#esp with the way you treat me publicly anyways.

[streamdotpng]

i closed my eyes and suddenly, i became known as the monsterfucker anon—ANYWAY; wednesday doesn't seem to be the type to become a green eyed monster but how does she react to the talks about people crushing on her girl? specially since their relationship status is vague, i could see someone (maybe a co-star or just a fan) asking sin out in her presence or publicly hearing someone wishing sin to rail them. speaking of which, with all the interview talks, i can def see hem reading thirst tweets together

you said that you didn't think really that far in but I HAVE TO ASK: how influential is the show and streamers like endespair in terms of the way outcasts are treated? being called a monsterfucker seems to be more derogatory than funny or nice tbh. is helios also a late bloomer like enid? and is viper also one for the macabre? if so, i feel like her describing helios' transformation to be graceful is so viper of her

since isabelle is an endespair fan, has she done anything to wednesday in behalf of endespair? like endespair is opening fan mail for like a special or something and suddenly comes across a paper she remembered isabelle asked her and the rest of the cast to sign or a poster of the lunal curse with wednesday's signature. is that a bit awkward for her? how does she treat it? esp since isabelle doesn't rlly seem to hide her infatuation with endespair. how does wednesday react? does she feel more obligated to show up as willa in the background?

you said that wenclair isn't really hiding their relationship. will endespair ever be like "o yea guys im e "sin" addams, watch lunal curse now" or sum? would isabelle notice certain traits sin and endespair share that lead her to realizing theyre the same person? does sin call wednesday willa on set? does anyone even bother to question why these two have matching rings? on why they're always so sus and gomez/morticia-like?? why are sins eyes suddenly pitch black when looking at wednesday but bright blue when at literally anyone else??

the interview about werewolves thoughts on the lunal curse, does it ever click to people that the cute werewolf blonde with huge teeth who praised the book and the upcoming adaptation—THE ONE WHO CALLED WEDNESDAY HER WIFE– IS THE SAME PRETTY WOMAN WEDNESDAY IS OFTEN SEEN WITH? THE ONE SHE'S SO COMFORTABLE AND HAPPY WITH???

THE BTS OF WENCLAIR— they're mostly in the background but they're never NOT doing anything. people go crazy for romance and probably see how close these two are. i mean, their co-workers see it, how can the world not? master lip readers come out and reveal the disgusting, dirty stuff these two speak in what seems to be a million different languages. it causes people to look deeper in miss e. addams, the beast that got wednesday out of her cage. WEDNESDAYS HANDS ARE UNDER HER SHIRT PEOPLE, BEST FRIENDS DONT DO THAT!!!

WHAT IF WEDNESDAY'S WALLET GETS LOST AND PEOPLE SEE THEIR MARRIAGE PHOTOS + OTHER STUFF LIKE LETTERS THEY EXCHANGE????

I swear being known as a monsterfucker is uh

Hm

Seeing as outcasts exists, it's kinda up in the air. Like one, being known as a monsterfucker is usually in jest and people just think you have a type or worse case, you got a fetish💀 which is what Wednesday's PR doesn't want her known for. They just twisted it into a fascination with actual monsters.

The more outcast inclined people in Wednesday's Fandom tend to think she simply has a type and it's just a running joke bc of what she writes. Kinda like how people hope she gets her own golden retriever werewolf Gf like Viper 🥺 bc clearly she's projecting her want /j

Anyways, as for if Wednesday reacts! She always hides a smile behind a mug when such talks happen, it's smug asf too. Like I got what you can't have <3

It's hard to be jealous when their relationship survived like 5-6 years of ldr so they trust each other a lot! She does tease Enid abt it tho, much to the werewolf's confusion.

"they want me to what-"

"yes my dear, they went you to do the very same thing you did to m-" sudden hand on mouth.

"wends you can't just say that in public!?"

Pushing that quickly aside, the outcasts racism thing isn't as bad here as it is in my streamer Wednesday au.

The forevermore series change the outcasts view from caution to intrigued, it's why endespair is such a niche streamer bc it's not everyday you see a supposed scary werewolf scream like a little girl and admire a woman.

Also seeing as imperial gold (ship name of helios and Viper) is literally Wenclair, yes Helios is a late bloomer and Viper is into the dark and macabre. It's why the show decides to go with Viper narrating some of helios' scenes and vice versa for that good contrast.

"despite the fact that I've been in this school for years, I haven't been granted the blessing to see Helios shift right before my very eyes.

Now that I'm gifted such an opportunity, I cannot believe the time I've wasted not seeing it.

She's beautiful.

All big gleaming teeth and a body shifting to a form no one else can compare too."

Then on screen is the most brutal looking werewolf transformation ever.

Meanwhile, we got Helios over here stating the obvious.

"to the stars, moons, planets above- they did not have the right to give my deadly roomie a silver knife"

Helios is standing there, looking fucking enraptured with blow out eyes as Viper does idk, smth. I haven't figured out the plot of Lunal Curse other than the main points soooo, it's left vague on purpose.

Endespair doesn't accept fanmail, left over paranoia from the stalker in her junior year so isabelle can't send such things.

Wednesday doesn't at all feel obligated to pop into stream as Willa. They just work in the same room and if Enid wants to go stand up to bring her wife into a hug then that's their business as chat cries abt how single they're making them feel.

As for if Isabelle, I feel like. She'd be in denial? But then she realizes the scar Enid has isn't just effects but real and she goes, oh shit

Like just a little bit bc the way Endespair carries herself is alot more easily exagerrated compared to how Enid normally is. It doesn't help that Enid dyed her hair a little bit more saturated for Helios so they may look similar if you double take.

So she was like 'aha, totally a coincidence' but when she's watching a endespair stream, Mika will wonder where shes watching sin from.

The two fucking PANIC after that

As for the matching rings, I made Enid wear two rings just for that reason too! So in the end It just looks like they're wearing accessories, that's all. Gold rings for Enid bc the obvious is obvious and white gold for wednesday.

Enid cringes at the thought of seeing herself on screen. So she doesn't at all bring up her status as Sin on stream. Someone brings up that there's a werewolf acting with Wednesday Addams? Cringe, disgusting, hurling noises

She's her own hater and chat takes it as Enid being low key jealous that it's another werewolf and not her.

As for whether people recognize Enid from that werewolf interview, they recognize her as endespair than sin. The dorky ass clothes, known beanie and overall simp mannerisms clocked it to her Fandom.

Sorry anon,, people are delusional sometimes so while they note the simp werewolf, they don't linger on it too long.

Wenclair bts? You're so right, whenever they're outside of their room, they do alot of things. Like Wednesday chasing Enid who's wearing a bit too tight of a shirt with the smaller lady wearing a jacket that suspiciously is a bit too baggy.

Sometimes you can see Wednesday looking over papers and Enid is just leaning over her, practically caging the director in between her arms.

Inbetween breaks, if Enid is ever drinking smth, the cast kinda does a double take when Wednesday grabs the bottle and drinks from it. They didn't even looked shocked, like yeah this happens.

Idt Wednesday would ever lose her wallet, but that would definitely be one way to reveal the relationship

[propertyofkylar]

royalty au asks yayyyy

hmmm...i guess a lot like being kidnapped by normal eden lol. i can't imagine she's much different. just like...oubliette instead of cage lmao. she still would leash you and make you do chores and stuff.

no notes.

yeah. i like "king" whit but unofficial leader type.

YES and still very educated in historic devices hehehehe

asshole ringleader mf....im in love w her i need her to be mean to me

this is fun bc i feel like the implications of making pc higher class are more serious in this setting. you know what i mean? like avery's reputation is really on the line. she would give pc the finest gowns and jewels just to make herself look better. and i would let her tbh

oh yeah she's for sure a menace. ties you up and humiliates you in front of her whole "kingdom" of thieves. oh to be publicly humiliated by king whitney....yeag...

guys im just typing this as im thinking but the fact that im already this many asks in (speaking of public humiliation) is so embarrassing bc theres so many more to go. im such a failure im sorry im bad at answering asks

bony and malnourished from a life on the streets...but no worries i can fix her

again. a real menace. she loves to mark you up so eveyrone knows you're one of her possessions. esp if you're the spy type and sneak into palaces and consort w royalty often...king whit marks you up extra in case that princess kylar is getting a look at you <3

this is in reference to this post and sounds good t o me...wolfman will probably be in black wolf's kingdom anyway

hmmmm...i think exile eden is living her life the way she wants to do and if anyone gets in her way...well....

it can be anything...

i thought this was fun i got nothing to add just wanted to share :D

i just thought they were kinda fun but i still prefer regular mean old queen avery. fucking hag ass bitch i love her

skinny dipping like in the hot tub.....just enjoyinh some nice privacy with queen avery and her favorite concubine.......doesn't she deserve a reward for treating you so well ??

since poor princess kylar's parents transformed when she was so young she does not know a lot about the world and has many questions. the good news is she has a wonderful servant who is totally not enslaved or a prisoner or anything who is there to help answer all her questions. the rest of the castle knows not to bother princess kylar when she brings her favorite servant to her chambers. she's getting special tutoring in life lessons...

this is amazing and on god i will turn it into a fic. i swear

i don't know what this means lol

THAT's IT EVERYBODY I AM SORRY FOR TAKING SO LONG don't ask how old some of these are. i don't wish to discuss it

[boyswanna-be-her]

that was truly an insanely out of pocket ask. anyway it makes me happy to hear about what makes you happy, and how your day to day is going, and what you're excited about. hope you have a good rest of your day <3

Thanks! Their apology meant a world of difference to me. The ask also lead to me reaching out directly to FIVE different long time IRL friends who had seen me in the past three days before receiving the ask. Getting a temp check with people who have known you a long time and seen you recently is definitely helpful, and although the ask made me spiral for like 2 hours, it also generated some unexpectedly affirming conversations, where people who have all known me since 2005-2008 all independent of one another basically said that they had indeed noticed that I'm more talkative and outgoing lately, but that it hadn't pinged them in any sort of concerning way. I fuck heavily with the opinion esp of 3/5 of the people in this regard because that proportion of this group had previously reached out to me in a panic worried about me because they perceived me as so sad/detached. Two of them in particular got me engaged with environmental volunteering immediately after all my 2018 bullshit where I was in super heavy PTSD territory, and I can directly credit them for a lot of connections and drives I have today. And 2 of them have also conducted mandatory wellness checks when I didn't communicate with them often enough via text for them to be comfy. And I love them for that in ways they'll never really understand.

Anyway. The general message was that nobody had been alarmed, the ask seemed out of left field to them (they don't read my blog, but they're all aware of it and tumblr-smart), and that they'd all been happy to be happy for me this year.

No ragrets. If nothing else, being able to reach out to so many friends who have been with me for so long but also so recently was validating, and that none of them were worried about me is great. I don't think I would've had any other impetus to request all those low-consequence feedback seshes had I not received the ask. None of the people pinged have anything to gain from lying to me and again, in the past, the majority have not had a problem expressing concern about my mental health.

So like. Yeah that shit threw me super hard yesterday and I immediately re-evaluated the way that I express myself here and elsewhere. I feel like I had recently re-channeled my early days of tumblr where everything was highly unfiltered, capslock and screaming in tags was quite normal, I was a small fish in a big pond, etc--because that's when it was an exciting era for me as a creator on here. I miss a lot of that energy.

