#and i tried being funny which i'm clearly not lol

[dundeey]

What do you mean, "Prowl is not a cop"?

The essay we’ve all been waiting for. And by we I mean nobody. And by nobody I mean me. 

Introduction

To me, IDW Prowl is very clearly not a cop. To some, while in agreement that Prowl does not serve the role of a cop within the narrative, he is at least written to be cop-analogous. This, however, I still do not agree with. Those who think otherwise should pay more attention to the issues the character stars in.

Back when I had just finished reading IDW, I was pondering over this topic when I suddenly came across a wonderfully heated discussion between a passionate Prowl fan and some other users in a thread on the TFW2005 boards. This fan was fiercely defending Prowl from the cop-allegations given by both fans and third party Transformers figure companies. I read said user’s comments and was quite impressed (and perhaps even a little touched) by their arguments. When I had a similar discussion with some friends many months later, I tried to refind the thread, just to find ANOTHER thread, this time made for the sole purpose of discussing IDW Prowl’s alleged cop motifs. So, because other people have put this way better than I ever could, I'm mostly just going to share parts of their discussions with you. The threads are long, chaotic and full of irrelevant clutter, so I've carefully (but NOT cherry)picked out what's relevant so that you will (hopefully) see my side of things. So here we go.

By the end of this, it's important that we have established what exactly a cop is. We will also need to have established what Prowl's role is within the IDW canon. Then, because this is just as if not more important, we need to have analyzed the writer’s intentions. Finally, we need to see if the dots connect. Spoiler alert: they don't. Not even a little bit. In fact, I'm going to show you a couple of quotes by Prowl that are so ANTI-COP that it's almost comical. But first, let’s start off with something real stimulating: forum comments. Do skip to the TLDR if you don’t wish to read through four pages of them.

Thread: XM Studios Prowl statue

“Always feels funny to me when people not familiar with the character assume that Prowl is a cop just because he turns into a police car... when really, he was a military strategist in most continuities (and second in command to Prime in some). (...)” - user BB Shockwave

“I was just about to say the same thing! Prowl is not a cop! (lol) This sculpt looks really cool. I appreciate the aesthetics... but the riot shield and truncheon show that they didn't really get what the character is about (Ironhide instead fulfills that role in 1984, or Red Alert in '85). Prowl is a high-ranking planner, calculator, strategist, and in some continuities, a plotter. He's a quiet background guy.

This is sort of like producing a Starscream statue with a bellowing rage-face, or Soundwave in a break-dancing pose, or...uh... Cliffjumper with a clipboard? (...)” - user SMOG (in reply to user BB Shockwave)

“Prowl has been a cop in a very large amount of continuities. At this point him being a cop at one point or another is more commonly used.” - user octobotimus (in reply to user BB Shockwave and user SMOG)

“Really? In which continuities is G1 Prowl a cop?

RID Prowl was a police officer, and Armada Prowl started as a security officer, but they aren't the same character... like at all.

IDW 1.0 Prowl was a former police agent in flashbacks to the pre-war period in IDW (as were Chromedome, Orion Pax, Roller) though mostly in a detective capacity (mechaforensics, technically). IDW 2.0 Prowl seems to be a security officer, but that's also pre-war, so we can assume he grows into his standard military strategist role long before he gets to Earth.

In Dreamwave, not a cop. In Cyberverse, not a cop. WFC trilogy, not a cop. In Animated, he was a ninja. In Highmoon/Prime he was a high-ranking militia officer. In Marvel he was a strategist and first officer of the Ark. In Sunbow he was... just some guy?

That doesn't seem like a very large number of continuities. Am I missing any?” - user SMOG (in reply to user octobotimus)

“Prowl was at one point or another a cop in IDW, WFC/aligned, RID, and Energon by technicality (being on a swat team). And that’s not counting the continuities where he was part of a “security force” where he essentially was a cop but was named something else to sound more Cybertronian.” - user octobotimus (in reply to user SMOG)

“RID and Energon are different characters, unrelated to G1 prowl in every way except name and having "Police" stamped on their alt-modes. In WFC he was less a cop, than a high-ranking security director operating on the administrative level - a bit more akin to Intelligence than civilian policing and definitely not some beat cop with a shield and truncheon.

And as stated earlier, Prowl wasn't a standard officer in IDW -- he was a forensic specialist. The role and skillset don't quite fit the "cop" motif this statue is pushing. And IDW Prowl's depiction is so much more than "cop" -- whether it was in the writing runs of Furman, Barber, Roberts or Roche... Prowl's role was way more far-reaching and espionage-adjacent.

In fictions like IDW, where Prowl has been a top military strategist and intelligence director for millions of years during the most relevant periods of G1, why reduce him to the "law-enforcement" cliche when doing a depiction of G1 earth-mode Prowl? A more cagey or contemplative pose would have been less dynamic, but more representative of the character.

Should Optimus Prime and Chromedome now be cop-themed going forward because they were cops in IDW? And where does that leave characters who actually are explicit police-analogs like Ironhide, Red Alert, and Nightbeat (who don't have POLICE stamped on their alt-modes). Or perhaps Streetwise, who is implicitly a cop based on his bio, but not in terms of his official function.

As stated, all of these examples ultimately just stem from an ongoing, simplistic, and somewhat incorrect understanding of the character and his role. It's not a huge transgression... just a recurring pet peeve, that I think detracts from the appeal of this statue.” - user SMOG (in reply to user octobotimus)

“I don't find it reductive at all.

Rather, I think it helps to show the character is multifaceted.

For me, it wasn't "Prowl is just a cop" but rather "Prowl is also a cop".

So while I consider him more of an intellectual type, it was nice to see this figure showing Prowl in the middle of the action.” - user Smasher (in reply to user SMOG)

“Does it make him multifaceted though? I mean, one can draw on millennia of combat field experience without relying on a truncheon and giant shield with "POLICE" emblazoned on it. I think Snake-Eyes can be a commando and a ninja, just based on whether he's carrying a sword or not, but I'm not sure the police paraphernalia is as versatile in the case of Prowl (considering both his origins in G1, and his growth in subsequent G1 fictions).

I believe it's reductive from its point of conception, or at least based on reductive assumptions, but yes... of course it can be additive if we choose to supply our own context.“ - user SMOG (in reply to user Smasher)

“Idk man I think you’re overthinking things. As you can see by my profile my favorite character is Barricade, who is just a decepticon cop.” - user octobotimus (in reply to user SMOG)

“Barricade is a Bayformers invention... so who knows what he's really supposed to be or if anyone gave it any thought? Is he a cop? Does he actually do any cop stuff? Or does he just disguise himself as a cop car?

Logically, he's just another warrior. Or a tracker. Or even an intelligence officer (which is why he's paired with a spy like Frenzy)

Otherwise, as a cop, wouldn't that mean his job would be to act an enforcer on civilian populaces under Decepticon rule?

As you can tell, my favourite way to engage with Transformers as a longtime fan is precisely by overthinking things. :)“ - user SMOG (in reply to user octobotimus)

“(...) [Prowl] became a military tactician once the war started. I think most saw he was a cop in one continuity and it just made sense, so everyone ran with it. (...)” - user SunSwipe5

“(...) But even if he did time as a detective on Pre-War Cybertron, I don't exactly see the Autobot supreme military strategist on Earth doing random police grunt work in his spare time. :)

I think on some level, it's just slightly tiresome to see the most obvious motif repeatedly dumped on Prowl... ie: "you are your alt-mode". Especially when he rarely gets his due as it is. :)“ - user SMOG (in reply to user SunSwipe5)

Those were some pretty compelling arguments for not just IDW Prowl but Prowl’s disambiguation, and I wasn’t even gonna go there. Also, I love octobotimus’ last comment. Of course, if you think too hard, you lose. Classic rookie mistake. Moving on.

Thread: Is PROWL a bad cop analog? (IDW)

“I saw a Facebook post in a tf group about how Prowl in IDW is a bad cop analog based on the things he's done. That list included bombing a city, leaving the autobots, becoming a part of Devastator, putting Overlord on the Lost Light, and more.

I however see it as Prowl being out for himself, and not so much about him being a crooked cop. Bombing a city was to stir up AUTOBOT ranks, which is his faction. Becoming a part of Devastator was originally not of his own will, but gives him a strike force to carry out his actions. Putting Overload on the Lost Light... maybe he was bad for that.

In any case, I can see where the argument comes from, but I don't agree with it. Prowl was never really a police analogue to begin with. His official title is as a Strategist and Analyst, which lends itself to that kind of work. True, he has the paint scheme and held the office, but that doesn't mean he fits that motif after leaving cybertron.

I dunno. Discuss if you want I suppose.” - user Tankhunter48

Author’s note: So, while I like to post comments from both sides of a discussion to keep things neutral, I’m just gonna come out and say that the first half of this thread is filled with unhinged comments that are not just based on bad opinions, but straight up say shit that is not true. I could go through each of them and give my counter-arguments like an insane person, but if I show you a bunch of bad arguments just to refute them, you’ll basically gain net zero information, and that’s a waste of both of our time. So I’m going to jump straight to the comments that are actually saying something worthwhile. But by all means, go through the thread yourself if you want to have the same agonizing experience I did.

“I have never once heard of a cop doing any of those things. Bombing a city? Never mind becoming part of a combiner. Someone on Facebook doesn't know what analog means.” - user SouthtownKid

“Fans like to make comparrisons between things they don't understand and claim it was an analogy/metaphor/symbolism a lot.

If Prowl was supposed to be a "bad cop" he'd be a stereotypical brutish, power-absusing crook on the take so-to-speak. Someone who hides behind his authority and only does the bad things he does because of the safety and freedom it grants him.

IDW Prowl is cold and calculating. Apathetically doing awful things or turning a blind eye in a misguided sense of justice and logic. He cannot see the trees for the forest as it were, focused so much on statistics and strategy he'll see widespread death and suffering as acceptable losses if it means moving closer to ending the war or achieving a goal he deems "worth it."“ - user SPLIT LIP

“(...) Exactly, he's not the "bad cop", he's the realist.” - user TGS1985 (in reply to user SPLIT LIP)

“Prowl is a good example of how the D&D alignment system is far too simplistic and restrictive to be very interesting (in my gaming days, I preferred systems without this sort of artificial character trait system). He isn't evil, or even neutral because everything he does is to promote the social good as he sees it. He does little, if anything, for his own selfish benefit. He isn't exactly good, because he's very willing to allow suffering if he sees it as ultimately advancing the public good. He certainly isn't chaotic, because he believes in and promotes a strong government presence. He isn't lawful, because he believes he, as a de facto representative of that government, has a right and obligation to step outside the bounds of the law to promote the public good as he interprets it. I suppose you could argue that makes him neutral on the L/C spectrum, but I think that's a stretch. Like many relatively well-written characters, he doesn't fit on that sort of simplistic grid.

I'd argue he isn't a bad cop, because he isn't a cop. The stereotypical cop, good or bad, is someone on the beat or in the field. Prowl is a guy behind a desk.

If you want to categorize Prowl by archetype, I think Smog has been very on point in describing him as a Magnificent Bastard. He's a Manipulator. He's an Extremist, in that he's willing to go to just about any length in pursuit of his (public, not selfish) agenda.“ - user theosteve

The perfect comment to conclude this discussion with. You can’t argue against it, can you? Indeed, Prowl neither thinks like a cop nor acts like one. The closest Prowl gets to being a cop is when he disguises himself as a cop car while stationed on earth, but, as user SMOG stated, that argument gets dangerously close to the “you are your alt-mode”-mindset.

