#and got angry more than the average player?)

[futebolfutbol]

Found out my cousin hates neymar because he parties too much?? okay???

[dira333]

Imagine

You learn of Sakusa Kiyoomi at a sports event. He attracts your interest by answering the insanely dumb questions of interviewers with more than the average intellect required. He's funny. Thoughtful. Way out of your league. You don't get a chance to talk to him.

Your friend is friends with him. Everything she tells you of him makes him look better until you grab another friend and take her to MSBY Game in the wild hopes you might get to talk to him. He's not playing that day.

Months pass. There must be some weird psychological trick working because wherever you go, Sakusa's there. You see his face on the covers of newspapers, hear him or his team mentioned in passing conversations. Your mind is the moon rotating around him.

"Hey," Kuroo stops you in the hallway. "We need a commentator for the event next week. Can you do it?"

"Uh," you hesitate. "Sure, but am I doing it alone?"

"Well, we've got someone covering the first half. You'll do the second half."

"Oh, who is it?"

"Sakusa Kiyoomi, you know him?"

"You've got to be kidding me." The words slip out of your mouth before you can hold them back. Kuroo's eyebrows wander up his temple.

"Do you have a problem with him?" Kuroo asks, half amused, half curious.

"I... I'm not sure. I haven't technically met him yet. But the Universe seems intent on pushing us toward each other."

"Oh, don't worry. You're not his type." Kuroo jokes, turning around when someone calls his name. "I gotta go, okay. If he gives you any trouble, just remember that, okay?"

"O-okay..." You're left behind, blinking as you try to make sense of his words. You're pretty sure he did not call you ugly just now. Kuroo's a good friend, has tried to set you up more than once.

But never with Volleyball Players.

You hesitate, try to fight insecurity raising its ugly head. Your only defense is anger. But not at yourself, or Kuroo, or the Universe for doing its thing. No, you're angry at Sakusa.

Who is he, that he dares to think you're beneath him? He's not attractive anyway. The moles on his forehead look like buttons. What is he, a robot? A computer, ready to be turned on? He's way too lanky for your taste anyway. You prefer your athletes muscular. Like Basketball Players.

You sigh. Who are you kidding?

You're Elizabeth Bennett and he's Mr. Darcy and he just called you barely tolerable.

Well, at least now you'll have no problem facing him next week. After all, he's not your type either.

....

My Kofi if you want to tip me

[thewertsearch]

We're got a couple of assorted asks about quadrant dynamics here. Since they're all related, I'll answer them as a single post.

@galaxa-13 asked: I personally never saw Feferi being annoyed by Eridan talking about feelings with Karkat because he was only supposed to talk about them with her, but rather because he ONLY talked about them with Karkat. She had to do all the heavy lifting in their relationship by making sure he didn't commit genocide, and then didn't get to unwind with some romantic gossip. If my platonic boyfriend never talked to me, but did with others, I'd question him too. @lilietsblog asked: I never read Feferi as being jealous of Karkat in a violating relationship exclusivity / cheating on her way. I read it as a playful "why aren't you talking about stuff with me? is it because you've already talked it all out?" where Eridan was very much supposed to read between the lines and undersatnd that she just wanted him to tell her about his red crushes (awkward, that…) While I'm sure there are specific rituals trolls /only/ do with their moirails, my overall impression is that trolls normally just… don't form relationships close and trusting enough for emotional support like that. The quadrants help by making it semi-mandatory to find SOMEONE. (Also I'm actually sure that a healthy moirallegiance would be reciprocal with both partners pacifying each other, it's just the hemospectrum version of gender roles)

You may have a point. Eridan was clearly a poor moirail from the start - probably because he never actually wanted to be Feferi's moirail. To him, the quadrant was clearly just a stepping stone to matespritship, so he wasn't invested in its dynamics. Feferi's not really angry about Karkat, here - she's just a little frustrated about how one-sided their moirallegence has turned out to be.

That said, I do still believe that quadrants would work better if they were polyamorous - even if this particular scenario doesn't illustrate my point as well as I thought it did.

@morganwick asked: I mean, some would argue that placing undue emphasis on monogamy beyond what's actually healthy or natural is true of human romance as well. But part of what might be going on here is that on Alternia, it's not a good idea to let knowledge of your fears, doubts, and weaknesses spread too far, lest it mark you for culling. Best to vent to a single person who won't tell another soul. (See also how Vriska is saying things to John she wouldn't tell any other troll.) @bladekindeyewear asked: "At the end of the day, I do think moirallegiance is a good idea. I just don’t think it really works if moirails can’t be poly." What if they CAN be? People with naturally polyamorous inclinations are few and marginalized on present-day Earth, and Alternian society seems set up to STOMP OUT the marginalized. Quadrants certainly exist, but how much of their rigidity and the pervasive troll view that you only have "one true fated partner(s)" for each quadrant might just be cultural?

I think a monogamous system of moirallegence is probably all that Alternia could handle. Sustaining a polyamorous quadrant system would require a level of emotional maturity that the average troll simply isn't going to have - and, like you said, it might be dangerous to widen your circle more than is actually necessary.

I still think the trolls would benefit from such a system, though. On Alternia, it simply wasn't to be - but the Alternian Players now have the chance to build an entirely new culture. Who knows what new dynamics they might discover?

@lilietsblog asked: I don't think Hussie "jumped the gun". I think Hussie was messing around with the very idea of "what romance should be like". Trolls don't care about what gender their partners are, and have a different system of confusing rigid rules that no two people understand quite the same and that don't work out in practice that way anyway, instead. The quadrant system was never intended to be a serious worldbuilding project any more than Troll Will Smith

See, I get what you're saying - but the difference, in my opinion, is that that Troll Will Smith was a one-panel joke, whereas the quadrant system has informed our understanding of troll relationships for the entirety of Act 5. Unlike Will, quadrants have stayed relevant, and they've been critical to understanding many of the Alternians' key character moments.

That's not to say that quadrants aren't partially a joke. Frankly, I don't think any of Homestuck is entirely serious - but I do think quadrants are 'real' in the context of the story, and should be analyzed as a legitimate part of its world.

@bladekindeyewear asked: One last bout moirails-- Andrew in his asks has said that the idea behind each of the Quadrants IS supposed to match up with real human relationship and friend dynamics we already understand, making them relatable but w/ a romantic drive that isn't quite human-analogous. Trolls biologically compelled to enter them before understanding them, a challenge "particularly tortuous for young trolls" (p2393), plus the 600 hour session makes sense of Eq/Nep's relationship's drastic evolution to me.

I've always been a little skeptical about this whole 'biological drive' angle for the quadrants - mostly because there are plenty of human biological drives that are either overstated, misinterpreted, or outright fabricated.

That's not to say that the trolls don't have some sort of compulsion to seek out quadrants. If it does exist, though, I hope it slowly fades, now that the trolls have left their planet and its expectations behind.

[httpsdana]

Alejandro balde 107 being drunk and angry scaring the reader and ending in her looking after him putting him to bed and give him cuddles n kiss to make him feel better

Scared of Replacement~Alejandro Balde

*Pictures are from Pinterest*

enjoy this one <3

request from here

master list

players/drivers I write for

107-"please stop. you're scaring me."

y/n sat in the living room waiting for her boyfriend to come back home. He was supposed to spend some time with his teammates after their well deserved win.

She was watching her favorite series, wrapping a blanket around herself as she waited, when suddenly, a heavy knock on the door made her jump.

She slowly got up from her seat, walking carefully to the door, as the knocks got higher and heavier.

She looked through the peephole, only to see her boyfriend there. She was confused why he didn't use his keys, but opened the door nonetheless.

As soon as she opened it, he stumped into the house, throwing his bag with force on the ground making y/n flinch

"babe?" she said, making him turn to look at her. From the look in his eyes she knew that he was drunk. She moved closer, trying to help him walk, but he only moved away from her touch. He was mumbling some incoherent words, making her even more confused

"what're you saying?" she asked, making him sigh

"I fucking hate all that! I was doing good the first two matches and then he benched me! Saying that Martin was doing better! He only subbed me on in the last five minutes and I didn't get to do shit!" he started yelling, walking closer to y/n, making her backup slowly, scared from his sudden fit that he was having.

"do you know how shit that made me feel? It's like him saying I wasn't doing enough! and that Gerard Martin, who we by the way conceded because of his shitty defense, is fucking better than me! I've been getting ready all summer to play! and then he goes and benches me after one average match?! In what sense does he work?" his voice only got higher, as y/n's back hit the door and his body was so close to her.

She closed her eyes, trying to get away from the smell of alcohol and Ale's drunk body.

"please stop. you're scaring me." she whispered, making Alejandro look at her with wide eyes.

He pulled away quickly, tears welling up in his eyes quickly as he started mumbling unclear apologies.

"I'm so sorry. oh my god. I didn't mean to scare you. oh my god" he started mumbling, stepping back when y/n tried getting closer to him.

