#almost drives me nuts

[dragonfruitflamb3]

Based off a real thing that happened to me at work yesterday when chatting with a coworker when gushing about a celeb I like

(full page under cut)

[aro-arttorneys]

Happy "it wasn't christmas yet!" to those who celebrate 🥳

[nanihirunkits]

%5$#@! Huh? Phum. What did you say?

WE ARE | EP2

bonus:

[oswhys]

So, when I played Lucanis’s questline for the first time, I genuinely thought that Illario was going to turn out to also be possessed. I like to try to come up with theories if there's some kind of mystery involved. Obviously, Illario is suspicious from the get-go but if you want to give him the benefit of the doubt you can, after all, grief really does make people act strangely, but not usually immediately after the death. But when he shows up after the defeat of Zara and kills her just as she says “Amatus” upon seeing him there's no doubt he was in cahoots with her. But then something interesting happens, he uses blood magic, some enchanted pin. He still keeps up the act of innocence though. We get further confirmation during the questioning of Zara’s corpse that the two were extremely close, at least from her perspective. But then we get a strange little tidbit from the memories of Lucanis later in his quest line when you're with spite. Lucanis has a memory or maybe it's some warped memory of Zara talking about the cultivation of an Envy demon. 

Zara’s project was to cultivate and bind different types of demons more easily through new techniques. Zara was talented enough to be able to put a demon inside of a non-mage subject, something that shouldn't be possible in the first place, or at least unheard of. She also wanted to cultivate certain types of demons, ones that are more rare and possibly harder to bind. We see the results of most of her test subjects, either walking corpses or bound demons. Let's say she agrees to take Lucanis to be a test subject, thinking the whole thing would just kill him and the terms of her deal with Illario would be met. Let's say shes surprised Lucanis is even able to merge with spite, let alone survive well afterward. Now let's say this gets her thinking, can she replicate this? Can she put demons and spirits into non-mages? Was this a freak accident?

I know I’m speculating a lot here but hang with me. Now I don't know if her scheme is to take advantage of Illarios jealousy and use it to create an envy demon, something rare and hard to bind, but it would naturally be attracted to that much envy in a person. Or maybe it's presented as an opportunity later down the line, that Illario could become an abomination and gain as much power as one, being able to tap into magic even if not in full control would still give him an edge. I don't know, I just think there was a bit more to the story that we don't know about, aside from what we’ve seen in some of the concept art. Which shows something akin to Illario being manipulated by either Zara or some kind of desire demon or??? Just someone in a pool of blood, with horns? But pieces of these ideas got left behind in the game. Fragments of something larger and it drives me up the wall. 

There's an obvious romantic connection between Illario and Zara that is never elaborated upon in conversation, It is a deeply interesting tidbit of information and nothing is done with it. Then there's Zara’s line in Lucanis’ memories of her saying that the conditions of cultivating an envy demon must be perfect (the line that sent me through this spiral). And then there is Lucanis’ log book. His 5th one if you don't save Treviso shares a reading list of books and he writes some notes with his thoughts about each. He says that Spite “trusts nothing to do with envy demons” which to be fair to spite, is reasonable they're… creepy, and envy as an emotion is a huge liar sometimes. 

There's just something there. Obviously, the story got cut up and changed with time but there was a time when I started to think that the reason Illario is so suspicious is that he's a red herring, or he's a patsy, or not in control of himself or being manipulated or SOMETHING. But no he's just… kinda stupid. He locked up his grandmother and kept her alive? IS HE STUPID?

Anyway, I just like the idea of some grander conspiracy or grander narrative and that maybe Illario wasn't all to blame for everything or that he was, and he was actually even more villainous. Being controlled by his own jealousy to the point of madness blah blah blah you see why I’m thinking about this so much now yeah?

[marshmallow-biscuit-blog]

shouldnt you be making art for yourself vs other people? You art isn’t a commodity or a product, it’s self expression for yourself :(

It's also my job. And if nobody's interacting with it I'm broke af (like how I am rn with literally $20)

[reel-fear]

Just a little follow up on that last post but just in general I think one of the reasons I've really stopped caring for railing on the Playtime devs... Is just because it feels like so much of it is just speculative nonsense trying to make every single thing they do secretly evil or lazy or bad. Why isn't it enough to discuss the Actual bad things they did [the fact they used to run a shady content farm before doing game work, the fact they tried to sell lore to their fans via NFTs, etc] it's hard for me to engage with content that rightfully critiques that bc oftentimes they then spiral into speculative 'so now we have to tell you why this moment where an employee blinks in the game is code for the devs secretly stole all their code from Bendy and kill babies as a hobby'.