TLDR

Cop or no cop…? Well, let’s see here. At some point Prowl was in forensics. Eventually, he turned into a military strategist. From what we see, Prowl was never some jock in the field. He’s always behind a desk, thinking of the next best move that will bring his faction closer to winning. On top of that, Prowl is not in it for himself or for those he deems superior to others - he has a vision of what a just world looks like, and fights for it. That is all that Prowl does, it’s all that he is. The thing is - he doesn’t look great doing it. And I think that, more than anything, is what makes people reduce Prowl to a bad cop - it’s the fact that he does bad things. Prowl putting Overlord on the Lost Light has nothing to do with the conversation, but it’s still an argument that’s being used, because people don’t like it. What’s funny about this is that, while exclusively in fiction good cops do exist, Prowl is not even that. This isn’t about Prowl being good or bad, it’s about whether he’s a cop or not, allegorically or otherwise. And to prove that he isn’t, I’m gonna share some very important images that are paramount to understanding Prowl as a character:

The Transformers: Death of Optimus Prime, James Roberts & John Barber

The Transformers (2014) #37, John Barber

Oh… Oh. Here we have Prowl single handedly putting an end to this discussion by revealing his past, and Spike representing the average IDW reader. How’s that for a lore dump? It’s as if Barber solely wrote this to check if anyone was still reading this shit. Nobody talks about this, despite it giving more insight into Prowl’s backstory than the first two phases of IDW, and it baffles me. Why do these discussions even exist when issue 37 of EXRID is right there? In fact, why didn’t I just show this at the very start instead of spending five hours on something that no sane person is going to read? Ugh.

Conclusion

So, Prowl is not a cop, period. Why? ‘Cus he said so. See, it’s right there. “I was a cop”. Past tense. Gottem. However…, let’s ignore semantics for argument’s sake, and focus on the big picture: Prowl saw the system for what it was (“the real criminal”, oof) and proceeded to destroy it from the inside out. It made him lose everything and everyone in the process. Despite that, he calls himself proud. Prowl even sided with the Decepticon cause for a while (calling it “our revolution” no less…!) before Megatron turned into a villain… leading Prowl to feel betrayed once again. At this point, he wants out, and he tries, but his failed attempt determines him to keep fighting for another four million years. 

The conclusion is this: if you argue that Prowl is a cop, I’m just going to assume you didn’t read the comic.

[losver07]

heyyy i wrote some wolfstar

cursing and very, very cliche-y overdramatic plot lol

James Potter Wins a Bet

“I'm so sorry, Professor, I really... Oh, for fuck's sake, Black, do you know what a bloody shower is? You don't need to torture us all with your quidditch practice sweat.”

The room goes silent. Even Slughorn doesn't know what to say, he just looks at Remus like one would look at an exotic species of bird, brows furrowed in an attempt to understand.

“Um... Well, sit down, Mr. Lupin, please.”

It's strange. Everyone's used to Remus not being able to hold his temper, and all of his teachers are aware that it's the week of the full moon, but he expected to, at least, be scolded; not just for attacking another student, but his vocabulary too.

But, hey, he's not going to be the one to ask for punishment, is he?

Doing his best to ignore the smell in which the classroom is soaked, he approaches his friends, and sits next to Lily, as per usual. She gives him a funny look, but says nothing, so, while Slughorn talks, he turns to James and Sirius to tap Black's shoulder.

“Honestly, coming here right after your practise is a method of torture more cruel than I thought you capable of,” he whispers to the long-haired boy, taking a sniff at the scent of dorm room and sweat and... “Why does it smell like leather? And gasoline? And who snuck a fucking fag into potions?”

“Remus,” James says, eyes wide open behind his glasses. “Loo. Now.”

“But I—

“Now.”

Before Remus is dragged out of the classroom by James —who is very dramatically faking a nosebleed—, he shoots a look at Sirius. He looks paler than usual, staring into the empty space where moments before Remus had been sitting.

He and James enter the nearest bathroom, and, after a silencing spell is cast, Remus hears:

“I knew it!”

“What?” he asks, unperturbed. “That puberty hit Black? Yeah, I think we all—

“Remus, you're the only one who smelled Pads in there.”

Remus laughs. That's not possible. Yes, he might be a werewolf, but he knows when a scent is strong enough for even a human to catch. And that one was strong.

“You've all caught a cold, then, 'cause he—

James shakes his head vehemently, and Remus keeps quiet, eager to hear the boy's explanation.

“For me,” he says, clearly begging for Remus to understand, “it smelled like my mum's lasagna. And Evans' shampoo.”

He's about to ask how on earth could one smell Effie's cooking miles away from the Potter's house, but, just then, something clicks inside his head.

“That's— Oh, no.”

And he wishes the earth would swallow him whole. He wishes he would become one of the tiles in the floor, or a drop of water disappearing into one of the sinks.

“Oh, yeah,” James says, in a less enthusiastic tone than the one he used before.

If he would've slept a bit better, maybe he would've remembered. Maybe, if he wouldn't have been thinking about bloody Sirius on his way to class, he could've checked his notes and realise.

Today's lesson was about Amortentia.

“Oh, god, what did I do,” he says, burying his dangerously red face in his hands, taking in a deep breath as he tries to recall the smell: Dorm room, fireplace, bedsheets, a leather jacket, a shared fag, his skin...

“You just yelled that Padfoot is what you love most,” James smiles. “And I just won a bet.”

“Oh, dear fucking god.”

part 2 heheheh

[eveledoze]

spoilers for ep7 ! things about N and Uzi i wanted to point out 1/? I may sound stupid and naive going into all these details, so I'm sorry

we all thought that he was looking at Uzi worriedly, but in reality he was shocked because the elevator was broken and because now the path to V was blocked. he's really worried and angry about it (and it's so unusual to see him like that)

Tessa tells him to look back and at first he looks angry, but then his face softens. for a moment he simply forgot what state Uzi was in cuz he was worried about V (we know that now this Tessa is not exactly Tessa, but I will call her that cuz it’s convenient for me and so as not to get confused)

Uzi realizes that she has poor control over her powers and bitterly admits that she cannot do anything. she sincerely apologizes and you can hear that she feels guilty from her helplessness + exhausted from pain this short moment honestly killed me- their voice intonations, words and music, it hits so hard (thank you AJ Dispirito! /mega pos) also i find it strange that at first there was no blood, then it appeared cuz of something (even though she doesn’t even have a crack in her visor like Doll) and then the blood disappeared

but well okay-

he sincerely apologizes, feeling guilty for his inattention to her well-being, and he comes to comfort her, his body language shows this but Tessa interrupts them

Tessa calls him to explain to Uzi what's going on (lmao his face)

he rubs his hands together, which indicates his nervousness, as he realizes that his words will make her more worried and terrified of what they might find out and see, so this will make the situation worse

you can hear from the tone of Uzi's voice that she is beginning to suspect that they know more than she does, and for some reason they are not telling her this. she seems annoyed at the withholding of information, causing her to lose trust in Tessa and N

he looks at Tessa as if doubting whether he can be frank in his words, since in essence Tessa is still his boss and he should not contradict her (why does the reflection of his eyes in her spacesuit look funny to me lol)

he says this in a determined voice, while frowning. the words “we're not gonna hurt you” are addressed to Uzi while N’s gaze and gestures are interpreted as “WE'RE not gonna hurt HER” (while pointing his hand at Uzi) and this is addressing to Tessa. he clearly expresses his position and does not intend to obey Tessa in this in fact (he is rebelling)

with this "Okay?" he tries to reassure Uzi that they really won't hurt her honestly, the tone of voice with which he said it reminded me a lot of the way he said "we'll ask Tessa, okay?" in ep5, when he addressed Cyn. in both cases, his "Okay?" sounds sincere, kind, letting them know that he will keep his promise

she is scared and barely audibly says it, losing more trust in them while the fear grows

Uzi is nervous, she loses control and creates a null, everyone moves back, by the way Tessa takes out her sword

they repel each other. despite the falling stones, N reaches out to take her hand and pull her towards him

he takes a step forward, "we'll figure this out, together?.." but she steps back, losing trust in him

stones fall and block the passage, separating them from each other she closes herself off from him in every sense

when he woke up, he immediately called her and it sounded quite desperate and creepy cuz of the echo

N sees that his hand is crushed by stones. with a cold look, he takes out the blade and approache it to the hand, saying that he "deserved this", since he offended Uzi and believes that it would be right if he was punished for it. she experienced pain - he will experience pain, justice

[placingglaciers]

What do you think of the trailer? Luke playing Rambo lol. June kissing Luke and Nick. I'm afraid Nick will be used by June for her own ambitions like in season 5. 🤔

Hi!!! This show has become my new hyper-fixation, so I basically saw the trailer like, seven times already lol. I know you didn't specifically ask for a breakdown, but here's my take anyway.

Serena: So something happens with the train, separating June and Serena, finally. We actually don't see them together in the trailer except when they're trying to leave the train, so either there's a big scene with them at the end or it's all over between them, which I doubt. Eh, I'm not really interested in this storyline. Serena is gonna do her pageantry with the wedding and New Bethlehem. I hope she gets what she deserves this season.

Moira: We see Moira talking with Mark Tuello, wanting to fight back. This will probably involve Luke and June, joining the Handmaids. I hope she's safe. We haven't seen much of her in the past few seasons, so I hope she gets a moment to shine. I really like her!

Commander Lawrence: Did he get new glasses? That's all I can say lol. I couldn't stop looking at them.

Janine: I loved the scene with Aunt Lydia and her at Jezebels. I hope she finds her freedom. I think June ends up there in some way or another, so we'll get to see them together and have her join the rebel Handmaids, too. She's also on my "Do Not Kill" list!

Luke: Alright, we have to talk about him. Luke gets out of jail somehow and wants to join the resistance. And you know what? Good. It's better than making a scrapbook or something lol. He doesn't have much experience fighting Gilead, so maybe he'll end up doing something really risky (perhaps with that grenade?). And that kiss. It felt more like a "goodbye" than an "I love you let's stay together forever" sort of thing. I'm not gonna worry about it.

June: I have no idea where the heck she is in half this trailer, lol. What is going on? I don't know what she's up to nor how she's gonna pull all this off, but I'm intrigued. Clearly staying in Canada is not what she wants anymore. Whatever she does, we know she ends up surviving, I just hope she finally gets what she wants. Gilead is still Gilead in The Testaments, so hopefully her rebellion doesn't end up in vain. I just want her happy and at peace finally. Also, is that June's mom we see with her at the Boston Globe??

Nick: I've read that this season is gonna test his character, and boy does it look like it will. He talks with two important men: Mark Tuello and this new Commander dude who ends up marrying Serena. So he's a double agent, basically. He has a lot of years and experience with these types of people, so I'm confident he'll ace these tests. I find it funny how some people want to make him a villain and I'm like, "Are we even watching the same show??" His allegiance is with his family, period. We see him a lot in this trailer, so I'm excited! People think he's gonna die and blah blah blah, nah. No way. Go read the sequel (it's really good so far, btw!!).

Speaking of family, Rose looks unhappy with him. No surprise. It seems like they're in New Bethlehem now, navigating that sort of life. What happens with the baby? What happens with their marriage? That's what I want to know. Ugh, this is so messy.

You mentioned Nick being "used" by June. I don't know how I feel about this sentiment. I hate to say it but Nick delivers, plain and simple. He's tried to get June out of Gilead multiple times, he gets the Handmaid letters out to Luke, he gives Commander Waterford over to June to be murdered, he gives her all the info he has on Hannah, etc. Perhaps his love language is "acts of service" idk. June has thanked him and is concerned for him and his safety. Last season, she said she didn't want to cause any trouble or anything. Nick wants to help and he does have the power, knowledge, and experience to get the job done. This might a hot take in this fandom, but to me, Nick is useful, but I don't think he's being taken advantage of. Again, what has Luke done before this new season?

