#because irvin generally is ...not ...like them ... at all

[rimunagenius]

And They Were Roomates

☙ pairing: Kate Martin x Roommate!reader

☙ word count: 2.5k words

☙ warnings: RPF!! use of y/n, not proof read.

☙ ri speaks: I need more kate martin content and i haven’t been fed the specific ones that i need so i must write them to the best of my horrendous abilities. Idek how good this will be…im sorry in advance LMFAO. also this is two thousand five hundred words but it looks a lot shorter….crying

this is also a general announcement that i will indeed be refreshing my blog, so that means new and updated master lists and posts are coming out soon so sorry if you get a spam of rimunagenius on your feed!!

Part 1

| Series Masterlist |

When you first started in Iowa, you never expected the immediate love you recieved from the people there. They were friendly, generous, and so much different from people in California. Especially your roommate, Kate Martin. You had met her shortly after your first day of Junior year. A while after, you two became roomates because you needed more space, and she needed someone to split rent with in her apartment. Sounded like a great deal to both of you.

"You don't mind?" You asked unsure. Not wanting to impose on her, possibly ruining plans with making a deal with her actual teammates.

"No! Not at all! I really like you and you're alot of fun! I'd love for you to move in with me." She beamed at you, giving you a side hug when she saw your expression change. You both were ecstatic.

Since then, you had been living with Kate for almost two years. You two had become inseparable. Always on campus together, meeting up between classes to get coffee or lunch together, sometimes with Caitlin and your other friends. It was great. You were happy with your home away from home.

You had transfered from UC Irvine and decided to pursue your degree and career in sports medicine here in Iowa City. You were one of the new athletic trainees and ocassionly a photographer; your previous major was in photography and Lisa and the administration had really loved your resume and work, so they hired you as a part time (barely) photographer, for whenever they wanted more shots than what they usually wanted or a fill in.

Currently, you were needed in the Carver stadium to help record a mic’d up practice session for the team. It was for the Iowa Hawkeye Youtube channel. You had experience because you too had a youtube channel that you started when you first transferred to Iowa. So you had told Lisa and the coaches that you’d be able to film it.

“Hey, Gabbie!” You smiled at her as you walked into the locker room, approaching Kate’s cubby to set your stuff down. Kate telling you this morning before she left that you could put your stuff with hers.

“Hey, girlie! So guess what?” You and Gabbie loved to gossip. It was so much fun and it started when you were redoing the tape on her ankles, and she looked down so you asked her about it, and since then, you both have told eachother whatever gossip you had.

“Oh my god, what?” You took your sweater out of your bag, the locker room being chilly, so you could imagine the court.

“So that boy Nick in my econ class, totally asked about you today. I didn’t want to crush his hopes and dreams but I did say you weren’t his type.” She took a seat next to where you were standing to put her shoes on.

“Wait, the boy I said would so be my type if he was a girl? That Nick?” You laughed because he was really nice and such a sweet guy but he just wasn’t a girl. Men are pretty but only to look at.

“Yes!”

“How’d he take it?” This guy has asked you out once before but you just said you weren’t looking to date. Probably should’ve elaborated on that one.

“But he asked me “Oh, who is? Does he go here?” And I was like,” she paused to reenact the face she made. “I said it too fast so I didn’t have time to say “Oh, It’s long distance or something” sooo I don’t know.” She rambled and just pulled her hair into a small ponytail.

“What do you mean? That made no sense, Gab.” You were confused. She looked guilty of something but you didn’t want to pressure her but you also really wanted to know what she had said about you to Nick.

“I kinda sorta said you had a girlfriend already, and he took that as ‘Oh, she’s dating her roommate Kate Martin’ because he said he supposedly sees you guys together everywhere.” She meant well. It really wasn’t her fault that Nick totally misread the situation.

“Oh shit.” Your jaw dropped. You thought it was awkward but now it went full fledged horrendous. You were already out, and anyone who followed your insta would’ve saw it in your stories, so you weren’t worried about that but you were worried for Kate.

“So what do we do about the fact that a random kid on campus thinks your dating Kate?”

“Ok wait, i’m actually scared. Like how do you think Kate will take it?” You were talking to Gabbie and immediately knew you fucked up by seeing the expression on her face.

“How will I take what?” Kate walked in, hair down, dressed in her practice uniform, and sat on the chair next to you. You hadn’t realized that you sat down with Gabbie. Lost in the conversation and frenzy of the new mess that could possibly affect yours and Kate’s social life dramatically.

“I’m just gonna…” Gabbie got up, and walked out, meeting the others outside on the court.

“Oh, okay. I’ll see you in a minute.” You said to the girl before turning to Kate. You had caught her up on the lore behind you and Nick, if you could even call this one sided infatuation lore. Now you just had to tell her the problem. “So Gabbie tried to tell him that I was already seeing some girl. But Nick jumped to this whole conclusion that me and you were together.”

You watched her face. Looking for any sort of negative reaction. Waiting for her to blow up on you. “Oh.”

“And when Gabbie tried to say it wasn’t you and that were just friends, and that my supposed girlfriend lives in California, he got up and left. So it may be possible that the whole Iowa college campus will assume we’re together.” You played with your fingers as you watched her some more. Still waiting for her explosion.

“I mean, I don’t mind. He sounded weird so if it keeps the guy away from you, i’m okay with being the ‘pretend’ girlfriend.” She shrugged her shoulders. Grabbing her shoes from behind you, your chair sitting right infront of the cubby that belonged to her:

“Kate. Are you sure? This is so random and so strange and I would totally get it if your uncomfortable.” You wanted it to be clear that this situation could go away if she was uncomfortable. If she was uncomfortable you’d go on a date with him and just tell him it won’t work after. It’d be bad for you if he goes around saying rude things but you couldn’t care less about people you don’t know. You just wanted to make sure Kate wasn’t the one feeling weird.

“Yeah, I mean—I don’t have to kiss you in public, right? I feel like that’s overstepping a boundary we have not thought about setting.”

“No, Kate. You do not have to kiss me in public. Wait so you’d kiss me in private?” You looked at the girl, now fully joking around as you wiggled your eyebrows and laughed.

“Oh yeah for sure.” Kate made a funny face while nodding her head before grabbing her water and standing up. You following behind to get this practice and video recording started.

“Oh, and your getting mic’d up today. I don’t know if Coach Lisa told you.” You say as you both walk onto the court.

You and Kate had showered, separately unfortunately, and sat on the couch. You had been trying to convince her the whole way home from practice to watch New Girl. She agreed after ten excruciating minutes of your nagging.

You were deciding to pick the snack you wanted, grabbing M&Ms you bought at the store yesterday, snickers, chips, and popcorn. You wanted to watch as many episodes as possible because you both started school late tomorrow and it was an off day for practice.

“What are these practices anyways? Are they like preseason workouts to get back in shape or?” You watched Kate as she picked her snacks.

“Yeah. Basically. We’re technically only allowed to goof off a little during those ones.” Kate laughed, referring to the mic’d up practice today. Coach Lisa usually wants a more focused and intimate space during the actual season. “Oh my. What if we just kill this whole tub of Neapolitan ice cream?” Kate took it out of the freezer and suddenly all your snack choices went back to the cabinets.

“Ou deal, Martin.” You grabbed two spoons before making your way to the couch. Grabbing the blanket off the backrest, and throwing it over you both. You both settled and got comfy ready to start the marathon of New Girl.

You were both sitting in silence after you decided to just do a highlight reel of episodes since you weren’t going to force Kate to watch multiple seasons. "Are you excited for this upcoming season? Your last season?" You asked as you looked to your right. Kate was seated next to you while you both decided to disregard bowls and just eat the ice cream straight from the tub. She held the tub as you both dug what you wanted out of it. She shoved more ice cream into her mouth and she smiled and nodded her head.

"I am. Just scared and sad." She said somewhat incoherently due to not having swallowed the mouthful of ice cream. You nodded your head. You had already adapted to the Kate language. When she talked while yawning, mouth full, her body language, and her facial expressions. Not many people were fluent like you, and you were actually proud to be one of the people. So you understood exactly what she meant. You saw everything else she was feeling just by the look in her eye and the shape of her lips.

But you also felt sad for her too. You’d both be a sixth-year, grad students, in a couple months. This year bigger for her more than you. This year being her last and final run in her collegiate career. This was huge. You both knew this but wanted to focus on the nicer aspects. You and the girls would support her and be her friend even if she decided to never touched a basketball again. You guys were for life.You didn’t play, so you felt there was nothing you thought you could say other than just being her friend.

"You'll be okay, sweetheart." You wrapped your arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. A small comforting hug, atleast a hug at which this position provided, and kissed the top of her head. You only used terms of endearment like this in small, comforting, intimate moments. You felt this was the right time. "I'll be here for you, and you have the girls. We’ll back you in whatever you do, outside of basketball and school. You can’t ever get rid of us if you tried. But I will give you all the support and all the ice cream you can eat right now." You smiled at the blonde. You both stared at eachother, a little too long, “We are not beating the supposed ‘girlfriend’ allegations right now, Martin.” She bursted out laughing. You not far behind.

"But seriously, thanks shortie." She said as she patted your knee, right before she lost it again and laughed out loud. You immediatey cringed at the name, and pushed her away from you.

"OH! my god! Immediately no, Kate." You laughed again, half embarassment and half amusement. "That is not funny. You sound like a frat boy." That earned another snort laugh from Kate.

"You're right. I'm sorry." You side-eyed her. Pulling the blanket a little closer to you. Scooting over the tiniest bit over to feign anger and hurt. Still managing to catch her movement through your peripheral.

"Bro, I'm not even that much shorter than you. Just short three inches." You rolled your eyes at your best friend, turning back to the episode where Jess and Nick kiss eachother for the first time. Your favorite episode.

"Yes, I know. I know how you feel about my short jokes. I almost cried when you ignored me for three and a half days." Kate chuckled as she looked to you her smile dropping, a frown forming when you still didn't acknowledge her. "Oh, come on, y/n. Don't ignore me again, please! I was kidding." She asked you while chuckling nervously, she asked you two more times, when that didn’t work she insisted on poking you for a two minutes straight.

"Okay, Kate. I forgive you. Now shush, my favorite part is coming up." You kept your eyes on the screen and tried to reach for your spoon in the tub. Your fingers reaching everywhere but your spoon. "Kate can you help me please?"

"Yes, but haven't you already seen this show like eight-billion times?" She grabbed a spoon, whichever one was closest, forgetting which one was which, and scooping a good spoonful, before bringing the spoon to your mouth. "Open." You opened your mouth and took the ice cream happily.

