#except in this case instead of getting a new best friend max just gets obsessed again

[fallout-lou-begas]

(absolutely desperate and trying to cope voice) well just because Adam Cole and MJF are still best friends and CM Punk might be suspended again doesn't mean we can't still get CMJF 2 Electric Boogaloo at some point like what if when Punk finally starts stirring shit about the world championship title we get a CM Punk vs Adam Cole eliminator match under the pretense of "if you want to get to Max then you have to go through me" but then Punk wins and wins brutally and leaves Adam basically a pulp on the mat and we can get Adam completely devastated that he couldn't protect Max and Max completely devastated that Adam just got torn apart for nothing and also Max absolutely terrified because not only was Punk capable of ripping his best friend to pieces (hot) but he knows he's next and doesn't think he's ready and hates how much he wants it. like is there anything hotter than watching the most toxic man you've ever worn a dog collar with take your sweet and nice new man who treats you right and utterly destroy him in the ring. daddy long dick just landed in LA baby

[finnoky]

AU where Quirin takes and raises Eugene after the DK falls

•| Send me a potential AU and I’ll tell you five fun facts |•

Oh you have no idea how much this enables me - I stand by Quirin raising Eugene until the end of time bc it’s what they BOTH deserve

1) Oki so, here we see Eugene taken away as a baby without disclosing an EXACT location — that will not stop Quirin though, who had a stance against cutting him off completely despite it being Edmunds orders [It made sense to send the boy away but to send him to an ORPHANAGE was another story] Quirin finds Eugene a month or so after they get separated, during that time he found a house and a stable farm to raise a kid on [Gotta have an income] and then promptly goes to the orphanage and adopts Eugene.

By then, Eugene’s name has already been changed and frankly... Quirin thinks it suits him, though he occasionally slips up and calls him Horace. He feels a duty to raise the Prince but also kinda has a “My son now” mentality! Disagrees with Edmunds choices + decides... His kingdom is doomed, so he’s gonna ensure Eugene gets a stable upbringing with KNOWLEDGE of the Dark Kingdom without necessarily telling him “Oh BTW you’re the prince”. Being a father is hard and he struggles a lot, esp in early days, it’s a whole new challenge from being a knight but... Not one he really regrets?

Cue some fluff! Knight-dad trying to raise a baby and establish a life in a new country — Over time he grows and becomes Village Leader + Develops a bond with the monarchs based on his knowledge and previous high-rank in society from being a knight! Gets offered a guard position but turns it down in favour of spending time with his toddler son. Eugenes first word is Dada and Quirins never felt so content. Baby fluff of Eugenes milestones — Quirin has Eugene helping on the fields as soon as he can toddle without tripping (tho it’s mostly Eugene playing and running around while Quirin works) Toddler Eugene is a little darling and knows exactly how to use his cuteness to get praise and sweets

2) Eugene starts thievery / acting out soon after Quirin dates and marries Ulla, though it soon become a hobby he usually indulges in with his friend Arnie [though they take on the names of the coolest book characters Flynn Rider and Lance Strongbow!] Quirin thinks it’s just a phase and leans into the whole calling Eugene ‘Flynn’ because... He really loves the books, that’s not too odd? Though he doesn’t know of crimes + just thinks they go out to play a lot. Eugene ignored Ulla for the first few weeks because he doesn’t like the idea of someone new staying around — He doesn’t hate her, it just raises a lot of questions about his mum that Quirin doesn’t know how to answer... He resolved on the explaination that she was very sick and couldn’t take care of him anymore, though loved him dearly — it’s enough to placate him.

Eugene doubles down on stealing when he’s 10 and suddenly there’s gonna be a new baby in the house. [He doesn’t WANT a sibling + worries Quirin will love the baby more than him since he knows he’s adopted & all that though is too scared to ask] Eugene grows an attitude and Quirin finds himself exhausted and constantly caught in petty bickers as Eugene keeps running away + acting up, especially to his wife (Who loves Eugene very much, of course) ‘Flynn’ declares he wants to travel the world and be far away from step-mums and nasty babies, uhhh Domestic fall out stuff?

Things change when baby gets here and suddenly Eugene is a big brother and Quirin is MORE distracted, sometimes they forget to even read him a story and he can’t stand the squirmy little creature... All it does is cry and take what little attention his misbehaviour had earned him... So naturally, petty crime continues + Eugene starts caring less about getting caught, so it becomes more risky. He and Lance befriend some bad influences and start taking Big Kid Crime. It’s fun! Until Eugene is brought home by a guard and Quirin gives him the silent treatment for the next week. Quirin... He loves his sons, both of them, but he just isn’t sure how to handle a distressed 11 year old and a baby, it feels like there’s not enough hours in the day and Eugene is SET on making life harder for everyone.

Eugene stays against ‘Varian’, frequently makes the baby the villain in his games and makes him cry on several occasions. It gets even worse when he starts crawling bc now he can’t get anytime alone, it’s just frustrating! The solution probably comes when Varians starting to talk and he says ‘Oo-gee’ as one of his first words — ‘Lisa’s first word’ style — and Quirin and Ulla admit that Varian is obsessed with Eugene. It’s sorta a wake up call for Eugene to start trying to get along with the kid, and it works! He finds it fun to teach him things & have someone to talk to (even if he just babbles back) By the time Eugene is 12 he’s calling Ulla mum and love spending time with his little brother

3) Right! When Eugene is about 18 he picks up theiving again, mostly because he isn’t suited to the farm life and it’s easy money (Plus how else is he gonna achieve his dream of financial independence?) He moves out the farm under the guise of finding a new life with his best friend, though they quickly realise it’s not amazing when they get tangled up with the Baron + his antics. Eugene visits home every so often and claims everything is fine, it’s going great, he doesn’t need any extra help + his life is just dandy. His dishonesty mostly bc he doesn’t wanna worry Quirin and there’s been a bit of a strain since Ulla passed away.

Life keeps on like this. Eugene ages, steals alchemy supplies for Varian and hides his true income source because he wants to make Quirin and Varian proud! Varian grows up to be more headstrong in what he wants because he has someone standing up for him and telling him he’s proud, though the longer Eugene spends away the harder it gets? He loves it when Eugenes here! But the house feels empty without him, and Quirin is so busy + stressed from Varians experiments that there’s still that desire to do more, prove himself.

4) Movie diverts a bit! Eugene finds out about the hair glow and thinks... If one person knows about this then it’s him, and takes Rapunzel to Old Corona over night rather than a campfire. Varian is ecstatic to see him though gets confused by a random girl Eugene claims to have just found — He’s about to ask questions when Eugene asks if Varian could do his magic thing to find out about her hair. Varian insists it’s alchemy and agrees, dragging Raps down into the lab! Boop gothel talks to her when Varians gathering all the equipment and talks her ear off about how cool Eugene is and asks how they found each other since the story is weird... Experiements start!

Meanwhile Eugene is talking to Quirin, when Quirin pulls out a wanted poster and puts it on the table. He finally found out about how bad Eugenes crimes are and wants answers. Now. Eugene sits and tries to explain its not what it looks like, but Quirin doesn’t wanna hear it. The disappointment is evident and Quirin criticises “I thought you grew out of this, what role model is this for Varian?” Eugene doesn’t have an answer but argues his case that it was to be reliant — and he doesn’t wanna do it anymore anyway! Quirin accuses him of using the girl, while Eugene insists her name is Rapunzel and he’s just helping her, get the crown, be set for life and never have to bother him again.

Their argument is cut short by a Varian coming back upstairs looking frazzled, says there’s something about the magic that’s familiar but he can’t place it — sure is strong tho, and continues gushing and asking Eugene for all the details of what he’s been up to. Eugene... Explains, his usual light-hearted rendition of a great quest, while Quirin leaves and stays upstairs the rest of the night.

Varian sees them off in the morning! Hours after they’re gone Vari is still looking into the magic thing — that’s when he remembers the old legend about a sundrop... about how it saved the Queen... About the Princess. Varian sneaks out the house and heads up to the lantern festival to tell Eugene and Rapunzel his revelation, but he gets there just as Eugene is being lead away by guards. Varian finds Max and tells him how they need to free Eugene + basically... Helps him escape with fewer pub thugs and more alchemy. When they get to the tower Eugene tells Varian to stay on the floor and climbs up to help Raps - Varian stays at the bottom of the tower for approx 10 minutes before finding the back entrance and climbing up. Figure he gets there just as Gothel deages, it’s suddenly and before anyone knows it Varian is the one pushing her out the window bc he saw a stabbed Eugene and put two and two together. Then! Cue New Dream scene, except Varian is sitting on the floor in shock a distance away... After New Dream hug Eugene looks at him and Varian admits that “Ok, magic isn’t that bad”

5) Oh god the series! First off — Raps is closer with Varian in this (that’s becoming a theme...) so doesn’t just throw him out into the blizzard when he comes asking for help. Instead he and Eugene go back to Old Corona together after the storm, Varian isolates himself from guilt + has a tough time dealing with what happened, but he lives in the castle as Eugene starts getting angrier with the king and wants answers for what happened. He’s the one that finds Dark Kingdom stuff and he and Varian work on it together... Eugene has a suspicion he came from the Dark Kingdom so when the rocks start pointing there he’s like dope!

No villain Varian joins them on the trek to the Dark Kingdom + it’s all fun and games, Eugene tries to get more answers from Adira as they travel but she says it’s not her place to say... All he needs to know is the kingdom fell, and everyone was evacuated... She’s almost annoyed as she explains it, then Hector is treble annoyed when he finds out Eugene was raised by QUIRIN since that went against the direct orders... Though Adira defends it and says he was doing his duty of keeping Eugene safe, it’s basically a rift between them that’s confusing until they get to the DK and the revelation happens.

I feel... Moongene could be a thing in this AU? but since I’m running out of points I’ll leave it with Cass taking her canon role! I will point out! when Quirin is freed initially only Varian runs into his arms... Eugene hadn’t really spoken to Quirin properly since their movie fallout & he’s not sure he belongs... Until Quirin holds and arm out to him and pulls him into the hug too (PARALLLELS) and we get a happy reunited family (tho with some issues to work out regarding somethings... they need to rebuild trust, but work on it slowly. Edmund stays ‘Edmund’ to Eugene. He sees Quirin as his father & doesn’t push as much to reconnect with Edmund... Though that makes it easier in a way. There’s less pressure once Edmund understands and they form a friendship, but Quirin is Dad 100% (Sometimes Edmund gets called Dad 2))

[sunflowerdigs]

So, I did a little sarcastic-y review from the salt mines for RNM 3x09. Warnings for excessive sodium content, Maribel mourning, a desire to recycle cardboard, and, of course, Malex opinions. Without further ado:

- Every time Michael smiles I forget for like 5 whole seconds how much I hate that Malex keeps me shackled to this show. Too cute that he brought Alex lunch (and probably hoped he could sneak a glimpse of him) and they're going on their first date (omg omg omg).❤❤❤❤❤

- Kyle should yell at people more. Starting with his garbage friends who left him in a barn without proper triage or jello cups while he was in a coma (why didn't they just keep him at DS if he's having appointments there anyway? Nevermind... ). Alas, he's starting his understandable rage tour with Uncle Edgelord, who, naturally, makes a dramatic statement and tries to leave. I am so glad Kyle called him on that.

- Delmanes would be cute if Greg didn't have the personality of cardboard. They've created a character who is actually only here to remind us of how special and amazing Maria is. Turns out that's not super interesting. And it's so painfully obvious that it's a pair-your-spares situation. I really wish they'd just give her Kyle, he has the patience of a saint. Anyway, Isobel's pigtails are cute af (rip my Isobel/Maria/Kyle heart - I would have taken Isobel interrupting Delmanes and Heather's post with pigtails today as signs if not for genetics).

- Anatsa and Isobel's development seems to have taken place completely off-screen, like everything else gay on this show, so I'm guessing it's gonna stick. Honestly...I guess this is controversial but Isobel and Maria have really good chemistry and a history. I know their bond is supposed to read "sibling" but it doesn't for me. And rather than waste time watching them flirt with these one-note (ah, Greg chimes in right on time with a convenient line any rando could have delivered) LIs, I'd much rather see them get closer. The whole related thing has thrown a wrench into it for me. That said, it's nice to watch a woman be encouraged to go after another woman. 🎉

- Alex the sci-fi/fantasy nerd figuring out immediately that the hallucination is his own subconscious is 100% legit. Much like Kyle not letting his uncle pull a classic tall-dark-and-broody exit, I appreciate Alex's 4th-wall break moment.

- Not Max and Liz proving that discussions about s2 drama can occur on Roswell New Mexico?! What? Must be a straight thing. Lucky them.

- Isobel is actually acting a lot like Sherlock Holmes when he's on a case, from the wardrobe to the focus, and it's hot. Also, totally believable that Isobel would be able to pull up that pod from under the ice because we know she's been training even if it didn't happen onscreen. Because she told us. Just a suggestion.

- I love the idea of Jim Valenti as a double-agent, but I don't see how Eduardo thought he could keep Kyle safe by never knowing him. It feels like there's a lot more here Eduardo isn't saying.

- It wasn't a sister-fight that Maria and Isobel had, but whatever (no one got physically shoved or brought up a horrifying memory from 100000 years ago to shove in someone's face in public - doesn't count).

- Also, why would you waste a glass by throwing it into the fireplace? Wouldn't it just explode back in your face? Man, the show is trying so hard with Maria and Greg, I want to give them some kind of romance-novel award for effort (but not success).

- Not Liz and Max showing us that it's possible to move forward by discussing your past mistakes like adults instead of pretending they didn't happen!? What? Must be a straight thing. Lucky them.

- Draw a line on the bottle? No way, Valenti, he obviously wants you to chuck that whole thing straight into the fire in a fit of passion to prove that his words had an emotional impact.

- Also, Kyle wins the prize for this episode for that speech to Uncle Edgelord. Everyone go home. When do I get a Kyle and Alex spin-off where they travel the world, defying sci-fi tropes and seducing beautiful men and women?

- Not Liz and Max talking loudly about aliens while breaking and entering! This one is actually very believable, I take it back.

- It was idiotic of Liz to trust Heath. And Echo keep having this same fight because MAX IS RIGHT BUT THE SHOW WON'T LET HIM BE. Which is so obnoxious. I would forgive Liz for almost any sin (like, idk, getting a better romantic storyline because she's straight) because she's gorgeous and smart and tough and I wanna go live with her and her mad scientist energy on a deserted island somewhere. But she's being real dumb rn.

- I love the t-shirt and if Vlambase doesn't sell one I will. But he couldn't have held up a radio and blasted some Barry White? I feel like that would have cleared everyone but Alex put of the building real fast. Also, what is time on Roswell NM? Was Alex just setting the alarm every so often for kicks? Does Eduardo really not check in on staff who are working with dangerous technology for days on end? Also, why is this entire plot happening over a single goddamn episode instead of two or more so that we can really feel Alex wasting away under the machine's influence? The reason this twist is at all surprising is also the entire plot's undoing - Alex's demeanor wasn't exactly one of a man obsessed (or an addict, tbh) in his last scene.

- Anyway, back to Rizzoli and Isles. I definitely am always super excited to hear the details of my sister's sex life. All the time. That is totally a sister thing except where it's really not. Do any of these writers actually have a sister? I feel like they must because the Michael/Max/Isobel sibling chemistry is always bang on but Maribel is just...flirty lady city. Oh, and look, the beard just showed up with coffee to cockblock - it really is R&I!

