#We all remember BuzzFeed

[a-timely-problem]

Something within me heals every time a celebrity I used to be a fan of comes out as trans

[1boringblueboy]

I love getting Instagram posts about scientists living in Antarctica and seeing that Shane Madej has not only liked the post but follows the scientist also

[theawkwardvirgin]

Just remembered something that baffles me about secular media. They insist on framing spiritual warfare (and specifically exorcisms) as something that’s like…. “old church”, something that “oh well we used to do that, but not anymore, that would be silly to do that now in our ✨enlightened age✨”.

I’ve seen it in Criminal Minds and in Supernatural and I think in Lucifer as well?

And it’s just such a confusing choice??? Like, where did these people get this idea???? Why is it so wide-spread??????

Every diocese that’s big enough to support them has an exorcist. We’re not told who that exorcist is, but we have one.

One of my religion professors shared a story with us from a few years ago when he had traveling exorcist visit his class! The guy was based at the Vatican iirc and traveled around as needed. He was on sabbatical for a break.

I get that part of it is ease of plot and getting side characters out of the way do the MCs can do their thing, but even then I do not fully understand it because the truth is so much more interesting!!! You’re telling me you’d rather have Dean and Sam be shut down by a skeptical old priest who insists they don’t “do that anymore” when a real priest would be like “don’t do anything until I call up the exorcist and get a proper investigation going”?????? Now that’s new. That’s interesting and a new kind of challenge they haven’t faced before.

And I can’t help but think that part of it is because our belief in the spiritual and spiritual warfare makes people uncomfortable. It’s all hunky-dory as long as they can dismiss us as being “those Jesus people who have too many rules”, but the second we start showing a true belief in the supernatural, a supernatural that can and will TANGIBLY affect us, they lose their nerve and start watering it down.

I’m reminded of an episode of Buzzfeed: Unsolved where Ryan and Shane went to a Catholic priest before going to their one demon location a season. It was obviously for a joke, but the priest took it dead seriously, and I think it really threw the guys off. It was very entertaining, and a much more realistic example of what would happen irl.

[reneesghostinthelivingroom]

Reneé x Reader

Where Reader is super shy and Reneé finds it cute

They are doing an interview or something and reneé has a hand on her at all time to help her ?

Lights, Camera... Anxiety

|| Reneé Rapp x fem!reader

|| Warnings; swearing, anxiety but it's fluffy I promise

|| Summary; reader was doing her first interview with Reneé, Reneé had invited her on as a sort of formal introduction as her girlfriend. Since she has talked about it during her shows, but never fully expressed it. Reader's more than a little nervous.

Requests open!

