#It actually delights me that people think of me in such a way that I think about my favorite characters.

[ryssabrin]

last year i decided to stop watching youtube content about media that basically amounted to "reviews" where the creator just makes fun of and dogs on whatever they're reviewing for 20 minutes. i found a new channel called mike's mic (highly recommend) that instead does these light hearted goofy videos going over media he likes that while yes might not be objectively amazing but it's fun! and he can make jokes that feel like he's laughing with and not at the media in question. he talks about things he likes through the frame of their cultural relevance to him and he's a delight to watch.

it just made me realize how much media criticism i was consuming was always more through the frame of "how can i show that i'm better and smarter than this media?" and to a lesser but no less frustrating extent, the lens of "how can my criticism show that i have the Correct Progressive Opinions on this topic?" like watching eddy burback's video on the glee pilot and seeing him lose his mind over how "problematic" it is and scratching my head because yeah? it's campy and over the top on purpose? for comedy? because it's a comedic show?

it also leads to a lot of bad faith reads on media that barely take into account authorial intent at all. all you can focus on is how you would have preferred the story go instead of thinking about why the writer wrote it the way they did and what they wanted to say. i've seen criticisms of dav that are straight up "i just can't wrap my head around this theme" essentially because it wasn't the theme and story they were expecting. and when anyone (gently) tries to explain it to them it becomes "how dare you talk down to me" as if trying to speak up for what the game could actually mean to people is somehow insulting.

social media in general fosters an environment of one-up-manship in trying to having the hottest take possible and i don't think it's actually making media comprehension or criticism any better. you don't have to outsmart the media and you won't go to jail for liking something even if it's not the most clever thing on the planet, it's fine lol.

Watching creators across the internet yap themselves into hating this game for no reason is actually so sad

[artist-issues]

saw a post that said "pay close attention to what your body is saying because it doesn't know how to lie to you. pay very little attention to the mind because it lies all the time."

that is the dumbest thing.

your body lies all the time.

your body will make you think you need 5 more minutes of sleep—as if that's going to do absolutely anything to improve your energy levels all day. your body will tell you that you're in imminent danger of death if you take a step off a zip line platform; your knees will lock up, your hands will go numb, your heart will accelerate, your muscles will jitter, your breathing will shallow. but the whole time you're strapped into a device that's been tested over and over, keeping you from falling even if you wanted to. Speaking of panic attacks, your body will tell you you're in danger when absolutely nothing is wrong, the sun is shining, you're healthy and safe. But it'll clench your hands and jackhammer your heart rate and bottom out your oxygen levels anyway.

people all throughout history have suddenly recovered from years of dementia, or debilitating energy-robbing diseases, gotten up, spoken and achieved clarity for the first time in ages—and it's right before their bodies completely fail them and they die. Seems like they're getting better; actually, they've never been closer to death.

Your body lies to you constantly. It responds to stimuli in all the wrong ways just as often as it does the right thing.

"For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin."

We're creatures with bodies, souls (which includes the mind), and spirits, and they're all supposed to work together—so sometimes they get it right. But they're broken—and even a broken clock gets it right twice a day. The bottom line is, they're not trustworthy. None of them.

Only Christ offers the fix and the re-connection of body, soul, spirit. Together. He makes up for the broken parts. He provides correction for the mental, spiritual, and even (eventually) physical scoliosis we humans suffer from.

Don't give me any pretend-holistic tripe about how I should "listen to my body." Everything in here is lying. Only one Voice out There is trustworthy.

[starlost-mochi-x]

Can you do something fluffy with 29 and 45 with Changbin? Glad to see you back!! (JJ)

hihi <3 thanks for the request, it's good to be back! this is my first time writing prompts but it's super helpful actually... idk why i didn't do it before. i know you said fluff but i've been itching to write spy!changbin for so long so i just did it quite lighthearted. lmk if you want a rewrite <3

gatecrasher - seo changbin

pairing: seo changbin x reader

summary: you and changbin get sent on a spy mission. look i don't know what the fucking description for this is supposed to be okay

genre: fluff, superspy! au, crack, pretty lighthearted, a few mentions of guns but that's it, kiwi hyunjin surprise appearance

a/n: i mean, come on. changbin as a spy? yes.

⛓️ prompts: 29. "I like the way you think." / 45. "This changes everything."

skz prompt list | skz masterlist

Changbin is smirking as you reach the bottom of the red-carpeted stairs, his hands tucked into the pockets of his sleek, dark suit. The top button of his dark dress shirt is undone and he pulls the material away from his skin, fanning himself dramatically as you reach to take his extended hand.

