#a. we have much bigger problems than these candidates

[no-pasaran-99]

oop. crazy how many people i have unfollowed/blocked today for the cyclical and asinine sentiment along the lines of "well leftists are you HAPPY now????"

girl we've done this 3 elections in a row. definition of insanity to still be blaming this on us especially when the numbers do not support your accusations. like we voted for the fucking war criminals and you STILL lost.

[doberbutts]

One of the really insidious ways black people in media get treated is that despite our stereotypes expanding outside of "thug" "slave" and "prostitute", we are still very limited on *what* we can be portrayed as.

It is no shock to me that the two black women in Veilguard, for instance, are either medium toned like myself or a nonhuman skin color (introduced as a woman). It doesn't escape my attention that the only black woman in Baldur's Gate list of companions is also a nonhuman skin color. Dark skinned black women are still considered too unattractive to include as potential romanceable candidates, as it *also* does not escape my attention that the darkest we've had was Vivienne who was simultaneously regarded as an incredibly unlikeable character by huge swaths of the fandom and also unavailable for romance.

But moreover- why can't the bubbley nerdy cute mage be a black woman? Why can't the shy but resourceful archer be a black woman? Why does the black woman have to be someone with their guard up, walls as high as a skyscraper, cynical and callous? Why can't the black woman be the warm and loving Wynne, or the somewhat naive yet devout Leliana? The stalwart and just Aveline? I know plenty of Isabelas, and Viviennes, and Neves, and Taashs, but I also know plenty who are Merrill, or Bellara*, or Harding, or Cassandra, and I even lived with a Sera for a while. Why can't she be Bethany or Morrigan?

The closest we had was Josephine, who again is still fairly light skinned, but at least she has a bit more flexibility. And she isn't a companion, so her screen time is fairly minimal if you're not taking the time to romance her.

*And I don't begrudge Bellara too much, as A: I adore her and B: I'm pretty sure she's our first visibly Asian companion which is a milestone in itself. My point is more that Bellara could be black with virtually no story change because I know plenty of bubbly chirpy friendly black women who have a deep love of their hobbies and interests, who are bisexual and even prefer women, with deep trauma in their pasts, and yet the choice to *not* do that speaks to a problem the media has in their depiction of black women that is far bigger than Bioware.

And it doesn't escape my attention that the men have this problem as well- Wyll and Davrin* are both regarded as boring by their respective fandoms due to the choice to play it safe and stick with the extremely good and upright and just knight character instead of giving them something more messy- Astarion and Lucanis could be black with, as said, little-to-no change in their storyline because I know-even have dated- pansexual former sex worker black men with intensely complicated feelings about sex and intimacy, and I've had plenty of ex-con soft yet dangerous men holding themselves at a distance to prevent themselves from hurting anyone as my friends and even extended family.

I know plenty of intensely nerdy and probably autistic black guys who will infodump gladly about their special interest to the point of it consuming them. I know plenty of black guys with martyr complexes who think they have to tear the world- and themselves- apart just to fix what is broken in this world. I know plenty of black guys who, despite their own inability to get their shit together, are like a port in a storm every time you talk to them. I know plenty of black guys who are extremely educated and well respected within their field, with gentle yet commanding demeanor. Any of these characters *could* be black, and yet they aren't, and the choice to do so is again far bigger than Bioware and Larian.

*Davrin, like Vivienne, being the darkest and first blatantly black male companion instead of potentially able to be ambiguously "of color" like Zevran, Fenris, and Dorian. Even more damning that they'd considered, like Sera, making Solas blatantly black in his concept art and instead chose to make him a pale egg.

As someone desperate for representation, it becomes quickly obvious as I take inventory of what roles black people are given that we still aren't considered as complex and nuanced and interesting. We're allowed to be more than we were before, but we still have a long way to go.

[metranart]

My one and only wants you, so he’ll have you (Part 4)

ft. Sensei! Gojo Satoru, sensei! Suguru Geto, reader insert.

Gojo Satoru and Suguru Geto happily married, you, their lovely student and the cause of their ragging temptation. The problem: their son, Megumi, your best friend.

- 𖦹 Warning tags: Gojo x Reader x Geto, threesome, married couple, Suguru and Gojo happy married couple, polyamory, Teacher-Student Relationship, Under-Desk Blow Jobs, Anal Sex, oral sex, vaginal sex, breeding, obsessive behavior, horny sorcerers, idiots in love, being the willing pet of your senseis, best friend! Megumi, Jealous! Megumi, anal plug, Secret Relationship, Domestic Fluff, falling in love, Pregnancy Kink, Hurt/Comfort, smut, rough sex, shameless smut, creampie, explicit sexual consent, sexual tension, shameless flirting, scratching. -

"Did he finally declare his feelings to you?"

You were surprised when the words left his mouth. Your mind unable to processing what you had just heard.

"D-Did you know?"

Geto stared at you without a single doubt in him before nodding his head. You gaped at the blunt honesty of such a vile secret. He knew…those that mean that—

“Gojo also knew?” 

The suffix that you use so endearingly to wrap their names was missing and Suguru feared for the resentful feeling that may be harvesting inside your young, vulnerable chest at the face of this hidden truth. His easy affirmative left you equally speechless even when you knew it was coming. “You knew.” You repeated in a dense, broken mutter. 

“You need to try to understand the reason for some of our actions—"

“May I be of help, Suguru-san?" 

Megumi entered the kitchen and the two of you separated so quickly that no one would have ever suspected that you were about to cum on his fingers less than five minutes ago. 

“We're almost done, thank you very much, Megumi-kun.” Suguru said candidly to his beloved adopted son and glanced at you with the same candid smile. “(Y/N), helped me a lot—”

“—I feel so silly..." 

Geto's heart raced but nothing shown in his features, remaining sweet and calm. Although inside felt desperate to explain to you what you were undoubtedly misinterpreting and giving more importance than it had.

"Silly?" Megumi repeated blankly, his eyebrows furrowing delicately.

You shook your head, your gaze glued to your feet and pouting lamely you showed him your hand. "I cut myself with the knife," you lied skillfully, and out of the corner of your eye you saw how your sensei's broad shoulders relaxed noticeably, ".... I’m so clumsy, how did I not realize it before?"

Megumi took your hand in his and began to analyze it with clinical attention, "I can't find the wound."

"I think it's very superficial, some wouldn't give it much importance..." Geto knew that those words were directed at him, with exclusive malice and devastating intention of sticking the splinter into his already lacerated conscience, "… but it still hurts." 

Your pretty lips pursed in an attempt to stop the outburst of so many mixed feelings. Have you been just a casual adventure for the marriage? A bet to see who would conquer the foolish girl first, his son or them? A sick game for the married couple to bring some spark to their boring lives? To measure who was the bigger alpha among them? Who fucks you first—

You bit down a hiccup and Suguru felt his heart shatter as if it were made of glass and someone brutally throw it against the cold, unforgiving floor. Please little one, don't overthink... wait until we explain to you, it's not what you think... thought the sorcerer who reduced to observing with a heavy heart. 

“—Tell me where it hurts, (Y/N)," Megumi became alert at the prospect that you could be suffering, "...easy there, everything is fine." 

The young adult tried to console you, frustrated at not being able to find the wound -since it didn't lie on your skin- Megumi ran his fingers gently over your palm but nothing, you still looked miserable. His heart sank at the feeling of uselessness, and soon realized that if he wanted to show you that he could take care of you and protect you like a boyfriend would, he had to prove it first.

So, gathering all his courage, he yanked your hand closer and sweetly shy, muttered. "I'll make it better, love. Please don’t cry."

Suguru's eyes opened wide like full moons as he watched his son's lips pepper every inch of soft skin they could find, every finger and cuticle, the skin of your palm, the back of your hand, even your wrist, he varnished of sweet, caring kisses. He'll be so proud if weren't so nastily jealous.

The tear that had escaped your eye, rolled alone down your burning cheeks and the young adult, on a mission, leant closer to wipe it away with his useful and gentle lips. He was finally being useful to you. Once pleased with his quest, those beautiful blue eyes rested somewhat shyly on yours and he felt very proud that he no longer saw glimpses of pain.

A bright smile curved his lips rather handsomely and the blush kidnapping your face was way too brash to call yourself just his best friend. 

“T-Thank you, Megumi.” The stammer won’t leave your voice.

“I promised you that I'll try hard.” He reminded you with a shy, yet sassy grin. And your unexpected bonding moment suddenly burst like a soap bubble.

“Dinner’s ready, hun?” Gojo’s sudden question startled everyone. The white-haired sorcerer attitude felt almost abrasive. 

Neither Suguru, nor you, nor Megumi had noticed his presence and everything he witnessed, from kisses to the confession of a love conquest.... all of this, while he leant his weight on the door frame, one foot in front of the other casually, arms crossed tightly across his broad chest, drinking the scene ... it felt like putrid venom must feel going down his throat.

Suguru couldn't find his voice to answer, and Megumi took the opportunity to pull you by the hand and take you with him, spatting a placid. "We'll be in my room, let us know when dinner is ready."

They both climbed the stairs of the house, hand in hand, followed too closely by two pairs of attentive eyes, one exuding furious frustration and the other indecisive guilt. Once they heard the door shut close and were sure, were out of earshot….

“Thank God! you were here to see our son's smooch session and his crude, love confessions to our lover, Suguru—”

“Put a cork on it, Toru.” Geto hiss like a dangerous snake, leaning burdensomely on the kitchen counter. “I’m not sure, but I think I screwed up.”

-

Dinner was uneventful, if that could be said in such a tangled situation.

Neutral topics of conversation were touched and in most of them you kept quiet or short phrased, everyone walking on thin ice, except Megumi who stepped hard and without restrictions making his raw intentions towards you noticeable, an attitude not common in Megumi who was known for being taciturn, composed and shy.

This change in attitude was sudden but expected, causing both parents to stay on red alert since it seemed that his son was marking his territory, and someone only marks his territory when feels threatened... Did Megumi know something? Did he suspect? Had they been so careless? Had you said something while you were alone in his room to get back at them? —

“I had forgotten to tell you," Megumi began to say as he helped you pick up the plates from the table, "Director Yaga assigned us a special mission," both professors listened attentively, "so (Y/N) is going to sleep here so we don't waste time meeting tomorrow."

"A sleepover?" Gojo spit out.

"I didn't see you bring a suitcase with you, (Y/N). Do you need to borrow some clothes?" Suguru offered quickly, eager to squeeze any comment out of you.

"You would look adorable in one of my t-shirts." Gojo teased, hoping to tear a giggle out of you to zero response. Both ending up frowning, Megumi watching them expressionless, those blue eyes analyzing closely.

"She's using the cursed hidden pocket technique," Megumi suddenly explained, ignoring Gojo's comment, "she already has everything she needs." You smiled thinly at Megumi who retuned you a swift wink, "...I was just letting you know, without a doubt, tomorrow Nanami will explain the mission in detail."

“Maybe you can take five minutes to explain to us right now, Megumi." Geto insisted, playing the worried father.

Megumi pursed his lips and giving you an odd look, started to head to his room, halting to say from the stairs. "I'm going to give you the briefing, there you can find everything, I'm going upstairs to get it."

There was a brief silence before Megumi disappeared upstairs and you continued clearing the table as if nothing happened.