Started; september 23rd

Finished; september 24th

~~~

"Oh, God." Were your first words out of your mouth this morning the moment you realized what day it was. Interview day. You'd obviously done job interviews before... but this? This was NOT a job interview. This was a recorded interview for Buzzfeed. To say you were nervous was an understatement.

Reneé laid in bed next to you, murmuring something when her arm came and wrapped around your body. Pulling you impossibly close as her eyes fluttered open, her gaze half lidded as she watched you with concern in her eyes. "Mm, baby? What's wrong?"

The panic in your eyes didn't leave as you looked at her, her touch definitely helped you relax. Even just a little," we have that interview today."

"Huh?" She looked at you with confusion before it clicked in her head what you meant. Reneé had almost internally forgotten about it," oh shit." Her panic was different than yours. The stress of getting ready for the interview as opposed to the actual interview itself.

She looked at the clock and sighed," we've got time before we have to start getting ready. C'mere." Reneé mumbled, pulling you into your arms. She hadn't noticed right away how stressed you were, until she felt how quickly your chest was moving. She adjusted herself so she hovered just above you. Arms rested on either side.

With brows narrowed in concern, she studied you. Noting how you couldn't meet her eyes, how you seemed to tremble just a little. Reneé took your chin in her hand, thumb gently rubbing across your jawline in a soothing motion.

"Look at me, baby. What did I tell you yesterday?" Reneé asked, her tone soft and soothing.

Yesterday. That felt like so long ago right now. You forced your mind to try to remember the exact moment she was referring to through your growing anxiety. It wasn't easy, but you think you found it. Although you weren't about to say the moment she wanted you to, you went with another one as you smirked at her," 'Nice ass'?" You quoted.

Heat flushed through Reneé's cheeks and she rolled her eyes at your response," ha ha. Cute, but no. And I know you know what I'm talking about."

"Don't worry about the interview, just follow me'." You quoted her again and she smiled at you, giving your forehead a kiss.

"Exactly. You're gonna do fine."

The day seemed to go by quickly, almost too quickly for your liking. Soon enough you were on the interview couch with Reneé next to you and the interviewer across from you in his own chair.

He offered the two of you a smile," Reneé Rapp and Y/N L/N, ladies and gentlemen!" He introduced the two of you to the camera before looking your way again," Reneé! Lovely to have you again."

"Happy to be here," Reneé smiled, giving your hand a subtle reassuring squeeze. The two of you sat close, the only thing keeping you at a slight distance was your hands intertwined together in the middle. You had asked Reneé prior if she could hold your hand throughout the interview. She, obviously, agreed.

The interviewer didn't seem to have an issue with it, if anything they were encouraging the two of you to be coupley. Wanting to boost their views off it.

"Tell us who you've brought with you today," The interviewer continued.

"I think she can introduce herself," Reneé looked at you, her eyes soft and encouraging," can't you, baby?"

You tried your damn hardest not to stutter over your words, though you fumbled a little anyways," I'm her girlfriend, Y/N L/N."

Reneé gave your hand another squeeze, her eyes showing nothing but love and pride for you. With how nervous you'd been all day, she was worried about how this would go for you. But you seem to he handling yourself just fine.

"I understand Reneé recently announced that she was dating someone, it's lovely to formally meet you. Now, how long has this relationship been going on for?" The interviewer asked.

You instinctively looked at Reneé, feeling your nerves kick up again. Reneé seemed relatively calm. As though she wasn't nervous at all.

"A little over five months now," She answered confidently. You nodded and rested your head on her shoulder to be closer, she gave your forehead a kiss and the interviewer smiled.

"Five months? That's quite a lot of time. I assume the L word has been said already?"

Your cheeks flushed and your eyes went to Reneé's again, she met your gaze with a loving smile," yes." She answered.

"Who said it first?" He asked.

"I did," You murmured, remembering the moment vividly.

Reneé had taken you out on a nice dinner date for your birthday, which happened just over a month into the relationship. You hadn't even realized you had said the words until Reneé was kissing you and saying them back.

Reneé nodded," she beat me to it. I was already planning on saying it that night since it was Y/N's birthday."

The interviewer laughed a little," that's cute. Going off of the lines of firsts, who kissed who?"

"That was all her," You pointed to Reneé with a grin and she rolled her eyes, giving your finger a playful swat.

"It was definitely me." Reneé confirmed.

"How'd that happen?" He asked.

"Well, I was just getting off stage from a show I had invited Y/N too. She ran up to me with like the biggest smile on her face, absolutely gushing about everything and I couldn't help it. She was just too cute," Reneé lifted your intertwined hands to her lips, giving your knuckles a kiss.

You couldn't help but giggle at that. Feeling much more relaxed than you had at the start of the day.

That was just like Reneé, though. She always knew how to calm your nerves no matter what it was you were doing. It's part of why you loved her so much. She just... understood you.

[mecachrome]

Hi k! If you feel like it, do you have any favourite Oscar facial quirks?

omgggg anon this is only my favorite topic ever!!! (kidding but also not really 🧡)

i'm a lot like oscar tbh in that i have something of a deadpan stare and usually speak in a monotone but when i DO properly react to something i am veryyy uncontrollably expressive lolol, which i feel like is the same with him and the one million things constantly going on in his face!!! 😭 he definitely has a lot of little quirks / "tics" i guess for lack of better word that i adore so much...

^ first off one of the best ones is the way he always moves his mouth to the side (see also), but i'd say my favorite overall is just his full nose + face scrunch ! as shown in MMMM DEBATABLE and the blind rankings one that i drew earlier t__t and also the 1st gif of this gifset!!! i'm guilty of constantly bunnycoding ojp and that expression is trewwlyyy on top... as well as another quirk that's quite bunnycoded which is whenever he sort of awkwardly grimaces and shows off his teeth idk if you know what i'm talking about 😭

of course another fav has to be his eyebrow raising and just overall eyebrow Mobility, it's so fun because they're very straight and slope downward when his face is resting but they ARCH perfectly when he raises them and he can also do the like 🤨 seth everman look which is iconic 2 me. tbh i like how much he enjoys Squinting at things in general LOL

i've also spoken about how the buzzfeed uk video has such a wealth of oscar facial expressions and imo part of this is the informal and relaxed setting on top of the fact that he was being forced to overthink and react to an inherently silly concept so we get the ultimate combo of CASUALLY EXPRESSIVE OSCAR!!! prema challenges have a similar vibe but imo this is still different because it's fairly removed from a motorsport setting so he's kind of just vibing... another v endearing quirk from this video is his eye twitching / blinking that you can see in a LOT of oscar content, i feel like it's a once you notice you never stop noticing it thing because he does it all the time and i find it really cute because it kind of makes him squinch his cheek too... miss cutieful....... SIMILARLY but also from the buzzfeed video this is one of my favorite examples of how much he (involuntarily imo) WIDENS his eyes (2) when talking or listening to something, here's another moment of him doing it back in f4 so you can see it's a long-ingrained habit.