- Back to Alex's plot line, which, much like Isobel's coffee, is Express To-Go. He's become haggard and worn in the time it's taken Michael's mom to find a cute sweater in the void. Seriously, we wasted like 3 whole episodes where Alex was presumably sitting in DS twiddling his thumbs and now he's being worn down by the machine in a single episode? Why didn't this plot start back in episode 3 or 4? Like...look, I don't come on here to be an asshole. But I just really hope they're taking note of what worked this season and what didn't because HOLY PACING FIASCO BATMAN. Just because you're giving us Malex doesn't mean everything else can just be hot garbage (not the acting, Taylor's doing his best to sell this). Also, when did Alex put his leg back on? I have so many questions but they aren't the good kind, so Michael better ride in soon and save this mess.

- Regarding what Nora is saying, it's fine, it makes sense but the zero build up makes it completely ineffective. Alex is afraid he doesn't love enough - it would have been nice to see that over several episodes instead of just being told in a burst of sudden exposition but, you know. Nice straight things we can't have, I guess.

- If Michael and Alex want their relationship to "purr" they could, idk, talk through their past misunderstandings like people in relationships do. Or the show could keep throwing exposition bombs at them, idek.

- Are those empty toilet paper rolls inside the machine? I knew the CW was budget but come on...

- And we finally get the Heath connection and it's to our brand new trope-y character, Wise Old Black Man Dallas. It's surprising but only because the 4th alien didn't exist before this episode. So, good job.

Overall, not the worst episode of RNM ever. I only wondered why I watch this show maybe 3 times this episode. And Michael's enthusiasm for Alex was adorable.

[mhaccunoval]

i finallyyyy finished the explanations for my tlb playlistttt so come get yall juice

if you haven’t already seen my first (official) post about this silly little playlist then you are still in luck !!! here is the spotify and the youtube links !!! oh yeah also all of the songs are in chronological order (maybe not by month but definitely by year) because i had to be organized like that sbjhshsjbs

———

❥ title

i mean. there isn’t much to explain about it but sbjshbsjhs it’s based on sam’s line “you’re a creature of the night, michael!” of course but i made it plural because this playlist is sort of a. general boys / movie playlist, if that makes sense??? but yeahhhh they’re all littol creechers who love the night >:o]

———

❥ paint it, black — the rolling stones

so !!! i was kind of trying to relate it to the boys vampirism and. love of black clothes sbhsjbshjs but no. similar to the title, they. literally live in darkness because of not being able to go into the sun and because of the few lights in the lair but there’s also a sort of duality where being vampires in an internal darkness??? like. each of the boys takes heavy advantage of the benefits of being undead but i can’t imagine it’s without its faults outside of the lack of sunlight and such. i’m sure there’s a kind of uh. monster complex that follows it, especially with the way outsiders view them, which certainly fits with the song’s vibe of being washed with this sort of sensory overload to color and earning weird looks for it

———

❥ riders on the storm — the doors

first of all, there’s a giant ass jim morrison poster in the lair therefore the boys definitely listen to the doors (if not idolize jim) so jot that down. but also !!! it has very Them vibes !!! i think the storm effects definitely relate to boys in how storms create a darkness that is soothing in its own way, and comes on strong, just like the boys’ presence. and. technically they Are killers on the road that Will kill a sweet family sbhjsbshjsb but no most of all the !!! “into this house we’re born // into this world we’re thrown” and !!! the found family that the boys have going. like, if you look at. vampirism as the house they have LITERALLY been born into it and been thrown into a whole new world, depending on each other for comfort and pleasure !!! oh also. they ride motorcycles so they’re also literal riders sbhjsbshjs (fun fact, according to genius lyrics: apparently it was the last song jim recorded before he died a few weeks later 😳)

———

❥ love her madly — the doors

whole jim morrison poster and listening to the doors reasoning is sustained. HOWEVER for the rest of reasoning… perhaps it’s more straight up 95060 than anything but sbhsjbsshj the whole woman walking in and out of the audience’s life is very symbolic of michael being in and out with the boys, never really deciding whether he wants to fully join them and straining. all of his relationships with that indecision and sitting on the picket fence (those who sit on the picket fence are impaled by it). although, it could also be partly symbolic of that indecision, as he does find Some charm in the boys’ lifestyle and keeps finding himself drawn back enough to even consider partaking in it. also, if you wanna go the parko route, paul loves marko madly enough to go after the frog bros personally for killing him <3

———

❥ walk this way — aerosmith

i am. blanking on how to tie it in other than being on the movie’s soundtrack (yes i avoided it and people are strange until the very end of making the playlist, but one of the evils got me clearly— have always ADORED people are strange though). but. i guess you can make the case that the song is full of innuendos and some scenes, like the feeding scene, are lowkey horny sbsjhbshjsbs and YES it’s the aerosmith version instead of the run dmc one because. i prefer this one and it’s my silly little playlist <3

———

❥ the boys are back in town — thin lizzy

technically the boys never Left town but !!! *christopher walken voice* Boys !!! them cast ARE crazy and they’re ALWAYS dressed to kill, ready to spill some blood and pick a fight !!! yeah no it’s just a very fun song that i think really works to. represent their crazy lifestyle and infamy around town due to causing trouble !!! and you can almost say that in this scenario star is the girl who used to dance a lot and slapped the shit out of someone <3 just girlboss moments <3

———

❥ xanadu — rush

hehehe… this started as the. desire to add more rush to the playlist for my own amusement but the more times i listen to it, the more i’m like “!!! it actually fits”… like. xanadu here is meant to a sort of utopia that’s long searched for, partly BECAUSE of the promise of immortality which !!! the boys have (unless. harmed in one of the ways at the end of the movie) because of their vampirism. like even if we don’t know the exact reasons they got turned, they all still, mostly indirectly probably, sought out that same principle. And the dining on honeydew and drinking the milk of ‘paradise’ is similar to their thrill-seeking tendencies and general enjoyment of being unable to die, leaving them to enjoy their undead lives to the fullest. not to mention, in [b part 2] (as genius refers to it) there’s talk of many, many years passing and waiting for the world to end, which we know there’s been quite a few years in between the boys getting turned and the movie, as well as i’m sure they sit back and wait on Some apocalypse, if not just to watch the world burn. in writing this, i’ve ALSO realized how it can be considered very Michael; he didn’t exactly seek this life out but he found it and indulged, only to be that “mad immortal man” towards the end of the song

———

❥ runnin’ with the devil — van halen

i just van halen is neat sbjshbsjsh and would definitely be something the boys would actually listen to hsjbshjsb i don’t Necessarily think vampires are in any way tied to the devil but. here it’d be more like a metaphor of “taking a walk on the wild side” if you wanna call it that; also, they all truly live their lives like there’s no tomorrow (not that they have to worry about death until the very end), have stolen a lot of things just to get by (probably in life AND death), don’t bode well with the ‘simple’ life (likely including the idea of a nuclear family like max proposed) because of it’s lack of pleasures, and don’t exactly have any “love [that] you’d call real” unless you read into the subtext 

———

❥ hot blooded — foreigner

originally this was going to be another joke about the. lowkey horniness of the boys and the movie as a whole but i’ve realized in writing these explanations thus far and rereading the lyrics that it’s. it’s just michael-centric sbshjsbsh sam is “at the mercy of his sex glands” and so is the audience of both the movie and the song sbhsjbshsj like. michael finds himself attracted to star immediately and tries for two secret rendezvouses, with only one working, and. can be said that he also finds a fever running within him when he’s around david and the boys sbhjsbshjs i just 🙈

———

❥ renegade — styx

renegade is my favorite styx song so i just said “fuck it” and added it sbshjsbshj but !!! you can say that, again, the boys live their lives on the wild side and. probably commit enough crimes to warrant dozens of sentences, some that would lead to death row (like, ya know, the. manslaughter) but they manage to get away unscathed. And the law man serving as an allegory to all of the people, including the frogs and grandpa, that want them dead for being vampires, with the bounty to be rewarded being the ridding of their trouble from santa carla

———

❥ big shot — billy joel

mikey :o) … ok yeah he isn’t the. silver spoon in hand (nose) type but he’s LITERALLY the type to open his mouth and get himself deep in enough shit that a fight breaks out, potentially bloodied his eyes, nose, and/or fists. i don’t have much of an explanation outside of he is a himbo jock who pulled a “i didn’t know how to talk to my crush so i wrote a note telling them to get out of my school” except he said it with his fist instead of his mouth sbjshbshsj

———

❥ boys don’t cry — the cure

pretty sure this is one of the ones i stole off of shovel (@/iswearimavamp) sbshjbshjs but i do love this song in a general sense too. in regards to the movie, like. none of the guys. obsess over masculinity or anything— and both david AND michael cry at different points— so that’s not necessarily an issue. but, there *is* still a lot of hurt and stepping on toes in many of the relationships in the film that can be stretched to fit, i would think sbjhsbshjs

———

❥ highway to hell — ac/dc

this and back in black were some of the last two i put on here because i. wanted to make an ‘even’ 35 sbsjhsbshjs BUT, like with runnin’ with the devil, it’s about a devilish lack of care for one’s own life or the “status of their soul” and just doing what feels right or like the most fun, no matter if it lands them in hell or not. and !!! “my friends are gonna be there too” fits with the friendship within the boys’ found family and how they’ll all always be together, no matter what !!!

———

❥ back in black — ac/dc 

i can’t really think of an explanation that differs from highway to hell so just reread the above sbsjhsbsh

———

❥ witch hunt — rush

OK !!! this is the song i’m the MOST excited to explain !!! right off the bat, moving pictures as a whole is an IMMACULATE album, absolutely love it. right so !!! this song literally SOUNDS like it belongs on the movie soundtrack; it has the same overtones and sounds as cry little sister and it’s just !!! and with the title, a witch hunt is BASICALLY what sam + the frogs went on in search of the lose boys, relying on little else but hearsay and catching glimpses at what was happening to michael, “confident that their ways are best” and moving along like a mob of three to get to the bottom of it. “features distorted in the flickering light // faces are twisted and grotesque” is very reminiscent of the faces the lost boys pull when they’re about to attack, and “they say there are strangers who threaten us” is symbolic of them being outsiders/outcasts that make everyone uncomfortable, even if You aren’t going to be their next victim. “the righteous rise with burning eyes” AND “quick to judge, quick to anger // slow to understand // ignorance and prejudice // and fear walk hand in hand” can apply to any number of characters, particularly the mains who are all pitted against each other, the humans fighting for their lives and the vampires fighting for their Right to live, neither taking into consideration the other’s perspective. i just… ADORE this song…

———

❥ red barchetta — rush 

this one was mainly just because of the car that grandpa keeps in the barn and both sam and michael’s fascination with it sbhjsbsshj and just to get more rush on here shjsbshjsbsh

———

❥ maneater — hall & oates

one of the first songs to hit the playlist !!! because the boys eat people !!! they’re the lean and hungry type that only come out at night !!! they’ll be sitting with you but their eyes are on the door and if you want love from them, you won’t get very far !!! the beauty IS there but there are beasts inside that can rip your world apart !!! they’ll chew you up but also leave you begging for more :o)

———

❥ hungry like the wolf — duran duran

the second song to have gone on the playlist !!! the boys are always on the prowl for fresh meat (in both the food AND turning senses) and they come alive while on the hunt, blood no doubt rushing through their veins (assuming it still can) !!! and in the movie, michael is the one they’re after for the turning connotation, all wanting a taste of him for themselves !!!

———

❥ subdivisions — rush

this rush song actually went on before the others shbsjsbshj but !!! it still fits just as well (certainly better than red barchetta)… the movie all takes place on the fringes of the city, “in between the bright lights // and the far unlit unknown”, and while it’s not exactly in the suburbs, there’s still little comfort to soothe the restless dreams of youth. there IS a drawing like moths into the city, for both the emersons and the lost boys, which is what ends up bringing all of them together, although it starts are cruising for action just to feel the living night. and just !!! NOBODY fits in !!! if you take the movie title as them being Lost instead of an allusion to peter pan, then you get slapped with thinking about what actually makes them lost and how they don’t conform in any way, shape, or form to just about. anything. and !!! the emersons are new, which immediately puts them at a social disadvantage, but they Also don’t seem too terribly great at making new friends in general so !!! “nowhere is the dreamer or the misfit so alone”!!! 

———

❥ abracadabra — steve miller band 

i just love this song for whatever reason. and i think the allusion to magic to very fitting for the hallucinations that david gives michael, putting a sort of magic spell on him if you want to look at it that way. not a lot of silk and satin going gone but plenty of leather and probably some lace in there somewhere ( ;o] ) … also michael DOES heat up like a burnin’ flame whenever his name is called and the situation with the boys just keeps going round and round with no exact end in sight, only the calling of desire 

———

❥ separate ways (worlds apart) — journey

you would think i would have more journey on here ??? because i love them ??? but instead i stole this off of shovel too ??? it’s fine. time to be back on the 95060 bullshit sbsjhbsjhs we all know david Really wants michael to join them but. michael is reluctant, so that hesitance sets them worlds apart from each other— as if they weren’t already— and there’s still love between them, or at least the bgeinning sparks of it, even if michael refuses to act on them and only keeps pushing david away 

———

❥ cum on feel the noize — quiet riot

just some boys loving to party <3 some boys with evil yet dirty minds, out of time singing, funny faces, and that have a lazy time <3 yeah no this is one they’d rock out to and someone would probably pull a muscle over because it’s just such a banger sbshjsbsjh

———

❥ rebel yell — billy idol 

Another stolen off of shovel sbjhsbsjhs also ever since it’s been pointed out to me that david looks like billy idol i’ve just been losing it a little sbhjsbshjs Anyway. they’d definitely idolize him to some degree, even if just for looks, and it certainly fits the way that they. most Definitely let out a rebel yell at the midnight hour if you know what i mean— *taken out by a sniper*

———

❥ every breath you take — the police

would to believe to know i took it from shovel (i swear the last three where i say that will be rock you like a hurricane, livin’ on a prayer, and cherry pie sbshjsbsh) BUT !!! the watching every move is yet another. david keeping watch over michael and uh yearning from afar moment, heart aching the longer he’s away and the longer he keeps up this game of not knowing what exactly he wants to do 

———

❥ handsome devil — the smiths

ok THIS one was lent to me by ej (@/maybe-strawberry-blue) sbshjbshjsbs and let me tell you. this song (especially when paired with this charming man) is Very homoerotic, aka perfect for this movie shbjsbshjsbs like what got me first was “let me get my hands // on your mammary glands” and just. thinking about trans parko sbhsjbshjs but also in general the. “and i would like to give you // what i think you’re asking for” and “a boy in the bush // is worth two in the hand” and just sbhjsbshjs Everything. fits the ambiguous homoeroticism. And i think the boys would listen to the smiths (will elaborate more in the other smiths song explanation)

———

❥ panama — van halen

i Told you all i think van halen is neat sbsjsshjb what can i say. the boys like fast moving vehicles, hard partying, and tender loving sbsjhsbhsj also forgot to mention that i think they’d all be :eyes: about pre-1985 david lee roth and i cannot blame

———

❥ rock you like hurricane — scorpions

third to last shovel snatch sbshjsbh Here you can replace any one of the boys with the animals mentioned, as they’re always hungry and need to feed… they come out scratching and ready to win, willing to rock anyone who gets in their way like a hurricane— including with lust, depending on the situation 