Osblaine: We see them like, four times together in the trailer? Incredible! They always find their way back to each other, finding strength and hope, two virtues you need in a rebellion. Nick's, "Sometimes I think you're the only good thing in my life," hit me hard. To me, this expresses his feelings for June more than any "I love you" can. I hope June's response to this is just as important and honest, leaving no doubt where her heart lies. Also, we got a kiss in every season! (I don't care if season five was imaginary, let us have this!) Finally, we see them in the woods at night, referencing when Commander Waterford is absolutely obliterated by the Handmaids. Nick looks more like a Guardian this time for some reason, rather than a Commander. Is this their chance to "run away"??

Hannah and Holly/Nicole: Just throwing them in because they're not really mentioned in the trailer and I'm wondering what will happen to them. I want to see how they transition them into the new series. I hope Nick gets to see at least one of them one last time. I know he would be the best dad. :(

Anyway, life has been downright terrible, so I'm not gonna listen to all the negativity or doubts about this final season. Let's manifest for a great finale!! 🕯

[all-pacas]

When do you think choreman started becoming friends?

Define friends, lol.

Maybe S7? It's surprisingly hard to say.

Foreman openly and loudly dislikes Chase for the first three seasons, and makes no secret of it: he thinks Chase should lose his job in Control even before Chase goes to Vogler, and later backs it up to House, he tells Chase in S3 that he doesn't like him, and Chase tells a patient in S1 that Foreman hates him. They have some moments of coworker friendliness (teasing Cameron together, mostly; there's some off-screen sharing of gossip back and forth), but there's absolutely no indication they like one another or even respect one another much. We even see them both try and reach out to the other (Foreman to Chase in Socratic Method, Chase to Foreman in House Training and Family), and these efforts be summarily rebuffed.

It's useful to compare their relationships to Cameron to see what I mean: Foreman and Chase are just fine at pretending to get along for the sake of their jobs, but that's baseline coworker stuff. By contrast we see Foreman repeatedly engage Cameron in philosophical debates he really seems to enjoy; he gets a bit protective of her about her crush on House; they have several real, sincere conversations — his calling her out about her commitment issues in Insensitive, for example, is very much Foreman being sincere with her and kind. He apologizes for being a jerk. He tries to frame his critique as a good thing.

The same goes for Cameron and Chase. She talks to him about her crush on House, apparently in some detail; he's the first one she tells, and is already in the loop when Cameron starts pushing her feelings. They're also quick to defend one another, professionally and over personal issues, and, while their eventual relationship kind of obscures their "friendship," they always spend time together, there's entire episodes where Chase is just found in the ER: they clearly enjoy one another's company.

Another thing I find interesting (we'll return to Choreman in a second, I promise) is a throwaway line of Thirteen's in S7. Finding out House said she was in rehab, she complains it really limits her social options with the guys. In particular, she complains, without being able to go out drinking, she and Chase will no longer be friends. Obviously she is joking, but Thirteen is also implying she and Chase do go out drinking sometimes. Nice for them. Not all that deep. More than Choreman ever gets. Sure, we see in S1 they go out for a hosted dinner and drinks… but Cameron is there. We never, ever hear of the two of them hanging out as friends.

This trend continues through S4-5: Foreman has a brief stint in S4 convinced Chase is wildly jealous of him and running the firing betting pool as some sort of revenge plan, which is a) funny as hell and b) still not friends. S6, Foreman hires Cameron and Chase back on the basis of I know I can work with you, not friendship; he fumbles the ball pretty fucking hard with Chase post-divorce, and is no more successful (arguably less) at reaching out to him than any of the others. He takes no interest in Chase's obvious depression except to tell him to get over it. S7, they continue to clash: Chase seems to develop a new hobby of trolling Foreman on purpose, which he's actually been doing since S1 and is quite good at. There's no indications the two kept in touch during the S8 gap, and when they have a personal conversation at the end episode five, the most we get is Foreman calling Chase "one of my best doctors," which is so funny, I love that he can't even compliment Chase without making it a compliment towards himself first.

I sound like I'm focusing more on Foreman here, like I think Foreman hates Chase and Chase is innocent. I actually don't think Chase likes Foreman any more than the reverse! It's just that Chase is a more passive person by nature. He's not as overt with his disrespect, because that's just not his style. But we see that as late as S7, Chase really doesn't respect Foreman much: he calls him out pretty thoroughly in Massage Therapy, and generally delights in undermining Foreman's authority.

For another tangent, let's look at Taubman. I wouldn't say the two particularly get along in S4-6; they have a similar we're coworkers vibe, and that's perfectly fine. But by S7, we really see them become friends. It isn't subtle. Taub and Foreman like one another a lot. They are good friends, unlikely as it seems. They enjoy living together and playing video games and spending time. Just like the earlier Cameron examples, there is none of this from Chase and Foreman. We never hear about them hanging out without a buffer.

I said I thought S7 was the turning point. I was kind of lying, because there's not really any moment or evidence for this. But it's also true that after a while, Foreman lays off the animosity and stops blaming Chase for every error or conspiracy against him. Interestingly, they still never get any "bonding moments:" we see, say, Chase and Thirteen get a whole half episode in After Hours, and a friendship subplot in Now What and Private Lives; Foreman and Taub get a whole lot of bonding in Lockdown but also S7 generally. Foreman and Thirteen get subplot episodes; Chase and Wilson even get one in Private Lives. Chase and Foreman have the occasional shared subplot (Changes), but the focus on those is always them at odds or not getting along, not bonding. Did they ever become friends?

I think they respect one another. I think they have the sort of bond that comes of 8 years in the trenches of an incredibly difficult and demanding job. I also know they blatantly don't care about the things important to the other (Big Baby is a very funny and unsubtle example, where Foreman is worried as hell about Thirteen's drug trial, Chase is very interested in his relationship with Cameron, and neither could care less about the other's issues), don't socialize outside work unless there's a buffer, and continue to pretty fundamentally misunderstand one another for years of the show.

I know you're reading this and thinking "what about Dibala?" And I'm going to give my hot take here: I really don't think it was a huge gesture of friendship and love and trust. If anything, kind of the opposite.

Chase spends most of the Dibala arc pushing Foreman pretty hard to let him get away with it. You have to figure this out, you have to speak before the M&M, you have to lie. He drags Foreman way deeper into the coverup instead of taking any responsibility (or any active role in it — Chase does try, but he's not very good at it, and the burden lies mostly on Foreman's shoulders). Chase also lowkey throws Foreman under the bus for his marriage, using Foreman as an excuse to Cameron for why he's avoiding her, can't talk to her, etc: he also guilts Foreman into helping in The Tyrant.

Foreman helping anyway was a very kind thing to do, but I don't know how much choice he had. He was the one who signed off on treatment and charts. He was running the case. If Chase goes down, he's going down too: maybe Foreman doesn't go to jail for murder, but he absolutely loses his job and license. The episode is actually fairly quiet on what, if anything, Foreman believes about Dibala: where Cameron and Chase spend the whole thing debating morality, we don't really know if Foreman thought killing him was right or not. But by protecting Chase, he protected his career and ambitions… and, to be frank, if I'm Foreman and I think Chase is a lazy coward without morals already, I am not convinced Chase wouldn't try to pin the murder on me if I didn't help. Was helping Chase get away with murder still an altruistic (for a very given definition) thing to do? Sure. But it wasn't selfless. It wasn't love.

So when did Choreman become friends?

I don't know. Define friends.

[midnight-bay-if]

Hey! I didn't have time before, so I've only now read the newest chapter, and damn... it was my first time meeting Umbra in the story (as I didn't take the path allowing that in the previous content), and I loved that scene so much! I never expected the "book reveal" at the end. It's interesting how despite me not realizing it before, Umbra seems to be the exact kind of character I usually like to romance in games. To be honest, if Taj wasn't so amazing, I could have been tempted to go for Umbra. Though to be fair, I love all the ROs (I'm a "one canon playthrough" player, so I normally don't go for more than one "route" in IF, hence me actually having to commit to a choice).

Also, Rain and S teasing Taj about their "crush" was so unexpected and funny to me.

That aside, I have two pretty random questions. - First one is, how much would Alek approve of each of the ROs? Either his opinion on each or just a ranking, I'm fine with both. Assuming Alek is like a second father to the MC when it comes to their relationship, if it changes things. - Second is a bit longer… What do the ROs think of a very nice and sweet MC who is an ultimate people-pleaser (as per that one choice at the beginning, about a flaw the MC has)? Like for example, my MC was dead tired but still went to the diner just cause Rue asked. And then he agreed to the "date" with Hunter (what could go wrong?…) just because he clearly can't help himself from caving when someone asks him basically anything, even if he doesn't want to do it. Which is obviously bad when it reaches such levels.

Hi! I’m glad you enjoyed that scene with Umbra. I tried to make it a good scene regardless of whether it was the first time you met Umbra or the second. With my indecisive mind being the way it is, my mind will probably change about another ten times before the end, but I will just keep rolling with it, haha. If it’s any consolation, you could always buddy up with Umbra instead.

I had great fun writing the scene with the team from their POV. It makes me excited to get them all in one room and let chaos commence.

As for your questions… well…

To be honest, Alek isn’t going to approve of any of the ROs for a long time. Alek really wants MC to lead a normal, with a reasonable level of excitement, life. All of the ROs are dangerous and lead dangerous lives. Alek would much prefer they all kept their distance. However, when things start happening, and the danger levels rise, Alek’s opinion may shift. Some shift quicker than others.

Overall, Alek will probably approve of S the most. For obvious reasons. They are human, for a start. They are also smart, and they can rely on S to navigate any given situation, putting you in the most advantageous position.

Next would be Rain. On the surface level, they seem to be well put together, kind, generous… all good traits. Probably not as strong as Alek would like (Rain is somewhat deceptive in this way. They look and act weaker than they), but Alek feels they could trust Rain to protect you emotionally, at least.

Taj and Umbra are pretty close. Alek’s first impression of Taj was less than favourable, and that is a difficult image to wipe away. He also witnessed Taj’s harshness towards you in particular, so his hackles are well and truly up. Umbra’s is a little more personal, and I can’t really say more without spoilers, but obviously, both Alek and Umbra have been around since MC’s childhood, so that should provide some clue.

N is last, and this should come as a surprise to nobody, lol. N is going to have to grovel at Alek’s feet to ever get him to approve of the relationship.

As for the second question…

S: They think it’s a trait deserving of nurture. They want you to keep your kindness since it’s much more valuable than people give credit for, whilst also giving you permission to find your assertiveness. There are people who would take advantage of such a trait if exposed, and S has no qualms about backing you up when this happens. If you can’t stand up for yourself, they at least want you to trust them enough to do it for you.

Rain: You might find that you have more in common with Rain than you think. Rain has a hard time saying “no” to anything. Their fear of conflict in others leads them to go to extreme lengths to maintain the peace and keep people happy. Maybe together, you could agree to be the other one's advocate if you can’t find it in yourself to be your own.

Taj: At first, Taj doesn’t trust it. They have this image in their head of what humans should be like, what they are always like. S has already tested the bounds of their preconceptions, but since S is just one person, it was easy enough to rule them an outlier. Once Taj realises this is real and you have gained their trust, they become fiercely protective. They will still rib you repeatedly, coaxing you to stand up for yourself. But when push comes to shove, they will be the first to stand in front of you if someone goes too far.

