#and if he has dupes he gives them to a kid

[izvmimi]

when your fave goes to a convenience store what’s their typical order?

[perenlop]

im going back to my emeryverse ash teams and im starting to regret trying to do these in order. mostly because kanto is gonna be the most annoying one to figure out. i crank ash's rotation team issues up to eleven with this one. and trying to add more pokemon to his roster that will only stay for a bit is like... "ok am i giving him this pokemon because he would actually go for it or am i giving it to him because I Like It"

[softspiderling]

illicit affairs - part one | r.c.

summary:

“I’ll be upstairs with Monique, a’ight?” he said, muttering in your ear. “Are you okay getting the drinks to the boys?”

“Yeah yeah,” you huffed with a wave. “Go on. Be safe.”

Rafe smirked at you, ignoring how Monique was staring daggers at you. “Come get me if anything’s wrong, you hear me precious?”

OR; Topper gets duped by a pretty “bartender”, Rafe (almost) has another hook up, and you're trying to tell yourself that this is enough.

pairing: rafe cameron x reader

warnings: mention of drugs and alcohol (weed!), this chapter has no smut, but the later parts will so 18+ MDNI!

word count: 2,5k

author's note: wait... is this finally the first chapter of illicit affairs?🤭 yes it is!!! ik i've been teasing it for so long but it's finally hereee!!! inspired by my own tom holland fic (don't talk to me pls) and it has evolved into a series... i hope you love it so much!!!

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part one: "don't call me kid"

Women and men can’t be “just friends”.

You had always hated that saying. Like, why the hell couldn’t men and women be friends? All three of your best friends were guys, and you didn’t even remotely want to be anything more than friends with any of them.

Okay, maybe you wouldn’t mind being more than friends with one of them.

Bane of your existence.

Pain in the ass.

Annoying as hell.

Your best friend, Rafe Cameron.

You tried so hard to not be in love with him, to only be his friend. Mostly because it would make your life so much less complicated, but also because you hated proving that saying right by being in love with your guy best friend.

“Hey, you still with us?”

“What?”

Rafe stared at you with a frown, before he plucked the joint from your lips.

“You nearly smoked the entire thing by yourself. What’s got you thinking so hard?”

He raised an eyebrow at you while taking a hit from the joint, barely pulling it from his lips before Kelce snagged it from him.

“Greedy bitch,” Rafe huffed before he turned his attention back to you. “You tired, precious? Want to leave?”

You rolled your eyes at the nickname - despite the long tradition of it - and shook your head. “Nah. It’s not even one. And Topper hasn’t made a fool of himself yet.”

“Fuck you,” Topper shot back immediately, moving his cup out of the way when you reached for it. “No, no drinks for mean girls.”

“Come on, don’t be such an asshole,” you whined, smacking your mouth a little to get rid of the dryness the joint has left. Making grabby hands at the cup, you annoyed Topper until he finally gave in, handing you his cup. You took a big gulp, before you pulled a face, pushing the cup back into his hands, barely able to swallow whatever the hell he was drinking.

“Ew, what is that?”

“Some girl in the kitchen made it for him,” Rafe told you, snickering. “I don’t think he was even watching what she was pouring into his cup. Too entranced by her pretty eyes.”

“She said she’s a bartender,” Topper said defensively and you only snorted. He made it far too easy for girls to mess with him.

“Top, I love you,” you said, getting to your feet and straightening your clothes in the process. “But please, you can’t keep falling in love with every pretty girl who pays attention to you.”

“But I’ve been in love with you for six years precious,” Topper proclaimed as he clutched his chest melodramatically, “When will you give me a chance?”

You only scoffed at his antics, twisting your hair up before putting a hair clip in it. “You wish,” you said, slapping his hands away. “I’ll get us some new drinks.”

“I’ll come with,” Rafe offered.

“Can you get me one too?” Kelce piped up and you pinched his cheek, making him wince.

“Vodka soda?”

Kelce gave you a dirty look, rubbing his cheek before he nodded petulantly. You gave him a thumbs up, grabbing Rafe by the wrist to drag him inside.

It was incredibly packed as soon as you entered the house from the backyard, the body heat from about 50 drunk people raising the temperature indoors and it smelled like the inside of a beer keg. Rafe kept his hand on your lower back, to not lose track of you as you carefully weaved between the people on your way to the kitchen. You tried not to get distracted by how his hand occasionally brushed over your exposed skin whenever your top rode up. He had always been this way. Running a hand through Topper’s hair to annoy him, clasping Kelce’s shoulder whenever he drank too much and was hanging over the toilet, squeezing Wheezie’s arm in a quick hug, and keeping his hand on your lower back whenever the two of you were walking somewhere crowded. He liked to show affection the way his father failed to do. So you refused to overthink it when his hands splayed over your skin, despite your heart racing whenever it happened.

Losing yourself to your thoughts for a second, you didn’t pay any attention when some guy walked into you, too busy talking with his friend to watch where he was going. You nearly went flying face down on the ground, but Rafe’s hand quickly found your waist, steadying you.

“Hey, watch it!” Rafe snapped at the guy, who only raised his hands in defense.

“I’m fine,” you insisted, gently pushing his hands off of you. “We’re nearly there, don’t start a fight.”

Out of the corner of your eyes, you could see Rafe giving the guy a stink eye before you reached the kitchen, where it luckily wasn’t as cramped, with only a handful of people mingling and talking. Grabbing four cups off of the stack on the kitchen island, you pursed your lips as you let your eyes roam over the options, rows, and rows of alcohol.

“Do you want a beer or something harder?”

“Beer, I think I might have to drive us home,” Rafe replied, grabbing the vodka bottle that was on his left, and handing it to you.

You unstacked the cups on the counter and poured vodka into three of them. Rafe reappeared by your side - not that you had noticed him leaving, you were too focused on making sure there was an equal amount of vodka in all the cups - sipping on a beer, a jug of cranberry juice in his other hand. You grabbed the jug out of his hand, wordlessly, filling your cup to the brim.

“Where’s the club soda?” you asked, glancing at him over your shoulder. Rafe only shrugged.

“Couldn’t find it.”

“Here’s club soda, Rafe,” a flirty voice suddenly said, and Monique Colver batted her long, fake eyelashes at Rafe.

“Thanks Monique,” Rafe replied with a smirk, taking the bottle to give it to you, which you accepted wordlessly.

Here we go.

“Call me Moni.”

“Moany?” you muttered under your breath while you filled the other two cups, barely wincing when Rafe gave you a side eye, acting like he was listening to every word that left Monique’s lips.

“- but I told my dad I really wanted to travel a bit so he got a me a trip to Europe.”

“Oh yeah? What countries you tryna see?”

Ugh.

You downed your entire cup in one go, already refilling it when you heard “show you” and “upstairs” and you rolled your eyes. You lifted your cup to your lips, basically putting your entire face in it, really, anything to remove yourself from this conversation, only pausing with drowning yourself when you felt Rafe’s hand on your lower back. Again.

“I’ll be upstairs with Monique, a’ight?” he said, muttering in your ear. “Are you okay getting the drinks to the boys?”

“Yeah yeah,” you huffed with a wave. “Go on. Be safe.”

Rafe smirked at you, ignoring how Monique was staring daggers at you. “Come get me if anything’s wrong, you hear me precious?”

You flipped him off and he took that as a sign to leave, following Monique as she dragged him upstairs.

“Bitch,” you muttered to yourself, grabbing the three cups on the counter and heading back outside to the boys.

It was a miracle that not a single drop was spilled on the way, probably because you were too busy trying not to imagine what was going on upstairs.

“There she is!” Kelce greeted you. “Almost died of thirst. What took you so long?”

“Don’t ask,” you muttered, handing them the drinks and Topper eyed you suspiciously. Acting like you didn’t notice it, you plopped yourself into the empty seat next to them, taking a big gulp from your drink.

“Where’s Rafe?”

“Where do you think?” you said with a sigh, giving him a look.

You weren’t jealous.

Okay, you were.

But it wasn’t the main reason why you were so annoyed.

You just hated it when the girls Rafe hooked up with always treated you like you were their competition, like you would take him away from them.

Which, fair, you could if you wanted. If you faked an injury or being sick, Rafe would immediately drop them to get you home.

But he’d never want you the way he wanted them. Yes, you knew he loved you, and yes he was your best friend, but you couldn’t help but want more. Maybe that was selfish. You let out a small sigh, leaning your head on Kelce’s shoulder, missing the way he glanced at Topper. Lucky for you, they decided against pushing it. Taking a sip from your drink, you tried not to think about Monique and Rafe. It didn’t help that the vodka and the joint were starting to work, spreading into your system, making you feel all warm and woozy, your head cloudy.

Your eyebrows shot up when Rafe suddenly appeared, squeezing himself between you and the armrest, his hair disheveled. You were still stewing, looking at him with a crease on your forehead.

“That was quick,” you noted. “Where did you leave Moany?” You couldn’t help but ask, putting emphasis on her nickname.

Rafe only shook his head, plucking your cup out of your hand to take a big gulp.