And full disclosure, in my relationship before last, the one that really and truly broke my heart on top of losing Jonathan to suicide, we didn't share ANYTHING publicly. And I was so deep. And then they broke up with me horribly a month after Jonathan died and I found him!!!!!... well, how could anyone on the outside mourn a relationship they didn't know about when my RECENTLY (for my safety lol) ex-husband had just died horrifiecally? They didn't know. The scale was so weird for everyone but me. Only a handful of people even knew I was in a new relationship that i perceived as supportive and, like, a soulmate type gig. I was so sure of everything that I didn't share ANYTHING and that super fucked me over in the end.

It was awful and alienating and I wished all along that we had shared more. So I don't wanna do that shit anymore. I'm excited about shit in my life and people in my life and meeting people and finding gigs and I don't want input on that, so please treat me like the 38 year old human being I am. I have been through more bullshit than you could possibly understand, even if you read every post I ever made here, even if you were my best friend who I told everything to (doesn't exist but good concept). Assumptions are unwelcome. I'm old and I'm angry and I have energy and that's what's up. I just want people to be on board to see this middle aged piece of shit maybe like find a reason to live again and not die alone.

[yakocchi]

Our Prenuptial Nightmare // Eisuke

hooray, finally the end to this dumb season LOL but i like this one a lot…… maybe it’s even the one from this season only worth reading (i havent read all of them tho)

well this one is actually kind of refreshing bc as i posted before, it’s abt the MC losing her memories. she’s not just a season 1 blank slate… she doesn’t remember anything after getting a job at the Tres Spades, so she barely remembers her own friends as well. yikesu

my rambling behind the cut

so eisuke honestly treats her the same as he always does, just obviously more distanced (im gonna read the His POV after this so idk rn). shes pretty spooked about this scary guy, maybe even more than she was in season 1 since he’s way more caring about her health or w/e despite being a CEO and all. for a pretty long time, he keeps her stuck in the hospital. he brings her a dvd that contains a media appearance of him publicly introducing her as his fiancée and she’s like “tf, is this a prank???” and all sorts of ppl visit her and stuff. shes still pretty much in disbelief about the whole thing until her parents come visit and they clearly know who this weird guy is

eventually she gets stuck in his penthouse instead. tbh she’s probably not “healthy” enough to work rn given that she doesn’t remember anything about her job, but she can’t even step one foot outside the room without soryu and his goons (appointed by eisuke) being like “HEY WAT U DOIN” so it’s kind of dull and jarring for her haha. later she finds a diary that she wrote in before her memory loss and she’s like “oh wow……. i was simpin that hard for this guy huh” (ok more like “wow, i really love this guy huh”… but i mean same thing). she also wants to make food for him and cooked up a risotto but since eisuke’s been busy af, she ends up falling asleep before he comes home (late) to eat it.

then eventually she presses forward about learning more bc she feels that eisuke is hiding a lot about himself, esp. in terms of what he does. and shes right abt that bc hes purposefully not saying anything abt the black market auctions, etc. eventually eisuke gives in and explains to her the whole 20m bid thing that started this whole romance. she tells him she wants to learn more, and so eisuke turns it into a whole date. They have a date that’s the “type of date for a first date”, and then it concludes with the inn at Kobe.

PART 2 eisuke makes it sound like hes gonna bone her but obv the guy is just teasing for the most part and it ends p cute bc he’s sweet (sweet for his standards) about it. later they go to that same petting zoo or w/e with the cute bunnies. lol eventually the same bunny that doesn’t seem to hate him shows up too. they end up bringing the rabbit home (the rabbit’s name is Maron, as in “chestnut”) to take care of. i guess maron is their animal bebe now it’s been like a month, so she returns to work eventually. hikaru notes that she’s doing pretty well for someone who doesn’t remember how any of this works. but then later, she passes out while remembering the strange discussion she overheard the day she lost her memories. eisuke goes WAH MC and then when she eventually wakes up and he’s like “it’s ok, dw abt it” while she’s like “bro i got something to tell u”. next day he tells her that he’s made her the Floor Leader of the eventual “Tres Spades Maldives”, but then she realizes during the flight that the man with her is not Eisuke, but Yuuma sent there to comfort her and also to do the Maldives business stuff. it’s obvious eisuke’s trying to separate from her. after all, it’s been a month and there’s no sign of her memories returning. he’s pretty blunt about organizing all of it without her realizing (wow what’s new). she’s really sad about it but relents and goes with it anyway. i mean eisuke is obviously pretty sad about it too since he parts with her with that genuine smile and says along the lines of “Don’t forget… that I’ve always loved your dumb face.” why i QQin BRO

well hikaru and yuuma are here in maldives so not too bad. also the penthouse bedroom is pretty good, it’s an aquarium lookin thing anyway so obv eventually the “generic gangster model” guy has to show up and kidnap her. well yuuma comes to the rescue and blahblah they want to murder her bc eisuke knew too much abt business nonsense going on again and then she dives into the sea. before she drowns, the real eisuke miraculously shows up to save her blahblah everyone else comes to save the day (2) and then they return to the Maldives suite. eisuke is like “smh i should’ve taught u how to protect urself” (…) “swear to me that u will not behave like an idiota ever again” and her memories come back after she goes “I can’t promise that (…) if you put yourself into danger, then I will continue to do the same” and has a flashback of his confessions from various seasons. HUGS lol that cg really has him going :I before a : )

everything goes back to normal, she finds a ring on her right hand and they’re wearing like… couple rings..... boi you guys are supposed to be married soon, just wait for those well fin. i skipped a buncha stuff in this “ramble” but yea my first impressions and all

[blackgirlcinephiles]

Warning: Long Rant

I want to direct attention to a specific exchange in the most recent clip. The part where Ava mentioned that Nora said “She’ll fail anyway” regarding Fatou handling her part of the basement cleanup.

It wasn’t that long ago when I saw someone on here say that Ava has a habit “talking behind other people’s back.” But Ava has never said anything behind someone’s back that she isn’t willing to say to their face.

In moments of conflict, she’s the only person who expresses the full extent of her frustration unabashedly. She doesn’t let everyone move past the problem without it being fully addressed and because of that quality in her, she’s constantly being positioned as the aggressor (read: villain).

Ava was upset for a perfectly valid reason, but it was going to be framed as an overreaction *once again*, until she pointed out that Nora also expressed the same frustration. Before she brought that up, it was just going to be another situation where Ava’s feelings are invalidated, bc no one else was speaking frankly about the situation so “Ava’s just overreacting because that’s what Ava does.”

The same thing happened with the hoodie launch. Sure, everything worked out just fine in the end, but before that, the girls were facing a situation where they wasted their entire budget on a hoodie design no one wanted and Ava’s former bullies were ridiculing them all over Instagram for it. Ava, in particular, was frustrated b/c she was in charge of communicating with their prospective customers and she basically headed the project. It was perfectly understandable (at least to me) that she wanted to push Nora for a real explanation on why all of that had to happen, esp after Nora said she didn’t care right before walking out of the event.

That’s not to say that Ava was entitled to a full explanation on Nora’s disassociative disorder and alcoholic mom, because she’s wasn’t. And that’s also not to say that her personal history with the Instas didn’t influence her response towards Nora because it very obviously did. But there was also a clear lack of communication, and because Ava didn’t let that slide, she’s the bad guy.

ETA: The point I’m making here is that even in situations where the other girls in the group share Ava’s sentiments (Curiousity about why Nora messed up the design: Mailin, exhaustion about having to explain racism: Fatou, frustration at Fatou messing up the basement cleanup: Nora) Ava is always the only one to address the problem and state her feelings in a direct, confrontational way. Even though we’ve seen her pull back a bit this season. And she’s becoming a pariah over it.

This treatment of Ava pisses me off so bad, bc this whole dynamic is so recognizable to me as a Black girl. It’s something that happens very specifically to Black girls. I can’t begin to count the amount of times where I’ve been the only person to confront an issue head on in a situation, no matter hesitant everyone else was, only to be left hanging.

Very quietly other (non-Black) individuals involved would tell me that they “completely aggreed with everything I said” and that “it needed to be said,” “thank you for doing that” etc. It happened so often that people would even default to me to address conflict. “Could you say something? I mean you’re just so good at it.” Yet, despite how much they claimed to support me privately, they never backed up me publicly.

And what is the result of a Black girl repeatedly being put in the position of sole initiator, instigator, aggressor in tense situations? Look no further than the nearest Druck youtube/instagram comment section for your answer.

I am sick of this.

When pre-dominantly non-Black spaces aren’t being actively hostile to Black people, they are unempathetic and indifferent. Black girls and our feelings/opinions/concerns are an inconvenience. That is how Ava has been treated by the fandom in general, but this season esp.

And perhaps that’s the fault of the writers. I know I have mixed feelings about how the topic of racism/allyship has been written, and that’s for another post.

But it would be dishonest of me to simply blame the writers, bc I know that’s not how racism and implicit bias works. I’ve unconciously distanced myself from Druck and posting about it seriously because Ava’s conflicts just hit too close to home. And it hurts to watch the audience response to her. It is a reminder of how I’m constantly afraid people will respond to me. But now I’m thinking of speaking up more because this is really just not fair.

It’s not fair to have grit my teeth and stomach completely tone-deaf, mean spirited comments about this Black female character while holding out hope that the narrative will eventually clear up all conflicts. I’m deadass worried about an Ava season now. How will she fare with an audience so unforgiving to her?

[gdsplay]

I went on a KPop deep dive a month ago and ended up liking Big Bang & having a huge crush on Kang Daesung ♥️. I'm actually the same age as him and I totally missed out on this group for 14 yrs. Out of every group (1st gen to current) BB is just so different and the range they can deliver is unparalleled that I hesitate to call them an idol group.

In that short span of time, not even knowing what burning sun is about, Seungri just rubs me off the wrong way. There is no problem with ambition & tenacity but his is coupled with greed and even desperation. I looked back on their videos and he just seems to have this huge inferiority complex and wants to be seen ALL the time. He hogs the camera. In Go Show when Youngbae was dancing, he was too when it isn't his turn. In Strong Heart, he was imitating TOP when he didn't have to. In Family Outing he made them choose between him & Daesung. He's jealous of GD, but he'd always been jealous of Daesung also bec of his celebrity connections (which Dae doesn't ever exploit). Maybe that's why there is always noticeable distance between them. He's always the one saying "Nyongtory" which I didn't buy into; it struck me as always been for show only. It doesn't feel the same way as ToDae, there had been affection there right from the beginning.

It also struck me how the members treat him & Dae when they are both the maknae line. The rest have always been affectionate with Dae, constantly praising him. They play up his strengths (knowing Dae has his insecurities too & he had struggled so much esp in 2011 that he's never been the same despite his current playfulness). Even GD joked he wants to be Dae in one of those MADE series interviews. Their messages to him are always thankful (even 2 "I love you's" from TOP 😊). But with Seungri, they seem to always have their guard up when he opens his mouth. I like how Taeyang publicly showed his disdain for S in the GD & friends show.

Even w/o the scandal they'd eventually be a group of 4. Going back to old shows, I think this solidified in Go Show. In Weekly Idol, GD said that there's 1 they could do w/o. Same in Infinite Challenge. In Radio Star, they've repeatedly warned him about his acquaintances. They've readied themselves for this possibility long ago. They already saw the writing on the wall even if they don't know the extent of how badly he'd f*** it up.