sorry i'm literally giving you the most random ass deep cuts alkdfshaldsfh but i also remember watching ted's race notebook from miami and noticing oscar talking to a few mclaren employees during the team photo and something i find so endearing about him is when people call his name / try to get his attention and he does the >whips head around and widens his eyes with a polite little smile< thing like AGHHH... qt TT___TT ok i'm going off-topic now but the surprised smile he gave lando during the miami post-race debrief will haunt my memories forever because it was so Open !!!

anyway re: the grimacing he also kind of has a neck tic he does where he stretches his neck out... and i've noticed that he's also just kind of sensitive/particular with his neck in general and is always adjusting his collar where it sits on his skin, which again is off-topic but i find really cute because i can relate (sensitive to textures) hsdafhk.

let me stop talking but last but not least i'm obsessedddd with the way he pouts in the post-quali vid from canada this yr <3 and also his tendency to lick/bite his lips which always does great legwork in terms of the heart eyes piastri narrative and his apparent thirst for lando HKLFDSHLH which while i endorse wholeheartedly is definitely mostly just an unconscious habit of his... but i think rpf is fun so who cares!!! LOL i hope this makes sense idk if i described anything properly 😭🧡

[cleolinda]

My sister noticed

Previously on: I grew up in a haunted house and I didn't notice: So I told you a story about how a Count Chocula used to creep behind me at night when I was a child, and I described my very weird childhood home to you. I told you how my sister had Something Dark living in her bedroom, and I told you about the time she and I compared notes and realized that we also had the ghost of a young woman in the house. Maybe.

I asked my sister to read over the draft for me, maybe gather up the fortitude to fill in some details, and she texted back, "Oh, I'll tell you anything you want. But that’s not how it happened."

I am willing to believe her version for two reasons:

1) My memory has been shit after having covid umpteen thousand times.

2) I actually remember her version of the conversation we had, now that it's in front of me.

I also remember my version, is the thing—the one where I told her about Rebecca when we were younger. And that raises some questions about how independent, how uncompromised, our experiences were. But I think those questions are themselves the story. Can I trust my memory at all? I had such bad brain fog the first time I had covid that I could not remember how to scramble eggs. A lot of things are just mist to me now. There's what I remember and there's what actually happened, but what do I even remember? And that's before you even get into the idea that we're talking about ghosts we "felt" in the house. We saw no apparitions, no shadows, no odd movements.

This is not a story where I'm asking you to believe me.

There are things you experience, and things that happen. An example from the winter of 2016:

What I experienced was standing out on our deck one night and looking up at the stars. They were moving in a slight swirl motion, not unlike the painting Starry Night. I turned to my mom and said, "Well, the stars are moving, so if the world ends or something any time soon, here's our first sign." She stared at me.

What happened was, our upstairs heating unit had a leak, and I sustained mild carbon monoxide poisoning. (I like rooms to be cool, so I had used the heater less than most people would, at least.) This was only discovered during a routine furnace check, after my vision had been a little weird and I had been deeply fatigued for two or three months. I have had a CO monitor upstairs ever since.

Did I see the stars swirling? Yes. Were they? No. That's the distinction I want you to make while I tell you all this. Did my sister and I experience things? Yes. Do I know what happened? No.

So what I agree happened was, we were having Grownup Sunday Family Dinner a few years back, maybe 2019 or so. I had been really into Buzzfeed Unsolved, which later evolved into Watcher Entertainment, but my sister was refusing to watch any of it. She's a big fan now, but she only started watching the guys last year. Yesterday, we tried to piece this back together via text.

My sister ["MS" from here on out]: Like I feel like off and on for years you mentioned [Shane and Ryan's shows] and I refused

MS: And one day my argument was to talk about our own house

Me [let's go with Cleolinda Jones, "CJ"]: You said you felt like fake ghost shows were disrespectful to people who actually experienced [hauntings].

MS: YES I FEEL LIKE THAT WAS THE CONVO

I love paranormal investigation shows, whether they're patently fake or not, as long as I enjoy the people investigating, so I couldn't understand why they personally offended her. Pulling at this thread back in 2019 is how the the whole ghost story started coming out.

CJ: And I was like, okay, but here’s one show where they get, like, nothing, but I can promise you that it's real

(Because the Unsolved/Watcher shows pair a believer with an actual skeptic who still, lo these many years later, does not believe in any of it. I truly believe Shane and Ryan would not stage "evidence," for that reason. Shane makes fun of ghosts and people who believe in them, but he's honest about it, and my sister likes that.)

At this point, we go back to the first version of the story that I posted: my sister had told me that Something had lived in the Four Closets Bedroom with her when she was a preteen/early teenager. It felt very dark, very bad, and she had not told anyone else about it until that dinner. The way I relayed it to you, Dear Reader, was that she hadn't wanted to go into detail, and I wasn't sure what it looked like, or if it "lived" in the little witch closet, or what. That night at dinner, I had gone on to tell her that, you know, now that you mention it, I did feel like something used to follow me up there at night. And this was when "My sister started crying. Like just staring at me in wide-eyed horror, her eyes filling with tears" had come in.

1. Something Dark

CJ: So you were telling me about our house being haunted. Something in your room. How would you describe it?

MS: I think it more lived in the attic

(our pal the dark fucked-up attic room)

MS: but would roam the entire floor so I felt it in the peach room [my (Cleo's) old bedroom and then later, my sister's] but more so in [the Four Closets Bedroom] as it was closer to the attic

MS: The best way I can describe it is just never feeling like I was alone. Feeling like something was always behind me. But I refused to turn around to look. It felt like a darkness that almost oozed behind you in a way that was almost suffocating.

CJ: What I find interesting is that we both describe it as Just Feelings, and never feeling alone.

My sister texted me at this point that she used to sense Something upstairs whether it was day or night; "even in the day, it didn't feel safe." But night was worse.

MS: There was one night in 3rd grade when I was reading and had like my first panic attack because I was newer to living upstairs and I felt it come in the room at night for the first time

MS: I also used to feel compelled to keep the AC running all night like it was never cold enough.

Here's the weird thing: when we moved to the house where I currently live and our rooms were on the same floor, we always fought over the thermostat. My sister hated her bedroom being too cool, whereas I get hot. I remember one night, we were arguing over it, and she was weirdly on the verge of tears: "Why do you have to have it so cold?" In 2023, my sister texted me at this point that she didn't want our childhood home to be cold; it was like the thing wanted that temperature, even if she hated it.