“That man is traumatized,” Kelce pointed out, nodding in understanding like he didn’t need any further explanation.

“Wait, Monique Colver?” Topper asked. “She’s pretty, isn’t she?”

Rafe held up his hand, stopping him. “Yes, but that wasn’t the problem.”

You rolled your eyes, already knowing what was coming. He was such a drama queen sometimes.

“What did she do?”

Rafe didn’t answer, taking another sip of the drink, before he winced. “She told me to call her precious.”

“What?!”

“HUH??”

“Ew!”

“You know what’s the worst?” Rafe groaned, rubbing a hand over his face. “I didn’t even get off.”

“That’s your biggest problem??”

He rolled his eyes at you, shifting on the sofa. “Pretty big, yeah.”

“Ugh.”

“Can we get back to Monique wanting you to call her precious?” Kelce interjected. “Did Rafe call you precious in front of her?”

“Yes, very clearly. There’s no way she didn’t hear,” you replied.

“Maybe she hates your guts and she wanted to roleplay being you while Rafe abuses her in a sex-way.”

“Kelce, literally never open your mouth again,” you groaned, covering your ears with your hands, while Topper cracked up, Rafe only pulled a face.

“It makes sense,” Topper insisted. “Like, precious is the only girl who’s been around us, or well, Rafe, constantly. You know, apart from Sarah and Wheezie. Maybe that was Monique’s way of telling you she wants to be your girlfriend.”

“What?” Rafe asked, his forehead creased.

You snorted, shaking your head. “You’re giving her way too much credit, I think she’s just weird.”

“You’re biased,” Topper pointed out, reaching behind Kelce’s to boop you on the head. “I don’t think you’ve ever liked any of the girls Rafe hooked up with.”

“Ugh, what’s there to like? They either act like I’m invisible or are passive aggressive bitches,” you huffed, smacking his hand away. Rafe snickered, throwing an arm around your shoulder to pull you close, pressing a kiss on your head.

“They’re jus’ jealous, cuz you’re the only girl I keep around.”

“Get off me,” you grumbled, your cheeks warming regardless. Rafe knew how to make you feel special.

Kelce yawned, stretching his arms, laying one of them on top of Rafe’s arm around your shoulder. “This party sucks. And I’m starving.”

“I’m so down for tacos right now, do you think Mateo’s still open?” Topper asked, sitting up straight because if there was one thing he took seriously, it was tacos.

“It’s two am on a Saturday,” you pointed out, and his shoulders sagged. You exchanged looks with Rafe, a grin growing on your face. “His truck is definitely still open.”

“Alright!” Topper cheered, jumping up. “Let’s go then!”

He dragged the rest of you off of the couch, herding you through the backyard and to the car, all the while laughing and joking around. You ignored the dirty looks you received from others as you got into the passenger seat, Rafe getting into the driver’s seat of his truck.

It didn’t take long until Rafe pulled up into the parking lot where Mateo’s food truck was parked, the four of you tumbling out of the car, Topper nearly falling flat on his face as he sprinted to the food truck. The light was still on, with faint Spanish music playing in the background.

“If it isn’t my four favorite Kooks,” Mate said, wiping the counter with a towel, before throwing it over his shoulder, eyeing you expectantly as you stood in a row in front of him. “Can I help you?”

“Do you have any carne asada tacos?” Kelce asked, peering over the display.

“Even four would be enough,” Topper added, wringing his hands nervously.

Mateo sighed and you’d already come to terms with having to go to bed with a taco craving, before he grinned at you, shaking his head fondly.

“Grab some drinks and have some patience, I’ll feed you in a second.”

Ten minutes later, the four of you were chowing down on some tacos, washing it down with ice-cold cans of coke.

“Fuck, I so needed this,” Topper moaned, biting into his third taco and you rolled your eyes at him, dabbing at your mouth with a napkin.

“Get it together Top.”

Rafe nudged you with his knee, giving you a look. “Give him a break, I know you’ve been craving some tacos as well,” he said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, which made you pull a face.

“Eurgh, please use a napkin you slob.”

You pushed the stack of napkins in his direction and he only grinned at you, picking up some off the stack to wipe his mouth.

“What would I do without you?” he teased, but you only rolled your eyes fondly, picking up some nachos.

“Whatever, eat your damn taco.”

Rafe squeezed your wrist with his clean hand, and you only leaned your head on his shoulder, starting to zone out when they started talking about some new boat, just enjoying their company. Honestly, you were glad you had them. Even if they were boys, incredibly dumb, and lacked a little tact sometimes, you wouldn’t trade it for the world. You glanced down, where your legs were pressed against Rafe’s as you sat next to each other on the picnic bench, just like always.

Maybe, you thought to yourself, maybe this was enough.

“You good?” Rafe asked, raising a brow at you, taco halfway into his mouth.

“Yep, ‘m perfect.”

It had to be.

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author's note: tell me what you think pls!!!

🏷️list: @maybankslover

[artist-issues]

Let’s talk about this Mufasa movie.

No. Let’s not. Let’s just talk about Mufasa. This is going to be long because he’s a really good character and The Lion King is a really good movie.

Mufasa’s whole point, as a character, is to foil Simba. He’ s not just the stereotypical “great dad role model” character, or the “wise mentor who is ripped away” character.

He, as a character, is in the story because he is “Who Simba Really Is.”

Simba is our young protagonist. The whole point of Simba in the story is to start out “not yet grown into who he really is,” so that the story can teach him how to “grow into who he really is.”

So the audience needs to know “who is Simba and who is Simba supposed to be?” right at the beginning. Which is great, because all kids are trying to figure out the same question about themselves. So it’s relatable. But anyway, the storytellers make Mufasa the answer.

On a simple level, you can answer the question, “who is this Simba guy?” right off the bat in the movie with “the son of the King.” There’s the setting. There’s the set-up. There’s the title of the movie. That’s why the very first lion you’re introduced to in the movie is Mufasa, and it’s not a shot of a baby lion cub. It could have been. Lots of movies open with a shot of their main character. Encanto, for one.

Not The Lion King. The Lion King starts with, “you can’t know who Simba is without Mufasa, so Mufasa gets shown first.”

So okay, Mufasa is a King. Good to know. That’s obvious from the big rock he’s standing on and the way all the animals are coming toward him. But from there, they quickly establish a few more things about Mufasa. He smiles at this little bird that bows to him. He hugs the shaman-monkey. He goes from “big solemn lion” to “good and benevolent” immediately.

And then as it goes on, you learn more about Mufasa. He’s not an idiot; he knows Scar is up to no good, and he is very direct about it. He is not a naive dupe, trusting a schemer blindly. It’s more complicated than that. He is a better leader and a better guy than that. Mufasa knows Scar is his brother, and in a snappy little interaction with Zazu, storytellers make it clear that he worries about Scar; he knows he has good reason to worry, but hasn’t decided to give up on his brother.

Additionally, he is merciful to other dark creatures too. He beats the tar out of hyenas but doesn’t kill them. He rescues Zazu from Scar’s mouth. He scolds Simba but he does that, and more, to teach him. So what Mufasa is teaching us, according to what I just showed you the story says, is that A Good King, A Good Man (Lion, whatever) Is:

Authoritative - Makes decrees and makes decisions and yes, tells others what to do. Creates the structure his people live in.

Kind/Humble - Shows the same level of casual friendship to a revered shaman-recluse as he does a little self-important majordomo. (Humble because he’s not afraid to admit when he’s afraid if it’ll help his son.)

Teaches - Takes time out of the day to pass on what he’s learned to someone who is going to take his place—he’s not hoarding his own position or gatekeeping his life-experience-expertise. He’s not finding his identity in how he has this wealth of information that causes people to need him; he gives it away freely, purposefully.

Protects - Is willing to endanger himself and go to the trouble of defending creatures that are weaker than himself.

Shows Mercy - See Scar and the hyenas, who deserve death, but he doesn’t give it to them.

Prioritizes Family - The time he’s taking out of the day is for his son. And he follows up with his recluse of a brother instead of going, “that’s Scar, I know he don’t care about nobody but himself, his loss, not my problem.” And he extends trust to that brother, which is really just an example of gift-giving to a family member who’s done nothing to keep that trust.

Has Faith - Mufasa makes a point of not answering Simba’s question about “Will you always be there for me,” with just himself. He could’ve. Many parents do. Many parents are tempted to, to show their love. “Yes. You’ll always have me. I’ll always be there to answer your questions; I’ll always protect you, I’ll always be what you can count on, you’ll always find a need fulfilled in me.” But Mufasa doesn’t take that bait. He gives Simba an answer that is not “himself-based.” Not selfish. “Look at the stars.” I don’t care what ya’ll say. Mufasa has faith in something outside of himself. He says “and so will I,” but that’s after contextualizing himself within “something bigger than us.” (And oh my gosh, he doesn’t even answer with, “let me give you a lesson you’ll need for your whole life.” He doesn’t even take credit for this faith, for himself. He gives his own father the credit.)

And really, all of those traits can be summarized with the phrase: Lives His Life Sacrificially For Others.