But it's also good that it's Seungri who is out; I'm sure they could bounce back w/o him. They still have 2 of the vocal powerhouses who could very easily take his parts. His sound is not distinct anyway.

If it is any of the remaining 4, I doubt if they'd come back as a group, subunits maybe? (I even think that if Dae quits, then TOP won't come back even if GD & Tae wants to. This opinion is not being a ToDae fan as I'm not a shipper, I just like their friendship). I'm happy with the 4; with them there's balance: 2 singers, 2 rappers, GDYB & Todae as BFFs.

Even if they don't want to come back in SoKor, there's always Japan & China. I think they'd do well internationally, esp in Southeast Asia (there's too many of us waiting for their return). And if there's one group who could rise from this level of adversity, it's Big Bang. Go OT4! 🎉

One, I’m glad that you didn’t let Seungri turn you away from the whole group. One bad apple shouldn’t spoil the rest!

Two, I felt the same way to be quite honest. I didn’t dislike Seungri, I liked him in some aspects but he didn’t really click with me like the others. His overly cocky, obnoxious yet attention seeking personality turned me off. Wasn’t interested half of the time. His constant loud mouth always interrupting the others to squeeze himself into the picture when the spotlight wasn’t on him every minute got annoying to watch.

I’ve always noticed to a different behavior the members had with Seungri. As you’re right they expressed so much affection and love towards Daesung without it being forced and fan-serviced. Nyongtory was so noticeably forceful while the chemistry between the other four was always out of realism and not planned. I remember somewhere reading that GD said in their Made movie that he sometimes didn’t feel comfortable with what Seungri had planned on stage of their little scripted, Fan-serviced skin ship drabbles. Seungri was the one who thought of all of the ideas and pursued GD into the act. Why? Well it’s obvious, right in front of you. GD is the most popular member and if Seungri continues to do Nyongtory fs services he gets attention from GD and fans. The one and only few things he thrived off of. Seungri was always aware he was the least mentioned member. While the other members never needed forceful fan service their affection was always natural.

Their messages were always more warning and said in a scolded manner for Seungri, like each time was a lesson they needed to comprehend into his pea sized brain. I’m aware that their screen time together many of these red flags flew over our heads, we didn’t worry or take it into consideration like we have now. It was right in the open for all of us to catch on sometime..

I continue to say this is why the members weren’t shocked or surprised with the news. The kind of crime and involvement? Absolutely, they most likely didn’t assume he’d screw up so horribly the whole country would hate his guts and shun away but enough to have him leave and get the boot out of the group. It’s seems they’ve always taken into consideration he’d leave on his own sometime.

For the sake of BigBang they seem like they’ll do just fine continuing on without him. They’ve made it this far, I’d be pretty surprising if they didn’t. I’m not sure if you are aware or this but the four members renewed their contracts with their company Yge last March. That April of 2020 they were schedule for a big music festival Coachella. The pandemic ruined that moment. They’ll be back soon enough. GD , TOP and Taeyang have given hints. No one else will be leaving. The charts, fandom, South Korea and more are missing their existence.

Lastly, If a newer vip like you can sense and see the discomfort and untrustworthy vibes from him than so can many other fans; new or old just by going back and noticing behaviors and phrases from old variety or concerts.

[goblinconceivable]

braindump: betty/daniel

I’ve been living with them for a while, notes taken, a few stories significantly started but there’s a gelling issue, which I’m hoping is at least partially down to a lack of proper braindumping.  So, in no particular order and certainly not comprehensive:

Frankly I also got too hooked on the last 2 eps, which is likely where I’m blocked.  It’s an abrupt emotional twist for them (esp Daniel), and in trying to make sense of that I’m losing focus on the 4 previous years.

- I’m a little bit obsessed in the scene where Betty tries to convince Matt she’s fearless by pointing out her bang-less-ness.  And then runs into Daniel, who is at that moment half brain-washed, but yet when she asks about her fearless quotient his response is immediate and natural and entirely lacking in irony: “no bangs.”  It’s a tiny little moment that shows how well he not only knows her, but understands her.  Without judgment, without fanfare.  Were I to have a husband, this is the sort of response that would confirm I’d married the absolute perfect guy for me.

- They’re too close for mirroring to be an important indicator, but there are two scenes that stand out in this vein: the first is when Betty thinks he may have pushed Christina down the stares and steals the video.  She’s backing out the door, and he follows, matching her step for step.  I love the direction choices because from her perspective there’s a sense of menace, Daniel as potential villain is stalking her.  But from his guileless perspective he’s talking to her and if she’s moving, so is he.  The second is from the penultimate, talking about Trista, where Betty’s rolling back and forth and he moves with her, rather than simply turning his head.  It signals his full engagement in the conversation, seeking her attention, and is why the scene plays as flirting rather than their normal banter.

- That bulletpoint was getting a bit long, so second point on the flirting is that it plays against Betty shutting down the conversation “none of my business,” leading to the fight over involvement in each other’s personal lives, leading to the revelation that they know each other at that deep personal level so very, very well.  Which was a very clumsy leadup to Daniel’s revelation during Hilda’s wedding speech, that could have been handled so much more deftly but those last two eps were quite rushed, I don’t know when they found out about the shortened season but it feels like they’d planned for more space and had to jab in exposition.

- Becaaaaause: they narratively broke his ‘aha’ moment onto “know you better than you do” while the strength of the message is really in the “do anything to protect them.”  Which is, I believe, where they cut to his softened expression.  Not coincidentally, this is precisely what a lot of fan-readings of the characters focus on: Daniel will do anything to protect Betty.  Bobby might have said he’d throw himself under a bus for Hilda, but Daniel HAS done that for Betty- in fact literally doing so would probably have been easier than publicly shouldering the blame for the Tornado cover and giving away the profits.  Due to the fact that he had time to consider the consequences and did it anyway.

- Which is tidy segue into an admission that I’m flying mostly blind on the Molly arc because I basically skipped all her scenes, but it’s my understanding that Daniel doing this was a pivotal moment for them.  Ie, she was impressed that he did this thing.  I mean, I really appreciate that he spent the whole press conference scene looking for Betty, so the show in no way undercut their relationship.  But then they very clearly built the Molly relationship on the foundation of not only the man Daniel had become due to Betty, but choices he was making in large measure for Betty: it’s not that he saw Betty beaten down and resolved the situation: he was upset but lost, she yelled at him, and THEN he resolved the situation by taking the bullet.  Did I break grammar by ending up with two colon’d clauses in the same sentence?  It’s a braindump, ain’t gotta be pretty.  XP

- Quick sidebar that the same thing happens with Alexis.  She was expecting to come back to one brother, but then listens in on his pep talk with Betty and finds she’s returned to a different brother.  This may be where I got the “an assistant” phrasing, if so, my bad.  But basically, she was impressed with Daniel’s actions, not understanding that it was Betty specifically inspiring his actions.

- Follow that a step further and did Molly ever acknowledge how important Betty is to him?  Legit question.  I think her line here was about him doing it “for an assistant” (?) rather than even “his assistant,” establishing Betty as a non-entity for her.  (Quoting a summary but I think I’m in the ballpark.)  And I’m sure I’d have read about it somewhere if she brought Betty up during their discussion on who he’d date when she was dead.

- Just one last note on Molly, (okay it’s a multi-part though it veers off her as a character) but a possibly incorrect beef is that I hate the Daniel/Molly relationship because there’s no interesting or even real conflict?  It’s perfect?  I’m supposed to think this is magical “true love”?  Molly has apparently been engaged for years to a man she doesn’t really love (and um... that’s lazy not strong), and helps inspire a vengeance filled betrayal by her ex because she’s so awesome everyone loves her?  But she comes out squeaky clean because any emotional cheating on her part is balanced and thus “justified” by Connor falling for Wilhemina.  And then the only “conflict” is that she’s dying, and is perfect throughout it?  That’s...  weak.

-That poem thing WOULD have been an interesting point of conflict but it was resolved by Betty’s intervention, rather than within the relationship.  Which actually is an incredibly interesting beat.  The problem with that being it’s so entirely consistent with the role Betty plays in Daniel’s life that it’s treated as just another beat, as if it doesn’t MATTER that a fundamental moment of intimacy and growth of vulnerability in Daniel’s very important romantic relationship is a door opened by a third party.  There’s a strong argument to be made for something but I broke off to write the next point and now can’t remember what that strong argument is.  I might remember later.  It may have had something to do with Molly being a stepping stone in Daniel’s arc, but the cult-thing was so long and dominating that it didn’t work, it tied him too tightly for too long and coinciding with a loosening of his relationship with Betty there was flailing.

- Quick one: Daniel’s fast-forwarded and time-bounded relationship with Molly is the analog to Betty’s time-limited relationship with Henry.  Which is a discussion I would like Daniel and Betty to have.  Esp. noting that Betty and Henry had issues they worked through together (ice cream foreplay being one.)

- Player!  So going back to a happy place, when Betty’s on the phone trying to fix the apartment situation and the camera pans onto Daniel just leaning against the doorway: this may be a legitimate little moment of “squee!”  There’s so much denial in his laid back attitude at Player, but I still love watching how the informality of the environment reflects in the informality with Betty.  He gives her free reign, and there’s many answers to “why,” and I (almost) don’t want to go into them because I totally adore how this Daniel is basically a College!Daniel only he’s latched onto Betty, who, meanwhile, is just being Betty.  OMG how different his life would have been if he’d met Betty in college...

- Okay I actually don’t feel like going into whys, it’s just an arc to enjoy.  With a small mention of how he TOTALLY was playing with the MODE book and handed it to Betty knowing she’d understand and use it to get them back in.  Such a crazy subtle manipulation, to the point where I’m not sure it wasn’t almost entirely subconscious on Daniel’s part.

- The YETI recommendation letter.  What I love is that this is another time when Daniel fvcks up, but fixes it, and more importantly displays competence and ingenuity alongside authentic caring and effort.  Here’s the thing: YETI wanted Betty, even if it was just a quota thing (which it wasn’t entirely, at least one of the board was generally enthused.)  So all that was necessary was to have them re-label her as from Player.  Daniel knew this and did this.  And told Betty that.  BUUUUT that point was purposefully (by script and character) overshadowed by the gesture of the lengthy rec letter he put significant time into.  Whose real audience was... wait for it...  Betty.  He even did a second draft!  Which is more time and effort and a cleaner product.

-  Also flaking on her practice run.  I also enjoy how he (finally...) bounced back into the office clearly having forgotten her schedule, but having mentally shifted from Molly-space into Betty-space.  He’s enthused, he’s engaged, he’s sort of bantering and I’d like to see where that scene would have gone if she hadn’t immediately gotten the acceptance call.

- So there’s this moment somewhat early on, pretty sure when Betty’s taking the writing class, and wants Daniel to give her feedback.  And he’s all “why?,” coming from his “I don’t actually know what I’m doing” place.  She responds that he’s her friend and wants to know what he thinks.  And he does a little double-take at that word.  Because until that point Daniel totally sees Betty as HIS Friend, and they’ve referred to each other as friends, with a little “f,” and he believes that.  But it wasn’t until this moment that he even considered that HE might be HER Friend.  Presumably because he doesn’t believe he has anything to offer her, beyond the power he holds as EIC and her boss - ie, “here run this show” and other such responsibilities.

