#also id love to still participate in some of the stuff we used to like or do together. but its just not possible.

[marklikely]

like you cannot believe how stupid this shit is unless its happened to you. last month i went from spending a long weekend w one of my beloved friends, going to cons w other friends, and just generally having a great time to 8 hours later having a week long breakdown where i was going back to [redacted] fantasies and do you know what caused it???? a glass animals song came on shuffle on my drive home from work.

[soap-is-an-artist]

gonna ramble about charlie and auron because i just got out the premiere and. holy shit.

if I'm way off base on my analysis i am so sorry, im still processing, these are just my initial thoughts on stuff. and if you disagree id love to discuss it!

okay so first things first i screamed a LOT. I was so relieved when Charlie said he wasn't mad at Cas [i would've cried probably]. Auron made some truly wild comments. case in point: "I would probably slap the taste out of your mouth if it wouldn't mean getting you all hot and bothered just in time for Casper to drop me off at the office, pull into the parking garage, and fuck some goddamn sense into you." I YELLED OMFG auron. you can't just SAY shit like that. Then the Disney princess line. Charlie sounded so weak when he said "can we go back to that part about 'Casper fucking some sense into me'??" And Auron answering with "Not until I'm outside of the vehicle. You'll have to find someone else to watch." AURON. STOP PLEASE IM GONNA HAVE A HEART ATTACK FROM LAUGHING

alright moving on from that let's get to the serious shit. Charlie is justified to be angry about Auron interfering in his personal life; it ISN'T a healthy way to interact with people, whether you want to befriend them or not. Auron orchestrated this whole scheme because he doesn't know how to communicate his feelings, and you know what? I get it. He doesn't know what normal is, and it's not really his fault that he doesn't know. But he can at least try? Wikihow is free, brother /lh

Charlie wanted a fresh start. He wanted to disconnect from the dangerous world that Auron is a participant in, he wanted to earn his own way in the world, earn a bit of self damn respect like he deserves. Auron undermined all that, despite his good intentions. He lied, big time. And that's kinda shitty and not okay!

Was it about control? Keeping a hand on loose ends, like Charlie thinks? Auron just wanted to "protect him", right? Well, as someone who has had much of their life controlled by people who ALSO just wanted to "protect" me, that's a very weak excuse for taking away someone's agency. Now, our situations aren't exactly the same. Auron is not Charlie's parents [THANK GOD] and there actually some things Charlie isn't aware of that he needs to be protected from! But this was not the move. Like.. at all.

What's my solution? I dunno. But maybe don't force all these things to happen. Perhaps send an email rather than getting your guy to hunt down your former employee's childhood friend/crush and sneakily reunite them behind his back? Or at least try the email first, Auron. Charlie calling Auron out on playing pretend, "just writing one of your little stories"... ouch. But does he kinda deserve that? Yeah. I think so.

[Side note: Charlie talking about how if he'd sought out Cas on his own terms, it would've worked out because they fall in love every time? "Because that's where I'm supposed to be." I. fucking. fell over. I had to fucking BITE something omg. Yeah im biased in this argument sorry lol, i definitely have a favorite here]

HOWEVER: Auron admits that he was wrong! He is not an unrepentant man and he DIDN'T double down! That is a big point in his favor imo. He doesn't actually say "sorry" but he uses a lot more words to mean something... similar? I guess that's a fanfic writer's way. I get it, I also elaborate way too much. So, an actual clear cut "Charlie, I'm sorry I fucked with your life behind your back just because I wanted to be friends with you" would've been nice. But this will do for now.

Also Charlie you REALLY need to watch out for Finn that guy is a freakkkkk he will fuck you up big time. Not normal Finn. The magic one.

Okay I'm done typing whatever pops into my head with the barest pretense at organization lmao, I'll revisit this in time once my thoughts marinate a little more

[askuemki]

@vivgst new thread <3 (I have the cut so it won't be a pain to scroll lol)

I've never watched Death Note, but I guess Ill just say L is my favorite since we share a name (technically) Honestly? my answer is simple w/ what animal Id be Almost ANY cat (not the flatfaced or folded ear ones though they can have some bad health issues :( ) Like if you're a domestic cat, you have the stuff to survive both in the wild, or in someone's house. You have super scenes of smell, night vision, claws, sharp teeth, AND probably enough smarts to not get eaten by dogs or smth. On the other hand with humans, at least 70% of the population would adore you, and maybe even take you in to pamper you. It would be very easy to get them to do your bidding since you'd be just some animal, and perhaps put above your caretaker's needs. Pets? Affection? Just act all adorable and stuff and they'll give it to you, cling on to them and they'll say they're your human now. On the other hand (or paw) there's the wild cats!! Still very cute. Still very cool. Now your defenses are upped by a ton, and people still find you cute. Though with how shitty environmental conditions are, and with the bigger cats slowly going to extinction :( , I may or may not just stick to domestic cats But hypothetically.. It would be neat to be either a snow leopard, tiger, or a jaguar. I love snow leopards for their big fluffy tails, and it would be cool to be able to roam through snow and stuff, but that seems to get a little boring from time to time. Love tigers for their stripes, I don't think they can roar..?? But that doesn't change anything. Think Tigers and Jaguars are both pretty efficient in survival, but I'd pick Jaguar just for their athletics and HUGE bite force (least from my 1st search). Or maybe, maybe not because there's an outfit/skin or two of Valeria's that are based on jaguars.. (or leopards, but ill go w/ jaguars) im obsessed w/ this woman man hdwhadwjadawnk OH ALSO ON THE TOPIC OF BIRDS??? AS FUN AS IT WOULD BE TO BE A MALE BIRD AND SHAKE YOUR COLORFUL BUM AROUND, THERE WAS A WHOLE ASS WAR W/ EMUS AND AUSTRALIA Honestly who wouldn't wanna be a relative of a dinosaur, but smaller and just as fucking scary Also for vacation.... I don't like going on vacation. I just like being in my sad little room, on the internet or drawing my ass off But, Id love to visit Japan and see their Ghibli Studio museum, it's so cool... Or even just go to a few hotels or smth here and there, I love their stellar technology, I love how everything is so cute or neat there, oh and I especially LOVE the social rules there, I'm a goody-two-shoes at heart and perfectly agree with being "nice"... Like yeah sure I may not like you or the opposite, but at least we can co-exist without biting our heads off (unlike the fucking us) and japan seems open to their culture being explored by others, so I'd totally love to (respectfully) participate in some traditions here and there OR I could visit Europe. Like not even a specific country? Just Europe. Cuz the US is like really fucking big, and a country like France is apparently as big as Texas. And it would be cool to take a week trip just exploring cultures and stuff (well everything except food, I'm a terrible picky eater ugh) Vacation in the US scares me tho, I'm fine where I'm at rn Maybe id be a little open to going to canada.. but bc of how they're treating the Palestine genoside rn maybe like later in life if they redeem themselves, but like the us? Fuck them too I think crocodiles r cute, but I wouldn't wanna go near one :3 Most of my relatives are either in the Philippines or Maryland, I barely know abt them now Never thought I'd be the one to be the gay cousin, ngl

[papyrusweekblog]

Papyrus week! April 16 – April 22

 (ID: Image of one of Undertale’s official stickers. Papyrus is smiling and happily crying, trying to dry off his tears with a tissue. There are letters above him that read, in all caps, “You’re nice!! You’re too nice!!”  / end ID)

Greetings! This is the first time I ever prepare an event, so trust me I will not be any good at it, but I really love Papyrus and I’ve always wanted to participate in a week appreciation about him, so I might as well make one myself!

The tag for this event will be #papyrusweek2023 and it will start on April 16 and end on April 22

 Read more for all the information:

 Rules:

-This event is for Undertale Papyrus, you can include your own version of Deltarune Papyrus too, but I would prefer the focus wasn't on AUs. However, Papyrus redesigns or human versions of the character are the exception, absolutely post these if you want!

-I want to keep this event sfw, please don't post any suggestive or nsfw content in the papyrus week tag

-Please I ask that you do not draw yellowface Frisk and/or Kris if you include either of them

-No misgendering of characters, not any erasure of characters’s canon identities, no bigotry or hate of any kind

-If you make content about the no mercy run or a couple of neutral runs do tag it properly, it can be upsetting to see for some people

-Of course, inc*st and p*dophilia are not allowed, get out of here. Yes, this includes Frisk and Chara, they are children. This includes Flowey too, there is debate on how old he is but he very clearly behaves like a child, and whether you agree or not I do NOT want to see him being shipped with Papyrus, keep that content out of this event

-While I didn't include a 'ship' day you can absolutely draw ship content, Papyton is allowed here or any other ship (that is normal and doesn’t involve inc*st or p*dophilia. I would prefer to not see selfcest either)

-You can pretty much do anything: drawings, fics, character analyses, videos, music, etc. Have fun!

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

 Days:

April 16, day 1: Hobbies and Jobs

Let's start with an easy one: Papyrus's interest in puzzles, cooking and the royal guard! Papyrus cares deeply about anything he is interested in, even beyond the examples I just mentioned (being cool online, cars, etc). There is even a possibility for him to be The Monster Ambassador! Lots of things to choose, pick whichever you want!

  April 17, day 2: Battles

You're blue now, that's his attack. Papyrus's fight is really interesting isn't it? He has so many cool attacks, he's the only monster able to not kill you, and he might be incredibly strong...? It's a shame we couldn't see his special blaster attack, but if you want you want, you could show us! Or maybe even more interesting ideas for different Papyrus battles! Or simply appreciate the one we have and listen to Bonetrousle all day

  April 18, day 3: Family

Papyrus has a really cool brother, not as cool as he is but still pretty great. Some say he might also have a mysterious scientist dad/grand father/brother.....? We don't know much but that sounds pretty great too!

  April 19, day 4: Friendship

Papyrus wants to be popular, popular, popular! But perhaps what's most important is the friends that care about you for who you really are. And luckily, Papyrus has found friends like that along the way!

  April 20, day 5: Give up giving up

Papyrus is a character that has been very misunderstood in the past, from being reduced to a comic relief to being seen as nothing but an innocent naive character. But Papyrus is a very complex character: he has insecurities, he has flaws, he believes in kindness no matter what, and there are just a lot of things we don't know about him. For some reason we haven't seen him in Deltarune yet...? While we wait for him, let's show everyone how interesting Papyrus is!

  April 21, day 6: Free day

Make whatever content you want! Headcanons, fun ideas that you want to share, ships, post-game stuff, etc. Impress Papyrus with your creativity

  April 22, day 7: Papyrus

We have focused on everything that revolves Papyrus, now it's time for Papyrus himself! What do you love about this character? Do you think he is cool? Let's show Papyrus how many fans he really has

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

 And that’s all! I apologize for being very new at this but I’ll try my best. Most importantly, if you decide to participate even if it’s just for one day, thank you and have fun!

[harmed-hawks]

Temp Intro

Hello my dears. We are alters apart of the Nighthawk System or better known as @sewers-headmates . We wanted a blog to be able to post our transHarmed content. This blog will be only for transHarmed alters who wish to post about it. Our dms and ask are open and anonymous will be on. You can be weird to us we do not care. We are collectively taken but none of the alters on here are. So there will be a lot of wish posting.

Harmed Hawks Flock:

•Gregory Bloodrose - he/him, bisexual, transShota, permaGroomed loser who somehow is still better than you. I am a H3ll P4rk fictive and have mixed emotions on my source. I welcome advances, comments, idolization, threats, whatever you wish. taken and owned by my master >:3 in our ps!

•Estella Havisham - she/her, i have a complex sexuality i am a lesbian technically but have a transHarmed thing for men in a non romantic way if that makes sense. I am royalty and act like it, I know better then most and will not be as easy as most transHarmed alters on here. Vague threats do me no fear. I am a mixtive from a few south park aus and ID as transProgrammed, transBlackBlood, and transAngel

•Mike - he/him, i just wanna be groomed again ngl <3 platonicly groom and program me pls /lh, uhh i’m pretty cringe and just am here for fun! i love sourcemates and LOVE transHarmful sourcemates! I’m a fictive from Stranger Things! also permaGroomed as well i love that label!

•Eric - he/him, i’m mainly here because i want my bf to break my ribs and make me cough up blood. so i guess i count as transHarmed. labels i specifically used are transScaryHarmed, transGuiltyHarmed, transBPD, and transYandere. I’m a lil obsessed with my bf…duh…also have a little sister i love (ily jasmine /fam). anyway ya that’s me

•Richie - he/loser/it, system host and resident permaLoser. I have MANY partners lol but one is specifically very transHarmful (ily Max <3). Some of my IDs are transHarmed, transBullied, permaBullied, transSnuffed, transMurdered, and other fun stuff!! horny post? horny post.