———

❥ livin’ on a prayer — bon jovi

i actually can’t even manage an explanation for this one either just because of the song’s plot and how greatly it differs the movie plot <3 however it will stay because shovel said one of the boys (i forget which) would listen to it and friendship is more powerful than my small brain <3

———

❥ the queen is dead — the smiths

rightttt so here’s the deal, buds and duds. something in my gut just tells me that david would pull a me and. listen to this entire album on repeat, particularly bigmouth strikes again and i know it’s over when in dramatics bshjsbsjh BUT to make a case for the title track itself, breaking into buckingham palce— or really any major building— with only a sponge and rusty wrench would ABSOLUTELY be an endeavor the boys would get up to And they’d all pale (worse than normal) about finding out they’re the descendant of some royal. “oh, has the world changed, or have i changed” and “life is very long, when you’re lonely” is quite fitting of their immortality, which i can only imagine would leave them questioning how the world has evolved and, although they have each other, i’m sure living forever still can get a Little lonely. And they’d certainly celebrate the death of a royal (because anarchy <3). mostly i’ve just been listening to this song on repeat for days sbhjsbshj but, i think it’s the most. generally related to all of the boys, whereas like. cemetry gates would be more solely 95060 

———

❥ need you tonight — inxs

my favorite inxs song… technically the 21st century Wasn’t yesterday when the movie came out nor when the song did sbhjsbshjs but there *is* a lot of sweating from desire and aiming to put that passion into use, very blatantly letting everyone know that sbjhsbshjs

———

❥ bad medicine — bon jovi

there’s just something so fun about this song… and while listening to it on the drive home, i was thinking about it from a 95060 perspective where. david’s a bit lovesick (hence the love like bad medicine) and the choir of voices in the bg, saying “that’s what you get for falling in love”, would be the other boys knowing he’s gotten himself in over his head over what was supposed to be a minor tease or a small fling (would be a real fun and poppy animatic i think)

———

❥ pour some sugar on me — def leppard

legitimately this started as a “haha what about my ‘what if the blood was kool-aid instead’ joke” and then i realized it was. a fair enough fit, especially with the feeding scene. except they’re actual vamps not just video vamps sbjhsbshjs anyway. sugar highs and red hot flames of passion for one another <3

———

❥ cherry pie — warrant

ok THIS is the last song i took from shovel and. my reasoning is pretty much the same as pour some sugar on me and. Friendship

———

❥ somebody told me — the killers

i wasn’t going to add any modern songs but. i thought it’d be funny if michael had had a girlfriend before leaving phoenix that looked a bit like david sbshjsbshj and then it only just added to angst sbhjsbshj

———

❥ you know what they do to guys like us in prison — mcr

i was reminded that vampires will never hurt you exists but. i went with my favorite mcr song instead because. vwnhy is more like ??? a vampire that fears themselves ??? so like. an edward cullen type ??? while ykwtdtgluip is more about the homoeroticism and community ??? i said what i said

———

❥ house of wolves — mcr

thank god this is the last song because i’m getting tired sbjshsjshb a little less homoeroticism, a little more general sinning and egotism <3

[thathellraiserbitch]

Things I Have In Common With Each Character From The Lost Boys:

David:

Two jackets that I constantly wear

Soft Jaw TM

That’s it. I mean ig me trying to get a himbo to join my immediate friend group could be another

Dwayne:

Cares for kids

Probably isn’t as wise as people think I am

Is known for always having a child on their back

Paul:

Rock and metal from the 80’s is all I listen to

ADHD

M u s i c

Is in love with my best friend (tbh most of my friend group)

Probably ate an entire half ounce of weed just to spite their dad

(Speaking of which) Constantly smells like weed

Marko:

Patches, pins, and tassels oh my

I too have a flock of birbs (they’re vultures and they totally don’t just hang with me bc I give them food scraps....yes they all have names)

Short King TM

Art? Y e s

Would sell their father to Satan for one corn chip

F i e s t y

Probably the most random goblin in the group

✨ Glitter ✨

Star:

Stuck in a hellhhole that’s getting worse yet better in a way (thanks 2020)

Has a hippie vibe (technically a punk-hippie but shhh)

Shoes? Lol wut r thoze

Laddie:

• Feral Child That Probably Watched A Mad Max Movie & Identified With Feral Child

The Frog Brothers:

Hunter? Yes. (Hotel? Trivago.)

Watches one too many horror movies

Is best friends with the new kid

COMICS

Brushes teeth with garlic water (don’t ask)

Sam:

• Gay. Very gay.

• Except instead of Rob Lowe it’s Patrick Swayze and David Hasselhoff

• Proud dog owner

• Don’t touch her

• Has an obsession with Queen and ABBA (amongst many other bands)

• BUTTON UPS YES

Michael:

• what

• what’s going on

• *falls for hot girl*

• *falls for hot guy*

• *falls for hot-*

• “It’s says gullible on the ceiling” “what? No it- aw you stole my lungs”

• BIEK

Lucy:

• ....idk really kn-

Grandpa:

• DEAD THINGS

• Taxidermy? Yes!

• Isn’t a oblivous and knows what’s going on (just doesn’t care)

• Bones hang from everywhere like in Texas Chainsaw Massacre

• Feral Trash Goblin

Nanook:

• Deserves a treat

• Senses the paranormal? BARK BARK BARK

Thorn:

• Woof

• Was done with everyone’s shit a long time ago

• Grrr bitch

Max:

• Depsite having 20/20 relatively good vision I wear glasses sometimes

• People think I don’t care (i do)

• Closested something (in his case gay, in my case....we won’t talk about that)

Sexy Sweaty Sax Man:

Sweaty

Can play wind instruments

Dancing

Probably has the Family Feud theme song constantly going through my head

[the1rei]

Little Moments: Reboot Chapter Nineteen: Speaking my Language By  Ericobard and shadows59 Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Fandom: Ben 10 Series Relationship: Ben Tennyson/Gwen Tennyson Some Additional Tags: Bullying, No proofreading, Family is Drama, Long burn

Summer’s over and school is in session, made worse as it is middle school.  Amidst the troubles of the new year Gwen finds something she’s always wanted and was beginning to fear she would never have, a friend.  Except Ben of course. 

Read my review below:

Why is Gwen still going to an elementary school?  It is directly stated in the story that Ben is in middle school, "Middle School blows. You're so lucky you don't have to deal."  They are identical ages, so they should be in the same grade as they were in the original, or an explanation should be given as to why they aren't in the same grade.  Gwen's school is a K-12 school; it wouldn't be called an elementary school.  

Gwen answering her phone in school and her receiving no repercussions for throwing away the note Mrs. Adams wrote to her mother shows that scene in chapter eleven was completely needless.  It should have ended after Gwen's viable scolding.  

" - even old Squid Face was this horrible!" I suspect Shadows59 meant to say 'wasn't' here.

The phone call in the middle of school and the deluge of texts that they exchange is supposed to show that they are a sweet couple that is very affectionate with each other.  But it ends up coming across as they are obsessed with each other in an unhealthy way, so much so that they can't go very long without contact of some form.  Even with young infatuation, couples need time apart so they can continue to be individuals, but Ben and Gwen come across as clingy and co-dependent.  She even calls the phone a 'lifeline' to Ben as if she'd die without him.  This wasn't the case in the original, and Shadows59 came across as a much more mature author in how he depicted a healthy but highly romantic love between two kids.  

Flint continues to be a caricature of a creepy guy.  He just says disgusting, hateful things so the reader will be disgusted by him and hate him, but any reader that understands this will just see him as a shallow character with no substance.  Antagonists need to have well-reasoned motivations behind their actions, and yet for all the times the story has brought up Flint, it never tells the reader why he is the way he is.  

Additionally, the things Flint, an eleven-year-old, says are highly sexual and complex suggestions.  It's not the mere perversions of a boy who would say something such as 'show me your panties.'  Instead, he suggests an advanced form of sexual degradation play, which further raises questions about why he is the way he is.  

Even non-prestigious schools had computer labs and teachers who were experts to deal with them long before 1999.  Even with her affinity for computers, it's unrealistic that Gwen would have then said teacher or would be called in to deal with an administrator's computer.  Said computer might even be too old for her to understand at all.  Honestly, I feel like I would let this pass if the story was more like the show and not trying to be a serious story.  

Gwen comparing the reactions she gets from kissing Ben, her love interest in the story, to the reaction a younger brother gives to his older sister when she kisses him is, odd to say, incestuous.  These two reactions should not be comparable because the reaction she should be getting from Ben is one of a peer who hasn't come around to discovering the romantic feels he has for another peer.  The other is the reaction of a younger sibling at getting a kiss from an older sibling who is, in this case, Gwen peer.  So not only does this compare Ben and Gwen as sister and brother but also Ben as being younger than Gwen, making their romance come across as highly inappropriate.

In the original, Gwen has social anxiety, which prevents her from talking to Michelle at first, and it's only when she thinks of Ben is she able to encourage herself to be open the new girl.  This is a very relatable problem, and Gwen displays her courage and willingness to follow another's example, like a hero, overcoming it.  In the reboot, Michelle asks one innocent question, the first thing she has ever said to Gwen, and Gwen is ready to judge her as being like Marci.  Prejudging anyone is a very unheroic act, and Gwen has to remind herself that Ben wouldn't do something like that to convince herself to give Michelle a chance.  

It's unclear why Michelle finds what Gwen says funny, why it makes Gwen "crazy," or why this makes Michelle like Gwen.  In the original, Michelle is shown to be as lost and alone as Gwen, so it's natural to her to like the person who reaches out to her, on Gwen's own accord, and offers to show her around.  In the Reboot, Gwen has been conscripted by the principle to interact with Michelle and show her around.  That can be a fine way to bring to people who will be friends together, but the story of the original is stronger.  

Having Ben's liberal parents protesting a new army base is a weak stereotype.  It is a stereotype as no reason is given for them not to want the base built.  

It makes no sense that Michelle, probably before she was 11, would be able to sneak out and go to a protest that turned violent given that when Gwen came near violence in this story, teenagers and adults treated her like a toddler.  

Gwen comes across as bad friend allowing Marci to pull Michelle away from her with putting up a fight to get her back even though she knows Marci is lying, and she is abandoning Michelle to Marci's lies and possible bullying.  Instead of doing anything to stop this, she just sits down and feels sorry for herself, thinking badly of other people, especially Ben.  Gwen isn't concerned with Michelle; she'd not watching the new girl make sure Macri's not making her feel uncomfortable or anything, instead just assuming that she would fall for Marci's corruptive influence.  

There is more overuse of italicized text in this chapter where it displays translated speech.  First, this visual clue that Gwen hears translated speech weakens the story, because in the original, where the speech was not emphasized, the reader is confused with Gwen as to what is happening, but because we already know or can guess that something is happening we're just waiting for Gwen to figure it out.  This distances the reader from the character's situation unnecessarily.  Second I am left wondering what would happen if Gwen was in her plumber suit, speaking to someone on the phone, in a different language, and emphasized what she was saying.  I assume the universe would implode, or explode, or both.

Marci's using the word cousin in place of boyfriend as a jab at Gwen's relationship with Ben would be good if it didn't require Gwen to understand french to be effective.  Marci has been established to be able to speak some french, but Gwen hasn't, so there is no way that Marci would know Gwen would understand her.  If Gwen couldn't understand what she said, then it would lose a lot of its punch.  It's a cause of the scene being written from the author's perspective instead of the character's.

"she was going to drive through a perfect little nose" Don't try to blame reflexes when there is clear intent on the part of the character.

Gwen anticipates that Michelle is going to leave her for Marci several times, and it's only after she refuses to several times that Gwen starts to trust her.  The foundation of their friendship is Gwen constantly mistrusting Michelle.

Every time Gwen nearly explodes on Marci, I'm just reminded of how much healthier she dealt with her anger in the original, channeling it into little pranks she pulled on Marci with her magic.  

"I kind of like the one I have - " Shadows59, you probably meant to say 'ones' here.

The previous chapters had Max leave and created a great deal of drama.  Erico even stated, "Grandpa is gone... They have nobody else they can turn to... They only have each other..."  Every indication in the story and the co-author indicate that Max is gone, and yet he just shows back up in the story like none of the drama of him leaving in the previous chapters occurred.  The original lacked that overly dramatic element, so when Gwen calls Max to find out why she can speak french, it makes sense they can just talk to him, whereas in the reboot, it doesn't.  There's no pay off for all that drama.

"Some part of her - most of her was sure it was Grandpa saying that something came up and she felt sick at the idea. She missed him. She'd been missing him since he disappeared and how could he? None of the eight weeks made that bit any smaller..."   Shadows59, you should consider revising this section.  It isn't clear what is meant by 'Some part of her-'  Because that is unclear the 'None of the eight weeks made that bit any smaller...' part isn't clear either.  Additionally, the sections are separated, but they feel like they are part of the same thought and are referring to one another without clarification.  

"No!" "No!" Shadows, you either repeated the "No!" accidentally here, or the two knows don't need two sets quotation marks.  

"He was just Ben and hers and she wasn't going to share him, not even with Michelle..." This shows that Gwen has a very unhealthy attachment to Ben that goes far beyond romance and young love.

"He was just Ben and hers and she..." There should probably be commas after 'Ben' and 'hers' as they are separate statements.

The added content for Michelle doesn't add much to the story of their friendship.  Some might have found it sudden that the pair met in this chapter, and one chapter later, we're best friends, but that at least was marked with a time jump, so the development of their friendship could take a mundane pace normally in the skipped time.  Here their transition from strangers to best friends really does seem sudden, and there's no real reason why these two because so attached after just a few hours.  There's no real reason for their closeness save on Gwen's part because she notices that Michelle is somewhat like Ben, an unsettling fact given how obsessed she is with the boy.  

Ben and Gwen sound like old people talking about 'kids fashion these days.'

"she was so much faster and back on her feet before she even got any water on her skirt." It's physically impossible to pour water all over someone's head while their head is in your lap and not get wet.  

I'll just say there is a big difference between Gwen staring a little because Ben is shirtless and her ogling him while describing droplets of water running down his muscles.  One is appropriate for an eleven-year-old, and the other is not.  Once more, I just think these characters are older in Shadows59's mind, not that he's trying to be inappropriate.  

That ending is so cute, I love it.

-Erico

"...carries much more depth and heart because Michelle's first day and Gwen's first day back address it from Gwen's perspective." This sentence makes no sense.

You make it sound like Gwen is taking advantage of Michelle's uncertainty.  

It makes no sense for Gwen's classmates to ostracize her for doing things for the school staff; all students get called to do such things.  So unless the faculty is ostracizing the other students and only calling on Gwen for help, the students' opinion of her shouldn't be affected by that.  You are also showing just as well as I that Gwen has an unhealthy attachment to Ben when her focus is getting the day to get back to him.  An attachment that again, goes far beyond healthy romantic attachment.  

So what I hear from you is that Michelle is guarded because the concern she sees from people is usually because she is her father's daughter, and its more their concern for him, or his opinion of them, then it is for Michelle herself.  This isn't expressed in the story, and while it would be difficult to do so while locked in Gwen's perspective without creating awkward dialogue, it is still possible to express it.  For instance, by Michelle extending her father's gratitude instead of her own, or assuring people that she will tell her father what a good job they did.  

You talk about Gwen and Michelle like they are going through the friendship equivalent of love-at-first-sight.  This is a trope that is used, most commonly, by poor writers to establish romance first and justify it later, but real friendship, like real love, is slow to start.  The original had that at least in feeling; the reboot has chosen to forgo it instead.

(As always, please go leave Shadows59 a nice positive review he won’t delete.)