- Which is a recurring theme.  Pronounced on relationship stuff especially.  When she asks him for input on the Henry vs Gio situation, when she’s trying to date the playwright.  His response is always “I’m in no position to offer relationship advice/judgment on relationships.”  He sorta dodges the first and is permissive on the second.  I don’t know where to go with that so I’ll leave it (for now).

- When  he was supposed to be in Rio, Betty wasn’t even at MODE, she was working for the “enemy,” and he was sending her regular postcards?  First, they’d have been postmarked in New York and presumably with local stamps, so I’m not 100% on Betty not cottoning on.  But it’s super cute that he was thinking of her when he was incommunicado with literally everyone else.  Did he want her to figure it out (subconsciously)?  It’s an act of reaching out, but also of convincing: he’s created a fictional narrative of being in Rio, fed and embellished by the media and swallowed by coworkers, but it’s through Betty that he’s establishing the fiction in a definitive way.  He wants HER to believe it, because if SHE believes he’s there and having a good time, then he can believe it too, with a small piece of his imagination.

- Same convincing as in Player.  BTW, how did all those messages on her phone work?  He was 99% totally hiding the situation from her.  a) why wouldn’t he just call her from his phone, as he always did in the past?  b) he was creating another fictional space.  Where her “number” was literally on a post-it on his temporary assistant’s monitor.  It’s all play: “call Betty” happens many times, and every one is the act of doing it while knowing that he’s not really doing it.  c) Betty does not point out that he should have been confused he never heard back, or more to the point, that he never heard her voicemail message.  d) he was in a state of limbo waiting for her to come back, nothing is real until she does.  At which point there’s lovely dramatic tension since he both wants her to fix it and get them out of there, and wants to draw her into this new reality and thus make it feel viable.

- 100th Anniversary edition.  I love the idea that he’s hep on her writing his bio because he needs her name, at least, to be next to his.  His identity as EIC is predicated on her being his partner, and needs that shown, even if it’s functionally an “in joke” because it’s not like she can be featured.  In musing over his thoughts while flipping through the book right before deciding to quit, I usually come back to a realization of the transience of the role, but I want it to be a gutpunch of how he assumed, without being aware, that Betty would be next to him in picture, and that’s what they were heading for.

- I’ve actually got through most of my notes, so just a couple more.  Daniel is super impressionable.  He did what Becks told him to in the pilot.  He did what Natalie told him in the cult-situation.  Both against his better judgment - his look after Betty when he kicked her out for being “drama he didn’t need” - that’s the same look when he told her to clock out and was dragged off by the not-16-year-old.  I’m too tired to go check the pilot, but assuming similar look there.  He does what he’s told by anyone telling him to do something, but he WANTS to be rescued from the bad influences, who are so often so forceful.

- Final scene: okay so it turns out quick a lot of my thoughts are trying to understand Daniel.  His growth is blatant and deep.  So a second round will be more Betty-focused.  ‘Cuz I identify strongly with her and don’t have a lot of surface questions about her motivations, but I’m LOST on side of the romantic coin.  And plus she deserves a close look regarding how she grows during the series.

- I watched at least part of the reunion and very much like how AF answered the question of the final scene versus what EM says.  Because I think they each, as actors, see it from the perspective of their characters, which means it was played authentically and grants insight.  AF basically says that she saw it as Daniel coming to say thank you, and how it came down to Betty teaching him that he was good enough.  Which came across a little funny because her phrasing implied they’d never talk or see each other again or something and that’s an alarming finality.  But also implies that Betty really did see moving to London as a significant parting of ways, something that started as soon as she became an editor and their relationship changed.  Probably before.

- She then challenged EM as to why Daniel didn’t say goodbye (as if she didn’t know and hadn’t thought about it?  I’m guessing this was panel performance: asking the question “in character” and throwing the question to the other relevant actor.)  But anyway, EM’s answer was “Because things were just starting.”  Which is blatantly a shippy answer, and he even explains Daniel’s “revelation” as when he “really saw Betty for the first time through and through.”

- At some point in these things you’re like: oh but I thought of something else, and only stop when your brain falls asleep.

- I thought of something else.  And then I forgot it.  My brain is failing!  But not yet failed.

- After Betty gets her braces off there’s this scene near the end, at the shoot.  Daniel sees her and crosses quite purposefully to talk with her.  He wants to banter and share this exciting moment with her.  And the scene goes a little strange when Betty kinda goes “yeah, going now bye.”  I expected more eye contact, a big smile, more conversation.  That’s Betty.  That’s them.  But instead it’s a little awkward so Something Is Happening Here.  Is she self-conscious?  Did she see and hear something in Daniel’s look and comment right after she was detached from the bra and isn’t at this moment comfortable with him?  Is this all fallout from her dream in which she and Daniel slept together/he thought she was a bad person/rejected her only they chose not to explicate this/cut a useful scene/thought I’d get that right away but I’m obtuse?  I don’t think it’s the last one because while I can be horribly obtuse, I don’t think it was coded.  But that’s what the obtuse would say.

- At any rate they don’t pick up on it again, next scene (next ep) they’re back to normal.

- But Daniel does immediately chase after Amanda and let go of her.  Which is payoff for his convo with Betty earlier where she sort of disdainfully asks if he WANTS a more serious relationship with Amanda.  I did sort of wonder if he actually does, but Betty’s judgmentalness is what convinces him he doesn’t.  Usually I’d say Betty understands him so well she knows he doesn’t, but they’re not as close at this point, Betty is living her own life much more, so I dunno.

- But I don’t actually think Daniel was falling for Amanda, or that the show wanted us to think that was ultimately a viable path.  Because of that moment when he’s in a car, calls Amanda, says “I really need to see  you” and she turns him down.  It parallels his text to Betty when Molly died.  One text and Betty came over.  This was an actual distressed voice convo and Amanda doesn’t care enough about him to be there, which is really great development for Amanda even though we don’t see her!  She previously went after Matt when he was in jail, she’s interested in Tyler here, she’s not totally pining for Daniel!

- Daniel of course was using Amanda and their earned if mild emotional intimacy as a crutch, trying to fill the space Betty left.  Also note when Amanda turned him down for sex and he stayed to “hang out,” - this is not supposed to be an analysis of Amanda but I wanna note I like that moment because it felt like she was pleased to think she wasn’t just sex to him, while still being over him romantically. Because she does care about him.

- Or for pete’s...  I have this bad habit of writing notes which I later look at and am like... “huh?”  This is a fic idea, from Daniel’s POV: “Betty had moulded him, often by sheer force of her iron will, into being a man who almost deserved Molly.  And he'd turned right around and become a man who would never deserve Betty.”  And I DON’T REMEMBER WHAT THE SECOND HALF MEANS.  Specifically.

- Wedding dancing.  Happens twice.  Hilda’s wedding, we know what that is.  But at Daniel’s wedding.  I like that he wasn’t 100% Molly focused, ‘cuz, shipper.  And I know why the show had Matt cut in, because gotta keep things moving.  But isn’t it a thing that you don’t cut in on the groom/bride?  It’s their day.  Daniel just sort of nonverbally asks Betty if it’s okay (to leave her with Matt), but can’t help a) thinking he was a bit put out and b) want Molly to see his expression looking at Betty and have some sort of “aha��� moment where she - do Molly and Betty have any scenes together?  I don’t remember seeing any and I think I did skim through all the eps, but I need to do that again.

- Ooh, one of the things I forgot en route!  I like that Betty has revolving love interests, because that’s textual argument for Betty never having feelings (romantic) for Daniel.  Which is super, super important in this iteration of the story.  There’s a couple moments - pilot and the first bridge scene - where she arguably has a momentary crush, which quickly settles into a developing platonic relationship.  

- Jump back to Daniel finally seeing Betty as a true equal = romantic feelings.  It’s a thing.  Look my brain is deteriorting and wording is hard!  So there’s two sided imbalance throughout.  Daniel always saw Betty with this veneer of youth, and a great deal of his use for her is helping her “grow into the woman she’ll be.”  And that’s the roadblock in him seeing her as a romantic possibility.  Which was initially quite awesome because he was sleeping with people younger than her, even the “she’s actually 20″ girl was younger than Betty.  And yet always saw her as in many ways more mature and competent than her.  And double-yet he still saw how much further she could, and would, grow.  His belief in her knows no bounds.

- Meanwhile Betty sees him as...  someone who’s also becoming.  Who has great potential.  Bullying him into it if necessary.  And because he’s guided by her, she can’t crush on him, he’s like her pet.  Were she to have a crush, much less fall for him, it would have been horrifying.  She needs to have a moment when she sees him as a true equal, someone who - look, everyone is always still growing so it’s not like he needs to be fully formed, and it’s a little murkier what the moment would look like when she finally sees Daniel “for the first time.”

- ‘cuz as noted, Betty has been there for pretty much every important moment of growth and crossroads in every facet of Daniel’s life.  Whereas Betty consistently had many things and relationships in her life Daniel was not involved in.  She’s always been way more self-reliant (not the word I wanted, is there one that starts with c?)  It’s why they did sort of need to peel away through a chunk of S4, because Daniel needed to learn to cope without Betty propping him up, because it’s like a Miranda-thing:

- “I don’t need Gary.  But I want him.”

- Daniel has to be able to be find without Betty before Betty can see him as a viable romantic partner.  She has to see something she never has before.  Daniel saw that the seedling he’d been protecting was not only strong enough to survive on its own had grown up and bloomed (process begun early in the season when he was being overprotective and she shut that down).  For Betty...  I guess Daniel...  ...  .....  it didn’t happen in the show.  As EM noted, for Daniel, the ending was the beginning.  Because his moment isn’t leaving MODE, that’s just the corresponding moment to Betty shaking him off.  His moment is further down the road when he puts into practice everything he’s learned and ...  something answered in fanfic because it’s spec and I’m tuckered.

[rk1kheadcanons]

AU after the revolution Connor becomes a “symbol of escaping your oppressors (esp sexually-conservative parents)” by becoming Markus’ partner and is very uncomfortable with everyone using him as just an object to project their fears and fantasies onto. He gets called a thot and “Markus’ good little slut” just for kissing and he hates it, the amount of pron people make of him makes him puke. No matter how hard they try, they can’t ignore how fetishized/objectified their relationship is becoming

You have no idea how vastly I love you for your prompt, Anon.

I took this prompt on for many reasons.

As an ally, it's imperative to respect and uplift all forms of love. It becomes a problem when we actively seek it out for the "entertainment value." There are people behind those alternative lifestyles with their own struggles on a daily basis. They are human, not 2d paper and pen figment of some of all perversions. They're not here to be anyone's form of sexual excitement, period. If someone asked me now why had so much more homosexual pairings instead of hetero, I got my receipts for each and every one of them, and I promise "they so cute" is not my first thought. If it is for you, well might give this a thought or two. And, no, I am NOT singling anyone out, never that.😌

Anyways, I'm off my soapbox now. I just felt l I owed it to my friends out there to say that they aren't just "quirky, gay babies, uwu."

That said, you'll have to pry booty shorts-wearing, nail polish bedazzling Connor from my cold, dead hands. I know he can be a BAMF, break my neck, and still be adorable while doing so. That's just gospel, sis. 😏

Markus and Connor had decided to go public with their relationship sooner rather than later for a myriad of reasons. There was a history between the two that no Android alive now would forget.

The famous deviant leader and the infamous deviant hunter now in a romantic relationship was the talk of New Jericho.