•Jughead - he/him, riverdale fictive, very queer, transGay but like will still date women idk it’s confusing, transHarmed/transBullied/trasCSA/transAbused are my main IDs, also a necro, asks are open for me /p specify for transBullies

so far that is all who wish to participate in this blog but the list may grow!

Tags:

🐦‍⬛ [name] speaks - alters posting

🐦‍⬛ harmed horde - labels said alter uses/likes

🐦‍⬛ flock thoughts - just our rambles

🐦‍⬛ best building - reblogs

will add more later but yes

[crunkcommie]

hey so I'm not jewish, but I grew up in a very religious school which had some v negative impacts, so if you don't mind me asking was/is there anything like that in judaism? Or really just other religions in general but in this case I'm asking specifically on like ur experience.

Bc i grew up with ppl constantly blaming stuff on 'oh its for God' and 'Oh dont do/talk about that its sinful' and 'you have to be faithful' and like I was wondering if this is common in other religions, or if this just some extreme fanaticism i had to grow up with

also srry if I use any wrong terminology or anything, like I said I'm not jewish so pls correct me if I said anything wrong

Ty!!!!

P.S. ur rlly cool, i love seeing ur reblogz n stuff :)

HELLLLOOOO this has been sittin in my ask box 4 quite sum time so imma answer it now !!!

first of all id like to say that this is actually a very common question that i get from non-jewish friends.

and i would have to say, it all depends on interpretation and sect of judaism !!!

when i was super young, i was raised without a religion. i knew my mother was jewish and therefore i was, and i was very curious about judaism !! i started going to a jewish camp at around age 7.

my mother, as i previously stated, is a jewish atheist (but participates in jewish traditions) and is relatively socially progressive. my father was raised catholic and is (in his words) "socially progressive and fiscally conservative".

but anyways, as i have explored judaism and my place in the jewish world, i feel most aligned with reform judaism. me and my mother are trying to become more involved in jewish traditions. i am still on my religious journey and i always enjoy talking to other jews about their experiences with religion and on being a jew in a mostly christian society.

reform judaism is also known as "progressive judaism" or "liberal judaism". it's based around the idea that as jews we should adapt our traditions and beliefs to our modern day environment.

so due to this, i didn't grow up around extreme religion-based homophobia, transphobia, and the like.

however, i have quite a few friends who are growing up in orthodox/conservative jewish households and their experiences sound much like yours.

but as we know, not all jews or sects of judaism are the same :)

i really enjoyed answering this ask !!!!

[wutlaikalikes]

CosplayMania 2024

I didn’t plan on going mainly because I don’t have money. Ever since my brother got annoyed that he didn’t know that Ollie would be in CosplayMania, I tend to just tell him about events that involve vtubers. This year, Hololive ID Anya Melfissa and Vestia Zeta, and Holostars EN Jurard T Rexford and Octavio are going to be guests.

I’m a huge fan of Holostars but I don’t have money so I didn’t really plan on anything. However my brother was interested and even offered to buy me tickets for the event. Who am I to say no? So I agreed to go with him.

The day before, I decided to go through artists’ twitter posts that will be participating in the artist gallery to see if there are interesting Holostars stuff. I saw a bag and sticker sets that are Holostars related. There are even official Holostars merch that are being sold. I saved them on my phone along with the map so I know where to go to buy them.

It was bro’s planned day off so we went on Day 1. There weren’t a lot of people, since Friday is still a school / work day. Event was scheduled to open at 10am but they opened late and we ended up going in around 11am.

Plan is to eat lunch after the Holostars event, so we walked around and bought stuff.

First order of business, get an Arurandeisu merch.

(Arurandeisu Holostars 3rd Anniversary merch)

We tried to go through every stall but we got distracted especially after seeing Fauna’s MILF hat. I also started to look for a store that would potentially sell Holostars stuff but I couldn’t find it.

1pm. When the hall was finally opened we just sat inside the event hall. Bro was not used to walking and standing for a long time. The Holostars panel would start at 2pm. It was cold and at some point we needed to go to the bathroom. I went first and it was uneventful. Bro went next and when he returned he discovered another event starting and a Tekken tourney that was about to start. In other words, he ended up not using his silver ticket and basically enjoyed the general activities.

The event has 3 sets of guests. The first one is Chiai Fujikawa, then Holostars EN and lastly kz(livetune).

While waiting, I already noticed Holostars fans coming in. There was even an Octavio standee and tarpaulin poster. But I didn’t have the courage to sit next to them. I have no idea who they are and for sure they have gathered online and are friends. So I sat there on the side of people that are fans of the musical guests. It was funny cause I think it was an unintentional coincidence.

(where I'm sitting...)

Chiai Fujikawa is a well known artist that has a lot of songs used in anime, one of which is さがしもの (Sagashimono / Looking for Something) ending theme song of Ossan Newbie Adventure.

Holostars EN is next! I actually planned to write down as many things that happened in the event. But I felt lonely more than anything. Like I said, I spotted Holostars fans and my brother left me. Their segment started with an introduction and a game. Pinoy Henyo is a well known game in South Elysium (‘pinoy’ is the casual term for Philippines citizen or Pilipino, and ‘henyo’ means genius in Filipino/Tagalog). Pinoy Henyo is a guessing game where one knows the word and the other can only ask questions answerable with yes, no and maybe. The first 4 rounds are played by Jurard and Octavio, then the last 4 are played together with the audience.

After that was the question and answer. I don’t remember all the questions, the first question has something to do with Jurard’s stones. There was a question about who they would save from, from what I think, drowning among Armis. The follow up is the same question but among Tempus. I don’t remember their answer among Armis but for Tempus, Octavio will save Bettel and Jurard will save Machina because Machina has the R-Trus. The other question is what OPM songs will they dedicate to Armis members and I don’t remember the answers. (2 weeks has passed as I write this part…)

As last treat, Jurard and Octavio sang a ‘love song(?)’ that I believe Octavio wrote for their love team, Jutai. We can’t take photos but there is an image in the music video that is burned in my brain that I attempted to recreate.

I was planning to leave after the Holostars segment but while the host was talking the Holostars and maybe Hololive fans got up and left. I felt bad for the last guest so I decided to sit there and try to get to know the last guest, kz(livetune). I don’t know what is up with the translator but he was saying so many things but she would translate less. Seriously felt bad for the dude, hopefully he blew everyone away during his set in JAM (Japanese Anime Music) Concert.

I left the venue and immediately looked for my brother. He said that while he was playing, in between, he would run to the event to see what was going on during the panel. He also guessed right why I didn’t leave after the Holostars panel. I wasn’t particularly hungry but its way past lunchtime. Bro wanted to eat at Botejyu hoping to see what is up with the Shingeki no Kyojin collaboration. But the digital directories were all unresponsive so we ended up eating at Dotonbori. We managed to sit in the tatami area. We had Katsudon and shared Matsuri Dango. Thank goodness those Dango were huge and eating half was satisfying enough.

We went back to the venue cause bro planned that we leave at 7pm so there wouldn’t be too many people in the bus terminal. So we walked around and I managed to buy a set of Holostars stickers. I think I’ll stop obsessing for a while when it comes to Holostars sets since not everyone is interested in Holostars JP (which is understandable because of the language).

(sold by _eun914 on Twitter / X [link: https://x.com/_eun914/status/1840732710689751299])

Bro wanted me to try and complete the treasure hunting relay thing. At the back of the event poster, there are a bunch of QR codes to be stamped. When you scan them, you’ll be directed to an event partner located all over the convention. Also in the QR is an anime question that you have to give the answer to in the event partner booth.

There were 10 spots and only one of them followed the instructions on the QR, it was Minute Burger. Everybody else either had us take a selfie or like their pages or had us pay something. The only treasure spot I didn’t mind going through was signing the booth.

(drawing left on the Cosplay Mania 2024 message board) (It won’t hurt to ask…)

The most annoying part of the treasure hunt was the customer service booth because they basically threatened us to answer a survey and sign up for the next event. All this trouble for a freakin’ keychain!!!

We didn’t manage to go through the whole artist gallery because bro was just tired (also he has been working from home so he is not used to walking and standing for a long period of time).

We went home and honestly after that pizza booth had us buy pizza to get a stamp, I was craving for some pizza. We bought food for mama and we ate pizza and spaghetti. I was hungry but not so hungry for a full meal. I ended up taking home the pizza.

Going home, despite having to stand in line for maybe 45 minutes, went smoothly. We got home around 9pm. Despite feeling tired and a bit lonely, I was happy to see Jurard and Octavio’s panel and the Holostars stuff I found at the convention.

I know this is that part that I should say, ‘I have to mingle more with the Holostars fandom’ but with my experience with fandoms, I’d rather not regardless of how wholesome and welcoming the Holostars community is.

Seriously though, I didn't expect to see Soulless Sanctuary. I remember audibly gasping when she introduced herself during the Pinoy Henyo part. lol If you find yourself here, you have no idea how tempted I am to sign a clue for the word lol.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━★

If you are interested these are the questions on the QR

Angel devil, a Public Safety Hunter from Tokyo Special; Division 4, is from what anime series? a) Blue Exorcist b) Jujutsu Kaisen c) Kimetsu no Yaiba d) Chainsaw Man

Which anime feature three angelic beings named Skuld, Urd and Belldandy? a) Sword Art Online b) Ah! My Goddess c) Frieren d) Dungeon Meshi

Whis is a powerful guide angel attendant who is the strongest and most polite being in which anime? a) Pokemon b) Kimetsu no Yaiba c) Dragonball d) Yu yu Hakusho

Which anime has Angels attack Earth with mankind’s last line of defense being organic mecha? a) Gundam Seed b) Voltes 5 c) Gurren Lagann d) NG Evangelion

Angewomon is an Archangel who appears as a beautiful woman with six wings in which anime? a) Yu Gi Oh b) Pokemon c) Digimon d) Naruto

Known as the “Black Angel”, Shinobu Sensui was a man antagonist in which anime? a) Yuyu Hakushio b) One Piece c) Kimetsu no Yaiba d) Frieren

Charlotte Angel is an officer of the Big Mom Pirates in which anime? a) Angel Links b) Captain Harlock c) Outlaw Star d) One Piece

Konan used paper to form wings for battle, giving her the title of “Angel” in which anime? a) Angel Sanctuary b) Naruto Shippuden c) One Piece d) Jujutsu Kaisen

What anime tells the tale of a female cyborg found in a junkyard by a doctor who rebuilds her? a) Ghost in the Shell b) Battle Angel Alita c) Cyberpunk Edgerunners d) Nier: Automata

Hana Kurusu is a sorcerer who shares her body symbiotically with the Angel in which anime? a) Dungeon Meshi b) Freiren c) Jujutsu Kaisen d) One Piece

[multitrackdrifting]

gacha game anon - you have my full encouragement on going back to fgo! for some of the faults with it, the writing in Camelot (chapter 6) and onwards is amazing, and from what I know it just keeps getting better from then on. im on anastasia at the moment and it hasn't dipped in quality for me so far! it's a bit of a slog until it gets good but when it gets good it gets REALLY good. and good luck on your protoarthur rolls! i don't remember when he's on gacha but if you've got $15 to spare the guaranteed SSR is going on right now and im 80% sure he's on one of the banners that's up right now.

i haven't played granblue yet but with that endorsement i want to check it out! im always on the lookout for new gacha games, I started nikke myself recently but nothing else has much caught my eye. i completely agree though localization being trash is the number one reason I usually quit on games I think I otherwise would have loved. but I've generally heard great things about granblue and would love to try it out. if you like I will keep you updated on that!

and totally take your time on mahoyaku, when you get to it I recommend watching a video of the game, or playing it alongside if you can get your hands on it as it's jp only at the moment. i went in with no visuals and it took me a lot longer to put names to faces and stop getting everyone confused with each other haha.

enstars is a very good game but the lack of access to translations and the subpar level of quality for the English version has been really hurting it. the rhythm aspect is fun, actually, but my heart will always be with enstars basic. which has no rhythm elements, but mirrors the original idea for the game, which was an idol game where people who can't play rhythm games could still participate. unfortunately they didn't even try to give that version an english release, probably because they would have to translate a good five years worth of event stories from the previous game that are hosted on that version. which is really unfortunate because id love to read the official translations for those. and thank you for that image lol im definitely going to be saving that for future use!