N: N doesn’t understand it at first. They think it is a weakness to exploit. If you can’t say “no”, you certainly won’t say “no” to them. But later, when they see how it affects you, the strain it places on you, they feel something close to regret. Eventually, they come to the conclusion that, actually, you might just be the strongest person they have ever met.

Umbra: There isn’t a single version of MC Umbra doesn’t love (whether platonic or romantic). However, an MC who struggles to navigate their own agency will find Umbra hovering a little closer. Words are difficult, but they are pretty good at looking ominous or menacing when required.

[4str0nuts]

DEEP DIVE INTO HORROPEDIAS AUTISTIC CODING : A GIANT ANALYSIS THING

ALTERNATE TITLE IS WHY THE FANDOM SHOULD CHECK OUT HOW THEY TREAT AUTISTIC CHARACTERS

Disclaimer before I go in; i’m using the global translations and the english voice acting as I am on the global server lol. This may affect some things but hopefully not a lot! Also i’m using this video [https://youtu.be/ygAkz4L2AMo?si=elrUeXGompMKYXUJ] for my proof and will provide timestamps!

Horropedia is one of the most loved characters in Reverse:1999 (bc haha funny autistic guy) , yet I literally see no serious posts discussing his character or even going into his character— even at a basic level. I’ve kinda been off to the side observing how the fandom treats Horropedia and it makes me question if people actually like him or some alternate version of him. Yeah sure this is a problem in every fandom but I’m too attached to Horropedia and i’m going to make it everyone’s problem.

There's all sorts of mischaracterisations of him where his autism is reduced to him being an “asshole” and “uncaring”, or that he is some funny reddit meme sona when that’s the case at all! Every other character gets to have serious posts yet when it comes to a very blatant autistic coded character, suddenly no one knows how to act despite the fact the fandom (going off of the twitter fandom here) prides itself on neurodivergency; so I’m here to dump a ton of analysis on Horropedia using ingame sources as proof as well as my own knowledge (as someone who is autistic myself), whilst also debunking mischaracterisations of him. I’m also doing this as I don’t think people treat Horropedias autistic coding seriously, seeing it as silly and thus ignoring all of his character.

Jumping straight in, Horropedia is not an asshole and is actually quite a caring character, even if he doesn’t show it conventionally. To me, it’s quite obvious that he cannot understand people at an emotional level, and always relies on his logical way of thinking no matter the situation; for example, when he broke Blonneys camera, he clearly does not understand why she is mad/upset and instead tries to comfort her logically rather than emotionally. Even when Blonney is very much showing she is mad, Horropedia cannot process that and cannot understand until she actually explains it [Part 5 54:07-57:20]. I can see why people may see it as an asshole move since he tells her to be “reasonable” over the camera breaking, though it is clear that this is another one of his autistic traits as people with autism have a hard time connecting with others’ in an empathetic way(which can come off as being blunt and uncaring) yet no one seems to mention that. Despite this, he still offers her to buy her a new camera once Blonney vents out to Jessica, coming to terms with what he did and making it up to her. [Part 12 2:10:37]

Adding onto the last point, Horropedia shows concern and care multiple times throughout the story. Even if he is bad at comforting people, he still tries to acknowledge what is wrong in regards to the situation. I’m trying to keep this short as I don’t necessarily think this is due to his autism but a cool detail I found with the English voice acting is that his tone gets softer when he’s more genuine (it could be seen as masking but shrug. Not too sure on this one as I'm making this point to show he does care in his own way.) He constantly makes sure everyone is safe and goes out of his way to protect others [Part 4 51:08 , Part 6 1:16:18-1:16:39], which is a small detail I think people gloss over. It’s just nice seeing Horropedia care for others in his own way since I struggle with expressing affection / emotions like him.

Back to his way of thinking, it’s practically plastered everywhere that he thinks in a logical way and takes everything at face value no matter what, which is a trait associated with autism. At the very start of the very event, he even breaks down Vertins joke and still a conclusion was that she wasn’t the person he was looking for (knowing full well she was) [Part 1 11:06-11:50]. Horropedia also explains things at face value— in a basic and straightforward way no matter what it is, which is another example of not truly understanding things at an emotional level! [Part 9 1:42:45-1:43:09]This does not mean he does not consider the consequences of a situation, and Horropedia actively avoids situations where it poses a threat / harm to others. Mentioning this to point out how some people in the fandom treat him like he is stupid?— Despite how he is the basic definition of a nerd with references to it all over his character and voice lines! Yes, he could be seen as careless considering he goes to Green Lake just like that with no approval, but he certainly isn’t oblivious to dangers around him. Horropedia himself explains that he is into horror movies because of how illogical they are(stating how it is like a puzzle), not necessarily the fear of them; so it makes no sense for Horropedia to directly put himself or others in harm's way.

Still relating to his way of thinking, Horropedia uses his horror logic so he can understand situations around him. He directly links back to his special interest to understand things— and to an extent others— better, special interests are a trait exclusive to autistic people! By using his horror special interest, he can understand the world better from his perspective. I don't even need to get examples of this because throughout the Green Lake event he makes references and links to horror movies, basing predictions on what to do in order to survive in the stereotypical like scene of Green Lake. Horropedia is full of reasoning, and despite his “debatable manners” (thanks Sonetto),he is not always too absurd with his predictions. It baffles me that people treat Horropedia like he is some happy-go-lucky kid, running head first into danger; he takes the time to understand a given situation in a way he would understand before doing anything.

Another really obvious thing is that he can’t understand social cues, or the body languages of others at all. Essentially he cannot read the room. The whole “I know the rules of social courtesy” [Part 12 2:19:19] line doesn’t necessarily mean he understands social cues— rules are (usually) based in logic and reasoning, and not emotions. Social courtesy just means the rules of society (or the foundation in this case? eh), and Horropedia knows he HAS to abide by the rules or else he will be in trouble. Something seen as ‘basic’ and ‘simple’ to people considered ‘normal’ by society may be hard to grasp by people who do not benefit from society (autistic people). Horropedia understands the ‘logical reasoning’ of how someone acts but he can’t connect with or understand someone else’s emotional responses. Literally look at most of his interactions with the film crew and Blonney, Jessica even steps in at one point to stop him from making the fight between Jason and Blonney worse [Part 6 1:11:38]; and even then he tries to use logic to break down the situation. Horropedia can’t pick up on social cues for the life of him, including body language and tone.

Smaller point here but I have a feeling Horropedia’s tone is hard to understand to some of the characters. Tooth Fairy couldn’t tell if Horropedia was joking towards the end of the event , where he shows off his “sense of humour”. Nothing much to add here I just found that really interesting…

Ive rinsed out all the notes I’ve taken on Horropedias autistic coding so far…….. feel free to add on more….. I may have gotten some things wrong because I have been working on this for a few hours straight. Surprisingly I still have more to analyse outside of his autism so if people are interested let me know bc i’m desperate .

TLDR: horropedia is autistic thanks for reading.

[chaos-of-the-abyss]

I hope you don't mind me asking this, but why do you like Celegorm? I love that you're vocal about how stupid the Feanorian woobification in this fandom is because people who claim that they did nothing wrong or that they're not villains clearly hasn't read the Silm, but while there's still a level of sympathy to most of them, Celegorm is just genuinely the worst and I can't figure out what there is to appreciate about him lol. I'm sorry if this comes across as a bad-faith question, I really want to know how you like him while not ignoring, trying to deny, or worst trying to justify (which I have seen FAR too many people doing) his canon actions

you're totally good anon! i'd be happy to answer this. just want to preface, i perfectly get where you're coming from and why people hate celegorm, because he is, as you say, the worst. he's horrible. he's done awful things to countless people -- and by no means is he the only feanorian to have done that, obviously, but celegorm's actions in luthien's story make him a type of squicky that's unique even among the brothers. he, hm. how can i put this. he deserves nothing. and yes, people who try to justify him are just wrong. stop reading the silm if you want a mass murdering sexual predator to be glorified ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

that said! the succinct answer is that it's all about the vibes lol. all the feanorians are awful people, but celegorm is, imo, that particularly entertaining kind of awful. there's a certain interplay between his successes and failures that i find unbearably endearing (derogatory). he is canonically charming and magnetic and charismatic enough to sway people with his rhetoric, and i love that. i love that he's opportunistic, clever, and sly, and pounces on the chance when he spots it. the fact that his speech in nargothrond is explicitly paralleled with feanor's before the flight of the noldor says a lot. i find it compelling that while, in many ways, celegorm is the most distant from his family -- friend of a vala, a great woodsman and hunter which are two things that neither his father nor his brothers are ever even mentioned around -- he is the only one among the sons of feanor to be directly, textually compared to feanor, and feanor during one of his most pivotal and infamous moments, no less. the guy must be a force of nature when he really wants to be. yet at the same time, he's endlessly reckless, arrogant, and shortsighted, and he does not get to get away with his actions. his plans flop (just like he will continue to flop until his karmic and also really fucking funny death in about thirty years' time, i'll get back to that), his intentions are discerned, and he gets thrown out in disgrace for treachery with the embarrassing declaration "a maiden had dared that which the sons of feanor had not dared to do" following after him. it's that particular blend of hyper-competence followed hand-in-hand by prompt abject failure and humiliation that makes him so appealing to me.

oh and. another thing about celegorm is that he has the added charm of being a fucking sore loser and a petty bitch -- trying to kill luthien even though she spares his brother's life when she'd be justified throttling him and curufin with her bare hands and i just. he's sooo funny. what is wrong with him. so many things are wrong with him. tfw you kidnap and tried to rape this woman and she does you an untold, absolutely herculean grace and kindness that you know damn well you do not deserve and your reaction is to try to kill her for daring to show you compassion. he's insane.

then. then then then then. he gets chased by own dog and runs away "in terror." you know you've messed up when your dog finally has enough of your bullshit and runs you down because he's fed up with all the terrible things you've been doing. not to mention his dog also dies fighting next to a man that he hates, using his last opportunity of speech to say goodbye to said man. like. beren and luthien's story leaves celegorm, as skilled and magnetic as he canonically is, in absolute shambles and it's hilarious. how does one recover from that you may ask. and i answer one does not recover from that.

but that's not even all. after that saga of blunders he hangs around for about three decades doing absolutely nothing of note, then in his attempt to regain some relevancy winds up having the most mortifying death ever. my dude you were the "let's ambush doriath guys" spokesperson. you campaigned for that shit. this was your desire. this is what you wanted. and you walk in there and the guy who's *checks notes* THIRTY-SIX compared to your one-thousand-something KILLS YOU. elves are not developmentally matured until they're a hundred. your killer is like thirty. this is, generously speaking, about an eight year old by your standards. a fucking eight year old kills you. yes i know dior was not actually a child at the time but the fact remains that celegorm quite literally has more life experience than the entire human race and he's done in by the son of a human. then to add second insult to first insult to extreme injury, two of your brothers are also killed in this battle and in the end you all don't even achieve what the fuck you came there to do. THIS WAS YOUR PLAN. how do you lose that badly. holy hell. if i were him i'd stay in the halls of mandos forever out of pure embarrassment. you simply would never see me again. you think i'm walking out into society and showing my face around the block when an eight-year-old ended my life? nah. no sir not me

plus well. on a more serious note, dior is luthien's son. luthien, whom celegorm thought he could control, whom he saw as an object to further his aims and to lust after. he's killed by the son of the woman he tried to rape, and there's nothing more fitting than that.

