#and i think i want to stick to that for as long as possible

[callizinc]

Ena in Dream BBQ and Work Culture

HELLO Dashboard!! Ever since i first played DBBQ i've found the entire game endlessly interesting (as have most people, LOL) But one of the most interesting, and in my opinion, most Potent things, is Ena's character and how she relates to the game's commentary on modern work culture.

So for anyone as much of a #SICKO as me 😭 Here's an embarrassingly long analysis of just that! There's SO much to talk about with this game, and even when I'm trying to focus on one specific idea with this post, I'm sure I'll still miss things, so just stick with me best you can OK? 😭 😭

My aim for this post is to allow you to understand Just how deep in the torment nexus Ena is, and to want to say "she should be at the club" Only to realize she can't even go to the club. She can't even go to the club. Because of Job. (Among other, hopefully more intelligently articulated things!)

SO, Let's just jump right in :D

First, to state the obvious—Ena's literal entire life is her job. The only moods she expresses under normal circumstance are "smooth talking salesperson where every line is about working or trying to sell something" and "Stops keeping up the veneer and gets frustrated and pissed because she hates her stupid job."

This permeates every aspect of her character—I don't think there's a single line in the game so far where she says like, Anything about herself. There's nothing about what she may want or what she may like. It's all about her fuckass job or the fuckass Boss.

And of course, even in gameplay aspects, you literally don't get a chance to choose whether you accept a job or not, like the thought of doing anything besides giving her time and energy for other people or her job's benefit doesn't even occur to her (Or, it can't occur to her—I doubt the Boss would want to allow her reprieve from anything at all, and I'm sure Ena would know this).

(^ Ena's reaction to being told to find a mythical figure that she maybe didn't even know existed cause Froggy sure as hell didn't to do a stupid job for Froggy's stupid ass. Like)

Maybe i'm reaching here, but I even find it interesting how her red hand has no fingers (besides a thumb). I feel like that represents a lack of individuality she has when she's in Salesperson mode, or at least, a lack of individuality she's been allowed. A lack of having a defined being cause it's all about this stupid job.

There's lots of avenues to go from here, but let's start with another big point of the game: Everybody hates her. Except for like, three characters, every NPC in the game either insults her, talks down to her, blatantly doesn't respect her, or Literally tells her nobody should be punished for being born except her. Typical day for Ena.

I'm not going to get into why I think this is—for me there's not enough evidence to speculate with surety right now—but I think this does tie strongly into her commitment to her job. Ena working her ass off in every aspect of her life and earning nothing but disrespect for it is very reminiscent of real life work environments.

Think of how almost every NPC claims they are "the Boss" in such a way that many of them seem to want to be the Boss, like he's some kind of well-known or respected figure. The description for the game on Steam even says as much: "Play as ENA as she searches for the Boss that everyone wants to be."

(eg: "I am the B-O-S-S!"):

People wish they were the Boss, they want to be some kind of rich capitalist with power and fame, but when looking at someone who actually works for him, and probably is the reason the Boss has profit and success in the first place, they insult her and demean her no matter how much she gives herself to them and the Boss. I'm sure you can see the real life parallels here.

It's even possible one of the reasons Ena works so hard in the first place is as an attempt to earn respect from these people, or to make up for whatever everyone thinks she did that made everyone hate her so much. Especially considering...

Our society is one that tells its people that Work is unequivocally Good. Committing yourself to work is what everyone, no matter who they are or what they face, is what you have to do to be a valuable member of society, and to have any respect from other people in the slightest. It tells its people that you only have value as a living human being at all if you give your life to work.

Even though this blatantly isn't true. If people think you're the Wrong type of worker, or if people think your work isn't valuable, helpful, or that it doesn't require skill, you can work as hard as you want but you'll still be treated like shit. But, hey, work is still your duty as a member of society, right? Stop bitching and whining and pull yourself up by your bootstraps, right?

Needless to say, it's easy to see how this whole idea is being represented in DBBQ. She even knows how much she's sold herself to this, she just... Seems to have extremely casually accepted it all LOL, which, I mean... What else does she have the power to do?

This very casual and nonchalant acknowledgement of her lack of autonomy connects to another big point: Ena doesn't value herself, nor does she even know how to exist without being in a constant state of working.

Let's talk about the Purge: There's a LOT to get to here in terms of Ena herself LOL, but the intrigue starts before she even enters the party. Literally Froggy just saying she's about to enter an "Event" stops her in her tracks and worries her. Not to mention the next line...