I didn't mind the first few arcs in FGO, but I've read a lot of manga in my time including a lot of bad shounen and romcoms so my pain tolerance is pretty high. My brain is just like oh man time to read more fgo *burns all my AP on farming mats* . I will probably make a liveblog tag at some pt though I probably need a theme so I can just put a page up with different threads im running through since I use my pinned for my videos rn

Granblue is honestly very dear to my heart but the like "end game" cycle is very unappealing bc its super grindy - that said the story stuff [the main attraction imo] is not power-gated so you're not forced to engage with the worst aspects of the game (i.e. multiplayer/ranking called "unite and fight" or guild wars, kind of similar to how idol game card farming works). The event stories & main story are for everyone, so that's fun :' ). Also they do fun character themes, which I love - I think most people got hooked once they did What Makes The Sky Blue Parts 1-3 (it's like an epic about fighting for the fate of the world but in a more direct sense than most of the early conflicts in the story) which you can do in the event archive nowadays once you pass a certain chapter I believe. The art style might seem somewhat familiar bc the art director used to work for Square Enix

Granblue is kind of funny because just, one day they decided "yeah we will support eng" but the login stuff & lack of a localised app. It's just a web-game so they never released it in other regions, it just has full english language support - thankfully it's just like a g-mail signup process not as annoying as like doing lottery for an account like kancolle was

Mahoyaku I'll have to just login to my jp itunes acc dl it and play along or st so I know what people look like

[iwillburnthisplacetotheground]

Thank you for tagging me :D!! made my saturday, so thanks again

1. Non-binary person who loves movies, and has a tendency to talk about random things whenever they feel like it. Theyre also my roommate, and have been for 3 years!! I love them more than i love anything tbh. Too bad they dislike my favourite tv show tho :(

2. Im literally the opposite of my roommate. I am genderfluid, I love tv shows and I dont really like movies as much as they do. I dont like talking and being the center of the conversation, but i love listening. One of my favourite things to do besides scrolling tumblr mindlessly!!

3. My least favourite person loves football and sports so much its almost concerning lmao. He is also extremely.. him (cant use attributes, but if you had him in your life, you'd feel the same as i do) that it pisses me off. But to be actually honest, I dont really hate him as much as id like to admit. Im just prejudiced haha.

4. Most of my favourite shows have the same storyline. Its either the 'gay pair figure out stuff and they succeed in figuring out said stuff', or the 'small group of humans just living their lives while we watch'. I love both!!

5. Poetry. Mountains and mountains of poetry. I especially like to reread them during september 1st.

• And, of course, script books for TV shows/movies that Ive bought in the past. Oh, and the book version of my favourite TV shows!!

6. Not much of a musical sort of person, but I watched a few classics in the past. They are here below:

• That one musical with the catchy but long songs featuring some guy that had his name on the title

• The other musical with the nanny that GO forced me to watch

• This random musical that had some evil (imo) guy who killed some people for a girl. I still dont like him, even if I hadnt watched the musical since I was 14.

7. That one tartan-loving angel that im literally mad about. I have him everywhere in my room and im pretty sure my roommate funking hates him lmao.

I would like to tag my mutuals but im pretty sure they are so sick of me tagging them all the time. Anyone can participate! :)

Tag Game!

Never did this okayokayokayokay

Describe your best friend without using any personality traits.

Describe yourself with the same rule.

Describe your least favorite person you personally know the same way.

Describe the plot of your favorite show(s) badly.

Describe the plot of your favorite book(s) badly.

If applicable, describe the plot of your favorite musical badly.

Tell me what your (current) main comfort character is without naming them.

I'll start: They like Beetlejuice, That's Not My Neighbor (and a character in that game I love them but what's wrong with them), Heathers (AKA JD), and FNAF (more specifically, William). They want to be a forensic scientist, which. Okay.

I like Beetlejuice, Heathers, FNAF, COD men, Good Omens, and House MD, among other things. I want to be a therapist and have changed my major at least three times.

She cheered when Roe v. Wade was overturned. Sorry if you supported that decision, but I do not. Also told me I look weird when I wear binders. And said that white people not being allowed to say the n-word is "racist and discriminatory."

Gay angel and demon fuck around and find out

Two men pretend they aren't gay for each other while committing countless crimes including medical malpractice throughout eight seasons.

Gay angel and demon fuck around and find out: the novel

Five gay people and a token straight attempt a heist against a government. (Do you sense a theme yet? I really like gay things)

And in the end, should someone die?

Ghost Zombie Jesus chaotically tries to marry a teenager.

A guy with a ponytail does a lot of rapping with his friends and then dies.

Unemployed genderfluid demon that's in love with an angel who keeps fucking him over.

(check tags for what the hell I'm talking about in these you can figure out which is which)

@marc--chilton @randomfandomloveydovey @ineffableaddiction @lickthecowhappy @iwillburnthisplacetotheground @dreamcasterpluto (no pressure sorry for tagging you guys luv you (platonically)) and anyone else who sees this shit and wants to!

[cosmiccandydreamer]

Tranquility chapter 2

*Sorry for the delay folks! Also those of you have watched the hit series on Hulu called P-Valley we'll get the reference about the stolen IDs and the wiring of money. I understand that some of the things I reference are not necessarily 1970s 1980s things but it's my story lol. Also I'm going to make the time gap between our character and her man getting reunited not 10 years because we know she couldn't wait that long to see her boy. *

Usual warnings no one under 18 violence language sexuality and all that good stuff.

Otis driftwood x reader ( she/ her )

"So what happened?" Foxy asked, removing his jacket and setting the keys on the table by the door. He watched you walk towards the bed in the middle of the hotel and sit down. You took a deep breath and started rubbing your hands together, not looking directly at him. Where to even begin? You saw it flash through your mind. Everything that happened was so far away, yet it happened the same day the concept of time was lost to you; everything had been such a whirlwind that you hadn't even allowed yourself to process everything last week. Wow, it had only been a week. You saw back to what happened after getting out of the hospital and, unfortunately, losing your baby; you knew that Foxy had lived close to the Mexico border. You remember talking to Otis about it because he had mentioned that he wanted to visit his brother at some point. You placed the first time you met Foxy. It was the night of one of the Halloween rituals. You two hit it off right away; he remembered you as Babies intelligent and shy friend. You were off-limits according to the family that you were one of the fireflies even though it was unofficially.

The last time he had come by, you and Otis were a couple, and you had participated in the ritual yourself; he saw the way his brother looked at you, and he had never seen him look at anyone that way before he knew he was in love which was something he didn't think was capable of his brother. At first, you weren't sure how you felt about Foxy; he seemed like a creep and asshole. But the more you talked to him, the more you realized that he had his unique sense of humor and way about him just like the rest of the family, and soon you became great friends. It had been some years since you had seen him; life had taken him away from the house and off on his adventures. Still, you always knew that you could count on him if needed. Hence, you decide to take a chance and go to the last place you knew that he had been; according to the family, he had been running some underground operation from Mexico to Texas, and he used the hotel as one of his meeting points for a lot of his clients.

So after about an hour, you explained the whole situation to him he didn't interrupt you; he listened intently, watching you with sad eyes, knowing what this ordeal had taken on you and the fact that you had lost a child that's even more traumatic he didn't have anything to say that could directly comfort you. Still, he reassured you that he was there for you in any way that you needed him. "Damn little sis, I'm so sorry; that's a hell of a journey you were on. I wish I could have been there to help you through most of it," he stated, lighting a cigarette and taking a long draw from it. "But I'm here now, so whatever you feel you need to do, let's do it. I'm down".

"Well, the first thing would be breaking them out of jail. We can't let them stay there. We have to devise some kind of plan to rescue them, and then after that, we'll decide where to go from there. I can't think straight knowing that they are locked away". Foxy put out his cigarette and took out another, lighting it before answering you. "Do you know where they are and all of that because I'm sure I can break them out. I got a good idea." "Yeah, I do know,” you stated, "honestly, it's all over the news, so everyone knows where they are right now."

Foxy thought to himself for a minute, “you know what? I know that prisons tend to have many inmates in the yard in chain gangs. I bet I could break him out from there, but we just need some money."You chewed on your inner lip a bit and molded over the possibility of having to sacrifice some of your morals to get some money quickly. You were doing this for them, so you decided that the greater good would rule over anything that you had to do. "I can help you get some money," you stated, looking directly at him for the first time " I'm not sure how yet, but whatever I have to do, I will do it." "What did you have in mind?" Foxy asked. He was looking at you with a curious look. He could tell there was a lot on your mind, but he couldn't quite read your face. "I got a couple of ideas," you said, smiling at him for the first time. "It's risky, though." "Shit, honey," he laughed, putting out his jack daniels bottle from the seat under his chair. "Risky is my middle name."

You stood up and emptied the bag sitting next to you; many fake IDs fell out onto the bed. "So this is what I'm thinking. Have you heard of disaster relief Reformations?"Foxy nodded but ushered for you to continue, "so during natural disasters, anyone in the area that has been affected can apply for aid, and it just has to be wired to you well after the last superstorm, we have quite a bit of id's I don't know how many of them are eligible for reparations, but I have no problem putting on a nice little wig and attempting to go and commit identity theft I mean honestly it's not even the worst of what we've done so…" you began to explain your plan you were going to go and try to steal pretty much the identity of all the young women that you had at your disposal, thus getting as much money as you could. And if that plan did fall through, you were thinking about applying at the nearby local strip club; showing your body to other men other than Otis did not sit well with you, but you also knew that that was quick cash.

So here was the plan so far, foxy made a lot of money in illegal transportation of goods such as drugs and guns, you name it using the hotel as his front. You planned to get as much money wired to these accounts that he had set up throughout various banks in Texas. You were going to steal the deceased woman's identity and get as much money wired to you through the reparations you could. You were also going to help rob and lure potential victims to the hotel, bringing them back to the room with the promise of sex just to have foxy knock them out and steal their money. It was a risky plan, but one that you had to take.

And thus began your plan; your first step was to the dollar store to collect as many wigs and disguises as you could to try and match your identity to the many IDs you had at your disposal. If any questions arose, Foxy would act as your husband, father, cousin; you name it. You both traveled outside of Texas for the first few hits as far as you could to try and hit the banks and the wiring centers there. You had to admit this was fun; it almost felt like old times again, running around and doing these horrible antics with the family. And Foxy was a good partner; he knew how to cover his tracks and make sure that nothing got in your way; he had to admit though the first few times that he allowed you to be the bait and bring the gentleman back to the hotel so they could be robbed and then you could split he was nervous he knew deep down that Otis would never forgive him if he let anything happen to you. Watching you flirt with the guys and their eyes light up, hoping that they would get lucky, is hilarious; he knew that you would never let any other man other than his brother touch you, so watching their hopes rise and then get crushed was hilarious. Watching you walk out of the hotel room dressed up to go and bait, the gentleman foxy had to admit you were a beautiful young woman; he could see why besides the fact that you had a spitfire personality Otis was attracted to you if you weren't his brother's girl he would have already tried to make his moves on you himself. He let his eyes wander over your figure as you walked over to the car. The night went well, and the gentleman came without question with the promise of a very intense coitus session waiting for him back in the room. You gave the nod to Foxy, and he sprang into action with your already previously discussed plan. He was waiting in the closet when you unlocked the hotel room and let the drunk man stagger into the room.

You had a bright crimson wig and sunglasses that you refused to remove in the bar. "Hey, well now, beautiful, will you let me see those pretty eyes?" The man asks, slurring his words and falling over himself. "in a minute, honey, you just get comfortable, and I'm going to freshen up, okay?" You told him, lightly patting him on the shoulder and winking at Foxy as you walked by. That's when he's sprung into action busting out of the closet and smacking the man with the tire iron. "Well, that was fast," you said, coming out of the bathroom and drying your hands on a towel. "Yeah, I'm getting hungry. I decided we should just hurry this one along." He said, slapping on his black gloves and rummaging through the man's pockets. "I'm hungry, too; where should we stop on the way back to the hotel?"

At this point, you and Foxy had moved to a different hotel, another one that he felt secure at because they didn't ask too many questions. Still, with the larger room, he slept on the couch and allowed you to have the bedroom, surprisingly a revenant of the Southern gentleman that appeared to live in him still despite his outward exterior.