[zoeytheweeb]

Miraculous Ladybug: K-12 Chapter 1: Wheels on the Bus

AN: Sorry for disappearing, but I got inspired to write a new fic based off Melanie Martinez’s new album and, well, I ended up writing the outline for said fic (which was a lot easier to do compared to writing #notmychatnoir since I actually know how many chapters I want this new fic to have) so here we are! I might change the title, not sure yet, but for now, enjoy the first chapter of my new fic. Don’t worry though, the next chapter of #notmychatnoir is still in the works and Adrien will get his comeuppance! Also, you can read my new fic on AO3 here!

Chapter 1: Wheels on the Bus

I’m just looking out the window and it’s cold outside

There are two boys yelling behind me and I’m terrified

Counting trees as they pass me by

Marinette was bored. Well, not exactly bored per se, but she certainly wasn’t enjoying herself at the moment. She stared out the window, looking at the trees as they passed by. Her sketchbook sat on her lap, a new one that she had not used yet in case Lila tried anything when nobody is looking. That way, if her sketchbook did mysteriously go missing (read: stolen), then nothing she draws in it would have been of any real importance to her.

Currently, Marinette and her classmates, along with Ms. Bustier, were on a school bus making their way to their field trip destination. They were going to Maison de Victor Hugo to learn more about the well-known writer and write a report about what they have learned when they go home for the day. The assignment was worth a good portion of their final grade, but Marinette wasn’t worried about that.

Instead, she was very excited to go on this field trip. Even with Lila causing trouble and painting Marinette as a villain every chance she had, and taking most of her friends from her while she was at it, she was still able to look forward to going to school each day and not let Lila get to her. Although, it was not like Marinette actually had a choice in not letting Lila get under her skin. She is Ladybug, after all, she cannot afford to be akumatized, and even if she could, Marinette absolutely refused to let Lila of all people be the reason she would be akumatized in the first place. She would not give that brat the satisfaction of being her downfall.

And I’m trying not to look across the aisle

‘Cause Maya’s letting Dan put his hand up her skirt

And she’s got her hand down his pants

Speaking of which, Marinette glanced across the aisle from where she was sitting in the third row, rolling her eyes when she noticed Lila clinging onto Adrien’s arm as they sat next to each other. Marinette never understood why nobody noticed how uncomfortable Adrien looked whenever Lila put her hands on him, or even got near him for that matter. For that matter, Marinette also could not understand why Adrien never said anything about it when he clearly wanted to. However, she understands that he is most likely used to such behavior, especially since he never did much other than attempt to dodge Chloe’s tackles when she used to act the way Lila currently is around him, key words being “used to.”

That was something Marinette, and most likely everyone else when they’re not fawning over Lila, was surprised about. Queen Bee must have flipped a switch in Chloe, because after Ladybug gave her another chance to be a hero, Chloe started to become nicer. It was small of course, with Chloe visibly stopping herself from insulting everyone she came across and apologizing to everyone for everything she had done. Then, Chloe actually started to do nice things for people, especially Sabrina. Marinette was very proud of Chloe and made sure to tell her that after they became friends.

Glancing behind her, Marinette saw Chloe and Sabrina sitting at the back of the bus, quietly chatting about something. Knowing those two, and for once Marinette was happy to admit that she knew them, they were most likely gossiping, probably about Lila if the scoffs they threw her way whenever she opened her mouth to spew another lie were to go by.

Chloe looked around, most likely feeling eyes on her, when she locked eyes with Marinette. She gave a quick smile, a genuine one instead of the cruel smirk she had gotten used to receiving from Chloe, before turning back to her conversation with Sabrina. Marinette smiled to herself, giving Sabrina a small wave when she looked at her as well, before turning around to look back at Lila when she heard her speaking.

“Of course I knew him! I’m actually the great-granddaughter of Victor Hugo’s daughter, Leopoldine,” Lila was saying, still clinging onto Adrien as she lied to anyone that would listen.

“Wow, Lila!” Mylene exclaimed, sitting in the first row in front of Lila and Adrien, Ivan sitting next to her. Although, with how tall he is, it looked like Mylene was sitting on his lap to fit.

“Cool!” Kim shouted, sitting in the fourth row behind Marinette’s seat. Marinette could not see his expression, if she had turned around to look, she would have noticed Max, who was sitting next to Kim, frown at Lila’s claim. However, he said nothing, and his frown was gone as soon as it appeared.

“That’s awesome, dude!” Nino stated, sitting next to Alya as they sat in the second row in front of Lila.

“Ooh, you have to tell us everything, girl!” Alya stated, already pulling out her phone and recording Lila.

I know the driver sees it

I know he’s peeking in the rearview mirror

He says nothing

Trying to ignore it, it’s fucking boring

I’m quietly observing, I’m saying nothing

Adrien said nothing, simply choosing to smile nervously as his eyes glanced frantically around him, probably looking for a way to escape Lila’s grip without being too obvious about it.

Marinette quietly scoffed, trying not to draw attention to herself lest Lila decides to accuse Marinette of bullying her again. If Lila and her followers had actually done research, they would know that Leopoldine died when she was 19, along with her husband and their unborn child, she thought. However, she took comfort in knowing that only a few of her classmates were actually paying attention to her lies. Other than Chloe and Sabrina, who had both learned about Lila’s true nature after overhearing her threaten Marinette again, a few of their classmates saw through Lila’s lies as well now. Marinette looked at the seat across from Chloe and Sabrina, noticing Nathaniel shake his head softly at Lila’s back while Alix glared holes at the back of Lila’s head.

Nathaniel found out Lila was lying when she talked to him and Marc, claiming to have met a famous comic book writer, shortly after said writer had died. Alix, on the other hand, found out about Lila’s lies when she claimed to have participated, and won, in a huge roller-derby competition that Alix had managed to convince her father to take her to see two years ago. Needless to say, Alix was livid, and most likely would have done something drastic if Juleka and Rose had not been there to stop her.

Juleka and Rose were another two of Marinette’s classmates who had learned of Lila’s true nature. Juleka had always been suspicious of Lila, only choosing to hang out with her because Rose was excited about how amazing their new friend seemed to be. However, one day Rose had talked to Prince Ali, eagerly asking him what it was like to be friends with Lila. Poor Rose was devastated when Prince Ali told her that he had no idea who Lila even was and that he has not invited anyone to stay at his palace or worked on charity cases for pollution. He had apologized but had to hang up due to his tight schedule. After that, Rose and Juleka distanced themselves from Lila and her sycophants, taking everything Lila said with a grain of salt and only talking to her when she addressed them.

Of course, the four students apologized to Marinette for believing she was bullying Lila, and although it took a while for her to trust them, Marinette forgave them and tended to hang out with them along with Chloe and Sabrina, although it took the others a while to trust those two as well. Unfortunately, the rest of their classmates still believed Lila wholeheartedly, with the exception of Adrien of course but he is still content to take the high road and let Lila do what she wants, including Alya. At first, it had hurt to have her own best friend believe essentially a complete stranger over her, but Marinette has long since given up on getting Alya to see reason, especially after Alya continued to accuse Marinette of being jealous of the attention Lila’s getting from Adrien whenever she tried to show Alya proof that Lila was lying.

If Alya had actually bothered to listen to Marinette, then she would know that she is no longer interested in Adrien. A girl can only take so much pain and humiliation just for trying to confess to the boy before she decides that he’s not worth it, after all. Besides, after Adrien told her to take the high road, Marinette began to realize that her crush was not as perfect as she made him out to be and that her methods of trying to get him to notice her were very unhealthy and borderline stalker-ish. It had taken a while, but Marinette had finally taken the time to think about her crush, and after looking around her room, she realized that she seemed more like an obsessed fangirl than a love interest, much less a friend.

It was not easy to admit, it was even harder to let go of her affection for him, but with help from Tikki and surprisingly Chloe, although Chloe does not know about Tikki of course, Marinette had taken down all of the photos of Adrien she had on her walls. After some consideration, Marinette had even sold most of the birthday presents she made for him, specifically the ones she made for when he was older, much older. She kept the ones she made for him for his next birthday, deciding that at least it would be easier for her to give it to him in person, so he does not end up assuming his father made him the presents again. After all, she may not love Adrien anymore nor does she actually trust him to have her back as he said he would, but she still considered him a friend, even if they have not hung out as much as she would have liked, with and without a crush on him being in the way.

While she was at it, Marinette made birthday presents for her friends as well, so she would at least be prepared for their birthdays next year, especially if she and Chat Noir do not defeat Hawkmoth before then. She would hate him even more if he sent out an akuma before she could make presents and celebrate her friends’ respective birthdays.

Marinette had also decided to keep the schedule up, though she made changes to it. Instead of having only Adrien’s schedule on the chart, she had her friends’ and classmates’ schedules as well. Despite being late to school all the time, although she has been getting better at waking up early lately, Marinette loved being organized. The fact that she is the class representative only made that love for proper organization grow. It is her job to make sure all of her classmates can attend a certain event or field trip, and reporting to Ms. Bustier if they cannot. Marinette has also learned her lesson after Max was akumatized into Gamer again, and has decided to make a schedule for herself as well so she would not be overworked with everything she had to do anymore.

Marinette’s phone buzzed in her pocket, she had taken it out of her purse since she did not want the vibrations to disturb Tikki, who was currently sleeping. Already knowing who was texting her, Marinette smiled as she pulled out her phone to double-check that yes, Luka was texting her, most likely to see how she was doing. A faint blush bloomed over Marinette’s cheeks at the thought.

Luka: Hey, how’s the field trip?

Marinette smiled as she replied, explaining that they are still on the bus and that Lila was making up another lie.

A few days after Lila became Chameleon, Marinette ran into Luka, who had somehow noticed her bad mood and talked to her. It took some nudging, but Luka had managed to get the story out of Marinette, and they had spent a few hours sitting on a bench at the park, Luka listening intently as she explained the Lila situation. When she finished, Luka looked at her with a frown on his face. At first, Marinette had worried that even he did not believe her, and she would not have blamed him if that were the case, he is Juleka’s brother after all so he would probably believe his sister compared to a girl he had not hung out with much.

However, Luka must have sensed her worries, and quickly reassured her that he believed her, and Marinette had never felt as much relief as she had at that moment that she almost would have cried. Thankfully, she did not cry, although tears did still prick the corners of her eyes. Luka had wiped those tears away, and they went to get some ice cream. They spent the rest of the day just talking and hanging out, until Luka had to go home, not before promising to call and text her more often, and soon they began to hang out and get to know each other more.

Then Silencer happened, and after Luka confessed Marinette was left confused. She was still trying to get over Adrien at the time, and Luka must have realized that because he never brought up his confession again. That did not stop Marinette from thinking about it whenever she could, though. However, with everything going on with Lila and trying to get over Adrien, Marinette felt like she was not ready to date at the time. Now though, she has friends sticking by her side and she is completely over Adrien and feeling a lot better about herself. Somewhere down the line, Marinette realized, she began to get a crush on Luka as well, but she still stood by her decision to take care of herself first before taking the chance to date him.

Marinette had made that decision two months ago. Now, after talking to Luka the weekend before this field trip took place, and telling him that she feels ready to try dating, with the request of going slow, Luka had accepted her decision, congratulating her on taking the time to recover from everything before asking her out. Marinette had accepted, and now they are dating, and Marinette has never felt happier than she does when she’s with Luka.

No one’s watching us, don’t give a fuck

Wheels on the bus

I’m holding it down up in the front

Wheels on the bus

(Ooh, ooh, ooh) Wheels on the bus

Marinette’s phone buzzed again, signifying another text from Luka. However, before she could look at it, a voice caught her attention.

“Marinette?”

Said girl glanced up, looking around until she noticed Lila staring at her with a faux expression of concern on her face. Marinette held back a sigh, already knowing that whatever was about to happen would give her a headache.

“Yes?” She asked, just barely managing to keep the annoyance she felt out of her voice. Looking around again, she noticed that all eyes, except the bus driver’s of course, were on her now. Marinette was wary, wondering what Lila would try to pull this time.

“I just wanted you to know that I hope we can put aside our differences so everyone can enjoy the field trip,” She stated, putting a hopeful smile onto her face. However, the gleam in her eye that had gone unnoticed by her doting minions, but was definitely noticed by Marinette and the ones who knew she was lying stated that she definitely had something planned today.

Before Marinette could reply, the bus stopped. Glancing at the front of the bus, she noticed that they were at Maison de Victor Hugo. Ms. Bustier stood up, calling for the students’ attention.

“Alright everyone, remember that this field trip is for a graded assignment, so try to pay attention and actually learn about Victor Hugo,” She said, thanking the bus driver as he opened the doors before walking out, her students beginning to follow after grabbing their backpacks.

Only Lila and Marinette stayed behind, Marinette being held back by Lila before she could actually step out of the bus. This time, Marinette did not hold back her sigh, clutching her phone in one hand and her sketchbook in the other.

“What do you want, Lila?” She asked, letting the annoyance she felt seep into her voice.

“I want to know what you think you’re doing,” Lila growled, glaring daggers at Marinette, most likely trying to intimidate her.

After getting some of her friends back, and hanging out with Luka, Marinette had decided to ignore Lila unless she accuses her of something she did not do, like steal the answer sheet for a test along with a necklace that Lila used to claim she was the wielder of the fox miraculous. When she was getting over Adrien, Marinette had accepted that her friendships with her classmates would never be the same even after Lila eventually gets exposed, and she figured that if her friends did not want to believe her, then they were no longer worth her time. She had tried to warn them about Lila, and only a few people came around before it was too late, so she was done.

“I’m trying to enjoy this field trip, you should too,” Marinette replied, quickly walking off the bus before Lila could say anything. She walked towards her friends, looking back to see Lila glare at her briefly before she stalked towards Adrien, who was talking to Nino and Alya before she latched onto him again.

Now that she had no more distractions, Marinette put her sketchbook in her purse again and focused on her phone, smiling at Luka’s text.

Luka: Good luck, Ma-Ma-Marinette.

Mari: Thanks, I’m not too worried about Lila though, even if she is planning something. Anyways, we’re at the museum now so I need to go. I’ll text you later though!

She turned her phone off and put it in her purse, noticing that Tikki had woken up, giving her a quick smile before turning her attention to her classmates who were already walking into the building. She quickly caught up to them, smiling at Juleka and Rose when they glanced at her curiously.

Marinette was really looking forward to this field trip, and nothing, especially not an akuma or Lila, would knock her down from the cloud she found herself floating on more often these days.

AN: So, what did you guys think? Should I keep the lyrics or not? This is my first song-fic and second fic in general, so constructive criticism and thoughts would be appreciated! Also, like I said, the next chapter of #notmychatnoir is in the works so don’t worry, I’m not abandoning that fic! Also, let me know if you want to be tagged for this fic as well! :D

[slvtbible]

‘sunflower is as pretty as a rose’

(VALENTINE’S DAY SPECIAL)

Summary: 19’year old Harry has a crush on you and asks you to be his Valentine

Warning: Very short!

**

Harry likes you. No, he loves you.

There is no denying that the way he blushes or stutter everytime you walk pass or talk to him. He gets butterflies in his stomach and he feels his heart beats louder everytime he hears you laugh,

No one knows about his crush except for his best friend in uni, Max. Well, him and his sister. He tries to hide it everyday and pushes his feelings away because he knows deep down, there is no way he can have the chance to be with you. It’s impossible,

Harry is already labeled as a ‘nerd’, ‘geek’, ‘clumsy’, ‘dumbass’ you name it. And it’s all coming from the cocky football players at campus. They love to tease him, pushes him against the locker, beats him until his glasses are broken and he has changed for about three times now.