You often hear that ghosts make rooms cold, that's a big ghost hunter show thing—but whatever was up there couldn't lower the temperature on its own?

CJ: "If you can’t make it cold yourself, storebought is fine"

CJ: And you don’t have a visual impression of it, I’m not just blowing past that?

MS: I refused. REFUSED to look. Ever. For any reason.

CJ: I did too, so that’s interesting

CJ: I describe it as a Count Chocula, which should tell you how much it didn’t bother me. Which I find weird

(Truly, there is a reason I titled that post "I grew up in a haunted house and I didn't notice.")

MS: I can’t tell if it was truly terrifying. Or if the amount of data I was getting from it was just so overwhelming that that alone was terrifying to a child. I wish I could answer that now.

CJ: Yeah, in some way I think we’re saying the same thing. I was seven years old and I couldn’t comprehend what it was, either, so I just imagined a silly vampire

CJ: like I can’t overstate how cartoonish it seemed to me at the time, while still being very DON’T LOOK BACK

Part of the problem, she added, was that she felt compelled to go turn down the air conditioning... and the thermostat was next to the (carpeted. shag carpeted) bathroom. And then she had to race back to her bedroom... the same way I used to, as quick as she could.

MS: I also felt like I could NOT run. Like the way you shouldn’t run away from a mountain lion. It would create the need for it to chase me.

MS: What is so strange is that [learning about paranormal investigation] has not changed my perception of my experience in the slightest. Whether that’s the reality or not. It is still something I find dark and terrifying.

CJ: I think you would answer this differently now than you did then: what do you think it was?

We discussed this by text for a while. I mentioned being intrigued that Something Dark wanted to be cold (but apparently was not able to make the room cold). My sister—having agreed to be quoted here—said, "I kinda hope to avoid someone being like 'you had a demon in your house,'" as she doesn't really feel like that's what it was. Her gut feeling (and, bear in mind, we are working off nothing but feelings here) is that it was a spirit or ghost: something formerly human. We agree that it seemed male in some way (again: a Chocula).

And you're probably thinking, This is total bullshit. And it probably is! I'm not claiming any of this to be real evidence! I just find it interesting that we somehow came up with the same bullshit.

CJ: It just fascinates me that I did not experience 90% of this, and yet I got a strong enough whiff of it that I’m like, yeah, I can see it

But what about the female presence, the one I went off to color with in the middle of the night?

2. Rebecca

MS: I didn’t find out you had done the ouija board until we were adults. You didn’t tell me when we were kids

MS: That’s why I was SO shocked when we talked at the dinner table.

See, I was convinced that I had told her about my ouija adventures when I was a teenager, and "What about Rebecca??" flowed really well in the first post. That conversation was already a bit fictionalized in order to condense it from what I remembered—that's how memoirs work, really, unless you have actual transcripts of your life and room to include them. You're telling a story. I thought I was telling a condensed version of a true story. And yet, I do remember how shocked my sister was at dinner that night. And she would have only been seven or eight when I was messing around with that shit. Those two things do support the idea that I wouldn't have told her.

MS: You did tell me skeletons lived in my closet tho

I told you I was kind of a shit.

CJ: when I told you about Rebecca, what was your reaction?

MS: That’s when I went white. Bc I realized we had had a similar experience and I wasn’t just crazy

CJ: The thing is, I WOULD HAVE SWORN I had told you about Rebecca when we were younger

MS: If you did you didn’t name her and that’s why it was nuts when I realized 2 decades later we pulled the same name and we both remembered it.

We did it again, too—I posted briefly about putting this whole saga together, and how my sister asked me to give the ghost a pseudonym (ghosts deserve privacy too). And in trying to think of a good replacement, we both came up with "Rebecca."

CJ: so how did you know the [original] name?

MS: Ouija board with [best friend, redacted] in the playroom when I was like 13. She cried the whole time. We both thought the other was moving [the planchette].

You'll remember the weird, windowless, sky-blue playroom with the scary door from the previous post.

MS: But she was crying so she wouldn’t have been. And I would have never pulled out the name [Not Actually Rebecca]

MS: There was part of me that wonders if I did it but I would have NEVER chosen Rebecca

CJ: So did I bring Rebecca up first in this conversation [at dinner in 2019], or did you? I did?

MS: You said it first. I would have never [told you first] cuz I would have thought you were placating me. Like I’d never really know if you weren’t just agreeing with me

And that's when my sister had "stared at me, saucer-eyed, pale. Like I'm not sure I had ever seen anyone 'go white' until that moment." And I had told her about getting up at midnight and going to color in the weird playroom, and someone else being in there with me, no big deal.

After all this discussion, we do think that Rebecca was briefly my "imaginary friend," but our mom told me to stop talking about that. Not because our mom was spooked, but because she felt like it was rude for me to talk about someone I was presumably making up in front of company. So that stopped. Thinking back on it, I just felt like someone was sitting next to me on the couch. I didn't feel anyone next to me; when I looked, I felt like I could see where... someone was not? The space that someone invisible was taking up? It felt like something reasonably friendly. "Chill" is the word I keep using. Not super eager or possessive, just like a girl who was a bit older, maybe a teenager, a babysitter age, who liked me well enough. There was some dark shit in the attic, apparently—it did feel very oppressive in there—but I would get a sense that a metaphorical desk lamp had been turned on. A presence that stayed back, relaxed, but emanated "hey, I'm here."

What my sister and I agreed on was that we remembered how these "feelings" were both vague and memorable. I can't remember events or chronology accurately, but I remember the actual sensations and presences very, very clearly. They resist reinterpretation. I can't sit here and say, "Oh, Rebecca was totally a guardian angel, I see that now." The Something Dark sounds functionally demonic, but my sister doesn't feel like that's accurate. (If anything, she gets a sense that this could have been a malicious uncle—not father—of some kind to Rebecca, if the two beings were related: particular in their vagueness.) These two presences just... were. My sister says she primarily sensed Rebecca outdoors in our backyard, when we were pretending (were we?) to play with fairies. I didn't sense Rebecca there—but then, I wasn't aware that what I sensed was a someone, not for another thirty years or so. My oblivious ass was up at midnight filling in my She-Ra coloring book with a ghost like, "Yeah, I'm alone in the dark for no reason, this is normal." It's only in retrospect that I recognize atmospheric feelings as things that actually took up space, and I don't know how I didn't see it at the time. I can't explain that, and I can't ask you to believe it. All I know is that my sister still feels very traumatized by her experience of it—and I can't explain why I don't.