He dropped down on the couch, his elbows on his knees as he covered his face with his hands. y/n sat down next to him, feeling guilty for how she made him feel.

She placed a hand on his shoulder, leaning her head against his as he spoke.

"I'm sorry. it's just that the coach said I wasn't doing good and I'm really trying to do best, I'm just so afraid they might find a replacement for me or someone better. I'm just-I'm sorry if i scared you I didn't mean to do that" he mumbled, looking up at her.

She smiled at him softly, pulling his head so she can kiss his forehead.

"let's just get you sobered up and we can go to bed yeah?" she said, running her hand through his curls.

He smiled at her, nodding his head. She grabbed his hand and pulled him up with her, first leading him to the kitchen to drink some water.

After that, she took him to their bedroom, helping him change out of his clothes into more comfortable ones. Then, they laid in bed silently, Alejandro laying his head on her chest, as she scratched his back and pressed a few kisses on his face.

"you're doing amazing Ale. I'm so proud of you and of everything you're achieving. doing all that at a young age is fantastic. I know the coach is just doing that to bring the best out of you. And you're gonna prove to him that you deserve that spot and you're gonna earn it. Just don't bring yourself down because of one match. you still got the whole season ahead of you." she comforted him, her movements on his back never stopping

He looked up at her with a gentle smile, raining himself to press a kiss on her cheek and jaw.

She smiled at him, putting her fingers under his chin to raise his face, leaning down to peck his lips a few times, before kissing him deeply.

"thank you princess. I'm sorry if i scared you earlier. i didn't mean to" he said, his voice gentle and soft

"it's okay baby. i love you so much" she said back, kissing him a few more times

"I love you more" he mumbled, his eyes closing slowly as his eyes gave up and he fell asleep.

y/n smiled at his cute face, kissing his forehead before trying to sleep too.

[aquaquadrant]

literally just zoomed through yalls htp au and i havent seen anyone talk about it but i find it SO interesting how Bravo, who is supposed to be the GOOD overworlder, is rather prideful and honestly just a dick while Tango, supposedly his EVIL counterpart, is just the sweetest guy. i cant imagine how Tango is derived from the worst parts of Bravo, if im understanding hels correctly. Tango is such a good person, while Bravo is rude to everyone with the worst attitude. it was just something i picked up so quickly. if the universe put him in hels in the first place, there must be a reason why the universe swapped his place with his overworld counterpart.

on another note! with the release of secret life, and what we've seen so far, how do you think htp!tango would fare in this new killing game? i cant help but imagine that with the entire gimmick being keeping secrets that he would be rather stressed, knowing he had hidden stuff from his friends already-- lying doesnt make him feel like a good person (but he isnt supposed to be that, some small part of him is whispering, knowing hes from hels, is all of the "bad" parts of bravo)

anyways! this is all i will be able to think of for the rest of the week /vpos and i hope you (and everyone who may be reading this at any given time) have a great rest of spooky month!

well THANK YOU this was a lovely message to receive, and i’m glad you’re enjoying the au ^^

i’ve talked a little bit about this here and there, but i’ll never pass up the chance to ramble more. there are a few key things about bravo and tango that make them different from the average overworld-hels pair.

ANALYSIS/RAMBLE BELOW

first off, most of what we’ve seen of tango has been set during double life, which is ten years after he escaped hels, so he’s had ten years of growth. we see very little of him before this, and in those scenes he’s got the benefit of being largely alone. the only player he interacts with is xisuma, who tango immediately realizes he needs to ‘trick.’ so his interaction with x in part one isn’t how tango would’ve interacted with virtually any other player in hels at that time.

we see from the flashback in part five that younger pre-hels tek tango was borderline feral- he chose to attack atlas on sight instead of trying to hide, or leave before he was seen, or even see why atlas was there. now, atlas wins him over fairly quickly because tango is young and naive and secretly craving positive interaction, but even in that brief interaction tango is a bit more prideful than his older self. that, of course, got beaten out of him at hels tek.

bravo, on the other hand, we follow closely during his ten years in hels. when he first arrives in part two, he’s a little snide and privately judgemental, sure, but he starts out perfectly decent towards timmy. he tries to maintain that civility and ‘niceness’ as he interacts with more and more hels players, but gradually loses his willpower as he gets beaten down and frustrated, even losing his temper. and after he fully snaps and gets his first kills, he all but abandons the notion of being ‘nice’, though privately he still thinks of himself as inherently better than hels players (atlas’s manipulation certainly doesn’t help matters, either).

but perhaps the biggest point is to look at what traits tango actually got from bravo, and that would be his rage. bravo is most similar to tango when he’s angry; his first little temper tantrum in part two is where it’s best illustrated, because all instances after that have been influenced by his time in hels. but you’ll notice that we have yet to see tango truly angry in the HTP series (he did revert back to an almost feral mindset when the ranch got attacked, but that was an instinctive defense mechanism. there was no conscious thought behind those decisions, and they were purely fueled by fear, not anger). that will be where his ‘hels’ really shines through.

there’s one other bravo trait amplified in tango that i haven’t revealed yet. it’s something that tango has figured out how to sort of ‘mask’ via other more acceptable coping mechanisms- if you can call it that- and actually forms a fairly significant part of his personality. stay tuned :3

as for secret life, it’d be a complicated situation for sure. on one hand, their goals are less outright malicious- just complete the tasks and try to survive (at least for now). in a way, it almost takes away accountability for their actions if they turn out to be harmful- “i had to, it was my secret task!” so that’s nice to fall back on. but still, tango would be very on edge. not only with the discomfort of having to lie to his friends, but never knowing if they’re lying to him, too. boi’s got them trust issues fr.

[jjungkookislife]

Quarterly Fic Recs 2023: #2

Hello! I am a little late with my list but between work and my laptop taking so long to even boot up, it’s been hard to do anything. I’ve enjoyed all these fics these past few months and I hope you enjoy them as well. A huge thank you to all the writers for sharing their work 💜

Seokjin

none :(

Yoongi

red chopsticks @hobicakess

summary: Now everytime you see chopsticks, you'll think of him.

beloved @bang-tan-bitches

summary: Court was just a game of politics after all. And you intended to win

fear and dumplings ch. 1 @softyoongiionly

summary: You’re in your final semester at University when your Abnormal Psychology professor assigns you a partnered project surrounding your greatest fears. Lucky for you, your partner just so happens to be a cute boy named Min Yoongi. 

Hoseok

dinners & diatribes @yoongiphoria

Namjoon

the one with namjoon and the u-haul @eoieopda

summary: in which namjoon is buff, jungkook is late, & you're trapped in an elevator.

Jimin

blunt rotation @gimmethatagustd

summary: Supplying your law school classmates with weed on the regular might as well be a full-time job. It’s lucrative, but lately, you’ve seen a dip in profits. Maybe it’s because you keep giving out the Pretty Boy Discount to a certain guy in your ethics class…

Taehyung

none :(

Jungkook

jungkook with chubby girlfriend pt. 2 @ta3bae

calling you cool @kithtaehyung

summary: after your band finishes a coveted club gig, you’re frustrated that your dope ass night ends with you hiding in a bathroom stall. at least, this is what you figured—until someone comes along to change that.

prove it to me @kookslastbutton

summary: “I’m not your baby Jungkook. Remember that.” Those are the words you say right before jumping into a one night stand with Jeon Jungkook, the man who’s constantly annoying you with his college fling stories. You decide maybe just this once you’ll play into his game and prove that he’s no more average than the rest.

because i love you ch. 10 @readyplayerhobi

summary: According to society, Jeon Jungkook should not be with you. He should  be with a younger, hotter and thinner girl instead of wasting his time  on you. It’s a good thing Jungkook doesn’t care what society thinks  then.

only when you’re lonely @jjkeverlast

summary: jungkook has never dated anyone, because of you and you’re soft touches that bring him to orbit. it’s all it’s ever been, just sex between you. although, it brings an unexpected turn when jungkook accidentally blurts you out as his girlfriend to his college friends which results in them expecting you to an upcoming party. what jungkook doesn’t know is that you’re much more than just someone he meets when he’s lonely.