That’s what a leader, a good father, a king, a good man, does. And pay attention: That is what Simba is supposed to be. Simba is supposed to be Mufasa. That’s who Simba really is, that’s where he’s supposed to go. There is a “real you.” But you have to agree with it and accept it, even though your natural bent is to give in to the illusion that you “don’t have to be that, you can choose who you are.”

Yeah, sure, in a sense you can reject Who You Really Are. You can spend your whole life playing pretend, like you’re not That. But you’ll be doing just that: playing pretend. Unfulfilled. Dissatisfied. Running from the misery that is the natural response to your silly game of pretend. Insisting that “there is no misery, this is what I want.”

Okay. Sure it is.

I’ll save Simba for another post.

The point is, Mufasa is a template for who Simba Really Is. Look at those traits. When it’s Simba’s turn to exemplify those traits, does he?

Act I: Is he authoritative? He tells characters what to. And he makes his own decisions—sometimes for good, sometimes bad. For example, he won’t let Zazu deter him from going to the elephant graveyard, so that’s a bad decision, but he does choose to go back and help Nala instead of running to save himself. Authoritative and protective. But it’s all misplaced because he doesn’t “Live His Life Sacrificially For Others.”

Act 2: He’s not. Timon and Pumbaa tell him to do something and he goes along with it. Timon and Pumbaa claim an ancient tradition and his father’s lesson is stupid and Simba goes along with that. He’s no longer making decisions of his own accord, for anything but his own comfort.

The idea is, in Act 1, you see Simba has the same traits as Mufasa, budding inside of him. But they’re all misdirected, and they’re all twisted, because they’re missing one key ingredient: he’s supposed to use those traits in the context of “Live His Life Sacrificially For Others.” Simba doesn’t want to do that. Simba wants to do whatever he wants.

Sure, there’s a part of him that combines that motive with “I want to be like my dad.” But that part dies on the vine and turns sour when his father dies saving him.

So then in Act 2, not only is Simba clinging to “I’m going to live life all my way,” but he’s changed what that means by pushing the nugget of “I want to be like my dad/I WANT TO BE WHO I REALLY AM” completely away. Because it’s too hard, and he’s got shame tangled up in it.

And worse—he starts doing basically the opposite of all of Mufasa’s traits, all of the traits that make him Who He Really Is. He’s not prioritizing family—he’s abandoning them. He’s not protecting others—he runs from the idea of going back to help Nala. (tiny glimmer of it still being inside him because he does try to protect Pumbaa from her.) Kind and humble? No. It’s unkind to tell your best friend you won’t help her because you’re afraid. Humble, no, because humility is thinking of yourself less, not thinking less of yourself.

Ask the question. When Simba’s living in the jungle with Timon and Pumbaa, is he exemplifying any of the traits of Who He Really Is? Or is he doing his best to bury that?

But then after Mufasa reminds him of who he Really Is, and Rafiki shows him how to get his past out of the way so he can accept it, Simba goes back. Into Act 3 we go

Now. Does Simba exemplify Mufasa’s traits? Does Simba start becoming Who He Really Is? There’s not a lot of time left in the movie. Look at the traits, see if he does.

Authoritative? Yep, comes up with the plan to break in and get to Scar, doesn’t back down from the confrontation.

Kind and Humble? Yeah, he willingly admits the truth (he thought it was true) that makes him look bad to give his mom closure. He’s kind to Nala and to Timon and Pumbaa, admits his mistakes, when they come to help him. Hugs the old shaman who cracked him in the skull with a stick—just like Mufasa hugged Rafiki to show us kindness and humility at the beginning of the movie.

Teaches? We don’t really see an opportunity for him to do that yet at this point in the story and his life, give me a break.

But protects? You bet. That’s why he’s there for the confrontation in the first place. Shows mercy?

Yep.

Because he’s not like Scar. He knows who he is. THE POINT.

And when he runs in for the big confrontation, he doesn’t immediately leap on Scar and rip him to pieces. Even though the storytellers make sure to show us he clearly wants to.

Instead, he runs up to his mother to see if she’s all right and show her that he is. And again, he tells her the truth because that’s what she needs even if it’s not what she wants, and he’s learned not to run from what he’s “done.” And faith in something bigger than himself?

Yeah. His father’s voice comes through the clouds just before he decides to roar and claim his title. Through the clouds. Because that whole “we’re a part of something bigger, something more important than ourselves,” was always what he was missing. He was just thinking about himself.

And all of this is because Mufasa is the example of Who Simba Really Is: Lives His Life Sacrificially For Others. That’s Mufasa.

That’s Mufasa, in the story of The Lion King. That’s his purpose as a character, that’s who he is.

So now if you make a movie that’s just about him, what you should be doing is showing how he got there. How he accepted who he Really Is instead of choosing who he wants to be, on his own. And you should make his father, and learning humility, an enormous part of that. Because self-sacrifice is such a pillar of his character. It’s the whole thing.

What you should certainly not be doing is telling a story that ends with finding self-worth or a kid who makes a name for himself. I repeat: if the Mufasa live action movie ends with Mufasa doing anything that revolves around self, they got him wrong and they set him up nonsensically for the next movie.

He should have to decide whether or not he wants to believe his own father, because of that one line, “let me tell you something my father told me.” That shows that he accepted his father’s lesson. And what was his father’s lesson about? Faith. In something BIGGER THAN YOURSELF. So then Mufasa grows up to be a character who lives his life sacrificially for others, and you can trace the roots back to that: “I learned a lesson about something bigger than myself from someone who was not myself, and I humbly believed and accepted that lesson.”

I mean jeez, the line is: “LOOK AT THE STARS.” Whenever you feel alone. Whenever you’re wrapped up in who you are and who you’re not and failure and the idea of what you want to be, knock it off. Quit looking at yourself and look at something bigger than you. And then you’ll get “Understanding of Who You Really Are”—no matter what mistakes you’ve made, no matter how you’ve failed, no matter what your circumstances are—thrown in.

…Of course, the Lion King remake ruined him anyway by having the point be “I’m not worthless.” And that was never the point. But whatever. I’m rambling now. You get the idea.

Mufasa is exactly what he needs to be for the original The Lion King. He’s exactly what he needs to be for Simba’s story. Mufasa is awesome.

[fruitsofhell]

My other fun addition to the Hbomberguy video stuff is not just that you need to start checking everyone's sources just to make sure you aren't being duped, but to not use them as a stand in for media consumption/experiences either. Like I'm not gonna lecture you on reading sources cause I am the first one to not and that's my laziness, but like sometimes more important than checking the original analysis of something is just to... see tge thing being analyzed yourself. That's not even about misinformation or lying, sometimes people's opinions just SUCK ASS.

Like there are youtube video essayists I overall kinda respect but they have dogshit opinions on things. I used to love Jack Saint's bad faith overly critical analyses of throwaway kids films, until I realized he also saw films that in my opinion had a lot of merit, and it turned me off from him. Big Joel is cool as hell, but anytime he gives his opinion on animation save like a few points, I completely glaze over and find him annoying. The other day I watched a video essay about the "Magical Negro" trope, and the first movie sourced interested me, so I watched it and I hardly understand why they put that in, it framed the movie as something it wasn't.

Just in general, it's good practice to make sure your opinions on media are your own and experience it yourself. MY biggest takeaway from the Hbomn video wasn't to throw rocks at Somerton or start obsessively fact-checking every essayist I watch, but to make sure I have a baseline of what they talking about myself and not letting anyone throw around media examples without reckless abandon. The Celluloid Closet and Tinkerbelles and Evil Queens is on my watxh/read list now, but the first thing I did from the words he stole from Celluoid Closet was watch Rebels Without A Cause out of curiosity of this gay subtext in a 50s blockbuster. And it was a super interesting experience that has given me my own unrelated opinions. Not to discount whatever important queer reading and historical importance the film has, but I'm happy I also have more than just that cause I Watched It Myself, not someone's specific and unavoidably biased reading of it.

The video isn't about cultivating suspicion but cultivating appreciation for the skills of analytical/informative/opinion writing. So even when people aren't being lying grifters, it's just good to be your own critic and media analyst. Maybe you'll even contribute to that world yourself, or maybe you'll keep all your cool opinions in your heart and die, who cares. The point is that unlike some people, your opinions and words are your own. It's a beautiful thing to have your own creative voice.

[cy-cyborg]

The Untrustworthy Fake: Disability Tropes

[ID: A screenshot of Willy Wonka from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as he limps towards a crowd using a cane. In the picture, he has a brown top hat in his hand, and he's wearing a suit with a purple jacket, multicoloured bow tie and cream coloured pants. Beside him is text that reads: "Disability Tropes, The untrustworthy Fake" /End ID]

Tell me if this sounds familiar: A new character is introduced into a story with some kind of disability - usually visible but not always. Maybe they're a seemingly harmless person in a wheelchair, maybe they're a one-legged beggar on the street, or maybe they're an elderly person with a cane and a slow, heavy limp. But at some point, it's revealed it's all a ruse! The old man with a cane "falls" forward and does a flawless summersault before energetically springing back up to his feet, the wheelchair user gets to their feet as soon as they think the other character's backs are turned, the one legged beggar's crutch is knocked out of his hand, only to have his other leg pop out of his loose-fitting tunic to catch him.