"Thank you, you big teddy bear. God's gift, I'm telling you." You said as you watched the best scene on sitcom TV about to unfold.

"Im just going to pretend you're talking about me and not your show." Kate whispered. "You're welcome, pretty." She said louder so you could hear.

That got your attention. It wasn’t something that you hadn’t heard come out of her mouth and directed to you before; she's called you pretty multiple times when you had asked if the outfit you were wearing out looked good or if the makeup you put on was good for this dinner a girl you were seeing on and off wanted to take you out to. But she's never once used it in this context. You got a nervous feeling in your stomach, something you recognized as butterflies for sure. Fighting the urge to smile at the compliment, a small blush creeping up on your cheeks. Fighting the thoughts you had about her.

It was something new but this one thing…this you weren't going to get used to. You guys were best friends and just roomates. You can't feel anyway about this.You decided to ignore it and take it as a compliment in the moment to make up for the short joke. It definitely wasn’t something serious as you were making.

"I was talking about both of you. The TV and you, Kit-Kate." You put your arm around her shoulder and continued to watch the show. Watching the scene you had been waiting for all night to play. “This was the best cinematic experience I have ever had.” You whispered, now reaching for the spoon again for some ice cream.

Kate beating you to it, already having got another spoonful for you, feeding it to you like she did a couple of seconds ago. You smiled and thanked her before you both decided to cut the show, and search for a movie of both your choosing this time.

[kimbapisnotsushi]

happy birthday to the absolute love of my life iwaizumi hajime!!! have a medley of timeskip hcs bc i barely do those and the only way i can confront being an adult is with characters who became adults alongside me :))

i think no matter where oikawa and iwaizumi are in the world, oikawa always sends a birthday text right as the clock strikes 12 in iwa's time. even if it's four AM on oikawa's side he vows to always be the first to wish iwaizumi a happy birthday :))

(it started when oikawa left for argentina, because that would have been the first birthday they'd spent apart from each other. it's the least oikawa can do, in his eyes. it's the least he can do for not being there.)

do you ever think about the moment where two characters who have never met but have a previous connection to each other via another character find out about said character after meeting. bc i do. a LOT

bonus points if that "someone" is kageyama or hinata or karasuno as a general nuisance

anyways this happens when kuroo and iwaizumi meet and it's HILARIOUS

"what do you MEAN you got your ass whooped by them in high school I got my ass whooped by them in high school too!!!!"

this is a freakishly common occurrence in japan's professional volleyball circuit. there's a support group chat for it and it's got over fifteen people

(there are a few exceptions - komori's really just there for the kicks)

speaking of which. i don't think komori ever stops being a megafan of yaku's. when he hears that they're going to be playing side-by-side on the national team he IMMEDIATELY dials sakusa and just screams into the phone for like a solid minute

hyakuzawa was really shy with everyone at first bc he never really knew them much before, but at his first practice match hoshiumi slammed a ball onto the floor so hard it ricocheted and hit atsumu in the face and, without missing a beat and while atsumu was yelling for hoshiumi to eat shit through a bloody nose, hoshiumi turned to him and went "see that? that was a lesson on what NOT to do" and hyakuzawa knew at that moment that he was in a safe space

sometimes ushijima and iwaizumi will talk about irvine like it was some secret dreamy romantic getaway between starcrossed lovers from medieval times

iwaizumi: "man i remember that one night we drove to the desert to stargaze. that was so cool. really pretty. i forgot my jacket and ushijima was kind enough to lend me his" ushijima: "it would not have done for you to catch a cold, we had a meeting with my father the next day to ask for his blessing" everyone else: "what the actual fuck"

the blessing was to see if utsui could take iwaizumi on for an internship

okay wait quick break from national team shenanigans bc i was thinking about this for a while but i think romero is soooooo impressed when hoshiumi, kageyama, and ushijima tell him that they all know hinata personally. i think he asks them to help ask if hinata can do a favor for him

"you want hinata to WHAT" "i want him to throw me like a paper weight!!! so i can show my son!!!"

hinata's like "OH MY GOD NICOLAS ROMERO WANTS ME TO THROW HIM???" like he's SO honored. he thinks it's an honor to be able to throw romero and romero thinks it's an honor to BE thrown by hinata it's so stupid i love them

and then romero calls his son and is like "SON GUESS WHAT. NINJA SHOUYOU THREW ME LIKE A PAPERWEIGHT TODAY" and sends him the video and little romero is SO hyped

in general i think hinata AND hoshiumi would be able to bench press like 99% of the adlers and the jackals and like. maybe the whole pro league

hoshiumi wants to try so he goes "hey kageyama c'mere for a sec!!" and kageyama is all "?? okay sure" and he just scoops kageyama up, tosses him in the air, catches him and puts him down like "okay thanks, you can get back to what you were doing now!"

i think kageyama actually looks up to hoshiumi a whole lot and it's super cute

okay sorry back to national/all-stars teams squad shenanigans

suna has the newest phone within the canon timeline because his old one broke when hakuba spiked a volleyball into it trying to do a trickshot

suna wasn't even mad bc they DID land the shot it was sick as hell

nobody was really familiar with iizuna aside from, like, sakusa and komori and MAYBE yaku and ushijima so when he joined the all stars match all cool and calm and capable and hot like 90% fell in love. and then he wrestled sakusa into a headlock within five minutes of sakusa being a little bitch and they fell in love even more

this part here was supposed to be a fun little bit about the all-stars team dynamics bc it's funny as hell but it was getting WAY too long and i severely underestimated how insanely complicated having people with grudges like ten years running would be on the same team so like. expect another post soon i guess?

ANYWAYS

they always try to do something when everyone is in town for training or some kind of promo exhibit like the all-stars match bc otherwise it's really really hard to hang out since they're scattered all over the place

imagine if they went to the beach. like. imagine if you were just the average beach goer and you went one day and all of a sudden there is a whole ass group of twenty or so incredibly powerful men who all look like they could kill you with just one hand and they're all screaming their heads off playing beach volleyball. and you look at them and you think they seem vaguely familiar but you don't know why. and then you go home and check twitter and your beach is trending and THAT'S how you find out that the entire goddamn national team took a day trip to visit the beach

[kurayami-no-ko]

A review of Mashle's second light novel (Mashle: Mash Burndead and Resurrection Spell)

A general review:

This light novel was co-authored by Hajime Komoto and Hoshi Kiyoko so it cannot be considered a Komoto's work. However, I still consider it sub-canon considering Komoto probably had to supervise it right?

It is a light read. All the short stories are simple stories with minimal action and conflicts so they are rather slice-of-life. However, they can be fun and interesting because we barely see many of these characters in the manga so it is nice to see another side of them and watch them deal with their problems. The short stories are all choose-your-own adventure so you will be able to choose what path each character will take.

There are five short stories in this light novel, focusing on Brad Coleman, Wirth Madle, Rayne Ames, Lemon Irvine, and Dot Barrett. The characters that appear prominently in these stories are Lance, Finn, Abel, Abyss, Love Cute, Margarette, Tom. Some other characters that also appear are Wahlberg and Sophina (in Rayne's story). If you want to see more of these characters, I highly recommend getting on Amazon JP and buy this light novel. If you don't know Japanese, Deepl is a good option to translate Japanese into English or any language of your choice.

Underneath, I will be giving a summary of two of the chapters of the light novel for those who who are not afraid of spoilers. I also translate some small sections in Rayne's short story for those who are interested.

Chapter 1: Brad Coleman and his observation work

Like the name, this chapter mainly focuses on one day of Brad Coleman watching over Mash and his friends (Lance, Dot, Lemon, and Tom).

The story starts with Brad hearing a report about an armoured knight showing up. Because the place this armoured knight appeared is a cream puff shop, Brad connects this with Mash. Thinking to himself that if Mash's inability to use magic gets exposed, his plan of success in life will come to nothing, he decides to go out.

After encountering the knight (who is later revealed to be Dot), there are some branching paths you can take. You can take many branching paths as the story progressed. However, if you choose a wrong path, Brad will be back in his office and won't be there to observe Mash and his friends have fun.

It is hard to describe all the branching stories but basically, Brad tries to make sure Mash and his friends stay safe and have a good day. He makes sure that Mash gets to the destination to meet up with his friends either by ordering other police to push him or use cream puffs as baits.

Brad orders the shop keepers of the places where Mash and his friends play to give special attention to the group so they can have a good time. In one of the branching path, he even orders other police officers to catch anything of suspect nearby and lies to them that this is because a child of someone special is playing there. That branching path will lead to a bad ending, however, as Brad himself will be captured because he throws his cigarette butt on the ground.

During the course of the story, Brad keeps telling himself that he does all this just for his plan. However, it is obvious he cares about Mash and wants the boy to have a good time. There is some wistful thinking on his part in the good ending about youths having fun and some bitterness about not having experienced such a happy time during his student years.

Chapter 2: Rayne Ames and one day of being a Divine Visionary

To all Rayne fans out there, this story can be quite interesting. And if you are a fan of the Divine Visionaries, Sophina appears. Sadly, Kaldo does not appear, though I read these light novels just so I an catch some glimpse of him.

From this story, it is apparent that Rayne's life is very busy. He gets off at work at 17 o'clock and is happy that he doesn't have to do overtime. However, when he returns to Easton, Wahlberg has some tasks he needs Rayne to handle. Rayne needs to feed his rabbits in two hours so you are only allowed two hours to handle all the tasks.

The three tasks he needs to do are:

Learn the destruction of the "Magic Reversal Mirror".

Learn about the animal that appeared in the bamboo grove

Answer an interview that will be published in the new student guidance pamphlet.

For the Magic Reversal Mirror, obviously Mash is the one who destroyed it so you are given the option to talk with him. Mash admits to it and apologizes for his action. Then when Rayne is about to leave the room, the door is opened and Finn comes in and says, "Brother! Please wait!".

You are then given two options: listen to what he says or I have no business with my brother. I will ignore him and leave the room. If Rayne ignores his brother, only 10 minutes will pass so less time's wasted, yay! If he listens to what Finn has to say, however, Finn will only say something in defense of Mash.

I will translate a small section here because I feel bad for Finn.

Looking down at Finn who was drawing back a little as expected, Rayne said coldly.

"I fully understand it."

"Eh..."

"You are wasting my time."

Saying it over his shoulders, Rayne Ames left behind both of them and quickly left room 302.

"...Brother."

The door closes to shut away the strengthless voice.

Because of his fault, 20 minutes passed by.