He bows exaggeratedly and you swat at his chest, chuckling. You subtly brush a hand across your thigh to feel that the gun holster strapped to your thigh hasn't come loose. You know the exact model and make of your pistol is also strapped against Changbin's chest, sleek and dark and out of sight.

For now.

Adjusting the comm-link in your ear, you take Changbin's arm as you two subtly blend in amongst the other guests. The ballroom is large and sumptuous, filled with sparkling light and expensive items for auction. The guests themselves are dripping in diamonds and glamourous clothing and you fight the bile rising in the back of your throat. These people are so snobby and oblivious.

Changbin nudges you silently and you both take several steps backwards, disappearing behind a heavy velvet curtain. Part of you wishes you could keep walking through the ballroom and admire everything, but you and Changbin have a job to do.

That's the thing about being a spy. Sometimes you want to do things and then your duties tug you in the other direction, the way an irritated owner might tug their yappy dog on a leash.

"By the way," Changbin whispers from where he's situated next to you, "you look good."

"You too, gatecrasher."

He rolls his eyes. "We're spies. We're allowed to gatecrash. Legally. I think."

He tugs on your arm now, leading you to the curtain. You're both here to acquire a precious item; or rather swipe it and bring it back to your headquarters. Peeking out from in front of Changbin, you notice the target item being inspected by a snobby-looking man and another woman.

"What now?" You whisper.

Changbin hums from where he's looking out the curtain above you. "We just have to wait a while until they leave. Then we'll swipe it."

You groan softly. "I hate waiting. It'll take ages for that guy and his wife to leave. Look how much they're yapping."

He snickers. "Some particular intel tells me that woman with the snobby-looking guy is his mistress, not his wife."

You gasp, equal parts scandalised and delighted. Changbin claps a hand over his mouth to muffle his laugh.

"Or," he says, clearly struggling to hold his mirth in, "We could go now and try to fake-buy the stupid thing first. This is an auction, after all."

"Yeah. One that we broke into."

He rolls his eyes and pokes your forehead. "That's because it's our job to break into places and steal things. It's for the greater good."

You grin. "Greater good, my a-"

"Shut up, they'll hear us. Let's just wait a couple minutes then stroll out all posh and try and win the auction for the item."

You smirk and look back out the curtain. "I like the way you think."

Changbin nods modestly. "I know you do. It's very obvious."

"Just one thing, how are we supposed to walk out of here with the item? You have to pay for it and then show your receipt to the bouncers at the door."

He grins. "We'll figure that out soon enough."

You roll your eyes and turn back to peek through the curtains. A tiny, almost inaudible sound from behind you makes both you and Changbin whip around, guns unholstered and in hand.

Hwang Hyunjin is leaning against the wall, dressed in a sleek white and black tuxedo. His hair is startingly different, now a shorn dirty blonde and you find yourself missing his long, dark locks all of a sudden. Not that he looks bad. He looks good, pretty even-

You gulp as Changbin lets out a small puff of laughter. "Hello, kiwi."

Hyunjin just rolls his eyes, his voice a low drawl. "Hello, Bin. Chief sent me to keep an eye on you two. Swiped that pretty target item yet?"

He looks at you as he says the word 'pretty' and you feel Changbin bristle on your behalf. Not that you mind, though you feign annoyance at Hyunjin's subtle remark.

"I don't see you with the item," Changbin retorts.

"Yeah, because I'm supervising."

You fight a laugh as Changbin turns back to the curtain, huffing dramatically. "Supervising. Totally."

Hyunjin just grins and peeks out the curtain too. "I mean, I could go get the item, since you two are content to hide behind here."

You poke him harshly in the side and he bends sideways, glaring playfully at you.

"This changes everything," Changbin huffs. "It'll look suspicious if two of us came behind this curtain and three of us walk out."

You side-eye him. "What now, then?"

Hyunjin's breath plays across your cheek. "Let's all go."

"No," you and Changbin whisper in unison.

He rolls his eyes. "On the count of three."

"Hyunjin-" You protest.

"Onetwothreego-"

And he's gone, sashaying into the crowd of opulence.

"Fucking kiwifruit man." Changbin swears, glaring through the curtain. "Come on, he'll wreak havoc on his own."

You grin and take his offered arm. "Thought he was supervising."