He watched you adjust your breasts in the tight red dress you had and quickly forced himself to look away. What was he doing? He thought to himself; this is your brother's girl, but man, she looks outstanding in red, he thought to himself. He quickly shook those thoughts away and escorted you back to the car before you both took off. Entering the hotel room, you promptly pulled off your wig and lighter out of your bra lighting a cigarette; you pulled out a bunch of cash you had in your purse and sat down at the table. "Not a bad night tonight," you said, running it through the money counting machine. "But I still think we're a little short; I'm thinking of applying at the strip club down the street." "You?" Foxy asked, taking off his coat the thought of you half-naked on a pole made him feel hot under the collar, he cleared his throat "I didn't peg you for much of a dancer." "I'm not," you replied, "but I figure if you're halfway decent in this town and show a little ass, men will throw money at you, especially if they're desperate enough for a few sweet nothings whispered."

Foxy sat down in the armchair, lighting his cigarette and looking up at you. "Well, you ain't gotta worry about that because you're not halfway decent you got some looks to you, kid." "Aww, Foxy, thank you," you smiled, looking back towards him "you can be so sweet sometimes." He laughed and shook his head "you better tell nobody." You and Foxy both decided to celebrate the ending to a very intense week; you found yourself drinking along with him and laughing, reminiscing about old times and stories that he told you that he and Otis had done when they were younger. "So the midnight wolfman has always been wild, I see," you laughed, taking another shot. "Oh man, honey, you have no idea," he laughed, wiping his mouth and looking at you; he noticed that some of your hair had gotten stuck on your lip gloss and leaned forward to remove it from your face and tuck it behind your ear. You chuckled, "oh, thank you, I didn't even notice that," and tucked the rest of your hair behind your ear. Foxy looked at you,.. really looked at you.. the light shining through the window and damn, you looked so beautiful in the moonlight. He found himself staring at you and you staring back, your half hooded eyes from the alcohol catching you off guard. Your beautiful smile creeps up on your face as you start to laugh and pull your arms over your head to stretch. He found himself watching you and the familiar urge growing in his loins. His pants felt tight, and his throat felt dry; he wanted to reach out and kiss you, throw you onto the bed, rip your clothes off and make you his own. He blinked hard and stood up; no, you were off-limits, and he knew that; he went back to sit on the couch and took a swig of the bottle before running his hands down his face. "I'm gonna call it a night," you said, getting up and heading towards the room "night." "Yeah," he replied as you closed the door. He hoped you didn't see any of that, and if you had, he hoped that you would keep it to yourself. Otis didn't need to know about his thoughts; it would just drive a wedge between them; he knew he had to shake the possibility of seeing you in any kind of intimate light out of his mind; you weren't his, and he had to remember that.

You later got up to take a shower, and when you got out, you saw that foxy had passed out on the chair with the half bottle of Jack in his hand; you laughed to yourself silently. You then walked out onto the patio staring at the never-ending flatlands before you. There was a slight breeze rolling in, and you remember the last time you were standing outside when it was cold, and you complained. Otis laughed at you and told you to dress more appropriately for the weather but then said you better put no pants on because he likes seeing your beautiful legs, and he took off his flannel and put it around you and pulled you close.

Tears were stinging your eyes before you knew it, and silent waterfalls began to cascade down your face. You missed him in any way that you could miss someone; every second of every day of your existence felt like torture without him. You had to get him back; there was no way you could continue your life without him by your side; the possibility of him not being returned with you was not something you would even consider. Every day was another step towards getting him back. You wished you could talk to him and tell him how much you missed him and how strong you were trying to be for him. You missed your sister and Spalding; the family dynamic you had grown to love felt like part of your heart had been ripped out through your chest, and a gaping hole was left. You missed working at the gas station, missed playing dress-up with baby in her room, you missed Mama's cooking as crazy that sounds; you missed working on cars with Rufus and bringing down a plate for tiny you even missed the grandpa in some ways even though he was a disgusting, vile person watching the Munsters with him laughing over TV dinners you missed home. Lost in your thought, you didn't even hear the back door open, and Foxy walked onto the patio; he watched you cross your arms, staring out into the nothingness. He heard you sniffle and walked over to you." You know Otis wouldn't like you crying, he would say, well what the hell are you doing that for? No reason for that shit Cheer the fuck up". You turned to him, wiping your eyes and giving him a sad smile. "I know, but I just miss him; I miss them." "I know, but you'll see them soon." He said, looking out into the dark with you, "real soon."

[rai-knightshade-art]

"Oh, Becs, there's no way this isn't happening, not with you looking at me like that."

"Oh yeah, weirdo? Then bring it."

"With pleasure."

Jesse and Beca, right before they take the stage for a truly aca-epic karaoke duel; or, Pitch Perfect RarePair Week Day 6, "there's no way it's not happening with you looking at me like that"

Artist thoughts, links to my other RarePair Week posts, and close ups below the cut, image ID in the alt text!

Listen. Sometimes you spend a whole day illustrating a page worth of (shaded!!) drawings of your otp based on a single Tumblr post about matching couples' tees that say "I'm Fucking Weird" and "I'm Weird", respectively, and that is VALID, ok?

So yeah, this page gives some insight into the Hen/Stag parties that Jesse and Beca have before their wedding, at least in the little pocket universe surrounding that giant fic I'm writing. That is to say, they have a joint party (apparently legitimately called a Hag party, which is the term I'll be using from now on because that's fucking hysterical actually), renting out a club with a karaoke DJ and stage with the Bellas, Trebles and their various career friends (because it was mutually agreed that staying in one place would minimize the amount of potential havoc these hooligans could wreak), wore this set of couples' tees (designed by Jesse but wholeheartedly approved by Beca--once she stopped laughing uproariously, of course).... And ditched the party halfway through. 😂 But then would we expect anything less?

(For the record though they absolutely CRUSHED everyone else at karaoke before they left, that duet will be the stuff of legends for years to come.)

So yeah, just a handful of scenes from their Hag Night Party, in which: 1. Beca has the best ideas, ever, while the rest of the Bellas and Trebles devolve into chaos off-screen; 2. In which Jesse is a whole-ass mood because this is also my reaction when presented with Beca Effing Mitchell (and Anna Kendrick for that matter); and 3. Some hardcore karaoke is had as Beca and Jesse bring down the house with their duet of "Somebody Loves You", and Beca serenades Jesse with a cheesy af country song that would probably be unforgivable if she wasn't turning it on its head by gender swapping it.

Also of note: yes, Beca is wearing a cropped leather jacket with spikes, distressed short-shorts over fishnets, and some particularly punk boots, as well as a sparkly tiara with a white gossamer veil and a cutesy Bride-to-be phrase on it ("Queen of His Life"), AND a pendant necklace with a charm shaped like a treble clef bordered by a J and B on either side (which was definitely an anniversary present from Jesse). She's like an onion, you know? She has layers, figuratively and literally! And yes, Jesse is wearing a blazer and a bowtie over his T-shirt, like a dork, while also wearing black leather pants. And, of course, a matching crown to Beca's with an equally cheesy Groom-to-be phrase on it ("King of Her Heart"). He has the range.

Days I'm Participating In (and the Entries I've Posted):

Day 1 (this is me trying): Link

Day 2 (I've missed you): Link

Day 5 (if honesty means telling the truth... Then the truth is I'm still in love with you): Link

Day 6 (there's no way it's not happening with you looking at me like that): You Are Here!

Day 7.1 (I can't say it, so I'll sing it): Link

Day 7.2 (part 2 of Day 2): Link

Close Ups:

[daredevilexchange]

Want to be featured here? Head to this page and fill in the form!

See what this is about here, or if you’re using the app here.

What’s your fannish ID? Hello there! 👋🏻 I am AndanielLight but you can call me 'An'. I go by she / her pronouns, and I've only joined one (1) organized fandom event all my life where I was one of the content creators. And... Oh, by the way, English isn't my first language.

What types of fanworks do you create? I've been writing and posting my amateur fanworks on AO3 (link: https://archiveofourown.org/users/andaniellight) since 2015 - I've never used a Beta for all of them, so it's been just me and me alone all this time. Meanwhile, I started doing digital drawing with Medibang software since 2020, and am a self-taught digital artist ever since.

What are your favourite types of fanworks, when you’re not creating? Honestly? Absolutely everything, no biggie. Creating something, or to try something new in order to sate your own desire on I Wish This Thing Exists, is *hard* my dudes. So I'll take whatever handed to me, cause, I find that every creations are admirable on their own respective ways. Endearing. Effort always counts in the most unironic ways, tbh. And as long as all the creators out there realize that whether the result is likeable or not (to the creators themselves), at least they've past this step that is much more important than "attracting audience that they can interact with", which is: They're progressing better at handling themselves. So, keep 'em coming! Keep creating and be a God! 😄

What do you like in particular about this fandom? Not going to lie, I am - really intimidated by Marvel fandom, or just- Marvel in general, I guess. I only consume and observe from afar, not wanting to get close at all. I don't read their infinite comics, nor their lores, so I don't know what the fuck is going on outside of what's happening on those boxoffice movies either. Their universe is just - too big for me to navigate, so. There's that.

As for Daredevil... I just started binge-watching the series in January this year, while I had some spare times from work. I didn't have access to watch the series before until I finally got a job. I heard a lot of crazy stuff about it years ago, which is WILD to know there were people being dead-silent on Charlie Cox's Matt Murdock cameo on the NWH and its screening too?????? Unbelievable. But anyways, I finished Daredevil in less than a week, I guess? And then moved to The Punisher, because Jon Bernthal appearance on DD S2 tripped me into shipping Matt and Frank. Their bickerings and banterings never fail to crack me up 💀 Alas, there's no cameo of Matt Murdock in The Punisher, but oh well. [Opens AO3 and stays up late at night reading and scrolling on Frank Castle/Matt Murdock fanworks] Not an unfixable problem.

Other than Frank and Matt, Foggy has a very special place in my heart. I'd love to be his friend, honestly, so that we can go have a walk and order take-away food to talk about - whatever. Maybe side by him if he argues with Matt, too, because we all know that guy needs help more than he'd (never) admit.

Do you like participating in fan events? Mmm, I'd love to? I've only ever joined one (1) organized fandom/ship event, and it's back in 2021. It's also because there were A LOT of enablers, too, at the time, when at the same time still so few of content creators while I still had some time to do it myself? Something something I am cursed with always-intrigued-and-choosing-rare-ships something something. So, yeah. Again, I'd love to, but I'm afraid I won't have enough energy and time, because of work, these days. Maintaining interaction and/or communication with people (online or offline) is also not what I'm good at doing exactly.

What about your creating process? Oh, yeah. Writing and/or drawing while listening to music usually goes hand-in-hand like garlics in most delicious cuisines in general to me. And I'm not Italian, by the way. Meals with garlics are just- [cheff kiss]

Usually, to focus on making something, I listen to Instrumental Progressive Metal kinds of music (like this one, for example https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONwLlBMeu0s). My particular influences on keeping the juice flowing is centralized in conceptualization that snatch my entire attention until I fixate on it for maybe a whole week or months or something, honestly. I don't know how to explain that, but it's the kind of "symbolism" (listen, everything I did was mostly self-taught, so I have no artistic background, never have taken art class or anything fancy like that) - like these:

1) https://twitter.com/Sykine_R/status/1497270891432247297 2) This twitter thread of daredevil and how its posters' trilogy is inspired by (17th-century baroque artist) Caravaggio's oil paintings of religious saints https://twitter.com/616FRANKCASTLE/status/1481472002418528257 3) This close-up kind of baring concept https://twitter.com/loika/status/1322512727663763456 4) Or excerpts that I've been piling on my blod tagged with "quotes" (link: https://andaniellight.tumblr.com/search/quotes) 

Do you interact a lot with other fans? Um, yeah.... I used to - I used to interact, or talk to other people who ship/shipped the same ship I ship (shipped?) on several fandoms. Now, however, I'm just sticking around with my oldest fandom-friends on discord who I got to know from watching and hyperfixating on this thrilling, gruesome K-drama from 2019 on Netflix titled "Kingdom".

Is there anything else you want to tell us about yourself? I usually share my fanarts on my tumblr (link: andaniellight.tumblr.com), my twitter (link: https://twitter.com/DefyAnSpite) and on Instagram (link: https://www.instagram.com/andaniellight/)! :D

Where can your fanworks be found? Unfortunately, because of how stupid and forgetful I can be sometimes, I don't tag my own art because I Simply Forgot and can't care less. But, so far, for Daredevil-related alone, I've made at least these fanarts:

1) The things I've made for Frank/Matt when I didn't know their more-preferable ship name is "Fratt" : https://andaniellight.tumblr.com/tagged/Mastle

2) First solo-Frank art: https://andaniellight.tumblr.com/post/674762558144659456/repost-after-i-a-mistakes-maker-noticed-a

 3) Every Matt Murdock fanarts: https://andaniellight.tumblr.com/tagged/Matthew%20Murdock 

Thank you, @andaniellight !

banner by @context-is-for-kingpins !