so! there you have the basic rundown of why i like what's explicitly laid out about celegorm in canon. he's an objectively horrible man, it's just that i find the way he goes about being objectively horrible extremely funny. but i also think he is ripe for exploration in the realm of speculation -- and that speculation enhances what we do know about his actions during b&l and after until his death. aside from the kinslaying at alqualonde wherein all the sons of feanor participate, we see him and curufin acting unambiguously villainous a good bit before the rest of their brothers -- at the very least, they are clearly more willing to do horrible things at the point of time of b&l when compared to the likes of maedhros and maglor. like, they are out here committing actions that no sane person can rationalize as being anything other than abhorrent. it's clear that they've already given up on the idea of being "good"; they've already given up on keeping their hands clean and they've already shed whatever qualms they might have had in the past.

my thoughts on why? this is by no means canon, but tolkien does seem to like giving the legendarium's major villains some sort of arc and some type of insight into what they become (melkor gets history, sauron gets history, maedhros and maglor get history), so i don't see why celegorm should be any different. and for me, celegorm and curufin, especially celegorm, give the impression that they fell into despair and disillusionment far before the other feanorians did. and their response was to accept that they have no way of going back to the people they used to be, that they've already been rightfully damned, and if they've come this far they may as well do whatever they can to achieve what they fell so low for, because what does it matter anymore? it's part of why i think celegorm sees maedhros trying to look at beleriand and the war against morgoth from a larger perspective than just the silmarils, and both disdains and pities him for it. they've already been doomed and they already can't hope to make amends. they should do what they're here for -- and while, in celegorm's eyes, maedhros isn't willing to do what needs to be done, he is. i think that sort of mentality is fascinating. in a way, it's a self-fulfilling prophecy -- maybe if celegorm thought there was any meaning to him being better, or even just any meaning in not being nearly as awful as he resolved to be, then he wouldn't have stooped so low. but he did believe there was no hope for him, he did believe that he could never be forgiven -- and in believing that, he did go past the point of no return, beyond which he truly, legitimately couldn't hope to be forgiven. also, i just personally like the "well i'm a terrible person so i'm going to act like a terrible person"-type villains better than "oh no i'm a terrible person it makes me so sad and full of despair"-type villains (looking at you, maglor). again, none of this is canon, but it's my reading of celegorm's character, and i think it sheds some light on why he's so awful in b&l and afterwards. in his mind, it's already over for him anyway.

i hope this answered your question anon! i like celegorm, and i enjoy his character, because there are shades of a sad tale behind his descent to being the worst, he's entertaining while he's being the worst, and most crucially of all, he gets his comeuppance for being the worst in an extremely satisfying way. i definitely wouldn't like him (or the silm at all) so much if he'd been, like, successful in anything -- but thankfully he is written by an author who knows full well what an utterly reprehensible character he is. and boy does tolkien not spare him from that karma. he is simultaneously a singleminded and relentless fallen prince, a repulsive monster, and the story's laughingstock (one of them anyway). honestly, none of the feanorians tickle my brain quite like he does. i love him and i would beat him with a shoe

[hooked-on-elvis]

[STORY TIME] 🤢🍹 DRUNK ELVIS (1968)

Story told by Charlie Hodge.

Next to him are Joe Esposito and Larry Geller. All men, Memphis Mafia. You can hear the story on the video above, if you prefer, or you can scroll down and read it (Charlie is the way to go, press the play button). But before the story, just wanted to say: Charlie was so funny! The "huey" joke! LOL! I adore him. ♥ Rest in peace, sweet Charlie, also Joe. God bless your souls.

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[STORY TIME] 🍹

Well, as we know, Elvis was not a drinker. Hardly he'd get interested a few drinks, but that's the thing: when a person like that drinks and gets carried away, he goes all the way, not knowing his own safe limits; in reality it doesn't take that much alcohol to make 'em tipsy. As any person who didn't drink often, Elvis' tolerance for alcohol was very low - taking from the stories told over the years. Sometimes disasters happen when one not used to drink have too much drinking, other times just funny things take place. Charlie is talking about one of those moments for Elvis, a funny one.

According to Hodge, he and the guys (Memphis Mafia) were with Elvis in Palm Springs, on set while he was filming a movie during the 60's. Charlie recalls it as being 'Live A Little, Love a Little' — for which filming began on March 13th, with principal photography ending in May 1st, 1968, so that story happened in early 1968.

Elvis and Michele Carey on scene from 'Live A Little, Love A Little" (1968)

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Charlie says Elvis was filming one of the scenes he's in the sea, when he complained the water was too cold. He then asked his guys if they happen to have anything to drink, so could use the liquor to help keeping his body warm while he was filming that sea scene. They didn't have any, so they sent Charlie to buy some. Charlie bought a peach brandy and rum, so he came back with it and Elvis drank it... but it turns out he liked the peach liquor, a little too much.

Normally people who don't drink they go ease with sweet tasting liquor and they don't stop drinking, simply because don't feel getting drunk... until they are hammered. This happened to poor Elvis a few times.

When he finished the one peach brandy drink he had, on their way home after shooting day was over, Charlie mentions how Elvis was already slurred speech/swaying drunk but he said he liked the drink and wanted to go buy some more. The guys stopped by a liquor store. There, silly Elvis enters the store and absentminded goes walking around, calmly checking the options as if nothing was happening around, while "poor Joe", as Charlie says, was desperate to get him back in the car, in fear some mob took place if people found out Elvis was there.

Well, they got home safely after all, and El had all the drinks he wanted until everybody heads to their own bedrooms. Charlie says Elvis was wearing his blue nylon jammies and, he jokes about it, saying all the guys too were wearing blue nylon jammies that night, actually; in his words, "because we figured, if Elvis looks good in blue nylon jammies, we do too!" 😆

Scene from 'Live a Little, Love a Little' (1968)

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Shortly after, Joe Esposito hears a knock on his bedroom door. He opens the door and sees Elvis standing two-hands leaned against Joe's bedroom door frames, ill looking (clearly sick from the drinking).

El looked at Joe and said,

"Joe, I'm dying."

Esposito tried to calm him down, telling him he was alright and he should go back to his bedroom and just lay down and sleep, but Elvis ignored.

"Call daddy" (Vernon)", he said to Joe.

"Tell him to sell Graceland. He doesn't need that big old place... and sell all the cars, he don't need them too."

Joe continued trying to calm Elvis down, ignoring the nonsense the man was saying, but El (as any good wasted person who thinks he's in perfect clear estate of mind), insisted,

"I'm not kidding, I'm dying!"

Finally Joe got to send Elvis went back to his own bedroom, but soon EP was back repeating the same things. "I'm dying." According to Charlie, this went on for about three times. On the third time, as soon as Elvis said, "I'm dying" again, he threw up right in front of Joe. 🤢

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Can you picture drunk Elvis? (LOL) Those little anecdotes of Elvis Presley's life are just so fun to hear about! That bring him closer to us, making that god-like looking man feel like any friend of ours, or even ourselves. I love hearing those "hammered Elvis" stories, don't you?

Elvis in scene from "Wild In The Country" (1961)

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What kind of drunk person you think our sweet El was?

I think he would get extra affectionate, mellow and even needy, which makes me crave to be right there with him. ♥

[aro-culture-is]

i’m like 99% sure you can ask for advice here so here goes

so, basically i have a queerplatonic/platonic crush on my band president. AND I ABSOLUTELY DO NOT KNOW HOW I DEAL WITH IT. so, for some context we started talking last year because i just joined the school and the bad and we started talking around mid-year and we weren’t that close orginally but there was this night we had a long, deep convo and after that we started to get really close. after two months, i started to have strong feelings for her (but not romantic) and i think it’s a platonic or queerplatonic crush and i didn’t really go to school and band that often for a while because of autoimmune disease and when i was there i tried not to make it seem like i’m too excited to see her which kinda makes me worried that she thinks i’m iggoring her but we text a lot so. anyway, even though we usually don’t interact irl that much [:(] we still do sometimes, and whenever my score has a rest i always look at her. especially when she has a solo. one time we went to experience this colleg band thing and i asked for a hug and she accepted❤️ i wanna hug her again. i do kinda wanna get touchy with her but not TOO MUCH, y’know? besides, i’m shy/nervous around her and anyway, she’s alloromantic. but anyway, today during our cca fair we kind of kept on kinda locking eyes (accidentally?? idk. but i know i was doing it on purpose) and it made my aromantic heart flutter

anyways so i don’t know what to do should i say i have a platonic/qpr crush on her? though i can’t tell which one it is…..

uhhhhh so, as a nonpartnering sort, I think I'm gonna give some general advice, and leave the specifics to the crowd.

broadly: do you know her views on queer stuff? could you casually bring up "oh, I was reading a queer story --", or if you know she's queer-friendly, "oh, out of curiosity, how many of the flags do you know?" type of stuff? Just, get a general vibe of her views of 1) queer people, 2) what she does and doesn't know or think she knows, and 3) if she knows about aromanticism, what she thinks it is and how she feels about aro folks.

I like to start there personally, because it gives you a lot better of a place to start a conversation about your own identity if you have a common ground on what feelings and definitions are being used. It's really easy, I find, for someone to confidently state they know what something is / what you mean, and be totally off base to the point that you're having totally separate conversations and don't even know it.

To use an example: in high school I had a friend who... lovingly, he grew up rich and sheltered, and probably only was not diagnosed as autistic because he was low support needs. His social skills were, lovingly again, as well informed as he could make them, but executed like a train wreck that most everyone attributed to "boy genius is a little weird". (He was, simultaneously, the heart throb of our school, and a lot of guys realized some queerness because of him, but that's a whole other funny story)

He was super nice about me coming out as trans, but clearly in a "he's confused but got the spirit" way. No idea what I meant, but he knew it meant a lot to me. A few weeks after that, he quietly admitted, "I thought it was about like, gender roles like cooking and cleaning and stuff, and I'm starting to get the impression I might not be right about that."

...

So, I now recommend everyone start with "let's get on the same page about what things mean" before having any big identity chats lol. It often leads to a quiet revelation on their side that you're guiding it to "Hi, I am that identity", but also puts it in a place where they're free to ask questions, and in my experience, treat it a little more thoughtfully and seriously than if it were a fly-by "heyyyyy i am aro and i am scared of this conversation, bye!" that can happen with enough anxiety. totally (/sarcasm) not speaking from experience.

hope that helps? from there, just... keep up communicating, leveling the knowledge field, and if a relationship is what you want, do the work. talk about what that means for you. ask what it means to her. talk about if that's compatible, and how conflicts might be navigated. if that goes well, congrats! if not, congrats! you've probably avoided the messier options, even if it isn't what you'd like.

[ilikekidsshows]

Just remembered that in Evolution Marinette is baffled that Cat Noir immediately is able to use the Rabbit Miraculous is a clever way to trick the power limitation. Its just really funny how mask-off they were about how lowly Marinette thought of Cat Noir the whole time. She was baffled that he's competent when he isn't just used as human sacrifice and left in the dark with nothing and no communication. Wow, who would have thought? According to Evolution, clearly not Marinette lol

Makes you wonder what her plan even was. She's infamously incapable or just plain unwilling to give Cat Noir any kind of help and she has yet to do it even once, so I guess she was just gonna let him fumble his way through time without any help from her which would have been humiliating, frustrating, and crushing for Cat once more. Did she just plan to pat his back for so long until he gives up in frustration and tears and then she takes over again but she forever use the excuse that "Well, I TRIED. Not my fault that Cat Noir needed more than no support from me"

Seriously, her having been dumbfounded by Cat Noir having more use then being abused and being her eternal support giver changes the entire situation. It really makes it once again seem like she didn't let Cat Noir have the Rabbit for HIS sake or because she finally sees him, it reframes her decision as much more self-serving.