I think one of the reasons paranormal investigation shows don't scare me a whole lot is because so much of the "evidence" is random knocks and creaks and movements and vibes, and I'm like, yeah, I've lived in two houses now like that. The door of my current bedroom opens and closes on its own all the time. It's probably a draft from the ventilation system (which does not have CO leaks anymore) (probably). I've seen something at this house that a lot of people might call a shadow person, but I was probably imagining it. So many of these ghost shows just have things that I grew up with and didn't even think a whole lot of at the time; I seem to be protected by a +3 Sphere of Sure, That's Fine. Is my current house also haunted? I honestly don't know. Would I notice if it was?

[susiephone]

after the IWTV s2 finale, I have decided that in universe buzzfeed unsolved true crime did an episode on the 1132 Royal Street Murders and took the tour

Ryan: Lioncourt also caused quite a stir when his Mardi Gras performance had him dress as a vampire... and bite the head off a baby doll in front of the crowd!

Shane: (wheeze) I fuckin love this guy

Ryan: yeah, i figured you would

Ryan: It should be noted that the identity of the young girl living with Louis de Pointe du Lac is hotly debated by experts. Many believe she was the illegitimate daughter of either Louis' deceased brother Paul, Lesander Lioncourt, or possibly Louis himself. Others believe she was an orphan whom Louis adopted, teaching her magic to assist in his rituals. Others still believe she may have been- to put it as delicately as I can here- Louis' child bride!

Shane: NO

Ryan: Yeah, I, uh-

Shane: DON'T LIKE THAT. No no no no NO.

Ryan: For whatever it's worth... there's no real solid evidence that's true, it's just sometimes brought up when people are... Basically no one, at the time or since, could figure out who the hell this kid was or why she was there. And this is just one theory.

Shane: I like the... you said earlier a lot of people thought Louis was gay, right?

Ryan: Yeah, uh, it's another popular theory, mostly cause he never married-

Shane: outside of his possible child bride

Ryan: outside of his... (wheeze)

Shane: is child marriage funny to you, Ryan?

Ryan: no it's not funny to me! Just the way you said that- (wheeze)

Shane: Oh LAUGH IT UP

Ryan: anyway, there's also speculation that Louis and a friend of his may have been a thing, but he also apparently had a girlfriend for awhile, so who knows.

Shane: if we assume he's gay, I like the secretly his niece theory. I also like the orphan off the streets theory, adopting a scrappy young orphan to assist you in your creepy magical bullshit seems... very whimsical!

Ryan: 24 people died, Shane, is that whimsical to you?!

Shane: I mean... you said most of 'em were racist, so.

Ryan: our final theory posits that Louis, Lesander, and possibly other guests at that fateful Mardi Gras party... were actually vampires!

(pause)

Shane: no.

Ryan: now I know it sounds crazy-

Shane: NO, Ryan.

Ryan: but if you look at the newspapers and crime reports in New Orleans at the time-

Shane: This was the crime-iest time in history! Axeman, remember him? Cleveland Torso Killer, man! Al Capone! Bonnie and Clyde! People got murdered left and right by all kinds of freaks!

Ryan: ......right, but if you look at this headstone-

Shane: (groans)

[ryttu3k]

A question, spawned by a thread on Reddit! Explanation will be beneath the cut, please have a read after replying to the poll.

This is the doll character EC, from the Australian 90s children's show, Lift Off. EC was able to move independently and served as a friend to the child cast.

For responses: 'positive emotions' includes feeling warm, affectionate, etc towards EC. 'Neutral emotions' includes feeling ambivalent, not having any particular feelings regarding EC in particular. 'Negative emotions' includes feeling fear, disgust, disconcerted, etc towards EC.

Beneath the cut, a longer explanation on EC, and why I'm asking this question.

Lift Off was an Australian kids TV show that aired from 1992 to 1995, aimed at 3-8-year-olds (I was five when it started), partially fantasy but largely educational, aimed at helping kids learn how to deal with problems and difficult emotions, learn about the world, and foster empathy for others. In the first episode, two of the main cast of kid characters find a discarded doll, who, much to their surprise, starts to move independently. The kids befriend the doll, named EC, who becomes a main cast member.

In this clip, Poss and Kim find EC.

EC, short for 'Every Child', was designed to be an audience stand-in, allowing the entire young audience to project upon them, to be a vehicle for imagination. This... may have backfired for a lot of people, because thirty years later, what most people remember of Lift Off is of being completely terrified of EC, the faceless, non-speaking doll.

This article on the ABC, with Luke Carroll, one of the child cast members, opens by mentioning kids being terrified of EC. This article on Buzzfeed is entirely on how scary EC is. This post on r/AustralianNostalgia also goes into it, and this recent post on the same (which prompted me to make this post!) shows a positive response from OP, but with a lot of comments to the contrary!

(There were EC dolls available for sale - albeit with a plastic head, not a cloth one. I desperately wanted one.)

So, I'm extremely curious about how people initially respond to EC, particularly those who didn't watch Lift Off as a kid. There's a thread on the first subreddit post that has me thinking:

"We had an EC toy and I never once found it creepy. I loved playing with EC and played in a similar vein to the kids on the show. I've since found out that I'm quite neurodivergent so maybe that says something? I loved this show so much and have since shown it to my kids."

"I loved EC too… and I’m ASD, maybe that’s the secret"

"Exactly me! Was my fave toy ever. I remember all the scenes where he made cool magic happen"

Another comment:

"I adored Lift Off. Had my own EC doll because he just had the loveliest vibes (still have him somewhere), had the Purple Backpack as my very first school bag, got the magazines every month... it had me transfixed. Diagnosed with ASD in my 30s, which might explain it. But that show was just pure, undiluted joy for me."

I adored EC, wanted an EC of my own, and I'm autistic. I'm wondering if a positive response to EC is linked to that - with clearly projected body language and a lack of facial expression (or facial features!) and spoken word, EC definitely communicates in a non-'normative' way, which I found extremely comforting. I vastly preferred EC and Lotis (the sapient artificial intelligence controlling the building's elevator) to the human kids, honestly!

So, how do you feel about EC?

[mins-fins]

NCT LIBRARY [ 💌 ] !

💌 NCT 127 ꜜ

nothing here yet..

💌 JOHNNY SUH

nothing here yet..

💌 LEE TAEYONG

the course of true love — (long fic; work in progress)

💌 NAKAMOTO YUTA

nothing here yet..

💌 KIM DOYOUNG

from little wave — (drabble)

💌 JEONG JAEHYUN

meat grinder — (drabble)

💌 KIM JUNGWOO

nothing here yet..

💌 NCT DREAM ꜜ

nothing here yet..

💌 MARK LEE

darlin' — (drabble) angel eyes — (long fic) self control — (drabble) something — (drabble) this is your day — (drabble) remember summer days — (long fic) the cure — (drabble) pearls — (drabble) 20:20 pm — (timestamp) endless nameless — (smau series) there's nothing left for you — (drabble)

💌 HUANG RENJUN

daydream — (drabble) 247 — (drabble) new years day — (long fic) two slow dancers — (drabble) bygone days — (drabble)

💌 LEE JENO

i killed you — (drabble) âme sœur — (long fic) 23:16 pm — (timestamp) 119 — (drabble) 21:29 pm — (timestamp) operation ἐκλείπω (long fic; work in progress)

💌 LEE DONGHYUCK