Of course, those hurt during the period of time that Connor had not Hu deviated was the louder voice heard from the masses. They didn't establish the 'ex' on deviant hunter for a reason. They were bitter, intimidated, and above all else, felt the relationship between the two men betrayed something that Markus had pledged to them. So long as Connor was just there acting as the security on his off time from the DPD, no one cared. As soon as he showed true signs of his deviation, that he could indeed understand the concept of emotions like love... Well, to many that was unacceptable. What about their friends and possible lost lovers in the original Jericho? They, the murmuring androids, knew that he would have been shackled to his programming, that until it was broken, he would have been just as much a slave to his protocol as they would have been in his place.

The funny thing about emotions though is it tended to make you irrational.

Connor was forever cautious when at New Jericho despite Markus and North, Josh, and Simon finally taking him under their wing. He heard those murmurs, though. It wasn't like he did not have good hearing. Then there were the social protocols that let him know that others were uncomfortable around him. Maybe they glanced away upon looking at him or more obviously changed positions to get away from wherever he strolled.

Connor hated the feeling but he wore the mass shunning like a Scarlet Letter around his neck.

Markus and the others knew of Connor's treatment. Markus often publicly condemned the behavior. It worked for some, others revolted against it. That's when they changed tactics.

Connor immediately became apprehensive about the sudden change in behavior over the next month. No longer did those who meet him look away or run from him, but more and more an odd behavior happened in some.

Connor was met with blushes, flustered looks while others, male, female, or other, looked at him with a look that could only be described as hostility mixed with lust. It caused him to recoil away from those who wore those looks, recalling how North had confided candidly in him, shared memories of how she'd been treated. Those human faces matched those of these Androids.

Markus had come to him without him knowing, so caught up in the sea of emotions he was, pulling him away.

When Connor looked at the other man, his face looked tired. He looked overall defeated and hurt. Before Connor could ask, Markus took him back to his office and gently sat him in his office chair behind Markus all in one desktop he used to interface with when going over things. It was not long before North busted in the office, Simon right behind her, both taking there side by Connor. Josh came in lathe st closing the door and locked it.

Connor was wary. What was going on? Markus began talking to him telling him about how about a month or so ago a new online group had been created, a forum. It revolved around their relationship solely. He told Connor that the maker of the room was in custody, as well as several of the main instigators, that he was heartbroken that this was happening, that he should have done more and to not concern himself, he was taking care of it and to never look at the site as they worked to close it down for good.

The LED on Connor's temple pulsed yellow and Markus had to stop him from searching for it, instead interfaced with the PC front of him on his desk. He knew Connor would want to go to it regardless. He was too inquisitive for his own good.

The website seemed pretty benign, it even had a cute shorthand for their relationship as 'RK1K' or 'R1000'.

Connor gently shed the human skin and interfaced with the site.

It was wasn't cute or sweet at all if the tightening if his other hand on the armrest indicated with the squeal of leather in the starkly quiet room. North's fiery glare was in one screen as well though she gently pulled his fingers away from the chair willing him to grab at her own hand, even if his strength in his stress crushed it. Simon placed a resting friendly hand on his thigh, sad eyes turned up to him.

Markus wrapped his arms around his lover's shoulders and rested his head on one shoulder, also taking in the devastating effects of what misguided hatred could do again with Connor.

The tears came naturally to his eyes as he took in the sheer volume of disrespectful post one after another. Pictures and videos edit made to look very realistic of Connor in a very harmful or demeaning role in his relationship with Markus.

They really did have him as if he was just Markus' slave, literal pet, or even more insulting, just a hole to use, eluding Markus still remained with North but they agreed to this arrangement due to her history as a known sex model. This was insulting to not only him but also North, cheapening her struggle.

Others said that this was his new attack on the android leader: get him used to him, in a relationship with himself, and then when they were in the throes of passion he'd strike like some twisted black widow.

The group chat was abhorrent. Connor to them was little more than a beautiful carcass. He meant nothing to them but they'd be willing to bed him. The female-presenting androids made him little more than just some sort of soft, weak invalid that lived only for Markus to dominate in and out of the bedroom. Others just lusted for them both, striping everything that was Markus and Connor away to nothing but rutting animals, nothing further.

The screen turned off with the withdraw of Connor's hand from it. He was up and out of the chair on his way, away from here. He could not do this with these people.

Markus was right after him.

North and Simon were calling all Androids on the campus for a meeting while Josh had been working on ways to fully dismantle such an awful website.

About time Markus caught up to Connor, he was in a self-driving cab, whisking away from New Jericho, Markus knew most likely to Hank's House called his own to go there.

The meeting went exactly as one would expect from two extremely pissed leaders, one who could remain level headed regardless, and the third finally joined giving the names of the known accused and that the site was permanently shut down. There was no grumbling because they knew that it would be more issues. They all have seen Connor flee the compound, markus on his heels.

For however angry North was, nothing would compare to Markus when he showed that side of him to the people that caused this and the others that cast a blind eye to this sort of abuse, allowing for it.

When Connor reached Hank's door, he knocked hard but couldn't see well due to the tears. His face was flushed as they poured down his face. It was not long before the older father figure lieutenant let Connor inside just as Markus pulled up in his own taxi.

After Hank was assured Markus was not the cause of Connor's distress, he was admitted into the house as well. Markus immediately went and held on to Connor. They were both hurting from that level of hatred.

Of course, Markus would be upset and just as hurt as if the subject matter was him. He loved Connor and the sheer disrespect for the one he cared for was a slap in the face to him, as well.

The situation was explained to Hank, who was livid for them both, and sad that the other Androids couldn't see Connor for himself. Dad powers activated and Connor would stay with him for a while, away from Jericho.

Weeks pass, Markus is hurting and the rest of the leaders can see just how much Connor helped with smoothing the frayed edges in Markus own personality when he was tired, hurt. He tended to be snappish, not meaning to be. While he still did everything required, the whole of Jericho started to understand the gravity of the situation.

Sure, there would still be those who just treated the situation like Markus lost a favorite toy like Connor wasn't even a person, to begin with. As if Markus was throwing a tantrum in the face of genuine mistreatment.

Others though would likely see the pain they caused, fear what would happen if, though unlikely but improbable, Markus decided to walk away from all of this as a leader in the Deviants for his lover.

There are very real rumors.

It's not like they don't see Josh counseling his friend and brother daily when Markus anxiously paces the floor, the sometimes bitter and harsh words directed at no one stating the same grief he feels from this strife of his people and who he's chosen to love in the end. Or how he leaves all things that can be to the three leaders now, where before it wasn't an issue to wear that heavy crown of leadership primarily. Or how when he can he sneaks off to the old human Lieutenant's house to see the ex-deviant hunter and second he can because of that love.

Yeah, the vast majority of people are feeling like they fucked up, including any androids who dared to join in with this witch hunt for Connor and they were part of the group he directly deviated and saved from Cyberlife.

Fractions start to happen among the group, those for and against Connor's presence like finally some of those saved remembered some semblance of loyalty to him. North is fucking done with this shit. All she knows is that she misses her awkward murder baby that is so much more than just arm candy to Markus and it takes both Simon and Josh to keep her from charging into another dispute of Connor this week.

"Shut the fuck up! You have no idea what you are talking about, the person you are trying to tear down just because of his past and programming."

Of course, she'd vested. It was an explicit reminder of her own life before Jericho and how people, human and Android, loved to devalue someone with a sexual abuse past.

Connor's was mentally and emotionally abuse he suffered. The abuse was abuse at the end of the day. He had confided in her. She had seen Amanda...

From that day on, it seemed quieter about the Connor subject.

Six months.

It took six months of Markus creeping to see his lover that felt an outcast, North railing at any Android who dared speak ill of Connor, and Simon and Josh going to see him at the old lieutenant's house.

Simon had missed Connor, too. Though he was quieter about the whole thing, it didn't mean he didn't suffer the same.

Connor was so unique. He could be so cold and calculating in the heat of the moment, gun out, ready to go. But in private, talking about the 'family' dog Sumo, sharing snapshots of him, and talking about a new soft sweater he thought Simon might like as well.

Simon helped Connor with his identity as a homosexual man and as such, they bonded together. Between him and North scheming when they had a night out, it was so hilarious and refreshing.

He missed him.

Josh enjoyed Connor's brand of humor. It was dry as the Sahara, and typically delivered deadpan and it murdered him. Connor did laugh like a madman, but it was typically in Markus presence at his dry humor or sarcasm.

All the while Connor was gone, Markus and Connor talked about the dilemma. Whether Markus came and got him for lunch or they met after work at Hank's place, they talked about it, kept their communication strong, and their relationship stronger. It had been hard for them, and blame had been spread, mostly hurt fueled from Connor's side to Markus initially that this even happened under their leadership. Markus mutely had taken it, feeling as though he could have done more. Then Connor would apologize, realizing that his past was not anyone else fault but his own, that he deserved this treatment to which Markus would rally against, telling him he was good and kind, no he most definitely did not deserve this disrespect. In time, the storm calmed between them and Connor knew what to do.

On a cool, wet morning in October, Connor Anderson moved back into New Jericho, back into the living quarters with one Markys Manfred. Sure, there were murmurs but nothing like before.

One android saw this again felt some sort of way about Connor and his existence at Jericho. Just as she readied her verbal barbs, another shut her down before she could even start.

Connor witness it; Markus did too, as did North, Simon, and Josh as they were welcoming him back. A majority of people saw this brave soul stand up for one of their leaders as they had never done before.

It makes a difference in the way Connor is perceived and treated. Instead of the leadership having to police the situation, the fear of another common android speaking out for Connor and against the naysayer's curves the negative vibe that attempts to take hold again.

Connor is now welcomed back by the majority of New Jericho, not the minority, and things are back to running smoothly as before he left.

[destinyc1020]

It’s so funny cause you would think have learned that the way they go about things to try and keep what’s going on between them private the more obvious they make it. Like liking each other’s family and friends posts but not each other’s like come on guys. And z posting for every other co star but Tom. If you want us to believe he is just a friend and co star z maybe treat him like you treat the others. That is what has always made them so obvious how over the top they go to try and hide it.

Thank you lol. 😆 You would THINK they would realize that they're actually making things MORE obvious lol.

In an effort to hide whatever it is they are to each other right now, she's actually making it more obvious by not just treating Tom like a normal friend lol. 😅 And him vice versa. Although, I feel like he'd be more likely to just treat her like normal if she was okay with that.

Like I said before, if they're happy, then I'm happy lol. 😅 But looking at this from an outsider's pov, I just don't see how you can have a healthy, long-term, sustainable relationship with someone when you handle it in this manner, for a long time. 🤦🏾‍♀️ In the beginning, I understand, but past the 6 month mark, it's time to give up the charade (esp if LDR) if you want a chance at long-term survival. Jmho.

Silly me, I thought that they had learned from their past mistakes lol. 😆 🤣 Now it's making me wonder if maybe their breakup wasn't so much due to privacy disagreements, but more so due to smthg else. 👀

I also feel like maybe Tom is okay with being private, but just not being FRIEND-ZONED publicly, or seeing her do cringey DC videos. 🙄

So, I mean, if they're both just not talking about it, and aren't denying anything to the media, or trying to discredit relationship rumors through tweets, then maybe he's okay with it!? 🤷🏾‍♀️

I mean, Tom did seem to try to go through great lengths to hide Nadia (unsuccessfully, I might add lol) during the Quarantine on several occasions lol. 😏

Sooo... even he's not really trying to out himself freely.