That she simply gave the Rabbit to him because that redirects the blame to HIM when he fucks it up, can't do it, or whatever, and that she cant be viewed as neglecting him when she let's him do this

Only that her being baffled that he's competent still makes this a clear case of neglect. It's a nice thought that Marinette would have helped him in Evolution, but nothing in Canon supports that. Marinette never EVER gives Cat more support than the barest minimum she absolutely has to and more often than not she doesn't even reach that bar. Even in season 5, she never helps him with anything power related, even when he was struggling right before her eyes on more than one occasion. So why should Evolution have been the one exception to this? The patterm clearly dictates that she would have watched him beat himself up over being incompetent and then would have taken over to "make him feel better through reassuring him that she forgives him for being a useless and stupid animal"

The face she made really showed a part of WHY he was treated so awfully by her, they really made no attempt to hide that. Marinette truly thought in season 4 that Cat Noir is an incompetent, useless, and stupid pet who's only good for supporting her and her friends she actually sees worth in, and being abused and sacrificed.

I would be less harsh on this if the show afterwards at least had the guts to owe up to Marinette's harmfully incorrect perception of Cat Noir and how this clearly affected her unfair treatment of him, but nah. She never own up to it, she never apologizes or tries to set things right. All she does is making it very clear with her dumbfounded reaction that she did not expect him to be capable of... well, I guess ANYTHING, and then she takes that as the other side of the excuse coin, by using it as proof that she shouldn't even have to give helping him a try.

So she went from giving no support to giving no support. Wonderful.

Adrien even has a smug little look on his face after her reaction. Being smugly happy that he can finally prove her wrong about him, but I'm just sitting here like "Girl, you really thought nothing but the worst of him in season 4 and sold it as HIM always being the problem until you were force to now give him a chance. A tiny bit of accountability would be NICE". But no, can't have that. Or else the young viewers (and her stans) can't swallow up all of Marinette's victim blaming and abuse of Cat Noir as her having been "totally right" as she declared herself until right the end for 10 seconds which now never got brought up again and fixed by her.

Our protagonist, Ladies and Gentlemen. What a fucking coward.

---

There are few ways they could have been more blatant about why Cat Noir got the Rabbit Miraculous while Ladybug was expecting him to fail. It was clearly just to shut him up. It's her “learning the error of her ways” about pushing him aside to trust him with a bit more power (but never the secrets she's keeping). She was a benevolent leader giving Cat Noir a chance to contribute. Of course, the fact that she expected him to fail means she also expected him to give her the retroactive justification for sidelining him. “See? I was right to give you no power or knowledge. Now give the Miraculous to me so that I can do everything like always. See how much more work including you created for me?”

And yet, despite Cat Noir proving himself, she still goes on to lie to him and keep important information from him some more. It's like Cat Noir proving himself accomplished nothing in terms of how she sees him. This is most likely because the entire “trust him with one of the most important Miraculous for a bit” thing was there to assure the audience that Cat Noir is totally still a valued member of the team, ignore how he's still treated the same as last season, he’s now stopped complaining about it so it's totally different and okay.

After all, treating people like shit is only wrong if they complain about it, there's no such thing as people being figuratively beaten into submission by being stuck under the command of a control freak who never listens and never improves her behavior. The wish fulfilment protagonist is just so clueless, how is she supposed to know doing the shit she was told was wrong is still wrong? Doesn't Cat Noir know Marinette's brain leaks basic information like a sieve when it isn't related to her Love Quest? He should be more considerate of his oh-so-stressed-out leader and give her a written list of all the things that can and have gone wrong because of the decisions she made and how a morally upright superhero should conduct herself. How else is she supposed to know unless someone tells her?!

[tiredgaycrisis]

It's so funny to me that we are expected to believe Steve Harrington was ever considered cool at Hawkins High. I thought he was cool when I was younger, but now I have overtaken him in age, I just can't 😭😭

He told Nancy he was having a party and that she should stop by, not mentioning that she and her impromptu plus one would make up 50% of his total guest list and the party would just consist of swimming in his pool and drinking one can of beer each, with no music.

And how many people his own age have we seen him be friendly with? Because I'm pretty sure it's just Tommy, Carol, Nancy, Nancy's-Best-Friend-Barb, and then almost two years later, he befriends Robin and eventually Eddie.

He does all the sports stuff; he was on the basketball team, he was a certified Lifeguard and Co-captain of the swim team for 2 years, but we've never seen him be all that athletic (excluding the time he held his breath for like, 2.5 minutes checking out watergate bc u gotta give credit where credit's due and that is impressive) he loses almost every fight, including against the school's weirdo freak. The basketball team won for the first time in YEARS once Steve graduated (I'm sure he wasn't holding them back, but he clearly wasn't some all-star player leading them to victory.) And the one we see being a super cool swimmer/Lifeguard dude is Billy (and when Billy enters the stage in s2, everything he does makes Steve seem way less 'cool' but also like a way nicer person, tbh I think Billy's inclusion is what fully rounds out Steve's journey to becoming the lovable, overprotective, older brother type that makes him so beloved in the fandom today, but I feel like that's a whole other point.)

My point is, I refuse to believe that Steve was ever actually the popular kid. He just has nice hair, a pretty face, a charming smile and mostly treats people decently. So I fully believe that half the school population would have had a crush on him, but although we're constantly told that Steve is this cool, top of the social hierarchy, elite dude, there is next to no evidence in the show to back this point up lol. So my theory is just that everyone at school judges Steve based purely on his looks and assumes he's way too super cool for them to hang out with and he mainly just hung around by himself or one of his like, 3 friends before/in s1 of the show.

This is emphasised in the scene in s4, where Eddie tries to convince him to get back with Nancy, when he tells Steve he decided that he must be a douche bc of assumptions Eddie and the other students made about him. Which I think is kind of sad bc he never really was in my opinion, compared to some of the teenage boys I grew up with.

But yea, the show acts like there was this massive ✨️Transformation✨️ Steve went through and whilst I agree he became a nicer, more adjusted, self-aware person, I think it's who he always was and being in the situations the show puts him in (eg. protecting 6 tiny children from slimy shadow monsters) just brings out the best of him and forced him to mature quicker.

[chasedeys]

I need your thoughts bc i’m trying to write a story & obviously we ‘know’ how joemarr’s relationship is but do you think joe and ja’marr (separately or together lol) are closer to tee or justin?? AND how do you think their relationship is with both guys. because for me sometimes it’s like joe is tee’s big brother but idk… help. please.

hello!!! (so very sorry this took. so very long. but it's here! and i rambled way too much but at the same time nothing of substance on this sort of 😭)

in a completely non pushy very excited way what fic are you writing hehe any mention of a joemarr fic in progress and i perk up like a lemur. no pressure though keep it all to yourself I'm just nosy lol

and i feel like you are completely free to decide who's closer to who based on your own fic's direction?? like me personally it depends 😭 cannot be definitive for the life of me. i myself have totally sometimes Cartoonify friendships just for the Sake of the Bit you know? but like not too much or it just gets disrespectful and annoying and i try to stay true to their character or whatever really i don't actually know these people lol

the Vibes that i sense and also some i've made up completely in my head are kind of like this:

over the years, i feel like joemarr have grown wayyyy closer to tee and have grown apart from justin. and that's to be given really considering they're now teammates with tee and justin is in a whole other team making whole other moves than them! and that's okay! they aren't made to be forever linked together, they're their own people, making their own marks in the league! but they're always going to have that 2018-19-20 lsu insanity with them and i am always going to mention that in my fics! and nobody's going to forget that college run i fear 2019 lsu is kind of legendary lmao these three are always going to be asked about each other and their pasts linked to each other no matter what and that's honestly really beautiful if you think abt it.

ja'marr and tee -> god these two. i think ja'marr is just. so obsessed with tee. just. incredibly fond of tee. unwilling to let him go. incapable of being chill about him (like he is about anybody who has somehow hit certain standards that only he knows). and i went on a spiel here where i suggest you read bc it's weirdly more well written than what i wrote here 😭. basically, i think he looks up so much to tee because tee is someone who he gets to let his guard down and be just a team player with. does that make sense. it really honestly boils back down to comparing it to justin and that sounds bad but i don't know how to explain it better?? that sounds kind of wrong tbh arhgrhgrh. it's like with tee he doesn't have to keep clawing for his spot or compete as much or whatever. like tee is clearly such an amazing wr, clearly a wr1 caliber player like ja'marr, yet he doesn't fight with ja'marr over his looks or plays or spot like justin does with him, which has to be like a breath of fresh air for ja'marr and he's said it himself all 'tee is the most unselfish player'. like that means something to him. ja'marr cares so much for tee's opinions, tee constantly singing ja'marr praises and ja'marr being so sooo silent whenever tee goes on a rant abt him like he doesn't know what to say he just hugs tee with one arm and says appreciate you so quietly (HE DOES THIS A LOT WHEN HE GETS COMPLIMENTED BTW. DO YOU NOTICE THIS. and there's so many fucking clips of them just wrapped around each other after a tuddy just!!! so cute.), and ja'marr known outrageous mother hen ja'marr chase making (speculationnnn) tee change agents and taking him to his massage therapist (in his fucking houseeee i went on a rant here god this is still so crazy to me) and nagging at tee in his mic'ed up moments so many times that feel good play good thing like. he tries to big brother tee so much when tee's the one big brothering him you know 😭 it's so funny god their dynamic is so fucking funny to me. (ja'marr tries so hard to be mature and captain-like whatever and he is good at it you know but 😭 with tee and joe and like all the bengals vets like mike h and sam and even with yoshi whos the same age as him yk it's so very clear he's the baby lmao.) he's trying so hard to take care of tee, keep him safe and well and healthy and with him, doesn't want him to leave. OH AND they went to this showroom thing where they shopped for stuff and ja'marr went with tee (!!!!!!!) and asked tee's opinion for a belt or something and tee was all dude just choose whatever you want it's soooo cute god they're so cute to me (there was also that fucking loverboy beanie im obsessed with that ja'marr didn't even glance at im so pissed. im so fucking pissed what do i have to do to get him to wear a cat beanie this shit is serious to me) like ja'marr wants to know what tee thinks!! he values his opinions!!!! even for fucking clothes!!!! god. and he knows he plays better with tee with him on that field okay, he says that with tee he doesn't get double teamed as much, and he while he's proven that he plays just as well without tee, that piece of comfort having another wr1 with him (his best friend!!!) has got to be something he wants to keep for eternity (ahahaha, verbatim ofc).

joe and tee -> joe dotes over tee lmao you can't deny that man is besotted (ja'marr is too actually 😭 they both are it's completely understandable but at the same time you just have to close your eyes and wince bc that's embarrassing. please chill the fuck out you do not need to laugh that loud over a single sentence from tee. but again: completely understandable because tee is tee. like that batman hard knocks ep. tee said one fucking sentence and joemarr just. rolled over showed their belly panting it's embarrassingggg) he's soooooooo starry eyed over him, so shamelessly coddling (?) that game hug nuzzle the first time, the broncos game where it looked like he bit his neck, this pre season's training camp (?) laughing sooo freely with tee, every sentence out of him these past few weeks on tee staying in cincy 'tee is a NEED', etc etc like i know you said he's acting like tee's big brother which i agree with completely 100% but it's also like he can be such a little brother with tee!! it's like he can let go and not be a responsible person with tee idk does that make sense. joe totally acting like tees older brother but the thing is tee is doing it right back he's just chiller about it like he doesn't have to think too hard on it unlike joe who thinks he has to be this guy 24/7. it's like joe is unused to having such a down-to-earth sane (still hilariously unhinged but sane you know) guy who makes good choices when he's been stuck with guys like ja'marr and justin who are kind of. well. so he can let up and have tee take care of him for a change! well this isn't like this 100% of the time obviously but you get where i'm going with this right (god I'm so sorry this is a mess) also tee's like. really fucking funny and sweet and joyous to be around is there really any surprise that joemarr are smitten with him lmao. i think joe tweeted something abt playing with tee for a long time when they got drafted together?? kill me. no really kill me.