"Sooooooo, you're not going to talk to us anymore?" Gojo was the one who started the duel, not wanting to waste even a precious second of his overprotective adopted son's absence.

You remained quiet but attentive. Paying only the necessary attention to Gojo's movements, who got up from his chair and now surrounded you like a bee around a flower.

"Look at her Suguru,” he grabbed a lock of your hair to play, yet you swatted his hand away in all icy calm. The tall prodigy bite down a growl, “She's not talking to us while this morning couldn’t stop moaning our names, what is that called, baby?" Gojo asked his husband who shook his head disapprovingly from his sitting position, and without really waiting for the answer, added "double standard, that's what it's called." He pointed out and your frown gave him enough satisfaction to continue the one-sided conversation. 

“By the way, how do you feel, (Y/N)?” Gojo asked suddenly in that same poisonous vibe, and an eyebrow rose on your forehead, this time you even looked at him gifting him your undivided attention, since he was awfully close to comfort. “-Is your pussy still sore from me stretching it so good this morning?”

Suguru almost choked on his gulp of water, and Satoru grin wickedly at how embarrassed you looked, taking it as far as to peck the tip of your nose, taking advantage of your astonishment to then borrow a hand to leisurely pat the back of his husband gently as he coughed. 

"Be careful, Sugu, don't choke," chuckled out the prodigy of the Gojo Clan. "I know! (Y/N) teach him the technique you use to swallow our cocks without activating the gag reflex," your cheeks painted in such an intense crimson that for a moment you thought your nose was going to bleed. Your fists tightening harder with each crude comment, “oh, you…. my little, self-righteous, sword swallower."

“Satoru.” Suguru chided his husband, pulling him from the shirt to have him sitting by his side.

“I'm genuinely worried, Sugu,” the special grade sorcerer exclaimed letting his body drop into a comfy position on the couch, “I know we’ve trained her well but if she's going to receive Megumi tonight, she ought to be careful… that boy is awfully thick—” 

“You are being childish, Satoru Gojo!” You raised your voice and quickly lower it down, emphasizing his name as if the mere mention of him was an insult.

“Am I being childish?" The prodigy spat, pointing an index finger at himself. "To be childish is to get angry without even having the complete information," Satoru exclaimed, and you turned your back to them, you didn’t want to hear him, but he wasn’t having it either. 

What was your surprise when your storm out was cancel and you were lifted from the ground by two strong arms that wrapped around your waist. "Let go-..." you growled in annoyance and Satoru ignored you, almost dragging you to the couch like a spoiled child being unreasonable and shamelessly throwing you into the arms of his beloved husband, who gladly received you on his lap.

“Spoiled brat,” grunted the white haired holding your legs for you to stop kicking, “you got her babe?” 

“She’s not going anywhere,” Suguru affirmed. 

His strong arms wrapping around your ribs like a seat belt. With this confirmation, Satoru felt more comfortable kneeling in front of you and throwing your knees over his shoulders, holding your thighs spread with his strong hands to prevent you shutting your legs around his head.

"Listen, pup.” His voice sounded like a trusty adult again, no mock or sarcasm, and the mere tone made you steady, after all, he was a figure of authority to you, “...we didn't chase you because we knew our Megumi liked you." 

Satoru revealed in all seriousness, a little outraged at the simple fact that this could be going through your mind, "...we genuinely like you and you genuinely like us," you felt Suguru deposit a kiss in your neck as a support of that statement and with a loving grin on his face, Satoru began to trail a sinful path of kisses up the inner skin of your thigh, "none of this was planned, it was organic….” 

You frowned, closing your eyes stubbornly, refusing to believe them. “And if I remember correctly, you were the one who offered to suck me off first-" 

"Because I didn't know you'd use me to ignite your boring marriage!" you blasted, glaring at his handsome, shocked face.

"Boring marriage?" You heard Suguru chuckle amused next to your ear. 

Satoru laughed heartily and his man joined him, neither one in the least offended. "Do we seriously strike you as a boring marriage, (Y/N)?"

You pouted your lips like a like a scolded girl. You didn't really believe that, but you were too stubborn to accept it.

With a sensual smile back on his face, your sensei kept crawling up your thigh, rolling your skirt up to glimpse at your white panties, licking his lips at finding a patch of moisture greeting him. “Poor pup, you must be so uncomfortable, lemme be the gracious host and help-”

“Megumi might come down...-”

"-Then I’ll be quick...." his mouth curled into a shrewd grin.

COMING SOON PART 5....

⭕️ Find in my PATREON NSFW art from this chapter and more NSFW art of the story and lots of content from JJK, exclusive smut fanfiction and more interesting stuff. ;)

[newnitz]

I saw your whole post about "Dominating the indomitable" and like no, it's that Jewish people act like they are literally the only group who have ever been oppressed, and how all other forms of oppression are actually antisemitism, and how as a result of this Jewish people can never ever perpetuate oppression against other groups. Horrible things have happened to Jewish people in the past therefore any criticism of the actions of Jewish people now is antisemitic, and even TALKING ABOUT the groups who were affected on a smaller scale during The Holocaust is antisemitic, actually. Jewish people, particularly in online spaces, demand solidarity with other minority groups but *insist* that your problems are the only ones that matter. And yet - False accusations of Antisemitism are constantly deployed en-masse, particularly with regard to Israel, to justify doing heinous fucking shit and to treat genocide as though it's in some way complicated. I'm from the UK, and for twelve years we had upper class asshole politicians saying every racist thing you could imagine about Muslims and literally nothing came of it. Then we had a left wing candidate for Prime Minister who criticised Israel ONCE, and the accusations of Antisemitism that followed instantly killed his career. While Antisemitism is real and is a problem a lot of Jewish people are perfectly happy to allow the Right Wing grifters who perpetrate Antisemitism to weaponise it in their name against people they don't like. You deny that you have ANY privelige relative to other religious minority groups and yet accusations of Antisemitism are the only kind that seem to be consistently taken seriously, even when they're overtly bullshit. But it's also the fact that as minority religious groups in the west go a LOT of Jewish people are rich white people, and the Jewish community as a whole refuses to in any way acknowledge the privelige that comes with that because "I'm not white I'm Jewish" as though you can't be both. Like literally right now, a nation of Jewish people are slaughtering a nation of Muslims on the grounds that being Jewish just makes them inherently entitled to the land those Muslims are on. We're seeing Jewish people commit horrific acts of violence and dehumanisation against the people of Palestine on the basis of their religion - we're seeing Israelis posing with dead or dying Palestinians, laughing at them as they bleed out in the street. But everyone in the west is willing to treat the situation as complicated specifically because the Israelis are Jewish and the Palestinians are Muslim - and yet people like you still feel comfortable acting as though Jewish people could NEVER possibly commit imperialism, could NEVER do anything wrong, could NEVER fall into the same sort of colonialist, bigoted attitudes as other groups, because unlike those other groups you simply know better. And Jewish people are STILL acting like they're the ones most affected by what the Israelis are doing to the Palestinians, like this is a bigger problem for some white American jewish person than the people actually LIVING in Palestine right now, because a few people are using the situation as an excuse to be Antisemitic.

So in this anon we have, in order of appearance:

"Jews talk about their oppression too much"

"Jews weaponize antisemitism"

Holocaust universalization

Holocaust inversion

"But whatabout the antisemitism on the right???"

"Jews are just a religion"

"Jews are white"

"Chosen people(derogatory)"

And you don't think there's a cultural antisemitism problem? Worst of all, you don't think you're part of the problem? You just exemplified it with this word vomit made of the copium you take as a culture to justify your millennia-long attempt to exterminate us. Because this shit did NOT begin with the Holocaust. It began with us being stolen from our land, with almost a million of our ancestors' brothers and sisters genocided in the attempt, brought to Europe as Roman slaves, then running from place to place to flee the attempts to finish us off, all the while your holy wars with the Muslims saw our tiny remaining population massacred and dispossessed under most management, with our ancestors funding their return to their own cities, with what little money they could scrounge up between their own escapes and expulsions, because no one else would.

Now, to deconstruct your rancid takes:

"Jewish people act like they are literally the only group who have ever been oppressed, and how all other forms of oppression are actually antisemitism" - That is factually, demonstratively false. Jews as a whole do not claim anti-Black racism or the genocides perpetuated against the indigenous people of Turtle Island are because of antisemitism, because while those two occurred concurrently neither fueled the other. They existed independently. The Holocaust was perpetuated primarily against Jews and Roma. No other group lost >50% of their population under that. Jews were more loudly hated because we greatly outnumbered and still greatly outnumber Roma. There was ethnic cleansing of Poles in some places but no concentrated effort of extermination, as those who cooperated with the genocides of Jews and Roma were safe. You cannot genocide an identity outside an ethnic group or race(which in most cases is a derivative of an ethnic group), but the crimes committed against queer people and political rivals were a much lower priority than the extermination of all Jews and Roma. The Holocaust IS about us and to say otherwise is both antisemitic and anti-Romani.

"how as a result of this Jewish people can never ever perpetuate oppression against other groups." - That is a fringe opinion, and there are massive intracommunity discussions about how we as a whole can and should do better towards other marginalized people, show solidarity unconditionally and so on. It's just not visible to you because the only time you engage with our community is as a threat to our existence.

"Jewish people, particularly in online spaces, demand solidarity with other minority groups but *insist* that your problems are the only ones that matter." Again you are factually incorrect. Jews have been overrepresented in the Civil Rights movement and have been part of the left for centuries at this point. We demand "solidarity" in not perpetuating antisemitic stereotypes, i.e not being actively racist against us so that we can feel safe backing them up as they combat racism against them, which should be the bare minimum. And we've been failed repeatedly as the left and right take on the same flavor of antisemitism.

"False accusations of Antisemitism are constantly deployed en-masse," Who are YOU to say which accusations are false? Which other minority group is assumed to lie about racism until it's proven beyond any shadow of the most unreasonable doubt to be telling the truth?

"particularly with regard to Israel, to justify doing heinous fucking shit and to treat genocide as though it's in some way complicated." There is no genocide. Killing tens of thousands of combatants and civilians in a 1:1 ratio out of a population of 2 million is not a genocide, it's a war. And considering the hellish medium of urban warfare, it's an exceptionally well-managed one. Most importantly, it's a war Israel has been actively avoiding for 17 years until the 7th of October.

"Then we had a left wing candidate for Prime Minister who criticised Israel ONCE" Jeremy Corbyn did more than that. He didn't "criticize Israel" he buddied up with Hezbollah ffs

"While Antisemitism is real and is a problem a lot of Jewish people are perfectly happy to allow the Right Wing grifters who perpetrate Antisemitism to weaponise it in their name against people they don't like." And you're pretending these grifters aren't called out? It's called a "broken clock", and every accusation of antisemitism needs to be investigated. Right now you're excusing your own leftist antisemitism with whataboutism.

"You deny that you have ANY privelige relative to other religious minority groups" - We are not just a religious minority. Jews are an ethnoreligious minority, with most Jews coming from at least one Jewish parent. Outside the US and countries with very small Jewish populations, most Jews come from two Jewish parents, and before the 60s it was almost all Jews. Intermarriage in the US only began with the state-led push towards assimilation following the end of WWII.

"and yet accusations of Antisemitism are the only kind that seem to be consistently taken seriously" Really? Because I haven't seen them being taken seriously by leftists.