Anyway, they've only been in Atlanta together since early Nov, so it's only technically been 2... nearly 3 months. Sooo....🤷🏾‍♀️ I'll give them a pass.... for NOW lol. 😄

But if I keep seeing the same thing past 6 months (if smthg is actually going on), then I'll be like.... hmm.... idk if this can last.

[yaz-the-spaz]

Hi ! I really want to know about the bullying happened to Liam? I’ve been listening to Zayn’s MOM and some lyric (know what you’ve been through etc) remind me of this.... I just thought it would really help me understand Ziam’s relationship better? Also if you know anything about Zayn’s early life I would die to know! Thanks! Hope it’s not too much to ask(btw I watched the videos that Liam’s high school girlfriend Shannon posted in 2010, he was so cute, that kind of triggered me to know more too

hey nonnie, i don’t really have much concrete information on this unfortunately other than what little liam’s shared himself. i’m not sure how much of that you’ve seen though so this may or may not be new info for you at all but i guess i’ll just sum up what i can remember of what he’s said which is pretty much just general stuff: 

he was bullied in school as a teen (not sure about before his teen years but it also wouldn’t surprise me) and didn’t have really have many close friends...there’s possibly also a point where he didn’t have any just based on what’s known about his 16th birthday which is that literally not a single person showed up after he invited (i think??) his whole class or at least a good portion of it and his family went all out with getting a big fancy cake and lots of decorations and i think even rented out a little venue space or something like that to host the party and it just ended up being the 5 of them...i can’t seem to find it at the moment but there’s a pic of him somewhere where he’s literally just sitting there at the table all by himself with this big cake (that was obviously meant for way more than 5 people) and it’s absolutely heart-breaking. idk if you’ve seen any of the backstory of sophiam but supposedly there was a girl in high school that liam really liked and he tried a few times to ask her out and every time she turned him down. sophia is rumored to be that girl (though how true that is, or how much it was just a convenient way to sell the narrative of them as some sort of super messed-up version of high school sweethearts i ofc have no real idea). but anyway that, combined with kind of off-hand comments i feel like i remember him making along the lines of being sort of unlucky in love growing up, i think also says a lot of how he was treated and perceived in school. there’s also the fact that at one point the bullying got so bad his dad enrolled him in boxing as a way to help boost his self-esteem and help him feel more confident about defending and sticking up for himself. and after he went on txf in 2008 things only got worse cause, despite whatever brief fame/notoriety and positive-ish attention he might have gotten shortly following his run on the show, after about a year or so of things with his music career not really progressing (and people around town recognizing him and noticing that he hadn’t “done” anything else or really “gone anywhere” in his career) he started getting publicly ridiculed. random people would literally yell cruel stuff at him in the street or in fast food restaurants about him basically being a has-been and stuff like that...

as for zayn i don’t really know much of his early life either other than little bit i’ve shared that i recall seeing. i know it was circulated that he was out as bi as young as 15/16 and that ppl from his school and from the bradford area (esp the areas close to his neighborhood) knew. he was also bullied in his early years (more around elementary school/primary school age) b/c his school at the time was primarily full of white and kids apparently they would literally call him “funny-looking” and stuff like that and make fun of him for being brown and muslim, but he eventually switched schools and things got a lot better. that’s about all i know for him though

[cancerbiophd]

A technician in my group has a habit of making me look stupid by publicly telling me things she thinks I do wrong (mostly things she explicitly taught me so or does herself) while having said nothing earlier when she saw me doing it in private. I have a feeling she does it because I'm starting to be really appreciated by our PI and she thinks I'm pushing her out of the spotlight but still it really sucks... :(

Ohhh oh yIKES your technician is a horrible person for doing this to you. Totally unfair and uncalled for! I’m sorry to hear that tech is creating a toxic work environment for you :\ You definitely don’t deserve to be treated like this!

I think you could go about trying to make this right a few ways:

Speak up next time she publicly bullies you. Respond with something like, “I was not aware I was doing this technique/protocol wrong as this is how you taught me to do it. Thank you for bringing that to our attention. I will make a note of that change in the SOP [Standard Operating Procedure aka a lab’s main protocol for an experiment] and I will try to do/not do that from now on.” And then definitely record that change down in the protocol (whether it’s a shared lab protocol or something you have written down on your own). This way, if she tries to go back on her word again, you have written proof (and witnesses!) of what she wanted changed. 

If you want to take this one step further, start documenting all the experimental steps she teaches you, type and print it out, ask her “Hey is this what you want me to do?” and if she approves, have her sign it. And if she tries to pull that BS during lab meeting ever again, wham bam SLAM that signed SOP on the table and be like “that’s not what you signed off on. Are you suggesting we make some changes?”. (Is this me being a bit sassy? Maybe. But ain’t no dickhead gonna make any of my followers feel inferior without their consent, so we fighting fire with a bucket of ice cold water hunny!!)

Anyway, having robust and reproducible results in the whole goal of research, right! And you can’t be reproducible if the SOP keeps changing for no reason. So ya, if anyone is questioning why you’re doing this (signing SOPs and whatnot), just say it’s to keep your experiments reproducible as per the ethics of scientific research. Who’s gonna argue against that?

Talk to the technician privately, and ask her that for the safety of yourself and the entire lab, and for the integrity of the experiments, to please tell you when and what you’re doing wrong if she sees it. Be sure to add something like: “If you see what I’m doing is wrong and you say nothing to stop me, you are partially responsible for any negative outcomes, especially if I’m doing something unsafe.” Maybe that’ll jolt her to clean up her act. 

If talking to the tech goes nowhere, the next step is to talk privately to your PI. As the ultimate authority figure in the lab, they’ll hopefully be able to put an end to this. I would frame your conversation not so much as “your tech is being mean!” but “hey this isn’t good for anyone involved, including you!”. So something like this: “I’ve noticed __(tech’s name)__ has seen me do things incorrectly but did not stop me while I was doing it, only bringing it up after the fact during lab meetings. I’ve since asked her to tell me immediately so I don’t jeopardize my safety, or the safety of others, or the integrity of experiments, but she refused. I don’t want to work in an unsafe environment, nor do I want other members of the lab to either, and I also don’t want to waste thousands of dollars of your money on failed and/or non-reproducible experiments. Would you be able to talk to __(tech’s name)__ and explain that I would like her to catch my mistakes while they’re still fixable?” Something like that.

And to help support your claims, you can consider having a written record of your situation. Write down 1) all the incidences where the tech has made you feel uncomfortable, including dates and exactly what she said (if you remember); and 2) what was said during the above convo with the tech, because if she refuses to tell you not to do something when she spots it, she’s basically agreeing to not care about any negative outcomes–something I’m sure the PI (and your research institution) would not be happy about (esp if it jeopardizes safety and hard-earned grant money). And then sign and date that puppy, because now it’s a legal thing that you can also take to HR if need be. 

Some may think this is all overkill, but I think it’s an appropriate and professional response to address harassment in the workplace (and yes, she is harassing you by unjustly making you feel uncomfortable!), as well as a possible breach in scientific ethics (ie. not sticking to an agreed-upon SOP that may jeopardize reproducibility). You deserve a safe and productive work environment. 

I hope that tech stops being a chum bucket of curdled milk soon! Lemme know if there’s anything else I can help with. My private chat is always open too!

[jcmorgenstern]

@superohclair oh god okay please know these are all just incoherent ramblings so like, idk, please feel free to add on or ignore me if im just wildly off base but this is a bad summary of what ive been thinking about and also my first titans/batman meta?? (also, hi!)

okay so for the disclaimer round: I am not an actual cultural studies major, nor do I have an extensive background in looking at the police/military industrial complex in media. also my comics knowledge is pretty shaky and im a big noob(I recently got into titans, and before that was pretty ignorant of the dceu besides batman) so I’ll kind of focus in on the show and stuff im more familiar with and apologize in advance?. basically im just a semi-educated idiot with Opinions, anyone with more knowledge/expertise please jump in! this is literally just the bullshit I spat out incoherently off the top of my head. did i mention im a comics noob? because im a comics noob.

so on a general level, I think we can all agree that batman as a cultural force is somewhat on the conservative side, if not simply due to its age and commercial positioning in American culture. there are a lot of challenges and nuances to that and it’s definitely expanding and changing as DC tries to position itself in the way that will...make the most money, but all you have to do is take a gander through the different iterations of the stories in the comics and it’ll smack you in the fucking face. like compare the first iteration of Jason keeping kids out of drugs to the titans version and you’ve got to at least chuckle. at the end of the day, this is a story about a (white male) billionaire who fights crime.

to be fair, I’d argue the romanticization of the police isn’t as aggressive as it could be—they are most often presented as corrupt and incompetent. However, considering the main cop characters depicted like Jim Gordon, the guys in Gotham (it’s been a while since I saw it, sorry) are often the romanticized “good few” (and often or almost always white cis/het men), that’s on pretty shaky ground. I don’t have the background in the comics strong enough to make specific arguments, so I’ll cede the point to someone who does and disagrees, but having recently watched a show that deals excellently with police incompetence, racism, and brutality (7 Seconds on Netflix), I feel at the very least something is deeply missing. like, analysis of race wrt police brutality in any aspect at all whatsoever.

I think it can be compellingly read that batman does heavily play into the military/police industrial complex due to its takes on violence—just play the Arkham games for more than an hour and you’ll know what I mean. to be a little less vague, even though batman as a franchise valorizes “psychiatric treatment” and “nonviolence,” the entire game seems pretty aware it characterizes treatment as a madhouse and nonviolence as breaking someone’s back or neck magically without killing them because you’re a “good guy.” while it is definitely subversive that the franchise even considers these elements at all, they don’t always do a fantastic job living up to them.

and then when you consider the fetishization of tools of violence both in canon and in the fandom, it gets worse. same with prisons—if anything it dehumanizes people in prisons even more than like, cop shows in general, which is pretty impressive(ly bad). like there’s just no nuance afforded and arkham is generally glamorized. the fact that one of the inmates is a crocodile assassin, I will admit, does not help. im not really sure how to mitigate that when, again, one of the inmates is a crocodile assassin, but I think my point still stands. fuck you, killer croc. (im just kidding unfuck him or whatever)

not to take this on a Jason Todd tangent but I was thinking about it this afternoon and again when thinking about that cop scene again and in many ways he does serve as a challenge to both batman’s ideology as well as the ideology of the franchise in general. his depiction is always a bit of a sticking point and it’s always fascinating to me to see how any given adaptation handles it. like Jason’s “”street”” origin has become inseparable from his characterization as an angry, brash, violent kid, and that in itself reflects a whole host of cultural stereotypes that I might argue occasionally/often dip into racialized tropes (like just imagine if he wasn’t white, ok). red hood (a play on robin hood and the outlaws, as I just realized...today) is in my exposure/experience mostly depicted as a villain, but he challenges batman’s no-kill philosophy both on an ethical and practical level. every time the joker escapes he kills a whole score more of innocent people, let alone the other rogues—is it truly ethical to let him live or avoid killing him for the cost of one life and let others die?