who do you think brought up that tee should just change agents to ja'marr's lmaooo do you think tee brought up his agent being so fucking argumentative that ja'marr tells him to tell him to fuck off and just switch to his. and then they all go dead silent about this including ja'marr because it was one of those things that he said without thinking. like literal light bulbs going off above their heads at the same time before they start scheming shit calling lawyers and ja'marr's agents at like 2 a.m trying to figure shit out 'playing chess'. or did ja'marr and tee discover this first like 'oh??? we can?? do it probably??' and call joe frantically like can we do it and joe hangs up on them without saying anything and the got so fucking offended only for joe to turn up in their place (either one idk) one minute later probably breaking the speed of light and boom. ja'marr has his claws on tee and he's not letting go ever.

joe and justin -> while yes i said that joemarr grew apart from justin i feel like joe is like the type of person to just. be shameless in reconnecting with people he's grown apart from. while ja'marr is. very petty. lmao. i think joe is just very shameless when he reaches out to people. he, like ja'marr, is insanely loyal and values friendship to a concerning degree. he keeps contact with practically any person he grows attached to and texts them regularly and by that i mean that even if he gets ghosted or there's a ridiculously long period of dead silence between them he still texts first like 'hey bro long time no talk u in town do you wanna watch the new spongebob movie tomorrow' and bulldozes through the awkwardness like he doesn't even see it. which works with justin!! who i think kind of sucks at keeping in touch with people (like ja'marr, see below sooo sorry this is so shittily structured) and he hangs out with a lot of people during the offseason no? (its sooooo fascinating to me how he's sooo introverted and technically a hermit but he's also suchhhhh an outgoing little busybody you know and constantly reaches out to people first? like to gronk????? who does that.) including justin who has the same agent! having the same agent works wonders in keeping the connection no doubt too lmao. the paris fashion week thing etc. i think i've said it before but joe falls in love with every teammate he's ever gotten close to and that very much includes justin jefferson who helped him achieve his Insane Ambition of getting the natty so he's not letting him go even the slightest bit really. also qb-wr connection is practically something otherworldly really so really something to keep in mind when writing quarterbacks with former teammates they've thrown to lol. especially joe, who's kind of crazy 😭. i mean look at all his wristbands and sweatshirts and moving to lsu and hanging on to the playoffs by the skin of his teeth and all that jazz. he does Not let go easily. truly an interesting man to write.

ja'marr and justin -> those type of near aged siblings who fight over the weirdest shit and get stupidly competitive over everything and disgustingly annoyingly overly smug over a win that they get into stupid fights one minute only to slam open the other's bedroom door the next hour saying excitedly 'bitch i got free coupons for ice cream' and the other immediately goes 'DAMN RIGHT let me drive' completely forgetting that they were fighting and then the cycle repeats all over again. you can see just how disgustingly close they were together during lsu and that's not really something that just goes away even through time you know? but i do believe they've both grown individually as people and maybe they wouldn't get along as well now as they do then because again, they've been pitted against each other over and over and over and fucking over oh my god but the love they have for each other is clear as they really when you take in account all they've been through together. and i've said up above how their entire thing has been drenched with Competition and that's different with ja'marr's thing with tee and that's not to say that he doesn't enjoy the competition with justin he clearly loves it lmao he wouldn't be such a good player in the league if he hates it lol. more said down below because again, very shittily structured :)

justin and tee -> they should date idk (i think i had a fic idea for them somewhere in my writing tag ehehe)

on the lsu trio specifically lol didn't know how to insert it up above so:

i think justin and ja’marr are both the type to be shit at replying to texts 😔 like sure they'd text you and stuff but. they ignore so many texts whether intentionally or not. they've both said they don't talk with each other etc etc haHAhaaHHAa pain. if i may Speculate: they both probably tried texting on the regular but suck sooooooo bad at it it just peters off (is that the right fucking word oh my god why is the english language so fucking difficult that is literally a NAME) pathetically like ja'marr texted tuesday 8 p.m and justin replies on saturday 11.59 pm to which ja'marr replies to that at wednesday 1.25 a.m do you get me. and they can't standddd this type of shit 😭 kind of low attention span kind of deal and also losing interest on the text convo and having so much shit going on irl that they just don't really text anymore??

joe is like the opposite of this he replies to texts late max 2 days tops but he’s just shit at text talk. absolutely 0 flair to his words. desperately needs to learn tone indicators but people he texts have grown completely used to this and either accepts they will never understand him or, like ja’marr and justin and tee, somehow understands him 98% and bulldozes through his awkward texting and also shits on him liberally. but even if people reply to him late he'd just continue with the convo completely dead serious abt it uncaring how long you text and never the one to end convos and that's weirdly how he keeps such close contact with people he hasn't seen in years??

that's not to say that justin and ja'marr don't vibe with each other anymore lol it's kind of difficult to let go of what two years of practically living in each other's pockets being the Best at what they do. it's just they've also grown so much apart and bloom into way different people than who they knew each other to be. the random ass rarri truck comment is still so confusing to me though like. are you two okay. what was that. did your agents tell you to do something. could you two please interact irl again so i can obsessively analyze whatever the fuck you got going on actually. maybe make out on camera too idk.

also they have such the shittiest friendship humor that only people in their circle would get you know 😭 constantly shitting on each other (ja'marr does it in front of cameras while justin knows pr talk and actually exercises it well. hence the amount of people shitting on ja'marr for saying shit they themselves have said and joke about their friends. pisses me off.) and outrageously competitive people who are undeniably the best at what they do getting compared to each other constantly and their history of ja'marr technically having beaten justin during college and coming into the league with justin breaking several type of records while ja'marr breaks a whole different set of records etc etc just 😭 do you get me. i am so Sensitive about these two pls nobody touch me about them im sorry..........

joe and justin having the same agents and then tee and ja'marr having the same agents is kind of crazy tbh. tee and justin should date just for this quartet to go straight into Messy.

disclaimer this is all pure Speculation and just me making shit up tbh using my Noticer Glasses that gets cloudy from my own delusions so take this with a grain of salt!

ALSO during college i think it's like. justin was really close to joe bc they're the same year (?) right seniors or whatever closer in age and they're clearly best friends. but justin and ja'marr were like twin flames, same position, and they're kind of insane abt each other during college lmao that one clip post natty win of justin leaning back to ja'marr is like burned into my head. and ja'marr was sooo unsure abt joe at first and joe was kind of way too intense without saying a single thing to ja'marr but just staring at him while justin was like the bridge between these two!! that's like a whole other thing about joemarr and justin that's sooo fun to write about truly i love Speculating lsu days crushes and justin being a little shit about them. (lsu ask i swear i'll finish answering you one day auguauguhsuhg)

[fwitoley]

Ghost Trick Official Heights

i use the term "official" very lightly, but yeah this is my contribution to the ghost trick fandom, as i have calculated the estimated heights of the main characters based on screencaps and official art :p

before I start i just wanna say i lowkey lost my frikin MIND trying to figure out some of these characters, especially cabanela and his stupid little posture i swear i almost threw a chair when i found out his real height--

keep in mind that these heights are either the most on point thing you're ever going to find or the worst character analysis post to ever grace the fandom

so anyways here you go. long post, sorry, but i think it's worth it.

(also spoilers lol)

here's the overall results from shortest to tallest

Kamila: 4'2" Lynne: 5'3" Yomiel: 5'8" Alma: 5'11" Jowd: 6'1" Cabanela: 6'2"

okay now the fun stuff:

☞ Yomiel

I'm starting with him because he's the one i based everyone else's heights off of. The only reason he's 5'8 is cuz someone online said so, and because there's so little information on these characters I just decided to roll with it. so yeah, he's the baseline of everyone else's heights. kinda funny considering his role in the plot lol

so the reason why his height looks weird compared to the others is because yes, he is 5'8. without the hair. he's 6'4 with the hair (which was also asserted by aforementioned someone online). he's a short king. with tall hair. his hair is 8 inches tall. why.

☞ Jowd

I did jowd next cuz he was the reason i got into this in the first place (fanfic writing is HARD people), so I took his and yomiel's official spotlight pics and compared the heights, then punched it into a height comparison site and eye-balled it. That's how i got to jowd being 6'1. pretty straightforward. just like jowd.

☞ Lynne

I started doing cabanela at this point, but then switched over to lynne cuz cab's stoopid little posture was irritating me. I decided to base her height in comparison to Yomiel, since they have been in the same room before, so I could also use the room as a reference point too. I grabbed some gameplay screencaps off the internet and lined them up based on the papers pinned to the bookshelf behind each character. Then i used a line to gauge where lynne's height fell compared to yomiel.

then i guesstimated her height on this website to get 5'3. short and sweet.

☞ Cabanela

this where i almost lost my damn mind. As you know, his resting pose consists of his weight being shifted, so I knew that however tall he was in that pose would not be his true height. I compared myself making the same pose in the mirror to figure out about how many inches shifting weight would take off of one's height, and I concluded about 2 inches, which seemed to be the case for Cabanela.

I used a bunch of different screencaps to compare cabanela's height to jowd's, but i had previously accepted into the canon of my mind that cab was shorter than jowd. And yet, in every shot i found, they appeared to be the same height.

spoiler alert: This is where I started tweaking. after i did these heights i let them sit for a day. As I was writing this, I tried to find those other screencaps in which they were the same height, and as it turns out . . .

I couldn't find any.

Cabanela is clearly taller than Jowd.

(btw the lines and stuff are reference lines to make sure my math is mathing)

I came to this conclusion the first time I analyzed Cabanela's height, but in a very different way. Long story short (mainly because I can't remember what method I used that was drastically different yet ended up yielding the correct results nonetheless), I calculated cab's height in his usual pose to be 5'11, which would make his full height on even footing 6'2 (aka taller than jowd™).

Now, for my correction. The images above I made mere minutes before writing these words, and it just so happened that my assumption of Cabanela being 6'2 ended up making sense. the ds versions made him seem taller than he actually was, but that's due to the lower pixel count. I had to use the remastered version to verify his height to be 6'2 (lucky i got hold of the only image of cab standing on even footing too (the left image), though since in his hip-cocked pose his other leg seems to be straight, i don't think it matters).

So yeah. My image of jowd being the big teddy bear of a man he is was shattered, and cabanela was canonized as being one of the taller folk (i heard the bartender was the tallest character in the game, but he's kinda irrelevant so i didn't dig into him. maybe i will if the opportunity presents itself). I'm not sure why i was surprised, cabanela seems like the type to be extremely tall. I guess all the fanfics i read portrayed their heights to be reversed.

you can see why i almost threw a chair.

☞ Alma

Alma's height wasn't too bad, the only hurdle was her heels. I grabbed the screencap in the epilogue of her standing next to jowd to get a feel for the height difference.

i used the lines compared to the measuring thing in the background of the image at the top to figure out how high her heels were (2 inches) and subtracted that from her overall height to get 5'11. which means she's 5'9 without heels. ms gurl is tall.