Then, there’s you. The smart, beautiful, kind, Y/N. The cheerleader captain and the girlfriend of Keith Meyers, the jock who participates on bullying and beating up Harry with the rest of his friends. He tries to mask the hurt every time he sees him grabbing you and kisses you in the hallway,

But yours and Keith’s relationship only lasts for six months. Rumor has it, that you broke up because you hated the way Keith treated Harry just because he’s all smart and quiet. When Max breaks the news to Harry, he’s shocked but he ignores it and insists that it wasn’t because of him.

He shares a class with you in politics and human rights reform. And he’s completely in love how you always voice your opinions whenever you’re disagree with a topic in class and you’re not afraid to create a vision or solve a case with your own logical ways. To him it’s completely attractive and admirable,

But one thing that he can’t get it out of his head is how you always so nice to him. Not for homeworks or notes, just genuinely nice. Smiling at him, saying hello such as ‘hi harry’ or lending him a pen if he forgets to bring one. You’re truly the nicest and the prettiest girl on campus.

**

Today is Valentine’s day. The campus hall has been decorated in red and pink posters shaped hearts with balloons floating, almost taking up the space of the hallway and it’s truly suffocating. But he has plans. He has a plan on giving you Valentine’s gifts today and he’s never been more nervous.

He knows that you might have got a lot of expensive gifts from the boys in campus. They’re all obsessed with you so he can’t blame them. Still, he feels like you’re going to appreciate them no matter what and it makes his heart calms a little.

“You know he can kill you right?” Max asks, looking down at the paper bag Harry brings.

The gifts contains homemade poems—not love, of course—, cherry flavored heart shaped lollipop, mixtape filled with your favorite songs/artists and a sunflower.

Why did he get a sunflower? No idea. But he thinks that roses are too common now so he bought a sunflower instead.

Harry keeps his eyes glued on the notebook, writing down notes. “I don’t know who you’re talking about”

Max rolls his eyes at his lack of paying attention. “Keith. Who else? If he finds out, he’ll hunt you down” he nudges Harry’s stomach lightly. “It doesn’t matter if the two of them broke up, he’s still going to think of her as his girl.”

Harry merely shrugs, but deep down he knows Max is speaking only the truth. Keith will kill him but all of that doesn’t matter. He’s still going to give them to you.

“Then he’s psychopath. He should leave her alone then, it’s not my fault. I like her and it’ll be just a simple giving gift, not like anything would happened between us anyway.”

“Dude” Max starts, grabbing his shoulder to get him to look up and when he does, he says “You still don’t get it do you? Y/N likes you too! You’re so daft sometimes, need to i remind you that she broke up with that asshole because of you? I mean-he didn’t know but it’s all true! She wants you too man!”

He shakes his head, removing his friend’s grip from his shoulder and continue writing his notes. As much as he wants to believe that, there is no way Y/N could’ve like him. Just, no.

“Not true. You should have never listened to the rumors. They don’t know jack shit about what’s going on around here, Max.” He reasons,

But Max stays true to his statement, mainly because he knows something that Harry doesn’t and he can’t wait for his best friend to finds out later this afternoon,

“Whatever you say”

**

It’s later than afternoon,

Almost 4 o’clock, because he just finds out that you have a cheerleader practice after your class ends. And he doesn’t want to wait until tomorrow, he hates stalling and if he lets another day goes by, he won’t be giving the presents to you because he’s too scared and nervous that he might get rejected,

But he knows you. Not personally but he knows you. The nicest one out of your friends, literally the only girl who won’t make fun of his stutter or glasses or how he always keeps his nose hidden behind books.

You actually find it cute and attractive when a guy reads. Meaning, guys who reads and pay attention aren’t exactly assholes and ignorant like rest of male population in campus.

Harry is now standing about twenty feet away from you, hiding himself behind a pole so he can’t be seen. Yet.

He curses to himself when he sees you still talking with your cheerleader friends, the people who makes his life miserable. But the frown on his lips twitch into a smile when he hears you laugh. The laugh that he fonds of for the past year studying together in the same campus.

After ten minutes of doubting himself on wether he should come up to you or not, he finally decides that it’s better for him to approach you now,

“Fuck it” he whispers to himself,

He’ll ignore the snickers, laughs and name callings that are coming from your friends. It’s not like he will give it to them, so why does it matter?

As he gets closer, the laughter and chatters slow down when their judging eyes falls on his lanky figure. Looking at him up and down as if he’s one of the most disgraced creature that has ever walked on earth,

You see your friends aren’t paying attention to you anymore, their eyes shifts on what’s behind you, so you turn around and the smile on your lips is widen when you see the guy you like standing there awkwardly, holding a pink paperbag,

“Harry? Hi! What are you doing here?” You ask, walking over to him with your hands clasp behind your back,

For some reason, you find yourself extremely nervous standing in front of him. You never stand this close to him,

He smiles shyly, gesturing the bag in his hand. “Hi Y/N. Uhm, i know you may have received expensive gifts from other boys in campus but uh, i brought something for you.” He scratches the back of his neck nervously, eyes looking down,

Your heart melts at how generous he is. Looking all shyly while carrying the gift he’s brought for you, you’re trying so hard to contain your blush and it’s a good thing he’s looking down, otherwise you won’t know how to handle it,

“As if Y/N wants those from you” One of her girl-friends shouts causing the other to bursts into giggles, except for one girl named Maya,

She frowns and looks up to them with shady eyes. “Girl, shut up. He’s just coming here to give something, don’t be jealous just cause y’all ain’t got valentines today”

With that, all of them shut up with their cheeks heated in embarrassment. They continue to do their small chats with eachother, leaving Maya out of it. And she’s glad,

Harry blushes in embarrassment, hiding the gift back behind his back quickly, trying to avoid anymore rude comments from her friends,

You notice how embarrassed he is and your heart breaks at the sight. This boy right here is just trying to give you Valentine’s day gifts and your friends had the nerve to bring him down just like that. They truly are pathetic,

Except for Maya. Because she’s actually rooting for you and Harry together, plus her boyfriend Zayn is telling her to set you two up for a coffee date or something. Yes. Zayn Malik. The football quarterback who’s not an asshole,

“Don’t mind them, Harry. They all dicks anyways. Well apart from Maya, that is.” You assure him, tucking your slightly dampen hair behind your ear. “What is it again you wanna tell me Harry?”

“Oh yeah! Uhm- well as i was saying, i know you may have gotten alot of Valentine’s today, but i want to give you something too.” He smiles shyly, studying your face to see if you’re disgusted and tell him to go off,

But you don’t. Instead you smile back, biting your lip as you try hard not to grin because he looks so cute and adorable stammering like that,

“Okay” you whisper, looking deeply into his eyes. Smile still as wide as before, you can’t hardly wait to see what Harry has in store for you.

“I uh, wrote a poem for you. Also there’s a mixtape that i made and it fills with your favorite 90s RnBs artists because i heard you like them. So, there’s Aaliyah, Boyz II Men, Alicia Keys, Britney Spears, Tupac, TLC and there’s more but i can’t remember” he says, chuckling nervously as he takes out the tape. “But there’s Jhene Aiko, LANY and BJ The Chicago Kid there too. Heard you like them. And i got you a sunflower, because i think roses are too common now. I hope that’s okay.”

You truly have no idea what to say. Your mouth parts a little but there’s no words coming from it. How could someone so unbelievably cute and adorable like him cares about those small details? How could someone took their time to acknowledge that and sweet enough to put your favorite artists in a mixtape? How could someone knows you prefer sunflowers over roses?

Harry is not your closest friend. Just simple acquaintances being polite and say hello everytime you walk pass him. So you have no idea that Harry knows all of this, but you would be lying if you say all of this didn’t make your heart beat 100x times faster,

“I agree. And i happen to like sunflowers. You’re really sweet Harry, thank you so much.” You smile at him, feeling your body is about to collapse,

He gives you a shrug and shows his dimpled smile. “It’s nothing really. You deserve to be treated like a princess once in a while.” And gives you the bag

Oh, Lord. You swear your heart is about to fall out of your chest,

You take the bag from his hands and holds it dearly to your chest. “Harry... you’re the sweetest guy I’ve ever met, really. I just-wow”

He breathes out a shaky laugh, shoving his hands on the pockets of his jeans,

“Well i try.”

The two of you share a small laugh after, then it’s quite. You wait for him to say something else other than that, but as he doesn’t say anything, you decide to speak up,

“Do you have a crush on me, Harry?”

“What?”

You smile, “just answer the question”

He seems to freeze for a while and stutter out, “uh, no. W-who umh-who told you that?” He laughs nervously,

“Your best friend, Max told me.”

He mentally face palms as he tries not to burst out in anger. He’s definitely making a mental note to kill him later,

“I, uh... i think so... yeah” he mumbles, looking away afraid that he might get rejected,

However, you smile at his cute stutter and decides to confess how you feel about him as well,

“Well, i like you too”

“Huh?” He looks up quickly, clearly not expecting that answer and still not sure if you’re playing with him or not. “You what?”

“I like you too, Harry”you say it again, this time with a giggle. To let him know that you’re not joking at all, “so, is that something you just want to tell me or is there something else?”

Harry feels his heart thumping and his whole body goes numb. Because he’s standing here and just heard the most beautiful and nicest girl he has a crush on, saying that she feels the same way and this is exactly what he’s been waiting for.

To hear you say, you like him. He truly gets his dream girl now,

He grins, blush creeping on his cheeks and finally ask you something that he’s been waiting to ask for a long time.

“Will you be my Valentine? And go out on a date with me tonight?”

With a smile, you grab his hand and gives a soft kiss on his cheek,

“I would love to”

**

This sucks:( but i love Valentine’s Day! What did you guys get? I got bunch of chocolates and notes from my friends and they truly are the most precious people in the world, AND i got a Valentine’s chocolate and letter from my crush!! i still can’t believe it happened HAHA

Anyway hope you guys like this and please give me feedbacks babies! Love you!❤️

[zepdeans]

this is highkey like a month late (i mean wbk im a chronic scatterbrain procrastinator) and she’s thicccc but without further ado. my skam s4 thoughts.

I first just want to say a couple things: im not a muslim woc so my thoughts on s4 don’t hold as much value as those of a muslim, woc, or a muslim woc. I also don’t know to what degree sana’s representation was true to real life. I made an effort to look for posts from muslim woc on sana’s season but to no real avail, especially given it’s been two years since skam ended and a lot of blogs have deactivated, changed urls, or posts have become buried :( [if you know of any good posts regarding sana’s season please lmk!]. from what I can recall in 2017, there were mixed opinions on s4 with most being upset (or at least disappointed) with the ultimate execution of sana’s storyline and I agree w that. while s4 means so much to me and has a really special place in my heart, I do 100% acknowledge its flaws. ok!!!!!! lets get into it😤

ep1 -as much as I wished isak stayed in kollektivet I’m glad he and even had a rlly sweet happy time this entire season. also evak making their friends move all their furniture while they whisper romantic shit to each other and makeout? peak comedy -you fuckin wish!!! -sana is the one to say “of course you should tell noora about william”.. she Knew and still takes the fall for it :( -this opening clip is such a jarring shift into sana’s pov!! e.g. while easy to overlook in previous seasons, sana’s exclusion from the girls is glaringly obvious once we’re looking through her eyes -adding onto that! sana is the friend who notices everyone else- she’s so observant, which hurts even more when you notice her friends don’t do the same (except mayhaps chris- in my heart of hearts I know chris is also the friend who notices and goes unnoticed, but unfortunately we don’t get enough of her and sana’s relationship this season to fully see that) -yousef and the balloon squad’s entrance.... ICONIC! also I cant believe for 2 seasons they presented those dickbag nissen 97s as the be all end all of hot amazing boys when the bakka third years were RIGHT THERE like,, the penetrators vs. balloon squad + even? no contest ma’am -also! it’s so interesting that we literally had no idea sana had a brother, or that yousef etc existed until now? it’s as if she has a whole private world at home, separate from her friends and nissen (and I think a theme of this season is those two worlds merging) -im obsessed w the yousana train scene but yousef being the only one who notices sana standing off to the side? ;-; -fy faen is such a stunning clip oh my god. when sana leaves to pray? possibly my favourite skam scene ever. it’s exquisite.  -sana is so cute and awkward squeezing thru the crowd shsdhgfhshdf I LOVE her love her -the last shot on yousef and noora... oh my GOD oh my god bc like. being that friend who never ever tells your real feelings or your crushes or is vulnerable with your friends?? and then having to listen to them talk about how good your crush would be with someone else (especially one of ur friends) while ur sitting there silently dying inside? and you don’t say anything since you can’t be vulnerable with your friends and u don’t think u stand a chance anyways so. (in the words of s3 noora. I think sana struck a nerve with the emotional unavailability! abbey r u ok) -this episode is a masterpiece and did such a phenomenal job of both introducing us to sana’s perspective while also touching on a multitude of her struggles AND establishing the themes of the season. plus the cinematography, editing, soundtrack and aesthetic...... o baby. (case in point I deadass just rewatched it after writing this)

ep2 -every shot of sana praying is beautiful (and beautifully edited!!) -sana’s room is usually messy... not smart enough to fully analyze this but I’m sure it means something  -an interesting contrast of what’s expected of her vs. of elias- I can’t speak for muslim families, but I know even in non-muslim families girls are always held to suchhh a higher standard (source: I have 2 brothers rip) -”if you find immaturity charming” hilarious bc sana actually does in fact find immaturity charming  -what’s interesting is how noora comes across in sana’s POV- kinda obnoxious, kinda ignorant, seemingly perfect (compared to how noora is portrayed in eva’s season, for example) -even is one of those ppl who uses the bill gates argument on why dropping out of school makes u richer sdfhfsjskfjfsd -sana staring down the pepsi max squad. fuck em up. -vilde adding magnus to the groupchat jfkjsjfdjfsfsdkj -isak missing eskild :’) sidenote I fucking live for isak and sana’s chats this season. they’re literally my lifeblood like.... 

ep3 -the kiss me scene god I go FERAL -“you need to pull it towards you, not push it away. okay?” yall mind if i SCREAM!! YOUSEF!!!!!!!!!! -there rlly is something about seeing sana, who in everyone else’s POV comes off as cold and harsh and stoic, just absolutely meltinggg when she talks w yousef like she doesn’t stop smiling she’s so sweet!!!! ah🥰 and yousef is 100% that guy who ppl tell “your gf is so intimidating and ruthless bro” and he’s like are y’all talking about sana??????? my baby?? my fuckin cinnamon apple????? -yousef’s lil smile watching sana peel carrots. 911 it’s me again -vilde and sana’s relationship has a really interesting dynamic bc like.. vilde says ignorant shit to sana while also genuinely looking up to her. and sana is probably the harshest to vilde within the group but it’s because she actually values their friendship a lot  -IM HURT BECAUSE YOU NEVER REPLIED TO MY MEME -sana pulling 2yr old receipts off the top of her head to defend vilde. god I stan -sana doin research taking notes..... shameful she isn’t canonically a virgo (honestly her and isak both but like-) -she’s so soft and smiley w her mamma awh... “of course he likes you, who doesn’t like you?” her mamma only knows the real, gentle, beautiful loving sana oh im CRY -even is so kind and loving and thoughtful yall mind if i....... -”you can’t escape the internet girl” foreshadowing mayhaps?