"a LOT of Jewish people are rich white people" Whiteness is not conditional. Whiteness does not depend on passing yourself off as something else. Whiteness protects you from having your name, facial features or accent be a reason for lynching, being refused job offers or interrogated by security forces for going about your everyday life. Rich people of many other ethnicities are privileged in comparison to the rest of their community, and that doesn't make them "white". And do you even know how many Jews are rich and white-passing? Especially in countries where Jews didn't assimilate, didn't intermarry?

"Like literally right now, a nation of Jewish people are slaughtering a nation of Muslims on the grounds that being Jewish just makes them inherently entitled to the land those Muslims are on." Again factually false. Israel is counter-attacking the terrorist organization who invaded its territory, raped and murdered men women and children and took hundreds of hostages, and since said terrorist org hides among civilians civilians get killed in the crossfire. It's about religion from Hamas' side, which is what I referred to in the post. There's no "belief that we're inherently entitled", there's a fuckton of archeological evidence showing that we've been living in that land for thousands of years and we want the self-determination that was stolen from us, and Muslims, with their need to dominate the entire Middle East, don't vibe with that.

[eternalsa2z]

Proper Attire

This short story is a sequel inspired by @bimbosanddolls and this piece: https://www.tumblr.com/bimbosanddolls/664676460848709632/um-ms-lance-could-we-have-a-word-in-my-office?source=share I thought Ms. Lance deserved a happier ending and decided to try my hand at it. Go read Kiki's lovely piece for context and then enjoy this one!

"So, Brett Spears is it? I see you've mostly recently worked at a sister company of ours, Improve U Inc. What made you interested in transition to a position here at Synthetica?"

*TRIES NOT TO STARE* "I think it was time for an upgrade. I was tired of not being noticed at my old company. We hired ridiculously over-endowed...er, over-qualified candidates. Like there was one woman. A total bimbo. She completely flouted proper attire, wearing lingerie and showing off her huuuuuuge...um...well you understand I'm sure."

*STARES COLDLY* "I don't think I do. Is there a problem with a woman with large breasts who likes attractive lingerie?"

*FLUSTERED* "Oh no Ms. Synthia! Ma'am! I...uh....what I mean to say is that I've been looking for a place with bigger...er, better standards, such as a dress code and positive office behavior."

"I see. Synthetica Lifeform Upgrade Technology is all about upgrades and we have a very explicit dress code here. But tell me, Mr. Spear, are you comfortable working under such a powerful woman with plenty of assets?"

"Oh of course, ma'am. I have no problem with self-confident women."

"Good. Then you can start tomorrow. You'll be working under my assistant. Funny enough she original came from Improve U Inc. as well, so I'm sure you'll get along great!

*WEEKS LATER...*

"Um, like, Bretty? Can we, like, have a 'lil chit-chat in my office? We, like, sooooo need to talk about your outfits"

"I'm sorry, Ms. Lance, do you not like my suit?"

"Like, Bretty, I don't know how to say this....ummmmm...your outfit is just, like, ewwwww. So dark and drab!"

"But I thought we could keep it formal on 'Conversative Friday', ma'am?"

"You're, like, wearing a suit in our office! And it's not even, like, open to show off your chest or pretty lingerie!"

"Huh? Is that bad? Should I take it off?"

"Yesssss Bretty! Strip off as much as you want! The dress code is explicit - the less clothes, like, the better!"

"What if I don't agree? Will you just fire me!"

"OMG no! We're not, like, so mean here at Synthetica. I'll just, like, have to put you on a Personal Improvement Plan. 'K babes?"

*MONTHS LATER...*

"Hey Brittney! Can I, like, have you wiggle over to my desk? We sooooo need to catch-up."

"Like fer sure! Oh whoopsies, one sec, Ms. Lance. I gotta touch up my lipstick after my last meeting" *GIGGLE*

"Okay babes! I'm soooo glad to see you adhering to the dress code. Just don't keep me waiting!"

*30 MINUTES LATER*

"OMG I'm sooooo sorry Ms. Lance! I, like, got pulled aside by Ms. Synthia. She wanted to, like, use inspect my chest. First she used a needle thingy. Then she used her hands to rub...and massage...and...um...what was I talking about? I forget..." *DROOLS AND STARES BLANKLY*

"Ah yes, your daily injection and inspection! That of course is like soooooo important. But that's actually what I wanted to chat about...your, like, Personal Improvement Plan."

"Oh noes! Did I make a whoopsies? Are my nails too short? Am I not, like, showing off my boobies or butt enough? Gosh I knew I should've worn the skimpier office lingerie! I am such a ditz!"

"Yes you are! But that's, like, soooooo good! You've gone from fuddy-duddy to dummy fuckdoll, like, faster than any bimbo at the company. So, like, your Personal Improvement Plan is complete!"

"OMG! Wait, like, is that good? Don't I want to, like, keep being a silly ;lil bimbo ditz?"

"Of course Brittney! Now why don't you, like, put on your proper office attire and thank me properly for not firing you all those months ago."

*GIGGLE* "OMG I was sooooo hoping you'd want that!"

*STRIPS OFF CLOTHES*

*KNEELS*

*CRAWLS UNDER DESK*

*SPREADS LEGS* "Good girl, Brittney. Good girl."

[corinthianism]

last kiss | sam winchester (1)

pairing: sam winchester/f!reader additional tags: best friends to lovers (?), fluff, angst

summary: you and sam were inseparable; two like-minded souls brought together by a life of saving people and hunting monsters. when the world is about to come to an end, he's forced to make a choice, one that might just haunt you forever. - set in the season 5 finale

masterlist | next chapter | ao3

CHAPTER ONE: SAVIN' ALL MY LOVE

Trusting a demon, especially the king of crossroad demons, was not what you had in your itinerary for saving the world… but perhaps you should’ve known. After all, being a hunter wasn’t exactly a cut-and-dry profession, especially when you’re working with the Winchesters. Still, you were wondering if being left in an abandoned house with Sam, while Dean and Crowley, of all people, tracked down Pestilence’s demon assistant, or as Crowley liked to put it, “the horseman’s stable boy”. Leaving Sam out of such an important mission left a bad taste in your mouth, but you knew that your best friend wasn’t exactly the most trustworthy candidate to save the world right now.

Not after what happened with Ruby. 

You grimaced. Best not to think about that too much, unless you wanted to match Sam with a cranky, scrunched up face of your own.

“Keep an eye on him, would you?” Dean pulled you aside before he left with Crowley. “If I know anything, sweetheart, it’s that he sure as hell listens to you more than he listens to me.”

You let out a long breath through your teeth as you glanced at Sam, who was, unsurprisingly, drinking his feelings by the fireplace. There was only so much to keep you busy in a place like this, so you decided that you might as well join him.

“Got room for one more?” you asked gently, not wanting to irritate him further. He gave you a look, which you had affectionately called “Sam’s kicked puppy look”, and huffed before scooching over to let you sit on the worn-down couch next to him. “This reminds me of Cedar Falls.”

Sam laughed quietly, shaking his head, “This is nothing like Cedar Falls.”

“True, but it made you laugh,” you grinned victoriously at him. “Penny for your thoughts, Sammy?”

He took one big sip from his bottle of whiskey, and turned to face you, his eyes doing that thing where it got bigger and sadder and you couldn’t help but give him whatever he wanted. What an asshole. The corner of his lips turned upward into a tired smile, “You don’t really wanna know that.”

“Actually, yeah, I don’t,” you rolled your eyes. “But I did kinda grow up with you and I’m your only friend besides your brother and an angel, so I’m morally obligated to know.”

That earned you a scoff from him, but he spilled the beans anyway.

“It’s Dean. I mean, I know he’s not exactly wrong for not trusting me right now, but trusting Crowley?” he ranted, his voice growing tighter and louder in frustration. 

“He doesn’t trust Crowley,” you made your point as softly as you could, knowing he was thinking of a million possibilities right now. You didn’t want to add to that. “He just doesn’t have any other option at the moment.”

“He does have an option though, and it’s not working with a demon. Trust me, I know firsthand that it doesn’t end well.”

You probably made a face at the mention of his “firsthand experience”, because he chuckled again and took another swig of his drink. 

“Well, on the bright side, you got me. And that’s about as good as it can get, Winchester,” another small smile from him. “I think we need more drinks. For me, I mean,” you commented, happy with your small victory. You stood up once again to get the mini-cooler in the other room. He nodded in agreement, going back to spacing out as you left. Taking one last look at him, you couldn’t help but imagine the weight he must’ve been carrying. You knew him. You knew him deeply, and that made things suck even more. 

Of course, there was no other solution besides burying the emotional damage every world-ending problem left on you. There was no time for heart-to-hearts in the life of a hunter. For now, the only real help you could give Sam was to lend him an ear and to toss him a few more drinks.

A flash of blue in your peripheral told you that you found what you were looking for. Cold mist pleasantly greeted your skin as you opened the cooler up, finding it full of ice and an assortment of drinks. “Leave it to the Winchesters to save the world but also somehow always be fully stocked up on alcohol,” you smirked, pushing the lid back down and picking it up to bring it to the living room. 

Sam’s voice made you stop in your tracks. He was talking to someone. On the phone, you thought.

“What if you guys lead the devil to the edge… and I jump in?”

What?

You found yourself inching closer, just to see if he would say anything else.

“It’d be just like when you turned the knife around on yourself; just one action, just one leap,” he persisted, voice heavy with desperation.

Everything he said after that was a blur, but you figured he was talking to Bobby. And God, you hoped the old man talked some sense into him.

“Was that Bobby?” you finally walked in, setting the cooler down on the floor. Sam straightened up, shoving his phone back into his pocket as he heard the clipped tone in your voice, no matter how much you tried to sound casual.

“Uh, yeah,” he mumbled before furrowing his brows. “How much of that did you hear?”

“Just enough to call you an idiot,” you crossed your arms, unimpressed.

“You sound like him,” he rolled his eyes, facing away from you and sitting back down on the couch, as if he could avoid your incoming sermon if he wasn’t actively looking at you.

“I damn hope so, because he’s the only one here with any sort of sense! Do you even hear yourself, Sam? We just managed to convince Dean not to say yes to Michael, and now you wanna let the devil ride your meatsuit? What’s wrong with you?!” you yelled at him, setting the cooler down so you could focus all your energy into conveying to him that he was, in fact, an idiot. “No, Sammy. I won’t let you do it. I won’t… I can’t.”

He must’ve noticed the panic in your voice; how the anger melted away into fear. Sam was familiar with that tone. It was what he heard in Dean’s voice nearly every goddamn day for the past two years. He just hadn’t expected to hear it from you. Even when he was sneaking off to meet with Ruby, you stood by him, protecting him from the worst of Dean’s paranoia. When it all came to light and his brother’s fears came true, you still held his hand like he had knocked over a vase instead of starting the apocalypse. He knew he didn’t deserve your kindness, and yet you still gave it to him so freely.

Hearing that desperation from you, it squeezed his heart in a way that made him forget how to breathe. The alcohol was already tearing away at his system, forcing only his most basic instincts to push him forward. Those instincts told him to look at you, to not be a coward and not be the reason for your worry. He hated making you worry.

Something wet trickled down your cheek and as you brought a hand to wipe it away, Sam had already turned around and seen the second tear fall. You hated being seen like this. It was weak, it was juvenile. You kill demons and vampires and shifters, for fuck’s sake. There was no time for crying your heart out.