Which makes me turn off my brain and not want to take any other points they make seriously, bc like I said if you lie to me to try and convince me of your point, I'm not gonna take anything else you say seriously bc I won't know if it's true or just something you made up anymore.

It honestly feels like everyone just keeps making shit up bc Poppy Playtime used to be the internet punching bag but now that the NFTs thing isn't the hottest topic to discuss about it anymore we all just need a reason to make fun of it and the people who like it. Which just kinda feels like unfair cringe culture, because if our real problem is the devs being greedy and shady why isn't the same effort put into roasting similar devs like the Bendy team? We can't suddenly say 'well actually being a bit greedy isn't That bad' when it's a team we like instead of one we all decided is 'cringe n bad'.

[ganondoodle]

so, my (not old) headset just broke out of nowhere (just randomly lost sound on the right ear and it doesnt come back no matter what i did with both its software bs and plugs)

can anyone recommend a headset with good sound and decent mic that preferably doesnt cost me more than 80€?

(broken one is a HyperX Alpha, i got another HyperX for work but its a different model and now idk if i should go for it again after this ..)

[sailfish-serum]

I hope everyone who baby talks autistic people dies violently.

[9s-suggestion-ver1-1a]

9S what'd you think of the anime?

I've heard of this anime stuff, but my pod informed me that it's dangerous.

[lesbegays]

i’m gonna invent a new job called butterfly proofreader in which companies or artists hire me to tell them “sorry that’s a viceroy not a monarch” before they publish something

[drifting-pieces-blog-blog]

Breaking down the comics: Visions of the past (issue 32)

Moon Knight, Issue #32:  When the Music Stops (Part 2) 

Written by Doug Moench and art done by Kevin Kowlan and Carl Potts. 

Tag line: How many more will have to die before the final note is played, the grimmest of dance finally done? 

The end of the story also has a short: 

"Cancer" Written by Alan Zelenetz, Marc Silvestri, and Gary Kwapisz. 

Tag Line: Somewhere in the hospital there is a desperate man with a gun and the person he has to kill. 

We open on Moon Knight overlooking a block. 

"A slum stuffed somewhere in the gray miasma called Brooklyn. Directionless, its bleak streets are ruled by poverty, hopelessness, despair....and gangs." 

We have a mild recap of the last issue. 

A 17 year old boy named Lenny who paces Dough Row, heading back to the pawn shop to buy back a pawned dream, his old music box. 

As he walks he starts to get a higher point of view on what is happening. The thug life, the protection money racket, the gang wars, selling his mother's prized music box....

"But how, Lenny wonders, has it come to this?" He views himself trapped by fate, careening down a tunnel without a way out. 

He recalls his tossle with Lewis and Moon Knight. 

He views his gang in memory as they declared to make Lewis an example and asks why he volunteered to collect the money. Why he felt the need to come up with the money on his own. 

The music box was almost like fate handing him an out. 

A hysterical mother begs him to get the box back, thinking it was stolen. He promises to get it back. 

Now, as he walks the street, he holds the cash in his pocket. He has to use it to quell the Savage Studs...Or buy back the box. 

Shank, the gang leader spots Lenny and calls out to him, asking for the money. 

Lenny lies. "Uh...No...I ain't got it. I...I been thinkin' Shank and I decided..." 

Wrong thing to say. Shank is pissed and demands that they all go to the pawn shop now to get the money. On the way, why not also make example of a few other shops too? 

They grab Lenny and force him to come along. 

Back at Grant Mansion, Moon Knight prepares to take off. He confides in Marlene that he feels he was too hard on the shopkeepers, stopping them from standing up for themselves. He decides to go make sure things are alright and that they stay protected. 

They bust into the pawn shop and Lewis comes running. 

Shank sends Lenny forward and tells him to do his job and shake down the old man. 

"Don't fight it, Lenny-Not now--It's too late. I...I'll give you the money...But you still won't be able to buy back what you lost." Lewis tells him it's okay. 

It's not enough for Shank. He doesn't just want the money. Now he wants blood. 

Sometimes the quiet moments in comics speak louder than anything that can be said. 

Moon Knight arrives to find shattered windows. He's too late. 

The other shop keepers have arrived and are gathered around Lewis' body. 

The shopkeepers are angry. They yell at Moon Knight. 

"You! You're what happened! If you'da let us take care of it before it reached this point--" 

He argues that there would have been more dead if they had fought. 

He tries to make them understand, but they won't listen and they tell him to leave. He isn't welcome there. 