☞ Kamila

Finally, kamila. Her's was a little wacky cuz i had to estimate moreso than i would've liked, but i think it came out well enough. I used that family photo at the end of the game to compare her height to jowd and cabanela's and punched it into the height comparison site again

I was kind of torn between 4'1 and 4'2 because they both looked plausible but i eventually settled for 4'2 due to her being an older kid and it looked more fitting lol

so yeah there you have it. you can tweak these heights however you want, i just did these based on what i thought looked the most canon, regardless of yomiel's crazy hair or cabanela's monstrous height that i begrudgingly believe to be true. thank you for coming to my ted talk.

[phoenixcatch7]

Random security breach headcanons/ideas because I've been briefly but violently sucked in:

Sun and moon are the same person, but the infection code created a fracture/barrier, potentially taking the form of a firewall that one or both erected to try and contain the infection to 'just' moon.

Mimic said it'd been down there for 'ages' which couldn't have been longer than the pizza plex, considering the scooper and the rubble of the og location. I imagine it arrived following the scent of all the remnant being used and got trapped, probably by vanny given her initial origin as some sort of cyber security/web developer.

Leading into that, if the mimic tried to break in during/after construction, it would have been really cool if moon spotted and fought it, maybe even leading to whatever either infected moon or lost the DA the power core upgrade. Possibly damaged it!

I theorise that the power core/upgrade worked by absorbing the remnant that the children of the daycare generated. It doesn't have to be negative emotion, and it doesn't have to be killed for! That's much more powerful, yes, but it's not the only way, and it could have been how sun and moon were able to work around the clock without issue where the others couldn't.

And either it was being repaired or replaced so Gregory could give it to freddy. The fact that it's already preloaded into the machine could have meant that it was set to be put back into sun/moon very, very soon. Unfortunately for them, Gregory got there first by the skin of his teeth. I'm sure it'd have been a huge help during what followed...

Speaking of upgrades, all the (humanoid) animatronics have one! So, what could Bonnie's have been? Or Freddies? Well, I suspect that Freddies was the chest cavity. It's unique to him, and he uses it as storage for 'birthday cakes'. It's big enough to fit a child. I believe that Bonnie's was montys leaping legs! Originally, the upgrade from monty was those legs before it was changed to the claws. But because monty kept the jumping ability, that's two abilities for one guy! But crocodiles aren't exactly known for their... Agility on land. Rabbits, however, certainly are. So I suspect that after Bonnie's attack, monty was upgraded and repainted along with his own original claws. It doesn't matter that he wasn't a band member originally, all of them have something.

Also, I doubt that Bonnie's green room was all the way up by bowling, away from everyone else. I think that room was set up similarly for whatever reason - interviews, one of those rent a costume rooms, maybe even a place for human actors that aren't the theatre staff, idk. Maybe Bonnie ran like, an online fitness program or w/e, like those barbie vlogs. No way bonnie was kept separately. Or it could just have been a room half built and then walled off as designs changed. Heck, the animatronics (or just bonnie) could have secretly found and used it themselves. The idea of bonnie and freddy using it for secret dates and make out sessions like a broom cupboard is funny, but then freddy would have found Bonnie.

And I suspect, with no proof, that moon had something to do with Bonnie's disappearance. Oh, monty dealt the blow, of course, but it would be interesting to think if moon was the one who wrapped Bonnie up in the carpet and dragged him through the vents to hide him. Idk. Maybe on vannys orders, maybe it was also panicking lol. But the staff (and freddy) either spotted or suspected something, and have been frosty and a bit neglectful to the DA ever since. Sun is extremely salty.

Because I do believe that the DA is hooked into the building in ways that the other animatronics aren't. In obvious and simple ways like the ceiling wire that moon uses to fly, or sun does whatever he did to lock down the daycare shutters (with 'banned' banners on the outside so he can clearly open them himself lol), the way sun apparently has some sensor or camera at the slide so he can bodily throw himself at Gregory should he try to enter again, the way moon can freaking track Gregory across the ENTIRE GOTDANG PIZZAPLEX in under five minutes in game, EVEN when he's in freddy, which no other animatronic can do! Even vanny skips right past Gregory in the pod outside the daycare!

With moon serving seemingly as a final line of security, being out and about during the hourly recharge, it'd make sense if the patrol/scout of the animatronic team was able to access the security feed like its human counterparts. Just like the watch, it can get it beamed into its head. And between that and the infrared eyes (the red light moon has), it's a perfect recipe for search and destroy, with Gregory as the target. His only real restriction is that under light, he is Sun, and sun must be in the daycare. It's all very interesting.

Every single animatronic is in on the 'kidnapping children to harvest remnant' thing. Because they all will try and kill you. Even the endos. The O-N-L-Y reason freddy wasn't right there alongside them was that he mysteriously collapsed on stage and had ill timed safety protocols engage. Those protocols saved Gregorys LIFE. I'm pretty sure those protocols are what produced eclipse, too. Completely unable to cause harm, almost delusionally secure in the safety of the plex. Under those protocols, I assume, freddy can't remember/speak of/acknowledge the child hunting thing. He must reassure any children or members of the public that such things are not happening, cannot happen, and Gregory fits that bill. He must be perfectly presentable, and the company must be perfectly innocent. There is absolutely no reason to exclude freddy of all people from the secondary task. I get the feeling that freddy coming to understand and oppose the whole situation is not supposed to happen XD. His body in ruin sure doesn't have the same problem. After all, they do get a bit quirky at night.

But seriously, each of them would fulfil a role in the team, working together as a unit. Moon the patrol/night shift, the mmm hive in the vents for whatever it's worth, roxy to see through walls and hear any disturbances to find them, chica and monty (/bonnie) to chase down, break through barriers and stunlock (they do manage that one pincer movement at the start of the game, though it fails lol. If chica had used her scream he would have been toast), and freddy as the team leader and... Transport and disposal. He did say he'd travelled that path to the afton room many times before. The scooper for gathering and storing remnant is just past that, after all. Like I don't know if was accidental design but that's an excellent team. Be better if there were projectiles but I don't know how they could have hidden that upgrade XD. I just KNOW they've caught some paparazzi, thieves or investigators before. Gregory would actually be that latter category!

Pretty sure that the entire plex is a front to gather as much remnant as possible to restore afton. Like, the main purpose. They're bringing this man back from practically sniffing the chest hair of death. He should be way more than both feet in the grave, but presumably he thinks remnant is going to fix the problem. Just keel over dude. It'd be doing himself a favour at this point, trapped in the torture he must be in.

Be cool (and sad) if freddy was the one to give Bonnie's star sunglasses to monty as a sort of acceptance to the band. If he was optimistic and trusting enough to not suspect monty, especially if he instead suspected the DA. Either that or management demanded monty wear the glasses, because if monty walked around wearing the sunglasses of his missing best friend/lover situation freddy would Not Be Friends with him like they are in canon, to put it lightly.

Tbh the idea that the DA and Bonnie had beef is unreasonably funny to me. Freddy would totally have picked up on it a bit through exposure. Or freddy has had several run ins with the DA, possibly after hours, possibly during parties in those rooms around the daycare. The fact that freddy warned us about the DA of all people (both halves!) - when he gave a glowing review of the dj spider who silently tried to rip us out of the bathrooms and squash us like a bug - is something to be concerned about lol.

Oh yeah, hc. The band members totally have a social life after hours, with free roaming once the doors are locked and the outside is sealed off. (freddy really should just have taken Gregory to the nearest fire exit.) I like to imagine they have exclusive parties in the arcade, where they can listen to uncensored music and throw it back like the kids teach them XD. I can't imagine sun joining but it's funny. They're all wayyyy too lifelike to not explore stuff like that. They've all canonically got annoying quirks that were definitely not programmed lol.

I wonder who writes their music? I doubt they are expected to be the ones to come up with it, they're just robots. They probably know the band really well! I bet there's some freddy voice miku style vocoder somewhere in the bowels of the building.

I'd LOVE to know wtf that moon haze is when he'd close. It's so weird and almost out of place. Moon and vanny are the same ones who get aura effects. That's gotta mean something, but what??

Like it's been a while since I brushed up on every tiny detail, but I still thought it was worth writing down. Any evidence against any of it? Alternate interpretations? Let me know!

[periwinklekryptonite]

I accidentally deleted the ask after spending an unfortunate amount of time on it, which is... 🤡 Finally going to answer this now, because I have lost the debuffs to my morale.

TL;DR

1) Travis manages to integrate into the group in a way that excludes coach ben and javi, and is indistinguishable from the rest of the girls.

2) From doomcoming (1x09) to qui (2x06), he goes through a phase of transition, which can be taken literally.

3) I personally like it and obviously my word is final.

Onto the actual post lol.

I sort of answer this in a previous post! (This post goes into the rest, and also includes my favorite interviews from kevin alves! He has such great things to say about travis.)

But, to make a long story three paragraphs longer, travis makes himself a part of the group, actively engaging in the rituals that they create. He's an integral part of their dynamic, as one of two hunters, and more importantly, he's one of the seven survivors! Despite dying as an adult before truly interacting with anyone in the show (yes, lottie and nat both see him, but they're isolated incidents,) he clearly has an effect on the group dynamic. The other two male characters that were in the woods with them, ben and javi, actively opposed them or affected them through their absence (death) more than with their presence.

Travis starts the show very isolated. In his day-to-day life, we can gather that he's kind of an epicly insecure asshole and a misogynist. What he believes is the ideal way to perform as male hurts him, and hurts others just as much. Despite finding comfort in nat, he spends a lot of the first season hurting her whenever he lashes out due to insecurity. We aren't actually supposed to like him right away. When Kevin spoke with Times of Toronto, he said part of becoming the audience was hating him.

And then I watched it. And I went, ‘Man, I hate that guy.’ I was finally a viewer, and I wasn’t Travis trying to be the best he can be

Not even four minutes into his yellowjackets buzz interview (3:35) he's saying the same thing.

(Why am I focusing so much on kevin hating travis? It's funny)

Then the transition begins. For most of season one, he's fumbling a lot, constantly misstepping. It seems like he wants to take the lessons he learns to heart, but whenever pressured or uncomfortable he snaps back to place. Doomcoming is the grand conclusion to this particular phase. Travis is stripped down (literally) and takes part in the beginning of an orgy. There's a lot of... Stuff, happening to him in this moment, and I do want to take a moment to say that the fandom should probably think about the implications of what the girls did, but this marks the weird beginning of his immersion into the lives of these girls. After this point he's part of the mystery, the drama, the intrigue that comes with it. Ben doesn't get this moment, javi doesn't get this moment.

By the end of qui, travis belongs to the group. Not even the end of qui. It's in the middle, when travis cuts open his hand and gives blood to shauna, that he belongs to the group. He eats jackie with them, he gives the okay to eat javi. Travis is THE blood sacrifice enthusiast in season two, actively engaging with lottie from everything between therapy and actual sacrifice.

And here's my first post. It has some additional information despite being kinda rushed, and includes my favorite kevin interviews.

On blood sacrifice, there's a post I'm a little obsessed with by @lesbianjackies that goes into detail about the blood stuff.

And finally... I just think it's fun. Travis transitioning through tragedy is as yellowjackets as it gets, and I love it. Despite the grand suffering that is his life, he gets something in return, and loses it the moment he leaves the wilderness. One of the best consequences that comes with this reading of travis is that he doesn't get this forever. He tries to live normally, he hides away from everyone, and then he dies the moment he tries to find his way back. For a year and some change, not even the full time in the wilderness, travis is just one of them. Despite being travis, who didn't start out as one of them, despite travis not transitioning in any physically tangible way, he's still a girl. A yellowjacket. And he loses it.