something — (drabble) hell in heaven (series; ongoing) bring it back — (drabble) where do we go — (drabble) 02:09 am — (timestamp) 06:10 am — (timestamp) june 20th — (drabble) missa solemnis — (drabble) should've been me — (drabble) boyfriend texts — (smau oneshot) star — (drabble) haunted — (drabble)

💌 NA JAEMIN

beyond the moon — (long fic) hey jane — (drabble) everything is romantic — (drabble) feel like a fool — (drabble) hold me tight — (drabble) sound of rain — (drabble) can't take my eyes off of you — (drabble) junie — (drabble) you have one new voicemail from! — (oneshot) 00:17 am — (timestamp)

💌 ZHONG CHENLE

a day for love — (long fic) audere est facere — (long fic) unapologetically in love — (smau oneshot) you have one new voicemail from! — (oneshot)

💌 PARK JISUNG

buzzfeed unsolved — (smau series; ongoing) orbit of yours — (long fic) sincerely, a lovestruck fool — (long fic; work in progress)

💌 WAYV ꜜ

nothing here yet..

💌 QIAN KUN

heart attack — (drabble)

💌 TEN LEE

boyfriend texts — (smau oneshot) closure — (drabble) parenting chronicles — (long fic; work in progress) not now kitty cat! — (smau; work in progress)

💌 DONG SICHENG

pareidolia — (drabble)

💌 XIAO DEJUN

buttercup — (smau series; work in progress) dal segno — (drabble) all flights are delayed — (long fic) r.i.p 2 my youth! — (long fic; work in progress)

💌 HUANG GUANHENG

dancing swords — (long fic; work in progress) r.i.p 2 my youth! — (long fic; work in progress)

💌 LIU YANGYANG

01:09 am — (timestamp) perfect moment — (smau series; work in progress) space science — (drabble) delicate — (drabble; work in progress) r.i.p 2 my youth! (long fic; work in progress)

💌 NCT WISH ꜜ

nothing here yet..

[hannamoon143]

Do you think i'm pretty?

Request by @part-time-potato: I remember that one interview where they asked IN to rank the member in order of most to least handsome and IN put Han in last, and it made me so sad! then there was that sports episode of kingdom where they did the visual king contest and all the six groups voted for who was the ultimate visual king, and Felix got second, but no other skz placed. I was thinking it could be cool to write a story about what would have happened if they had done like a "female staff vote" or something and they chose Han. I feel like Han is so expressive and gets excited very easily and would just be so cute and overjoyed.

pairings: han x fem interview taff

warnings: none

Genre: fluff

a/n: @part-time-potato I'm sorry that this got so short :(( I hope you like it anyways!Also i know i already posted a fic today (i would love if you would also check out this one )but i am done with this and can't wait to post it!Now i will take a little break,but only a little one!If you like the fic i would really appreciate reblogs!<33

Y/n was so excited today.As a staff member of buzzfeed she was managing a lot of interviews with celebrities.But this time it was different. She got to work at an interview with straykids. When she heard that she was responsible for the interview she almost screamed. She loved skz more than anything.She stanned them since the survival show.And over the years her bias didn't change once. She always found it weird herself cause all stays she knew changed their bias almost every week.But for her it was since the first moment han.So of course she was very excited to see everyone from straykids but she looked most forward to han.

And today the day finally came.She would meet straykids and be able to talk to them.She was so excited that she also got nervous and she wasn't even able to eat anything. Of course she knew that she was just a staff from a interview they had to do for them,but she anyways wanted to impress them,that maybe han found her pretty..? She went to her closet and decided to wear a white blouse with pearls,and a black skirt.She did her makeup a little bit more concentrated than she usually did.And lastly she wanted to do a pretty hairstyle but she didn't know what exactly so she just made her hair look wavy.As she finally was at work her co worker came and told her that she immediately had to go to straykids cause they arrived some minutes ago,but two other women who should have helped doing the interview have gotten sick and there was noone who could do it for them so it was just her and two other men who were doing the interview.

As she got into a the room with straykids her breath was stuck in her chest. In real life they were even prettier and their voices and laughs sounded so great.Then she spotted han.She almost dropped on her knees.He was so handsome,cute,and hot at the same time.Y/n tried not to start screaming or giggling.She went to her co-workers and asked what she should do.They just said she should operate the camera and look that the light was good.So the interview started and she admired han all the time.Yes the other members were all very very handsome but she just wasn't able to take her eyes off han.One time when he looked into y/n's direction she blushed so hard that her co worker asked if everything was okay.She really hoped that han didn't see it.

So the interview carried on and y/n got sad because the time was over so fast.But then suddenly when they got asked who they thought was the most handsome guy in the eyes of stays they weren't able to answer the question cause everyone had a different opinion.Then suddenly Changbin said "What if we just let the female staff here choose?Like they have to vote for who they think is the most handsome guy of us."Y/n didn't know what to say.If they were allowed to do that she would have to choose cause they didn't know there was only one female staff member. Y/n's co-workers talked and agreed.They came to y/n and asked if it would be okay if she would maybe go in front of the camera and tell for who she would vote.She was so nervous and scared but she agreed anyways.She hoped noone would notice that she was trembling.

When y/n stood in front of the camera she was so close to han that she almost felt like she would pass out.She also tried not to blush too much when suddenly felix leaned in and whispered in her ear that he was of course the best looking member.She felt like she was dreaming. She didn't know where the confidence came from but with a joyfull voice y/n said: "i already know who i vote for" The boys laughed. When her coworkers gave her a sign she finally said "So,i made a decision for my vote."y/n stayed silent for a moment to increase the tension. "I give my vote without hesitation to han jisung"

Han was a little bit more silent through the whole interview,but how he reacted now was the cutest thing y/n ever saw. Han jumped up and smiled such a sweet smile.His cheeks were so puffy he really looked like a cute little quokka. "Ha! I told you all that i am the best looking"he said with such joy in his voice,like a child that sees the presents under a christmastree.Y/n found this so incredibly adorable.She even was a little jealous how easy han expressed his emotions. Y/n was mesmerized by han's doe eyes that sparkled with joy,the way he jumped like a happy kid,the way his smile was so pretty that she could watch it all day and never get tired of it. He always was her bias and ofc she loved him so much,but she never realised how much in love she was...?

Han's point of view:

Han jumped in front of the members,telling them that he always knew that he was best looking of them all.He was so happy.He would have never been so happy if it was just any female stuff though.When he saw you walking in the room he immediately admired you. Your face was very beautiful,your smile seemed like a light in the darkness. All you did was filming and managing the lights,but you did it with such a elegance.And now you were standing in front of him,looking so pretty in your white pearl blouse.When he looked at you again,he caught you looking at him and you immediately looked away when his eyes met yours.