OT7/ Multple Members

satisfy ch. 5 @suga-kookiemonster

summary: “listen,” taehyung says, eyes wide and eager as he smiles at you. “i figure we can just help each other out. i scratch your back, you scratch mine.” but when you find yourself suddenly in need of a massive favor, exactly how much scratching are you willing to do?

fang f*cker @sailoryooons

summary: Jungkook loves reading his smutty vampire comic and so what if he fashions himself a little bit after the main character. Yoongi finds it wildly offensive. Every day he has to watch Jungkook play at being ominous and spooky - and okay, maybe it’s a little cute. But it’s mostly offensive, and Yoongi would know. He’s a vampire, after all.

before i leave you ch. 51 @hollyhomburg

summary: you’ve never seen Namjoon this angry before, but you can’t say he’s not rightfully upset at You and Hobi. Not every punishment can go according to plan…

Seokjin

wrong place wrong time @bangtanintotheroom

summary: Why couldn’t the two of you have just waited until you got home?

smile @shuadotcom

summary: Kim Seokjin has been a professional tennis player for years. He has countless tennis trophies in his penthouse in South Korea and has won two grand slams. He’s even in talks to participate in the upcoming Olympics. He’s dated a handful of well-known people with no problem and is confident to the point of irritation to those around him.

the one with seokjin, soju, and all the stars in the sky @eoieopda

summary: Kim Seokjin got really drunk on a members-night-out, so his fiancée has to pick his cute, clingy ass up.

i almost do @yoongiphoria

summary: You wipe the tears that have trickled down your cheek, collected below your nose. “I miss you, Seokjin. Can… can you come find me?”

the dogs of war @ugh-yoongi

moaning on stream @here4kpopfics

summary: You just want to sleep in a little bit longer, but your boyfriend has decided to play a frustratingly difficult game on stream. However, his frustration sounds a lot similar to something else…

my soul @peachypinkygloss

summary: No one said loving a vampire would be easy, especially not one who is tortured by his past and his present. Your love for him is eternal, even though you cannot be with him forever... Or can you?

flurious @miscelunaaa

summary: it’s fine, you’re not mad at your best friend at all! in fact!! you’re so fine that you’re going to work off some steam just to prove how fine you are!!

Yoongi

glorified memories @shina913

summary: Another late-night phone call with Yoongi.

Hoseok

all it takes @yoongiofmine

summary: After months of quietly pinning after Jung Hoseok, your friends decide to give you a little push. Sometimes a New Years Eve party and a round of Seven Minutes in Heaven is all it takes.

Namjoon

none :(

Jimin

none :(

Taehyung

one mo’ gen @bangtanintotheroom

summary: You find your ‘relationship’ with Taehyung escalating sooner than you expected.  

up close and personal ^

summary: Taehyung thought he had seen it all with you, but you prove him wrong.

bear with me ^

summary: You have a special guest today, one of the fuzzy kind.  

wedding bells @hyungieyoongi

E2L

Jungkook

just a little @soft4gguk

imagine @chryblossomjjk

summary: jungkook wants nothing more than to spend your anniversary cuddled up in a fancy hotel bathroom, eating takeout and binge watching tv shows. you, on the other hand, have something more exciting in mind. 

virgin sacrifice @girl8890

summary: Since the day you were born, your parents prepared you for your sacrifice. The whole village knew, and with that everyone stayed away from you. Thinking even just looking at you would make the demon in waiting mad. The demon that has been praying on you since birth, but not for what you expected.

tongue tied @jeonqkooks

summary: “Jeez, you’re acting like I asked to peg you or something.”

when it all falls apart @7deadlysinsfics

summary: what’s there to do when your husband says he thinks he doesn’t love you anymore? you pick up the broken pieces the best you can and try to move on

OT7/Multiple Members

before i leave you ch. 53 @hollyhomburg

summary: A snippet of the future- a flash forward- in which you and jimin reach an agreement.

like crazy @euphoricfilter

summary: the story of why you loved to dance in the rain.

baby @theharrowing

summary: Jimin, aka Baby, doesn't let just anyone have him for free. What a shame that the man he likes spending time with the most is a cop.

red light - white walls @kookieswan

summary: Seokjin’s been away for a while, and it makes him wonder just how much he’s missed. Yoongi, thankfully, is surprisingly loose lipped.

Yoongi 

busted @kithtaehyung

summary: when things go a bit south at your house party, decisions between you and yoongi have to be made.

OT7/ Multiple Members

sweeter than sweet @gimmesumsuga​

summary: You never would have expected someone like Park Jimin to notice you.  As handsome and beguiling as he is deadly, you’re enthralled from the very moment you meet.  Addicted to his kiss and his bite, Jimin opens up your eyes to a whole new world of love, lust and seduction.

[butwhatifidothis]

Tbf to Dorothea's hypocrisy on CF, couldn't that be blamed more on the fact that the vast majority of the optional recruits in that route are written heavily out-of-character so they can side with Edelgard, including Dorothea herself?

It doesn't fix 3H not realizing that she's much more priviliged than an average commoner, but i feel like Dorothea being hypocritical on CF is is more an example of that route's generally clownish character writing than something specifically wrong with her imo.

character hate under the cut it goes

If it weren't for Ferdinand I'd say sure, but that specific aspect of her hypocrisy stays with her no matter the route. She's never angry at Edelgard. Ever. She's only ever regretful that they have to fight each other, and never shows off that she feels betrayed by Edelgard's actions. She can stay pissed at Ferdinand for what he did as a fuckin' NINE YEAR OLD CHILD put into AN INSANELY FLUSTERING SITUATION for a child to be randomly put into out of nowhere - and stay mad at him FOR OVER A DECADE - because it hurt her feelings, but she had a chill year with Edelgard (that gets revealed to her to be built on a foundation of lies and blood) so that means she's chill with Edelgard's

ATTEMPTED

MURDER

and will NEVER bring that event up, and will NEVER get pissed at her for doing it. Even though HER LIFE WAS NEARLY ENDED because of it.

And also, she still does explicitly hate nobility on all routes - she will lambast them for crawling back to the player's army once Edelgard is defeated out of self-interest. She'll praise and cry for Bergliez for giving up his life to spare his men, and that and hating nobles would all be just fine... except she does all this without ever acknowledging who exactly it was that caused Bergliez's sacrifice to be a necessity in the first place. You know, the one who threw everyone into war? For her own benefit? That thing Dorothea literally just got finished showing off she didn't like nobles doing? But it's fine if her bestie does it!

So, not really - while CF certainly does exacerbate these issues in Dorothea, they are always there to some degree regardless of where she's at

[bookishtheaterlover7]

Hi booky!!! Marketing anon here.

Again, here to remind everyone that I don’t work in entertainment.

However, a little tidbit: I have to do a press release for something my company recently got recognized for but our “big heads” are a bit disappointed we didn’t get the title we wanted. So we’re still doing a PR but we’re doing it for the headline to say we’re a “industry leader” - and that’s basically what our motive is. Get our SEO up, showing that our name shows up when you search industry leader and hoping media wants to talk to us to learn more. We also have a big conference event coming up so we’re hoping to release the PR in advance of attending the conference (you guessed it, to put our name out there to the people who matter).

Why am I bringing this up?

Again, I don’t know what the overall goal and plan is for CE/ PR team but he’s listed as married in his Wikipedia and I think, personally, that’s the most important reason. He needs to be married to someone so who it is isn’t really super important because the average person isn’t going to continue to look past that.

Now when people google him they will see he is married and allegedly settled down. He’s got recent pics with him with a ring on. And I’ll be honest, even for myself, when I see someone, a man especially, with a wedding ring on I for some reason automatically think, “stable.” I don’t know why. It’s so strange because I myself don’t even believe in marriage LOL but when I see someone else “linked up” I’m like oh ok good for you. ESP men and famous men for that. This may be a weird heteronormative brainwashing thing or I just have issues lol.

Also, I’m going to use Jeremy Renner for comparison. Jeremy was briefly married to Sonni Pacheco, his wife who he had one child with. She’s also 15 years younger and since their divorce has been pretty messy…lol. But there have always been rumors of Jeremy being a wild child and heavy partying and etc so when you google him to see, hey, he was married. He is a father. Despite the fact that he also married a nobody and she seems pretty intent on being a clout chaser or at least making him look bad, he still looks semi stable. He is a father, and he loves his kid. He was married - yes he is now divorced and he also recently survived a terrible accident so people are focusing on his amazing recovery and him being a good dad and not on whatever is going on with his divorce.

I have a sneaking suspicion these types of marriages happen to more people in Hollywood than you think. Especially with the men who have a bit of reputation for being players, wild partying, eternal bachelorhood…or even, a former playboy heartthrob turned beloved internet bf who just wants to find happiness and settle down. That way, once they do have that title of being settled down, the hope may be to refocus the attention on something else. Work, career, other endeavors, and less on personal life. Especially if CE’s current marriage narrative is that he’s being private. Now there’s going to be the trash tabloids talking all day about pregnancy and kids and family and etc etc. As upsetting as that can be for some fans, remember that settled down and stability often does include talk about kids and family. I think they’re just having a time of it because the fans so deeply loathe his wife. I don’t think anyway they spin it will make people welcome this pairing and potential kids more.

This is just my opinion though.

…

In regards to CE redeeming himself…please don’t take this the wrong way, but the public won’t care enough to look past who he married. I know some blogs on here are trying to mold a narrative the public condemns him now but I really don’t believe that’s true. I don’t think he needs to do any public redeeming because no, some angry comments on his IG regarding her is not the majority. I am sorry, but it is not.

The public losing interest does not = condemn.

He’s just fading in starmeter because well, he’s sort of had his time to shine, right? That’s usually what happens to most people. Look at the top list of highest grossing actors this year vs 2019. This year is all people who were in the biggest stuff. They had the most press and limelight.