But the possibility of a world that didn’t have Sam Winchester in it was enough to stop even you, in your tracks.

“Hey,” Sam pulled you out of your thoughts. “Look at me.”

“I don’t want to, asshole.”

He only smiled. Damn him.

Setting down his bottle of whiskey on the floor, he grabbed your shoulders, “I’m not gonna do it, not unless we all agree. It’s like you said, we don’t have a lot of options, so we need to make our own.”

“Why is killing yourself an option?” you argued, struggling to look him in the eye as if he was already dead. Like he was just a figment of your imagination designed to haunt you and taunt you for words left unsaid. He was still here with you but your mind, treacherous as it was, was already imagining his hunter’s funeral. How the wood would burn and how you wouldn’t be able to stop thinking about him in hell. The chance of him dying, of losing him, had always been a real thing but now, more than ever, it felt real. 

“It’s me or 7 billion people,” he pointed out gently, swiping his thumb over your cheek to wipe a tear away. “I’m not that important of a person, but I can make an important decision. That has to count for something, right?”

“We’ll find something,” you promised. “I’ll find something.”

He smiled again at your determination, “That’s my girl.”

He pulled you in close. Underneath the smell of whiskey, you could smell the minty soap he always uses. You breathed it all in, trying to ignore the fact that learning his new plan felt like being splashed with ice cold water. He seemed to notice you tense up, because he spoke up again, “Do you wanna dance with me?”

“What?”

“It’ll be just like Cedar Falls,” he offered teasingly. “And besides, it’s just you and me here anyway.”

The corner of your lips twitched upward at the memory, “We have no music.”

A beat. 

He stood up, making a show of clearing his throat. Liquid courage was truly something else.

“A few stolen moments is all that we share,” he began, grinning stupidly at you. Though Dean was usually the singer between the two (as much as he tried to deny it, him belting out Toni Braxton in the shower told you all otherwise), Sam wasn’t bad at holding a tune. He gave you that look, telling you that what he was doing was just for you, and only you, as he guided your hands to rest on his shoulders, “You’ve got your family and they need you there.”

He started swaying, so you attempted to return the favor by continuing the song, “Though I’ve tried to resist, being last on your list… but no other man’s gonna dooo…”

“So I’m saving all my love for youuu…” you both sang in unison, wide grins on both of your faces at the sheer cheesiness of the situation. You took turns singing the lyrics, dancing slowly by the fireplace. For a moment, you could almost forget that the world was about to end, but you thought maybe, just maybe, it wouldn’t be so bad if Sam’s face was the last thing you ever saw. Not bad at all.

▼△▼△▼△▼△▼

It was the year 2000. You were comfortably tucked under the cheap motel blanket, watching reruns of the Golden Girls. John had taken Dean out to do a salt and burn somewhere near the outskirts of town, leaving you alone to guard all your belongings as Sam went to his senior prom. Bobby owed him one, but sent you instead since the old man was busy helping other hunters. The room telephone rang a few times, and you had half a mind to answer it, before eventually deciding that it probably wasn’t the best idea to leave it hanging in case the Winchesters needed help. 

“Hello?” you rolled over to answer the phone.

“Hey,” came Sam’s voice, sounding smaller than you were used to.

“Sammy,” you sat upright, now holding the phone with both hands, as if you could reach through and pull him next to you. “Are you okay?”

He let out a deep sigh, “I, uh… yeah, I’m okay. I’m coming back to the motel though, I think.”

“What do you mean? I thought prom didn’t end until 10? It’s only 8:45, Sam.”

“So, my date kind of, um, ditched me, I guess?” he replied meekly, drawing breaths between each heavy word. “You know, it’s fine. I should’ve known.”

“No.”

“What?”

“You give me 20 minutes, Sammy. Just stay where you are.”

In less than a fraction of a second, you were up and scouring through your duffle bags in search of something that would resemble a prom dress. Hunting required you to own a small collection of various clothes and finally, you managed to pull out a dress that wasn’t marred in some way. It was deep blue satin, and it wasn’t until a year ago that you were able to grow into it. Feeling the smooth fabric in your hands, you thought of the one time you got to wear it, posing as a lawyer’s (played by John) spoiled daughter. Shockingly, Dean had thrifted it somewhere, somehow not opting to choose the most hideous frilly dress for you. He argued he liked the color, and he didn’t really want to think about what your bust size was, so it stayed unused for a fair while because it didn’t fit you well enough to be convincing.

You slid the dress carefully over your head, and decided that perhaps a little bit of color to your face was needed, lest Sam mistook you for a vengeful spirit. Once again, you dug through the endless pockets of your duffle bag to grab the old red lipstick you had quietly nicked from a witness’ house. It was old, probably expired, but you dabbed the rouge on your cheeks and lips anyway. Ultimately, you decided your hair was better off as it was. You slipped your feet into the uncomfortable and only pair of heels you owned. Even with the dull ache already forming in the balls of your feet, you smiled to yourself.  For once, you weren’t a dirty, bloody, beaten hunter. Tonight, you were just a girl. And even if you weren’t doing this for Sam, it felt wonderful to have a taste of normal.

The motel you stayed at was a short motorcycle ride from the Cedar Falls High School, so you opted to carry a silver dagger and a silver bullet-loaded gun with you for protection. Underneath the dress, of course. Without even stepping foot onto the school property itself, you could already see the familiar silhouette of Sam sitting by himself on the steps of the entrance. The stairs weren’t high at all, and it emphasized how tall he’d gotten in the last couple of months. He hugged himself, hunched over with his eyes closed as he inhaled and exhaled slowly.

Taking in a few breaths of anticipation yourself, you awkwardly walked over to him, steps wobbly and unsure. He looked up at the sound of heels meeting concrete, and you froze. He was wide-eyed, and looking at you. God knows you never thought he’d be able to look at you like that. For a moment, it was like time itself had stopped. The dust floating in the air stilled and butterflies stopped flapping their wings. Sam Winchester, in the suit that was much too big for him, in leather shoes beat up by hours of running around and chasing monsters, sat on the concrete stairs of his school and stared at you like you were the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen.

“Hey,” you were the first to break the silence. 

“Hey,’’ a small smile appeared on his face. He pat the space next to him, taking your hand so you could sit down without falling over. “I like the dress. Isn’t this the one you wore last year? When we did that shifter case in Oklahoma?”

You chuckled, “Yeah. I’m surprised you remember.”

“Of course I’d remember.”

Heat blossomed in your cheeks at how casually he said it, and suddenly a random streetlight was the most interesting thing to stare at. Anything was more interesting to look at than his stupidly beautiful and kind eyes.

Sam spoke up again, “You didn’t have to come here, you know. I could’ve just gone back to the motel.”

“And waste this outfit?” you gestured to his ill-fitting suit, grinning wide. “I don’t think so.” 

He laughed, and somehow you think this was the first real laugh he’d let out in the past week. He was less tense now, more open. This was the Sammy you knew. This was the joy you wanted him to feel for as long as you were around. 

“Dance with me,” you stood up, offering your hand to him. “That’s what you’re supposed to do at prom, right?”

His eyes widened, his back slouching as if he was trying to hide from you, “Uh, no.”

“Come onnn, Sammy!”

“No!” he laughed, trying to scoot away from you. You tried to grab his wrist, but his sudden movement threw you off balance, causing you to nearly fall over... but Sam caught you. He held a firm grip on your arm, forcing you to notice just how much he’s grown up. His arms were strong; toned from years of John’s training in addition to hunting. Now standing, he was taller than both his father and brother, yet he felt uncomfortable in his body. Like he didn’t know what to do with all of it. Like he was still just awkward, nerdy Sam. But he wasn’t. Not anymore. You didn’t really know how to feel about that.

“Thanks,” you said breathlessly, trying to come back to reality. “Dance with me? I can hear your school’s speakers all the way from here. Let’s make the most of it, hm?”

“Okay,” he agreed, finally, looking a little awestruck by what just happened. Gently, he placed his hands, which were much larger than yours, on your waist as you wrapped your arms around his shoulders. The muffled sound of Whitney Houston’s “Saving All My Love For You” echoed from inside the school. The two of you started swaying slowly to the music, just enjoying each other’s company. There were no monsters here tonight, and there was no hunting to be done.

Your eyes flickered upwards to look at Sam, his own eyes closed and his lips pressed into a peaceful smile. For once, he looked 17. For once, he was just a boy.

Resting your head on his chest as the music swept you away into another world, there was one thought that lingered in your mind: this was how things should be.

[cazort]

I've seen a small number of people on Tumblr advocating for voting for Jill Stein, the green party candidate, and a lot of them seem to take for granted the idea that she is better than Harris. None of them really make a convincing case for her, they just seem to assume that she is, particularly on the issue of Palestine.

But here's the thing. I don't even think she's a good candidate. Like I consider her borderline unacceptable, whereas I consider Harris to be a genuinely good candidate. It's bad enough that if I were in a state like Maine or Alaska that had ranked choice, I'm not even sure I would rank Jill Stein above Kamala Harris.

Why don't I like Jill Stein?

Inexperience. She has only held one political office, the town meeting (like city council) of Lexington, MA, a city with population under 35,000. This community is an extremely affluent community that leans very far left; in 2020 nearly 81% of the community voted for Biden and under 17% for Trump. Interestingly, in this own community where she served as a local elected official, in her 2016 run she still only got 1.3% of the vote, so she isn't even popular in the one place she has the most experience. She has never held state- or national political office and she has lost every other election she has run in. Her lack of experience is related both to her ability to win (people are unlikely to vote for someone who lacks experience) and her ability to do the job if she were to win. And it's not unrealistic for independents and third-party candidates to get elected to bigger offices. There have always been a few in US congress and it would be more attainable to get into a state congress; a few green party members have done this recently: Shane Robinson served in the MD state house until 2019, Henry Bear and Ralph Chapman in Maine. One, Fred Smith, even got elected in Arkansas as a green party candidate although he later changed back to a Democrat. The point is that there are even people in her party who are more experienced.

Disregard for the consequences of her actions. She threw at least one national election, the 2016 Presidential election, for Trump, and we are still suffering the consequences. Jill Stein's actions contributed to outcomes including the loss of abortion rights, all sorts of horrible environmental consequences, all sorts of negative consequences for immigrants, and a long list of other problems. This scenario is fully preventable; it could be prevented for instance by calling on your followers to only vote for you in states with ranked choice and non-swing states, and then giving a conditional endorsement of the next-best candidate and calling on your supporters to vote for them in swing states that lack ranked choice. She could have made this call and prevented the calamity we lived through, but she didn't. This shows great irresponsibility.

Age. She is already getting very old; she is currently 74 which is only 7 years younger than Biden and 4 years younger than Trump. Age was one of my biggest objections to Biden, was a big factor in me disliking Trump, and is a major reason I think Harris is a big improvement. And Jill Stein is much closer to Trump and Biden in age than Harris. Age is a big concern for me because older people are likely to be or become out-of-touch on many issues and also may experience cognitive decline.