This feels like an indication that despite how much she commits herself to it, Ena does "crave freedom" from her shitty job, although she can scarcely admit this anywhere else so far. Then, if you talk to this slime guy, you get some strange text.

As far as I know, the text for interacting with things doesn't look like this anywhere else in the game. And given that it looks exactly the same as how Ena's lines do in the Purge, it's seemingly the only peek we get into her internal monologue, and it is. Quite worrying! She literally can climb up a hellish freezing floating mountain and yet this is by far the most freaked out she gets in the entire game.

And then to actually get into the Purge, an Evil eye Ball tells her that she needs to give a literal arm or a leg to get in. And she just does it. Like no hesitation no further questions she just gives it away to the evil eye ball. Presumably for Good? Because the only reason she regains the arm later is because of Genie magic? Like Ena. Girl. Are we gonna talk about this at all.

But so many real life work environments expect you to give every part of yourself in order to be allowed to exist and live in society, including your physical being and critical parts of your personhood at all.

(Let me also say I find it intentional that she gave away her white arm. Whereas her red hand literally doesn't have fingers, the sharp claws she has on her white hand represent the individuality and unique identity she Does have. However, it's also the part of herself that's in conflict with her ability to be a Good Worker, that always does exactly what she's supposed to do, and never complains, and never gets in the way of her duties.)

She was already very distressed here, but it's a clear indication of how little she values herself. It was a motion to lose a part of herself just to reach the Genie, both for her stupid job, and possibly for the possibility of "freedom" from it all. And your average job these days—no matter how important you are to your cause—will drill it into you that your ability to be a good worker is infinitely more important than your existence as a person. It's easy to see how Ena may have internalized that.

And then she goes to the club one time and this happens

I won't get too deep into her dialogue with the NPCs here because I think their intention is pretty clear; Being in a place so antithetical to a work environment, and a place where she's supposed to let loose and have fun, is so distressing and impossible to even fathom for her that This Happens.

(see: "H-How can I leave this stupid event? M-my lame schedule is full,")

Like, everything at the Purge is insane, but this is a particularly heartbreaking line for me. One because of her job's shitty environment that's broken her down so much—do you think she EVER gets a break, because I sure don't—but also because of how it's conditioned her to not even believe she can "afford another minute of joy." Ena :[

Note how she's covered in these branches that started growing during Froggy's phone call, which look very similar to how she looks in this gag with the Shaman—it's literally her nervous system. In her scene with Mitu she even says she's feeling "sick," She's literally freaked out of her flipping Gourd with her goddamn Nerves On The Outside

Hell, even though Meanie's speaking (which, I mean, no shit, in another line she literally describes her job as "deplorable" 😭), these sprites in the files are actually labelled "Anxiety", suggesting that she's SO freaked out by being somewhere supposed to be so opposite to her work she's become another variant of herself, a la Drunk Ena from Season 1.

I won't get much more into this, because @cube-cumb3r has a PHENOMENAL post I'll link in the notes that goes deeper into this stuff from the Purge and the "Anxiety" thing, And also gets more into theory territory than I do here! Please please go read that post, it is so damn good.

In any case, I think the scenes with the Purge NPCs are the biggest examples in the whole game of how much she hates her fuckass job, yet she can't be allowed to be anything besides a wage slave to it. And just as she's internalized everybody in her world's dislike of her, she hates herself for it.

So:

We've established that Ena's shitty job parallels the real life work conditions that plague our world, and that these conditions have caused her to devalue herself and believe she can't have any reprieve from them... but, what even is her job?

Apparently she's a salesperson, but what is she even selling? She tries to offer a "divestment opportunity", and tells the Witches she can show them how to "grow [their] own [boss]" which definitely falls in line with the Sales thing, but besides that it's still not clear, even when she talks to Froggy.

I suppose the "grow their own boss" line does sound a lot like the phrasing used in MLM schemes, with how they lure people in by telling them they can "be their own boss." The Receptionist also calls Ena a scammer and a conman, so maybe she is a sort of scammer, but, I also don't exactly think the Receptionist think she has the most reliable opinions of Ena LOL

She also calls her a "pink-collar slug", pink collar meaning a job traditionally associated with women, which. ??? I don't fully know where to go with that.. like ...Nothing she does harkens to... Any kind of job expected to be done by women, imo?? Um. Yeah idk i just thought that may be significant??/ 😭😭😭😭 Listen man I can't know it all

Anyway. Maybe I'll be proven embarrassingly wrong when we receive more information in future chapters, but I think the lack of clarity on what she's supposed to be is representative of the games themes. The constant disrespect Ena receives makes her seem likely to be a low-tier worker, someone at the bottom of the ladder that people have no problems walking all over.