CE and half the avengers were on the top list back in 2019. I remember this because at the time, some of my friends were googling him them because he had such a huge year. Do you see what I mean?

What goes up must come down. But it doesn’t mean he can’t come back in the future. Look, just because he got “married” doesn’t mean his life is over. It’s only over if he chooses to let it be over.

Please kindly remember that AB is not known to the GP as anyone other than the person who is married to him. I have my doubts she’ll ever be known as anything but but again, don’t quote me. I just don’t see her becoming this big star or even lukewarm star simply because she has sort of proven she has no draw or IT factor.

The one group he may have to “redeem” himself to is his fanbase. This one is tougher to navigate because I don’t know what their endgame will be in terms of what he does with his now marriage status. For now, he just looks like he’s settled down. I think the GP has more or less stopped checking for him in regards to anything else related to that, and from what it looks like, they were never even checking for AB even though she just had a movie release in the states. Lol.

I think the issue with AB is more that she’s been reliant on using someone else to get attention for two years now. So her boosts in fame will always have to be through him. I doubt that makes her very happy because from what I can infer, I think she wants to be famous on her own due to the public magically adoring her. If she had been truly content just being the wife she would have done more to boost HIM and leverage herself by association. Think of the other gf/wives of famous men. Don’t they always seem to boost themselves off being around their guys and getting people to like bOTH of them together? And then by association, people will follow them for more cute content and breadcrumbs. I think hemsworth’s wife does it, Blake lively as Ryan reynold’s wife does, Henry cavill’s gf does, Eva mendes’ does for Ryan gosling, and etc. all of these women are all actually people who do have their own careers but their husbands/partners are clearly the bigger stars. They lean into it and boost themselves at the same time.

AB does not. Maybe she’s not allowed to lol but also - she always only posts things about herself to try and draw the attention to herself. Her posting HIS dog was to draw attention to her. Her posting around the time he has work stuff but ignoring his work and basically acting like he doesn’t exist doesn’t help her at all but it’s what they’ve decided to do.

She was DOA before she even arrived. I honestly recommend if you are still a fan of his to just try and ignore her. It’s all you can do. If you cannot separate her from him then please consider just letting him go.

I am sorry if this is not what people want to hear. But I cannot know what they’re trying to do behind the scenes but I do think CE is pivoting to have people focus on his career and work instead. This can be a good thing. He may never regain that fanbase back because unfortunately of who he decided to let himself be linked to but it doesn’t mean the future is set in stone.

Have a good day booky! (Please angry anons do not come for the mod. Its just one stranger’s opinion)

Always a pleasure to read your replies, Marketing An🫶n. Especially with the good points you continue to make ❤️

You had me worried that you weren't able to read my posts 😅🥹 I'm glad that you are though 😁

As for angry an🫶ns and readers... Honestly, it's fine... It means they're accepting my welcome invitation for a vent space. Which honestly, everyone needs.

Until the next one, Marketing An🫶n 😊

[aetherblooms]

✏️✏️✏️, your choice!

:) yvette brainworms today (and everyday)

Combat Medic

Being the designated healer is a necessary job, but it isn't a glamorous one. While everyone else is having all the fun mixing it up with the bad guys, the medic is stuck in the back watching life bars go up and down, and throwing out the occasional Status Buff. Then again, they don't want to be up front, because they're squishy as hell and everyone's gunning for them. This is usually not a problem when one player's controlling an entire party, but this starts to break down in cases where one guy's playing the support. While some are perfectly fine with this (being the medic means you'll get invited to just about any party), for others, the support classes just aren't that exciting. The solution? Give The Medic some teeth, and you've got yourself a Combat Medic.

Anger Born of Worry

A lot of things make people angry. Minor insults. Their own reflection. Awful jobs. This trope is when a character is angry because some fool they love put themselves in danger. It's the caring that really makes the trope. The most common variation is that they embrace the person they thought was in danger into their arms and tell them they're glad they're safe, followed by them saying something to the effect of "Don't you ever do that to me again!". This is seen from any kind of loved one, from a Best Friend, especially sidekicks giving a What the Hell, Hero? speech, someone's One True Love terrified of a Heroic Sacrifice, or parents when their children return from whatever world-saving adventure they've been on.

Mentor in Sour Armor

Some mentors are gentle to their students. Not the one in Sour Armor. This renowned warrior's tongue is as sharp as their weapons, and they're not afraid to use it. Your average Mentor in Sour Armor has been through quite a lot; whatever the case, they put on the Jade-Colored Glasses long ago, and their biting wit is as close as they really come to showing emotions under most circumstances. They're on the side of good, but Good Is Not Nice. [...] Beneath all that snarky abrasiveness, though, they do have a soft side, and care about their apprentice more than they want to admit. Their snark is hardly ever just to be mean; they've got a point to make and don't see a reason to mince words. If a Mentor in Sour Armor smiles, it's a big deal.

[mejomonster]

Midnight Museum ep 2 was SO scary and So sexy for it uvu

I'm totally serious, yeah the special effects aren't the best in the world but moments of it reminded me of Manner of Death, of Strangers from Hell, I LOVED the fucked up monster body horror designs they reminded me of Junji Ito stuff, the ACTION fighting (it was so cool and fun to see fluff romcom BL actor Winny as a thief who ends up monstrous and the horror chasing and terrifying WOOH. So cool to see the twins in a HORROR and looking so satisfyingly terrifying after so often seeing their face in fluffy comedies. Seeing Mike who I'm also used to in comedy wirh his tits out, looking more likely to kill someone than the killers in 3 Will Be Free or the Player, turn into a spider monster. Dome TAKING HIM TO THE VOID with his shadow monsters. DOMES EYES TURNING BLACK AND HIM CONTROLING THE FORCES OF WHO KNOWS WHAT

So sexy. I can't overstate that. I am a way bigger fan of action and horror than fluff romcom and for me? This kind of plot is just a lot more rewarding to me to watch I'm screaming and laughing it's great >o<)/

If there's an immortal secret bl situation I'm gonna break over this show is already such a COOL concept such a fun execution, if you add this mysterious immortal guy who comes alive every midnight? And his DEMON CONTROLING lost love??? Ohhhh sexy sexy I'm beyond hype

And I'm really curious what the plot setup for those 2 is because I'm comparing to Hotel Del Luna, Guardian, Goblin, and Fairyland Lovers...so far this show doesn't match any totally. Khatha is able to be injured so probably not super-powered (but maybe? I'm not sure if he's stronger than the average human but he's certainly as vulnerable when injured). He IS regenerating whenrever midnight hits in the hotel so maybe more of a Hotel Del Luna cursed spirit lingering on thing? He has a magic cane with an orb on it that looks so much like Shen Wei's amber necklace it intrigues me greatly. It seems to be the source of magic (and rhe museum regenerating him is the other), so maybe his loved one he lost gave him the orb in the cane?

Dome meanwhile. Oh man. I get the vibe he's like Wu Xie - a nice helpful mortal guy who takes responsibility and Wants to help others and ends up somehow pulling shit together, inexplicably tied with an immortal Khatha (like wu xie is to Zhang Qiling). But khatha already recognizes him from something... and Dome has powers, implying there's more to him than "simple human who can see ghosts." So I can't rule out he's immortal too or magic or SOMETHING so it's not a full parallel to wu xie/Zhang qiling. Book Guardian kunlun/shen wei might be closest to their current dynamic?? But Khatha refreshingly, despite some similarities to rhe Hotel Del Luna and Goblin immortal leads... feels unique. He's got some elements to him I don't usually see or at least not in this specific combo. If anything, he reminds me of a more kpop esque style modern version of Bulgasal's lead guy... which is absolutely wild because visually you wouldn't peg Khatha for THAT kind of protagonist immortal, but that's the vibe he gives me. Stoic, angry and with some private goals, but once he's decided to protect someone he can honestly say it even if it's awkward ("I came to save you" "It's not your fault" "I'm sorry" they all feel more like Bulgasals lead then the tsundere Ness of Hotel Del Lunas girl, or the Absolute Commiting to sucky lies that Shen Wei commits to for a while).

It's all really unique world building so far surprisingly? Like it reminds me of a few things I love, but I can't say it's ripping tjem off either because it doesn't feel like it's following their lore or worldbuilding enough to be "the same kind of story." Yes ep 1 could be in any supernatural case show almost, like Hotel Del Luna or Guardian easily. But ep 2? It distinguished itself as something that can be terrifying, and have a whiplash kind of blend of Girl From Nowhere IM ON EDGE with Guardian level almost whimsical comic book level fantasy in the real world. I think maybe partly that's why I oddly get a Bulgasal feel.. nulgasal didn't have Guardians almost campy bits, but it had a level of Gory Horror and Realism in the world building that stuff like Goblin, Hotel Del Luna, Fairyland Lovers stayed a bit too polished and light hearted to do much of. Guardian did ir a little but they had real cheap cgi and blood and sets which limited how Gory Terror it could actually manage and toned it down a lot (say in comparison to the novel).