ep4 -david and ulrikke together are fucking hilarious -noora’s “you’re lucky you don’t have to think about this stuff, heartbreak and that” :/ it’s not just vilde who says ignorant things to sana! -that being said sana and noora are cute asf in the exper5 scene.. dorky noora rise (omg josefine and her yogurt in the bloopers too sjhfkjdf) -I HANDLE BALLS BETTER THAN YOU -the yousana scene is sooo gorgeous whew...... -I always cry a lil bit (ok a lot) when yousef brings up even. and sana knew too. even sweetie ily :( -sana talking about her religion is beautiful. it’s so lovely to learn about how she thinks and sees the world. -yousef’s smile watching sana leave like ur kidding right....... -“flawless since 99″ is so cringey. it’s so cringeyyy -sana uses “smh” I knew we were soulmates

ep5 -eavesdropping on ur parent/brother’s argument is peak sibling culture -when ur always paranoid but ur always right..... -sana’s green jumpsuit sign me up babey -I really really really love elias and sana’s conversation -u dont even realize how tiny sana is until she’s standing next to isak and even -not finding out why yousef avoided the fight and why he kissed noora will haunt me forever (could we not have expanded more on that instead of noorhelm.......) -the parallel of sana washing isak’s blood off her hands vs. her washing her hands during maghrib in episode 1. gotta sit down. -vilde gossiping to the pepsimax girls stings SO bad it’s just such a betrayal?:( -“the other girls seem cool, especially noora! she’s so pretty!” ok much to unpack here but: sana again comparing herself to noora (who she sees as /perfect/)... sana being written off despite putting so much effort and passion into the russ bus while noora, who has done literally nothing and at best is indifferent to russ, is the one they like the most. disgusteng -love will tear us apart.. bitch..... -sana abt to cry god I can’t -if sana is anything like me (I mean I think she is but jkjjkhsdfhfsd). looking stupid is the absolute worst so like, her sending out emails abt being bus boss when she was actually being lied to? being played? and her being “paranoid” about sara being shady, but deciding hey maybe im just being crazy? except she wasn’t she was right and she Knew!! and she’s probably thinking how dumb it was for her to get her hopes up, everything always ends badly anyways and no one actually likes her :((((((( -dont rlly know what my feelings are on the fight. im not against it bc isak does have a temper but his apparent motive always seemed weak to me?? and god I feel so bad for even

ep6 -forgot about sana getting bullied in middle school yall mind if I sob?? -sana lying and getting defensive bc it’s hard to be vulnerable, or because she hates looking stupid? or both?:( -isak looking up dandelions in his textbook just bc even put one behind his ear. I HATE this man -sana’s dad asking if she had a bad day aw :( -all the boys (and sana) wearing black but yousef wearing white.... what does it mean.............. -the carrots are back goddammit -radio station playing during this scene: “if I have to choose between the just non-muslim and the unjust muslim, without any doubt I would choose the non-muslim who is just” -ISAK’S NOSE SFFJDFJFSDKJSDF -sana’s text about chris I’m going to bawl my eyes out.           “yeah! looking forward (to going to nissen) but a bit worried. don’t know               anyone else starting there.”           (J: new friends?) “yes, at least one of them. I have german with her (chris)           and she’s very cool!” -the contrast of how blunt sana came off when we’re first introduced to her vs. how she was really just excited to make a new friend bc she was scared no one would like her :( especially knowing her past with bullying and how nervous she was to start at nissen? chris baby I LOVE YOU thank u ;-; -also sana keeping 2yr old conversations on her phone... same -sana is honestly too smart and scheming and overthinking for her own good. she has these elaborate plans that more-or-less always get ruined by her being more kind than she gives herself credit for (e.g. wanting to protect vilde in s1, clearing isak’s name in s4) -everyone in skam texts back so fast smh -chris calling sana “sonic”...... a moment please -I cannot watch the sana/evak apartment scene without thinking of the bloopers and losing it lmfaoooo.. “this is where we live. just come in” -ik it’s based off fanart but there is little I hate more than their matching outfits  -“remember you’re both geniuses!” 🥺even  -once again isak studying is uhhhh me - “you’re a good person” yall i love isak i really do. he puts his foot in his mouth pretty often and doesn’t have a great brain-to-mouth filter and he can be awkward and rambly and blunt and unsure of what to say in emotional situations but also? he’s so genuine. it’s just his honest thoughts and he says it bc he cares about sana and knows she needs to hear it!! -ᶠᵃᵉⁿ ᵉᵛᵉⁿ -sana’s inner turmoil.. thank u iman for inventing acting (ik I haven’t mentioned it much yet but god iman is SUCH a phenomenal actor I owe her my life) -LETS GO BITCHES

ep7 -sana crying silently in her room breaks my fucking heart (IMAN!!!!)  -idk how I feel about the instagram plot but sana watching as her plan falls into place and then storming up to sara... pretty bada$$ -“it’s creepy it was published but it’s more creepy we have a bus boss who talks shit about everyone” THANK YOU vilde -i love s4 isak thanks -sana and jamilla’s chat aw :~) -how awkward do yall think the walk to the bench was lmfao -what sana tells isak is SO powerful and I love it a lot -isak does actually make a good point- the other girls are like that too.  -unfortunately I have been in situations isak describes, where you want to learn more about your friend’s culture or religion because you care about them and you’re genuinely interested, but you don’t know what questions are okay to ask and you don’t want to sound rude or ignorant, so you ultimately end up asking no questions at all. but I hate that the responsibility is put on sana to constantly educate people bc I cannot imagine how exhausting that must be [[[ok so. I know there are VERY mixed opinions on the bench scene but here’s my dumbass two cents. 1- I genuinely think isak was trying to make sana feel better by attempting to relate to her and pass on advice that really helped him. however, I don’t think isak realized what sana eventually told him- that her experience wearing the hijab is a lot different than isak’s experience as a gay man. do I agree with everything isak said? nooo. do I understand why he said it? yeah. 2- it was not isak’s place to tell sana norwegians aren’t racist, or not to look for racism in questions. I think there’s some truth to ppl often just being ignorant, and he does add that there are probably a lot of racist people in Norway, but yeah. not great. 3- in conclusion I think while isak shared some meaningful advice w sana, he put his foot in his mouth too and said some stupid shit. im not trying to defend that. I will add, though: a. we actually do see some growth on isak’s part. when he and even are yelled at on the street, that’s the moment it clicks for him that oh shit, this is what sana was talking about. this is what she has to experience? and that’s why he texts noora, “in the speech for sana, you have to include how insanely strong she is. I don’t think many people understand how much bullshit she has to take” and b. isak’s (bad) advice of “not looking for the racism in things” is ultimately contrasted by yousef (a moc who lived most of his life as a muslim) suggesting instead to show people what islam really is. and that’s so much more meaningful. I think the root of a lot of the issues isak brought up- i.e. ignorance- is a general lack of education, representation, or effort by non-muslim people to seek out information themselves. so sana leading by example and showing what it means to her to be muslim is so much more powerful.]]] -𝒃𝒂𝒎!  -BEST BUDS 🥺

ep8 -haper du har plass weaving in and out of this episode until the chorus finally breaks when the los losers van shows up...... miss julie 😭 -oh my god the pictures. im a fucking MESS bc they’re not only significant to the scene and to sana but also like,, as part of our goodbye to the girls?? -the balloon squad and even :( while the timeline of them reconciling within just this week is kinda wack, seeing even back with his friends looking so happy makes my heart uwu so i’ll allow it just this once -eva’s message to vilde about her and magnus being able to trust each other w/o reading their texts... growth or irony -chris is such a phenomenal friend (and this is why I wanted more of her in s4!!) -sana’s phonecall to the girls breaks my fucking heart bc like. right off the bat she’s finally being vulnerable with them?? telling them about her fears and insecurities and struggles? typing this im gonna start crying lol but god I love her so much. she’s so brave and she put all that on the line bc all she really cares about are her friends, she loves them SO much even if (she thinks) they don’t love her back -lowkey sobbed so hard during the haper du har plass clip I almost threw up and it gave me a headache :)  -anyways this is one of my favourite skam clips and god just. the moment you hear the girls calling for sana??? I LOSE it. when sana just starts BEAMING omg🤧 the girls love sana and support her and if you fuck with sana you fuck with us!!!!!! god. cannot articulate how dear to my heart this scene is. -haper du har plass feels like the end of the episode and the party clip is kinda just tacked on but I love how happy everyone is!! they’re all drinking champagne (who taught isak how to hold things) and dancing and smilingggg 💛 -yousana rise!!!!!!!!  -ok don’t get me wrong I hate william for crashing the party but their entrance slow-mo kinda slaps.... also sana popping up in between noorhelm SENDS me

ep9 -this is the point in the season where the amount of time dedicated to noorhelm is beyond beyond beyond significantly damaging to the story. this is sana’s last episode!! instead of having them makeout in front of william’s car for 20 minutes mayhaps we could’ve had a conversation between the girls and sana, or with her brother (if they had continued the elias alcoholism plotline rip), or maybe even with jamilla or her mamma? like I don’t care at ALL about noora or william. give me anything else. ple a s e -what makes skam scenes so brilliant is their quiet moments!! julie let the scene breathe. not everything needs a tacky song playing over top. -I’ve said this abt like twenty clips now but MAGHRIB. oh my GOD. an absolute masterpiece and definitely tied for my all time favourite skam clip. can’t rlly put into words how stunning it is. & I love sana and yousef’s conversation so much. -“of course I brought food! my name is yousef!” mr. acar you’re the only man I trust

ep10 -as much as my heart yearns for 10 sana episodes I think splitting up the last episode of skam into individual POV clips for different characters was brilliant and such a poignant way to say goodbye :( -okay don’t think about what sana could’ve written in her texts to everyone or ur heart will go sicko mode -I won’t write anything abt this ep since I’ve already written too much but like.. (elias should’ve gotten a clip instead of william. pchris can stay because his clip was funny but he’s on thin fuckin ice) -kjaere sana was such a beautiful way to say goodbye to skam. so yeah. bye skam. i miss you. 

overall ➔I’m not really sure why (possibly a lethal combination of my undying love for sana bakkoush, how much I relate to her, this but my ass was crying EVERY single episode of season 4...... F ➔I’m obsessed with s4′s aesthetic. imo the best editing, soundtrack and cinematography of any season!!!! julie is so talented at making each season feel distinct- to me, sana’s season is cool, vibrant colours (aka the late-night sunset aesthetic- gabie i hear u laughing shut up), crisp electronic/pop music and rap, ethereal city nights..... also sana has the best style of any skam character it had to be said ➔sana’s growth! seeing her open up and be honest and vulnerable with the girls during that phone call. sana sending all of her friends literally the sweetest messages of how much they mean to her and how much she values their relationship. sana being the (MUCH) bigger person and making amends with sara, ingrid etc. I love her so much :’((( ➔I’ve thought a lot about what I would change in season 4 and honestly? im a mf scatterbrain and have no real, structured ideas. my biggest issue is too much noora. dream s4 would be william staying in london and noora being happy on her own (but not rly on her own bc she has the girls and kollektivet!). as :/ as I am about the noora/yousef plotline, I’m not really sure what I’d do to replace the yousana conflict in ep5. maybe involving elias, or the balloon squad and even? related to that- in lieu of all the noora/noorhelm screentime, I would so much rather have a follow-up plot to elias’s drinking problem bc it was kinda just dropped? at the very least, the william clip should’ve been elias’s. I also would've killed for more one-on-one scenes with chris (even vilde or eva!), jamilla, even, members of the balloon squad... there are so many interesting stories that could’ve been explored instead of going down the noorhelm rabbithole again. furthermore, I feel like the social media plot was a bit... weak? again I’ve tried thinking of what I would’ve done instead (while also keeping the haper du har plass clip, y’all can pry that one from my cold dead hands) to little avail. what especially threw me about this plotline is that sana did this in s2 to jamilla, fucked up, and it bit her in the ass. I know that she gets irrational when angry but from a storytelling perspective, it seems repetitive. just.. I feel like there could’ve been a more powerful plot in which sana follows the same character arc. another thing I would’ve loved to see is beyond the los losers van, an apology from the girls to sana. or even just a conversation where they tell her “hey sana, we’re sorry for not paying attention and we’re sorry for being thoughtless/ignorant.” an apology from vilde about things she’s said in the past would’ve been <3. even a gesture! the girls order pizza again but this time it’s halal, or they make an effort to learn about sana’s religion and culture. I know it’s implied through the letter they write for sana, but a final standalone scene would’ve been so nice.  ➔i’ve noticed soo many remakes do this thing where they like.. water down shitty behaviour of their characters. which like- sure. I would love for everyone to be kind and thoughtful and not as horrible as they could be but also... I think that’s the point of skam? to show that people fuck up, but that doesn’t define them as a person. no one is perfect and no one can be thoughtful and considerate and kind all the time. and often these ‘problematic’ actions are integral to the story- e.g. elias saying stupid comments to isak (related to isak’s internalized homophobia and fear of coming out to his friends), the girl squad being ignorant about what sana can eat, etc. so..... your remake is not better because it erased every horrible action every character has done. (nuance.. where r u.........) ➔despite its flaws, I will say- the good moments of season 4? ineffable. I think we sometimes forget that julie literally wrote, directed, and I believe (?) assisted w editing and soundtrack too. i cant imagine doing all that under so much pressure, trying to bring so many storylines to a conclusion whilst simultaneously creating a goodbye-season to a show she put her life into the past two years. I’m so fucking appreciative of her. and you know what? all in all julie wrote some pretty damn beautiful episodes and scenes, and you can tell she loves this show just as much as we do. ➔and honestly this is maybe one reason I’m more wary of watching remake s4��s, bc like.. this season meant SO much bc it was the last season of skam. we knew it was the last season. the final episode is more or less a love letter, a goodbye to the show. whereas w some remakes (do i have to say whomst) its  like.. that love isnt there. it’s just another season. yknow? in conclusion I miss skam so much :(

ok whew if ur reading this ur a champion but also why did you just read 5k of me rambling about how much I love sana bakkoush?? 