Because these types of jobs will treat you the same no matter who you are or what you're supposed to be doing. She's doing what the world tells her she needs to do in order to be a respected member of society, and yet she's also someone people feel comfortable treating poorly because she's at the bottom—because has no power of her own. It doesn't matter what she's supposed to be doing, it matters that she's the Wrong type of worker.

And how is she supposed to ever say anything for herself? It seems virtually baked into her Salesperson side to completely ignore past all the rude things these assholes say to her. After all, not only would that probably just make most people ruder to her (and impede her ability to complete jobs for them) isn't the customer always right?

...OK I will say her whole "Understood! Aim for the target!" line DOES seem like her overall job here is to fucking kill the Boss, but this is long enough already and the likely theme of Ena having a violent streak and whatnot is another beast entirely that I am NOT getting into here 😭😭

Besides, maybe she has no clearly defined job because we've already seen exactly what it is. To sell her life, time, and emotions to whatever all these clowns ask of her, and to receive no reward besides another goddamn job to do.

I think future chapters may delve more into Ena's true feelings on her situation, and possibly even how she'll get freedom from it. Allow me to mention the scenes with Theodora, wherein if you try to "aspire to receive a blissful life" Theodora just tells Ena "You can't aspire for more than what you are capable of." (LIKE OKAYYYY.... RUDE MUCH????)

Until, finally:

How is her mind—containing a desire for freedom—supposed to be in harmony with the letters it spits out, when she's been so conditioned that the only thing she's allowed to be is a worker?

Now, even I still have a lot of questions after this. Like: What has happened in Ena's past that made her this way? How and why did she take this job in the first place? What is up with the "Guys wait, I'm not doing what you say I'm doing" scene I literally didn't even mention that once here. Why should nobody be punished for being born except poor damn Ena, and does it relate to any of the themes I just talked about?

I... don't know. Like I actually truly have no idea. But I have confidence, even if it's in a delightfully vague and abstract Ena-typical way, that we'll find out eventually.

[inukage]

"Yeah, but if something like that happened it would be a contest for girls not men. People want to see cute idols with pretty girls" he laughs "I think it's best to keep it secret as long as we can, dating is one issue but dating a man? the world could implode" he laughs softly "tricksters? well thank god inugami are good luck and can handle your tricky ways" he wraps his arms around him and leans up kissing him "As much as I'd love to be public with dating you, as an idol that's not entirely possible...I guess the best I can do is not necessarily hide it but...never fully admit it...can't be called a liar if I never lied in the first place" he gives two thumbs up "seems like a good plan to me" he playfully sticks his tongue out then grabs his hand "What should we do now? head back to your place or do you want to walk around? it's so nice out" he squeezes his hand and smiles big.

"You better not...then I would get in so much trouble" he reaches up and pinches his cheek "Bad...bad" he shakes his head then laughs "Dating contest? What are you even talking about?" he leans into the kiss and then smiles "Let's head out. I want some fresh air and it's beautiful out" he picks up his bag swinging it over his shoulder then grabs his boyfriend's hand and heads out of the room "If I become an idol....no one can know we are dating..we will need to be careful with this.." he sighed softly then headed downstairs, it was a decent amount of stairs but not too bad. Once downstairs he opened the final door and headed outside, the cool breeze felt really good since he was a little sweaty "It's so nice out. Spring has finally sprung" His tail would be wagging like crazy if it was out, he was very much a puppy at heart and loved being outside.

[1thesewordsaremyown1]

I've been going back and forth over whether what we've seen in spoilers is actually going to happen or of its a fake out. Read below the cut for spoilers/speculation/ramblings.

I still maintain that with what we know and what we've seen in the show (eg. Tim with post-Shannon regret showing that he doesn't like killing off major characters, the fact that the show loves to do dramatic twists, etc) that narratively it is likely that Bobby doesn't actually die. Not to mention, if they wanted it to be this big shock, they did a piss poor effort of keeping it quiet. And we know they are capable of keeping things quiet - if it wasn't for buddie "journalists" with screeners who couldn't help themselves from leaking spoilers to their fans and then said fans unable to keep their mouths shut, we never would have expected Tommy to return in 8x11.