I feel so bad for poor Finn in this and am kinda mad at Rayne lol. Rabbits are important to him but 10 minutes aren't a long time and Rayne should not have acted as if Finn was a waste of time.

If Rayne goes to the bureau to ask about his predecessor, he will encounter Kaise Tsukkomi (Nerey Shawn in English), who says that the previous Director of Magical Objects was injured then retired. Rayne asked whether that person was injured by Domina and Kaise confirmed it. Then it makes sense that the mirror ended up in Cell War's hands.

Then if he goes to Abel's room to talk, he gains an ally in Abel.

After finishing this test, you can go on to the next task.

If Rayne chooses to be interviewed, you can choose his interviewer to be in black or white robe. If the interview is in black robe, it is Finn. They obviously have a very tense conversation and Rayne does a terrible job answering Finn's question about what animal he likes. So Mash shows up and answers it for him.

I will translate a small section because I like these siblings.

"I didn't ask you, Mash-kun."

"That is rude."

"Then, Mash-kun what do you like?"

"Cream puffs."

"Isn't that food!!"

What carefreeness.

The reception room somehow got filled up by a carefree atmosphere.

His brother was laughing out loud.

That brother who used to cried all the time...

I cannot remain in such a carefree place. I cannot destroy such a carefree atmosphere.

Rayne Ames quietly turned his back and left the reception room.

I can't with Rayne. -Cries- However, Fin's being an interviewer is actually a bad option. You are supposed to choose the other option and Rayne will be interviewed by Wahlberg.

To the next task, he has to find out about some animal. To find out about that animal, I recommend going to the library to research about the animal first because that is the only way to get the best ending. Then Rayne will meet Sophina!

Sophina leads Rayne to a shelf as huge as a castle wall. When Rayne complains about there being too many books because he has no time, Sophina just smiles and says,

"To be satisfied with knowledge learned in a short time. You will say act as you say, but I wonder whether those words are also cheap makeshifts and not worth believing in."

"...Ku"

Rayne can either choose to read a lot of books or only a few and choosing to read a few is going to lead him to the best ending. In that branching path, he only reads three books for children.

"Is it really okay for you to only read three books?"

Rayne gave his answer carelessly to a puzzled Sophina.

"I have no intention of becoming a scholar, I only want to solve the problem at school. Besides, because these are children books, important facts are written here. Zebra in hotter regions have more stripes, penguins' black and white colors are for camouflage in the ocean, pandas' black and white colors..."

"I have enough of animal trivia."

Though she spoke out a flat refusal, Sophina understood. Rayne cultivated an intellect at the top of the magical world, which was enough to make him the youngest Divine Visionary. He was surely the kind of person that only needed to listen one to learn ten things. Though he and children read the same thing, he gained vastly more information and content than them. While acknowledging him, Sophina was proud and confident that he would not be able to surpass herself who was worthy of the title of Knowledge Cane.

Sophina kept her expression unchanged, said "Goodbye", then she left, her long, black hair waving.

Later on, Rayne finds out that the animal in the bamboo grove is a kind of animal that feeds on dreams. The dream, in this case, specifically belongs to Mash.

After finishing these three tasks, Rayne goes back to his room, feeds his rabbits and has a great time. If he finishes any task unsatisfactorily, he will not be fully satisfied and thinks about it even when feeding his rabbits. If he fails to finish all the tasks in time, he is happy but his rabbits are super hungry by the time he feeds them so make sure to feed them in time!

[sevlinop]

FF8 party appreciation post

Been obsessed with Final Fantasy in general recently, and especially FF8. Had to share what I love about the rest of the party besides Squall and Rinoa. (They're awesome, but wanted to give the others some attention.)

Quistis: How socially awkward she is, but in an endearing way. Because she was so successful as a SEED from a young age, even more so than Squall, and is very conventionally attractive other characters seem intimidated by her. When she's actually a triple triad fanatic, who doesn't even know how to properly flirt. Still a total badass, and a caring person though. She cares so much about Rinoa's feelings, she's willing to put a mission stake. Not a great idea, but it shows what sweet person she is. In a normal school she would be an incredible teacher.

Zell: Love how despite the tattoos and shonen protagonist schtick, he's actually a huge nerd. Very bookish and well read, tries to follow the rules like in the Dollet mission, lame but in a fun way, and is a mama's boy. He even has a shrine to his grandpa. Also respects women and is supportive of Rinoa and Selphie like in D District when he stands up for them, says he'll protect Edea, or helps Rinoa with Squall's ring. He's similar to Sabin in FF6 or Tifa in FF7 in that he's actually a huge softie despite his appearance. King!

Selphie: How she's presented as initially annoying, but that's only because we're seeing things filtered through early game Squall's perspective. Everyone back at Trabia loves her, and she knows them all really well. She shows up at Balamb and is already making moves, but not in a purely self serving way. Selphie just genuinely loves people, and people love her. Definitely would be the most fun to party with, and the mostly likely to be a celebrity. None of this means she isn't a deep thinker though, as we she when she just casually ponders death on the train in disc 1. Plus she can even fly an airship!!

Irvine: It's actually really sweet how nostalgic he is for the orphanage. Definitely a very sentimental person, and not the type to really want to hurt people despite his profession. When he's not trying to be a pick up artist, he seems like he'd be a great friend. Also comes across as the one who would give very wise advice out of nowhere. And not to mention I appreciate how he overcomes a panic attack, and still manages to do his part in the Sorceress assassination mission.

Anyway, sorry, just wanted to gush. Love these four!

[samstree]

What’s up readers?! How about a little show and tell? Answer these 13 questions, tag 13 lucky readers and if you’re feeling extra bookish add a shelfie! Let’s Go!

Thank you @darthwillies for the tag!

1) The Last book I read:

The Vampire Lestat. I've been slowly reading the first few Vampire Chronicles books since the TV show took over my body and soul lmao. So far this one is a lot of fun!

2) A book I recommend:

Creatures of a Day. It's a non-fiction and a good look into psychology in general and psychiatrist as a profession. Would highly recommend Irvin Yalom's other books too.

3) A book that I couldn’t put down:

The Song of Achilles. I read very slowly in English but this book had me hooked from the beginning and I finished it in one weekend. This was actually a few years ago now but I haven't had the same experience since. (If anyone knows anything that is the same but like...different, please let me know alskjdf)

4) A book I’ve read twice (or more):

This Is Going to Hurt. I really liked the humor in the book when the topic is so serious. It's about working in health care and especially in the OB ward. Witnessing life and death daily can't be easy, but Adam Kay makes it easy to read.

5) A book on my TBR:

The Red Sorghum. It's been on my TBR since it won the Nobel prize lmao. The theme is very heavy though, but anyway, one day I will read, even just for the nobel.

6) A book I’ve put down:

All the Light We Cannot See. The writing is beautiful but the WWII story just doesn't draw me in as much. Maybe one day I will go back to it.

7) A book on my wish list:

Can I put an unpublished book here? The Winds of Winter lol, if I can be cheeky for a bit. Watching House of the Dragon really just brought me back into my asoiaf era. I feel sixteen again and piecing together all the clues for the sequel and thinking about all the theories. Unfortunately it is still very much a wish list.

8) A favorite book from childhood:

Journey to the West! Who doesn't love an adventure story about four besties going on a road trip that is full of cool monsters of the week? Also the whole book is metaphor for buddhist enlightenment. So it really contains multitudes.

9) A book you would give to a friend:

Silver in the Wood. It's a short novel that I brought to a long flight and just finished in one go. It makes you feel like you've just taken a little walk in the forest. It's a light read that makes a perfect gift!

10) A book of poetry or lyrics that you own:

Does Evgenii Onegin count as poetry? It's one of my favorite reads back in university. Partly because of the adapted play I think, it is still the top theater experience I've ever had.

11) A nonfiction book you own:

When Breath Becomes Air. It was written by a surgeon about his journey battling cancer at the end of his life. It's one of the books that stayed with me, having read it after cancer being such a huge part of my life for years. I feel like I got some answers from it and would recommend everyone to read.

12) What are you currently reading:

Queen of the Damned. More sexy vampires! Some of them are even old AND sexy!

13) What are you planning on reading next?

Keep reading through the Vampire Chronicles until reason and taste fail me (or Anne Rice does). I hear people tend to stop at some point during the 12 books in the whole series. We'll see how long I last.

tagging: @kuripon @cherryjuicegf @silvipeppers @tideswept @valdomarx. No pressures of course <3

[mpregjamesdiamond]

Okay here are some antics I think the BTR boys would get up to source: I’m a certified minnesotan who goes to duluth a few times a year

-the main mall in duluth is the miller hill mall. Totally generic, average mall, but it’s pretty much the main thing teens will do during the winter. I think they would get banned for life by starting a food fight in the cafeteria and they’d keep coming up with disguises to use and then subsequently getting banned again. there's also a mall called fitgers which is pretty cool because it used to be a brewery. i've only been there a few times so idk as much about it alas.

-speaking of malls, at some point they would come to minneapolis (i assume for say a hockey trip for example) and go to the mall of america. It’s the biggest mall in the western hemisphere and theres a zillion stores so you can imagine all the antics there. But in particular, they have an amusement park. It is currently nickelodeon universe but i think at the time it would’ve still been camp snoopy. I think they would have gotten banned by climbing up the rides and breaking something.

-While in minneapolis, i think they would’ve gone to the sculpture garden (it’s free). I think they would somehow make the cherry break off from the famous spoonbridge and cherry fountain

-They would also go to the science museum for sure. I think they would manage to knock over a dinosaur skeleton. But also they’d also just have all kinds of general antics. For example, they have a thing that blasts you with air to replicate sneezing and they’d 100% do that to each other. I can elaborate on this more I went to this museum sooo much as a kid but this is already gonna be so long lmao.

-While still in the area, they’d go to Valleyfair, which is like the main amusement park around here. Again, generic amusement park antics. But I also think they’d come around halloween, when they do ValleyScare, which is when they have like, haunted houses and scare actors and whatnot

-Going back to duluth, they would DEFINITELY spend time around canal park in the warmer months. It’s like this little touristy/shopping center in duluth. There’s a bunch of little shops and restaurants and a couple museums (including the irvin museum which is like a big ass historic boat and also as an aside they do like a haunted ship thing around halloween) around there. There’s a lakewalk they could walk along, there’s a lighthouse you can walk up to, and also there’s this like semi-submerged structure in the lake that people like to jump off of in the summer. 