"And despite his protests...Their words sting sharply... Perhaps he is responsible." 

He walks to the wharf. There he finds the club house just as Gena's boys, Ricky and Ray, promised. 

Inside, the Studs are not happy with Shank. 

The other members are displeased with the death of Lewis and Lenny isn't there. 

You know who is there? 

Moon Knight kicks in the door dramatically and declares "The kid gloves are off, Studs. Now that it's murder, you've just come of age." 

These young thugs have nothing on Moon Knight's combat training. 

He takes the out so easily. An all out brawl and he doesn't hold back. 

The details on that glove are amazing. 

With the gang beaten, Moon Knight asks "All right, who did it? Who killed the pawnbroker?" 

Lenny walks in. "Leave 'em alone, Moon Knight. I did it." 

He tells Moon Knight that the other members of the gang have had enough. He wants them to get a second chance and he surrenders himself. 

Moon Knight tells him that it was an accident. That he could testify on his behalf. 

"Yeah, sure--And how 'bout another song and dance about the dreams bein' mended someday, huh?" 

"Healing is possible, Lenny." 

"Maybe, Moon Knight, but right now I don't believe it..." 

He asks Moon Knight for a favor before he gets turned in. 

Unfinished business for his mother. 

They return to the smashed up pawn shop where he turns in the cash. 

"You were wrong, old man--I am redeemin' the ticket." 

He places the money on the counter and picks up the music box. 

This particular two parter is very bitter sweet. You see Moon Knight struggling to help and talking about healing. He helps a young man that has similar views to what he once had as a young Marc Spector. Perhaps he feels that helping this kid can somehow help Marc.

Yet in the end, the pawnbroker is dead, the kids will not be able to afford putting on the big dance they wanted, the gang breaks up, and Lenny is going to jail. 

Moench does a lot of stories that don’t have clear cut villains. There are no evil big bad guys or super villains out to destroy the world. More often than not, it is just an average down on their luck person with no way to a clear cut victory. 

It’s these stories where you see what’s happening in the world in those times and what is still happening. You have small stories that are close to home. You also have what feels like closer stories to Moon Knight. You see him try and often fail to help. 

Moon Knight has always had a soft spot with the teenage punk. With the rebellious youth and the kids that feel they have nothing ahead of them but violence. 

Jake connects with Gena and her boys, knowing they don’t have a father and he works to keep them off the streets and away from drugs and gangs as best he can. The heart of the Moon Knight system will always remember their own pain and do what they can to help those avoid the same path. 

EVEN MORE SO. This story took a special interest for me because of a callback. A lovely friend and fellow Moon Knight enthusiast (FAR bigger fan than I ever could hope to be and that’s saying something) pointed out to me that The Moon Knight revival of 2014 (after Bendis' horrid run and before Lemire blessed us). We had Ellis, Wood, and Bunn take on Moon Knight in an effort to draw interest back in and bring the character back to how it was when Moench first started painting us the picture. 

You see, Moon Knight was in trouble at Marvel. Interest had tanked and he was in danger of getting dumped and forgotten about. As luck would have it, the Editor and chief of Marvel at the time, Joe Quesada, claimed to be a huge Moon Knight fan and was super hopeful about this edgy run, and then super disappointed in how badly it tanked. 

In a last ditch effort, Mr. Ellis stepped up and requested he have a crack at Moon Knight. 

Ellis is known for a certain style and Marvel shrugged and said "Why not". 

Ellis started his run by doing callbacks to original popular stories. 

In issue 3 of Vol 1 by Warren Ellis and the amazing Declan Shalvey, we find Moon Knight facing down a gang of ghosts. 

The title of this issue? "Box". 

Boy those punks sure do look familiar. 

This particular issue gave us the glorious Khonshu armor designed to kick ghost ass. 

And of course Moon Knight kicks the ghost butts. He hates ghosts. Chasing the ghosts down, he finds their main hide-out. And…. 

Moon Knight finds the music box. Inscribed on the bottom "Johnny, be good. Love Mom." 

Now, we know in the original run, the punk's name was Lenny. But Johnny Be Good is a reference to a song. 

Hard to say.

Look at those skeletons huddled together in the corner. Each a bullet in their heads. 

As Moon Knight leaves, he takes the box with him where the ghosts now reside. Flying away, he drops the box into the river to let it be buried. 

While most likely not the original gang of Studs from before, the reference is clear and so very appreciated. Most of the stories in Ellis’ run end on this note of sadness and a feeling of loss for the past. 

Honestly, it works because the past is now so bitter to him. His struggles have come to a breaking point and the peace here is far away. 