But on the other hand, Peter has said in the past that while he loves being on the show, he doesn't expect to be there forever. We don't know what's going on with him behind the scenes - for all we know, he's had enough, and he wants to leave. I guess we'll find out by the end of the season if it sticks.

The thing is, I'm torn about whether I want it to be real or a fake out. I like Bobby, I love the Bobby and Buck dynamic, especially, and I would be so sad to see him go. But on the other hand, this could very well be the kick in the pants that this show has been needing.

Think of all the potential new story lines we could have if Bobby is truly gone, especially in regards to all the characters' careers. Hen, for instance - would she step up as Captain? What would that be like for her, not only being Captain full time, but having to fill some pretty impressive shoes?

And Buck, in the instances where Hen might need someone in the Acting Captain role (say if she was sick or injured), would he decide to step up? He once said he would like to be Captain one day - would the show finally remember that and get him to start seriously thinking about it? He's certainly shown good leadership qualities this season, it would be a natural progression.

What about Chim? Next season he'll have two small kids to think about. With first the loss of his (foster) brother all those years ago and now his friend/Captain, would he start re-evaluating his life? Maybe a story line where he starts freaking out and starts being overly cautious because he doesn't want to leave two small kids without a father.

If Eddie comes back and Hen moves up, would Eddie take on the medic role full time? And if so, would Ravi stay in Eddie's place? If Eddie doesn't come back, could Ravi do what TK did in Lonestar and rethink what he wants in his career and decides he might actually want to move over into the paramedic side of things? Either way, we'd get to keep Ravi as a main.

And that's the other thing. With no Bobby and potentially no Eddie if he stays in Texas, the budget is suddenly open to bring in new mains for the show. New mains = new back stories to explore, new interactions with the existing mains, and new stories to tell. We could finally move on from the stagnant recycling of storylines and get something fresh. I mean, sure, there's always the possibility they could do some of these things without killing Bobby off (new stories/characters), but they've been reluctant to do so so far, so I'm not exactly holding out hope. Peter, especially, being one of the stars of the show, would cost a lot of money to keep. If he goes, that money could go a long way into bringing in more characters. I especially noticed it from season 7, but the gradual decrease in supporting characters in 911 has really been a detriment, because they really fleshed out the show, made the world of 911 seem bigger, more fleshed out, and not so insular among only the 118. Carla, for example, was a great supporting role that just disappeared and has made me on more than one occasion miss her presence.

Personally, I'd love it if we got both Ravi and Tommy as mains. Now, I'm not expecting Tommy to suddenly transfer back to the 118, but you don't have to be with the 118 to be a main. Michael wasn't. Chris isn't. Nor do you need to be in every episode (again, like Chris). They could have Tommy and the 217 liaise occasionally on calls (I wouldn't expect too many helicopter rescues as they're expensive, but the 217 do ground ops as well). They could actually focus on Buck and Tommy's relationship properly this time and on Tommy's past (Buck somehow meets Tommy's father for starters). Hell, maybe get back into the closeness of the firefam within the show by having some sort of hijinks with Tommy, like him babysitting Jee and baby boy Han while the 118 are on shift or something. There's all sorts of possibilities.

So yeah, that's the dilemma. Keep a beloved character and potentially continue on with the same old, same old that's been plaguing the show for a few seasons now, or lose him and open the show up to a whole realm of possibility. Like I said, I'm torn.

[returnofeternity]

I hope you're having a wonderful day!

I love Shauna. And I feel bad for Shauna. But could you possibly write something about shy reader crashing out and possibly fighting Shauna after they raid Natalie's hut or something? ...I just feel so bad for her and the finale had me sobbing 😭

Only if you want to/are comfortable with it!

(also sorry for any misspelling on any of my asks lol)

Thank you so much!

· · 𐂂 · ·

you were finally about to fall asleep after hours of staring at the roof of your hut when you heard the sound of multiple footsteps. it scared you at first, and you crawled over to peek out at what was going on. you saw about 4 of the girls masked up with their weapons heading toward nat's shelter, shauna behind them with her rifle slung over her shoulder. maybe she makes eye contact with you as she passes your hut, giving you a look with her eyes that says, "stay inside."

all you feel is anger as they practically shove nat out and push her to the ground, throwing her blankets on the dirt floor as they search her place. you're not the only one out of your hut and watching, there's also misty, melissa, and gen being nosy...

you snap after shauna tells everyone to get back to bed.

you don't rly know why, maybe it was the way they've been treating nat lately. maybe it's because you were trying to hype yourself up to say anything to shauna, making sure to say the words you want to say in your head before you stutter and make a fool of yourself and you took too long to do so.