-Also in the canal park area is the aerial lift bridge. The whole bridge lifts up when boats are gonna pass under. The guys would 100% get in trouble for trying to stay on the bridge while it’s going up

-Theres also this like, family fun center in canal park called adventure zone that i remember going to as a kid. it has like, an arcade and laser tag and stuff like that. obviously they would get kicked out of there almost immediately

-Theres a tower in duluth called enger tower that at least one of them would definitely fall out of and break an arm or something

-there’s a famous mansion called the glensheen mansion. Notoriously, there were some murders that happened there and tour guides aren’t supposed to talk about it during the tours (they’re usually okay fielding questions about after the tour) so I would imagine they would pester the poor tour guide about the murders/ghosts until the guide snapped asjhds

-less like, antic-y, but there used to be record shop called electric fetus that they probably would have gone to

-i think they would’ve been banned from the lake superior zoo for trying to pet the animals or something but i suppose that could happen at any zoo

- the downtown duluth area is on a really steep hill so i imagine in winter after it snowed they’d try to sled down it and almost get hit by cars

-Grandma’s marathon ends in canal park, so i think they’d fake like they ran the whole marathon to impress girls or something sadjhhka

-there are a lot of parks including state parks so i could imagine them getting like lost in the woods or whatever. in general in minnesota/duluth theres a lot of outdoorsy stuff like skiing, hiking, canoeing, kayaking, boating, jetskiing, ATVing, snowmobiling, that sort of stuff. fishing is really big because we have a zillion lakes lol. i was always a dork who just wanted to stay inside as a teen lol but teenage boys i knew growing up tended towards doing those outdoors stuff.

-an aside but i know the guys are hockey players so it's probably good to know the minnesota hockey team is the minnesota wild. im not a big hockey person but my understanding is they are incredibly mid.

hope this helps with your band yaoi bestie <3 obviously this is a non-exhaustive list but this is the big stuff that came to mind.

@partiallypearl @cant-get-enough-btr-forever @myloveforhergoeson @mpregloganmitchell @mpregkendallknight @btr-rewatch @bishounenbtr tagging you guys because you might be interested in their minnesota antics from a reliable source (my good friend penny)

penny i love love that you wrote all this i felt like i was taking a little tour with you around the cities <333

THEY HAD CAMP SNOOPY ARE YOU KIDDING ME... that's adorable, they definetly would've managed to catch that big snoopy on fire orrr get really trashed one night and try to steal it skdjsh (it seems huge on that picture so the idea of the guys clumsily trying to climb it to take it with them is cracking me up).

i remember you mentioning the spoonbridge once!! don't remember the context lol, i didn't know it was an entire garden waow.. yeah that cherry would suffer some damage with them around for sure.

that science museum looks like so much fun 😭 i think logan would ask them to go and they'd do it for him but end up having a blast together. if you do feel like telling more about what you liked about it as a kid please do bc im charmed by this place.

that picture of canal park's submerged structure is making me crazy bc those guys jumping into the lake could totally be them... one thing in general about these guys is they canonically Love the outdoors, they like to camp, the beach and they seemed to take well to california's warmer weather, i can see them taking any chance they got back home to enjoy the sun and the water without freezing their toes off lol. they also wanted to take snowboarding lessons according to the show (but james' mom made them take ballet instead <3), they'd take advantage of any change of adrenaline. the rush, one could say 🤨

THAT MANSION!! idk if you got that far but there's a ghost episode in season 1, and they obviously try to bust it. this would be right up their alley. i can see them plotting to split during the tour so they can catch that sucker (kendall's plan, brought on by carlos' request/begging skdjshs)

fun fact!!

but the fact that they're mid makes it so much funnier to me 😭😭😭 another mutual also told me the maple leafs are kinda hated? i honestly can see kendall choosing these teams out of spite as a young teen skdjdhd "oh you think they suck? well now i want in even more :)"

I LOVE THISSSSS thank you for taking the time to write it bestie ❤️❤️

[harukirai]

Queer history of Final Fantasy

I am replaying all the old final fantasies(mostly psp psone releases), first time with english localization and not the original jp.

Now i get it.

It all make sense now.

I couldn't understand the wave of "why shove the gays in our face" backlash of 16(even though, the non homophobic felt it was lacking since they didn't want to 'push it in yall face'). Like apperantly moat of the implication or straight up fruity moments in the old game was completely removed, or changed to the point of it being a 'silly thing'.

So lets clarify -

*Cecil(iv), your homeboy- an Non-binary (language is the best indication, but yeah i think it was a decision made for both female and male players to be able to relate to them, but yeah funny outcome non the less)

*Bartz(v)- outright bisexual, they didnt even hide it- next person on this list gonna make it make sense.

*faris(v)- an ftm transgender( at least in the original version, i know in some new iterations they scrapped the whole concept, but left it in in others?)- mainly speak about himself with (ore/boku- which is conventionally usally by male speakers), after finding out soem of the cast either use a female pronounce on him, but bartz constantly either avoid it or use male pronounce(or the nonbinary version which is usually reffered to kidz) but yeah, bartz was crushing on faris where he thought he was a cis male and unlike the other guy didnt shy away.

Lets jump a bit to 8-

Irvine(viii)- even though considered very handsome to the point he could get with any girl hed want, was even flirted with by selphie i think i need to remember, but he usually brush it off.

If anything he is either asexual, or gay(its very subtle, but its what called queer coding, and well see that allot from now on cause japan caught up to westerns norm on media)

Quina Quen (ix)- literally, a nonbinary- but i think they kept it in eng as well cause they are not human, but like black mages they have no sex, but unlike black mages they are 'genderless' and dont care for human norms.

Kuja(ix)- either gay/intersex/both.

Look at him.

Seriously that character confused a whole generation sexuality.

Like sephiroth, but unlike sephiroth he also have effeminate mannerisms, and until it was revealed by text it wasnt so obvious.sephiroth in jp have a confusing language because he himself is possed by jenova, so evem though i love this headcanon, sephiroth isnt trans actually.

Auron(x)- ahh yes, your favourite broody guy and probably where im gonna get tons of hate.

Auron is very subtle, but once you notice it its hard to deny.

I think Auron is gay, unlike jecht or braska- he did not have kids, denied arranged marriage, and followed jecht to dream zanarken just to save jecht only son- it was pretty obvious that auron loved jecht. He also loved braska but not as much, and it shows- that for auron it was more than friendship. You can see it with his attitude towards yuna vs tidus- with yuna he is nicer, politer. Liem you act when you babysit your friends /cousins child.

But to tidus, he is a full father figure.In their journey together they grow, and i think if he wasnt the boy of the man he loved he wouldn't treat tidus as his own. With all the scoldinngs in mind.

Paine(X-2)- qlmost forgot her, but yeah she's pretty gay for riku

I dont remember much though because if the mission structure of the game.

Larsa(xii) - ohh i see you boy, i see u. He is sus as hell. He is a kid so its pretty innocent(and relatable to us queer kidz)

Its pretty obvios that he is crushing on basch, innocently though. I know some ppl who shipped him with penelo, but canonically by spinoffs at least she and vann are an item.

Also they made sure it was obvious cause japan have this thing that a young character is crushing on a teacher,mentor , older characters in general(aka cc sakura- her friend crushing on a teacher, syaoran & sakura crushing on yukito, also happens in tons of pop culture media at that time, so im not surprised, but im happy this time its one sided, THANK GOD)

But yeah if you reached the ending its pretty obvious.

Fang & vanille(xiii)- the first lesbians couple! Terra(VI) was supposed to be the first but they were afraid it will make her less marketable so they scrapped her gf. They made them clear, but at the same time they tried to make sure pple wont be fetishizing them(they tried, at least).

I want to explain their story more but i think ill mess it up since i tend to mix up 13's lacie, falcie and all that jazz.

So ill just say that basically there are 2 world in 13, pulse and cacoon. Pulse is basically earth and cacoon is the moon. There is a god for each world called a falcie.

Few of them but ine for each major ones. Our main gand from cacoon, branded by a falcie to be slaves(lacie) vanille and fang are from pulse, and slaves of pulse lacie, so basically they are with the task of creating Ragnarok which is like the end of time and but limw they dont know cause the gods in this game is like 'yeah imma give you a mission but wont tell you beside weird non undersandable feaver dream and you need to figure out and fast or youll become this universe version of zombie, and if you do complete it you become a ceystal living forever but like, sleeping beauty style. So lose lose situation.

The focus of them both is different from the gang, caus the falcie of cacoon is evil so he gove them focus destroying cocoon while if fang& vannile mannaged to ruin that falcie and bring ragnarok theyll become a crystal, and they used it to save coccon from falling and crushing killing all the people in it, basically became a pillar in eternal sleep when they hheld each other.

But they are saved in later game only to... Lightning return which we wont talk about cause i hate timers.

I love the story of xiii, big part of it is vanille & fang, i havent played in english yet, but i will say, their story is one of the more meaningful on this list, very well developed and i will do it disservice if id try to explain it in few sentences - so do yourself a favour and play or watch the playthrough.

Ignis& gladio(xv)- here is when localization ruimed it. I know cause i palyed on jp dub with eng sub and heard the differences live- first of all gladio and ignis are completely different in jp, as individuals and as a pair- they were supposed to be the first dion& terrence moment, but it got scrapped and they went the vannile& fang route, only that bec they are men, the localization team missed the mark.

Gladio got pissed at noctis in the train because of ignis.

In jp its clear their bond is beyond friends, and not mention the fact that their AI is always stuck together, and that gladio isnt a womenizer in jp at all, and there is no fiancee/girlfriend.

In jp he said suggested there is someone he wants to be with but bec of the state of the world and them both being constantly in the battlefront he couldnt ask.

(and ignis clear his throat when everyone is like oh great, very subtle but it was leading to that)

Every stop of the train or erea post blindness gladio was with ignis not leaving him .

Also tabata san also said that they are more than friends. So there's that too.

But its no secret 15 localization is tereible, the massacared prompto, he is so cringy in english, in jp yeah he is funny but like he says more stuff then random pop colture references, he breaks the 4th wall occasionally but not on the same level of the localization. Also, jp noctis is a little shit because he can and will, in localization he is more relatable while ignos and gladio are kimda mean. In jp its the other way around and up until chap 13 (when he is alone) noctis is a bratt. He has some moments when he is nicer, but when struggle shows he is a bratt about it- and its done purposely since he is a spoiled pronce who never done anything alone in his life.

Thats why in chap 13 he has a change of heart, because he was alone and learned to appriciate his friends when he was stuck alone in the dark with no weapons and i think it was a good call storytelling wise, but yeah the english localzation ruined it and made the whole chapter pointless .