All of these are real examples. Maya and The Three introduces one of it's main protagonists, Ricco, by having him pretend to be missing a leg in order to con people (something that works on the protagonist, at least at first), Buffy The Vampire Slayer had the character Spike, pretend to be in a wheelchair, until the other characters leave and he gets up, revealing it's all a ruse and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory introduces Wonka by having him slowly limp out into the courtyard of the factory, only for his cane to get stuck, causing him to "fall" and jump back up, revealing that he's actually perfectly fine. Virtually every single major crime show in the past few decades has used this trope too, from CSI to The Mentalist, Castle, Law and Order and Monk all having at least one episode featuring it in some way. Even the kids media I grew up with isn't free from it; The Suite Life of Zack & Cody sees Zach faking being dyslexic after meeting someone who actually has the condition in the episode Smarter and Smarter and the SpongeBob SquarePants episode Krabs vs Plankton has Plankton fake needing a wheelchair (among other injuries) after falling in the Krusty Krab as a ploy to sue Mr Krabs and trick the court into giving him the Kraby Patty Formula.

No matter the genre or target audience though, one thing is consistent: this trope is used as a way to show someone is dishonest and not to be trusted. When the trope is used later in the story, it's often meant to be a big reveal, to shock the audience and make them mad that they've been duped, to show the characters and us what this person (usually a villain) is willing to stoop to. Revealing the ruse early on though is very often used to establish how sleazy or even how dangerous a character is and to tell the audience that they shouldn't trust them from the get go. Gene Wilde (The actor who first played Willy Wonka) even said in several interviews that this was his intent for Wonka's character. He even went so far as to tell the director of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory that he wouldn't do the film without that scene because of how strongly he felt this trope was needed to lay the foundations for Wonka's questionable intentions and motivations. His exact words are: "...but I wouldn't have done the film if they didn't let me come out walking as a cripple and then getting my cane stuck into a cobble stone, doing a forward somersault and then bouncing up... the director said, well what do you want to do that for? and I said because from that point on, no one will know whether I'm telling the truth or lying."

There's... a lot of problems with this trope, but that quote encapsulates one of the biggest ones. whether intentionally or not, this trope ends up framing a lot of actual disabled people as deceitful, dishonest liars. Now I can already hear you all typing, What?! Cy that's ridiculous! No one is saying real disabled people are untrustworthy or lying about their disabilities, just people who are faking!

but the thing is, the things often used in this trope as "evidence" of someone faking a disability are things real disabled people do. A person standing up from their wheelchair or having scuff-marks on their shoes, like in the episode Miss Red  from The Mentalist isn't a sign they're faking, a lot of wheelchair users can stand and even walk! They're called ambulatory wheelchair users, and they might use a wheelchair because they can't walk far, they might not feel safe walking on all terrains, they might have unstable joints that makes standing for too long risky, they might have a heart condition like POTS that has a bigger impact when they stand up or any number of other reasons. Also even non-ambulatory wheelchair users will still have scuff marks from things like transferring and bumping into things (rather hilariously, even TV Tropes calls this episode out as being "BS" in it's listing for this trope, which it refers to as Obfuscating Disability). A blind beggar flinching or getting scared when you pull a gun on them isn't a sign they're faking their blindness like it is in Red Dead Redemption 2. Plenty of blind people can still see a little bit, it might only be a general sense of light and darkness, it might be exceptionally blurry or just the fuzzy outlines of shapes, or they might only be able to see something directly in front of them, all of which might still be enough to cue the person into what's happening in a situation like that. Even if it's not, the sound of you pulling your gun out or other people nearby freaking out and making noise probably would tip them off. A person needing a cane or similar mobility aid sometimes, but being able to go without briefly or do even "big movements" like Wonka's rolling somersault, doesn't mean they don't need it at all. Just like with wheelchairs, there's a lot of disabilities that require canes and similar aids some days, and not others. Some disabilities even allow people those big, often straining movements on occasion, or allow them to move without the aid for short periods of time, but not for long. Some people's disability's might even require a mobility aid like a cane as a backup, just in case something goes wrong, but that still means you need to carry it around with you, and unless it can fold down, it's easier to just use it.

Disability is a spectrum, and a lot of disabilities vary in severity and what is required of the people who have them day to day. This trope, however, helps to perpetuate the idea that someone who does any of these things (and many others) is faking, which can actively make the lives of disabled people harder and can even put them in very real danger, physically, mentally and even financially.

Just ask any ambulatory wheelchair user about how many times they've been yelled at for using accommodations they need, like disabled toilets or parking spaces. How many times they've been accused of faking and even filmed without their consent because they stood up in public, even if it was to do something like get their wheelchair unstuck or as simple as them standing to briefly reach something on a high shelf. I've caught multiple people filming me before, so have my friends and family, and it's honestly scary not knowing where those images have ended up. This doesn't just impact the person either, a friend of mine was filmed while standing up to get his daughter (who was about 4 at the time) out of the car. He was lucky to have stumbled across the video a few days later on facebook and contacted the group admins where it was posted to get it taken down, but had he not stumbled across it by chance, pictures with his home address and his car's number plate, his child's face and his face all visible would have just been floating around, all because a woman saw him stand briefly to pick up his daughter.

Many people don't stop at just saying a nasty comment or taking a photo though, a lot of people, when they suspect people are faking, will get violent. I have many friends who have been pushed, slapped in the face, spat on or had their mobility devices kicked out from under them. I've even been in a few situations myself where, had I not had people with me, I think the situation would have turned violent.

There's even been cases where those photos and videos I've mentioned before have been used against real disabled people and they've been reported to their country's welfare system as committing disability fraud. While cases like this are usually resolved *relatively* quickly, in many parts of the world, their payment will be halted while the investigation is in process, meaning they may be without any income at all because of someone else's ignorance. If you're already struggling to make ends meet (which, if you're only living off one of those payments, you probably will be), a few weeks without pay can mean the difference between having a home and being on the streets.

Not to mention that when there's so many stories about people faking a disability in the media, especially when the character is doing it to get some kind of "advantage", such as getting accommodations or some kind of disability benefit, it perpetuates the idea that people are rorting the systems put in place to help disabled people. If this idea becomes prevalent enough, the people in charge start making it harder for the people who need them to access those systems, which more often than not results in disabled people not even being able to access the very systems that are supposed to be helping them. A very, very common example of this is in education where accommodations for things like learning disabilities require you to jump through a ridiculous number of hoops, especially at higher levels, only to have some teachers and professors refuse to adhere to the adaptations anyway because they're convinced the student (and usually disabled students as a whole) is faking.

Yes, the "untrustworthy faker" is a fictional trope, and yes, it does occasionally happen in real life, but not as often as media (including things like news outlets) would have you believe. However, when the media we consume is priming people to look for signs that a disabled person is faking, it has a real impact on real disabled people's lives. "Fake-claiming" is a massive problem for people in pretty much all parts of the disabled community, and it ranges from being just annoying (e.g. such as people spamming and fake-claiming blind people online with "if you were really blind, how do you see the screen" comments) to the more serious cases I mentioned above. It's for this reason a lot of folks in the disabled community ask that people leave this trope out of their works.

[crowleysgirl56]

The vast majority of people who work on a show are paid upfront for their labour

They don't get paid dependent on how successful a show is

They also don't do work that doesn't get paid- if they are working on a show that gets cancelled, they get paid for the work they did

All this 'stream GO for the hard workers behind the scenes' is bullshit

They work for companies are will be put on different projects

Just be honest that you want more GO (despite the message that it sends to studios- that audiences are ok with abusers! Just turn a blind eye to them! Yes that gives them more power but who cares because people will watch and make them money!)

Don't pretend your doing this for moral reasons

(And acting like you're doing this for Terry- for all we know he might want his work with an abuser completely destroyed- it's stupid to assume he'd want the series to be continued)

Like say this shit with your chest, you know?

Oh boy, ok. Gonna take a minute to answer this.

Firstly, I and a lot of the fandom, are heartbroken over what NG has done. Because we were duped into thinking he was a decent person. From the things that he wrote to the things that he said we thought that he was good person. And it is horrible that there are people out there suffering because yet another rich powerful white man decided he had the right to take advantage of them.

You seem rather angry and if that anger stems because you have experienced something similar yourself then I hope you have love and support around you so that you can heel.

If you want to talk about money, let me remind you that NG has already been paid for season 3. He will continue to get royalties, and thanks to the writers strike last year, he will now get more money for those royalties than before. If S3 doesn’t go ahead then hundreds of people will lose their jobs. Will they get other jobs? Sure, maybe. But any loss of job in this current economic climate is terrible and stressful (and I’m not talking about DT or MS here. They’ll get more work).

I don’t know if you understand how hyper fixation in neurodiversity works, but this is extremely painful for some people and takes a lot of time and energy and therapy to get over when a hyper fixation is threatened or taken away. Some people, like myself, need closure for things otherwise we can find it extremely difficult to move on emotionally. This obviously does not compare to someone trying to survive after SA, but emotional diversity can be extremely debilitating as well. They are apples and oranges to compare, but you can’t invalidate one person’s pain because you think another person’s pain is worth more.