"why do you do this?" you call out, proud of yourself for not mumbling for the first time in your life. but now all eyes are on you, and you're embarrassed again. "do you enjoy being this way?"

shauna turns to you, almost with a slight smile, but the way it looks in the fire has you on edge. "i didn't even know you could talk." she taunts, looking you up and down with contempt and then walking away.

you clench your jaw and look around, the stares of everyone making you flush. maybe with embarrassment, maybe with rage.

you hate how they all follow her lead. you hate how you can sympathize with shauna after everything she's been through, but still find her unbearably annoying. you stand your ground and walk closer, even when she turns back and raises her gun at you.

"i said, get back to bed." her voice is full of authority, and she glares at you when all you do is scoff.

"fuck you, shipman."

shauna cocks the gun.

nat walks over and tries to defend you, telling you to drop it and just do what shauna says. you're still seething with rage, having a stare-off with shauna as she dares you to move forward and see what happens. nat has to drag you to her hut before you do anything stupid, and you make sure to pick up her tossed blanket on the ground and flip off shauna before going in with her.

you swear you could've heard hannah and van hold her back.

that's all i got but thinking about nat thanking you for sticking up for her 😞 maybe you've always had a tiny crush on her so you just smile and revert back to ur shy mode. being so shy that you never rly talked a whole bunch with the yjs and she tells you that ur voice is pretty :(

[apollabarnes]

part one // part two // part three // part four // part five // part six // part seven // part eight // part nine

"what happened to 'using our flight time to get a little me time'?" tommy asks, looking over at lucy. "aren't you normally back there?"

"first of all, as your copilot i'm always near the controls," lucy mock gasps, clasping a hand over her heart, "second of all, if athena grant called you there's a chance that…"

tommy nods in agreement. there is a chance that.

"it's actually higher since she called you off official channels," lucy continues, "they're more alike than anyone wants to consider."

"seems like you've considered it," tommy jokes. he doesn't tell her about athena kissing bobby in the loft and evan kissing him at the hospital. it had nearly knocked tommy on his ass when athena told him. then she'd followed it up with the one-two punch of her 'move in with me/let's get married' story. happier ending than his, at least.

"had to entertain myself somehow when i broke my leg," lucy shrugs, checking the instruments. "so why did athena call you? and not…"

he's going to have to remind her to actually say evan's name if he's actually with athena and gets in the helicopter.

"you know that standing dinner date i've had for the last few months that i refuse to tell you about?"

"holy shit, kinard. that's…" the surprise in lucy's voice is genuine. if they were on the ground, she'd swoon dramatically onto the nearest piece of furniture.

"weird?" tommy offers wryly.

"that's one way of putting it. how did that even happen?" lucy laughs, the sound carried away by the rotors.

"long story."

"i'll need something to entertain myself with in the unemployment line. get ready to share."

tommy snorts. "that's why she was the one that called me." he very firmly doesn't consider the other reason that she was the one calling, instead of evan — because he's the one in trouble.

"i gotta know, does she pick up the bill or do you?"

"why does that matter?"

"i'm trying to gauge just how weird—" lucy cuts herself off as they start descending, peering out the windshield. "feeling pretty good about sitting up front right now."

tommy can feel his tension headache start to disappear. evan's not — but someone is. if evan and athena are both here, then that means — "bobby." he glances at the travel mug he's got stashed in the seat pocket.

lucy swears under her breath. she opens the rear door as soon as they land, sticking her head out. "all aboard dk airlines! we take you where you need to go and then straight to the unemployment office!"

"that's not funnier the third time," tommy huffs, looking into the backseat, "grab a headset, everyone. we're on a closed channel."

"we've got until," lucy checks her watch, "four before anyone knows the bird is missing. let's hope this can get done in thirty minutes or less?"

"not a pizza delivery, donato. thanks for the ride, tommy."

"any time, athena."

he catches evan's gaze in the rear view, sees him mouth 'athena?' to himself. in any other situation — okay, if they were still dating — tommy would be tempted to crack a joke about a support group for people involved with members of the 118. he should start it. and invite karen.

"what's going on?" evan asks, looking between them.

"tommy and sergeant grant have super secret dinner plans almost every week. he told me on the way over," lucy tells evan gleefully.

athena sighs heavily, speaking over lucy. "we need to get to socal tech as soon as possible. you know where that is?"