Platform. Jill Stein's platform is objectively worse (and weaker) than the national/global green party's platform. One of my favorite things about the green party is that they tend to take a systems approach to environmentalism, through things like carbon tax which work with the market rather than against it. In countries where the green party has a significant number of seats in the legislature, like Germany where they control 117/733 seats in the Bundestag, they often end up cooperating with pro-business parties like Libertarians and even the center-right party on some issues, and this makes them better able to achieve their goals. But Stein takes a more stereotypically liberal "tax and spend" and regulatory approach making her not much different from the mainstream of the Democratic party in this regard. I.e. she supported the "green new deal" which is supported by many Democrats and to some degree by nearly all Democrats. This approach makes it less likely she would be able to appeal to and/or cooperate with moderates and independents.

Lack of a realistic plan to win. There is a realistic path for an idealistic third-party candidate to win the presidency, and it is through getting ranked choice implemented in more states first, thus removing the spoiler effect. And it particularly through embracing TVR (total vote runoff) over IRV (Instant Runoff Voting, which Alaska and Maine use currently.) Jill Stein hasn't even mentioned TVR, and although she has voiced support for ranked choice, it is not a point that she emphasizes particularly strongly. She is not active in the Fair Vote movement which is the largest movement to implement ranked choice in most states. To me, this sends the message that she's not really in it to win, she's just here to make a statement.

She's not a serious candidate, not a good candidate, and not an acceptable candidate.

I don't say this lightly, but I think that if I wanted to, I could mount a more successful third-party campaign for the presidency than she has. I think I would be a better candidate for president than she is. And I think I could make a more realistic path towards those goals than she has.

And I don't even think I'm particularly good. I know other people who could probably even do a better job than me. This is not saying I or these other people would be good candidates. It's more saying how I just see Jill Stein as being inadequate.

And this is why I think Jill Stein is a really lousy candidate. She is not the idealistic third-party candidate to break us out of the two-party system.

And when you see this, you see that all the people pushing her as "the only good candidate" are really pushing anti-vote propaganda. They are trying to manipulate the left into throwing the election.

This election cycle we have a legitimately good candidate: Harris. She ticks all the boxes. She is younger than Biden. She is more progressive yet while being rooted in reality enough to bring in moderates. She has called for a ceasefire in Palestine, and has been critical enough that she's attracted ire and backlash from the Israeli hardliner and AIPAC-funded crowd. And her track record as Attorney General when you start scrutinize it, is surprisingly and refreshingly good. Go look it up and see for yourself.

[luimnigh]

I've been checking up the elections in Ireland out of curiosity (and also because of taking into consideration the steadily worsening situation in regards to Democracy across the globe), but I find I don't really understand it very well. Who's currently considered the most likely candidate to lead Ireland, and is it necessarily a good, bad, or complicated thing? Irish politics seems to have a lot of nuances that I don't really have the context and understanding to "get".

So, we have a Parliamentary system. It's the leader of the largest party after that is usually the Taoiseach, the head of Government. Or, at the very least, the largest party in the coalition of parties who've come together to share power.

(We also have a directly elected President as our Head of State. His only real power is to send bills to the Supreme Court to check if they're constitutional before signing them into law.)

However, last term in the Dáil, none of the biggest parties got enough votes to secure a majority on their own, or even a coalition with a smaller party. The two biggest parties, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael had to go into coalition with each other, because they refused to go into coalition with the other biggest party, Sinn Féin.

Because these two parties have run the state since the begining, neither wanted to be the "Junior" partner in the coalition (which is usually a electoral death sentence the next election), so they decided to be equal partners. They devised a system where they would trade off the Taoiseach role so that both sides would have roughly equal time.

This is called a "Rotating Taoiseach". Or "Rotisserie Taoiseach", depending on how serious the political commentary is.

After this election, we have the same scenario: neither side has enough seats to make a government without the other (or Sinn Féin, who they refuse to talk to).

However, this time rather than the seat split being 38:35, it's now 48:38. Fianna Fáil is much bigger than Fine Gael.

In most circumstances this would mean that Fianna Fáil's leader, Micháel Martin (pronounced Me-Hawl) would be Taoiseach, no rotation.

But Fine Gael has their pride and dignity. Even with the larger seat gap, they likely wouldn't accept being a Junior Partner. They'll want the Equal Partner deal again, with it's Rotating Taoiseach.

On the one hand, they're not really in a position to demand it. On the other hand, they can just stonewall government formation until they get it. The only other option is Sinn Féin, and none of them want that.

I'd say it's likely we'll see another Rotating Taoiseach, between Martin and the Fine Gael leader, Simon Harris.

As for whether this situation is good or not? Well, it's... eh. It's eh.

Both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are neoliberal. They're somewhat progressive socially, but are beholden to corporate interests financially. Under their leadership we've entered a housing crisis, a homelessness crisis, a refugee housing crisis, and a healthcare crisis. They say their solutions to each of these are working, but it won't be fixed overnight, despite the fact that most of these problems have been ongoing for a decade.

It's a combination of the austerity measures they imposed and their belief the private sector will fix the problems that's causing most issues in Ireland at the moment.

So things aren't going to suddenly go to shit here, but they aren't suddenly going to get better. Any movement in any direction will be a slow slide. Maybe things will get better, maybe things will get worse, whatever happens will happen slowly.

[pan-magi]

Anime and Manga Comparison (Encore): Amon

I'm back at it once more, and this time it's at the beginning. Not the very beginning, but close enough! This time comparing the first dungeon. I talked before on the specific humor compared to action we see with the slimes. Now, I want to focus on the design of the dungeon itself.

I love the intro dungeon in the manga. It's great. I do appreciate the comedic timing and framing of some Ohtaka's panels. The manga also shows Alibaba's problem-solving skills better. He has the moment in the anime showing he knows Tran and is well read and can lie pretty easily. But convincing a rich petty man that has never done anything by himself isn't saying that much.

Alibaba is able to deduce the proper way to go is the path left unmarked. Not something particularly hard in retrospect. It is a common tactic to leave some kind of marker where you've been to avoid confusion He is smart to break out of the in-the-box thinking he and Aladdin were stuck in. They thought the markings were something left by the dungeon itself as clues to progress. A good ol' dungeon puzzle. It wasn't though. It was merely something left by former adventurers to not screw themselves over and get lost. Taking a minute to go "wait a sec" isn't that easy, especially in a high stake location like being stuck in a dungeon.

I love the parts in the manga that didn't make it into the anime. It is great, truly.

But goddamn is it Amon generic as fuck.

Spikes in a death pit? Ancient language that you should know or else? Bland stone corridors and caves with multiple paths you have to travel through? Slimes as the common dungeon creature?

It's so painfully generic. I can't even, lmao.

I get the impression that Ohtaka did not know what she was going for in depth with the dungeons. I don't mean that as lack of experience or planning ahead, but more-so as just wanting to get her series off the ground so she went with common tropes she knew her readers would expect and probably enjoy. A safe bet to work her story out.

The rest of the dungeons once she gets around to them have so much character. The second you're in Zagan you can tell: this belongs to an earth djinn. Baal as the first dungeon in SnB feels more standard but has more stuff going for it. I love the creature designs inside a lot of Sin's conquered dungeons.

Belial is an absolute mindfuck and I love it so much. It's a psychological barrage of confronting your trauma and biases because Belial more than anyone else has to make sure he has a King's Candidate that has their shit together. Then it fails miserably. It has to be my favorite dungeon in the entire series.

Amon has nothing on any of that.

The anime in contrast?

From the outset, in a way in which your ass will be fried if you don't pay attention, the lesson is clear: this belongs to a fire djinn. Be careful or you are dead. 10,000 have gone in and very few had come out. It's great. The dungeon had such a powerful glow up in the anime. 10/10 will recommend for certain death.

A couple other things that don't really fit into the theme of dungeon design. In the manga, Aladdin sits around and waits because the time dilation is different for people entering the dungeon. Something that isn't really brought up in the anime is that people travel to and from dungeons separately and at different rates. Anime Aladdin could have been there for a while. I doubt it though as kid would have drowned and been burned alive of Alibaba didn't grab him and bolt out of there.

The bigger more subtle change is how Amon is summoned.

Manga: Story based on Aladdin and the Lamp. Cannot not have the imagery of Aladdin touching the lamp (or its stand-in in this case).

Anime: It's the moment when Aladdin chooses Alibaba as king. The magi has made his choice, and Amon decides that is a definitive time to come out. That isn't something that is clear on first watch. Odd that the room would suddenly light up when Aladdin helps Alibaba up. It is easy to miss the significance with not being introduced to the magi system until afterward. On rewatch it felt like a sledgehammer to me on how blatant they made it. When the anime hits you with the symbolism, it goes all out.

About wraps it up this time. Next, I'll probably try to tackle the beautiful mess that is Zagan's arc changes because BOY DO I HAVE THOUGHTS.

Mostly how it is surprisingly well done but so many people come out looking dumber in the anime. omg.

[jswatson]

you know about musical tuning right? harmonics? equal temperament? pythagoras shit? of course you do (big big nerd post coming)

(i really dont know if people follow me for anything in particular but im pretty sure its mostly not this)

most of modern western music is built around the 12-EDO (12 equal divisions of the octave, the 12 tone equal temperament), where we divide the octave in 12 exactly equal steps (this means that there are 12 piano keys per octave). we perceive frequency geometrically and not arithmetically, as in that "steps" correspond to multiplying the frequency by a constant amount and not by adding to the frequency

an octave is a doubling of the frequency, so a step in 12-EDO is a factor of a 12th root of 2. idk the exact reason why we use 12-EDO, but two good reasons why 12 is a good number of steps are that

12 is a nice number of notes: not too small, not too big (its also generally a very nice number in mathematics)

the division in 12 steps makes for fairly good approximations of the harmonics

reason 2 is a bit more complex than reason 1. harmonics are a naturally occurring phenomena where a sound makes sound at the multiples of its base frequency. how loud each harmonic (each multiple) is is pretty much half of what defines the timbre of the sound

we also say the first harmonics sound "good" or "consonant" in comparison to that base frequency or first harmonic. this is kinda what pythagoras discovered when he realized "simple" ratios between frequencies make nice sounds

the history of tuning systems has revolved around these harmonics and trying to find a nice system that is as close to them while also avoiding a bunch of other problems that make it "impossible" to have a "perfect tuning". for the last centuries, we have landed on 12 tone equal temperament, which is now the norm in western music

any EDO system will perfectly include the first and second harmonics, but thats not impressive at all. any harmonic that is not a power of 2 is mathematically impossible to match by EDO systems. this means that NONE of the intervals in our music are "perfect" or "true" (except for the octave). theyre only approximations. and 12 steps make for fairly close approximations of the 3rd harmonic (5ths and 4ths), the 5th harmonic (3rds and 6ths) and some more.

for example, the 5th is at a distance of 7 semitones, so its 12-EDO ratio is 2^(7/12) ~= 1.4983, while a perfect 5th would be at 3/2=1.5 (a third harmonic reduced by one octave to get it in the first octave range), so a 12-EDO fifth sounds pretty "good" to us

using only 12-EDO is limiting ourselves. using only EDO is limiting ourselves. go out of your way, challenge yourself and go listen to play and write some music outside of this norm

but lets look at other EDO systems, or n-EDO systems. how can we measure how nicely they approximate the harmonics? the answer is probably that there is no one right way to do it

one way we could do it is by looking at the first k harmonics and measuring how far they are to the closest note in n-EDO. one way to measure this distance for the rth harmonic is this:

adding up this distance for the first k harmonics we get this sequence of measures:

(this desmos graph plots this formula as a function of n for k=20, which seems like a fair amount of harmonics to check)

the smallest this measure, the "best" the n-EDO approximates these k harmonics. we can already see that 12 seems to be a "good" candidate for n since it has that small dip in the graph, while n=8 would be a pretty"bad" one. we can also see that n=7 is a "good" one too. 7-EDO is a relatively commonly used system

now, we might want to penalize bigger values of n, since a keyboard with 1000 notes per octave would be pretty awful to play, so we can multiply this measure by n. playing around with the value k we see that this measure grows in direct proportion to k, so we could divide by k too to keep things "normalized":

plotting again, we get this

we can see some other "good" candidates are 24, 31, 41 and 53, which are all also relatively commonly used systems (i say relatively because they arent nearly as used as 12-EDO by far)

increasing k we notice something pretty interesting

(these are the same plots as before but with k=500 and k=4000)

the graph seems to flatten, and around 0.25 or 1/4. this is kinda to be expected, since this method is, in a very weird way, measuring how far a particular sequence of k values is from the extremes of an interval and taking the average of those distances. turns out that the expected distance that a random value is from the extremes of an interval it is in is 1/4 of the interval's length, so this is not that surprising. still cool tho

this way, we can define a more-or-less normalized measure of the goodness of EDO tuning systems:

(plot of this formula for k=20)

this score s_k(n) will hover around 1 and will give lower scores to the "best" n-EDO systems. we could also use instead 1-s_k(n), which will hover around zero and the best systems will have higher scores

my conclusion: i dont fucking now. this was complete crankery. i was surprised the candidates for n this method finds actually match the reality of EDO systems that are actually used

idk go read a bit about john cage and realize that music is just as subjective as any art should be. go out there and fuck around. "music being a thing to mathematically study to its limits" and "music being a meaningless blob of noise and shit" and everything in between and beyond are perfectly compatible stances. dont be afraid to make bad music cause bad music rules

most importantly, make YOUR music

[anthonycrowley]

sorry i cannot believe the fucking nyt is wasting space on this

i’m not advocating for voting third party. vote how you want. if anything, i think in most cases it is useless to vote third party and doing so basically kisses your preferred candidate’s victory goodbye due to math.

however. first of all there are potentially good reasons to vote third party. i have discussed it in the past but i will elaborate. yes - if you live anywhere that’s considered even slightly a swing state it’s probably a bad idea. small margins mean that a candidate that doesn’t really have a snowball’s chance in hell could lose the candidate precious delegates and get the candidate you don’t agree with at all in. that would be bad and is what happened in 2016. that’s one thing the article and i agree with - that would be bad to repeat. but there are also many states that aren’t swing states! i live in one of them. massachusetts is one of the most solidly blue states in the country. i mean…that could change, but if it did, basically i think harris and the democratic party in general have much bigger problems with the country in general. but like, if harris won a smaller margin in this state without losing it? that could send a message. that could send a message in california where democrats also won by a wide margin for the last several elections and where harris is from. like, if you actually like her policies and stances, vote for her. but if you don’t, and you’re pretty sure she’s gonna win, it’s not inherently stupid to vote more strategically imo. i know i’m gonna be labelled as a fucking bot or something, but i really do think it’s pretty milquetoast middle of the road to say ‘i think there are places where voting third party doesn’t actually hurt the top candidate and in those places you can probably protest vote.’

and i mean second and imo more importantly i fucking hate the let’s blame jill stein/third party candidates for the fact hilary lost sentiment that still persists. yeah, the opinion is right that she lost by narrow margins in certain states that she needed to win and in most of those states, if stein’s votes went to her, she would have won. true! yes! but those were clinton’s votes to lose. no one wants to say this! they were her’s to fucking lose! i don’t know why people voted for stein over her. maybe they were sexist. maybe they didn’t like her policies. maybe they didn’t like something she said. but it’s ridiculous to say that voters would rather give their vote to someone who has no chance of winning over clinton and then blame the other candidate when she lost. i just hate the idea that oh well if the third party candidates just made way for the real candidates the real candidates would have a better chance at winning.

like i know politicians think voters are stupid but most of us do actually have a memory span longer than a baby. i’m not happy with harris’ behavior on certain things and i live in a state she will probably win so i am considering not voting for her. if stein were on the ballot, i might vote for her - not because i want her to be president, i absolutely don’t. but she, unlike harris, doesn’t actually have a chance at being president, but a margin here tells harris that left leaning people in massachusetts are not happy with her. if stein isn’t on the ballot? it’s still not automatically going to harris. it might. i might go third party. i might do write in. i might not vote.

idk. i’m just so sick of the you gotta vote how we want 🔪 or else 🔪🔪🔪 sentiment from the dems. i was over it with biden and we as a society have got to get over 2016. she lost. stop trying to lose this one too.

[itmeblog]

Debate thoughts. I'm doing it for me. I have until the hour is up before I have to get back to work. I stop where I stop.

I'm gonna start where I never thought to start before: What's the point of a debate? Who is it for? What is it for?

A debate, this debate, in particular tends to be for undecided voters. If you've been paying attention to what's been going on nothing any of the candidates said... almost nothing the candidates said on 9.10 was any sort of surprise. For many undecided voters this is the first time they've been introduced to Harris and her policies.

Her goal (which she was nice enough to tell us): Introduce herself and her policies, provide an overview of her vision, goad Trump.

Trump's goal: To embarrass Harris, and connect her with Biden's presidency, uhhh something something (the man doesn't really plan)

Connecting Harris with Biden isn't a bad idea, in concept. Biden's ratings are relatively low, he's been painted as incompetent and the Afghanistan pull out is a heavy chain (I will point out that what happened in Afghanistan is as much Trump's fault as it is Biden's, Trump struck the deal and decreased the troops and gave the pull out date, Biden got a bad hand and decided he'd prefer to write apologies overseas than sacrifice the lives he was charged with. I'm going to refrain from assigning a morality to events that occurred.) The raised princes the troubled economy, the housing crisis are similarly connected to Trump's policies but were not felt until Biden was in office.) Connecting Harris to that, to the feeling of things, might have eaten a bit at her lead.

However, one must be able to articulate such ideas for them to work. Shouting "She is Biden" without context will likely only serve to baffle viewers. Particularly if they have already been trained to question what you've been saying.

Trump's problems start early. There is no plan.

The plan is, effectively, Project 2025 (including fun things like defunding the Dept of Education, and NOAA [weather authority] and banning porn, and proposing a national abortion ban. It's wildly unpopular) but it's not his plan, and he can't claim it. He must distance himself from it because Project 2025 is so unpopular he's been losing voters.

But there's literally nothing to replace it. Trump talks a big game (when he's coherent) but he has very little to back it up. In short, he's a con man. He takes any shape he thinks will benefit him. So he cannot answer a question by focusing on policy because there is no policy. He has two moves, denigrate Harris and point out the flaws with Biden's presidency (Which, once again, needs him to successfully chain Harris to it in order for people to care)

His second big problem: He's too online

Yes, yes, I know we always talk about how being chronically online frays the mind and gives you brain worms. Tumblr is actually an amazing example because there's a number of in jokes here that simply don't translate well to real world conversation. But I'm betting most of us here know our audiences well enough to recognize what will hold and what will not, and even if a faux pas occurs, will likely know how to eke out a fix.

Trump does not. He isn't thinking about undecided voters because he caters to his base, the already initiated. Those who follow him on Truth Social! If you listen to the debate, and you, like myself, are uninitiated to deep right wing circles there will be times when you have no idea what the man is talking about. He uses slang J6 (january 6th) and name drops people who have bigger swing in heavily right wing circles Viktor Orban (who I had to google, he is a Hungarian Leader who has been flattering and possibly insulting Trump in equal amount). He nearly lists all the Fox news reporters who I only vaguely recognize. A lot of things he says are thus somewhat indecipherable even when he does have a point.

The illegal immigrants being subjected to forced transitioning in jail on American Tax payer dollars (or whatever the fuck he said) has a real point (for transphobes) in that Kamala indicated in 2019 that she would not be averse to letting those who were already getting government provided healthcare have access to gender affirming care in prison. But he says it so nonsensically that it comes out as more conspiracy theories.

And then there's Kamala who is goading him. And I can tell you with reasonable certainty that being controlled by a woman is an emasculating experience for men like Trump. And it starts at the goddamn handshake.

And Harris is fucking clever about it (though I don't think she imagined it'd work quite this well) but on questions where Trump did have a leg to stand on , the increased border crossing during the Biden Admin and her failure to stem the flow of immigrants would make a decent talking point for more conservative voters. Which is why she chooses that moment to not only discredit him but also bring up his crowd size.

And goddamn if he doesn't fucking go off.

DAVID MUIR: Vice President Harris, thank you. President Trump, on that point I want to get your response. FORMER PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, I would like to respond. DAVID MUIR: Let me just ask, though, why did you try to kill that bill and successfully so? That would have put thousands of additional agents and officers on the border. FORMER PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: First let me respond as to the rallies. She said people start leaving. People don't go to her rallies. There's no reason to go. And the people that do go, she's busing them in and paying them to be there. And then showing them in a different light. So, she can't talk about that. People don't leave my rallies. We have the biggest rallies, the most incredible rallies in the history of politics. That's because people want to take their country back. Our country is being lost.

And he just can't regain control he goes further and further off the rails and dips into the QAnon bullshit which isn't appealing to people uninitiated to his particular... brand

We're a failing nation. And it happened three and a half years ago. And what, what's going on here, you're going to end up in World War 3, just to go into another subject. What they have done to our country by allowing these millions and millions of people to come into our country. And look at what's happening to the towns all over the United States. And a lot of towns don't want to talk -- not going to be Aurora or Springfield. A lot of towns don't want to talk about it because they're so embarrassed by it. In Springfield, they're eating the dogs. The people that came in. They're eating the cats. They're eating -- they're eating the pets of the people that live there. And this is what's happening in our country. And it's a shame. As far as rallies are concerned, as far -- the reason they go is they like what I say. They want to bring our country back. They want to make America great again. It's a very simple phrase. Make America great again. She's destroying this country. And if she becomes president, this country doesn't have a chance of success. Not only success. We'll end up being Venezuela on steroids.

...this is as far as I got.

[jamiesfootball]

chomp chomp mother fucker (please)

This is a slightly longer version of a thing I'm pretty sure I posted before but whatever chomp chomp chomp chomp-

"O'Brien's butt!" Beard called through the door. "Finally happened. His ass exploded."

"Fuuuuck," Roy buried his face in his hand.

It wasn't that they all hadn't expected the day was coming--O'Brien and his hair-triggered arse had been a stop-and-go problem for the past two years. A pinched nerve in the wrong place. One day their goalie was a beast, and the next they were tending to him like an elderly couple gone soft over their aging poodle.

With how much Zoreaux -- Zorro? Fuck, he'd meant to check the group chat -- had stepped up since his first untimely injury, it hadn't been a problem. But now--

"We're out a reserve goalie," Roy said, spelling it out.

Higgins popped up on his toes. "Ah-hah! We were out a reserve goalie. But since our win on Saturday--let's just say we have some exciting new options.

"You'll recognize most of these from the scouting reports," Higgins said as he passed around the files like they were candy. He even had a copy for Trent.

Flipping through the pages, Beard asked, "What's our largest wingspan?"