Such a cool concept so far... basically my point.

Also. The main assistant and Bam? Very cute. I ship them. I love Foei in cute kind Roles I eat it up and I love Bams actress so I'm quite smitten. I also love when the investigator in these kinds of shows is a woman (cop in The Guest, cop in Flower of Evil, Zhu Hong in guardian, Lang Qiao in Justice in the Dark, cop in Strangers from Hell) like if there's gonna be an investigator aiding the magical bitches on the down low? I like the choice of Bam.

Casting is FUN. Again it was so Cool to see Winny from My School President in such a different role, I appreciate actors getting a wide range to do genre wise and casting wise. And I saw that next episode Bright and the guy who played Neo in 3WBF are in it?!!! Every ep is gonna be cameos of actors I love apparently! And it looks like the trend of case eps will continue, which is great for Me!

[twentyyearstoolate]

Not to turn into an angry forum poster, but I want to expand on this a little, because it bugs the hell out of me every time I bring up a homebrew supplement and get told that the group wants to stick to WotC-published materials (which is fine) specifically to avoid 'balance issues.'

Oh really? You think the published material is well-balanced? You think a four elements monk squares up about the same as a twilight cleric? You think Boots of Flying should be more accessible than a Superior Healing Potion? You think all of the capstone features are about on par with one another?

There's a reason that after all this time, most of WotCs own modules and campaigns don't accomodate PCs very far from the first and second tiers, and even experienced GMs tend to have massive burnout at the latter half of their own sandbox campaigns. Even BG3, with all of its tweaks to the 5e ruleset, caps at 12th level. After having played and run several campaigns, at least in my experience, the third and fourth tiers of the game are a complete fucking mess.

Don't get me wrong. I like 5e. I like how it made the game more accessible (as a side effect of streamlining the system to reduce the number of modifiers - 3.5 and especially pathfinder with their magic item treadmills and feat trees and conditional modifiers, etc. etc. involved a lot of their own bookkeeping) but I think the reduction in complexity came with its own issues that rear their ugly head in the back end.

For example, the saving throw system - now, instead of having three saving throws linked to one (or the higher of two) attributes, you just roll saves for abilities individually. Simple! With two save proficiencies (one good, one bad) and a generic PC constructed out of standard array, you have, on average, a 44.17% chance to succeed on any given saving throw from a creature with a CR appropriate for a level 1 party. Assuming you put all your ASIs into those two abilities, for the rest of the game, that average percentage trends downward to a mere 25% at level 20, because of the binary nature of proficiency on saving throws and the fact that most of your ability scores don't get touched after 1st level.

It is admittedly a little reductive not to factor in bonuses from class features, among other things, as some classes do get abilities that vastly improve their chances. But others don't, and the game should not be dependent on players picking a particular class (or race, or feat, etc.) in order to have a passable chance at succeeding in this fairly common occurrence. And keep in mind, this is just an average of the six saving throws - The throws with proficiency maintain a slightly higher-than-average 60% chance to succeed. The other four drop off sharply to between 15-0% (!!!) Even indomitable will not help you here.

Now I know the designers were perfectly aware that this was an issue in play. You want to know how I know? Legendary saves, to ensure that big bads and named creatures that still had the same three or four dogshit saves as players wouldn't be kneecapped anticlimactically because the wizard rolled good on initiative and got a Hold Monster off.

You look at the rest of the rulebook and you see this lazy band-aiding fucking everywhere. No real magic item economy? Magic item power wildly disproportionate with rarity? "Magic items aren't necessary in this system!" (Until you run into a creature with resistance to nonmagical BSP, whoops!) Sorcerers are worse wizards thanks to the changes to prepared spellcasting? Sorcery points, to fuel metamagic! (Oh no, Sorcerers still get less of everything because all their features run off the same point pool instead of having independent uses!) Feats are optional, even though two of the core classes have additional ASIs shoehorned in for the implied purpose of picking them up. Can't figure out a good class capstone? Give them one use of a signature feature back on a short rest or initiative rolled. That feels good, like the pinnacle of class ability.

I could go on but we'll be here all day. And the thing that pisses me off about it is, they had the experience, not to mention two editions of legacy and data, they're Wizards of the fucking Coast. They could have made this the right way. Instead, the core rulebooks are a mess, and every splat they've released since has had less and less content, more poorly tested and vetted, if at all, to the point that one of their last releases had racist caricatures that went sight unseen until they got in front of rightfully angry fans. And most people go unaware that the content smacks of this laziness.

Which brings me back to my original point, with groups that disallow homebrew because they're concerned about balance - don't be. You want to stick to first party material because everyone has access to it and knows it so there's no confusion about how a PCs mechanics work? Fine. But the game is inherently unbalanced, even with just the core content. Yeah, DMs use your best judgement, because there's definitely some mary sue bullshit going on out there, but most homebrew I've seen falls well within the bounds of the best and worst content WotC has offered. Hell, make your own if you feel confident enough.

As an example of good, competent homebrew creations out there, I invite you to take a look at Valda's Spire of Secrets, or anything done by Laserllama or KibblesTasty. Most of those creations are things I would allow in games I run.

It's often remarked how D&D 5e's play culture has this sort of disinterest bordering on contempt for actually knowing the rules, often even extending to the DM themselves. I've seen a lot of different ideas for why this is, but one reason I rarely see discussed is that actually, a lot of 5e's rules are not meant to be used.

Encumbrance is a great example of this. 5e contains granular weights for all the items that you might have in your inventory, and rules for how much you can carry based on your strength score, and they've set these carry capacities high enough that you should never actually need to think about them. And that's deliberate, the designers have explicitly said that they've set carrying capacity high enough that it shouldn't come up in normal play. So for a starting DM, you see all these weights, you see all the rules for how much people can carry or drag, and you've played Fallout, you know how this works. And then if you try to actually enforce that, you find that it's insanely tedious, and it basically never actually matters, so you drop it.

Foraging is the example of this that bothers me most. There's a whole system for this! A table of foraging DCs, and math for how much food you can find, and how long you can go without food, etc. But the math is set up so that a person with no survival proficiency and a +0 to WIS, in a hostile environment, will still forage enough food to be fine, and the starvation rules are so generous that even a run of bad luck is unlikely to matter. So a DM who actually tries to use these rules will quickly find that they add nothing but bookkeeping. You're rolling a bunch of checks every day of travel for something that is purpose built not to matter. And that's before you add in all the ways to trivialize or circumvent this.

These rules don't exist to be used, that is not their purpose. These rules exist because the designers were scared of the backlash to 4e, and wanted to make sure that the game had all the rules that D&D "should" have. But they didn't actually want these mechanics. They didn't want the bookkeeping, they didn't care about that style of play, but they couldn't just say, "this game isn't about that" for fear of angering traditionalists. And unfortunately the way they handled this was by putting in rules that are bad, that actively fight anyone who wants to use that style of play and act as a trap to people who take the rules in good faith.

And this means that knowing what rules are not supposed to be used is an actual skill 5e DMs develop. Part of being a good 5e DM is being able to tell the real rules that will improve your game from the fake rules that are there to placate angry forum posters. And that's just an awful position to put DMs in (especially new DMs), but it's pretty unsurprising that it creates a certain contempt for knowing the rules as written.

You should have contempt for some of the rules as written. The designers did.

[regression-1863]

And Then There Were Two

“You know the story.” 

“We know a story.” 

“So?” The brown haired man— (woman? They never particularly cared, call them a sentient goose for all they care,) leans back in the cheap orange chair. They cross their arms, as if cold. “It’ll all be the same. I already gave you my statement.” it was just the two of them here. Four if you count the facades that each of them wears. 

“You don’t seem too bothered about being in here,” the older man said. He had your typical 70s detective look, trenchcoat and all, cigar lit and being dragged on without care for the osha convention—  have that been invented yet? Seraphim couldn’t remember. Couldnt be bothered to, not anymore. 

“Should I be?” Seraphim asks, watching as  the detective fumes. 

The man takes a deep breath, before asking, “Name, age, date of birth.” 

“Se–” she pauses, “Sarah,, 19, born…” Seraphim pauses for half a second, barely noticeable, “1955, november third.” 

The detective slams his hand on the table, “You’d be 18 then, not 19.” 

“Would I?” Seraphim, aka Sarah puts ‘her’ hand on her forehead. “God, I must’ve been more messed up by this whole thing than I thought. I had my birthday celebrated a few days before  the office was supposed to be vacated.”

The detective, clearly resisting the urge of snapping at this poor young woman, as Seraphim made themself seem to be. 

“Start from the beginning.” 

Sarah, as quiet as she was, was an average worker. She did what she was told, didn’t go beyond that, did overtime when forced. By all standards, a cutboard cuttout office worker. Technically she was an intern, or unpaid labor, only a yearish out of highschool. 

By the time all of the other workers had gotten their things from the building and had left, so had she. Except, of course, she left her laptop. 

