sorry state this country is in.

We’re setting up concentration camps on the border, people are committing mass shootings to target certain demographics and I fear that I’m going to be mixed in or caught in the crossfire just because I’m not a white supremacist.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, our fucking government loves to piss off other countries and blame them for our problems, and so half the goddamn planet hates our guts. They start shit and they cause global anguish and they don’t fucking listen to us. Everyone has this unbridled anger and hate towards one another because of all this propaganda that paints “them”, whoever that’s supposed to be, as “the bad guys” all the time.

What’s more is that now, we have a big recession on the way. Stocks have plummeted significantly, and anyone that hasn’t lived under a rock will know what that led to in the past: The Great Depression. We’re causing strife with one of our most, uh, essential trade partners and as a result of all these pointless tariffs we’re causing other people, other countries pain as well. Yet, our government here turns a blind eye to that and blatantly doesn’t give a shit.

This is how Nazi Germany came to be. This is how Hitler rose to power. At the time, they, too were a country in pain, depression and suffering. He, too, was a man seeking reasons to point fingers, looking for people to blame. He, too, put a specific type of person in concentration camps, killed them by the millions, and discriminated heavily against anyone who wasn’t a specific color, belief, and orientation. They became the blame for everything. 

How long will it be before we start gassing the people at the border, or worse? With as many people as there are storming Walmarts with guns and a full intent to “hunt Mexicans”, I can’t doubt that it’s going to happen if something isn’t done to stop all of this.

The similarities right now are staggering and horrifying. I really hope it’s just me being paranoid, but I can’t just shake all of it off as coincidence.

It really is absolute insanity to stay in the United States, but it’s too goddamn expensive to move out into a safer place to live.

It is absolutely depressing to be an American right now, and I have never been more ashamed to say that I am an American in my entire life. 

But, I am desperately clinging onto hope that whoever replaces the president will fix some of this. No way can they fix all of this, but at least some of it needs to be repaired. That’s all I can do for now, and it won’t take much for that to turn to dust. They already took my dreams from me and burned them.

[emeraldnebula]

Thoughts on the comic book industry, Part 7

You can’t really talk about the state of the current comic book industry without addressing one of the most infamous, long-standing problems it’s had for a long time. And it’s a problem that’s only gotten worse as the convention scene has taken on more prominence.

I, of course, am referring to the remaining fandom’s steadfast determination to hoard what’s left of the comics industry to themselves at all costs, actively opposing the very idea of new fans or even older fans whose tastes and opinions don’t fit with the groupthink of the moment.

This is nothing new, obviously. I’ve talked about this at varying times before. Comic book pros and older fans who do want new blood brought into the fandom have discussed this. Cosplayers talk about this quite often, especially as they’re among those who get persecuted by self-styled purists and SJW-leaning fans. And anyone who’s on social media can attest to the fact that newcomers and older fans who don’t conform to the hive mind can and will be bullied nonstop. (Rabid fanbrats harassing and insulting other fandoms is a popular Tumblr pastime in and of itself.) But what doesn’t get talked about so much is how destructive this mentality is, and how it would be self-defeating beyond belief.

As it stands, the comic book industry's business practices of the last 26 years or so have resulted in atrophy, outdated and incoherent storytelling choices, mean-spirited and destructive creative decisions, and the alienation of everybody but a tiny, aging, selfish minority of whiny idiots. Many, many times, it’s been pointed out that unless new fans, new blood, and new perspectives are brought in and accepted, the American comic book industry is going to die. And every single time, that same tiny minority of morons that’s become DC and Marvel’s target audience of choice is venomously opposed to the notion that anybody but them should be allowed in the fandom, much less have a say in it. “New readers be damned, we were here first!” “I’m not giving up what I like for anybody!” “You’re betraying the existing fans by chasing after new ones!” “Changing comics to get new fans is too much of a risk!” “There’s no reason why ‘new’ fans can’t enjoy things the exact same way that we do!” “Who cares about people who think the industry is becoming outdated?” And some go the extra mile by openly admitting they’d rather see comics die altogether before letting new blood in, on the grounds that “at least I’ll have gotten to enjoy what I like!”