Nate, magically off his fake phone call, shuffled back into the office. "Oh, I heard a rumor that Ramirez was looking to transfer away from Crystal Palace. Did we get him?"

Roy reluctantly grabbed the offered file the third time Higgins offered it to him.

"Er, no. He was quite a bit expensive I'm afraid. Looking for a bigger pay raise than we're offering. We do have two candidates though who look quite promising--"

"Henry Rimmer," Roy read out from the top of the stack.

Nate winced.

Beard threw the report to the side. "Pass."

"Oh," Higgins said, a dismayed little utterance. "Are we sure?"

Roy looked him dead in the eye. "Didn't he get benched during penalties for throwing a ball at the ref?"

Higgins bobbed his head from side to side. "Kind of thought that would appeal, if I'm being honest." He wrung his hands together, asking "Are we sure? There's only so many goalies in our price range, and with his skill level-"

"His price is low--," Beard enunciated with a stern look from under his hat, "--because no one wants him."

[toxiccaves]

I think a lot needs to be said about the anti-voting movement and regular non-voters, both for this election and those to come. Obviously, the only fingers to point is at those who voted for trump. And I am by no means saying these things are solely why this happened. But he had LESS votes than he had in 2020. And in 2020, only 66% of eligible americans even voted, with less this time. If there's any good news to take out of that number, it's that every vote for trump was still only a smaller percentage of americans.

But while anti-voting movements had an understandable reason, these ONLY cause the person closest to you to lose. And this is outside of just the movement too; because people are clearly becoming disillusioned regardless (on both sides! Which may even be a benefit, come next election.)

A candidate for any election is never going to hit all your marks. They rarely ever will, especially in this two party system. The whole reason we still vote is because this is who we are going to push for the next 4 years. And frankly, I'd rather not even have to push at all on issues like abortion rights, improved healthcare, and boosting income for the poorest americans. These are all things we could have ignored to focus on the bigger issues like an ongoing genocide.

But instead, by opting out, thinking that "it can't get worse" or "it's no different" is just evident of a self righteous viewpoint that also ignores the reality of the system we have to work with. You want to protest genocide? Trump said he wants to deport demonstrators. He does not care about protesters on any issue. One party actually does, because there ARE people you could have voted for that are vocally pro-palestine, and care about issues important to the people.

More than just the president is on these ballots too. Look at all the people elected that are speaking out against trump, saying they will protect LGTB+ people and immigrants. That they'll protect women's rights. These are things worth voting for! There ARE good people on these ballots, and you should be voting for them.

We're now in the face of an autocracy, and experts on the subject have said that the best thing people can do is vote.

There are interviews with people who have casted protest votes in the past, and regretted it, even seeing so many similar issues today

Not to mention, a lot and I mean a LOT of people hopped on the anti-voting bandwagon as bots and trolls with propaganda merely hoping to aid trump. We need to be critical of where we gain information from, and ask ourselves who these views truly serve. And for anyone worried it is some moral failing on your part to participate in this system and vote, we even have clearly laid out funny internet guy™️ videos that help explain these things clearly.

I'm sure now people can hopefully see the array of new problems we are facing, and how much harder they will be to protest when the president does not plan to budge on these issues. I'm hoping they bring this to the ballot box in the midterms and next election, town elections too, and all those to come. Everyone should be voting in every election. It is literally your chance to choose the opponent you want to protest against for the coming years. I'd like to choose the easier one!

And I feel like I need to reflect too. Did we fight anti-voting enough? Should we have been more informative leading up to the election? There were significantly less posts, at least on my feeds, leading up to this election. It feels like 2016 again, where it felt like there's no way this dude can actually get enough votes. But here we are.

And we need to reach out more to people who are on the fence. No, not engage in internet arguements and giving people the angry reactions they want. But actually stop and educate someone. All these rights we are fighting for benefit them too! They don't know it because they're too forced to believe any rich person would ever benefit them. And it's truly upsetting to see so many people manipulated into thinking they're going to save any money here, when that kind of richness comes in the form of healthcare, or workers rights, and policies like that that they're told to be against. Yes, Trump voters are frustrating. But if people aren't grasping the issue, we need to start reaching out to others with kindness and education. If they seem they can't be budged, don't turn it into an argument and walk away.

There are a lot of things we have to consider and work on in the coming years. We have to figure out a solution to the hate in this country. We have to educate people on how the system works and who will actually benefit them, and why we vote.

[asherlockstudy]

Ask answers and thoughts on the latest EB "Why do people think we're gay"

It has been a pretty busy week and I could not get into it and to people's asks earlier. Anyway, I will come clean and say that before watching, I thought people were overreacting. As I started watching I started thinking that I could see why people overreacted and by the middle of it, I genuinely thought this episode must have been some kind of a joke.

BUT. I don't want to see it that way. I would hate to be the type of person who shuts her ears and whistles. I don't want to be considered as someone who WANTS them to be together no matter what rather than the person that landed on this conclusion based on simple observation. I don't want to be perceived as someone who projects through them (simply because I am not).

It feels bad for me to hold a stance like "that's all very well but I don't believe you" because this would make me feel like an obnoxious, obtuse person and at the same time like I attempt to invalidate their feelings and identities. I actively dislike this. At the same time, I feel that if I accept everything stated in this episode without a moment's hesitation, I then invalidate my brain. And that is even bigger of a problem for me personally. You might think "well asherlockstudy maybe your brain doesn't work all that well after all" and...fair enough, I guess. Perhaps I am perceiving things wrongly! But apparently many people do, right? Since when they were in high school and even earlier, like they said, right? Up to this very day, right?

The episode seemed candid, Link looked candid, which is what confused me more than anything else. But let's start with the asks I received and see where that leads us.

Long post is LONG and also people who don't want to read second thoughts on Rhett and Link's very clear statements perhaps wouldn't be interested in this, so I have the rest under the cut. If you have sent me an ask about their "Why people think we're gay" podcast episode, it is here below:

Anon #1 said:

That seemed like one of the very few consistent with their typical behaviour things they said in this episode. But I will argue that this is something that can be said by lifelong best friends. Besides, there are also people that value friendship higher than romance and I am not saying it is certainly their case but it might be. Link, for one, does not like the Rolling Stones very much, except for one song of theirs, "Waiting On A Friend".

Watching girls go passing by It ain't the latest thing I'm just standing in a doorway I'm just trying to make some sense Out of these girls passing by The tales they tell of men I'm not waiting on a lady I'm just waiting on friend A smile relieves a heart that grieves Remember what I said I'm not waiting on a lady I'm just waiting on a friend Don't need a whore, I don't need no booze Don't need a virgin priest But I need someone I can cry to I need someone to protect Making love and breaking hearts It is a game for youth But I'm not waiting on a lady I'm just waiting on a friend

Let me tell you, as a 17 years long Stones fan myself, to only like this song a lot is a choice. This song, you like it for its lyrics, not its music. So for Link to like that song, it is a very conscious choice.

Link to me is one of these people that values the friendly companionship more than anything. But I see this through his dynamic with Rhett, not through how he talks about his other friends. At times however he has also spoken about how relationship-oriented he is, he wouldn't like to be single one bit. He at times has seemed unable to understand how people can be single by choice, for example. Then as a teen, he had written in Rhett's yearbook "yeah finally it's summer we won't have to deal with all these girls anymore".... Whether he calls it friendship or romance, Link yearns for camaraderie and commitment. However, had it not been for this EB's Link, I would be pretty doubtful Link can genuinely experience this in such a depth with a woman.

They did not talk about touching and hugging. They did not talk about many things. All the studies they found were one-sided, presenting male friendships as repressed and shallow and women's friendships as deep and mature. I guess they didn't find any of these studies about male friendships being quieter but much more enduring and women's friendship being vulnerable to competition, gossip or romances (they brushed through something like that 1 minute before the end). Of course all these are generalizations and thus inherently questionable but my point is that they seemed to pick carefully those studies that could back whatever message they wanted to push on that day. Which was... that apparently their friendship conforms to the pattern of male friendships being expressionless, repressed, standard, shallow appearing??? That's what I got from them. Because they did not say "people are thinking we are gay because we shit on all the male stereotypes". They said they do many things that are exactly stereotypical and proven in these studies. Their friendship was presented as strong yet stereotypical. So... this brings us to the first question again. Why do people think they are gay? If they don't even speak tenderly to each other? If they don't call or meet unless it's for the work or some hobby?

But there's another question. Weren't they calling each other every morning on the way to work at least? Link was perhaps right about saying "I love you" to Rhett for the first time in GMM (when he mixed his words and then defended himself against the viewers by saying he is not gonna apologize for it) but haven't they relentlessly done it other times too? Hasn't Rhett said "I'd die for you" when Link was hurt by his gorilla joke?

And, lastly, wasn't Link complaining for ages around the years 2018-2019 that Rhett doesn't open up about his feelings and his thoughts to him? But this EB's Link was very much like Rhett. Link can't say the L word. He can't show emotionality. Link. Okay. The only consistent thing is in The Lost Causes of Bleak Creek.

As an unspoken corollary of this vow, Leif had made sure nothing in his behavior gave even the slightest hint of his crush. At times, he’d swung too far in the other direction, harping endlessly on Alicia’s minimal flaws (such as her inability to be punctual), seeming like he actually despised her. But he preferred that to revealing the truth, which would surely alter their trio’s dynamic forever. Besides, the odds seemed good that Alicia didn’t feel the same way, so what was the point of baring his soul for no reason?

Leif, Link's alter ego in the book, does not want to show emotionality at all but it is a case of romance. Of course, with a girl. But a girl who was his best friend, come crush.

They also didn't speak about that weird agreement they had for a while 4-5 years ago to stop seeing each other outside work. Yes, this is true. They had an agreement to dedicate more time to their families and less to themselves. They explicitly said in an old EB that once they returned to NC for Christmas, if they accidentally met up in some supermarket corridor, not only they shouldn't talk to each other, they should also avoid eye contact! I think it was in the same EB, when they said that in an effort to regulate their "friendship" nothing they did should get out of the norm at all. And the example they offered - not so wisely - was: "Oh you're helping me with my seatbelt? Alarms go off. You don't usually help me put my seat belt". And again this is not 20 year old paranoid Rhett and Link. We are talking 4-5 years ago. And it was a new arrangement between them, for some reason. Mysteriously enough, about a year later they said job was draining their friendship and actively tried to find more time for them as friends.

There, you see. Unfortunately this time they did not explain how all this conforms to a typical close laconic male friendship. However they like to call what they have, it is not typical.

Anon #2 said:

He said it was negative in the past. They were taught to hate being gay or other gay people growing up and this must have been very hard to get rid of as adults. To be honest, no matter how many rainbows and proud Mythicality t-shirts they wear, I feel they always struggle a bit inside with this. They want to change but childhood teachings get the tightest grip on you. Let alone they were apparently getting the gay "accusation" since they were very young and because of this they must have lived in fear and uncertainty.

Let's consider this: non-confrontational Rhett was more mad at the guy who was making jokes that Link and he are gay than he was about a friend of his and his girlfriend cheating on him. Wow. The TONS we could unpack in this.

The stuff we could unpack in Rhett saying he went peacefully to that boy spreading the rumour but then somehow the boy ended up in the principal's office all the same.