[ID on a white background, four black triangles that look like spotlights from above. Each illuminates one of the Defenders silhouetted in white: Jessica, Luke, Danny, Matt. A hand on the left is holding a pen writing the words Content Creator Spotlight. There is a little Punisher skull on the pen. End ID]

[dashboarddiaries]

Dashboard Diaries is a production of Atypical Artists, hosted by Lauren Shippen and Cherokee McAnelly. Our theme was composed by Lauren Shippen and mixed by Brandon Grugle. Art by Shae McMullin. Transcription by Laudable.

For bonus clips, ad-free episodes, and more, become a patron at patreon.com/dashboarddiaries

Transcript under the cut!

[intro music]

Cherokee: Hello, bunker mates! I’m Cherokee McAnelly, Head of Entertainment at Tumblr, who still hasn’t made it through The Last of Us game prologue. It’s been about a 100 deaths and counting. (laughs)

Lauren: Oof. That’s rough! And I’m Lauren Shippen, Professional Writer, who HAS made it all the way through The Last of Us game several times, but who would die instantly in a real life apocalypse situation.

Cherokee: Same. And this is Dashboard Diaries, a podcast for you – the folks who are in this internet bunker with us. We talk about what’s going on in our favorite hell site, get into what we like to call “tumbl-lore,” do fandom deep dives, and share the times when we’ve gone feral over a new ship.

So, Lauren, what has your last week on Tumblr been like?

Lauren: I feel like it’s been peak Tumblr the past couple of weeks, because we’ve had the new Shadow & Bone season, we’ve had The Last of Us finale, we have the Mandalorian – so just wall to wall Pedro Pascal.

Cherokee: Tumblr Daddy.

Lauren: Tumblr Daddy. And of course the Ides of March, one of Tumblr’s central holidays.

Cherokee: Of course. 

Lauren: Tumblr did a lot of special stuff for Ides of March this year. Do you want to walk us through what Tumblr Official actually did? Because I don’t even know that I know of all of it.

Cherokee: Yes. So, first off, we did our Ides of March promotion and takeover on the 19th. Why? I don’t know, because we did. (laughs) 

Lauren: Holidays have no rules.

Cherokee: Exactly. Especially on Tumblr. It’s what day we say it is. You know? We made a water bottle in our swag store that says we should totally just stab Caesar. So, that was kind of our main thing that we did. And then I think we did some stuff on staff. I will be honest, I am totally in the weeds on Shadow & Bone for the past week and literally have not looked at a single email other than ... we did a Shadow & Bone answer time. So, there’s got to be more and I feel so embarrassed to say this – that I don’t know that staff did. That’s my bad. Sorry, guys. (laughs)

Lauren: No, I mean, I just love that Tumblr participated in the holiday this year. And yeah, I’ve been seeing so ... more so than any other year I feel like my dash has been filled with Ides of March posts for the past two weeks. Like there was a lead up to it. 

Cherokee: 100%. What was your favorite Ides of March post? Because I have a bunch favorited.

Lauren: I re-blogged a couple of great Ides of March memes on DashboardDiaries.Tumblr.com and we will certainly re-blog more because Cherokee I want to know what those favorites are. But one of the ones I re-blogged, which I loved – just because also it’s in the spirit of Tumblr’s wonderful tradition of making movie posters for movies that don’t exist – is a movie poster for Knives In with the font of Knives Out. And it’s just this great mystery movie poster, but starring Gaius Julius Caesar and Quintus Ligarius Brutus. 

And then the other post that I re-blogged that I was like, “Oh my goodness, is this really the beginning of the Ides of March obsession on Tumblr?” ... is a post from I believe nine or ten years ago of a knife stabbed into a classic Caesar dressing Kraft bottle. And someone commenting, being like, “Why is this such a popular post? Someone tell me what this is about.” And then someone replying with, “No one tell him.” And then a recent re-blog says, “This is it, lads. The post that started us on this path nine years ago. I sure hope no one told him.” Someone clearly not getting the joke of stabbing Caesar.

And I never really thought about where the origin of the Ides of March obsession on Tumblr began. And so it’s interesting that this might be the sort of Rosetta Stone of this particular meme.

Cherokee: Oh my god, the Rosetta Ranch.

Lauren: (laughs)

Cherokee: Well, I guess it’s Caesar dressing, so ... that doesn’t even.

Lauren: It still works, though.

Cherokee: We’ll allow it. 

Lauren: What about you? What are some of your favorite Ides of March posts that you favorited?

Cherokee: So, there was one from this year that I will re-blog to the Dashboard Diaries Tumblr that says, Tumblr recommendations: “Call in. It’s time to celebrate the Ides of March.” Me: “Wasn’t the Ides of March four days ago?” Tumblr Recommendations: “Well, now it’s time to celebrate it.”

(laughter)

I love that. And then-

Lauren: Some good natured ribbing.

Cherokee: Exactly. You know what? We’re in on the joke, right? We didn’t forget. We obviously didn’t. (laughs) It’s actually my bad. I had a takeover reserved on that day for a Q&A that was supposed to be promoted and then it got shifted at the last minute. So, um, sorry!?

(laughter)

Lauren: Cherokee!

Cherokee: Sorry, guys! I’ll make it up to you. Please don’t stab me. So, my other favorite post was from Julius-Caesar and it says, “Hanging with my boys in the senate on Wednesday the 15th. Can’t wait to see what they’ve got planned. I hope it’s a surprise party.” 

(laughter)

Yeah, another classic. I love a good Tumblr holiday. You know what? 

Lauren: Me too.

Cherokee: No other website does just completely random holidays than Tumblr. 

Lauren: Yeah.

Cherokee: We love the 5th of November for multiple reasons, not just the obvious. 

Lauren: For multiple reasons. Yeah. Speaking of November 5th, one of Tumblr’s biggest holidays, Cherokee, do you have a Supernatural update for us this week?

Cherokee: Do I ever, Lauren!?

[guitar riff]

It was a big episode on Supernatural this week. As it always is, but this one especially. We’ve had some revelation, some key moments.

Lauren: Ooh!

Cherokee: Not only just in the episode, but also in the watching of the episode. My notes are a roller coaster. 

Lauren: Oh boy! I’m so excited.

Cherokee: So, this is S1:E14: Nightmare. Essentially it opens on Sam having a dream about someone killing his parents and he actually ... they actually go to where he thinks he saw the dream and it’s just happened. So, he’s having these premonitions. And so I immediately wrote, “Is this the Exorcist‼‼‼‼‼” Because the kid who killed his parents or killed his father, excuse me, not his parents, has ... I wrote, “He has powers like an evil Matilda.” (laughs) So, he’s been over here-

Lauren: That’s so accurate!

Cherokee: ... carrying knives around in the air, as one does. Matilda does chocolates. And this guy does knives. And you know what, to each their own. Speaking of the Ides of March, you know? (laughs)

Lauren: Yeah. Very true.

Cherokee: So, anyway, this kid has powers and it turns how that, I also wrote here, “Both Sam and this kid had mother ceiling deaths,” as I so eloquently wrote it. 

(laughter)

Lauren: The classic mother on the ceiling death. 

Cherokee: Hate to see it. Aw, man, not again. 

Lauren: Hate to see it. 

Cherokee: So, they obviously have these really parallel lives and then Sam says that apparently he started feeling like he’s been developing powers over the past six months and so he thinks he and this boy are linked. And sadly this kid doesn’t make it through the end of the episode. 

Lauren: Oof.

Cherokee: But I hope Sam really goes on to figure out his own powers and I hope no one else dies on the ceiling. Don’t tell me if they do, Lauren.

(laughter)

Lauren: I honestly can’t remember. (laughs)

Cherokee: I’ll start a tally. 

Lauren: Yeah. Dean deaths, Sam deaths, Ceiling deaths. 

Cherokee: I think we’re on three, so far. 

Lauren: Excellent.

Cherokee: We have mom #1 ceiling death, girlfriend ceiling death, mom #2 ceiling death.

Lauren: TRUE. 

Cherokee: I think-

Lauren: Yep.

Cherokee: ... we may have one other in there so far, but I could be wrong. 

Lauren: Listeners, please tell us.

Cherokee: Please, give us the final tally for season one and also, if you’re watching through, the full on – all 15 ceiling deaths.

Lauren: Yeah, we’d love to know those stats.

Cherokee: 15 seasons of ceiling deaths. You know? Okay. So, another great episode. Can’t wait on ... I kind of wish that this episode had been episode 15 to really go just in theme with all of the topics we’re talking about. But ... 

Lauren: That’s true, yeah.

Cherokee: With that, as we go through the archives of Supernatural, why don’t we head on over to the archives of our Tumblr?

[guitar]

What do you have for us this week, Lauren?

Lauren: Please. Yes. Okay. So, this is a post from three years ago from somewhere around March 21st, the day that we’re recording. And it is just titled “Fleagle” and it’s got a picture ... the original post is from DirtShrines of a little frog plushie that seems to just have two hind legs and no front legs and enormous eyes. It’s got a tag coming off of it that says “Fleagle.” And then DirtShrines re-blogged it with “Fruff,” which is another frog plushie. This time it does have hands and two little feet and a tag from it saying, “Fruff.” 

If course someone made fan art of Fleagle and Fruff and said they are in love. So, Fleagle and Fruff, they’re in love. This is just one of my favorite genres of Tumblr posts, which is that someone posts what is essentially nonsense, right? Like, these two nonsense words with pictures of plush frogs and then someone else on Tumblr is like, “You know what? I’m going to make beautiful original art about this.” I just ... it’s so wonderful.

Cherokee: I love it so much. This is hilarious. Also, I would watch a full length feature film about Fleagle and Fruff. So ... if anyone is listening ... 

Lauren: Absolutely, Fleagle and Fruff, new Tumblr mascots, our blorbo of the week.

Cherokee: Oh, yes! You are so right!

[cheering]

Maybe that will be our next app store icon. 

Lauren: Yes!

(laughter)

What about you, Cherokee? What do you have from the archives?

Cherokee: So, I have something relevant to a couple of things. I would say, first, kind of vaguely Ides of March-y, but also because Scream 6 just came out and I think it kind of-

Lauren: Oh, that’s right!

Cherokee: ... ties into that, too. So, I re-blogged this from Gracey Books in March 2016 ish, like around this week. And it says, “Murderer via text: I’m going to kill you. Me a week later: Oh my god, I’m so sorry, I saw this when I was in the middle of doing something else and then just completely forget about it.” 

Lauren: Real!

Cherokee: I love this. It is so relatable. I have a three to five business day text response rate. At best.

Lauren: Oh yeah.

Cherokee: So, just yeah. Overall, really connect with that one.

Lauren: Very relatable, and yeah, truly topical. I love it.

Cherokee: It is the moment. Speaking of murder, we are going to get into the topic of this episode: The Last of Us after a quick ad break. 

[synth]

Lauren: This week’s Tumblr vibe is making jokes with your friends about something that happened over 2,000 years ago. Because that’s what friendship is. 

[synth]

Cherokee: All right. So, The Last of Us ... as most of you, many of you know, the season finale happened. It will be two weeks ago? The season finale of The Last of Us happened. We all have emotions about it. We all have a lot to talk about. We will never be the same. I don’t know if I’m talking for everyone, but I hope I am.

Lauren: I think you are. Yeah.

Cherokee: So, to start off, I believe you have a little Last of Us themed game, Lauren?

Lauren: I do. Well, because you have been watching The Last of US TV adaptation on HBO and correct me if I’m wrong, but you loved it so much that you purchased a PS4 and are now playing the game?

Cherokee: I did. Yes. About two episodes in-

Lauren: Incredible.

Cherokee: ... I thought, “I’m impatient. I’m going to overnight a PS4 to myself so that I can immediately play through and finish this game before the season ends to know what happens.” The hubris. The hubris! 

(laughter)

Lauren: But the confidence. I respect the confidence. 

So, I have a little quiz for you, which is pretty much the only weapons we’ve seen in the show are guns, basically, and Ellie’s knife. Right? But there is a whole myriad of weapons that are not in the show that appear in the game. So, of these following weapons, which is NOT a weapon that appears in the game? 