"we're familiar." tommy tacks left, heading east. he tries not to think about the fact that the few times they've been there, it's with a biohazard sample. he eyes the cooler at athena's feet.

"go back to this dinner thing," evan demands, leaning forward between the seats. athena yanks him back.

"sometimes it's breakfast," tommy says before he can stop himself.

evan makes a disgruntled noise. it's his way of calling tommy an idiot. fair enough.

"oh my god, tommy, how long?"

"we ran into each other a few months ago and i invited him out for coffee," athena answers for him. "and then we decided to keep meeting for dinner."

"why?"

"because he's cool," athena says.

[razzlegummibear]

Promoting my AO3!!

Spoilers for TMAGP! Up to Ep 32-33!!!!

DyHard, Some Soft Good Times For Them

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Everything had been utter hell since Sam, did whatever he did. Alice wasn't sure she trusted Celia to tell the truth, but with every night spent in the office she grew closer to believing. Seeing what was left of Colin, seeing that FR3-d1 fucking, ate him or something was wild, and horrifying in the same breath.

Alice had been subsisting on coffee and sheer spite for days now. They were expected to act like everything was normal, because Gwen had a stick up her arse about “leading the place” for some reason. At least it meant some peace, Alice only half trying on her case load, more concerned with everything else going on. But the computer was acting up again, throwing up error signs, and Alice wasn't about to figure out what happened if FR3-d1 got “upset” again.

Good enough reason to grab a cup of coffee, and to make an extra for Gwen, with hopes of appeasing her enough to forget Alice was supposed to be doing work. Maybe she could even get a smile out of the dour woman for once. It had been a long time since she saw Gwen smile, something more than the tight flash of teeth she'd give to Lena when complimented.

Alice muses on this as she shuffles cups in her arms, freeing a hand to rap on the manager door, where Gwen had isolated herself for the last… some amount of time.

“Gweeeeeen. Gwennie poo! I have caffeine!” Alice bumps the door with her hip, old hinges squealing in protest to opening. There was no response in the affirmative, nor the negative, so she should be safe from the Nepo Baby’s ire.

But there wasn't any response when the door opened, and Alice couldn't immediately see the other. She drops the cups on the closest flat surface, swinging around the imposing desk, searching frantically. She can't lose another coworker, it's not possible.

There's a sound, like a half broken chainsaw. Alice shrieks and jumps back, ready to throw something at whatever made that noise. Until she finally looks and sees that it is GWEN making that noise. The woman had fallen asleep at the desk, hair falling from its neat style, and splaying across the wood.

“Gwen?” Alice is answered with another awful sounding snore, Gwen's face scrunched against some important looking documents. Hopefully not too important, she was drooling all over the sheets.

Alice felt her heart squeeze at the sight, which wasn't too weird, but now was NOT the time to contend with a workplace crush, especially when there were *things* out there. Things that wanted blood, and… stories. Yeah, not the time to be cooing over her uptight coworker turned boss.

But Alice couldn't just leave. She couldn't make her feet work, to turn tail and run back to her work station. She should go back, maybe the computer was calmed down by now, but she just, can't.

Gwen makes a snuffly noise, shifting in her chair, arms going to pillow her head. It looked really uncomfortable if Alice was being honest. She needed something soft to rest her head on, or she'd have an awful crick in her neck.

Before Alice can think, she's already shed her cardigan, a bright floral that was huge on the taller woman. She folds it and slinks over to the sleeping figure, reaching with cautious hands to lift Gwen's head, tucking the coat against her arms, and setting her head back down as gently as possible.

She holds her breath as Gwen shifts some, and lets it out in a quiet snort when the other buries her face into the fabric, her content hum muffled. There, now she wouldn't be as bitchy when she woke up. Or at least that's the logic Alice came up with as she slips out the office, arms tucked close to her chest from the chill of the building. She'd live, of course. Maybe Sam had left a cardigan before he disappeared.

That thought sent a wave of emotion through Alice, but it felt much safer than whatever was going on in her mind about Gwen. Oh well, that would resolve eventually. Best not to get hopes up.