The stuff we could unpack in them reasoning that it was weird they were considered gay even though they were dating the two sexiest girls in school. (Whispers: the attractiveness doesn't really have anything to do with evidence of your straightness, on the contrary the straightest you are, the more women you are going to be attracted to without being overly nitpicky). Or as if it hasn't been long established that Link just sat there doing nothing while he had girls throwing themselves to him.

The stuff we could unpack in Rhett immediately breaking up with the cheating girlfriend but seeing the friend with whom she cheated on him the next day and being like "heeey man lol haha". a) The misogyny involved, I mean, even Link was like "I am not gonna partake in this", because apparently the girlfriend was a promiscuous woman, the friend was the pal who did what men do, b) he clearly was not in love with the girl, Link confirmed Rhett was hurt but not mad, yes he was hurt because his pride was wounded otherwise he clearly did not care a bit about her besides finding her sexually attractive and clearly he would not sacrifice even a standard random friend for her sake, c) he wanted to act cool, not like a sentimental weak boy who ends friendships for... a girl and whine-cries to another guy. Such a macho man, right? He doesn't even care another bro used his girl! *the disgust I feel right now tho*

And this is not a one time thing, Rhett has said how he was totally obsessed with girls all the time and then the moment he got in a relationship with somebody, the relationship fizzled out quickly. I assume he could not channel his sexual needs due to his spiritual beliefs and therefore he soon lost interest because he did not form an emotional bond with his girlfriends. Equally, the girls had neither the emotional nor their sexual needs met and that's why they would lose interest in him quickly too.

Rhett reasoned that that boy called them gay because he was friendzoned by their girlfriends and was jealous. He did not tell us his perspective on what his friends thought about him doing such a bad thing to their boyfriends! Whose side did the girlfriends take and how much did they care? Or were there concerns the girls were voicing to their friends that gave their friend the opportunity to crack a big joke at Rhett and Link's expense?

No it's not that the society doesn't like male closeness so that it explains it as romantic - it's that the society fears constantly that two males may be romantic so it condemns their closeness in advance. That's what they were saying. Again, the episode was a conundrum because they implied they felt burdened by the constant social presumptions yet at the same time they described their friendship as very common, stereotypically male and not based on expessions of care and appreciation. So... honestly I have no idea. It's like you were listening to 34 year old Rhett and Link talk.

Anon #3 said:

Yes, Anon, I agree with you, except for the theory that they are not aware of their feelings for each other. No, they are no five year olds. And they have been together too long to not have realised what they feel. Let alone that I think they acted on it years ago but again apparently I am wrong in everything XD

But, they do have serious daddy issues. Link had an absent father and Rhett had a never pleased father for whose splinters of appreciation he struggled constantly. Their daddy issues have shaped their personalities a great deal and one would think their sexualities as well, had they not explicitly denied that in the latest EB. So.. I dunno what to say. But given this episode, I don't expect a coming out any time soon, if ever. It's weird, I can't reconcile this podcast with all their latest R&L videos, and all Link's "I want to jump out of the plane", "I want to celebrate who I really am" and tearing up, like, what the heck is all this? This thing had such a different energy. As a result, yes they also sounded emotionally stunted and although I already thought there was room for improvement in this department anyway, this time it was uncharacteristically worse.

It's also how they said that they base their friendship on shared interests and not on connection and Rhett said he asks Link about his life but it's not the priority over a shared hobby or creating for the job. Again, it comes in such a contrast with them knowing every single thing about each other and when they forget some minor detail, the other is about to snatch their head off. Aren't all these things...true? Am I making this stuff up? For real. It seemed to me like they made their friendship a great disservice and it's not even about the romance at this point.

I also loathed that...um... hopefully joke about how Link is gonna deal once Rhett and Christy are gone. Especially about Christy. Saying that once she dies, supposedly in old age, 85 year old Link would jump on dating immediately and would take aiding pills for his dick to work. I know it was a joke but it was so, so cheap. So apparently new Link is so straight and horny, he's gonna be the new Mick Jagger or Al Pacino. And is he gonna be dating other 85 year olds down for sex or is he gonna go play in the younger field? And of course not a single word for grievance for the wife of 65 years! Again, I realise it was a joke and I am taking this too seriously but after all this emotional stuntedness, like you also observed, this was for me the cherry on top and it really put me off big time.

The interesting thing is that in all this unpleasant emotional obtuseness, there were still a few intriguing moments. Most were by Link. The first was how Link emphasised mostly on the fear of losing Rhett rather than Christy and he said that he is making a lot of friends so that, if he loses Rhett, they can keep him "above ground". VERY interesting choice of words and very very strong. Could he ever mean that literally?!

Another classic Link moment we had was when Rhett said that he had finally formed an emotional bond with his wife after all these years of freaking living together and Link could not stop himself from asking "Is this really enough?" First of all, well, Link, it is near enough. If the emotional bond is not the strongest thing to a relationship, what is? Of course physical intimacy is very significant but the need for it varies from person to person. However, I have never heard of a person entering a longterm committed relationship without at least emotional bonding as the absolute prerequisite. So what was this? Maybe Link's typical quickness to belittle Rhett's relationship with his wife, even in this episode in which he was certainly not supposed to. Besides, it was totally out of place since the whole point in this episode was how even men secretly yearn for emotional intimacy. So Link should be happy Rhett found this in his wife, not question it and downplay its importance.

He also scoffed when Rhett referred to Jessie as "my beautiful wife", as is also typical of him.

Lastly, another weird ass moment was when Link explained he initially was sad he is the one to initiate their meetings but he grew to appreciate that Rhett does not initiate but he is always up for his suggestions. Rhett did not object to that. Excuse me, don't we know the exact opposite to be the case? Isn't it always Rhett the one to come up with ideas about what to do, how to connect, where to go out and Link either accepts or dismisses his ideas? And then Rhett works with what Link accepts? Isn't this the very foundation of their dynamic??? It's like I am going crazy??? LMAO

It was honestly a different Rhett and Link. Or I had different ears. I don't know. But you can message me anytime!!!

Anon #4 said:

Well that EB episode was a very good start.

To be clear, it can't easily make me unthink everything I have thought all these years but it can make me change my mind about their future, what they want from it and how their relationship will evolve. Their future dynamics also have to be consistent in order for this EB to be proven to be sincere, because it certainly isn't consistent with their past dynamics on screen for all the reasons I already discussed. Again, I don't want to be that person but I explained this in detail, many statements there come in contrast with older statements. I will however stress again that they did look honest. So, there's that.

It will be interesting to see what their next main channel videos are going to be like. Have they uploaded the risky video yet after all? Was it the 1984? And if yes, what exactly made it the riskiest since they made a whole episode about them having trouble enjoyring their repressed male friendship out of fear of being mistaken as gay, even though even the 1984 video wasn't enough for any serious number of people to consider it had any homosexual undertones? Is it gonna be the next one, the supposed fourth? And if so, how? How and why risky? And if it is risky this way, how will they justify this EB episode then? Subversing expectations like in Game of Thrones? This is reality here. It can't be that. And as we are at it, what was so self-expressing in the Digging A Hole video? Because I thought it fitted very well as an allegory of a secret sexual relationship but apparently that wasn't the case. So how was it a deep project of expression? Only Rhett and Link know. I frankly still think I make more sense in my wild theories than they do in their own podcast. But it is not a very good thing for me to say.

Link had said in the first EB discussing the new videos, that there was an important question they had, waiting to be answered by the reception of one of the videos and once they knew, this would inform their next steps. Is this about the work? Is this about what they create? Or is it about something more personal?

Could it be that they saw something in these videos' reception, like maybe, a stubborn refusal from the fans to view them as allegories, which made them conclude that this is not the way to communicate with the people or that the people consciously or subconsciously do not want to receive that particular message? So they went plan B? Like Anon # 3 suggested, to make the people believe a certain thing for good so they can go on living their truth undisturbed for good?

I don't know. Just one more wild theory in a sea of apparently wild theories.

[mpregandproud]

Isaac (Part 7)

It was strange to live without so much worry and doubt. The insecure Dan was left behind after returning from the village. I regained my relationship with my parents, we now talked practically every day. After Sandra's birth I took paternity leave, as did Isaac. We had weeks to be together and take care of the little one.

It was two months after we got back and I was already huge. I knew that three babies would make me grow a lot, but when I was just about to enter the seventh month of gestation I could no longer do most of the daily tasks. Bending down to tie my shoes was an ordeal. Holding Sandra in my arms was becoming more and more difficult. And I was spending more and more time sitting or lying on my side.

Clothes were beginning to be a serious problem. As I told you I was a big person, but between what I had gained before and during the pregnancy I had to change my closet several times. I was just near of 300 pounds. My belly was very wide and getting pointier and pointier. I haven't been able to see my feet for three months now, and neither has my dick. And if that wasn't enough, my chest was getting bigger and bigger and tender. They were one step away from becoming tits. It was only a matter of time before milk started to emanate from them. I was really looking forward to it so I could feed little Sandra.

The babies were becoming more and more active. Inside me I felt a veritable stampede of wild animals on the savannah. It was especially intense movement every time Isaac and I fucked. I had stopped being versatile, my body right now making it difficult for me to fuck Isaac. Since the fifth month it is my boyfriend who comes inside me with his big penis. As soon as his penis goes all the way in my body goes into ecstasy. My babies move like crazy, I tremble with pleasure and cum multiple times.

By the time I entered my 30th week of gestation I weighed 320 pounds, with 10 more weeks to go. My appetite was only growing and our friends brought us lots of food every time they visited us. And they visited very often. The doctor had given up on my weight, I was a basket case. My underwear was getting tighter and tighter. 

Lucas and his husband Adam invited us to their wedding, but in my condition it was impossible for me to attend. Once they got married and returned from their honeymoon they paid us a visit. Like everyone who visits us they brought large amounts of food which I began to devour as we drank tea together.

"You look really dazzling," Lucas acknowledged to me. "Thanks, but you're looking at me with good eyes. I'm chubby as hell, I can barely move and look at my boobs, they're bigger than my sister's," I replied with a mouth full of donuts. "I think you look better than ever," added Isaac who surprisingly still loved me even though I looked more like a cow than a person.

"You see, Dan, Adam and I want to be parents. We've been wanting to adopt or have a child through surrogacy for a while now," Lucas began. "When you came back to town and I saw you with your belly I understood that finally our dream could come true," he told me. "I would like you to gestate our baby, what better than my best soccer friend carrying my baby inside him. I think you are perfect for this job," Lucas said. "We know you can't give us an answer now, and you and Isaac will have to talk, but we both agree on this, you seem to us to be the best candidate, and with proven fertility," Adam said.

That night Isaac and I had a long conversation. He didn't see very clearly that I would be a surrogate for my friends. But he also knew that these months of pregnancy were going great for our relationship. I was tempted by the idea of getting pregnant again, it was clear to me that I wanted to do it again, but with babies that weren't Isaac's?

In the end we decided that we would accept the offer. It would have to be at least half a year after giving birth and only once. The idea was not to become a professional surrogate, but I did want to help my friends become parents. Lucas and Adam agreed, of course. In half a year I would start again with a pregnancy, if someone had told me a year ago that I would be pregnant I would not have believed them, let alone if they had told me that I would be pregnant twice. Of course, before I get pregnant again I will have to lose all the weight I have gained if I don't want to remain immobile forever.

Go to Part 8