October 31st, 1973, 7:50P.M just after sunset, she remembered this little fact. There would hardly be anyone in the building. 

She went to the third floor where she worked, grabbing her laptop, before hearing the sounds of people. They were speaking in hushed voices, and of course, she followed. 

“Why?” the detected interjected her story. 

“They werent supposed to be there. I dont know how they got key’s to the building, its more likely they broke in. I was going to tell them off.” she took a deep breath, before continuing. “There were a group of teens. I told them to get lost–” 

“Can you describe them?” 

She wanted to glare at the detective. “Why, dont believe me?” They couldn’t help the snark in their voice, and quickly tried to reel it back in. 

There was Alexandra. Sarah noticed her first because she stood out the most when she told the group off. She only remembered her name because when the screaming started, her’s was the first to be called. Of course, Alexandra had an alternative fashion sense, and was mouthy, as described by the douchbag next to her. A hockey player? Sarah couldnt quite remember… 

“There were only four of us total I think—” “Five.” 

Seraphim looked at him, a bit bewildered. “Five? I dont remember a fith.” 

“Well there was one. He must’ve been the first to die then, his head was found peirced on the fence. “Ah,” Sarah said with a slight nod, looking down at her hands, into the hot cup of tea that she had no intention of drinking. 

“Lets start with the second victim then. You witnessed that one didn’t you?” the detective asks, almost snidely for a reason Sarah couldn’t comprehend. 

Seraphim could though, and it annoyed them to no end. “It was the cops found you after all. You were covered in her blood.” 

Sarah zoned off, as if remembering the scene vividly. 

She had ran off when the screaming first started. It was likely from the fith person she hadn’t heard of. She and Alexanda hid in the office landry room. It was old, not used often. She hid in the dry cleaner, jumping in to the white lid and hiding there. 

Screaming. 

Alexandra was screaming her head off, partly fearful, partly angry. And Sarah, of course, didn’t witness this. 

The detective sighed. 

“Great. Do you even know what the killer looks like?” 

Sarah gave a small, hesitant shrug. “I only found her afterwards. I didn’t know what to do.” she went quiet. “I think she…” 

“S..sarah. Thats y..your name, right?” Alexandra croacked out. She couldnt move. Her neck had been broken, her body mutilated in ways Sarah refused to look at. “I’m… scared…” 

Sarah felt her chest fall. She wanted to vomit. To rip out her own intestines in solidarity. Or just to die. It was horrific. She stumbled over, too stunned to say anything. She walked up to her. All she could think about was to hold her. Hold her gently and sing her the song that Sarah’s own mother used to sing to her. 

Sarah was crying by now, silent tears falling. “...do you think it hurt?” she asks quietly, though she knew the truth. 

The detective was clearly desensitized by the emotion Sarah was showing, as if it was just another day. “Yes.”

.

.

.

This is a new original random story im making and posting here because ill prolly never be a published book author :'D anyways! enjoy this random little series haha

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Masterlist

[hello-im-not-a-possum]

So, urbanspook is considered as "worst analog horror series ever" nowaday, what's your opinion on it now? I remember you said that's your favorite.

I think that there's three major reasons why its considered the worst.

Stakes Burnout.

Things going too far and handled too clumsily.

The creator being a contrarian ass.

Going a bit into depth on each one; for stakes burnout when the series started it started as a serial killer(s) painting disturbing portraits of their victims and the cops discovering these paintings and the victims they correlated to. It was an interesting beginning: a HUMAN threat (which was a breath of fresh air at the time because EVERYTHING was demons, mimics, or demon-mimics and while I love demons, mimics, and demon mimics as much as the next guy I also like a little variety in my monster diet), fascinating and arguably beautiful art pieces, and a tense atmosphere.

While it had a strong start, it started to slip by becoming a one-trick pony. It had an antagonist, but no real protagonist to follow. The 'Poster who got these police files' isn't our protagonist, the poster is our narrator, the literary equivalent to our plate and utensils which have the job of bringing us the story and giving us tools to eat it.

The police officers aren't the protagonist(s) either as they're far too nameless and faceless.

The victims themselves? The victims are the main point of the first problem listed.

As impressive as the voicework was for the 911 call with Isabelle, we simply don't learn enough about Isabelle, or... any other victim to really care about what happens to them. It was one thing when it was the first, second, or even third victim when it's setting the stakes, but when we ONLY get over the top executions with no way to connect to the victims, it sounds less and less like genuine horrific acts and more and more like white noise.

While Urbanslug, creator of The Painter series on the Urbanspook channel said to 'treat it as a Mortal Kombat death reel' the problem with that is, Mortal Kombat isn't a horror series, its a fighter game series. I've never played any of the Mortal Kombat games but even taking a glance that way it's easy to tell that the purpose of the gory, over-the-top deaths in there are there to make the winning player feel cool and powerful as they grind their opponent into the dirt and the losing player feel demoralized as they watch their character get torn to pieces. To reiterate, there is no protagonist, but there is an *antagonist*, the painting killer is framed as a force that needs to be stopped and we do not follow him or his accomplice, only their deeds. This creates dissidence from the 'intended viewing' as we the viewers aren't in the shoes of the victims and feeling fear or in the shoes of the killer and feeling powerful yet disturbing, we're faceless ghosts watching from behind the screens that start off feeling fear and intrigue only to have it burnt out of us as it does it over and over again but more or less gross.

Leading to the next point: Too far, and too clumsily. Horror as a genre isn't just 'fun halloween spooky ooo'. Sometimes it's sanitized for child consumption, but the horror genre's job is to be an investment in fear, in the macabre, in what makes the audience scared, disgusted, angry, or a mix of the three and thus covers topics that disturb the average person.

But engraved onto the other side of the coin, just because a topic IS disturbing and invokes righteous and rightfully deserved fear, anger, and disgust in people, doesn't mean it should be included in your horror story. Especially when this horrible act is brushed off.

In The Painter, a child named Cory was killed in a disgusting and sexual manor and his painting is dubbed 'Fucktoy Cory'. This murder is treated no differently than the others in universe, while in real life merch is made and sold of this painting, that has been contextualized to be a murderous child rapist's mockery of their dead victim.

In an alternate universe where The Painter might be a better series, the two killer twist and Cory's death could have been utilized better. Imagine if you will...

The police discovering gruesome murders and the paintings in different locations, corpses of the victims are posed as if they are the easels of the paintings they hold.

Carla's Teeth is held by a corpse who's mouth is slit ear-to-ear, all of the victim's teeth have been removed and stuck onto the canvas the victim was holding, the picture depicting a face made of soulless, bloodshot eyes, oddly undetailed skin, and teeth; the 32 real ones used to line the painting's over-exaggerated teeth.

Floating Jackie looked like it was floating in the bathtub before the witness took a closer look and discovered that it was being held up and out of the water by the hands of the victim it was depicting. The painting, like the victim's own face (found to be removed postmortem), was of a disembodied face in a red background or 'bath'. The painting's materials being watercolor mixed with the victim's blood.

James Secret face is found held by a headless corpse. The painting itself depicting a wet red skull emerging from skin and the materials used in it along with normal paint being the victim's blood, brain matter, hair, pieces of their skull, and saliva.

Two months later, several more paintings of the same art style were sent to the police station anonymously. However the titles and depictions of these paintings were not connected to any known cases at the time, and unlike the previous three contained no human matter as part of their composition.

The titles were as following; Wax Doll Tom, Lisa's Secret Face, Hanging Jimmy, Daniel After The Fire, Jennifer's Last Stare, Scream Maggie Scream, Fucktoy Cory, and last but not least... 'Self Portrait'.

Presuming that this is the killer's method of taunting them, the police go public with the case in the hopes of saving anyone that might be depicted in the paintings. Next Episode:

A Police Officer, Bill Collins, who had been on edge before the paintings were discovered by the earlier disappearance of his wife, discovered a copy of 'Self Portrait' in his home and reported it to local authorities immediately as he was clueless to how it ended up in there and presumed it was snuck into his house by The Painter. Presuming that this must have been his calling card, that the killer liked to 'mess with his victims' before taking them out.

While searching the officer's house, police found a man matching the characteristics of 'Self Portrait' tied to an easel and covered in red paint.

Also found in the attic were paintings of Bill's Wife Jennifer (A copy of Jennifer's last stare), ten-year-old daughter Lisa, and two-month-old daughter Angel. The wife's painting was made out of her bodily materials yet did not have an 'easel' while the daughters' paintings were made of regular materials.

The man in the attic has been taken in to police custody.

Now we have our new protagonist, Bill Collins, interrogating this murderer who calls himself... Self Portrait. Self is uncooperative, cagey, and likes to use flowery language to describe his... "Artworks", presumably seeing nothing wrong with what he is doing. In police custody, he does nothing but taunt the police, especially Bill, to their faces. However, as the fourth easel is discovered while Self is still in custody, he confesses the truth: that there's a second killer who Self dubs 'Apprentice' and that they used to work together before Apprentice betrayed Self due to an 'artistic disagreement', leading to his capture.