[zoesrhees]

so there are tons and tons of new people and i have been alarmingly sporadic with my activity because my work life is literally crushing me it’s great!!! anyway i’m shannon & underneath the read more are little(not so little and totally unorganized) blurbs about each of my characters in case anyone wants to plot!!

zoe; (arden cho) sophomore, 20, pre-law, kappa gamma kappa vp; originally from san antonio, tx but moved to pa right before she started high-school, cheerleader, big dumb idiot  basically, a mash between ally mcbeal and elle woods, incidentally they are both her heroes, though she knows ally had her share of problems, she’s very much got a similar mindset. zoe does try to be a good person, she’s smart, loyal and sweet but often can be selfish, stubborn and shallow. generally nice to get along with, she’s not much trouble but isn’t afraid to stick up for herself and once she decides to stand her ground that is it. not the best at doing so of course, that person that will think of a comeback HOURS later instead. hopeless romantic who is in love w/ love, she’s a sucker for anything cute and heartfelt, really wants to have her own modern love story, but also afraid of being burned or being the only one to fall, does stupid shit literally all the time honestly, sticks her foot in her mouth a lot, doesn’t know how to react in uncomfortable situations and will literally RUN AWAY from you, just a big ole sucker, really sweet, really friendly, loves everyone even when not every loves her. serial dater, would love some exes if they only dated a few times, etc etc.

hunter; (chelsey reist) 23, junior, sociology major, omega alpha chi, from Savannah, GA & California in her teens, field hockey co-cap, she’s just a lil slice of gay apple pie honestly. grew up in the south when she was younger, lived in california for a few years and fell in love with her next door neighbor before her parents ripped her away, her family basically disowned her and she was ready to run away at sixteen when her brother offered to go with her, they were pretty much homeless for two years and did a lot of semi shady shit, she got her ged, went to community college and worked her ASS OFF to get where she is now, had a lot of disdain for her mom and dad who were very conservative and very ashamed and she turned into a very sour girl. hateful and disrespectful towards her family she is definitely not over how they hurt her. extremely defensive over her big brother, heinous but fiercely loyal, don’t fuck with the people she cares about or she will come after you until you never want to see her face again and regret your decisions, extremely persistent, extreme asshole, not afraid to drag anyone she likes to use men for money, a lot. secretly misses her parents and wishes they loved her, not coping with the idea that they dont.

bruno;(jarod joseph) 21, junior, graphic design major, psi delta social chair. originally from australia but lived in new york part of the time, too bruno is literally everyone’s friend. there’s no making an enemy out of this guy, he’s genuine, sincere and really fucking nice. also really high ALL the time, likes to draw and paint, really into grafitti like wants to be the next bansky and shit. when he was young his parents died and he was adopted by his godparents aka luna and rocky’s parents and he grew up with them extremely protective of both of them, luna is LITERALLY HIS rock like he would be lost without her and he loves rocky more than air like its the BROMANCE to end all bromances. it’s hard to see him in a low mood. very sensitive, really in touch with his feelings and shit, will literally give you the shirt off his back, super passionate about mashed potatoes honestly. if you’re a nice person, bruno is your friend and if you’re not a nice person he’s going to try anyway

ruby;(marie avgeropoulos) 20, sophomore, marine biology major, kappa gamma kappa, gymnastics team co-cap, originally from australia actually the nicest person you will ever meet, puts everyone’s needs before her own and is extremely worrisome, self-blaming and self-deprecating. tries hard to be happy for everyone she knows and loves because she knows they’re not all. obsessive over every little thing and vehemently wants people to like her, loves with her whole heart no matter who it is, big science dork, very into gymnastics, doesn’t drink much, doesn’t do drugs and just really pure, has a shaky family past but her siblings are her world, afraid of anything happening to them, literally terrified of losing her big brother because they’re so close, passionate, open, honest and genuine, tries to push away the fact that her past has turned her into a sad bean and puts on a smile for everyone.

true; (ricky whittle) 25, senior, pre-med major,epsilon kappa tau vp, spent a lot of his time in paris before going to college, he chose to defer his first year but after a bad motorcycle accident he ended up starting very late anyway grumpy old man that would be walter mathau to shame. lived in paris for a few years where he met the LOVE of his life holy shit, after she left he got into a pretty bad motorcycle accident that fucked with his leg so now he walks with a cane and takes a lot of pain pills.  cynical as all hell, rarely smiles, mean to everyone except for his sister, probably still has a vcr and a member’s only jacket because he is SO behind the times. studying to be a doctor, only rushed greek because of his parents and his little sister hope, his older sisters are extremely driven and successful and he feels the need to be too, hard living in their shadow their parents impress so many values on them. has been less miserable nowadays but still just has a permanent raincloud over his head. think dr. house meets munch from svu honestly.

bellamy; (caitlin stasey) 20, junior, astrophysics major, tau alpha zeta pres, softball team, from new iberia, la, your basic human trash can, she’s a slob, crass and hardly cares what anyone thinks of her both personally and physically, thinks she’s hilarious as hell but is really just super lame and stupid as hell, meme queen, really gross, makes a lot of stupid rash decisions “for the vine” even though vine is dead now, fierce friend, HUGE know it all, she might act stupid as all hell but she’s actually brilliant and is that sort of asshole that will not hesitate to correct you, space gay, loves looking at stars and definitely thinks aliens are real, really close to her brothers and her cousins, family is everything, lil cutie farm girl that loves all sorts of science and agriculture, has had a her heart broken a time or two but is really good at pretending everything is okay because that’s just what she does, laughs everything off. fiercely loyal friend, hoping to be sponsored in life by taco bell one day.

jonah jackson; (max irons) 21, junior, mathematics major, kappa alpha lambda member, co-captain of the basketball team from florence, ky extremely insufferable at times, arrogant jackass has been called a fuckboy but it’s not really all that fitting. he goes by jackson because his dad’s first name is jonah and he refuses to have anything to do with him, papa dahl ditched the fam when his younger brother was born and his mom took up two-three jobs to put food on the table which means he took the role of caretaker, exhausting him when he was younger but he’s really loyal and reliable. super poor and worries about what other people will think of this, here on an academic scholarship but fears being pegged as a gasp! nerd so he tells everyone it’s actually a basketball scholarship, thinks he’s charming af, natural flirt, obnoxiously good at math, really hard hard working and dedicated but loves to have fun, just all around garbage sap boy honestly 

[crazyd4esq]

Sorry if this is a little uncomfortable, but given your opinions on fanservice and hentai with underage characters, I'd like to know your opinion on cosplayers/burlesque performers who dress as sexy versions of such characters. Being that it's more a costume and less a portrayal, would that be problematic?

Nah, it’s cool. c:Anyhoo, this is a tightrope well worth walking.  I guess one of my immediate thoughts is that a person choosing to dress a certain way is inherently waaay less problematic than a character designed to be sexy because the person has agency and the fictitious character by definition doesn’t have: anything and everything about a fictitious was a choice by the writer/artist/designer/etc.  I also think that portrayal is an integral (if not indispensable) part of cos(tume)play, but unless the person is out for age play (ew, fucking no) then their real age still governs.  To be honest, aside from that cringy possibility, the main focus shouldn’t be (and usually isn’t) age anyway (Edward Elric would have a Napoleonic complex whether he was 15 or 50, Dilandau Albatou would be a giggling cheek-obsessed maniac at 15 or 50, Katsuki Bakugo would still shriek about wanting to kill his friends and loved ones at 15 or 50, etc.).  So right there I tend to think it’s less problematic, but I feel like I’m dancing around the issue.So here’s the real issue as I see it.  The overwhelming majority of female characters (regardless of age) in anime, video games, comics/graphic novels/manga/etc. are designed primarily to be sexy (or at least designed with being sexy as a major goal), to the point that there are some really fucking idiotic plot contrivances that are just expected at this point.  Flying superheroes wear miniskirts, armor has boob plate and boob window, veteran dragon knights ride their mounts in bikini bottoms, combat miniskirts and stiletto heels exist, etc. etc. etc.  I could probably max out the word count just listing that shit, but instead I respectfully refer you to bikini armor battle damage’s tumblr (they do a much better job explaining and eviscerating this shit than I could).  Here’s the thing, though:IT IS NOT YOUR JOB TO RIGHT THE WRONGS OF PERVERTED IDIOT WRITERS AND ARTISTS.Off the top of my head, I like Momo Yaoyorozu because it would’ve been so easy to make her into a stereotypical rich bitch or waifu character, and instead she actually comes off more like a 3-dimensional character … unfortunately she’s also the second-string fanservice character (after Midnight).  Meaning, well, have you seen her superhero outfit?  Have you?  Have you seen the fucking modified sling bikini she wears into battle (along with heels, because of fucking course high heels are the best possible footwear for running on uneven terrain)?  If somebody wanted to faithfully cosplay her superhero outfit (and not do an AU version, I mean), then they’d have to let it all hang out.  (The same thing would go for Eijiro Kirishima, incidentally, but that’s far closer to idealization than objectification, so instead a better example off the top of my head is basically every female character in the entire Soul Caliber franchise.)  In this case, the person is under no obligation to tone down the sexiness that the creator forced upon the character.So here’s the spin-off issue.  Obviously sometimes the character design becomes more sexy if the cosplayer is older.  Speaking from personal experience, I didn’t realize that Misty’s original outfit is basically a half shirt and short shorts until this woman I had a crush on in college cosplayed as her.  This issue is, of course … not an issue.  Really, the only thing I can think of is: DO NOT BE ASHAMED OF YOUR BODY OR SEXUALITY.  PLEASE DO NOT.  YOUR BODY EXISTS FOR YOUR OWN PURPOSES, NOT TO CONFORM TO OTHERS’ STANDARDS.Imma be blunt: shitting on someone for how their faithful cosplay looks because of how their body alters it (based on height, weight, curves, skin color, physical disability, etc.) is bodyshaming.  It is bullying a person based on their body’s unique characteristics.  Not much else to say on that, other than there’s just no need for that.  Ever.And then, of course, is the other spin-off issue.  Obviously there are some cosplayers that add extra sexy.  As to that … I’m more ambiguous.  I can immediately think of some pokemon cosplays (and I mean cosplayers cosplaying pokemon) that have far more visible tiddie than I recall from the tcg, video games, anime, or (to a lesser extent) manga.  Any time someone starts introducing that stuff to a franchise aimed at kids, they need to be careful lest they turn into their fandom’s equivalent of My Little Pony: FiM’s cloppers.  By the same token, I guess the “injected sexy” cosplay can depend heavily on the source and the fandom.  Going back to Soul Caliber, it doesn’t seem that out of place for someone to do a “day at the beach” style (read: bikini) Ivy … as opposed to, say, a dominatrix Nurse Joy.  (And before anyone brings up that pedotastic pokemon manga, I’m not touching cultural dissonance here, just western cosplay.)  Of course, it’s not so ironclad; Steven Universe arguably lends itself far more readily to overtly sexual fanworks (not an insult) than MLP:FiM, but a kid can still google it without being bombarded with images of Pearl going down on … well, you know.  At the same time, it’s kind of demeaning and can send a very unfortunate message (that a character’s identity, personality, and uniqueness aren’t as important as their looks), and that’s not even getting into the frankly repulsive issues surrounding re-enacting “accident groping” and the like (cosplay obviously isn’t consent, but that really blurs things and can, you know, fucking trigger a sexual assault survivor like me because “hur hur that happens to the character all the time uwu). Injected sexy can push things down an unfortunate path, and sexualizing a child is bad enough when it’s the creator doing it.And so, in conclusion, I see 3 types of sexy in cosplaying.Sexy by Creator Fiat … is not problematic.Sexy by Cosplayer’s Body … is probably the least problematic.Sexy by Injection … can be problematic but isn’t necessarily an issue depending on stuff like the medium and the target demographic.At its core, 99% of cosplay just isn’t problematic, or at least doesn’t gain any new problematic elements beyond those already present in the anime or whatever (though there can be more than enough problematic shit being inherited from the medium).  A lot of times, though, it says more about the people who are raging at someone’s creativity, passion, and (admittedly) body and sexuality than it does about the cosplayer. (Just please don’t fucking do gag molestation or sexual assault, I’d rather not have to worry about getting a panic attack when I’m trying to look up cosplay.)And here’s a final thought for you: I *have* done “sexy cosplay“ and am looking to do it again.  It’s just that my sexy cosplay focuses on confident and visually striking characters (Reigen Arataka, All for One, Young Joseph Joestar) which in turn makes me feel confident and sexy.  (That’s not a dig on cosplayers that favor characters with more revealing outfits, just personal preference.  Hopefully this makes sense!!!)  However, you might have noticed that, with one possible exception, all of those characters are “covered up” (hell, they all wear fucking suits or the like most of the time) … so is it possible that at least some of the complaints about cosplay being problematic are just the latest version of the old misogynistic “cover up” body policing? ;)Hopefully that makes sense.  This was kind of a rush job.EDIT: Fleshed it out, talked about my own cosplay experiences.EDIT2: Looked up some cosplay, nearly had a panic attack because two "enthusiastically consenting” cosplayers were reenacting nonconsensual groping scenes, got salty and has to comment.

[vocatharsis]

Cogs’ TS2 Apocalypse Run (X)

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Got a hankering for some old-fashioned simmin’ early this year, so I downloaded The Sims 2 Ultimate Edition using my otherwise-barely-used Origin account. I’m trying my hand at an apocalypse challenge run (using Phaenoh’s incredible mod-assisted ruleset from Mod The Sims) and it’s proving very fun so far! 

In this challenge, I’ve got to gradually guide a bloodline through lifting a series of tough restriction sets, which go away one by one as I get family members to top the game’s various career tracks. For example, the Culinary restrictions (the first set removed) allowed me to open the fridge no more than once per day, while Medicine (the second) banned all personal hygiene technology except a single sink. As the ‘X’ in brackets in the post title might suggest, I’ve been doing well so far. 

If you like The Sims series, nostalgic videogame reflections, wry/silly challenge run blogging or all of these things, feel free to read on!

THE SMITHS’ FREE STATE, PART 10 - SUITS & TRACKSUITS 

In which we start with a bit of a surprise -- sharpest-dressed coot in all the wastes -- B-R-A-V-O-O-O -- a ladies’ guy, apparently -- “It’s money that paid for all them renovations we did!” -- Panoptica becomes even more of a warrior.

Welcome back! (Or, if this is your first time reading, Welcome!) It’s time for another update. 

Last time, I detailed how Shelmerdine, the run’s founder, died of old age, and how her second child Panoptica (pictured above) reached the top of the Intelligence career, giving my household the power to make and answer phone calls (among other things). 

Look, John’s already reaping the benefits of his ‘increased chance of bringing a friend back home from work’ Popularity Aspiration perk; naturally, he uses it to gossip openly with some geezer about state secrets.

Divulge away, John. 

Anyway, Sake’s well into the Elder life stage at this point, meanwhile John, Forseti and-- 

Wait, what? 

I seriously thought he had one more day left after this one--

Nooooooo... (*sigh*) well, thanks for everything, Sake. You were important. (This actually came as a surprise to me when it happened.)

Here, have a picture of Panoptica swinging Forseti around.

John’s actually on the verge of becoming an Elder himself at this point. He hasn’t reached perma-plat - yet - but I do wanna keep his lifespan as long as I can, just because. So I had him pick up some new skills, e.g. by learning Cleaning from a book. This builds Nature enthusiasm...

“The hell are you supposed to be?”

He’s got platinum aspiration now, so I figure I might as well just buy a birthday cake and let him get on. Final hug with Panoptica while they both still have non-grey hair!

Ah, these two siblings. They’re so great.

Lotta candles. We can only hope his Elderwear has some semblance of dignity, so he leaves a decent-looking ghost behind.

The twins are excited to see what abomination the RNG calls forth.

Let’s see...

I... John, holy shit. You got a suit. You’re already the best-dressed ghost the Smiths have yielded thus far.

Now it’s time to let the twins become teens!

Niiice! Now they have fourteen or so days to use some of the career rewards and gain whatever skills they can in preparation for their lifts. 

Oh, and now that Forseti’s a teenager, he’s finally tall enough to scrub weeks of filthy sandwich grime off the kitchen counter, just like he always dreamed.

(FYI, Forseti has the Popularity aspiration; Aaron has Family. Both have Knowledge as their secondary. I chose their aspirations partly based on the possibility of getting a useful lifetime wish, but it appears that the lifetime wish isn’t rolled until they fulfil their first want as a teen, or until you load the save. And for both of them, the LTWs rolled were for Knowledge, no their mains. So maybe picking a secondary right away causes the game to roll the LTW for it instead of their main life goal? Hm, perhaps I can use this...)

Since Aaron’ll eventually be moving out of the house, and since at that point I’ll be allowed to marry him off to someone and have it count toward restrictions as well, I’m fine with him having a teenage romance. Here’s Tosha Go, one of the standard townies. They’re just friends - for now. 