Those are the implied/canon gays of final fantasy up to 15(we got a kiss so its obvious).

The series has always been kinda Fruity and i know some of yall will be like, 'but there's no proof'. Well, japanese speakers(who arent homophobic at least) will agree with me that we tend in media that is not specified like BL or GL to make things subtle. So what in the west is called 'queer coding' is very common in japanese media and it comes in way more shape and forms.usually implied with a desper conncetion relationship or linguistics.its funny cause in the 80's and very early 90's gay pple wasnt hidden in jp pop culture (no kisses or anything but it was straight out told to the viewer/player)

And only later 90's there was a trend of removing us completely from the media, but around that time a specific genre was created so it wasn't out completely.(like yaoi/yuri as erotic mangas existed aince the 80's but usually only love stories or main gay characters were mixed in with the straight media, kimda like what netflix does today, but around 96, 97 the shounen ai and shoujo ai genres rose in popularity(mainly cause of clamp) and things got seperated. In games- because it became a bigger deal in the west square took caution with how clear they gonna make stiff not to piss of the christians after the backlash of Pokemon (idk how it was really but through japanese media and news it seemed at the times that the american patents were pissed so game companies started sensoring their games from all things might piss off christians/monotheistics ).

*also i dont live in japan but i am mixed so i grew in a jp speaking house and family from there always sent games on holidays and birthdays+nhk was always running in the backround to check on the motherland😂

[fireleaptfromhousetohouse]

Old-style Paedoing, Before It Got Such A Bad Name

Epistemic status: understanding the recent past, which I wasn’t around for, mainly through the lens of comedies, rumour, and scuttlebutt

The story goes that it was an open secret for many years that Sir Jimmy Savile, knight of the realm, was a horrible sex pervert before it all came to light and he was declared a posthumous monster. And this is true - but the specifics are rather vague.

A lot of sources (or, as they are now, brave prescient voices) were bang-on certain he was into some kind of sex crime, but weren’t sure exactly what. Viz simply painted him as a man whose (unspecified) confessional was worth hearing. An early Mitchell and Webb bit came in on some shocking report midway through, leaving the actual deeds as a noodle incident but quite clear they were appalling: ‘you think you know a guy, and then he goes and does something like that.’ Even Johnny Rotten, back in ‘78, went no further than charging him with ‘seediness’ and saying ‘I know some rumours’ in an edgy-kid stream-of-consciousness about all the people he’d like to kill, where he displays a bit too much knowledge about what does and doesn’t constitute libel.

The general charge, if any, seemed to be necrophilia. Lee and Herring’s bit where they dressed as Savile ended with the punchline ‘bagsy I take him to the morgue’. One of Irvine Welsh’s earlier novellas has a Cornish Savile-alike wantonly indulging in any corpse he had access to - Welsh’s version is a more general TV personality rather than specifically a children’s entertainer, probably for fear of litigation. This was no idle fear, Savile was well-known for taking such insinuations courtside, and of course he did sue when Chris Morris falsely announced his death on Radio 1, with the coda ‘the patients [at Savile hunting ground Stoke-Mandeville Hospital] are far from mourning...The majority, if not all of them, are extremely relieved that he’s now dead, although I suspect that some of them will be sorry that he didn't suffer a great deal more’.

Interestingly, Lee and Herring - as they’ve stated publicly - weren’t brave prescient voices. Hanging around Television Centre in their mid-twenties, they’d become aware of this - to them, absurd - rumour that Savile troubled the corpses. They decided that if nothing else it was game for a laugh, presumably with a BBC lawyer standing nervously in the wings and demanding they not get too specific.

Until Savile’s death, this remained a rather murky Soviet truth, and Savile himself remained a respected public figure. Within the third millennium, even as Chris Morris was being castigated for the Paedogeddon special of Brass Eye, BBC brightly-coloured-blobs children’s show The Tweenies had one of its blobs dress up as Savile as a bit of lighthearted fun - in an edition of the show which was, unwisely, repeated in 2013.

(Side note: the same tabloids which threw an ape over the obviously satirical Paedogeddon regularly ran pictures of topless 16-year-olds, until a change in the law in 2003 forced them to stop.)

It’s all out now, of course, but like the sun is one of those things people are wary of looking at directly for fear of the damage it could do. Savile made full abuse of his position as a public figure, to the point that he himself admitted to the necrophilia in idle conversation. Even by the loose standards of the British constabulary they admit there were over 200 actionable complaints made against Savile over the years.

The crux is this - Savile having committed all these beyond-the-pale acts becomes a very convenient way to paper over the point at which, in the broader consciousness, paedophilia went from ‘crime’ to ‘unforgivable, lowest-circle-of-hell crime’ in the vein of necrophilia. Because it was far more acceptable not too long ago, as many legendary musicians can attest. Gary Glitter generally just seemed shocked people were suddenly taking it so seriously - as did Jeffrey Epstein. 

Louis Theroux’s rather regretful pair of documentaries about Savile has the man himself being quite blase about his attitude to underage girls - as were the girls themselves, some of whom, while young at the time, were by their own account quite aware what might be on the cards. Does this make them culpable? Of course not, they were children. But there are those who would disagree. At the time, many would have and did disagree - including, quite likely, serving police constables. The Rotherham grooming gang, so beloved a talking point of those who just want to have a go at Pakistanis in general, were enabled top to bottom by a police force who considered their victims to be ‘slags’.

[kaijuposting]

Let's talk about what's going on with Hermann here.

So y'all probably remember this Iconic Moment in Pacific Rim:

In this scene Stacker Pentecost is telling the fellas about how he made a deal with black market dealer Hannibal Chau so he could supplement the shatterdome's meager budget, because the PPDC sucks that way.

Up to this point, Hermann's general behavior around Pentecost suggests that he saw him as basically the Ideal Authority Figure; a man of Rules and Protocols. The novelization bio informs us that Hermann relies on order and control to feel safe, and while Alexander Irvine's editing definitely compromised del Toro's intentions on a lot of points (we can see this by comparing the bios he released on Twitter with the bios in the novelization), it's reasonable to think that something was like this the bio del Toro wrote. So it's also reasonable to think that it never really crossed Hermann's mind that Pentecost might bend or break the rules for any reason. (Even though Tendo Choi's bowtie would've been a giveaway if he'd thought about it for more than a few minutes.)

So in this scene, Pentecost reveals that he's actually not the stickler for rules that Hermann thought he was. He's been dealing with the black market and now he's telling Newt to go and talk with a major black market dealer. In this moment Hermann's entire perception of Marshal Stacker Pentecost is radically altered as he essentially realizes that Stacker Pentecost didn't do such a good job of protecting people because he always followed the rules and protocols of the PPDC, but because he chose to break them when the PPDC refused to give the support that he and everyone at the shatterdome needed. And what does Hermann do afterward? He willingly, happily chooses to drift with Newt, that's what. Hermann comes out of this a very changed man: he's realized that following rules and protocols does not protect people, but rather that making conscientious choices protects people. (And arguably, he's also learned that conscientious choices are not always morally pure choices - those black market people are still a dangerous bunch, producing and selling dangerous products.) What all of this means is that Hermann is going to be a very different person going forward - and luckily for Newt, a much more relaxed person overall. (No more petty complaints to HR, that's for sure!)

[arabriddler]

Strap in the Everest discrepancy theory is a doozy

Okay so! It's pre 1921ish and the British adventures guild or whatever it's called decide someone needs to climb to the top of Everest and as such are funding anyone willing to make the expedition, enter George Mallory a younger climber with a passion! He and his team climb the mountain and stop roughly around the point where humans can no longer breath without assistance on the mountain (call back to the Bee ask) and find they can't go higher. This was well and fine until it wasn't and manically almost Mallory insists he has to go to the top. Only 7 Sherpa agreed to go up with him, and in this agreement the climbers faced avalanche that left all 7 dead and anyone else to est flee. Mallory was among the others to flee and descend back down the mountain under the preface that the team wasn't equipped enough for Everest. See, not only does the mountain eventually go so high you can't breath without assistance but the snow reflecting the sun can blind you, any skin left exposed near the upper levels will be frostbitten within 10 minutes, the mountain is always either in two kinds of bad weather conditions (monsoon or blizzards) besides MAYBE a 10 day period ish, and at the time of Mallory's expedition hadn't been successfully climbed meaning no trails to follow or maps to help.

Despite all this in 1924 Mallory attempts the climb again (4th time now) with a new team and yet again reach the pivotal spot of needing oxygen tanks. Due to the weather at the time entering blizzard time and the team not knowing he opts to go up with not a experienced climber like him but rather a oxygen specialist named Irvine. With the man originally going to climb in Irvine's place being told to follow with a camera and once they reach a certain point to stay and wait to see the men at the top within a certain time frame. Due to the fogs and clouds rolling in for those storms I brought up though the camera man never saw them except for a small 5 minute period at roughly 12pm, at this time he saw them climb over what he thought was the second step and then dissappear behind it and the fog promptly rolled back in to ensure he wouldn't spot them. That was the last time either men where seen alive.

Now here's the fun part! See we now know the men left with a extra oxygen tank, the group had two missing sleeping bags (the climbers), and that when the camera man saw them he was wrong. They couldn't have climbed that second step in only 5 minutes and even if they had that would've put the two 4 hours behind schedule. Now why couldn't it have been the second step of the three? Because that step isn't even used in the official climb to the top of Everest, let alone in the modern day trails, where the man returned after because it is so steep to climb, think a buildings wall level. Meaning Mallory and Irvine where either at the third or first step and either options spell bad news for the men because of the aforementioned timing situations of being behind. Not to mention the blizzard that rolled in as well.

So where does that leave the dead man? Well at first no one knew, as because someone climbing up wouldn't stop to admire the dead with the limited time they had to get up and get down, however the first of the men's things was found in the ice pick Irvine used to climb the mountain giving people a general area of where the bodies may be not to mention a Japenese man that claimed he saw a dead man in the time appropriate clothes and style of the region of England of when Mallory and Irvine made their deadly climb up laying face down in the snow so he couldn't see the man's face. A oxygen tank of the time period was also eventually found which gave people a good idea of where the men COULD be. As with weather conditions the bodies would never decay but they could easily be moved or hidden by snow and wind.

This brings us to 1999 when a team went up with the specific intent of finding the two men. In this attempt they managed to find Mallorys body with a broken rope attached to him, and many injuries that suggested a deadly fall. He did not have the camera the two men climbed up with on him, he didn't have any rocks (some rocks can only be found at the top of Everest and no where else on the world) on him, OR the picture of him and his wife he took with him to place at the summit. The picture was later found not at the summit however because of the weather its possible it once been at the summit and then fallen further down the mountian but Irving's body and the camera haven't been found as of the time I'm writing this. The camera company has since come out with a manual on how to properly process the film of the camera if ever found though to give people a chance.