"Not anymore, it seems. We need to swipe that target item or at least catch up with Hyunjin. We exit from the curtain on three, okay? One-"

"Two three go!"

a/n: if i had the motivation i would have made this into a series

[moonshynecybin]

been on an old press conferences binge and we talk about how marc always zendaya laughs at everything vale says and does but vale is almost equally bad… definition of “i laughed at his jokes so he’d let me hit” except horrifically enough i think he genuinely finds marc funny???? and that’s how you know it was true love because marc is many things but funny is towards the end of the list. and this doesn’t really stop after sepang like the amount of times he tries to hide his smiles in his collar or behind his hand or under the rim of his cap is. sickening.

i was actually thinking about this the other day in the sense of like. this is what kind of fundamentally makes them work as a couple for me... because there IS obviously this sort of high melodrama inescapable falling out that is horrible and nasty and ten years on clearly dogs their steps and circulates in their brains over and over like someone has turned the washing machine on high, AND they both have a twin ruthless streak that makes their interactions with the competitors around them (and each other) calculated and tense and occasionally explosive, plus they have this joint wagon-sized reputation for being little assholes who dont really care about how certain aspects of their actions effect others (AND EACH OTHER!!! the callousness of someone who knows that they are more powerful than someone else, either in terms of speed or media control). BUT. they are also both just really, deeply, genuinely silly. like they are goofy. marc tiptoes out of his box so you dont hear his clown shoes squeaking kinda guys

and crucially its not an artifice! its not purely a performance !! though it can certainly have elements of that, its just. i mean most of the time when we see them interacting with other people (and for a bit, each other) theyre laughing ! hard ! or at least smiling, and while they go about it in different ways (vale more classically a prankster vs marc just wiggling his body in a semisexual manner) they both love to make other people smile and feel that sort of positive attention and be this object of delight to others. and for a brief time the person they wanted to delight the most was each other, and what makes it REALLY crazy is that it didnt go away overnight and they both have to DEAL WITH THAT.....

[luck-of-the-drawings]

POOR GABRIEL MONTEZ! YOU NEVER SAW THIS COMING DID YOU? ALL YOU WANTED WAS POWER. SECURITY. SAFETY. & THATS EXACTLY WHAT YOU GOT! JUST IN EXCHANGE FOR YOUR BODY. LETS JUST HOPE NO ONE FUCKS THIS UP. LETS JUST HOPE YOU WONT HAVE TO CLEAN UP THE MESS.

[bearimba]

Silver doesn't need another father. He's already got one of those, technically, but the man turned out to be a weak, cowardly bastard who couldn't face his own problems let alone raise a child. The way he sees it, there's no need to set himself for more disappointment. He's got a roof over his head and food to eat, and that's far more than he could ever depend on in the last... however many years he'd been living on the streets. Lance and Clair are annoying as hell, but while he's training in the Dragon Den, he doesn't exactly have much room to complain. Not out loud, anyways.

Lance doesn't particularly want to be a dad either. He's already got too much responsibility on his plate as Champion, and this kid clearly needs so much more emotional support than he feels like he can provide. Simply convincing him to move into his guest room was enough of a struggle, and it only really worked because Lance had promised Silver he could "earn" his keep. What the hell is up with that, anyways? He's not sure what Silver's past looks like, and he's not about to go prying, but the bare minimum he can do is make sure he doesn't have to rough it out in the woods anymore. At least Clair seems to be having fun training him...

Clair is more than ready to be an aunt. The other two refuse to admit to caring for each other, but unlike them, she's not afraid of something as stupid as her emotions. The brat's slowly but surely been mellowing out during his training, and her idiot cousin has actually been taking care of himself for once in order to be a "good example." Silver has even caught on to calling Lance "old man" like she does, on account of those ugly-ass reading glasses the all-mighty Champion has to wear, and she couldn't be prouder. Best part is, she doesn't have to spend a dime except to treat the kid every so often! That's a win in her book if ever there was one.

[quatregats]

I am kind of fascinated by the Hornblower-not-matching-his-setting, though. I think that's actually been one of the things that I've thought about the most, especially in books where it's been particularly egregious (Beat to Quarters/The Happy Return, Ship of the Line, etc.). Did Forester just happen to stumble upon a brilliant character and, not realizing what a brilliant character he was, just carry on unknowingly writing him into his Swashbuckling Adventure Stories? Did he know that Hornblower was so delightfully complex but didn't know what to do with him? Did he know what to do with him but couldn't? It's also interesting to think about in the context of canon—how much of the Hornblower we see is also distorted through the lens of being a Hero of Our Glorious British Empire? How much more cruel or ignorant does he become from other perspectives? Yes, he has moral dilemmas, but if we step outside of the moral dilemmas as the books present them, what other narratives might we see?