[bimboficationblues]

to be less provocative (but more rambly): I think there's plausible reasons to want humans to stick around in the "long term", indeed I agree broadly (though I also think wanting or expecting that to happen for all eternity is sort of a non-starter desire or at least severely improbable). I think it's good to let people reproduce in a variety of ways (though I think our overemphasis on biological children as a singular and unalloyed good, and the only "real" way to have children, is profoundly destructive)

however, once you start trying to fiddle with the population control levers, you exit the domain of promoting the capacity for human flourishing in a concrete way, and enter that of trying to subordinate social reproduction to the whims of mass social engineering for the sake of an abstraction (humanity, society, “growth”, civilization) or highly conjectural possibilities (what if the replacement rate slips!!!).

to me the recurring fears over population decline, and desire to enact reproductive and population control, over the past three to four centuries (if not longer) are reflective of long-standing political anxieties about the instability of class society, the need to "save civilization" from itself. it’s the worldview of political economy (the science of management). when I’ve talked about the twisted convergence of race-science, eugenics and misogynist reproductive control, familialism, new inroads of capitalism and authoritarianism, and climate disaster, the “pronatalist” movement is precisely the kind of thing that alarms me

“Left pro-natalism” asks the question, can we make the Leviathanic rape machine work for us?

[talysalankil]

so i'm cutting stuff out which means i'm basically entering the end game and i'm at 118k words. fantastic lmao.

[hyohaehyuk]

via earwolf (jacob anderson on TV, I Say w/ Ashley Ray. full podcast here) and Den of Geek SDCC interview

Jacob talked about him and Sam going to universal studios and spending 40 minutes in a sticker shop + the IWTV cast spilling the beans about Jam dates and Sam mentioning sticker play (whatever that means 🙃)

Sam: "It's a team effort" Rolin: "JACOB AND SAM GO BOWLING TOGETHER" Sam: "And ice cream and sticker play… Interviewer: Care to elaborate? 🤨 Sam: Make it up" 💀

[moe-broey]

I'm gonna bully Lif again

I'll admit, some of these answers don't cover all the bases, but. What are we thinking, here. What is The Truth behind The Twink Death? 🤨🎤

I will also be accepting write-in responses as usual 🫡

[buckingham-ashtray]

The Invisible Clubber........................ SMILING. CAN'T STOP SMILING. LIFE SO HAPPY. LOVE. LOVE LIFE. BEAT GETTING FASTER. CAN'T STOP SMILING. NOW JUST HARMONY. NO BEAT. MELODY. STOP MOVING. SMILE TO THE SKY. ALL STANDING STILL. BEAUTIFUL. NEVER BEEN SUCH HARMONY IN ALL HISTORY. WANT TO KISS EVERYONE. THEY WANT TO KISS ME. BREATHE IN. BREATHE OUT.................

Sebastian's Story.......... Sometimes I wonder what it'll be like to die. I'll find myself drifting off, staring at something, anything and I'll stop blinking. I feel my whole body slowing down... My heartbeat... And I wonder how long it'll be broken

*Sorry that I couldn't find the source where I got this from and have no idea when this was released. If anyone has the link I will be very glad to insert it!

[mayordea]

thats so god-ish 😛

[suffarustuffaru]

What If Julius and Subaru both met when Julius was a commoner and Subaru got transported Sooner

fun stuff im sure !! but haah okay given julius was a kid when he was a commoner - yeah theyre both kids here!! not sure how old but definitely somewhere before the age of ten. and i think theyd be up to some shenanigans together im sure!! theyre both very mischevious kids (or from what little we know of little kid julius, given iirc tappei hasnt specified just How Much of a "delinquent" little kid julius is okay. but hes definitely the type to sneak out past curfew or something. stay up late reading too, probably. that sort of thing). and also subarus a kid and no way he ISNT missing home poor guy T^TT getting ripped away from home like that is bad enough at seventeen, getting ripped away from home when you are like. no more than eight or something is Bad. but luckily!! im assuming subaru gets found by the juukuliuses (julius's parents probably?) and thats how julius and subaru form their friendship / long-term yearning for each other (if you so desire that) (okay but no way subaru ISNT gonna form long-term yearning for julius flajsdlf). but yes i think julius and subaru would be silly happy kids together and julius's parents would be like oh no this other kid is so lost where is he from :(( but hes so loved by julius already too... well we got another kid under our roof now.

except. julius's parents die in a flood. so i mean. Hypothetically.... either julisuba survive this one first try or subaru dies for the first time. which. ohh god. oh god. oh g -

[fanvoidkeith]

Grief Timeline (non-canon) sketches (for RBTU/Reality Bends To Us)

faera (right, above): "if you've ever loved me, you'll let me do this. i just… need to be with my son. they need me."

phaze (left, above): "…i'm sorry, i can't let you do that. it's not because i don't love you, it's because i'm too selfish to let you die."

these also. vulnerability. untrust. wishing you could change your beloved's mind when they've got their heart set on a path of self-destruction. holding onto them as they keep wading into deeper water. you are orpheus, you have looked back, and your eurydice is gone now, never to return.