I’ve seen all these comments in various places over the last 17 years alone, and I’m never not surprised by the inherent greed of these statements. Given the choice between staying a self-destructive course towards oblivion and allowing the industry to change and accommodate new fans, these regressive fanbrats will choose the former every single time. They feel so entitled to essentially ownership of the industry that they’ll kill it with their selfishness. All because they don’t want to lose their perceived control over it. This is even sicker when – again – this whiny, tiny minority of idiots were all newcomers themselves at one time. The industry predated them by decades. But for some godforsaken reason, these regressives want to be the only people reading comics and view any new blood, any new ideas, or even older fans who don’t share their exact tastes and beliefs as a threat to their dominance.

Mind you, this sort of close-minded, “keep everything the same as when I first saw it or else” mentality is not unique to the comic book industry. What is unique is that the industry has largely caved in to this clutch of entitled morons. Most other properties know better than to kowtow to regressives like these. For all the squawking the lunatic fringe Star Trek fans do about “continuity” and “prime universes,” CBS/Paramount is smart enough to ignore them. They have every reason to: the Rick Berman era of Trek may have pleased the fanbrats, but it stagnated the franchise severely and led to a prolonged hiatus that only ended with the reboot trilogy movies and Discovery. And while the merits of those newer projects can and should be debated, CBS/Paramount undeniably did the right thing by striving to update Trek and keep it relevant to modern sensibilities. Mattel and Hasbro have wisely ignored regressive fans who want He-Man and Transformers to stay permanently locked in their ‘80s iterations, updating and reworking those properties as necessary. Looney Tunes undergoes periodic revamps and updates on the regular, and aside from Loonatics Unleashed has been very successful at that. Hell, even Mickey Mouse, a character nobody usually cares about, has made a comeback in the last decade with a retro-styled makeover in both the Epic Mickey games and the recent Toon Disney shows. (And this was in spite of absolute idiots refusing to acknowledge his first appearance in “Plane Crazy” and insisting that his 1940 Fantasia redesign was the “original” Mickey.)

Anywhere but comic books, the entities in question know not to stagnate their properties and cater exclusively to a tiny group of selfish banshees. They know it would be suicidal to do so. But because the major comics publishers have bent over backwards to service the very vocal minority at the expense of the industry’s well-being, said minority feels entitled to be gatekeepers and to shut out anyone who doesn’t buy into their Landru-meets-the-Buddy-Bears mentality or who might pose a danger to their sense of control. I’m just going to say it right now: the major publishers are half the reason comics have such low readership. The lunatic fringe that makes up what’s left of comics fandom is the other half of the reason.  If you go out of your way to make newcomers feel unwelcome and you run off longtime fans who don’t agree with whatever your chosen dogma is, you’re part of the problem. Nobody wants to associate with a fandom composed of greedy, unreasonable nuts. And the end result is, again, a shrinking, aging readership that can’t sustain the industry in the long term.

Nor can this shrinking, aging minority of jackasses keep the convention scene alive, either. The comic book industry has hobbled itself so much that a purely comic-centric convention isn’t financially feasible. There’s not enough of an audience for it. Conventions are pop culture-oriented for a reason. And it’s because modern conventions are so all-encompassing that it’s allowed the rise of American cosplay as a force in fandom. Whether the lunatic fringe likes it or not, conventions have become the gateway for new fans, as well as an opportunity for older fans left behind by the industry and the lunatic fringe to come together with like-minded people and commission stuff that’s more to their liking. In short, conventions by their very nature are inclusive and open-minded...the very antithesis of both the current comic book industry and what’s left of the active fandom.