moreover, batman’s ““blind”” faith in the justice system (prisons, publicly-funded asylum prisons, courts) is conveniently elided—the story usually ends when he drops bad guy of the day off at arkham or ties up the bad guys and lets the police come etc etc. part of this is obviously bc car chases are more cinematic than dry court procedurals, but there is an alternate universe where bruce wayne never becomes batman and instead advocates for the arkham warden to be replaced with someone competent and the system overhauled, or in programs encouraging a more diverse and educated police force, or even into social welfare programs. (I am vaguely aware this is sometimes/often part of canon, but I don’t think it’s fair to say it’s the main focus. and again, I get it’s not nearly as cinematic).

overall, I think the most frustrating thing about the batman franchise or at least what I’ve seen or read of it is that while it does attempt to deal with corruption and injustice at all levels of the criminal justice system/government, it does so either by treating it as “just how life is” or having Dick or Jim Gordon or whoever the fuckjust wipe it out by “eliminating the dirty cops,” completely ignoring the non-fantasy ways these problems are dealt with in real life. it just isn’t realistic. instead of putting restrictions on police violence or educating cops on how to use their weapons or putting work into eradicating the culture of racism and prejudice or god basically anything it’s just all cinematized into the “good few” triumphing over the bad...somehow. its always unsatisfying and ultimately feels like lip service to me, personally.

this also dovetails with the very frustrating way mental health/”insanity” or “madness” is dealt with in canon, very typical of mainstream fiction. like for example:“madness is like gravity, all it takes is a little push.” yikes, if by ‘push’ you mean significant life stressors, genetic load, and environemntal influences,  then sure. challenge any dudebro joker fanboy to explain exactly what combination of DSM disorders the joker has to explain his “””insanity””” and see what happens. (these are, in fact, my plans for this Friday evening. im a hit at parties).

anyway I do really want to wax poetic about that cop scene in 1x06 so im gonna do just that! honestly when I first saw that I immediately sat up like I’d sat on a fucking tack, my cultural studies senses were tingling. the whole “fuck batman” ethos of the show had already been interesting to me, esp in s1, when bruce was basically standing in for the baby boomers and dick being our millennial/GenX hero. I do think dick was explicitly intended to appeal to a millennial audience and embody the millennial ethos. By that logic, the tension between dick and Jason immediately struck me as allegorical (Jason constantly commenting on dick being old, outdated, using slang dick doesn’t understand and generally being full of youthful obnoxious fistbumping energy).

Even if subconsciously on the part of the writers, jason’s over-aggressive energy can be read as a commentary on genZ—seen by mainstream millennial/GenX audiences as taking things too far. Like, the cops in 1x06 could have been Nick Zucco’s hired men or idk pretty much anyone, yet they explicitly chose cops and even had Jason explain why he deliberately went after them for being cops so dick (cop) could judge him for it. his rationale? he was beaten up by cops on the street, so he’s returning the favor. he doesn’t have the focused “righteous” rage of batman or dick/nightwing towards valid targets, he just has rage at the world and specifically the system—framed here as unacceptable or fanatical. as if like, dressing up like a bat and punching people at night is, um, totally normal and uncontroversial.

on a slightly wider scope, the show seems to internally struggle with its own progressive ethos—on the one hand, they hire the wildly talented chellah man, but on the other hand they will likely kill him off soon. or they cast anna diop, drawing wrath from the loudly racist underbelly of fandom, but sideline her. perhaps it’s a genuine struggle, perhaps they simply don’t want to alienate the bigots in the fanbase, but the issue of cops stuck out to me when I was watching as an social issue where they explicitly came down on one side over the other. jason’s characterization is, I admit and appreciate, still nuanced, but I’d argue that’s literally just bc he’s a white guy and a fan favorite. cast an actor of color as Jason and see how fast fandom and the writer’s room turns on him.

anyway i don’t really have the place to speak about what an explicitly nonwhite!cop!dick grayson would look like, but I do think it would be a fascinating and exciting place to start in exploring and correcting the kind of vague and nebulous complaints i raise above. (edit: i should have made more clear, i mean in the show, which hasn’t dealt with dick’s heritage afaik). also, there’s something to be said about the cop vs detective thing but I don’t really have the brain juice or expertise to say it? anyway if you got this far i hope it was at least interesting and again pls jump in id love to hear other people’s takes!!

tldr i took two (2) cultural studies classes and have Opinions

[silklaurentharry]

the long awaited “why does this bitch hate harry?” list

DISCLAIMER:

these are all my opinions, this doesnt mean i think hes a bad person-i think he does a lot of good things-this is just a list of bad things, this doesnt mean that i could never start to like him ever again-it just means these are things that dont sit right with me that i think are important and cant be overlooked! (they dont ruin him, and make him an unbearable person or CANCEL him-its just things that i decided i dont like anymore!)

PLEASE DONT MAKE THIS MORE THAN WHAT IT IS! im making this bc ppl want it(ive gotten more asks about this list than i ever have on any piece of my writing ever so...anyway)

also um....i still read harry smut and want him to fuck me but like- hate fucking is the best so can u blame me?

SO. Let’s start with the moment i first started disliking him.

yacht!gate. is there really more to be said???? if yes-basically he went on a fucking yacht with k*nd*ll and jeff and kris and his mom and robin etc. kendall is so privileged and just a not great person in my eyes and even though this was before “tpwk” he was still saying shit like “be nice to nice” and who is the opposite of that? kendall.

then, he cut his hair. smh. THIS IS A JOKE OKAY.

hes besties with people like james corden and ben winston. who use him for his fame(not his fault but hasnt he always said “you can always tell” when ppl are just using u?) and shit(you saw that shitty sitcom, correct?) and james took a ‘cutesy’ little photo of him kissing sean spicers cheek. aka trumps ex press secretary. aka a fucking shithole of a man. dont know about you but if i “treated ppl with kindness” i wouldnt be associated with anyone close to trump.

camille fckn rowe. i mean...lmao. and its 2019 and he’s STILL being seen with her. 

performed at the vsfs. who before this past one has alWAYS been fatphobic and ppl are JUST NOW shocked at the fact they actually came out and said it. lmao. i get it was a big move for his career but if he really cared about morals would he do it even with the past mistreatment of fat or ‘overweight’ models in that show? i wouldnt. but thats just me

now this next one is purely just me and just puts a bad taste in my mouth-u dont have to agree on any, but esp this one. from what i know(i havent been keeping up with him regularly for the past 3-4 years)-he has never said anything about getting back with 1D, when all of the other’s have said they “have to” and “would drop everything” to get back together. and that just doesnt sit right with me-again, just me but...i dont like it!!

he has been surrounding himself with shitty, all around AWFUL people since he left 1D. and idk if thats bc of management telling him to for PR, his own actions that are finally getting out bc hes no longer restrained under modest, or if its just a coincidence. bUT. “tpwk” doesnt really sit well if you publicly hangout with fuckheads that dont do that.

his fans. now if you dont fall under this descriptor im about to give-thats great! love you♡ anyway, his fans are OBSESSED. and i fucking mean obsessed. with gay pride now. which is fucking amazING!!!! BUT. these are the same people who are afraid of their gay friends falling in love with them. who the moment someone points out something that could prove harry to be gay(or at least open) instantly deny it and say there’s no way(medicine lyrics). who go to pride just to go and not to show support to the LGBTQ+ community. heres a quote from rolling stone(article will be linked at the end)  “ On the surface level, pride is being overrun by straight people and large companies who attempt to capitalize on gay culture with limited-edition pride products. A combination of the influx of straightness at Pride, along with the major setbacks the LGBTQ community has experienced in the past two years, has encouraged LGBTQ people and activism groups, like the Reclaim Pride Coalition, to once again make Pride a form of protest, not simply a celebration ” “ The issue isn’t then, “Is it appropriate for allies to attend Pride?” because the answer is unequivocally yes. ” “ The issue becomes “What’s the best way to show support while simultaneously realizing that as a straight and cisgender person, Pride isn’t for you?” ”  if you are an ally-we love you, truly. BUT. when you just go to pride dressed in rainbow and think its all about dancing and shit(sometimes it is!) but never actually stand up and do things for the LGBTQ+ community(i understand not everyone can because of their safety but im talking about people who can and choose not to because they’re comfortable). so again- if you are a true ally and understand when to sit down and be quiet, i love you. if you dont- use this as a time to educate yourself! “... so perhaps you should ask yourself, “Am I an ally the other 11 months of the year?” ” i love you as well!

and finally-i dont think ive ever heard him actually apologize for something....like, have we?? i cant remember a time where i have. if he changes and learns-great. but, in the meantime- i personally think apologies are needed! he keeps his fans in the dark about almost everything(which i think is healthy and good for him) but when it comes to not saying anything about BLM signs/flags and then just posting a picture on instagram (AFTER! fans came for him might i add) it’s something you should not keep in the dark. come out and say something and then once we see you change- yes! a king that learns from mistakes! 

NOW. i want to say i will always love him bc i still think hes a good person. just not the greatest like yall make him out to be. hes ugly sometimes inside(and out...sorry), he hangs out with shitty people that dont line up with things he profits off of(tpwk), and he doesnt need to be up on this pedestal you guys have put him on. imo-he could stand to be knocked down a few pegs! i already expect to get some hate on this, and thats okay-we all have different opinions and see things differently! im here to show my reasons and if youd like-send an ask on how you disagree! i love discussing things! i love you♡(be nice to me)

rolling stone article by ZACHARY ZANE-a good read!

[neonstatic]

Everything wrong with 13RW

Firstly, the premise of the source book is distasteful and it should've never become a full show with 13 episodes of 1 hour each season.

The creators contacting health professionals to get advice on how to handle the themes in the show and ignoring ALL of the advice shows the little care given for “spreading a message” or “starting a conversation” (more like starting a controversy).

Now onto the points in which the show failed to convey a positive message in both season 1 & season 2.

I recommend watching this video for short indications on why the show does more bad than good.

And before anyone says anything, I am mentally ill and I study psychology so jot that down.

SEASON 1

Sensationalism of suicide

As a vehicle for vengeance (thru tapes)

As a tool to gain attention

The tapes are treated as words of truth and justice

If the tapes are ever criticized, it is done by characters featured on the tapes, which serves to delegitimize such opinions since they're the "bad guys" of the story

Act of committing suicide blamed on others (esp bad when the 11 persons’ wrongdoings cannot be equated in most cases)

Most people didn't deserve a tape:

Jessica cut ties with her over a misunderstanding

Zach emptied her encouragement mailbox (and quickly stopped after being called out) and she thought he threw away a personal letter she wrote him (this tape is extremely unwarranted)

Courtney claimed Hannah came onto her because she was afraid to be outed as lesbian but in the end, the photos and rumours affected them both anyway

Ryan published a poem of hers without her consent; disrespectful but not ill-intended

Clay walked away after she insisted for him to leave her alone (this tape is extremely unwarranted)

Sheri knocked down a sign and left Hannah out on the street because she didn’t want to call 911, which “caused” the death of a student (this tape is extremely unwarranted)

Those who deserved a tape (debatable in some cases):

Justin, for making up lies about her and spreading a revealing picture of her

Alex, for cutting ties, objectifying/publicly humiliating and submitting her to harassment in school

Bryce, for spreading a revealing picture of her and raping her

Marcus, for misleading, harassing and humiliating her in public

Tyler, for stalking and spreading pictures of [Courtney and] her

Mr Porter, for his very poor handling of her obvious distress

Hannah's story is no fair representation of real life

Technically, she’s a victim of social bullying (damaging someone's social reputation & lying and spreading rumours) but...