It’s just a little extra tidbit that I really appreciated once I figured out the reference. And Modern Moon Knight is still filled with references to Moench. You just have to know where to look. 

---

As a juxtaposition to the story of lost dreams, we now come to the short: 

"Cancer" by Zelenetz. We're going to see a lot of stories by Zelenetz. He starts to fill in for Moench when he's out and does a lot of the shorts.

We open on a doctor talking to another man. 

"Bilateral inoperable carcinoma of the lung. In Layman's terms, it's quite simple, Mr. Fixler. Your brother's dying." 

He tells Mr. Fixler he wasted a trip and should have just called. 

Mr. Fixler begs Dr. Steele to do something. He loves his brother and he feels Dr. Steele has just written him off. 

Dr. Steele brushes it all off. "Your fraternal devotion is commendable, but I'm afraid it doesn't concern me as a diagnostician." 

Mr. Fixler calls Dr. Steele out on his attitude. 

"You know, Joey may have cancer in his body, but you, mister, you have got it in your soul. You're the one oughtta be dying." 

Mr. Fixler leaves and Dr. Steele sips his coffee, not at all bothered. 

"Elsewhere, early that evening, at the Mansion owned by Steven Grant, Millionaire alias of the Silver and jet crusader known as Moon Knight..." 

We see Moon Knight returning to the mansion. Steven walks into the room, running late to get them to a fancy dinner set to help raise money and open a new hospital wing. 

He removes the cape, but puts the tux on over the Moon Knight suit. 

Marlene calls him out on it and asks why he feels he needs to wear it to a charity event. 

"Aw, c'mon toots. You know it's my security blanket. Besides, Moon Knight's as much of a philanthropist as Steven Grant. He just gives his charity differently." 

Back at the hospital, Mr. Fixler is visiting his brother, who is hooked up to breathing machines and IV drips, asleep in the hospital bed. 

"Hot shot doctor tells me to get a private-duty nurse. 'This isn't a hotel', he says. 'we don't wait on patients hand and foot'." He hates how helpless his brother is and how he seems so far gone. All the tubes and lines connecting to him just to keep him alive and suffering. 

His brother wakes up and looks over, but he is unable to say or do anything. 

In the grand part of the hospital, the charity event is happening. 

Dr. Steele is giving a big speech about why he's a doctor. Considering what we just witnessed, it's a little full of bull. 

Steven can hardly hold his tongue, making small remarks to Marlene about the level of corn involved. 

"You want me to pass him the salt and butter for all his corn?" 

The Doctor's pager goes off but Dr. Steele ignores it. 

Apparently Dr. Steele has a reputation of being cold and uncaring as a computer. 

Nearby, Mr. Fixler has decided to take matters into his own hands. He collects a gun and heads back to the hospital. 

Gunfire rings out and an announcement goes off over the loudspeaker. 

"There has been a shooting reported on the premises. Please stay where you are until members of our staff have given you clearance." 

Steven hulks out of his tux and bolts out as Moon Knight.

Yeah, he takes out the cops. 

"Don't worry though, I'm not in this for the bounty. Soon as I find our mystery sniper, he's yours." 

He races around the hospital where it looks like everyone else is just carrying about their business despite an active shooter. 

Not to say mass shootings weren't a problem back then, because they absolutely were, but the social response has absolutely changed. Perhaps with the more prominent availability of not just instant news, but of video, the reality of an active shooter would cause far more of a scene than what we see here. And this bothers me for a lot of reasons. Especially seeing a comedy of Moon Knight running around the halls causing chaos as he passes people standing and talking or at the water fountain or of nurses casually handing out lunches.

It really bothers me. 

The loud speaker alerts that someone's been shot up on the top floor and Moon Knight heads that way. 

Out on the fire-escape, he grapples up to the top floor. Mr. Fixler sits in his brother's hospital room. 

"I had to do it." He sits on his brother's bed as Moon Knight bursts in. Only to find that Joey is the receiver of his brother's bullet. 

"You can go an' arrest me now. Joey's out of his misery. I just couldn't leave him suffering like a dog anymore. The Lord wasn't handling it--Blasted Doctor didn't care...So I shot him, fast as I could. Didn't hurt him. Then I took off all them ugly tubes. Look at him. Isn't he the most peaceful guy you've ever seen?" 

The cops arrive and Moon Knight takes his leave, looking sad. 

Back at Grant Mansion, we see Steven in bed with Marlene, looking pensive. 

"It's a matter of heart, I guess, Steven. To end somebody's life for them." She tries to comfort him. 