So naturally, the lunatic fringe fans don’t like this. They’ll scream and yell about how conventions are disregarding and insulting comic book culture by including mass media in their lineups, never mind that comics and mass media have been interlinked at least since Buster Crabbe’s Flash Gordon movies of the 1930s. They’ll spew bile and venom at newcomers for daring to “take away convention tickets from real fans” and not being already being well-versed in comics lore, ignoring the fact that they themselves were once total newbies who came in cold. Many times cosplayers will have their fan credentials – or in some cases even their mental health – questioned or outright denied by these people (Jessica “Maid of Might” Chancellor has been on record about her own experiences). These same fans can and have gone the extra mile to champion banning cosplay entirely, or discouraging it by giving cosplayers heavily restricted access to the convention floor. And if they overhear older fans voice disapproval of whatever is the current fans’ sacred cows of choice, the insults and shaming will be instantaneous, because how dare anyone voice opinions contrary to the lunatic fringe’s party line? (Been there, experienced it, couldn’t reason with them worth a damn.) And many times, these same fans will decry the size and popularity of modern conventions, demanding a return to comic cons being tiny, comics-only affairs held at hotels.

Keep in mind, what these crazy gatekeepers want would kill conventions outright. Shut out movies/TV, video games, and sci-fi/fantasy/horror from comic cons? You’d lose the mass appeal these events have, and thus lose out of paying customers attending. Ban or discourage/restrict cosplay? Instant plunge in attendance and major loss of money. Make anyone and everyone but the insane lunatic fringe fans DC and Marvel so cherish feel unwelcome and unwanted? Again, major plunge in attendance and profits. Force conventions to go back to being tiny, hotel-based events? You risk the venue either losing money on an event with piss-poor attendance or being swamped with far too much attendance for them to handle, thus creating a safety hazard. Every stupid, egotistical demand these nuts make is an automatic guarantee of failure. And over and over again, what’s the party line? “The real fans will keep comics and conventions alive!” These people are so deluded that they think they and they alone will and should be sufficient to keep the convention scene going. Never mind that comic book readership is drying up due to the industry’s unwillingness to change with the times, never mind that the lunatic fringe fans are an extreme minority that can’t keep the industry going forever, never mind that DC and Marvel’s pet demographics are college campus nutjobs and aging fanbrats in their mid-to-late 30s at absolute least (and in some cases even older). They’re convinced that they and they alone are the anointed who will keep comics and related events alive and well, and that anyone else is a heretic who should be run out of town.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that if these dopes ever got what they want, it would be the death knell of comic cons altogether.

Turning conventions into a members-only club with a secret handshake (which is exactly what some of these people openly advocate) would not yield any successful results. Like DC and Marvel, the lunatic fans are hopelessly stuck at least 26 years in the past. They’re still living under the delusion that the big 1990s comic book boom never ended, that “pure” comic cons care still money in the bank, that their pet creators are the comics equivalent of rock stars, and that they and they alone are plentiful enough to support the whole shebang without any filthy newcomers or normal folks tainting the industry’s purity. Absolutely none of this is the case. The days of comic book creators being celebrities are long over, and the few whose names are known (Frank Miller, Geoff Johns, Mark Waid, Joe Quesada) have deservedly bad reputations. The people the Big 2 keep peddling as “superstars,” regardless of actual talent, are people most folks would shrug their shoulders and say “Who?” at. The press that the comic book industry used to get in the 1990s doesn’t exist anymore, either, and it’s not like the industry even tries to get the word out about itself. So how the hell would “pure” comic cons made by and for the remaining, gatekeeping idiots ever be successful?

There’s just a complete lack of perspective altogether. And it’s all driven by greed, self-entitlement, and shortsightedness. The comic book industry, by choosing to cater to a regressive, selfish minority with a largely aging membership, has set itself on a collision course with extinction. It’s already doomed. Conventions, as they are now, are what’s keeping comics culture alive. Whether anybody likes it or not, pop culture conventions where comics are one of many puzzle pieces are the future. To protest or fight this is pure stupidity. At yet this is the hill DC and Marvel’s pet demographic wants to die on, shutting out any possibility of new blood or even old blood with dissenting opinions being allowed in.