Hatchet, Molotov cocktail, baseball bat with nails through it, pipe with a knife taped to it, flamethrower.

Only one of these doesn’t actually appear in the game and I want you to guess which one.

Cherokee: Okay. So, it doesn’t appear in the game but it may have appeared in the show, or am I just over thinking about the show?

Lauren: No, none of these have appeared in the show.

Cherokee: Got it. I was like, I swear I saw a baseball bat with nails through it in the scene at the campus with the monkeys and everything, when they got attacked by the cannibals. Just spoiling everything here for anyone listening – apologies.

Lauren: Oh yeah, I mean, this is going to be a spoiler heavy episode, for sure. But no, we really only see Joel handle guns in the show, but he has a much wider arsenal of weapons in the game that you have yet to get to. And so one of these is not an option in the game, and I want you to guess which one it is. 

Cherokee: Okay. I am going to hatchet. 

Lauren: No. 

[buzzer]

So, the one that actually does not appear in the game is a baseball bat with nails through it.

Cherokee: Really? So, the one that I immediately guessed that definitely appears in everything. Got it – yes. (laughs)

Lauren: So, there is a baseball bat and you can modify it, but there is ... I stole that from Stranger Things, right? That’s Steve Harrington’s weapon in Stranger Things, basically.

Cherokee: Oh yes, it is. 

Lauren: But the reason that I wanted to bring this up is because A) I love that you can fight zombies with a pipe that you tape a knife to, in the game. That’s literally a modification you can make to a pipe. And also I kept waiting for Joel to get a flamethrower in the show. And he never got a flamethrower. It is one of my favorite weapons in the game. And we never got it. So, I am keeping my fingers crossed for season two. But you have a lot of fun game play ahead of you, Cherokee. 

And now that you know where the story is going, how are you feeling? How are you feeling about the show? How are you feeling about the game? Where are you at?

Cherokee: First of all, I ruined season two, and game, too, for myself weeks ago because I have no patience. 

Lauren: No!

Cherokee: Yeah. And I didn’t even mean to. But I am not giving up in my pursuit to finish this game, but it is ... I’m on easy mode, obviously. Obviously.

Lauren: Yeah, of course.

Cherokee: It is so challenging. I just really ...

Lauren: It’s hard.

Cherokee: And also, I’m excited to play through this and I feel like to play through it and re-watch The Last of Us, I already kind of want to re-watch The Last of Us now that I know what happens – to see what I missed. But I’m like, no, I feel like I should play through the game and then in five to seven years when I’ve completed the game (laughs), go back and re-watch. But yeah, look, I’m an impulse buyer but I intend to make it through to the end. And maybe we can do a follow-up episode once I’ve played all the way through the game. 

Lauren: Yeah! 

Cherokee: Hopefully that will light a fire. (laughs) And I’ve been watching game play of that scene, it’s not hard to get through what I’m trying to get by, I just have to run. I just have to run.

Lauren: Yeah.

Cherokee: So, you know, I believe I can do it. I can do it. 

Lauren: You can do it. I believe in you. You’ve got this.

Cherokee: Multiple people who I have told have been like, “I will come over to your house. I will play you through the prologue,” and I’m like, I’m not a cheater. 

Lauren: No, yeah. You gotta do it.

Cherokee: I’ve got to do this. Yeah, exactly.

Lauren: It will only get harder.

Cherokee: If I can’t make it through this, like what am I going to do with the pipe with a knife on it? You know? (laughs)

Lauren: Yeah. 

Cherokee: So, what did you think of the final episode compared to how the game ends? And also what did you think overall of the final episode?

Lauren: I mean, I loved the whole series overall and I thought, it’s funny, when we got to the end of episode eight, the penultimate episode, I was like – okay, so, we’re doing the whole last act in the last episode. Because it would be so weird to split those up. And then when that Sunday came around and I went to The Last of Us HBO Max page and saw that the episode was 43 minutes I was like, wait, are we not finishing game one? How are they going to pack this in? 

And I have to say, I was really pleasantly surprised and really impressed by how much story they fit into one of the shortest episodes of the season. And that’s in part because they did take out a particularly long action sequence that happens in the game that I won’t say too much about because I think it is going to be fun for you to play. But I thought it was great. And I thought that it delivered the thing that the game delivers to you really effectively, which is sort of making you emotionally complicit in Joel’s violence. 

And also because of some very slight but important differences in the way that Pedro Pascal approached Joel versus the way that Troy Baker approaches Joel in the game, that particular sequence in the hospital and then the conversations he has with Ellie after the fact felt different in an interesting way. And I’m really curious to see what season two is because I don’t think this is a spoiler, really, for game two. But game two picks up four years after game one. And I would be surprised if they just leapt to that directly. So, I’m really curious to sort of see how they fill that time and what they do structurally.

And I’m also kind of intrigued to see how Pedro Pascal’s particular coldness in that hospital sequence affects the story moving forward. But as somebody who didn’t know that was coming ... what was your reaction to Joel slaughtering everybody!?

Cherokee: Um ... I mean, when he was leaving the hospital with those two people following him out at gun point I was like, “There’s no way that he’s just going to frolic on out of here.”

Lauren: Leave ... (laughs)

Cherokee: Absolutely not. And so the moment he started attacking them I was like, I actually think I said “yes” out loud. And then I think I was like ... and I expected it to kind of like maybe him to fight them off and then kind of go get her and ... I didn’t expect him to kill every single living being in the building. And I don’t know if there’s a conflicting opinion about his actions here based on kind of the possibility of Ellie being the cure, but it seemed to me that I was like, you guys are just going to immediately go in and kill her and you don’t have a lot of technology here? I don’t feel like you’re set up to make a vaccine. So ... I feel like ... I was kind of like all for it. I don’t know if people thought/felt differently about that, because that was their whole journey. But I was like, you know what, I respect his decision there. Obviously, in game play world, not in real life world. But ...

Lauren: Yeah, I mean, of course. We are in a [crosstalk 00:20:31]. 

Cherokee: In the post apocalyptic scenario in question ... (laughs)

Lauren: I mean, I think that’s been one of the really interesting things about watching Tumblr react to this finale, has been seeing the varying opinions and sort of the discourse around Joel’s actions. Especially since I first played The Last of Us in 2020 of all times. 

Cherokee: Great timing. Great timing. (laughs)

Lauren: Yeah, great timing. So, I played it seven years after the game had come out and so I sort of missed all the original discourse around the game. By the time I approached the game it was already considered one of the greatest games ever made. Which it is. And what’s interesting is I played it like a month before The Last of Us II came out and then I played The Last of Us II and I was kind of around for all of The Last of Us II discourse, which obviously I’m not going to get into. 

But the thing that I love about the game and the thing that I love that the TV show did not shy away from is that it wants you to have that reaction of like I stand by what Joel did. It wants you to be like, “I think I would have done the same thing.” And also this is horrific. Yeah, I think that they did that really well and I think especially the way that Bella Ramsey played Ellie’s reaction in that last scene that they have where she is like, “Don’t lie to me.” And you can tell that she knows something is off, right? She doesn’t know what necessarily but she knows something is off. And I’ve been seeing on Tumblr a lot of conversation around the complexity and the nuances of this particular decision and what the narrative wants you to think about it. And it’s been really interesting to watch people have to grapple with the fact that there’s not an easy answer. Right?

Like, you’re not supposed to be cheering at the end. I was talking to a friend who hasn’t played the game but has really been enjoying the TV show. And she hadn’t watched the finale yet. And she was like, “Were you satisfied by the way that they adapted the first season? Did you like the ending?” And I was like, “Yes, I loved the last episode. I think they did a great job. But am I satisfied is an impossible question.” Because in both playing the game and watching the show it’s like, no, you’re not satisfied. You’re kind of left with this pit in your stomach feeling that I love. I love art that makes me feel that way. Because it’s so different from a more clear-cut kind of ... I love John Wick, right? And I think that those movies are very much like, yeah, let’s watch this guy murder a bunch of people because someone killed his dog. Woo hoo! I think there’s a place for that kind of stuff and there’s a place for The Last of Us of, oh, I feel bad about this. 

Cherokee: Yeah, it’s very ... even, I feel like my gut emotional reaction was, oh my gosh thank god he’s going to save Ellie – because this is the person that we’ve been rooting for this entire time. But if you flipped the narrative and showed us the fireflies perspective of all of this – I don’t know, I still think that they were making a very ethically questionable decision by not telling anyone that she was going to die. 

Lauren: Yeah.

Cherokee: Obviously, that has all of its own ... obviously I’m sure this is where a lot of the discourse is. But it was hard for me to not be like, yeah, I feel good that he did this. But obviously it’s not a good thing that he did. Same with John Wick. I actually just started watching the John Wick movies and I have ... I don’t like when animals get hurt in anything. I can’t handle it. 

Lauren: No, yeah, it’s awful.

Cherokee: And everyone was, no, it’s just a small part of it. And so my friends are like, “You are going to watch this, because we’re going to go see John Wick four.” And oh god, hated that first 20 minutes. Oh my god. 

Lauren: Yeah.

Cherokee: But I was absolutely vindicated after. It was one dog’s life for 200 people. You know what? That’s why you don’t mess with someone’s dog, man. (laughs)

Lauren: Absolutely. And in heightened reality of John Wick it feels totally justified and it feels completely correct. And I think that yeah because The Last of Us is more grounded ... I don’t know, man, everything you just said I’m just like, once you’re done, I mean, well yeah, I’m curious to see ... again, we’ll have to see what sort of episodes The Last of Us do because they are working on a season two. Yeah, The Last of Us II adds along to this conversation in a very interesting way, in a way that was incredibly divisive for fans and critics. 

And also if you don’t like animals getting hurt in anything, maybe don’t play The Last of Us II. 

Cherokee: Okay. Got it. Oh no.

Lauren: That was one of the worst mechanics of it for me. And that’s just a general warning to anybody who is thinking about playing that game. If you can’t handle playing a character who hurts animals, don’t play The Last of Us II. 

Cherokee: Yeah, I actually think that would be hard for me. But I will play all the way through The Last of Us I. 

Lauren: The Last of Us I, you’re fine. 

Cherokee: Ready to rock. Yeah, because I was even so sad about what happens to their horse. I was like, oh no. 

Lauren: No!

Cherokee: Oh gosh. I just, obviously people dying in shows it’s sad, too, but I don’t know, animal deaths hit differently. I will-

Lauren: They do, because they’re not consenting to the same kind of ... like that horse was just a horse being ridden. That horse didn’t want to get into fights with people. You know?

Cherokee: Probably wants to be running through a field somewhere. You know?

Lauren: Exactly.

Cherokee: Did not ask to be a part of this narrative. (laughs)

Lauren: Exactly. (laughs) 

Cherokee: I always have to, when I’m watching a show like this, I always have to remind myself – that horse is okay. That horse is in its little horsey home. It’s fine. 

Lauren: Yep, it’s fine. It was treated well. 

Cherokee: Yes. It got to hang out with Pedro Pascal and Belle Ramsey. I’m jealous of that horse. So, let’s-

Lauren: Exactly.

Cherokee: ... look at it that way. (laughs) 

Lauren: Normally, my inclination would be to replay the games, right? But I’ve done that. And I will jump back in every now and then and play a couple sequences and stuff, or jump into a particular chapter. But the thing that I’m really excited about with the show being so successful and having such an incredible fandom, and we’ll definitely re-blog some of it, but oh my god some of the fan art on Tumblr for this show is like unreal. It’s so beautiful. People are pulling out all the stops. 

But one of the things I’m really excited about is after I played The Last of Us II ... I played The Last of Us and The Last of Us II in very quick succession. And after sort of a month of being just buried deep in this game world, the summer of 2020, which was an incredibly weird time, I was like oh my god, I need more of these characters. Where do I turn? I turned to AO3. And the AO3 tag is for video games in general tend not to be enormous. And there’s not a ton of The Last of Us fan fic. And specifically what I am looking for when I’m looking for The Last of Us fan fic is like I just want Joel and Ellie doing dad/daughter stuff. Right?

I just want them being a family and hanging out and being happy and safe. That’s what I’m looking for.

Cherokee: Safe and supportive. 

Lauren: Exactly. And so I’m really excited that now the TV show has brought these characters to a much, much wider audience, including probably a lot of very talented fan fic writers who will want to write some stuff post season one. And I cannot wait to read all of those fics. So, that’s what I will be doing. Cherokee, are you just going to be focused on getting through the prologue?