[shsl-analyzer-guy]

so my sister is getting me to watch Cobra Kai while I'm visiting home, right

and look. She warned me about the love square. The old man rivalry. All that good stuff. What she did not warn me of, or rather, was not equipped to warn me of(she's never played DR), was the fact that Mondo Owada is a main fucking character

[lawrence-songs]

I hope it's not too strange to say, but I think meeting you (the person) made me realise how much of a "blorbo" you (Sammy) are ? To me ? I genuinely haven't realised how strong this feeling was before pffh. I get too excited seeing your reblogs /pos

- @bendyy-blog

It is an honor and a privilege just to be blorbofied. /ref

[faunabel]

ough.... why do i have a crush on this person i think i'm going insane

geez... how did this happen.

my anxiety is all over the place but i'll enjoy the happy feelings while i can ♡

[lali-hoe]

Thinking about someone telling me to close my eyes and open my mouth, acting like they're gonna feed me something.

Instead, they just tilt my head back a little and spit in my mouth, pressing against my chin to close it for me.

[cestacruz]

Mmm Jeanne

[figbian]

i feel like the tumblr obsession w the out of concept excerpt worming its way into (fan)fiction (see: red white and royal blue’s ‘i love you on purpose’ which to me read as a jenny slate reference; the million fanfics with references in the text & also before the text begins) is so neo-latin to me.

[moe-broey]

Thank you transwomen (in general but also) for the term "boymode" bc using that terminology for myself as a transguy (so, "girlmode") has been the only way I've been able to aptly and succinctly describe whatever the hell was going on *vaguely gestering to my adolescence from ages 15 to 19* there.

[dreamersscape]

Does it feel like life is permanently set to extreme hard mode and I still feel super crappy greater than 90% of the time? Yup. But! Emboldened by our relative success with last year's tomatoes, we have given it another go and have added a little pepper plant friend for them. :)

(It may look like the peppers aren't doing as well as the tomatoes, but it cannot be overstated just how bananas this plant's growth chart has been; it's determined to escape the confines of its basket-cage; it has to be constantly rotated so it doesn't completely lose the battle with gravity; I only took this picture the other day and it already looks SO outdated. Can't stop, WON'T STOP.)

[inkskinned]

she's singing in another room and my dog is asleep at my feet. my grandma asked me why i haven't found a man yet and i laughed. oh, you know. i like my house clean.

my girlfriend is also my man is also "my partner" if i'm in a professional setting. yesterday we went to a ren faire and a man mimed at me - you're together? and at my delighted nod, his baffled, you're gay? made me laugh. a woman with rainbow hair said i love the two of you together. you're both so beautiful it's absurd.

my dad introduced my partner as my "..... friend. or whatever" the other day. he knows we're dating. in the same way, i was never able to get my sister's husband to stop saying that's gay like it's 2008. he still uses the word fa***t, and my sister's defense of him has always been well, he's just kidding.

my lover and i dance to old music in a tiny kitchen. we judge new music together and take food critique very seriously. we watch love is blind before we fall asleep and agree that if they had a queer season, it would be bloody but also make for excellent tv. of fucking course queer people would know someone for only 2 weeks and agree to get married. what are you saying.

at a bar with friends, a man puts his hand on my wrist. got a boyfriend? and yes, i do have a boyfriend, she's amazing. i am texting her while i wander around a gas station named after geese. i am visiting a swing state for a wedding. in the candy aisle i overhear: she's actually like a lesbian it's disgusting. two teenage girls with packaged sandwiches in their hands, giggling. no literally, like. i'm not, like. okay with her being there while we're all, like, naked and changing.

my girlfriend and i tailgate, drink gin and cider out of cups. from the frat group beside us, a man corrects himself with one of his friends: bro, i mean, nonbinary entity, and it makes everyone around him laugh, myself included. he razzes his friend the same way i would have killed for at 19 years old - like nothing happened, he continues: you apply sunscreen like an alien. he does a little sassy (and fairly accurate) dance interpretation of the motion. his friend is laughing so hard they're crying.

i am lucky, i live in a safe neighborhood in a safe state. my masc passenger princess comes up from DC. i drive her for an hour to where all the leaves are a violent arrangement of color. we walk along the trails, letting autumn into our blood. in this part of the state, there's a lot of pickup trucks and trump signs. when we chastely kiss before getting into the car, i accidentally make eye contact with a woman holding her child's wrist. she looks disgusted. she looks fucking pissed.

two hours later my girl and i are eating dinner on a patio, soaking in the last warmth of new england sun before the chill of winter sets in. we are giggling and trying to talk through plastic vampire teeth. at another table, i see a young woman sit up straighter. i watch her watch us. she blushes and takes her partner's hand from across the table. shy, like the taste of evening has just become something deeper.

it's worth it for this moment, i think. my lover is still humming the same song she's been singing for four days straight and i don't want to kill her for it. her guitar is beside my bed. her toothbrush is in my bathroom. in a few moments i will make us lunch. we are lucky enough to have found each other. it is lucky enough to be in love.