His heart started racing.He never really felt something like this before.Unfortunately this was the last question and the time was over now. When they stopped filming, stray kids got up and was getting ready to go.Han lied and said he wanted to go to the toilet before they would leave.He searched a little bit and then he found you,dismantling the camera.He finally got the courage to say : "Thank you for voting for me" You immediately turned around and your face turned a cute pink shade. You weren't even able to say something. Your look was a little bit confused. Did he do something wrong? He looked at your id card that you wore around your neck. Your name was y/n. Y/n L/n. What a pretty name.He would have wanted to ask you where you come from,and why you voted for him.He wanted to ask if you if you really thought that he was pretty.But all he said was:

"So your name is Y/n? Nice to meet you Y/n!"

Back to readers point of view:

Was this really happening? Why was han jisung here alone with her in the empty room? Did he forget something?

Omg he just said her name.From him it sounded pretty.It sounded elegant .Y/n was like frozen,but when he held his hand out to her ,she finally reacted. She gave him her hand,shaking his. His hand felt so warm and soft she didn't even know how to describe it.

When y/n wanted to pull her hand back he didn't let her .He looked deeply into her eyes,still holding her hand.His look was so different than the usual joyful eyes with the big smile.His eyes were mesmerizing. Y/n still didn't believe that this was real.This moment was just... everything.

After what felt like an eternity but were only a few seconds he pulled his hand away,smiling again, like he usually did. "Well then,goodbye y/n.Maybe we meet again."he said turning around and walking out of the room. Y/n now stood there,not being able to say a word.Why would han jisung the 4th gen ace of kpop want to see her again?

She didn't know the answer but when she opened her hand and a piece of paper with a phone number on it appeared, she knew that her story with this boy did only start.

[ragnarssons]

so... i wanted to be done with this watcher stuff. but then i saw on reddit that one of their eXCluSivE nEw CoNtEnT got leaked, you know "road files" which is basically a behind the scenes video for ghost files. which is a nice idea. ...................... but the video lasts 8 minutes. you pay, 6 dollars a month, the first video you get is an 8 minutes video. opening with ryan saying "well this could be the only time we do that". so. huh, not new exclusive content, then? - since they want to be compared to tv, let's compare that to a behind the scenes video/film some tv shows make, for example the star wars ones, on disney+, that are minimum at least 20 minutes long if not more, way more, like 45+ minutes. and then you have the bts elements of a ghost files. so now, i can truly say: i do not get how their ghost files' seasons cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars. like there's nothing in the video that warrants this video not costing them... like 20k at most. (and i mean that without counting paying the employees/crew, because i'd argue they do that with their general revenues, and not just their revenues out of the ghost files seasons). and that's without even delving into everything that's weird about how much money they're spending by making dumb shit like sending a "scouting crew" (of no less than 5 or 6 people, I don't remember, cuz that ain't too much at all) before them... you're ghost hunting, like what's the point of that?? and as i suspected when they switched to watcher, this video just proved how scripted, over-prepared the whole concept of "ghost hunting" became when they switched from buzzfeed unsolved to watcher. so you gotta tell me that the "unscripted, 100% natural" episode of ghost files, is actually made with like 10 other people in the room, behind the camera, the guys having entered and toured the "haunted building" like 10 times before the cameras start rolling, producers, crews and all and all having scouted the building (here, a small house) dozens of times already. legit. h u h ????? then they went to see dune 2, hung around in their hotel rooms, ate burgers, and the whole thing lasted two days out of their schedule... and then credits roll with no less than like 20 people credited for a behind the scenes video, where most of the footage is from ryan's phone. huh??? and that costs y'all hundreds of thousands of dollars??? and this is the "tv quality" exclusive new content we get if we pay the 6 dollars a month?? 🙃

[captainjoongki]

Ugh have you seen the discrouse on Twitter about Baek Saeon/Hyunwoo and them being red flags? It's so annoying

listen i have a twitter/x/whatever account but i don't really engage with kdrama twitter because they're like, 99% insane. it's like a very odd crossbreed of pretentious film stans and insane shippers i don't want to be there.

but that's really lame like i'm sorry we got two male leads with a personality???? instead of just following behind the girlbawss female lead while mopping up the floor that she walks on. call them red flags or whatever (actually don't because those two words make me sick) but that's what THEE kdrama male lead has always been. if the masses are entertained by their lewsers they can have fun with them give me the messy assholes lmao.

idk how many times i've said it on this blog but i want characters who FUCK UP and are BAD and GOOD and are HUMAN but find a way to grow from those mistakes or make changes and run through the forests for their loves while also thinking they'd never need them. hyunwoo and saeon's love for their wives is also genuinely the toptier romance of the year as well because they realize what losing their loves would do to them.

anyway turns out having the last name "baek" makes you the number 1 enemy of the booktok buzzfeed babes. remember when i was on here defending baek yijin from 2521 for like 6 months??? my GAWD they're all insane at least tumblr is being more sane

[nataliescatorccioapologist]

My girlfriend and I took the quiz for fun before we even watched the show. I got Van and she got Jackie.

[11x13kyle]

if kyle was an adult in the 2010s he would be pumping out buzzfeed listicles like the apocalypse was imminent and the only way to prevent it was to publish “Ten Times Where Samantha from SITC Said What We Were All Thinking” with uncredited tumblr gifs that only load sometimes. he gets permabanned from posting after someone comments on his listicle called “Things Only Kids Who Grew Up in Colorado in the 90s Will Remember” saying “we did this in utah too LMFAO” and he called them an ugly inbred mormon cunt in a fit of humiliated rage

[watcherthrowaway]

also one real post about this and like, plenty of ink has been spilt on how disconnected watcher entertainment seems to be from its fans but i think the missing piece here is how disconnected watcher is from the rest of youtube. when the catastrophe hit i went to all my terminally online friends, the same way i did after the hbomberguy james somerton video, or after the ned fulmer fiasco, or the creepshowart scandal etc, or every time jenny nicholson dropped a new evermore video, including the ones behind the $2 patreon paywall we all gladly pay for, and for the first time...

no one knew who i was talking about.

these are not insulated people. these are people i can trust to have at least name recognition of almost any youtuber i mention. they know downtherabbithole and strangeaeons and cjthex and kappakaiju and miniminuteman773 and kazrowe and somemorenews etc etc etc

so when i put in the group chat, with no context, 'he wasnt even on cribs' or 'we have no cats kathleen' or 'only humble pagan commune schemes' or whatever, i usually do so with great trust that at least half the group will know what im on about.

this time, crickets.