As for the show itself, there is so little queer representation in media. There is a lot more nowadays compared to a decade ago, or even 5 years ago, but the little representation we have is so extremely important. Do you know how many people have found a truth to themselves thanks to GO? How many people discovered something about themselves that finally gives them answer to how they feel? How at the age of 40 I finally realised that I’m asexual and NOT BROKEN. That’s fucking important.

And this. ALL of this is why everyone, including me, are so fucking angry with NG. Because he has left us emotionally devastated. He has not just physically hurt these women. He has emotionally hurt hundreds of thousands of people. He is a stain.

I have spoken before when this all first happened about how I was angry that my one teeny tiny corner of the internet that made me happy was on fire. I left for a bit. I came back. I want to continue to interact with like minded people who love this fandom. I won’t stop that.

And frankly, and here’s the last I’ll say on this, the world is on fire. It is filled with a lot of fucking awful shit right now. I have suffered a very deep depression of late where some nights after I put the kids to bed I just stare and cry. You don’t know that about me because I don’t say those kinds of things on the internet, because our internet personas are facades. They’re not real. They’re not true life. I’m a real person and I’m aching inside about so many things. And these kinds of messages are just breaking me further. Seriously, when you send stuff like this do you even consider that?! So when I decide to hold onto one of the last bastions of entertainment that brings me joy, I’m not going to be guilted into dropping it because someone involved happens to be a monster. Because let me tell you if we did that every time someone turned out to be horrible, then we would never watch or enjoy anything ever again. EVERYTHING you watch or listen to or enjoy or like or cared about is connected to someone who is horrible or produced by a gigantic evil corporation (Nestle, Disney, Microsoft, Facebook, Google just to name a few). Every. Single. Thing. It’s the clothing you wear, the electronics you buy, the food you eat, the furniture in your house, and ALL the entertainment you consume. So if you gave up everything for some moral stance, then you would literally have nothing left.

Dropping Good Omens does nothing. It sends no message to anyone because the next really fucking awful person is about to produce the next big thing you might happen to love and care about. So what’s the point?

Let me have Good Omens. You don’t like that, then you can block me. That’s what the button is there for. You don’t need to send anonymous hateful messages. And if you want me to “say this shit with my chest” maybe you can send me an ask with the Anonymous off. So I can see your chest too.

I’m turning off anonymous asks now. Considering the only asks I’ve ever received is abusive shit telling me to kill myself or saying David Tennant is a paedophile or just telling me I’m a horrible person for supporting NG (when I’ve already stated before that I don’t anymore).

Sorry for those who’ve managed to get to the end here. Thanks for reading if you have, sorry it was so long. I hope you aren’t receiving the same type of messages. If Anonymous has read this far, I don’t know, maybe think twice before being horrible to random people on the internet?

[its-all-papaya]

trick or treat🎃🎃

come trick or treating!!

I've been trying to change these up in terms of content type, so I was considering on the walk home what ideas I could throw at a wall that aren't just dad lando or other wip snippets, and i think... ballet dancer lando au??

This started as an anybody, nowhere AU dupe and became a hallmark christmas movie in my head REAL QUICK but hear me out:

lando as the principal at a ballet company. he is the best. he has achieved The Goal he's had since childhood. he is being paid to dance. ballet is crazy bc it's so comforting in its familiarity, the lines are all so cleanly drawn, there are rules and correct ways to do things, but it is also soooooooo mean to ur brain (ask me how i know). lando's self-critical ass would suffer similarly to how he has suffered in F1. it's such a balance between repetition and perfection... i could make something of that. i could crawl inside his brain i think. anyway, point is he's kind of burned out and questioning his life's direction and just going through the motions of his job.

oscar's sisters younger than they are irl (like 6, 8, and 14) and in the training school at lando's company. they are mice and/or cookies and/or party children and/or snowflakes in THE NUTCRACKER (hallmark movie, see?)

lando is the nutcracker prince, obviously. and all of the kids worship him when he starts coming to rehearsals with them in december, even when he's just kind of stretching existing blocking. like... he's so good and graceful and they all have crushes on him.

i think landoscar would meet OUTSIDE of ballet context (bar, coffee shop, whatever i invent as oscar's job) and start out flirty cute landoscar-y. lando finding joy in the novelty of him and the dry way he approaches things and tells things how they are, but not in the mean way his choreographers do. it's actually kind of funny. lando is charmed.

meanwhile, oscar's kid sisters chatting at oscar nONSTOP about how beautiful and perfect the nutcracker prince in their production is. he's so kind and SUCH a good dancer and they're absolutely in love with him.

but somehow on one side or the other, someone doesn't know lando's name. so oscar never makes the connection. until CHANCE ENCOUNTER where they put the pieces together. oscar picking up his sisters late bc his mum couldn't and finding lando waiting for them in the lobby, perhaps. giving cute little corrections the youngest one or feeding them extra snacks out of his bag bc it's past dinner. and oscar is like.... OH!!??

i think subplot where oscar's oldest sister is Going Through It as a snowflake and is like "i'm not good enough, i should quit" and lando helping her emotionally or through private lessons or both idk, i've only been thinking about this for like 25 minutes ever.

miracle of christmas ending where through oscar's younger sisters, lando rediscovers the beauty and fun and magic of dancing. and obviously landoscar kissing under some mistletoe or backstage or both or everywhere.

is this anything?? i might be able to bang it out by christmas if i go nose to grindstone and keep myself strictly under like 20k with it.

[tu-es-gegg]

im so confluicted tdaoy;;;;

codeflippa seems to enjoy herself, she seems to genuinely have a connection with slime, giving him a hug at juana's grave, she likes to hanging out with everyone, she's jumping around and looking happy, she's open to everyone now and not afraid to spend time with them, she clearly doesnt want to hide from anyone anymore, jumping around the adults like a kid, a real kid

with everyone playing along with her antics and her chaotic nature, she doesnt want to harm anyone seemingly, she's just a little bti of a rascal.

but i look at slime's infected shoulder, his glitchy coughs, hes infected and hes not going to do anythign about it because he never takes care of himself, hsi entire self worth i prided on him as a father to flippa

she doesnt know the real flippa and her memories, she doesnt have any feeelings towards mariana, HER MUM, who spent so much time with her and celebrated her birthday on easter, the home they built together, but she had no hesitation to blow it up, she speaks weird and she doesnt respond to anything code related, im unsure if she has an agenda or not. she's avoiding questions, she says she didnt lead bad and others down the maze, somethign is clearly wrong.

and ofc shes a code, thats not teh real juanaflippa, it couldnt be. from everyone else's perspective, they are mortified and scared for charlie, looking on into the situation with true horror that their friend is being duped by this imposter but not willing to break the illusion, theyve seen this thing before so they have to ease him out slowly, not to disturb the precious protective bubble of the deceit but opening a helping hand out to slime in case it gets worse for him, saying that he shoudl trust them to help him out

but he's not going ot notice anything's wrong easily because combined with that denial of grief and the desperation to never lose this important thing ever, he's going to either take forever to figure it out or itll all come crashing on him and he's going to be broken

but codeflippa looks so happy, slime looks happy (he's the happieset he's ever been), but codeflippa is only happy because she's lying to everyone, slime is only happy because he's deep in the lie, they both are only happy because of this ruse that the code is juanaflippa, the promise that not all is lost, that teh family is still altogether........

its all red flags and rose tinted glasses with charlie and codeflippa and im stuck wondering if/when the act is dropped, will they still be happy as a family, that all the happy times with tasks are still real to both of them or that it was the last straw

[justcallmesakira]

Bsd men with a childish s/o pt. 3!

Sypnosis: How the people who are somewhat sane deal with you and your goofy goobers

Warnings: eyebrow less, wereballs, mentions of gaslight ING, mentions of turning into a gacha life demon form 2019,stealing glittery not pads, omori building reference, etc.

Genre: lowkey fluff, crack

A/N: bro this series is blowing up for real- Anyways heres part 2 andddd part 1!

Atsushi-

No guys hes not like you-😭

Sometimes he wonders if you were better suited with dazai then him (it's giving a certain emo Victorian kid kinnie)

But hey hey! Don't worry he will try to calm you down because he DOES NOT WANT YOU to follow dazai's steps! 😋😋

Dw atsushi! Reader is perfectly sane!!

He once came back to the agency from a mission only to see you see you eyebrow less

"Y/N! I am ba-AAAAAAAAAH-" "What, jinko, finally grew some wereballs"

HGYHFYG WERE BALLS-

Turns out you were cosplaying akutagawa and the eyebrowless thing was just a prank <3

Jizz man, give my pookie tiger

He's more scared of you then akutagawa 😨😨😨

You sometimes feel silly so you gave him cat food for lunch beacuse dazai convinced you with some skittles (he probably stole them from ranpo)

"umm, y/N.. WHY are you giving me cat food?" "because I felt silly lol"

I BET HE WOULD EAT IT BECAUSE HE DOES NOT WANT TO WASTE FOOD-

Kyouka had to stop him-

I am pretty sure you two speak in kaomojis like--

But he enjoys your presence, it's nice to know that at least your happy,Perhaps he can protect you and your happiness if he tries....