Now why is all of this of note? Because until Irving's body and that camera are found uts impossible to know for sure if Mallory achieved his dreams of being the first man to reach the top or not as some argue he was and other claim the man to climb to the top and down again is (none of this is to take away from that man what he did is nothing short of incredible and if it was proven Mallory reached the top first the man to go up and down would still have a proper place in the history books) which if proven Mallory was first would mean a rewriting of history! Until that day Irving and the camera are found however we won't ever know.

woahhhh this is very cool. Feel bad for the first team though :(( but anyways thank you for sharing and if there are any updates let me know 👀👀

[bonelady]

been making my way through Irvine Welsh's bibliography. finished The Acid House this morning (a collection of his short stories. a lot of whatever to fine level stories, a handful of bangers). started up Marabou Stork Nightmares. i have long held Trainspotting as my comfort movie, despite having first watched it with an ex i no longer speak to, and have struggled to explain to people why i describe it mostly unironically as 'the feel good movie of the year'. it was when i got to the end of the novella at the end of The Acid House (A Smart Cunt) that it clicked what speaks to me about his writing. the protagonists of his work are all fundamentally stuck. due to causes economic, emotional, mental, physical, these are people who cannot make any progress. and i realized that more than anything else, that's how i define my identity. i have a weird relationship to my mixed ethnicity. my grandparents were immigrants so i'm not a part of their home cultures but i don't belong here either. i have a weird relationship to my gender and sexuality. i've never had a stable, truly euphoric image of myself as a man or woman or fag or dyke or anything. i'm in a bubble between generations and struggle to relate to people my age, and while some things line up for me with older people, a lot doesn't. but i've lived in poverty my whole life. i've had to fight tooth and nail to keep treading water. i've spent years looking around at the same awful shit and dreaming about being able to do something with my life. more than anything else, the thing that drives me, that makes me who i am, is my desperate, all-consuming need to stop being stuck. and that's the kind of shit the Welsh writes, and writes well. even though the shit that he writes about is worse than the shit i've lived through, it feels more like home than anything else i've read or watched. he writes about young people who never got their feet off the ground because they suffered some heinous shit outside of their control that left them stuck. i never really understood the way people talked about 'representation' in media before, but i think i'm starting to get it.

[pacifymebby]

https://www.tumblr.com/whey-aye-sam-fender/656267645139681280/in-newcastle-we-say-pet-and-someone-was-trying

Such a good read x

“In Newcastle we say ‘pet’ and someone was trying to tell me that was fucking offensive towards women. You’re not going to delete my fucking colloquial identity. It’s not even gender-specific; we say it to men and women. My Grandma calls me ‘pet’! That brand of liberalism is fucking destroying the country. We could be getting Boris Johnson and all them pricks out of office if we stopped sweating over shit like that”.

put his whole chest into that :')

he's so real for that too! I do think that the attack on that kind of language by a certain brand of academic liberal as being "sexist" comes from people outside of those working class towns, and is ultimately an attack on the language and dialects of these places. People would say it isn't that deep telling people they can't use pet names, but it starts to be about where you draw the line? "You can't use your dialect if you want to be taken seriously/ professionally" is something you quite often hear/ see, like writers who write in Scots (Irvine Welsh/ Trainspotting) are often shunned or taken less seriously, you're taught that if you want to go to uni you have to speak a certain way, if you want to be perceived as clever you have to speak in RP because people think a working class accent sounds scummy and stupid.

I think what he's talking about with "pet" being called sexist, is part of that general classism towards local dialects. And local dialects are a massive part of community identity. I heard someone speak in a welsh accent earlier and was like oh shit, a friend <3 and thats the same with dialect, speaking in your local dialect is a way of showing that you're part of that community and have a group of people on a level with you.

I used to live in the midlands where instead of pet you call people duck, and the phrase "ey up me duck". apparently comes from when the vikings were around, it was used to identify you as being a celt or something? I can't remember exactly but I know the words are derived from the Scandinavian (like a lot of Geordie terms) and so they're intrinsic to the fabric/ history of a specific area and using them links you to your ancestors and that kind of thing is often really important for people (especially when they're from historically downtrodden communities!!! Its a way of having dignity and pride in your community/ class)

Anyway this is such a big rant lol sorry, im actually also really crazy passionate and a big nerd when it comes to dialect because I've picked up a lot (in an attempt to fit in in the various places I have lived) and also been raised with conflicting opinions on (my mums parents were always telling me not to speak in my accent when I was younger, they tried to teach me to speak RP and to drop dialect, my dad and his family pretty much went the other way and encouraged me to be proud of it haha)

[miyukihoshizora]

So! FFVIII! Finished it yesterday, loved most of the last stretch! And it totally comes appart the second you think about it too hard!

First what I liked:

Squall and Rinoa, obviously. Their dynamic and respective growths mirroring each other. One who shuts off the world and one who forces herself to seem like this dizzy social butterfly, both because they are terrified of being hated. Their friendship very organically evolve into a romance and the best scenes in the game like the space rescue are always between these two.

Quistis was also the teammate I felt got to do the most. Started off as a mentor, before realizing the mantle of leader was not for her and learning to put her full trust into something other than her instincts. She also had the emotional intelligence to dodge a love triangle when she felt that shit arrive lmao.

The game is also full of really cool setpieces in general. The space rescue, the Gardens themselves, the Lunatic Pandora... And of course, Ultimecia's castle! I absolutely loved the whole dream sequence at the end, how it communicated without words on all of Squall's fears and how Rinoa became the reason he learned to enjoy his life. How he clung to her image like a lifeline even if the time distortion + GF poisoning tried to take it away from him (as it did with Ultimecia if you subscribe to the U=R theory). Like god damn, this was strong stuff.

Speaking of! I'm actually shocked Ultimecia being Rinoa is just a fan theory Square went out of their way to debunk because it seemed so obvious to me from the get go and I wasn't even aware of the theory until I looked into it. I find it weird they decided to just say no to the whole thing instead of keeping it ambiguous, as the game does, because thematically, this makes it a really powerful story, and Ultimecia a much more sympathetic baddie. Like damn, you can do so much with Griever being all she has left of her knight, while her refusal to let go of it twisting her memories to the point she can no longer recognize him when he comes to her from the past, as she wanted. Respectfully gonna kill the author on this one.

Now for the less good stuff... The orphanage plot twist, obviously. Doctor Odine's whole deal. The Norg stuff. I imagine the fact this plot is held together by duct tape is like, the popular opinion at this point. The best parts of this game kind of mostly work in a vacuum.

Also, well... Zell, Irvine and Selphie don't really have any arc to speak of as far as I can tell. Which is a bit disappointing, compared to VII, I wish they all got to do a lot more. They are still my babies but I really didn't care for them as much as I did the other three, and that Is a problem in a seried that lives or die by how much you engage with its characters.

Oh and bro, Seifer. I jokingly compared him to Draco Malfoy and just like Draco they totally half assed his part in the plot. He had strong momentum as a rival character in Disc 1, but the fact Rinoa stops having feeling for him the second he does his heel turn, and that he just wanted to be Ultimecia's knight, regardless of whether it was Edea or Rinoa, TWO WOMEN HE LOVED, is completely ridiculous. He also got a total anticlimax with the most heavy-handed Gilgamesh cameo, and then Fujin and Raijin (the best part of this stupid plot thread) just redeem him off screen where he goes back to Balamb and never gets any comeuppance for actively trying to destroy the world, like, what the hell even was that.

Oh yeah also the gameplay system is jank and I only started having fun with it when I broke it.

That about sums up my thoughts. I'm really happy of my experience with this game, and to finally be done with the Playstation era!~

My X replay is next, and then I'll probably hop straight onto XV.

[retaliationrp]

That’s the difference between you and me. You wanna lose small, I wanna win big.

𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐄: Samuel Jordan Adlawan 𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑 & 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐒: cis man & he/him   𝐀𝐆𝐄: 37 𝐎𝐂𝐂𝐔𝐏𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍:  lawyer 𝐀𝐅𝐅𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍:  Civilian 𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐊:  N/A 𝐅𝐀𝐂𝐄𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐌:  Charles Michael Davis

+  Zealous, Charismatic, Quick-witted -   Cynical, Self-Absorbed, Impatient

TW: DEATH

Samuel was born in upstate New York, to a first-generation couple of immigrants. Not too long after his birth, his family moved to Vermont due to his mother finding a new job as a Bed & Breakfast manager, while his father opened a small restaurant that served Filipino food. Safe to say, money was always short in the family where Samuel became the eldest of two. It also made a lot of responsibility fall on his shoulders to set up a good example for his younger sister Alaya and everyone around them. Soon, it became his unspoken rule that he would break free from that city and he would make a world of his own. To do that, Samuel focused on school, since, due to his strict upbringing, he felt like it would be the only way possible.

He’s always excelled in debates and did terrific on political assignments from school, which, in one of the career fairs he attended, it became clear to him that he would do great as a lawyer. Samuel focused on that idea and also, on getting himself a scholarship out of there, since there was no way his parents could afford college education for any of their kids. There had already been talks around the house about who would help in the B&B and who would help in the restaurant, and, as honorable as these jobs were, and as much as he helped around during summer breaks, Samuel wanted more. He wanted everything else the world had to offer. So did his sister.

His drive landed him a scholarship to study Psychology in California, and once he was done, he was accepted into UC Irvine to continue his studies by going there for Law School.

In California and being away from his parents, Samuel felt like he could finally breathe and be the person he had always been born to be. He met someone during his college years, who also happened to bring out the best in him, and together, they were inseparable. Cemre was smart, beautiful, and above all else, she was ambitious just like him. They shared dreams, hopes, victories, and losses, and eventually, they would share a life, too, because, in the first few months of being together, Cemre shared that she was expecting someone else’s baby. Someone she had been with before Sam and she had even gone out on their first date.

Sam was well aware of the responsibility that raising someone else’s baby entailed, but he was also far too deep in love with Cemre to scrap the last few months over something that had happened before they had met. When Deniz was born, everything made sense. He had a family in the making, a decent job, and one hell of a girlfriend. What else could he ask for? A few years after being together, when the clock struck midnight, Samuel proposed to her and she said yes.

Life was good.

Until it wasn’t.