As the alternate Series of 'The Painter' goes on, Bill learns more about the targeted people by interviewing them, tries and fails to catch Apprentice, interrogates Self Portrait from time to time, and is growing more and more disturbed by both Self and Apprentice's mindsets, meeting his breaking point and almost killing Self in a fit of rage that happens after interviewing 11 year old Cory Beck while looking at the painting that was titled 'Fucktoy Cory'.

The only thing that manages to keep Self safe from Bill Collins's wrath being that one of the other officers pointed out that a key difference between Self's paintings and Apprentice's paintings was that the titles of Apprentice's paintings are a lot cruder and more sexually charged than Self's paintings, but Bill still has doubts in his mind as again, Self is a very cagey and uncooperative person who didn't even try to verbally or physically defend himself when Bill confronted him. ...That and 'Fucktoy Cory' WAS sent in with the rest of Self's paintings...

Granted, I'm not going to pretend that this is a PERFECT version of The Painter, everything is bound to have a flaw somewhere, but at least this version gives us a protagonist who has a personal connection to the killers, stakes as opposed to a conga line of stupidly brutal deaths, and instead of just a morbid notch in a morbid belt, 'Fucktoy Cory' is what makes an already fearful, disgusted, and angry person fucking lose it and almost kill another human being with his bare hands.

...Point three is kinda an afterthought at this point but there's a thing about 'separating the art from the artist'; it's easier to do when the Artist isn't actively being a massive dick to people on social media and pulling Schrodinger's douchebag tricks.

[thej320]

Week 2: The Work of Representation/Interpreting Media

How a sign can be interpreted differently in media

Signs are not a part of a fixed system; they are not defined universally. Everyone can interpret a sign or a gesture differently. Usually, this difference is constructed as cultures, language and norms vary. A pattern we will see is how social and cultural backgrounds shape the interpretation of an event and why the role of the viewer is so critical. A recent example of this is the double standard surrounding Iowa's Caitlin Clark and LSU's Angel Reese. During this year’s March Madness, these two players went viral for using the gesture “You can’t see me.” Caitlin Clark initially made this gesture after she made her sixth three-pointer of the night against Louisville (Henderson). Overall, the gesture was well-received, and she even got a congratulations from John Cena (the originator of the gesture) after the game.

The narrative began to shift as Angel Reese recreated this gesture during the women’s NCAA tournament. Although the gesture was the same, the media interpreted it much differently. Angel Reese got criticized for “taunting” Caitlin Clark and being “classless.” Many viewers felt that Reese displayed “ugly sportsmanship” and this was a reflection of LSU’s head coach, Kim Mulkey (Salvador). The narrative quickly received Clark as a hero and Reese as a villain. However, some viewers noticed the double standard being formed and encouraged people to see the bias behind it. What were people’s reaction saying about their individual backgrounds? Meg Linehan says, “If you celebrated Clark for doing this but not Angel Reese you got to take a long, long look in the mirror.” Linehan is referring to the racial bias that is being revealed through people’s reaction and the common stereotype of black women as “aggressive” or “angry.” Angel Reese shares “I don’t fit in the box that you all want me to be in. I’m too hood, I’m too ghetto. You told me that all year. But when other people do it, y’all don’t say nothing.” Reese herself criticizes the narrative that has been surrounding her. Overall, signs can be interpreted in many ways. In this case, the gesture was interpreted as “competitive” or “classless.” Many have pinpointed this difference as a reflection of racial bias and individual background. 

PART 2:

How the NCAA's Women's basketball tournaments created a discourse that reconditioned our regimes of truth

Growing up, I watched a lot of basketball. More specifically, I watched a lot of march madness. In my house, it was the busiest month of the year. My dad worked for the NBA draft and year after year I sat on the couch with him watching these pivotal games. I never once watched a women’s basketball game. 

Men’s basketball was dominant and in the world of basketball, women were often discredited. Forbes reports that in 2020, the average NBA player made five million dollars, whereas the average WNBA player made 120k. This pays difference reflects the lower ticket sales, lower attendance, and lower viewership in the WBNA. It was the reality and “regime of truth” that the NBA was more successful and entertaining. 

This was until this year’s March Madness and the discourse surrounding it. For the first time, the Women’s title game received more viewers than the men’s (Porter). The women’s tournaments more than doubled its viewership. Many credit this to Caitlin Clark and her rise to super star status. The media coverage on her has been outstanding and she has taken over popularity on all platforms. Even if people started watching because of their interest in her, they learn more about the game and the other dominant players that are leading women’s basketball right now. Caitlin Clark has announced that she is declaring for the WNBA draft. This is monumental and means so many great things to come for the sport. She has left a lasting legacy and a promising future for the NCAA tournaments, but is going to bring her determination and skill into the WNBA which will hopefully cut some of these disparities. Men’s basketball may have sustained their dominance, but the future is promising, and change is on the way. For most, that change is Caitlin Clark. 

References:

[leagueofleaguesff]

ILL FL NFL Breakdown🏈🏉🏈🏉🏈🏉🏈🏉🏈

Miami Dolphins

The Dolphins are slated to be a presence in the AFC East. Besides being one of the few teams who could possibly sustain two #1 receivers (fantasy wise). Tua's health will of course always be a concern given the recent history of concussions but at his ADP (average draft position) he is a great value In the rounds he was taken, unless reaches for. Tua could be a fringe QB1. With thier yound gen z head coach implementing a similar style that brought him success in San Frann the RBs committee would be more likely. Moestart is great when healthy. Jeff Wilson is familiar with the system. Achain the rookie is one to keep an eye on. Dolphins also added on defense with Ramsey across from Howard - arguably the best duo of secondary in the league. Geseki is out so all the volume should funnel to Waddle & Tyreek. This was especially evident in week 1.

Atlanta Falcons

Desmond Ridder, is he the future or is he a bust? The season might be the indicator. The NFC South is open thanks to the G.O.A.T. Tom Brady retring for the NFL. The exciting new draft prospect RB Bijan Robinson showed a why he was the 1st RB off the board. What was surprising was the usage Tyler got particularly in the receiving end. It could be an easy in of Bijan OR perhaps a split carry backfield. Drake London was a receiver in the 3 to 6 rounds filling in as a key cog player on many teams. What was more concerning than the output was the lack of targets from the get go. ATL may be a run 1st offense leaving Pitts and Drake in the lower rank of options for the play calling which doesn't bode well for those who drafted them. Teams who invested in Pitts as a mid tier TE are especially angry. The Falcons defense are not that stout but the team could have enough juice to compete for that division with weak offenses with the other NFC South teams.

Los Angeles Rams

The Rams were largely written off. Kupp injury woes had fantasy players skittish about drafting him despite being a target hog from Stafford who usually serves as a via low end QB back up on many teams bench. With news of Kupp out, some in the fantasy world thought Van Jefferson would step up but it was preseason darling Puka who shined in their season debut. Will the rookie be viable once Kupp returns? Will Kupp return? If you have to see a specialist for your hamstring it can't be good. He is this offense. TuTu Atwell has been a gadget player at best, not reliable week to week. Cam Akers was being passed up in drafts due to obvious reasons. Regardless of Akers clear volume opportunity, it was 2nd yr K. Williams that made the most of his snap share. Perhaps with Rams Defense they can be a bye plug n play. Questions about Aaron Donald's will to actually play (contemplated retirement after the superbowl) and loss of Ramsey, we'll have to see where they land in rank. TE Higbee might be the Sleeper late round flier or waiver add that has the most upside.

Cleveland Browns

No one should be surprised about the dominant Browns defense. Sure the off timing of Burrow and company pooped 💩 the bed, but Myless Garrett and friends have played this divisional matchup close in the past 5 years. They knew how to shut the Bengals out & get to Burrow. Chubb I fell has been disrespected as others were ranked higher than him in the draft. He has always produced consistently with only few injuries. Hunt is now gone from the team so the passing volume only boosts his value as a top tier RB. Ford is the back up but observing his week 1 work, on the offset, doesn't seem to be factored in the running game plans. Watson again hasn't played a long stretch of football in about 3 years so adjusting will take longer. The hope he can return to form from his Houston days are the crutch. He has skills that separate him physically from other QBs. He'll need to capitalize on those to justify where he was drafted on teams as a starter. His resurgence leads in the the Amari Coopers and People's Jones of the world. Njoku chemistry with Watson is what to watch.

Dallas Cowboys

Everything is bigger in Texas. The big D put a hurting on the G-men. The past few years with Dan Quinn as coordinator has shown Dallas steadily becoming one of the best (if not the best) defense in the league. Parsons, Diggs, this team is not slacking in defensive Stallworths. Questions abound about Daks place in the organization. The team is loaded and expectations are even higher. This may be common for 🤠 cowboy fans but this year is especially interesting. Take into account the 40-0 prime time win. The box score didn't match the fantasy output. Prescott didn't max out his line and newly acquired Cooks got injured. Pollard showed why the fantasy world were vouching for him to start. Jerry Jones and Zeek parted ways leaving that opportunity for Pollard to become the #1 RB. Gallup is not really a factor. They have a promising crop of new TEs with Dalton off to the other side of Texas. Kellen Moore the coordinator left for the Chargers. Mike McCarthy is now calling plays in addition to his head coaching duties. He too is on the hot seat. Let's see if he can replicate his Green Bay calling Days for this offense.