Sometimes he wonders how you have so much energy to break into his home with hello kitty pins just to wake him up

And go to an amusement park..

There goes atsuhis wallet! 😄💸

I think atsushi genuinely likes your antics.. Sometimes

But he would definitely keeps you away from dazai so you two don't pour Elmer's glue into kunikidas hair :3

Gin-

Uh oh... Gin can you really handle reader-

OF COURSE YOU Can!! You can do anything hahaha... (please help I am being hold at gunshot by rea-)

Since she's really shy and all you speak for her though you jumble the words sometimes

"she asked for no pickles ya dumb yard😡🤬😈👿" *turns into a gacha life 2019 demon*

Although she can't keep up with your energy you always understand what she says in a notepad

You even stole bought her a glittered kuromi notepad for you twos personal talking!

Sometimes she sees silly doodles on the corners of the pages

Gin thinks its honestly cute

However if akutagawa founds out about your silly antics around his sister he's gonna give you a death stare

Gin haded to reasure him countless times that you won't eat her whole

I would😋😋😋

After she calmed her brother you always greeted him with "yo bro wassup >:3"

Bad idea😨

It's true your the person talking for her and all but she's gonna go full assassin mode if someone even tries to hurt you

THAT'S MY Girl!!!!! 😍🤩🥰😝 *verlaine bcs he canonically trained gin I think

Anyways you and her share a cute Lil dynamic

Sigma-

T-that gif if him before finding out you were trying to eat the casino coins

"Y/N YOU CAN NOT EAT CASINO COINS" "why :(" "It's NOT FOR EATING" "why :(" "Well you ca-" ":c" "Why the sad face...wait did I shout too loud oh my god y/N I am so sorry.. You know what fine I will take you to the casinos play ground today" ":3"

Sigma.. That face is the face of someone who always gets what they want-😦

Also he sometimes questions how and why you speak in emojis like ":3" or ":("

Teach me your ways bestay😏

But please he's so insecure don't do that to my pookie😭🙏

He sometimes question if he has met your type before.. *flashbacks of Nikolai and dazai*

He's gonna go OUT of his way to keep you away from Nikolai bro

Sigma does not want to have a Nikolai dupe as his s/o

But still he might get a bit protective like "y/N be safe" "y/N don't go there" "y/N make sure to wear kneecaps before skating in the hallways of the casi- WAIT"

"don't worry I will be fine!" famous last words

*inserts omori reference here*

He's so tired bro but anything to keep you happy...

You somehow sometimes save him from Nikolai prank

But even so he tries protecting you...afterall no one wants to lose their only home.......

A/N: hope you enjoyed it! Sigmas one was my favorite :33 anyways I think I will do hunting dogs ver. If you guys want!

Divider creds: @junkyukim on pinterest

[zarvasace]

Oh, questions about your new au, you say???

How did the chain come to be at this facility place? Did any of them know each other 'before'?

Thanks child XD

Mostly kidnappings, though sometimes they got duped by a fake event of some kind (e.g. Time went to a "job interview" and never came back.) They arrived in game release order—so Hyrule first, and Wild last, though Legend at least had been at a different one previously. Really I'm just going for maximum angst here

I haven't pinned down all the backstories yet, so I don't know if any of them knew each other before! That would be interesting, I can imagine it would get us some good stuff. Hmmm thinking thoughts.

Here's a snippet of a scene just after Time arrives:

Hyrule has become very good at making card castles. This current one is up to three levels. He picks up two more worn cards, specific ones that have small rips in similar spots, and balances them just perfectly against each other. He pulls his hands away and nods.  “I know a little bit of how, and a little bit of why, but not all of it,” Legend says. He picks an old, chipped glass out of a cupboard and takes it to the aluminum sink to fill it up with some water.  “At this point, I'll take anything,” the new guy responds from one of the few plastic chairs that doesn't have a leg cap missing. It doesn't wobble when he leans back.  He's older than Hyrule had expected, middle-aged with a few grays in his stubble, though he doesn't know why he'd expected someone younger. To hear Legend tell it, these people don't care about age. Hyrule doesn’t know how much of Legend’s information is colored by Legend’s resentment, but he thinks it's mostly accurate, anyway.  Legend turns around to lean against the cheap countertop and sips at it, still somewhat flushed from his exercise. He's supposed to get water from the filter, but he enjoys rebelling where he can. If he keeps this up, though, Hyrule suspects they might lose the sink altogether, or cups or something. Whatever. It isn't as if they use it much.  “Did you give blood sometime recently?” Legend asks.  “Last week,” the new guy answers.  “Then that’s how they found you. There's a tell in our blood that means we're able to take these changes. That's why we're all here.”  The new guy scowls. “And I'm going to assume that, due to the less-than-legal way I got here”—that’s a nice way of saying was kidnapped, Hyrule knows—“that we don't exactly have a release date?”  Legend finishes his glass and fills it up a second time. “We're here until they can't use us anymore.” “So until we die.” “Pretty much. And who knows what our life expectancy is now.” Hyrule glances over to see the new guy close his eyes as if he's trying very hard to keep himself from exploding. It wouldn't change anything if he did. Hyrule goes back to his card castle. He's about to finish the third layer, without any aids like books this time.  “So we’re looking for some kind of escape plan?” the new guy says.  Hyrule pulls his hands away gently from a completed third layer. “Our next one had better be very good. I don't like getting caught.” “You've tried before?” “Of course. Several times.” Hyrule remembers each with dwindling clarity as time goes on. He can't bring himself to stop trying, especially because Legend hasn't, but there really aren't a lot of ways out of here.  The new guy leans forward again to rest his forearms on the wobbly table. The wobble is why Hyrule is building his castle on the floor. “How long, exactly have you been here?”  Hyrule looks over at the out-of-date calendar propped up against the wall on the countertop and counts on his fingers. “Almost ten months.” The new guy looks startled. “Ten months?”  Legend and Hyrule exchange a look, and Legend puts down his glass after emptying it a third time. He sighs. “About five years total, myself. Not entirely here here, but definitely not out there.” “You're kidding.” The new guy shades his eyes with a hand.  “Afraid not, old man.”

[casinoquartet]

okay so I would like to elaborate on a point you made on the swagdoons moments we should talk about more. Specifically the one about red knowing about the wormhole glitch. Also the whole god thing applies to this too.

Ash avoids any reference (and has lied about it multiple times IF red is telling the truth) to red knowing anything and just never elaborates when it comes to this sort of thing. Then red is just so open about it and it kinddd of sounding like he’s bragging when he talks about it. And he told no one?? 🤨 huh? Red knew sooo far back and told no one???

here is an example:

ash commented that red wasn’t in a video because his reaction to the god thing was basically: “cool.” and did not give any other details.

red has AT LEAST said twice that he knew about the god thing from basically page one (because ash told him?? I don’t know if I’m remembering right) and he didn’t hold back from the details

nothing they say lines up 😭😭😭 one of them is lying about this and either way it’s still so 🤨🤨. Why would you need to lie about it huh??? And I am 90% ash knows what red is saying and he isn’t specifically denying anything red says.

I’m sorry they are soo confusing and just making this much sense of something and to not share it with anyone feels like a felony so yeah…

THEN THE “oh I’d do so many things for you ash.” WAS JUST 😱😱😱🫵🤨🤨🤔🤨 IT WAS SO UNPROMPTED. then the SILENCE after ash said the equivalent of my reaction in emojis I just can’t anymore

also can you explain how after the matching sleeve thing ash just kept it for wayyyy too long. Is it still there??? I think it’s still there. It’s like 4am and I NEED to go to bed so I don’t think I should check. But it’s such an easy fix why is it still there it’s driving me crazy

OKAY regarding the "red knew about the plugin" thing, i'm mostly referencing this clip (51:58-52:10)

red: hold on, so did you dupe or...how did you get the crystals? ash: (hums) red: ...or did you get into creative mode, was that the plug-in? ash: no, no. (annoyed) why do you--okay just tell everyone my plan. i'm kidding, parrot just forgot to check my inventory (laughs)

if we take ash's god video at face value, he did know about the essentials plugin since august (though it is debatable if the wormhole team knew how to exploit it then, i'm inclined to believe that they did considering around a month later the comfort vod happened and ash leaked the wormhole plans 4 months early...lol). and having foresight, we do know that creative mode was necessary to get the entire wormhole exploit to work so...that's why i said it was implied red knew about the wormhole glitch the entire time

anyways, adding onto the "red wasn't in the first video" thing, here's ash mentioning it in a tweet on his alt acc, and while red pisses off (/lh) ash in the comfort vod (1:10:05-1:10:44), ash says that that is why red isn't in the video and red goes "i know"

(also i was just watching the vod where red mentions that he knew about the s3 god exploit from the very start and it's also implied here that he knew about the s4 one too?!?! he got an elytra from subz and subz, who was on the wormhole exploit team, asked him if red knew about the exploit, said never mind, and gave red the elytra anyways. red then says that he knew about the exploit the entire time so ?!?!?! clip from 1:27:51-1:28:27 btw)

ANYWAYS yeah i don't know wtf the "i'd do so many things for you" thing was about either. something is up with them. alas i'm not a mind reader so i don't know why on earth red said that or why ash keeps the cut sleeve (i'm guessing it's bc he thinks it looks cool?) but alas. swagdoons truly did swagdoons all over the place,

[whaleofatjme1920]

My Version of Eyeless Jack

So, there's no cohesive narrative here I just wanted to infodump a bunch of stuff about how I write my EJ. I'll put it in headcanon form but know whenever you read my newer EJ fics (or whenever I get an inkling to talk about him), this is exactly how I envision him and want him to be seen as.