First, it was the news of Alaya’s death. Although he had been in touch with his sister this whole time, apparently there was another side of her life that he had yet to get to know. The news of her death struck him like lightning and forced Samuel to travel to Arizona for her funeral. His brother-in-law didn’t tell him directly, but it didn’t take a genius to put two plus two together and simply assume why there were so many people wearing leather cuts while they laid her to rest. Alaya had mentioned finding a solid source of income and bringing Ezrak along, he just wasn’t imagining it would be anything related to motorcycle clubs and the type of underground activity there might happen there.

Grieving, he spent the following couple of years stuck in a haze and it was another call from Arizona that changed his life and solidified his own ties with the Wild Coyotes. A request to bail Ezrak and another fellow Wild Coyote member from prison. He traveled to Arizona once again, and through client confidentiality, he learned more about the gang his sister had been involved with. It was a tough pill to swallow at first, that by trying to give herself a better life, Alaya had been involved in criminal actions, that he couldn’t protect her somehow… because he simply hadn’t been there. In the following six months, he stayed in Arizona, preparing the case for the Wild Coyotes and flying home every once in a while.

During his last trip back home he was welcomed with a photo of Cemre and Deniz and a message that someone was watching them. Consumed by fear of what that picture might mean, especially after hearing Ezrak’s suspicions that Alaya’s death had not been an accident, Samuel decided to break things off with Cemre and then moved to Lancaster, leaving both mother and son behind, despite what that loss would mean to him.

His first months post-breakup was filled with alcohol, parties, and sex. Then, work followed. Samuel became relentless. He found himself a job at a Law firm in Phoenix, doing what he did best, which was to persuade people… more precisely, judges, using every verbal way and finding loopholes in proofs. Who cared about fairness or justice, right? He also continued working for the Wild Coyotes when it came to their legal matters, hoping this would keep trouble away from the ones he loved.

Sam just wasn’t expecting trouble to follow him some time later and stare him right in the eye, asking questions on why he had missed his last birthday.

[birchwoodrain]

August Wilson: Reclaiming Power Through Cultural Redemption

In the plays, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, The Piano Lesson, and Fences, August Wilson incorporates African-American cultural elements like blues and jazz music and African-American Christianity to serve as a form of self-expression through which minorities use to reclaim power and resist conformity to their oppressors’ standards. In Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Ma Rainey manipulates the power dynamics between her and her exploitative employers through her talent in blues music. In The Piano Lesson, music serves as an intergenerational connection for the Charles family, whose strength relies on the spirit of Black ancestors. In Fences, Wilson uses the story of Jacob from the Bible as a moral to portray the effects of generational trauma on familial relationships. Essentially, Wilson illustrates that individuals have the agency to heal from the past by reaffirming their cultural values. Although succeeding does not resolve trauma in its entirety, incremental improvements allow human beings to take the first step toward loosening trauma and developing more meaningful relationships within their communities.

In the play Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Ma Rainey and her band play Blues and Jazz music, derived from gospel and spirituals, to exert control over their own lives, as well as their oppressors’ lives. Historically, it was used to boost spirits and affirm Black humanity during slavery, which eventually evolved into a symbol of Black empowerment and creativity. Despite Ma Rainey’s fame and talent and the popularity of the African American music scene during the late 1920s, she struggles with self-expression due to the white-dominated music production industry. Because of this, the producers view her as a commodity and someone they can exploit for their own gain. In retaliation, she reacts by refusing to record, protesting often, and having a hot temperament. This is apparent when Sturdyvant, one of the producers, expresses his disapproval of Ma Rainey’s attitude, saying, “I don’t care what she calls herself. I’m not putting up with it. I just want to get her in here...record those songs on that list...and get her out. Just like clockwork, huh?” (Wilson, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom 2). Evidently, he fails to perceive her as human, comparing her to the likes of a machine that labors for his benefit. He demonstrates that she is simply another voice he manipulates for its marketability. Later into the play, when Levee, one of the band members, inquires about her resilience, she reveals:

MA RAINEY. They don’t care nothing about me. All they want is my voice. Well, I done learned that, and they gonna treat me like I want to be treated no matter how much it hurt them (...) As soon as they get my voice down on them recording machines, then it’s just like if I’d be some whore and they roll over and put their pants on. Ain’t got no use for me then. (Wilson, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom 29).

In this sense, Ma Rainey enacts a minor rebellion of her own; by withholding the labor that her exploiters depend upon for survival, she reclaims a small amount of power and authenticity that Sturdyvant and Irvin take from her. Contrary to the submission and naivety that the executives expect from the new band members, Ma Rainey defies them, proving that the value of her voice is up to her discretion alone; she decides when her talent can be borrowed, and when it is returned. Furthermore, she perceives blues music as a medium through which she communicates her creativity, believing that it is “life’s way of talking. [She doesn’t] sing to feel better. [She sings] ‘cause that’s a way of understanding life” (Wilson, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom 31). In order to process and endure the Sturdyvants’ and Irvins’ scrutiny, she weaponizes an aspect of her cultural identity that she can control in order to move past her oppressors’ racial discrimination and ignorance.

On the other end of the spectrum is Levee, a young, stubborn, and ambitious musician who is unafraid to use deceit to reclaim power, even if it means catering to his own oppressors. After watching his father smile and shake hands with the Southern townsfolk who lynched his family, Levee learns that deception and diplomacy are important skills that are beneficial to achieving his goals. As a result, he panders to the white executives and seeks their approval, valuing their musical opinion above his bandmates’. Disapprovingly, his bandmate, Toledo comments:

TOLEDO. See, now...I’ll tell you something. As long as the colored man look to white folks to put the crown on what he say...as long as he looks to white folks for approval...then he ain’t never gonna find out who he is and what he’s about. He’s just gonna be about what white folks want him to be about. That’s one sure thing. (Wilson, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom 10)

In brief, Levee isolates himself from his community in an attempt to achieve his ultimate goal of recognition and fame in front of a white audience. Levee refuses to compromise with his bandmates, adamant on performing according to his personal preferences. This demonstrates his misuse of the purpose of the blues; instead of encouraging collaboration and creativity, he sows discord amongst the community, to the point of violence. At the end of the play, Toledo becomes irritated with Levee’s demeanor and accidentally steps on his shoes, which represent his sense of pride, prompting Levee to stab him in the chest in the heat of the moment. According to Sandra G. Shannon, Professor Emerita of African American Literature in the Department of English at Howard University, “Levee [fails in his] attempts to leave [his] own mark on the blues recording industry at the expense of denouncing both Africa and the South” (“A Transplant That Did Not Take: August Wilson's Views on the Great Migration” 979-980). Instead of drawing strength from the historical force behind African American music, he borrows the authority that Sturvant provides. Thus, as he remarks to Cutler, a fellow bandmate, “We done sold ourselves to the white man in order to be like him” (Wilson, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom 37), he emulates the power of the white man, hoping to rise in status and subdue his band. As a result, Levee never succeeds in detaching himself from the judgment and conformity of white American society, ultimately causing the dissolution of his band along with the members’ future prospects. Not only does he stray from cultural reconnection, but he also fails to heal from childhood trauma, leading to his betrayal of his musical community. Unlike Ma Rainey, who sees blues music as a symbol of hope and autonomy, Levee conforms to his oppressors’ standards, isolating himself and deepening his emotional burdens because of his failure to cooperate and empathize with others.

On the contrary, The Piano Lesson demonstrates that using music as a medium to reconnect ancestral ties allows the Charles family to rekindle their relationship with one another and overcome generational trauma. Initially, Boy Willie and Berniece, the Charles siblings, disagree on whether to sell the old piano for a piece of land or keep the heirloom containing carvings made by their enslaved ancestors. While a symbol of beauty and remembrance of the Charles family, it is also a reminder of the death and oppression their ancestors suffered at the hands of Sutter, the now-deceased slave owner. Witnessing the argument, Avery, her partner, comments, “Everybody got stones in their passway. You got to step over them or walk around them. You picking them up and carrying them with you” (Wilson, The Piano Lesson 70). In this regard, Boy Willie attempts to “walk around” the issue of unresolved trauma by removing the piano from his presence, but not his mind; conversely, Berniece allows it to burden her. Avery attempts to convince Berniece to let go of her husband’s death and the weight of her tragedies, but she remains a woman, and by extension, a mother in mourning to the rest of her family:

BERNIECE. When my mama died I shut the top on that piano and I ain't never opened it since. I was only playing it for her. When my daddy died seem like all her life went into that piano…when I played it she could hear my daddy talking to her…I don't play that piano cause I don't want to wake them spirits. (Wilson, The Piano Lesson 70).

Here, the similarities manifest between her and her mother, Mama Ola: both grieved their husbands’ deaths and believed the piano to be both a symbol of Black oppression and a symbol of hope. Her husband’s spirit, along with her parents’ and great grandparents’,  is entrapped within the instrument under their history of oppression while simultaneously providing security and solace. The lingering trauma takes the form of Sutter’s ghost, whose presence persists through multiple generations. As long as he remains haunting their home, he still exerts power over the piano, and to an extent, still enslaves the family. The ghost resurfaces during the many attempts that Boy Willie tries to remove the piano from their home. This is similar to opening up an old wound; by revisiting their history of enslavement, the family confronts many traumatic unwanted memories and feelings that disrupt their interpersonal relationships.

Although initially afraid, Berniece realizes that she has to call upon the spirit of her ancestors to use their voices to banish Sutter, who aims to divide the Charles family. In the stage directions for Berniece’s singing, Wilson describes it as “an old urge to song that is both a commandment and a plea. Within each repetition it gains in strength. It is intended as an exorcism and a dressing for battle. A rustle of wind blowing across two continents” (Wilson, The Piano Lesson 106). Berniece transforms the piano into a channel for which her great-grandparents cross over in order to combine forces; hence, she summons them to the land of the living. According to Professor Cynthia L. Caywood and Professor Carlton Floyd, both at the University of San Diego, Wilson emphasizes “the need for a cultural figure that can withstand the trauma of this earth, a ‘grounded’ figure that is itself a mouth piece that can open the gates of heaven, emerges” (75). Simultaneously, Boy Willie’s physical altercation with Sutter and Berniece’s song transform into a cultural exorcism that overpowers the ghost, thus undoing his possession on the Charles’ home. This spiritual intervention, empowered by music, can be interpreted as a “second chance at life” for the older generations, just as the spirit of Mama Ola helps Berniece release her trauma and finally establish a sense of belonging within her family and cultural values. Furthermore, Professor Shannon elaborates, “[This search] for African roots has altered the nature of African American remembering by focusing on positive ways of constructing a new identity, even out of the painful experiences of the past” (“Framing African American Cultural Identity: The Bookends Plays in August Wilson's 10-Play Cycle” 30). While the Sutters only perceive the piano as an exotic artifact used to oppress others, the Charles family reclaims the meaning of the instrument by reconnecting with their African-American heritage. Only after subjugating the ghost does the family find peace by healing and transforming their past suffering into reminders of familial love and endurance.