Cherokee: Yeah. I think really I’m just going to dedicate myself to ... any free time I have making it though that final just one more zombie I’ve got to get by, over and over again, but the problem is it’s the one zombie that keeps killing me, but there’s like a whole bunch of game play that just resets quite far back. So, every time I die-

Lauren: Oh no!

Cherokee: ... I have to get ... it’s like the Sisyphus situation that I’m in at the moment. But we’re going to fight through it. And I hope to play through the game. I’ll keep you posted once I make it through the prologue.

Lauren: Please do. 

Cherokee: I just loved the show so much. I have watched a lot of titles in the past that have video games or are based on video games and this is ... I’ve always been tangentially kind of interested, but this is the first thing that I’ve watched that immediately made me be like I must play this game. And so I’m really excited about that, to be entering this whole new world, and I hope and feel like I’m sure a lot of people are also entering the world of this game as well. I believe yesterday (as we recorded this March 21st) they released it for PC. So, I think that will open it to a bunch more players as well.

Lauren: Oh wow. Cool. 

Cherokee: So, yeah. Just really stoked to play with the pipe knife at some point. 

(laughter)

Lauren: Hell yes. 

Cherokee: Do you have any tips Lauren?

Lauren: I definitely think taking your time ... in a lot of the combat moving forward once you get past that sort of initial infected are running at you and you’re just trying to escape Austin, a lot of the time that you’re encountering infected it’s like that sequence in the second episode where they’re in that museum in Boston, there’s a lot of that kind of stuff. And that sequence exactly happens in the game. And so take your time. Take your time to really listen , to figure out the best way to get at an infected person, watch their patterns of movement, and that will help you get through those sequences faster because you won’t just be dying over and over again by rushing into things. That’s my advice.

Cherokee: All right. I will keep that in mind. And are there any other Easter eggs or things that you really liked that you noticed as a player throughout the season that new viewers to it wouldn’t have?

Lauren: I mean, definitely yeah. As I mentioned, there were a couple of weapons things that came up. Like the fact that Joel ditches one of the machine guns because he’s like, “Finding ammo for this is so hard.” That’s a real thing in the game. Certain guns just aren’t worth keeping once you’ve run out of ammo for them. Also, when they were in Jackson there were I believe two strong nods to the second game. The first has not been confirmed, although I think Neil Druckmann liked a tweet about it. Which is that the girl that Ellie snaps at when they’re in the dining hall ... I was like, “That is [this] character from The Last of Us II.” I would bet anything. I’m pretty sure that’s her. And also the little baby horse that Ellie pets (Shimmer) is in game two.

Cherokee: Oh my gosh.

Lauren: So, those were two little Easter eggs that I really enjoyed.

Cherokee: Love that. I saw a lot of people talking about how much the scene with the giraffe in the final episode, people loved that.

Lauren: Yeah.

Cherokee: That they took the time to add that in from the game. And it was a real giraffe, which is also really cool that they used.

Lauren: I know! That’s so cool.

Cherokee: I love that. (laughs) 

Lauren: So cute and just aw, Bella Ramsey is just so ...

Cherokee: Great things. All the feels. 

Lauren: Yeah, all the feels. Do you have a favorite episode or like a favorite moment from the show that has just really stuck with you?

Cherokee: I mean, I feel cliché but episode three just ... 

Lauren: Yeah.

Cherokee: I immediately re-watched it. I loved it so much. I really just loved the story and it was just so sweet. And I know that was something that was expanded upon from a smaller story line in the game.

Lauren: Immensely. 

Cherokee: I’m really excited to see some more of that in season two as well. And then I just really liked the pun book and the punning tie in throughout.

Lauren: Of course!

Cherokee: Oh my gosh. Love! Ellie, gal after my own heart. (laughs)

Lauren: Absolutely. 

Cherokee: Wait, but what was your favorite episode or favorite moment?

Lauren: Hmm. I mean, yeah, episode three was a really astonishing work of art. I think like I mentioned the week it aired I was just like gently crying for 20 minutes straight, which I just don’t often do. I either shed one tear or I sob at TV shows. And this was just like a steady stream of tears for 20 minutes. 

But I think my favorite moment was actually in the last episode. It was maybe based on a couple of different moments in the game, but that was for all intents and purposes a new conversation, which is Ellie and Joel talking about how he got the scar on his head. And then her being like, “Oh yeah, I mean, time heals all wounds, right?” And he’s like, “It wasn’t time that did it.” I was like – oh god! 

There are so many times in both games where I just want to scream, “Say I love you to each other, you freaks!” 

Cherokee: Right!?

Lauren: I feel like this is the closest (laughs) I’ve gotten and it’s so delicious. 

Cherokee: Oh my gosh. Yeah. That and the, “I’ve got you baby girl, when she runs out of the burning building.” Ugh, just punch through my heart! Found family! We love to see it. 

Lauren: We love to see it. We love to see it.

[gentle music]

Cherokee: Speaking of things that punch us through our heart ... our Feels Corner.

Lauren: Yep. 

Cherokee: What has you in your feels this week, beyond just everything about The Last of Us?

Lauren: Always and forever. Well, speaking of found family stuff ... I have been on a Star Wars kick recently, which I think I talked about last time because I went to Galaxy’s Edge at Disney World. And now the Mandalorian is back and the Bad Batch is ending its season soon. And I’m just drowning in wonderful Star Wars content. 

But the thing I’m really excited for is that the sequel to Jedi Fallen Order, a video game, is coming out in late April. And I really loved Jedi Fallen Order. I thought it was great. And the game picks up five years after Fallen Order, Jedi Survivor, the one that comes out in April. And to sort of bridge the two, a book called Battle Scars by Sam Maggs came out a couple of weeks ago. And so I’ve been reading that. And it picked up where the ... it picks up a couple of years after the video game ends. And without sort of spoiling too much about the book or about the game, basically it’s about this Jedi and now he’s on this ship with sort of his compatriots and it’s really great found family stuff. And Sam Maggs is just a phenomenal writer. And a wonderful person. And so it’s just been a real delight to read that book.

I’m not done with it yet because I paused. Because I was like, wait a second, I don’t remember some important stuff that happens in Jedi Fallen Order. So, I’m going to go back and replay that game, which is what I’m doing right now. And then I’m going to pick up and continue to read this book because I want to be able to appreciate it fully. 

Cherokee: Love it.

Lauren: It’s also exploring one of my favorite things to explore in Star Wars storytelling and something that my other favorite Star Wars book explores, Dark Disciple, which is this ... it’s actually like a very Joel and Ellie coded thing, in my opinion. It’s a similar theme. Which is that the Jedi are not supposed to form emotional attachments, right? That’s their whole thing, is they’re sort of supposed to be separate from the world.

And I love narratives that explore, no, what if Jedi actually do have romances – like in Dark Disciple? Or what if they have a found family that they really love and want to take care of, like in Battle Scars? And how does that complicate their relationship to essentially their religion and their way of life? And that’s something that the Mandalorian is exploring really beautifully as well with Din Jarin’s religion and now raising his son in that. And if you’re looking for Pedro Pascal raising a child again, may I recommend the Mandalorian as a chaser to the shot that was The Last of Us?

Cherokee: My favorite genre.

Lauren: This is what’s got me in my feels. It’s the best genre. Cherokee, what about you? What has you in your feels other than daddy, Pedro Pascal?

Cherokee: Other than daddy Pedro Pascal, I have some other daddy’s in my feels this week. (laughs) Specially Shadow Daddy, if you are a fan of Shadow & Bone, season two came out as we were chatting about earlier and we did an answer time with the full cast and there were, first off, just the interactions between these cast members just warms my fricken heart. And it’s just so much fun to see compared to the characters that they play. 

So, the first group we had was Ben Barnes, Jessie Mei Li, and Daisy Head ... Ben is of course the Darkling, Jessie is Alina, and then Daisy is Genya. So, one of the questions that was submitted was, “Who started the nickname shadow daddy?” And (laughs) it turns out it was the actress Danielle who plays Nina in the show – fun fact! 

Lauren: Amazing.

Cherokee: It was just a really fun Q&A. I also just have a new blorbo from Shadow & Bone and that is Wylan, played by Jack Wolfe. Jack Wolfe is a perfect little forest nymph of a human being. And is so perfect for the character of Wylan. I really loved season two. Very excited for the next Shadow & Bone and also we did a segment called “Cast Your Votes” where the cast made polls and we actually posted the polls on the Netflix Tumblr. So, you can participate in them.

Lauren: Amazing.

Cherokee: So, we have some great questions in there like “Shadow or Bone?” And that was a really contentious one. Or, “Which crow would be the least helpful in a crisis?” So, you know, a lot of debate, a lot of great stuff. And so yeah, that just really has me in my feels, because that was so much fun. I really loved the books, loved season one, have already been to watch season two.

And also, this is a little kind of pre in my feels thing because it hasn’t premiered yet. I believe it comes out on March 31st, but we’re doing an answer time with the cast of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. We’re going to be recording it, it goes live on the 30th. So, I really loved that movie and it was great – can’t wait for it to come out. And that also gave me a lot of feels. And I think there’s going to be multiple of these movies. So, just a lot of great-

Lauren: Ooh!

Cherokee: Yeah. Great stuff coming out. I’m going to go play some more The Last of Us and hopefully make it through the prologue. 

Lauren: Good luck and godspeed.

Cherokee: Thank you very much. I will be texting you updates. And in the mean time-

Lauren: Please.

Cherokee: And I’m Cherokee McAnelly and you can find me at Chero.Tumblr.com. 

Lauren: And I’m Lauren Shippen, and you can find me at TheLaurenShippen.Tumblr.com.

Cherokee: This has been Dashboard Diaries. And ...

[outtro music]

Lauren: May your anons always be loving.

Cherokee: Your dash always refreshed.

Lauren: Your gifs always be loading.

Cherokee: And your ships always canon.

Lauren: May the fics you’re reading always be finished.

Cherokee: And the answers you seek always in the re-blogs.

Lauren: Thanks for scrolling with us!

We're finally dedicating an entire episode to losing our minds over the TV adaptation of The Last of Us. Also: we all totally stab Caesar and ponder which is better, Shadow or Bone.

Credits and transcript in our reblog. You can find transcripts for this, and every other episode, here.

Find the posts discussed in this episode in this tag!

[phoneybeatlemania-bit-the-dust]

How did you get round to doing all this research? Maybe it's the peer pressure but I'm around your age and I'm kinda jealous how you're so knowledgeable about a 60 year old band in like, our grandparents' day lol. But I'm impressed! Keep it up ❤️

Firstly, thank you! I had a very shitty night at work last night so when I came home and saw this message it cheered me up a bit <3 Honoured that you think im knowledgeable on them!

Onto the actual question though - ive always loved the Beatles (I used to watch Yellow Submarine every week when I was about 5 or 6 or so) and I would consider them my first favourite band! But it was only at the start of this year during lockdown that I started heavily reading into them; no idea why, just suddenly became obsessed. For the first few months though, I remember I didn’t actually have much of an opinion because I just didn’t know what to make of the history - but once I started participating in discussions and stuff, that prompted me to garner more of an assured perception.

The tips and advice I would give (other then neglecting school work) are:

1. I Read A Lot!

I just tend to read a lot of books in general, and so once I became captivated with the bugs, my first instinct was to buy a book on them - so I bought Phillip Normans book on John Lennon because id heard good reviews, and then it all just spiralled from there and now ive read about 7 different books on them this year (and ive got tons more that I want to get to!). Reading different books and essays on them is a great way to get a nuanced and reasonable perspective on them, albeit an imperfect way of navigating their historiography, because naturally every biographer will be biased in some sense.

A lot of people post quotes and sections from various books and essays onto this website, so if reading isn’t really your thing or you don’t have the time etc. you can still often find the important bits on here! But personally, reading Bealtes books is sort of like comfort food to me, so I typically have one on the go.

2. Tumblr & Forums

Part of my love for the Beatles I think has been perpetuated by having this position in an online community. There are other websites in which people discuss the Beatles, and ill occasionally use them (like ill check out reddit every once in a while), but overall, I just find the Tumblr community to be the most open to actual discussion, especially if it differs from the "established" Beatles narrative presented by biographers and documentary makers etc. for the past 50+ years.

Beatles fans using sites and forums like Reddit I feel are more focussed on the bugs actual music - which is fine of course, but im not so interested in discussing that, because for the most part I like to talk about their actual characters rather then their artistry. Also from my experience in interacting with people through those sites, people are quite closed-minded when it comes to drifting from the consensus. Whereas with the Tumblr community, it feels a lot more like an actual community. Like different users have their own sense of personality and their own opinions, and I just feel like we all tend to be pretty friendly here, or at the very least, tend to be respectful. People on Tumblr also seem to be a lot more open-minded to discussing less comfortable topics rather then immediately shutting down the conversation because it doesn’t fit within the “official” Beatles narrative.