EJ grew up in a Polish somewhat American household. He's a second generation, with his parents both being from Poland and most of their extended family in the old country. His mother is from a smaller city in the southwest, and his father from Krakow. His mother instilled in him a deep love of the natural world, and a hunger for learning.

Jack's obsession for medicine and whatnot came up because his father was just a bit insane about keeping him healthy. Any cough or sneeze was instantly investigated. He was a bit sheltered in that sense, and was prone to sneaking out to experience a normal adolescence and whatnot as he grew up.

While Jack is not averse to getting his hands dirty and doing jobs no one else would even THINK of, he's still gotta go through a full cleansing and decontamination when he's done.

I like to think that, as a kid, he was deeply in love with Slavic mythology and he was, surprise surprise, really into Chernobog. That wasn't Chernobog whispering in his ear he was just always interested whether he realized it or not. This kinda faded out around 12 years old but as a guy that's literally possessed by him now, fused to make an entirely new being, he finds it just a hair ironic.

Yeah, he did have to go to Polish school on the weekends. Sometimes he loved it, other times not at all.

He was his parents only child so he was kind of under a magnifying glass from them both.

He was actually quite close with his grandmothers!

Jack has always had a biting, sarcastic wit. He can balance professionalism with clinical sarcasm fantastically. His humor is very deadpan and he'll dupe you multiple times if you're not careful.

Jack doesn't always understand why people insist on social politeness. He actually favors bluntness, but will be polite if the situation calls for it.

He has three tongues. Yes, he's choked on them before. This mostly happened in the beginning when he was first getting used to his new body.

He doesn't like sweet foods, but certain organs are sweeter to him than others. He can't quite explain that, but he favors certain parts of people over others.

He can eat human food, but it's like junk food for him. He will always need to feast on humans from time to time to keep himself well. Also this is NOT a constant thing with him. He has like a major feeding once or twice a month, and smaller feedings ever 7-10 days. He can get by just fine, he's not always starving.

Most of his work is him just preparing in case he's in a situation he can't hunt.

His body can heal at an accelerated rate!

Because he's possessed by/permanently fused with Chernobog, he has 'starfish' tendencies. Meaning, if he loses a finger, in about 6 months he'll have a new one. Anything bigger might take years but he's never been in a situation where that's needed to happen. This does not mean he's invincible.

Slender Man, who has been around for way longer than any of us can conceive, finds it funny that Chernobog is fused with a socially awkward young man who couldn't even ask a girl out normally and forewent his survival instinct just to hang out with her.

Slender Man, when just with Jack, will speak with him in Polish or older forms of Slavic languages when more directly addressing Chernobog.

Jack is physically HUGE. He's like 6'8, because his merging made him bigger. He was already tall at 5'10, but Chernobog required a bigger vessel. So, he painfully grew bigger. He's quite muscular, not overtly so but you know he has physical strength.

He's,,,,, human-like in appearance. Gives off uncanny valley at times.

He's actually quite funny and does take some joy in making people laugh.

He's not besties with Jeff but they are, more often than not, together doing things.

He actually prefers Jane's company!

It takes so, so long to gain his actual trust. He has varying levels of it, like anyone else, but it's difficult to even breach his first layer.

Has a deep fondness for birds, specifically vultures.

Doesn't like dogs. He has never liked dogs. Smile is his one and only exception. Does like cats.

His body has a stupid tattoo on his thigh he got when drunk one night at uni. He's still mildly embarrassed by it.

He occasionally smokes weed.

He won't admit it, but anyone that looks like Jenny brings back terrible, terrible memories. When he was younger, those types of women used to trigger panic attacks. He's much better now, but seeing women that look like her make him very uncomfortable.

He doesn't enjoy strong smelling perfumes or colognes. He thinks the scents themselves are nice, but they give him migraines. His sense of smell is very strong and well.

He can actually function quite well in normal society, he just doesn't physically fit the image. And even using his glamour-he sticks out from his height alone.

Jack wouldn't say this to anyone, but he sometimes hangs around in his glamour just to remember what he used to look like before. It's not a 100% match, but he sees himself as older. A bit more jaded and weathered. He wonders what would have happened if he listened to his roommate and didn't go.

[purple-dragon-queen]

You said when you were watching the Descendants rise of red teaser trailer you didn't get to pause and look for details since it was a quick watch but assuming you've watched it fully now, can I get your thoughts and opinions?

⚠️ KINDA LONG POST⚠️

I will be sharing MY thoughts and opinions on The new teaser trailer for rise of red, so if that bothers you it's time to ski dazzle off of My post 💋

Feel free to Reblog with your ideas aswell. Would love to see em

Okay so the first thing I thought of when kylie(red) pulled out all the spray paint and start doing her thing, was Mal. Like Disney bae it's giving Mal dupe.

Second and this one got me cracking was The Merlin Academy. Like My brain totally disregarded it as in I FORGOT ABOUT IT, so imagine to my horror when red is spray painting I see them BLAM! Plastered on the wall in all their Evil Glory.

Okay so I found this picture on Instagram where someone got a close up and other than Ulyanna, Maleficent, Hades and Hook, I don't know who the others are ( sorry not sorry) Now underneath the picture we can see on a plaque the words "vk students" now this made me realize why the title vk was so accepting when the core four came to aruadon, Because it wasnt the first time the title had been given/used.

Now look at this close up of teen Maleficent all I have to say is Wtf is that.

If those things at the side of her head are supposed to be horns, respectfully she needs to chop them tf off?? And is she wearing a ponytail??? Now I haven't seen Maleficent in a long time but isn't she supposed to have brown hair? Now idc if they give her a different hair color but the outfit and those HORNS especially are not giving!!!.

Like I saw someone do a redesign of this descendantofthesparrow I think and it was jaw dropping absolutely gorgeous, like mam what's your major? Anyways yeah I've seen this person done a ton of redesign and rewrites that when I watch descendants I'm like "oh yeah, this is Canon and the good stuff is fanfic"

Now this whole time travel thing doesn't make sense to Me because am I really supposed to believe that Hades who's older Than all of them by thousands of years went to school with them? Like what.

I'm going to assume Ulyanna is the Leader of the gang because she's in the middle and everyone else is in the back and from what we've seen the Leader is always in the middle.

Now I have a feeling rise of red will be pushing to make Hades and Maleficent a thing so we can see how Mal became a thing, just an assumption. Respectfully If they try to make hook and ulyanna a thing I will jump tf off. There was something else I wanted to say about Hades and Maleficent but I forgot and will most likely reblog this post when I remember.

now this is the Queen of Hearts and once again Descendants isn't following Canon because I'm pretty sure Carlos mentioned at one point that he used to drive his mom to the queen of hearts castle.

Now if I didn't know already that this is the queen of hearts and u shoved this pic in my fave and was like "girly who do you think this is?" I WOULD NOT SAY THE QUEEN OF HEARTS, I MEAN JUST LOOK AT HER SHE'S RED! Where are the other colors??? There's no white, no black just RED. Now as a theatre kid we've done better, with less money!!!. Disney I hope you are ashamed because you should be.

Now descendants brandy Cinderella has blue hair which doesn't make any damn sense so I'm guessing that's why Chole has blur hair. I really wish there outfits were better because with the og 4 we could tell what their main colors were without it being to much but now It's Def too much. I've got a few more things to add because I feel like I haven't said everything I wanted to so maybe I'll reblog with more later. Who knows

[ninjastormhawkkat]

(so I lost the rp...so hopefully this still connects and not repeat TvT)

"you alright!" The mad mouse scientist says."You're alright." Two Brains repeated softer hugging Becky still gentle but tighter. Becky hugged back trembling slightly. "It was horrible dad...being frozen yet able to hear everything.." the preteen says recounting her experience being stuck in Polaroid's photos.

The others checked up on Violet as well to make sure she was okay. "I wonder if royal dandy felt this way being stuck in a painting...but then again he wasn't alive until lady redundant woman." She says in thought. This experience definitely gave her some insight and a side of claustrophobia.

Despite the worrisome aspects of this situation Blur thought the father and daughter reunion was pretty sweet. She couldn't remember the last time she saw her own dad fret over her.

'papa...I don't want to train anymore...it hurts..'

'you have to! Do you want everyone to die?'

'no! I don't want anyone to die!'