Furthermore, Wilson also draws parallels between Troy Maxon’s internal conflicts and the biblical character, Jacob, to depict Troy’s struggle to maintain autonomy while suffering from aftereffects of parental abuse. Like Jacob, he battles tirelessly against God, who challenges him to a wrestle, leading to him gazing into “God’s” face at the end of the battle. However, unlike Jacob, the God that Troy battles is Death personified, at the beginning and end of the play. His first encounter occurs when Troy experiences hardships in finding a stable job and housing for his wife, Rose, and their child. While recounting his past to his best friend, Bono, Troy boasts:

TROY. We wrestled for three days and three nights. I can’t say where I found the strength from. Every time it seemed like he was gonna get the best of me, I’d reach way down deep inside myself and find the strength to do him one better(…)

TROY. At the end of the third night we done weakened each other to where we can’t hardly move. Death stood up, throwed on his robe…had him a white robe with a hood on it. He throwed on that robe and went off to look for his sickle. Say, “I’ll be back.” (Wilson, Fences 13-14)

For context, the play’s setting in the 1950s indicates the post-War economic growth which promoted capitalism, often defining human worth through the accumulation of capital. Unable to meet these demands, a younger Troy, like many other low-income people of color, resorts to theft, which further pushes him further down the social ladder. In spite of imprisonment, Troy uses the opportunity to become a better man, putting further distance between himself and his father. During his formative years, he experiences physical and emotional abuse from his father, who forced him to participate in child labor and sexually assaulted his first girlfriend, among other forms of neglect. He states, “Now I thought he was mad cause I ain’t done my work. But I see where he was chasing me off so he could have the gal for himself. When I see what the matter of it was, I lost all fear of my daddy. Right there is where I become a man…at fourteen years of age” (Wilson, Fences 56-57). Troy’s desperation to escape his father’s influence helps him put a physical and emotional divide between them; his determination manifests through his hard work and grit. When he “cheats” Death the first time, he is on the edge of his resolve, with low income and the risk of his family falling apart. Additionally, workplace discrimination prevents him from being promoted to a truck driver, unlike his white colleagues. However, he escapes his downfall due to his resilience and unwillingness to submit to pessimism. Troy draws strength from his unwillingness to merge with his father’s habits of neglecting his family and abandoning work in favor of sex and alcoholism.

As he gets older, Troy allows himself to pass down his father’s resentment and loses empathy, becoming bitter in the face of social progress. This is proven when he discourages Cory, his son, from participating in the football team, insisting that it is a waste of resources and that he would not be accepted socially. Subconsciously, Troy is jealous that his talent was undervalued due to the lack of diversity when he was a youth in the baseball team. At the end of the play, he confronts Death once more and loses. He lacks the will to oppose the pressure to become spiteful in old age, and ultimately, severs his connection to Rose and Cory, who are representations of his personal values. Just as God strikes Jacob in the hip, causing him to limp for the rest of his life, Death delivers the final blow that destroys Troy’s remaining sense of hope. Although his defeat in the battle against Death is physical, it also represents the death of his resolve and willpower, and solidification of his and his father’s identities. Consequently, Troy’s relationship dissipates with his wife and son, the grounding forces in his life for whom he lives. According to David Letzler, professor at Queens College of the City University of New York, “Troy’s abrogation of his well-earned discipline loses him not only the fruits of his adult life’s work but damages those about whom he cares most, fragmenting his family” (308). Troy’s regression into his father’s persona not only hinders his ability to feel happiness in life, but also his ability to provide emotionally for his family, just as Jacob loses sight of his own.

Moreover, his refusal to rectify his treatment toward others causes him to become estranged from his family. Andrew R. Davis, Associate professor at the Boston College, writes, “Both characters set out alone and gradually form relationships that have a stabilizing effect in their lives, but for both characters a former conflict casts a long shadow over their journey and ultimately drives them to a renewed solitude” (51) to explain the inevitable self-isolation that comes with refusal to strive for improvement. This is realized when Troy finally builds the fence around the house that Rose repeatedly requests throughout the play. While Rose intends to use the fence as a way to keep Troy’s love and affection inside the home, Troy unwittingly prevents his family from joining him on the other side, shunning them. Thus, Troy fails to deviate from his predetermined fate, descending into the same path that renders Jacob alone for the rest of his life. Subsequently, Cory joins the Navy to escape his father’s wrath, straining their relationship even further. Finally, at Troy’s funeral, Cory admits to Rose, “The whole time I was growing up…living in his house…Papa was like a shadow that followed you everywhere. It weighed on you and sunk into your flesh. It would even wrap around you and lay there until you couldn’t tell which one was you anymore…Trying to crawl in. Trying to live through you…I don’t want to be Troy Maxson. I want to be me”  (Wilson, Fences 104). The aftermath of Troy’s degradation appears within Cory’s inner thoughts and selfhood, causing a struggle to separate the two personalities; through this parallel, Wilson portrays abuse as an endless cycle between father and son. It is only at the end of the play that Wilson leaves Cory with the same opportunity as his father: despite the lingering effect of his father’s violence, he has a choice between passing it down to his sister or breaking the cycle by separating his identity from his abuser.

Ultimately, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, The Piano Lesson, and Fences, show that music and religion deep-rooted in African-American heritage are modalities of communication and self-expression used to liberate abused individuals from their oppressors' values. When viewing Wilson’s plays from a broader perspective, he concludes that humans have the choice to take incremental steps toward recovering and strengthening emotional connection. However, failure to break away from oppressive values hinders progress toward self-reform and healing from trauma. Fundamentally, cultural redemption allows individuals to build strength from their core values in an attempt to escape from oppressive ideology.

Works Cited

Caywood, Cynthia L., and Carlton Floyd. “'She Make You Right with Yourself': Aunt Ester, Masculine Loss and Cultural Redemption in August Wilson's Cycle Plays.” College Literature, vol. 36, no. 2, 2009, pp. 74-95. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20642023.

Davis, Andrew R. “Wrestling Jacob in the Book of Genesis and August Wilson’s 'Fences.'” Literature and Theology, vol. 29, no. 1, 2015, pp. 47-65. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/43664519.

Letzler, David. “Walking Around the Fences: Troy Maxson and the Ideology of 'Going Down Swinging.'” African American Review, vol. 47, no. 2/3, 2014, pp. 301-312. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24589755.

Shannon, Sandra G. “Framing African American Cultural Identity: The Bookends Plays in August Wilson's 10-Play Cycle.” College Literature, vol. 36, no. 2, 2009, pp. 26-39. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/20642020.

---.“A Transplant That Did Not Take: August Wilson's Views on the Great Migration.” African American Review, vol. 50, no. 4, 2017, pp. 979–986. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/26446147.

Wilson, August. Fences: a Play. New York, New American Library, 1986.

---. Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. New York, Penguin Books, 1985.

---. The Piano Lesson. New York, Dutton, 1990.

(a/n: sorry for the weird format, the indents and block quotes don't really translate well into tumblr!)

[doyouremem8erme]

Can you tell me more about the Billion Eyes Back On You AU?

ohohoho *cracks knuckles*

so abeboy/a billion eyes back on you is the first au created for the laaauc! a bunch of general info is on the laaauc (lifetime achievement au award collection) blog, @laaauc.

basicallllllyyyy, it goes the same as canon from the main characters' point of view up until true colors. the only difference is that instead of the basement just holding the core's chamber, there's a massive underground laboratory instead. after andrias stabs marcy, she gets taken to the lab, where she undergoes several emergency surgeries and is put on stasis in the tank once she's stable.

dr. triturus treesun is the main scientist the au focuses on--a classic mad scientist, thinks-vivisection-is-ethical type. i jokingly call him an evil scientist, but he isn't actually evil, just amoral. he keeps marcy completely unconscious her whole time down in the lab, so she's not aware of any of what's going on, and doesn't suffer.

a couple times, while trying to figure out how to keep a human alive, he vivisects her under anesthesia . btw thats where the whole au came from . me and anne @commanderanne were like hey whats all the messed up looking equipment in the bg in o&y for. what were they doing down there. and anne was like what if they . peeked at her guts or something. and so we were like. what if there was unethical science? ANYWAYS she ends up waking up bc the dose was too low and is aware for a minute or so before triturus's assistant/boyfriend, dr. dismal, gets her under again.

there's also dr. laurel rue irvine-froude--my FAVE. god shes such a blorbo. she's a biomechanical engineer and knows her way around medical stuff. she actually knew marcy from before she was imprisoned in the lab--they worked on marcy's brain research project from the theme song takeover together. some of that knowledge came in handy when the king ordered her to build a helmet to let the core control marcy...

laurel starts out as following along with the actions of the lab, but grows more and more upset with the lab's practices over time. eventually, she decides that marcy needs to be saved before they hurt her any more, and seeks out the help of olivia and yunan.

of course, they're stopped by andrias and the core like in canon. as punishment for the rescue attempt, andrias forces them to start the core download immediately--without anesthetic, as had been planned. additionally, he has olivia and yunan hold marcy down for it. laurel leads marcy into the operating room where the equipment for the helmet is stored, plugs the cords into her legs and arms, and as marcy begs and cries for her to stop--laurel's last words before forcing the helmet onto marcy's head are "be brave, my child." at the same time, marcy has slipped into calling laurel "mom" as she begs her to stop. haha yea found family *starts crying*

eventually, laurel makes another, successful attempt to save marcy.

also, post canon, laurel, olivia, and yunan are all dating, and are all marcy's moms.

also bonus lore!

during one of darcy's excursions to newtopia, destroying buildings for fun with the excuse that it's testing its weapons or something like that, it encounters a young newt named wrenna adie dunwood. she's actually the "marcy cosplayer" from the theme song takeover!! darcy spares her because it remembered her from marcy's memories. her gay dads had died in the destruction of newtopia, and she flees the city on her own. she makes it all the way to wartwood after sheltering with a variety of communities of survivors and joins the resistance. olivia finds her in one of the camps of refugees in new wartwood while marcy is recovering from the events of sun digs its heels to taunt you and takes a liking to her. eventually, olivia, yunan, and laurel adopt wrenna as well as marcy. they r sisters i love them.