i backpedaled a little and pulled up the 'ive connected them' meme and the fuzzy blue professor, and i got nothing at all. the only recognition i got was when someone belatedly realized that he had seen the goatman video when it dropped (although he had no idea that they had their own company now), and another person remembered that they had offered to collab with danny gonzalez, a youtuber with twice the subscribers

because she had checked back to see if danny went ghost hunting again, and lost interest because he hadnt.

i also brought it up in my dedicated buzzfeed unsolved group chat but ummmmm i am the only one in that group still watching ever since the shift to watcher oops

the only splash they had made in my again, TERMINALLY ONLINE friend group that watches hours and hours of youtube a day was a buzzfeed video seven years ago, and when they had failed to collab with someone more famous than them. i found myself in the unusual position of having to explain the situation to a bunch of dirty internet gremlins, all of whom heard the whole story and said 'why would they do that'

not 'why would they do that to their fans' but 'why would they do that as youtubers'

even aside from the moneygrubbing, we watcher stans were confused about why they tried to offer us a service we didn't need or want, and i think it obscured the confusion on why they thought it was a good idea at all, when so many other models were available to them. why werent they using their patreon like other youtubers? why weren't they collaborating with other youtubers? why weren't they putting out regular, lower quality content like other youtubers? if they wanted higher quality content, why weren't they partnering with nebula, like lindsay ellis, or netflix, like bo burnham. why didn't they run their ideas past someone like the green brothers, who have jumpstarted scishow and many other similar projects successfully, and are famously good to work with/consult with? why would they try to pull a roosterteeth? don't they know what happened?

and i think the answer is no. i think they just don't know those things. and they didnt bother to check, because they think all those things are beneath them. because they think corporate content is the only worthwhile kind there is.

why else would they think they have to have an office building, keep dozens of people on staff, buy expensive cameras, and build a streaming platform? why do they only collaborate with actors and singers who have corporate entertainment approval? why are they reinventing the wheel on buzzfeed when thousands of youtubers build perfectly stable careers with a mic and a camera, and sometimes hire an editor?

i guess my takeaway from this is that, at least they didnt break my heart as a fan entirely because they fundamentally misunderstood me. they did it, at least in part, because they do not understand how youtube works, or what part they play in it.

they dont understand how people use youtube. it is not a cinematic event worthy of the big tv, it is line goes up playing in the background for the 400th time as i wash my face and put my laundry away.

that is why they spent months and months planning this without ever noticing it was a bad idea, while millions of youtube viewers knew instantly. thats why they didn't start with a more moderate solution, why they never used their patreon properly, why they cared so much about the production value, why they thought a youtube audience, any audience at all, would jump at the chance to leave youtube.

bc youtube as a creator sucks, and we all know that, but youtube as a viewer is extremely comfortable. all i ask of youtube is to be mildly interesting in the background while i do other stuff. it is filler. some of the filler is extremely good, yes, but there is no room or reason in my life to give more of my money and attention to my filler, let alone to get a bigger screen for it.

and honestly, this is why i and others stayed on with the ghoul boys even though their quality dropped. because it's filler. im not even looking at the screen you apparently spent 100k on. im flipping my eggs. im washing my hair. im waiting for the bus with my headphones in and my phone in my pocket. thank you for being my background music. in return i will sit through your ads and push your view counter up by one. i may even hit the like button by accident bc my phone is in my pocket.

this is not to say i dont enjoy my filler. i would absolutely die without it. but it is not and never will be exchanged for the instances when i make popcorn in The Big Bowl and turn on a Real Movie on the Big Screen (my old laptop that is 15 whole inches) with my phone turned over so nothing can distract me.

my filler can't be my movie, and vice versa. nor should it be. but watcher doesnt understand that, apparently. they think youtube is cruelly preventing them from being netflix, and they think we want netflix, and they don't understand that, even with that half-assed apology that they didn't explain their dream correctly and they are jsut so destitute they had to take extreme measures after they went to europe 6 too many times...

there is a fundamental misunderstanding about how people use youtube , both as creators and as consumers. they didn't just misunderstand their fanbase. they continue to misunderstand the entire ecosystem. idk guys. maybe you should have learned something from those youtubers that you apparently think you are too good for.

and as for me, welp. i've booted people from my filler line-up for less. and there are soooooooooooooo many other fish in the sea, and they are not asking me to pay them 27 corporation salaries from my own pocket. they are asking for me to bump their view counter up by one.

goodbye boys. i really hope you find a way to fulfill yourselves artistically or whatever. but you have burned this particular bridge, like. forever. and i don't think i'm the only one who feels that way.

and not because i dont support people getting a living wage, you guilt-tripping vultures, or because i dont believe in following dreams and wishing on stars and whatnot.

but because i prefer to consume content from people who know what they're doing, and i simply no longer trust that includes you.

[digitizeden]

── Shifting can happen whenever/mini storytime ✎

I've noticed that I don't see many storytimes about shifts or people talking about their shifts much. I just wanted to talk a bit about one of my most recent shifts! ✰ [ cw: this is a pretty mundane story, nothing crazy happened. I mostly wanted to give an example of how easy it is to shift even with your eyes open. ]

Okay, so yesterday I had an unexpected shift to my Fame DR. I was in my room doing homework and listening to music. I was so bored, though, obviously, and I can't listen to music without daydreaming. So, my mind just kind of trailed off, and I snapped back a few seconds later to realize I was no longer at my desk doing homework, but instead, I was at the dining room table doing some paperwork.

It took me a second to process where I was, and I realized I was in my Fame DR. Again, I wasn't planning on this, but I didn't mind, so I just got up to go eat since I was weirdly hungry. I guess I forgot to eat lunch and dinner since I had been on set all day, so I was really excited to eat. My smile faded as I realized that we had like nothing in the fridge. I legit shifted to a reality where everything is pretty much awesome, but my fiancé still can't remember to restock the fridge 😐. He also wasn't home, so I had to call and ask where he was and if he could get dinner. It turns out he was in LA filming some stuff for BuzzFeed. I ended up just ordering food online, but it was pretty boring to eat by myself in my apartment. I did have some fun stalking people's Instagrams and watching edits of myself on TikTok, though. Yeah I shifted back not long after cause I was going to be meeting with my friends in this reality and nothing was really going on.