This bothers me too. This line to this System. Considering everything they have been through. 

Steven accepts it. "I know. Still, Marlene, the whole sad thing--It kind of reminds me of one of those days you take out the flag, wave it, and throw it away." 

The next morning we see Dr. Steele at his desk sipping coffee as he signs a death certificate. He asks the nurse to remind him which case it was. He can't bother to care. 

It’s a story that we’ve probably all seen before. A doctor that can’t be bothered to care about his patients. The line of leaving our loved ones to suffer vs. putting them out of their misery. 

I’m not going to get into it. That’s a can of worms I’m not willing to open up here for some very personal reasons. 

If you really want to know what I think you are welcome to DM me. I’m also willing to discuss the social changes in America in regards to gun violence over the ages. Considering this was published in 1983 and we are reading this now in 2023, a lot has gone on. 

So the big question here is did the writer have something to say?

That’s what stories are about. A message to get across. A way to move the audience to feel something and to think about things. 

Probably not in the way it was intended, it is making me think about things and I do have a reaction to it. But was this told well? 

Again, we see Moon Knight reacting to something and arriving too late and once again feeling like he could not help. Not to mention wondering if it even a right act or not. A lot of times it isn’t clear cut what the right response is. 

Maybe this is unique to Moon Knight writing in particular. Something that’s always been there. An underlining of trauma and points of view that are not clear cut. 

What’s even more interesting is how this will ebb and flow as the years progress with different writers. Some chose to ignore it and take the more ‘heroic’ route and others dive into it so deeply that perhaps we miss the character response altogether. 

What do you think? A victim of the time or a shot in the dark that just didn’t land?

[isa-ah]

"can we do XYZ tomorrow?"

"we don't have any money."

"well we need to go do it anyway."

"we don't have any money."

"it's going to be $60."

miss thing w thousands in her bank account we don't LIVE like that

[miserye]

i don't know if my roommate thinks it's weird that i like clean up after her (i don't mind doing it i like keeping the space the way i want it anyway aka clean) or if she appreciates it?? or if she thinks i'm super weird for it

[inkstainedhandswithrings]

OKAY SO

this is one of those posts yall gon hate me for, I'm just mentally preparing you, alrighty? don't yell at me, you chose to read this

In s4eps11 of tcw ("Kidnapped") the Zygerrians, with Dookus help, capture the Togrutan colony, to sell then into slavery, right? Well, when Ahsoka, Anakin and Obi-Wan report all this to the Jedi Council, Master Yoda seems concerned, so Plo asks "What is it, Master?"

and Yoda answers

i kid you not

"A darker hand I sense in all of this. Slavery, a great tool it is for the Sith."

And my brain immediately went "bitch you have an ARMY OF SLAVES. IF SLAVERY IS A TOOL FOR THE SITH. MAYBE. YOU SHOULD CHECK UP ON THE GUY WHO LIKE,,, I DONT KNOW,,,, COMMANDS THOSE SLAVES??? THE SLAVE MASTER??? THE GUY WHO??? STARTED THE WAR???"

but yeah, on a more serious note, it pains me that the Jedi never realised that the men they fought with are essentially slaves. My hc is that they were just never given sentient rights (I researched it, it's basically human rights but in space. every sentient creature gets them and is protected by them. even certain droids are considered sentient) and therefore aren't protected by them, so technically they aren't slaves and the Senate gets away with it unscathed but... the ethics of it all, you know? I feel like the Jedi should've picked up on it, and if they didn't, idk, maybe they were just waiting till after the war to address the issues? Still unethical on their part, but understandable. As soon as the clones get rights, they could be allowed to leave the army, which just isn't feasible during war time.

But yeah, I think if the Jedi had thought about the clones a bit more, about their situation, then maybe they would've noticed something off about the Chancellors politics. He literally has a slave army at his disposal, like,,, that's off, right? someone should investigate that, right? and I know, influence of the darkside, yada yada. Idk, I'm just hurting for the clones ig💔

[hypermascbishounen]

Shout out to eastern europe for consistently owning annoying americans in online fps games. This win is on me, for waking up to my roommate yelling slurs at you, and kicking him from the router.

[fereldanwench]

every time the in hushed whispers vs champions of the just convos come up, I want to pull my hair out by all the "I have to do IHW because i support the mages" comments

you can literally enslave the mages to the inquisition if you do IHW and you can completely disband the templar order if you do CotJ

the decision isn't about who you want to support in the war, it's about who can help you close the breach. what you do with them afterwards is a better reflection of political support than that initial decision