It also doesn’t help that their “we’d rather the industry die than share it with anyone” mindset is completely counterproductive. For all their crying about “continuity” (which is purely subjective to their tastes) and “history” (which they’ll deny and ignore as they see fit), they never once acknowledge that if they get what they want and comics culture dies out completely on their account, nobody’s going to remember it. It’s going to be just as forgotten as vaudeville. At least with movie serials and old-school radio dramas, they’re still readily available for anyone who wants to go back and check them out. They may be dead genres, but they certainly haven’t been forgotten. Hell, even soap operas, another dying genre on its last legs, will have more staying power due to the massive backlog of episodes they recorded. Even horse-and-buggy manufacturers have the benefit of historical interest and reenactments to keep them going, even if it’s as a specialty. Comic books in their present state? If the fanbrats get their wish, it’ll be a completely forgotten medium altogether. There won’t be any nostalgia for it, no warm memories. Historians will flat-out admit that the industry destroyed itself by being regressive, ignorant and dismissive of its overall audience, and pandering only to the worst minority possible at the expense of anything resembling competent business.

And yet none of this even occurs to the fanbrats. All they care about is getting what they want right this instant and shutting out anyone who isn’t part of the clique. They never once stop to think that what they want and how they want it will be left in the dust once the industry is no more, and that all their efforts to stagnate the culture for themselves will ultimately be for nothing. Crappy, malicious funny books that suck on purpose and deliberately cling to tactics and trends at least two decades out of date are not worth fighting for, nor will they be worth remembering. And they won’t be remembered. You can’t even call the current fandom’s goals a Pyrrhic victory because it won’t be a victory at all, just a self-indulgent failure. And it’s a failure that will lead to the vast majority of people  who would or even do truly love the medium completely in the lurch.

But then again, the current comic book fandom is terrible in general when it comes to picking and choosing their battles. In addition to fighting any kind of beneficial change and gatekeeping at all costs, they take up causes that are meaningless at best, and utterly selfish and regressive at worst. Bill Willingham’s hateful attitude toward Batman fans over Stephanie Brown’s apparent death in “War Games”? That should have been the trigger for fans to take DC to task for their arrogance toward the readership, and to demand accountability for disrespecting the people who keep the company in business. Instead, Girl Wonder.org decided to campaign for Stephanie Brown to get a trophy case in the Batcave. Not only was that a meaningless goal to begin with, but it didn’t even begin to address the real problem at hand. A common talking point among the remaining fandom is wanting comics to abandon computer coloring and glossy paper and go back to flat colors on newsprint...a move that would be absolute suicide in a day and age where glossy paper is the standard and digital coloring can be done by anyone at home on their personal computers. Not only that, but such a move would do nothing to drive down the cost of comics or change how inaccessible they now are. (And yet when called out on on how regressive and impractical this demand is, these same fans will go thru contortions to claim what they want isn’t a selfish bid for nostalgia.) Smallville’s infamous “no tights, no flights” rule that convinced Tom Welling to sign up for the show? A very vocal, very stupid clutch of comic book fans started championing at the time for superhero costumes to be abolished across the board, even throwing a fit when Sam Raimi kept Spider-Man in his classic suit for the 2002 movie.  Cross-title, event-driven storylines where readers are forced to buy multiple books just to follow one story that doesn’t even have an ending in sight? Fanbrats have resisted attempts to move away from that model for years, citing the ‘90s comic book boom as proof that it’s an everlasting sales boon and that “real” fans will buy all the books regardless of whether or not they like them (which flies in the face of consumer choice or anything resembling reality). And so on.

When you consider how inept the remaining fandom is over what they think is important and what isn’t, their absolute refusal to allow new blood, new fans, and differences of opinion is par for the course. They only care about what they want, to hell with anything and everything else. They don’t even care if their wants are completely self-defeating, so long as they get their fix in the short term. But what does this mean for the comic book industry as a whole? Between the selfishness and stupidity of the major publishers and the sheer awfulness of the fandom they’ve cultivated, there’s nowhere to go but down. And we’ve been seeing that downfall play out in slow motion right before our eyes.

It’s a very sad ending to a legacy of more than 80 years, but that’s to be expected when you refuse to change with the times. More on that in my closing thoughts.