---

[song inspiration: all i need - radiohead, est-ce que tu m'aimes? - maitre gims, die with a smile - bruno mars & lady gaga]

[geddy-leesbian]

still laughing over that person that got super butt hurt about my Leon didn't give a shit about Krauser before the remake timeline post. bitch didn't have an icon or header still just the defaults, no title or anything on their blog, and prior to reblogging my post they hadn't posted/reblogged anything at all since 2018. like they had to have felt SO FUCKING OFFENDED to feel compelled to reblog my post after so many years of inactivity. it's almost flattering that my post was able to cut them so deeply.

also funny because they were mostly offended by things I didn't even say?? one of their main points was that they don't mind headcanon and theory but it wasn't okay for me to present my headcanons as objective fact, and sure, I guess they maybe had a point there. I didn't use the words theory or headcanon in the post, I did word things as if they were objective statements. HOWEVER, every single statement I made was backed up by direct quotes from canon. I wasn't just talking out of my ass, I was simply laying out the differences between how Leon treats other characters and how he treats Krauser, and why those differences indicate that Leon had zero emotional attachment to Krauser. I feel like anyone with a brain probably could have comprehended that I was making objective statements because it's easier to word a post like that and that it was ultimately my analysis of canon and not actual outright canon that's spoon fed to the audience, but whatever, maybe I was overestimating people.

if that had been their only objection to my post, I probably would have caved and apologized and said I could have worded things differently and said Leon not caring about Krauser originally was a theory (I mean a theory HEAVILY backed by the fucking game and more of an analysis than anything) and if they said that and still only included direct responses to my points and why they disagree with my interpretations, I dead ass would have reblogged them saying something like "I personally stand by my own interpretation of how Leon feels about him, but it's always interesting to hear other perspectives! There's not a lot of DSC analysis out there so thanks for sharing yours! Agree to disagree on Leon's feelings, but at least we can agree that DSC is a great game :)"

but noooooo everything else they said was just batshit and made it clear they were just a butt hurt slightly delusional 𝖒𝖊𝖙𝖆𝖑𝖙𝖆𝖓𝖌𝖔 shipper who found my post offensive on a deeply personal level and thought that I despised 𝖒𝖊𝖙𝖆𝖑𝖙𝖆𝖓𝖌𝖔 and my post was me saying that Leon never ever cared about Krauser originally so therefore everyone who ships 𝖒𝖊𝖙𝖆𝖑𝖙𝖆𝖓𝖌𝖔 is bad and stupid because there's no reason to ship it and that I think all people who ship Leon with men are incorrect because canonically Leon has only ever shown attraction to Ada and therefore 𝖆𝖊𝖔𝖓 is the only valid Leon ship.

bitch really thought that I, #1 supporter of the Leon ain't even bi he's exclusively into men 100%homo homo gay Ada was just a comp het crush agenda, sat down and decided to make a post discrediting 𝖒𝖊𝖙𝖆𝖑𝖙𝖆𝖓𝖌𝖔 because I was an 𝖆𝖊𝖔𝖓 shipper lol. just lmao even

like I'm really not that hard to get along with. you can disagree with me all day long on literally everything and I'll keep interacting with you and saying your interpretations aren't any more/less valid than mine are. but if you're going to put words in my mouth and make baseless assumptions about why I disagree with you, fuck off man, you're just getting blocked, not the nice agree to disagree we're both valid treatment I will give to literally anyone who isn't being super aggressive or making shit up.

lowkey kinda upset I'm still thinking about it solely because it feels like they "won" because they're living rent free in my head, but also fuck that, I'm not thinking about them because I thought they made a good argument or I'm devastated that someone disagreed with me, I'm thinking about them because it was actually funny as fuck that the first time I had a brush with ship drama was someone apparently under the false impression that I ship 𝖆𝖊𝖔𝖓. like really I'm (thankfully) never catching shit for the true fact that I very much do dislike that ship, but instead somehow caught shit for liking it even tho I literally don't 💀 absurd. I guess all my actual real opinions are just so absolutely 100% correct and cool and sexy that it's impossible to disagree with me so you have to make up fake opinions to try to start shit with me 💅

[keeps-ache]

i don't wanna take over the world, it sounds like a lot. but you know, laying siege to a golf course sounds really nice sometimes