'then walk it off. You have to get stronger. Get better control over your powers. Coddling you will just make you weak. you'll thank me for it one day-'

"E.b...you alright?" Fern asked shaking the heroine out of her thoughts.

Maybe she should give her dad a call. It had been a couple of weeks since she had spoken to him. Even if their last interaction wasn't as heartfelt as two brains and his daughter. She smiled and nodded. "Yep! Just relieved to see the kiddos are okay!"

Dr. two Brain's was reasonably ticked off. Not only his pinkie and her friend had been kidnapped but now possibly traumatized. "I'm gonna kill him" he says once Becky and the other kids were out of earshot.

"er- don't worry we have the fiend apprehended!" Hydro says quickly. He didn't want the villain to go to jail for murder. Now that was another can of worms not ready to be dealt with. He had a feeling Atomic wouldn't give Polaroid an easy time until the authorities showed up.

Two Brains gave the hero a hardened expression but then let out a deep sigh. "Fine, as long as he goes to jail and stays there. If I cross his path again then there is no guarantee that little punk will survive." Dr. Two Brains warned. Hydro gulped but nodded. This villain may not have any superpowers but he was definitely intimidating. Soon there was a sudden commotion from behind. The heroes, villains, and civilians all turned their head to see Miss Davis running towards them followed by some reporters. Miss Davis arrived to the group first and approached Becky and Violet. "Are you girls okay?" She asked in a concerned tone. Becky gave a shaky but firm nod. "We're okay now Miss Davis. The incident was a bit traumatic but luckily we were rescued." Miss Davis let out a relieved sigh. She was about to ask if the other kids were okay but then was pushed out of the way by a couple of reporters. Most of them were surrounding a surprised yet nervous Hydro, Fern Trap, and Electric Blur while others decided to stick their microphones and cameras into the personal space of Becky and Violet. "Marcus Dupes with the Fair City Times, can you girls describe your experience with this new villain that has threatened our city's citizens?" A male reporter spoke in demanding tone. Becky gave the guy a confused and annoyed look. "I wouldn't say the villain was threatening citizens, he just captured Violet and I while our guard was down." Becky corrected the man. The man seemed to not care or notice as he continued to interrogate Becky and Violet. "But according to eyewitness accounts you two were erased from the plane of existence in a sudden flash. What was that like?" Violet and Becky both had uncomfortable expressions. "We...really don't want to talk about our experience right now." Violet spoke in a quiet tone. "But.." The man protested before a gloved hand grabbed him by the shoulders. He was spun around and soon faced with familiar red/pink eyes that were dangerously glaring. "Look, Becky and her friend have gone through a terrifying experience and are not in the mood to give any interviews. So be respectful or I'll make you regret it. I don't have any of my gadgets on me right now but that doesn't mean I can't come back to your workplace with my inventions and make you regret your actions. You got it bub." Dr. Two Brains threatened as he growled in a low tone. Marcus gulped and backed away from the mad scientist. Two Brains then turned to the other reporters. "That goes for all of you. You have to go through me to get to my pinky." The other reporters followed suit, all looking terrified of the Fair City's number 1 villain. Dr. Two Brains let out a huff, satisfied that his threat was met. He then walked over to Becky and picked her up in his arms. "Now if you excuse me Miss Davis, I'm going to take my pinky and Violet to my house. I'll call Violet's mom and let her know what happened so she can pick her daughter up." Two Brains dictated. Miss Davis gave a shaky nod. She knew better than to argue with an upset parent/guardian villain. She was also going to give the girls full marks for this field trip. Just to be on the safe side. Meanwhile Atomic came back and saw his teammates being swarmed by the reporters while Two Brains was carrying his daughter away from the chaos as well as guiding the girl known as Violet with him. The hero grunted. This would not work out in their favor. Atomic Steele knew that he and his teammates caused some stir at the Grocery Store but he figured there would be just talk and rumors or that people would assume they were temporary visitors. The press would only confirm that the Newport Four were near permanent residents. 'This will definitely tip Lunar Red off if she didn't already know we were here.' Atomic grumbled. A blonde female reporter soon became aware of Atomic's presence. She turned her head and rushed towards the hero. "Loretta Sanchez Johnson with Fair City News. Who are you new heroes and what are you doing here in Fair City?" The reporter asked in a rapid tone. @melodythebunny

[horizon-verizon]

Alicent is the quintessential example of what not to do as a parent. In the book, it’s pretty damned clear that she sees her children as pawns and that she certainly doesn’t think that Aegon would make an effective ruler, just that she would make use of him to gain power through him.

Oh, sure, she gives the lip-service that she fears for her children’s lives along with her own and yada yada yada…. but at the end of the day, Rhaenyra and Daemon only went tribal on their asses after Aemond murdered Lucerys, unprovoked, during a diplomatic mission. They were more than happy to leave them be and use soft power to defend Rhaenyra’s birthright. Alicent has no one but herself and her own side to blame for the gloves coming off after Lucerys’ murder.

As it is, if you were to compare Rhaenyra to someone else who almost had his own birthright/power taken from him by grasping social climbers (even if not exactly the same situation), may I present Tywin Lannister and how he dealt with the Reynes and Tarbecks after his weak-willed and people pleaser father (similar to Viserys) let them have the run of the roost. Spoiler: those houses no longer exist.

In short: Rhaenyra was a saint in how she dealt with Alicent, given that Tywin would’ve killed every last Hightower down to the last child.

Sure, maybe you can say that Alicent did believe that Rhaenyra would do it because that’s what she would’ve done in her shoes or she knew that most of her colleagues would’ve happily defenestrated her long ago, but that says more about her than about Rhaenyra. As it is, I’m not so charitable and I’m more keen interpret it more as a propaganda rat-fucking campaign, since for all that they painted Daemon as the devil and Rhaenyra as “Maegor with teats,” they certainly dealt with the Hightowers with kid-gloves prior to Lucerys’ murder.

Okay, so in bk!Alicent's defense, though it is not as severe and obvious as with Rhaenyra, Alicent does get written with a short hand: her body used to compare against Rhaenyra; how she's barely mentioned after the Dance apart from her going a little crazy (George, like w/Rhaenyra, could have given us maids/lady-in-waiting/direct journals that show observations of Alicent at this time as well as her feelings abt things before she ever even married Viserys); etc. And if you grow up thinking and seeing women who become lady/Queen consorts, birthing males, and looking forward to the "reward" of power through that male...you see why Alicent's bothered. Many of us would be bothered at the very least even if we disliked and were a little honest with ourselves abt how none of it is fair...bc it was never meant be "fair" that you, a woman, can only get some agency or having a certain sort of power by being heirs or being a part of the family itself. Or putting yourself at risk of death or chronic illness to birth children for a man who may not and is not obligated to care about your wellbeing.

Doesn't mean that she didn't genuinely LOVE all her kids; it's a twisted sort of thing and becomes more so the deeper they all got into the war. We see her wail at Aegon's death. How she curses Rhaenyra for Helaena even though that's not her fault. Alicent's problem is that she decided to go after a child that would grow up to possibly be an issue, thinking that she is the exception, and refusing--esp by the end with how she died--to accept her own culpability in her kids' death. All of which comes from pride rather than a lack of love.

Once again, I am not saying she was "correct" or in the right, bc she was not. Morally nor politically. But the feeling of having been "duped" is both valid, understandable, and likely real for her. For nothing else, it's admirable that she wasn't a shrinking violet and saw through her desires or took things into her own hands when she saw it needed to be for her own ambitions. I don't like her and I wouldn't if I were in this world and had to be around her (even if I had to grow up in such an environment I doubt I'd be so religious and sincerely traditional, I never believed in God and would want to read anything and thus comes across knowledge of there being different religions across the world...so...) and I like to think that I'd also judge her heavy for how she moves with her kids and pitting them against Rhaenyra, but I also think that I would see her thoughts even more bc that would be my reality as well.

Rhaenyra was a saint in how she dealt with Alicent, given that Tywin would’ve killed every last Hightower down to the last child.

I mean, Tywin wasn't the brother of the Reynes and Tarbecks and didn't face a possible accusation of being a kinslayer. I see your point, but I think this particular thing doesn't quite have the same stakes as for the circumstances pre-Dance. Rhaenyra being a woman, even if she weren't their sister, would still face a lot more censure if she pulled a Tywin Rains of Castamere bc she'd be ridiculed for doing what men are licensed to in any sort of war effort even as Gyldayn and Corlys both have canonically looked at her askance for not going to the Battle of Rook's Rest herself...even with how Aegon nearly died. just as people did to empress Matilda. And the accusations of cruelty, of course.

Also, (pre-Dance, since you speak of pre-Dance...post and during-Dance Alicent is a different thing) Alicent cautioned Aegon from going all out and killing Rhaenyra in "The Blacks and the Greens". Why? the taboo of kinslaying. She also criticized Aemond for killing Luke not bc she liked or respected either him or his mother but because it embroiled them into both a war and cast them as the power grabbing, undeserving party who potentially angered the god as well as ensured any of them could be killed before she could "prove" and intimidate Rhaenyra with a show of support for her sons that really was never going to come but she didn't seemingly believe that so....