Finding accounts who you would deem trusty and then sending them questions I find is also a good way to get some perspective. If im not sure what I make of situation concerning the Beatles, sometimes ill send users who I find to be quite perceptive an ask, and get their view on the subject; I might disagree with them in the end, but its still a good way to get some perspective. Also adding to or even starting discussions is another way of getting some info!

3. Second hand stories

I don't know that many people who are as into the Beatles as I am (because, shockingly, 17 year olds dont tend to obsess over bands that broke up 50 years ago 😳) but if I meet someone who does like them, sometimes ill pick up some new stories id never heard before in books or on Tumblr. Like a couple months ago my Dad told me about the time Paul McCartney drunkenly started taking the piss out of David Blaine (x), and I thought it was so funny and bizarre, I was surprised no one on Tumblr had ever mentioned it. So if you come across a bug fan, you might be able to weasel from them a couple stories you've never heard before!

4. Documentaries & Podcasts

I haven't actually watched/listened to that many Beatles related documentaries or podcasts so far, but going off of what ive seen id recommend:

Lennon/McCartney documentary on youtube

The "One Sweet Dream" and "Another Kind Of Mind" podcasts

Ive been watching the docu-series called "1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything" recently, and I think its fab! Its not solely focussed on the Beatles, but they are discussed a lot, as well as dozens of other great musicians from the era, and other wider contexts.

This (x) podcast episode on the psychology of John Lennon

5. Interviews

Not a lot to say here, just that finding interviews of them (or people who have known them) can of course be very insightful :)

6. Find The Topics that interest you

One way that I go about researching them is that I seek out essays or forums focussing tightly on topics that I am interested in. I know that my main focuses (at least for the time being) tend to be related to the interpersonal relationship between John and Paul, and their psychology’s and upbringings etc. So for example, I might actively search for information on John and his possible ED or Pauls parents etc. In comparison, whilst I obviously still love George and Ringo, I know that they just don’t interest me quite so much, so I just don’t tend to seek out information on them.

Figure out which topics resonate with you personally, and seek out information and discussions specifically regarding them!

[soulrph]

hiya! ill tell you now that this ask isnt rp related so feel free to ignore it, i just... kinda have no one to talk to about it, but i can feel it festering in me and id like to spare myself the emotional breakdown. i hope that doesnt guilt trip you into continuing. anyways, recently i deleted my tumblr blog for several different reasons, one of which was that in the fandom im currently hyperfixating on, i got vague-shade-posted at by one of its bigger artists. quickly it felt like everyone was turning on me, so i just ran while i still had the chance because i knew no one would care. and i was right— all of my mutuals and friends whom ive had day long conversations and plotted many headcannons and fics with didnt react at all and everyone avoids bringing me up even though i was a very active participant of the fandom. its like ive become a bad memory, if even that. but none of that is why im here and need to get this off my chest. that's because of AO3. ive always had very little feedback and interaction with my works, but now it feels like people from thia fandom are deliberately avoiding my content. ive started feeling very discouraged as a content creator and i dont know what to do. writing is all i have now. if i lose that... i dont know where id be. you honestly dont have to answer this, just writing it out made me feel better a little. i didnt have anywhere else to turn to, so im sorry for putting this in your inbox. thanks for listening, though. i hope your day goes lovely, and that you never feel as unwelcome in the world as i do.

hi my darling!! first i wanna say how sorry i am for not getting to you sooner! tumblr loves to hide these things from me, it’s an absolute mess! but anyway, i’m going to try and see if i can help you out here, bc ur situation sounds absolutely terrible, but it also sounds like a situation that, i’m sure, many people would relate to and understand! 

so, for starters, i want you to know how welcome you are in the world, regardless of the opinions of a small group of misguided and frankly foolish people. from what you’re telling me, it sounds an awful lot like this one person who posted about you has a lot of influence in your fandom, right? enough of a presence that, when they speak, some people may feel like there’s no reason to argue or test their reasoning.

i say this because i’ve found many fandoms, at some point or other, inevitably have this kind of presence in the midst. it’s often accidental; i absolutely despise the notion of “popular rp blogs”, i’ve seen so many friendships and friend groups fall apart over accusations of being these “popular rp blogs”, and it’s an absolute mess of a situation that never made any sense to me. the dash isn’t high school. we’re all here to have fun! and yeah, we’ll complain and rant sometimes, but ultimately, we’re all here to make friends and have a good time together while we write outrageous angst about our muses, right?

i digress!

i used to write on ao3 myself, and i wrote in two or three different fandoms. not a lot, mind you! but i did notice that i got a HUGE amount of responses in the arguably smaller fandom than i did with the larger fandoms! like, the difference was incredible! plus, i don’t know if people without ao3 accounts are able to comment or offer feedback on the fics, so there could be LOADS of people reading your stuff who never made an account! i think i read stuff there for about three years before i decided to make an account!

but the truth of it is, you’re after emerging from a truly crappy situation. i think there’s tonnes of people out here who can relate to being vagued about, or to being the target of a shady post. but i also know for a fact that there’s LOADS of people here who have that as a rule; that anyone who vagues, is getting blocked on the spot. it’s 2022. we’re all adults, or at least responsible enough to be online and able to navigate this hellsite. the days of vaguing and shading others need to end.

i don’t want to end this on a dark note, so here’s some nice stuff! for one thing, you’re undoubtedly an incredibly mature and sensible person! reaching out and writing about this stuff is such a healthy thing to do, and you’ve even mentioned that you felt better after writing it, too! so well done!! secondly, you know how brave you need to be to write fanfic AND join tumblr?? SUPER brave!! and to be able to leave tumblr is also a feat of its own!! the important thing to recognize here is this: it only FEELS like people are avoiding your content. and while your feelings are valid, stress and anxiety can combine to lend a new and very unnecessary volume to the voice that’s telling you these things. you said you like writing! so write! it doesn’t matter what the people in your fandom think! you write what you want to write, and the right people will find it and read it and love it! i have a seventeen-chapter fanfic written in one of my old school copy books about a zombie apocalypse, and it started off based on my oc, then it expanded to cover literally any book, tv show or movie i’d ever read, seen or watched! and i love it! i love reading that old tattered book! you write what you love, and other  people will love it too. okay?

ily. know that you are always welcome here. and know that your value doesn’t depend on the opinions of a few. you’re a good person, and you didn’t deserve to be treated that way, and i’m sorry. i’m so sorry that you ever had to feel so badly that you felt “unwelcome”. but just because that group doesn’t welcome you, doesn’t mean that the rest of the world feels the same way! keep writing. and promise me you’ll never forget that you’re always, ALWAYS welcome here.

[charmspoint]

what i know abt qifrey from u talking abt him uhh ok so he's genuinely just a nice guy but also he's evil and irredeemable but also he's literally just a pleasant gentleman

I know ur not asking for a rant about this but by god ur gonna get it.

So the thing is, I don't think Qifrey is evil or irredeemable at all. We joke around the fandom (at least i hope its mostly jokes) that he's evil and crazy but he's really not. If id have to pin Qifrey on a morality spectrum I'd say morally gray but leaning towards the good.

Did Qifrey do some messed up stuff? Yes, fo sure. But I've always gotten more of an impression that he's teetering towards the edge and not completely over it. He does do damage but so far he's mostly made sure that damage was extremely localized and not actually harming other people (I talked about before how Qifrey's own memory erasing spell seems weirdly specialized compared to what we were brought to believe memory erasing spell actually does when used by anyone else).

But now comes the question

Do I think Qifrey will get worse?

Yes, 100% I believe this is where we are going towards, I said before that I'm p convinced he will become some kind of obstacle for Coco down the line.

Qifrey is going through a LOT rn. He's already got ptsd from, you know being stripped of his identity, buried alive, almost drowned and then remembering he was experimented on like a lab rat, but now it's getting worse. Before he could at least relay on the fact that even though his past was horrible, his future was bright. He genuinely loves his job, he loves his girls, he loves teaching. This monolog gets me every single time

Now he's losing his future, he's losing not only his eye, but the whole identity he built out of nothing, he's losing his teaching position, he's losing his kids, he's losing Everything he gained after he had already lost Everything.

It leaves him rushing against an uncertain time limit, desperate, stumbling, sloppy. I don't think he's thinking straight anymore, not really. I think he's convinced he is being methodical and calculating but in actuality he's stumbling forward, grasping at straws, unable to hold on to anything but his need for revenge and the empty words that his actions aren't only for his own sake.

It's all very striking, in his relationship with Olruggio in particular. Olruggio is very clearly supposed to be the guiding light for Qifrey, the one who pulls him back when he goes too far, the one who helps him resist the growing darkness. It's very meaningful how as Qifrey continues on his path he makes sure Olruggio doesn't even know about it. He said it himself, if Olruggio knew, he'd try to save him. He'd try to bring Olruggio to light again and Qifrey doesn't WANT to be saved, he has decided on a road he wants to take and he won't allow anyone to change his course. Not even Olruggio.

So do I think Qifrey is evil?

No

Do I think he'll get worse?

Yes

Do I think he'll become evil?

Not really

See here's the thing. Qifrey's desperation, how quickly he's trying to work through this, how determined he is to throw everything else under the bus if he could just achieve his goals? All of that is dictated by the fact he's running out of time, the fact that once he loses his eyesight he can no longer be a witch. Eyesight is VERY important to witches since magic is a very visual art. We've seen with Tartar how something as seemingly miniscule as color blindness can basically doom someone, causing everyone around them to say they can't become a witch without good eyesight. So complete blindness is a death sentence to a witches career. Now, it's funny how a lot of the Coustas and Tartars arc has to do with adjusting the world to disability and not the person to the world. How it's made pointed, over and over again, that people with disabilities shouldn't be written off but given proper tools that will help them function, how the world should adjust to be a more comfortable place for all kinds of people and not just those who are already adjusted to it. Without the threat of his eyesight going out and cutting his whole identity into bits, Qifrey wouldn't have to act like this, he would be able to sit and think and not rush and if he still wants to pursue brimhats he could do it more safely for himself and everyone else because the desperation factor would be gone.

So what I think is going to happen is that Qifrey will lose his eyesight but won't lose his standing as a witch because he, Olruggio and the kids will figure out how to make magic accessible to him.

Now there's of course a bunch more unaccounted for variables which I'll probably have a better grasp on after the current arc is done being translated. Ininia and Lord Restis represent a very interesting development because they are brimhats introduced specifically via healing injuries. The rule of 'medicine magic isn't allowed cuz it's a slippery slope' has been there since the beginning of the series and a big thorn in the 'yeah the witch world rules are good and fair' side cuz of course, everyone thinks healing people should be allowed. Now the brimhats we've had so far were fully ready to attack and experiment on children's bodies in order to further their own goals so of course that immediately leaves you disliking them and not putting much account into their rhetoric even though it does make sense at times, but ur not gonna listen to ppl experimenting on kids. That's why I think Ininia and Lord Restis are interesting, cuz if they aren't literally attacking children they might get a good case in about medicine magic being allowed. I think we are going towards at least some sort of medicine magic becoming acceptable considering Tartar's arc. But then the question is, if some sort of medicine magic is approved, will it be used to heal disabilities cuz like...that would kinda suck. I would much rather have a 'world should be adjusted so disabled people can participate in it equally' narrative rather than the 'just heal the disability with magic lol' narrative. But honestly this whole paragraph is pure speculation because the arc isn't fully translated or even fully out yet but I sure af am LOOKING at it. I think it will be v important in understanding where the story is going to go. I just hope Shirahama does a good job with it, but honestly she never once let me down up until now so I'm feelin positive.

Circling back to Qifrey, I do think he's one of the kindest, most understanding, most lovable characters I've had a joy of reading and studying. But he does have a black hole in him that is pulling apart all that kindness, leaving him a shattering shell. I don't think he's evil, I don't think he'll ever become truly evil and despite what he's done I don't think any of what he did is irredeemable, especially with how careful he tends to be not to take away from people more than he has to to further his own goals. But I do think that hole will eat at him more and more and that before he can get better somebody will have to notice it and help him plug it up. Olruggio noticed and Qifrey refused the help, convinced that he can't be helped, not in the way he needs. He will need proof that he can keep his future before he can ease up on the frantic hunt after his past