Detroit Lions

Lions hype train is real. The Lions have built upon thier first winning record season in a long time upsetting a division rival (costing them the playoffs after thier slim hopes were dashed right before the start of the game) running off Rodgers to the Jets. Lions beat the defending Super Bowl Champions Chiefs arguably an upset but smart betting hedge. The Lions are feisty. They have adopted the head coaches moxy and it shows. Goff is slightly more than serviceable. His stat line off the charts. AmonRa is a top tier WR. Gibbs the rookie has high hopes. Even with Montgomery from the Bears coming over and padding his stats, Gibbs is the future. It may be a 60/40 split but as the season progresses we may see a shift. Swift is out and this new RB duo is the immediate payoff. Marvin Jones is back with his OG team but was not a factor. Be on the lookout though. Since week 9 of last year the Lions have played zone defense. After being one of the historic worst - they have gradually become a better pass defense. With Hockenson traded mid season last year, the TE shares are up in the air.

New York Jets

Biggest hype of the off season came to a crashing halt. 4 plays in the first drive of NY great hope Rodgers...out for the season with an Achilles injury. Devastating 💔

Hard knocks, Aaron Rodgers media narrative, the recent lackluster history of the Jets franchise, big QB move, front office drama, arguably one of the best recent drafting years by the GM of the Jets with thier defense (Quinen) and offense (Garrett Wilson), all the stars aligned but a comet came crashing through. Now Wilson's stock plummets. The defense should still be one of the( if not THE) top Defenses in the league. Any of the carry overs from Green to Green (Cobb & Lazard) will not be a factor. The team is being pressured to bring in a vet preferred over the irractic Zach Wilson. But who is out there? Breece Hall may be worked back in slow but he showed out. Those who invested in Cook may have felt let down in week 1 but hold steady. They paid him big money...he will be used.

New England Patriots

Patriots were slated to be an afterthought. They brought it against the eagles. Now they look competent? Well, pencil pavorati (Matt Patricia) is no longer calling the offense. WHY!! Why would Bill have a defensive coordinator call offense plays? A genius but also a wildly abstract choice (wasn't Bills first). Lets face it. A belichick led team is the worst to figure out. He cares about winning and adjusts on the fly. Or doesn't. Makes him a hall of fame coach but a point of contention in the fantasy community. Juju added....nothing. His days are long behind. Mac Jones showed improvement but how much can you bank on with this teams fluid scheme? Bourne might be the best WR they have even if Parker returns. Ramandre still should get the focal point but with Zeek there now, that takes volume. Goal line? Pass targets? We have to wait and see how things shake out. Defense is still viable. Henry is still the TE or is Mike Geiseki gonna factor? Are either getting looks or game planned in?

Baltimore Ravens

The Ravens beat the Texans but boy did it look bad. Dobbins (as bad as I feel for the person) is useless. Injury prone isn't even the word to describe. OBJ addition and Duvernay or Bateman healthy, we should see something in the air yards for Lamar. A new coordinator and Andrews injury status should have shown some promise. Truly is was more of the same. Lamar steals run yards from the RBs. Hill stepped up but Melvin Gordon on the practice squad. Fournette and Hunt haven't signed yet. The Ravens, historically, have a revolving door of RBs who outplay the RBs who made the team or were already signed before the summer OTAs. Hopefully Lamar can repeat that one year he became MVP. Time will tell.

Pittsburgh Steelers

The Steelers defense football wise will donwhat they always do under Tomlin...get better and be more of a nuance. TJ Watt as an IDP is ideal. The preseason was kind to the Pickett Pickens duo but none of that materialized in week 1. In fact it was the opposite. Pickens almost regressed it seemed. Very concerned 😟 Dionte Johnson hurt doesn't help matters. Najee will have the majority of the snap counts so let's see if he can raise himself out of the mid tier RB 3 flex type tanking. Pat F is a TE that is a fringe TE2 that could produce.

Thank you for indulging me in my NFL team by team soap box. Let's check out the Sleeper League below and good luck to all in the ILL this year ⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️

[scarareg]

All The Young Dudes-Review Part 2

I finished the fic the last. I will be honest ,I read it for two main reasons:

I really wanted to know why people like this fic so much and the impact it has had on the fandom

I wanted to understand why I dislike it so much

The second one was my motivation to read (listen to) the first 100 chapters or so,after that, the first reason was why I finished it,otherwise I would not have done it.

I obsessed with knowing why I was dissatisfied with the fic,in addition with the reasons I already explained in the first review. There was something that I couldn't put my finger on that annoyed me,until it finally clicked,this fic tells and do not show.

I have several examples of this but the most simple one is the map. At first Remus creates this normal map to not get lost,right? After that the other three found out and got the idea of The Marauders Map,at that moment I was excited to see how they create it. Well,we did not get that. The next time they talk about the map,it is already done,all of it! How? When? Who the fuck knows! You just have to accept it. It was reaaaaly infuriating!

Another example is the Marauders themselves,and here I also want to talk about the obvious bias against some characters that the author clearly has.

The Marauders were supposed to have this super close, wholesome friendship,but here Remus just repeats over and over again how much they mean to him but we almost never see him interacting with them happily because he is mopping,fighting,screaming or angry about something they say/do/have and that he doesn't ,it could be money/family/status/legacy. Is annoying to read to be honest.

James' whole personality (at least from Remus pov) is that he likes quidditch and Lily and after that is he likes Lily and quidditch and that's it,nothing more. How am I supposed to believe that he is important to Remus if James has been a two-dimensional character for the past 10 years?

The worst case is Peter. Gosh,his character situation is kinda hilarious. Since Remus first interaction with Pete,Remus only thinks of him as an idiot and annoying,and treats him the same way,if they interact of course,because Peter is there but Remus makes zero efforts to befriend him. Big narrative mistake. Worst is that after the graduation I can count on my fingers the times Peter is mentioned or interacted with,and I am pretty sure that I will not be using all of them,no joking.

The problem comes in the "betray", because upon hearing of the deaths of his friends, Remus literally says "oh brave, brave Peter",no gonna lie ,I literally laughed out loud,it was hilarious. Now it turns out that Remus loved him and thought of him as smart,brave and a nice,brilliant person . Like , you have to be fucking kidding me.

Also,the whole betrayal plot was really stupid,or at least makes every character look that way. The Order are like "oh there is an spy,and we narrowed it down to James or his friends. The options are:

James and Sirius who are most of the time together doing missions

Remus who is at his house all day or doing missions

Peter,who constantly disappears,makes excuses about it and does not interac with his friends that much anymore

Blimey,who could it be?"

Honestly you all deserved to die for being so dumb.

Another examples of bias against a character is Regulus. Like,most of his screen time (which is limited) he is an asshole,but what pissed me off was not that,it was his death. In the newspaper was the news of his death and it was mentioned that Regulus was really smart and a promising quidditch player (stuffs that are facts) and then Remus thought those were lies and Regulus was just average, but he supposed they have to make him see better than he was because of his family. I was like "wtf,why would you say that?" Remus is just an asshole for no reason.

The other example is Albus. He is cruel just because,and Remus despites him. If you read the books you know this is waaaaay too wrong. Like,if Albus is as evil as this fic says,why would he reach out to Remus family,helping them get Remus to Hogwarts,changing stuff at school and taking all means necessary for him to finish his studies?

But this answered some stuff that have been bugging me ever since I interacted with the fandom. Now I know where the romanticization of smoking or the idea that Albus is this evil old man come from.

Lastly,the relation with Sirius reminds me to a Wattpad fic. The fight and they fuck,they fight and they fuck, and after that they fight and they fuck. Everytime Remus thinks of what he likes about Sirius, he thinks about his face,how hot he is or something similar. It is never about his personality ,or hobbies,or ambitions,or something that is not his appearance. I do not even know if Remus know that information about Sirius. Everything is toxic af,and again,it makes no sense why Sirius thinks Remus is the spy if Remus is all the time in their house.

In conclusion,I think the fic became so popular because at the time there was not other long fics so people loved it,but being long doesn't mean that is a masterpiece. Is just ok ,to me. The characterization being the worst part of it,like a 1/10 and it had some plot wholes like Remus drinking butter bear for the first time twice,or funny stuff like when Albus told them Dorcas was death and everyone was like "oh ,no...anyway...", and stuff like that. I am also very disappointed of the lack of the Triwizard Tournament. I was waiting,and waiting,and waiting for it and when I realized they were graduating. At least now I know what you all are talking about when you mention the fic.