She's esp a victim of circumstances made by the creator - she's a fictional character whose purpose is to be a martyr in her story; in the real world, things would have played out much differently

Hannah tries to reach out once then gives up and justifies this bc the school counsellor didn't come running after her when she stormed out (again assuming ppl are mind readers)

Graphic rape scenes with the potential to trigger viewers - even those who aren’t survivors (replayed numerous times throughout the show as flashbacks)

Graphic and extended suicide scene (goes directly against professionals’ guidelines but screw vulnerable viewers I guess?)

Finality of suicide forgotten by the structure of narration = Hannah’s omnipresent even though she's literally dead, which grossly undermines the consequences of suicide

Adults portrayed as clueless and unable to help (not a good idea to put in teenagers’ head)

SEASON 2

Vague mention of mental illness

Implying anxiety runs in Hannah's maternal side but not diving into it

Sky being diagnosed with bipolar although there was no extensive portrayal of her symptoms (since she wasn’t onscreen for long) and immediately disappearing from the show while she’s the only character going through professional therapy and recovery (smth they would have rly benefited from showing)

Trivializing mental illness for plot use

Clay hallucinating Hannah - acknowledged but not addressed for being a serious psychotic symptom

Minors in sexual situations (too many times!)

Graphic scene of a brutal sexual battery (entirely for shock value, it didn’t have to be shown this way and you can't tell me otherwise)

Conflicting message regarding drug use

Severity of addiction (Justin getting clean then relapsing)

Recreational use (minors doing molly for fun... instead of marijuana which is less risky in comparison)

Trivializing school shooting

Advertisement tool (last episode of S1 heavily hinting at it)

Teased several times throughout the season

Blatant reference to Columbine

Not going through with it - worse move ever…

Irresponsible guide on how to approach an impulsive armed person

From a storytelling POV

Hannah the martyr

Hard to sympathize with when the tapes serve to exact vengeance more than it serves to explain how she felt and why she did what she did, making her manipulative at best

The fact that she was a bully herself in the past

(Plus being “shown” how Hannah was would've been better than being “told” how she was by other characters)

Overall terrible attempt at creating a suicide victim / mentally ill person ppl should sympathize with, the last thing the mentally ill needs is to be related to a character that is so easy to dislike

Clay as a main character

Lost his value since the story's progress doesn't rly depend on him (even tho we're forced to follow him)

Character development: he gets real snappy and no one calls him out? Increasingly unlikable

(Not that he was that likeable by the end of S1… spreading a naked picture of Tyler? #WelcomeToYourTape)

Tyler and his arc

Attempt at explaining the possible cause of school shooting? Failed.

Most school shooters aren’t victims of bullying, in fact many (if not all) are associated with hate groups like white supremacist, misogynists, etc.

Had plenty of reasons to commit suicide over mass shooting (and I don’t mean it in a ‘suicide can be justified’ sense but tbh besides his interest in guns, he’s never depicted as aggressively angry or remotely prone to violence)

Could've brought attention to male depression and male suicide far better than Alex’s story

Technical POV

Very lacking warnings. There should be hotlines at the end of every episode not at the beginning. Self-righteousness and superficial philosophy in both dialogue and narration show the shallowness and pretentiousness of the directors.

The show is presented as an objective representation instead of a media to consume and dissect and judge for oneself = in other words, the morale is laid out for you. Putting up content so shocking most of your target audience cannot watch for fear of being triggered is irresponsible. Trigger warnings don't solve that. Shooting implicit scenes and not explicit scenes is what protects viewers and still conveys the message.

Message

The show is depressing; there's barely any positive outcome. Every character is helpless to their situation. It would benefit greatly of some comic relief.

“We should be careful what we say to people.” Only when it comes to Hannah, everyone else we can be harsh to, apparently. “We should care more for people.” (True, but you can’t love depression away.) “We have power over nothing.” "We can't change anything.” “Adults don't understand us.” “We can't confide to anyone.” “We can't trust anyone.”

Seriously it's a fkg downer. This show highlights all the problems but gives no solution. You expect your audience of teenagers to figure it out for themselves? You expect your audience of teenagers to go out of their way to "start a conversation" with their parents over some sensationalist teen drama show? You must be kidding me. (Do you know how a conversation about 13RW goes? “I loved the show!” “I didn’t.” The end.)

Final note

The directors should have inserted a segment after each episode (or every couple) with the actors themselves discussing what happened to/between the characters and how it could have been handled better. If you want to act like your show is a PSA, treat it as such.

[guccifloralsuits]

Gryles obviously

fuck yes, I love them sm, that gryles special snatched every single one of my wigs I am so bald. 2017 is truly the year of gryles

who is more likely to hurt the other? Harry’s more likely to hurt Nick - he’ll go out to the club with Nick, and sometimes he’s only got eyes for him, and those nights are the best, but sometimes he’ll be flirting by the back of the bar with a leggy model instead and that hurts Nick a lot but he just grits his teeth and down another drink. who is emotionally stronger? Ah…I don’t know. Nick, maybe? Because he’s just got this easy way about him, like he’s at peace with his life, and he’s got his shit figured out. Even if he doesn’t like what he’s feeling, he acknowledges and accepts it. Harry tries not to feel the things he doesn’t want towho is physically stronger? Harry, although it’s close who is more likely to break a bone? Honestly I see them drunkenly trying to pull some stupid shit together which ends up with matching broken arms. Everyone notices when it happens but Nick & Harry are suspiciously tight lipped about what went down. (they made a pact to each other about never mentioning it, ever, and neither is gunna be the one to break it) who knows best what to say to upset the other? I…don’t really see them consciously learning the ways to make the other mad. They have a really healthy relationship - otherwise they wouldn’t have stayed such good friends for so long - and I think when they upset each other, it’s only ever accidental. Well, Nick knows Harry hates when he publicly brings up past relationships, but that’s within the realm of their work and not their personal relationship, which they keep (rightfully) very separate. who is most likely to apologise first after an argument? Harry. He’ll have done something that pissed Nick off, but he’s not sure what, so he shows up at Nick’s with N’s favorite takeout and a movie and an apology in his eyes and Nick can’t stay mad. who treats who’s wounds more often? Harry was always there for Nick’s relationship dramas, and always the person to help him get over his latest breakups, and gain back that post-relationship confidence. who is in constant need of comfort? Nick constantly comforts Harry, especially when it came to band drama, because he was an outside perspective who harry knew would a l w a y s be on his side, through thick and thin, through all the ups and downs. who’s most likely to walk out on the other? Nick. Because sometimes harry makes him feel all types of ways, and Nick just…needs some time away. Harry’s such an all encompassing presence and Nick is already in too deep and occasionally it’s all too much. He needs some time to regain his head. He always comes back, in the end. who will propose? Harry, because Nick is afraid of saddling down harry (which harry assures him is completely insane. Harry wants Nick, and no one else). It’ll be during a star-gazing date, and they’ll have driven to an empty meadow, sitting on the hood of their car and making up stories for the constillations (because the old ones are boring). Nick is telling Harry about how the Big Dipper was really frizz-beed into the sky by the drunken kitchen help after-hours, as a giant fuck you to their ass-hole boss, and harry can’t help but laugh at the absurdity of it. He looks over at Nick who’s smiling wide, content, with his crinkled eyes and laugh lines and it dawns on him suddenly: he wants to marry this man. He doesn’t even have a ring, so he slips one off his finger, and gets down on one knee. They’ll go out and get a real one, eventually, but for now, this will have to do. Nick thinks he’s having a piss, at first. It takes a while to convince him he’s not. He says yes, of course, and some passionate car sex ensues. Wow I need to go write a fic about this….who has the most difficult parents? neither, their parents knew their relationship was a long time coming and are surprised they didn’t get together sooner. who initiates hand-holding when they’re out in public? They both do, all the time, because their hands fit so well so why not fit them together? It’s super cliche to say their hands fit like puzzle pieces but their hands fit together like puzzle pieceswho comes up for the other all the time? Nick goes to every Harry show he has the chance to see and Harry comes into Radio One every free day he has in London. They text every day, sometimes just a joke and reaction gif or two, sometimes long winded conversations. who hogs the blankets? Harry is such a blanket hog, but they go out and buy like 12 extra blankets so its not too much of a problem. Harry also likes to use Nick as his personal blanket and Nick is more than okay with that.who gets more sad? Harry, sometimes randomly. He’ll just, go from having a good time to a mood drop in seconds, but Nick is great at picking up when Harry’s no longer having fun and knows how to comfort him. It only happens when in large crowds, when everyone is rambunctious and loud and talking over each other and he feels..out of place? Anyways, Nick gets it. who is better at cheering the other up? They are both great at it. They’re both the type to show up unannounced at the other’s house with wine and chocolate or a plan to head on an adventure, because they can tell the other is down. who’s the one that playfully slaps the other all the time after they make silly jokes? Harry to Nick - did you see the way he kind of did in in the gryles special when nick cracks a joke at that axe throwing place I LIVE who is more streetwise? Nick because Harry can’t really go out without getting recognized, so. He stays inside most the time, or in private who is more wise? They are both wise as hell and I think Nick doesn’t show it as much bc (esp on the radio) it’s not really his job, but. I bet gryles get like, deep as hell sometimes - and not the in a Fake Deep way, either. who’s the shyest? Harry, Nick’s job is literally to be extroverted. I love how easily Nick accepts harry’s shyness though. Ugh. I’m so deep in my gryles feelings after writing this someone help me. who boasts about the other more? Nick about Harry because he knows harry (secretly) loves it. Harry, on the other hand, rarely likes speaking about those that he holds close. It’s like he wants to keep them all for himself. who sits on who’s lap? Harry on Nicks lap, facing him with his legs straddled over nicks hips, having to tilt slightly upwards to meet nick’s eyes. 

Fuck, I need to go read some fan fiction, immediately. I am now balls deep in gryles feelings holy shit I am not okay. I am actually crying. thanks 4 this ily 

Send me ships and I’ll answer these questions about them wooo

[tvmblrsillyman]

i do not feel comfortable coming off anon, especially because you're already pretty hostile in this reply. i simply wanted to warn you because rab was a actual abuser of mine, and i'm younger/black, so adding that with their fixation of black people/other poc it makes me scared to reveal because they are the reason i'm currently in therapy. i'm sorry you don't believe me, i'm literally just trying to warn you. but i also don't understand how you see screenshots and say "they seem sketchy."

“sorry to send another one, i ran out of space. but saying "in the time i've known them, they haven't done this", invalidates my trauma and also makes it seem like you're completely rebuffing me when i'm trying to express (rightful) caution. i hope you don't treat other people who come to you about anything like this, it's honestly made me feel really shitty. i didn't mention kf, i was mostly talking about myself as a younger black person. thanks anyways. have a good night.“ you know what thats fair. sorry for coming off as hostile and placing a tone that invalidates ur trauma. i’ve only interacted them from a distance from the past couple of years following them so theres a good chance i rly dont know them. im only asking u to come off anon so i dont have to answer publicly esp since i dont know the full story and its hard to know whats right when its fairly easy to fabricate evidence online. (also i mentioned kf bc the blog u mentioned that googling their name would lead to more info which lead to those kf pages. should’ve clarified my bad.) I’ll admit i only skimmed thru the docs which made it seem like its just a compilation donation post they made. i’ll reread it thru again with more care when im more awake. either way i appreciate the time u made to talk to me, good night.