Using the ‘Ask: What are your skills?’ interaction (thank you, Panoptica!), I found that she has fairly high creativity. So I might direct her towards lifting Journalism, or perhaps Business? That’ll wait, of course, since she’s not an adult yet. 

Juan has nearly all the skills he needs to reach the top of Architecture at this point (he has the Logic and Mechanical, and will need just two more dots in Creativity) so I sent him and someone else to my homemade ‘makeshift city hall’ community lot. I decided to make it a rundown-yet-still-somehow-standing Scout hall, with scavenged chairs and stuff dragged in to make a crude neighbourhood mooting place. 

He signs up via the jobs board (at rank 6, since he’s overqualified), and spends the rest of his weekend using his new drafting table to build Creativity. 

Meanwhile, Aaron gets the last of his chess-grind done, followed shortly by Forseti--and about time, too. I’ve discovered that the ‘hobby wants’ are partly determined by personality, so Forseti’s hyper-playful and hyper-athletic nature isn’t inclined to roll the ‘play chess’ want. 

I’ll wean Forseti off games until his enthusiasm drops to safe, non-obsessed levels to avoid another poor, poor Kent incident. (You give ‘em chess, suddenly they pine for crummy EA snowboarding simulators and Marco Polo...)

As an Elder, John’s suddenly got a lot of free time on his hands. This is true whether I like it or not: one of the things with TS2 elders is, they wake up when their Energy need is full, and won’t do the ‘stay in bed unless directed otherwise’ thing that most others do. I have him working on maxing all his skills, just becos.

Better also pay protection money to the mob while you��re out there, though. Those guys are dangerous. Except, you know, I’m actually swimming in money at this point after two generations of maxed careers and no retirement (plus Shelmerdine and John both getting loadsamoney from the good outcomes of their top-of-career opportunity cards). It’s only around §11500 (i.e. half the lot value) per week, and we make more than that. I can easily afford to have a higher lot value once Architecture is lifted. 

Time for Juan’s first day as a Draftsman. 

Oh, and I got Forseti to take the first job in the newspaper (as I’m allowed to do) so that he could maybe reroll wants after work. He got Journalism, which is fine. 

Meanwhile, Aaron is flirting with a teen townie called Meadow who came down the street. Don’t worry, it’s not serious; they’re not even friends yet. 

And I’ll probably pair him up with Tosha in the end, since Tosha said she was ‘very good’ at Creativity whereas Meadow is ‘pretty good’ at the same. Given that both girls had two chemistry bolts with Aaron, I’m guessing that they’re both Family Sims like he is.

The next few days see Juan climbing up through Architecture, and Forseti making a few new friends. It occurs to me that Aaron’ll need to do some networking for when he eventually moves out...

Forseti tops his teen job, which of course doesn’t count for lifting restrictions,

and the next day, Juan lifts Architecture!

“Right! Let’s do up the ’ouse!”

Now I finally have a space where I can plonk down John’s military obstacle course, which is the fastest Body-skilling object in the game. 

Might as well give it a whirl! It seems random, but they alternate between clearing it with ease and getting stuck on stuff. You have no idea how many pictures I’ve taken of people falling flat on their face trying to jump that second hurdle. 

Panoptica, meanwhile, is running it like a champion, which creates the opportunity for another one of those well-timed ‘descendant vs spouse’ comparison moments.

N’aw, but I shouldn’t be mean to Juan. He’s doing fine. And not at all tragically, as in the last one’s case. 

That’s plenty for this update, I think--got through quite a bit of my backlog. Thanks for reading!

[kizardofkoz]

Life Robbers

My now-middle-child sits three feet from me, wearing a ridiculously cute alligator pajama top, holding a juice box of apple water (yes, this apparently exists for the crunchy parents’ juice-box solution), completely transfixed on, and interacting with Diego and Dora - or the two most annoying voices on television, while he is naked from the waist down, sitting on his training potty. 

When he stands, there is a red horse shoe around his bottom from sitting on the training potty for so long. And we wait. He drinks liquids, and we wait. There are the remnants of blue face paint and silver glitter on his left cheek from a birthday party yesterday afternoon, which looks more like he spent a rager at Studio 54 last night - because if we had a kid who did that, it would be this one. He drinks more liquids. And we are still waiting. He has no idea what he’s doing but he’s so damn cute doing it. Blair is the embodiment of effervescent joy mixed with hilarity, roaring, and fuzzy, light. Potty training is definitely challenging, but this moment is actually quite amazing. 

I am present and I am grateful.

For now.

I feel like I am continuing to have the same theme and conversations repeating in my life right now. I read once how God will keep giving you the same lesson over and over again until you learn it. Well, I’m finally listening to you, Oh Beautiful Relentless One, so you can cut the crap, because I’ve got it:

Life Robbers.

*Side Note: At this chapter in my life, it takes about an entire day to write, edit, and post one essay, because, damn, life. It is now 3:01pm in the afternoon. The two youngest are napping, the oldest is enjoying a day and overnight with cousins at Gemmy & Pop Pop’s, and I feel I have probably a precious 30 minutes, 1 hour max, to pump this bad boy out. The REAL reason I write this excerpt, is to say: Friends! Blair has successfully peed AND Pooped in the potty! Holy shit!!! (Emphasis on the later) The excitement I have felt the first time my sons have peed or pooped when potty training, is possibly one of the biggest highs of my last 5 years. I don’t even care if that is pathetic because to me it was pure elation. And it is equally as amazing to see your child so proud of himself. And by proud of himself, I mean also very excited because he knows if he poops he gets a cupcake.

 I am trading in size 6 diapers for type 2 diabetes, and I am perfectly fine with that.*

Anyways!

LIFE ROBBERS:

Life Robbers are the thoughts and feelings of pain, disdain, disappointment, and jealousy because you feel you, your life, your possessions or job, are not enough.

We get so hyper focused on enough, and more, and how much income, how much house, what kind of car, obsessing over clothing, shoes, obsessing over our children’s clothing and shoes, the new rug, instrument, gadget, vacation, what gym, what school we send our children to, what nice restaurant we go to celebrate after getting into that school, what amazing meal to order, what freaking mattress we go to sleep on and what white noise machine we need playing in the background as we are trying to fall asleep, looking at our phones, surveying and measuring ourselves against other people’s parades and photos of all of the things they had obtained, and we are subconciously seeing who’s winning. And the answer is no one.

As a culture, we are spiraling one another into a complete obsession of what will make us happy only by comparing ourselves to what seems to make everyone else happy, and we have become this massive ouroboros. 

We look at what our neighbors (Facebook, Instashit, etc.) are doing and buying and vacationing and experiencing, and then we can’t help but feel like we aren’t happy or successful enough. And the crazy thing is, the very people we are comparing ourselves to, have quite possibly done the exact same thing to us. And I have literally allowed hours and afternoons be robbed from me because jealousy is a beast. And she’ll rob you blind.

I didn’t even know I was unhappy until I had gotten on Facebook.

And I know I am not alone.

*Side note, it is now FOUR DAYS LATER. !  In this case, my life and time have been robbed by, life and time. And work and boys and nursing and meals and one really hard workout that my legs are still paying for, a dinner with some new friends, lots of sausages (you can interpret that in any way you want and it’s likely accurate) and zero alcohol. !!! Mama’s gone back hard-core, on the Paleo wagon. I’m driving that bad boy. Or perhaps, I’m pulling that wagon behind me as part of my daily W.O.D., while I sweat, cry, and shake from muscles that are so confused by my 5 year pattern of pregnancy, getting into shape, repeat as desired. And those damn simple carbohydrates that I worship during pregnancy, happen to be the #1 enemy of baby weight. So now I have to act like I don’t even like them anymore while I consume all things protein, veggie, and coconut. Except for Saturdays. CHEAT DAY. When my heart rate and insulin levels try to match my enthusiasm.

Donuts, champagne, cheese, or pizza?

OR?

ALL!!! 

FOR BREAKFAST!!!*

ANYWAYS!

I have been having repeating conversations with other women in my life about this same struggle of feeling like crap because our lives aren’t measuring up to what we think they should be. Or often, we didn’t realize they weren’t measuring up until we saw someone else’s.

I am so guilty of putting wealth and things on a pedestal. I don’t know where this comes from, but one of the saddest, deepest parts of me is so enthralled by sparkly, beautiful, interesting, vapid, material things. I do, however, also possess this marrow that also craves minimalism, ease, wants to live off the land and wear nothing but linen and hemp. I will say, I actually feel like my *style* rather reflects these two worlds, in what my husband likes to refer to as “global glam” when he’s being kind, or “art teacher chic” when he’s being honest. In his defense, I’m always about two strands of turquoise away from being the woman that you picture listening to NPR while painting watercolor in her library.

So unfortunately, the More-ness-Life-Robber-Beast comes in many other forms, not just the insatiable need for material things. A girlfriend opened up about the hurt and jealousy she felt when she saw a group of friends from her past had met up without her. That all-too-familiar feeling of 6th-grade ache and agony sucked time, energy and happiness from her day. Which is so ashamed, because this girlfriend is one of the most caring and selfless people I have ever met, and that group should have felt robbed of the joy of getting to hear her laugh.

And all of this, I believe, is a byproduct of the gash damn social media bullshit.

This was not an issue for our mothers and I think that is part of the disconnect in our generations. They have no idea what it is like trying to be an adult woman and parent in the world that has Nothing But Exposure to:

 The grossly demonstrative overshare of what everyone else is doing (which people tend to naturally only share the best parts)

Status, wealth, and luxury, and how the middle class can, could, and should be striving to obtain this - or at least exhaust ourselves trying

 A complete myriad of blogs (Why, hello there!), articles, journals, websites, and endless information of how to live, raise thriving children, and exist in this world that is constantly trying to tell us that what we have is never enough and shame us for feeling like that, at the same time.

We praise metallic Birkenstocks, Farm-raised-anything, rose gold everything, exercise, Madewell, and mindfulness, all in pretty much the same breath.                         Or Prayanama.

It is completely exhausting and we are the byproduct of this technological avenue of awareness -- and it makes me even more scared for our children, and what type of technology will exist then, and what kind of pressure that will place on their lives, hearts, and relationships.

We are already robbing their lives every time we show them that we value things, our phones, and our money, more than we do them. 

And Ourselves.

So what do we do?

(*I DON’T TOTALLY KNOW*, but let's just start by being honest...)

1. Get Off Facebook. Get off Instagram. Take a step back to breathe again, and reset the priorities for our lives. I took an unplanned week off of Facebook a week ago, as did another girlfriend. Each day I felt lighter and happier. I had no idea how often I reach for my phone to kill time on that damn app. I was way more content with my life, not comparing my lack of vacations or experiences this summer to others. And I wasn’t trying to capture the perfect photo of the favorite moment of my day to share. In the morning when nursing, instead of scrolling through my feed, I prayed.     Holy shit what a novel idea.

I was free. And it felt amazing.

(I have also since returned to Facebook, but already use it much less, and I feel way more relaxed and removed -- which is exactly how I want to feel when regarding media and the internet. And AI.)

2. A few weeks ago we stayed home from church for a reason I can not remember but I’m sure it was completely valid. To redeem our souls, we decided to spend a little time reading, meditating, and praying. Pretty positive we were 1 for 3. It’s not like gestating boys.

However. My husband read this to me and it was one of the most profound, overwhelmingly reverberating passages I have ever come across in my life.

The Encheiridion (or Manual)

by,

Epictetus (FANCY!)

Of things some are in our power, and others are not. In our power are opinion, movement toward a thing, desire, aversion; and in a word, whatever are our own acts: not in our power are the body, property, reputation, offices, and in a word, whatever are not our own acts. And the things in our power are by nature free, not subject to restraint nor hindrance: but the things not in our power are weak, slavish, subject to restraint, in the power of others. Remember then that if you think the things which are by nature your own, you will be hindered, you will lament, you will be disturbed, you will blame both gods and men: but if you think that only which is your own to be your own, and if you think that what is another's as it really is, belongs to another, no man will ever compel you, no man will hinder you, you will never blame any man, you will accuse no man, you will do nothing involuntarily, no man will harm you, you will have no enemy, for you will not suffer any harm.

What I feel this is so brilliantly saying, is that we are released from the pressure of responsibility or obsession that we feel to make our lives as perfect as possible. The idea of “the body” not being in our power is a beautiful and mind blowing philosophy, yet echoes the several moments in the bible when we talk about how our “flesh is weak”.

And I feel this so poignantly puts how I have been feeling:

We can be free.

Other people’s possessions were never ours, so why give them the power to weigh us down? We no longer need to feel the weight or pressure of what others have acquired or obtained because we have no ownership over it.

I truly belive by choice and practice, we can have freedom from:

A.) Jealousy and worry, that we don’t have enough, or the newest, most interesting, cool, or clever, etc. bull shit.

B.) The universal need to gratuitously exhibit our lives. It kills me to think that someone ever looked at my photos or life and felt jealousy or longing. 

Our affluence isn’t the kind that brings valuables into our lives, but our riches are the kind that make our lives valuable.

(Like what I did there?)   

I have a husband who loves me, even when we can’t agree on the importance of excel spreadsheets. 

I have three healthy boys that are the cutest and hardest creatures that I have ever encountered. 

I have a house with a working air conditioner the St. Louis summer.          And sometimes fall and spring. And likely the winter. 

And I have a tribe of girlfriends that are perhaps one of the best daily displays of God’s love, humor, and armor for me.

I am actually implausibly wealthy.

At the same time, I have loads and loads of laundry that needs to be washed, folded, and heaven forbid, actually put away.

I have a baby that 95% of the time, can not nap longer than 45 minutes because of his horrible reflux and gas.

We have a backyard that is likely 70% identifiable and unidentifiable species of weeds and plants we did not plant, or that we neglected and they took over - which, I get it, they earned that real estate.

There are very likely at least three things that are rotting in my fridge at any given moment.

I am scared of switching to my fall schedule where I will *mom all day* and then teach piano lessons until 9:00pm at night.

I am scared of paying for the preschool tuition for our older two boys and how that will undeniably affect the rest of our month / lives.

I am scared that the part of me that has struggled with weight and body image issues since I was 8 years old will still be anxious and unsatisfied when I’m 80.

Will we ever live in a bigger home where I can have my own, physical, studio for my business?

Will money ever not feel tight?

Are we raising our boys to be empathetic, kind, compassionate, and confident - while instiling the responsibility and maturity to know how to possess and demonstrate those virtues?

Will Blair’s hair ever change? I both really hope it won’t, and I also really want him to have friends.

These things, these are also my Life Robbers.

The bone in me that is industrious and strives for success and hustles and runs businesses, it is the same bone that lies awake at night worrying about all of these things and so much more. 

And I fear it’s starting to break from the pressure.

So now, when I am online, and I start to feel the sensations - usually beginning with a heat and tightness in my throat, a bit of lightness in my head, and an uncomfortable weight in my chest, I will recognize that jealousy, hug her, and let her go. Because that ungrateful wench has never really done anything nice for me anyway, even when I bought her so many beautiful things.

Or at night when I want to cry from the anxiety of imagining how I am going to make our future work with my lesson schedule and being able to both afford all of the opportunities and activities that will spark my children - make them feel excited, strong, and proud, and how will I ever attend a practice, game, or performance when I am stuck behind a piano bench because of my work hours, especially when I need to work to pay for the very practice they are attending... I will take that anxiety, embrace her as well, and exhale her back into the night.

First like a dragon, and then like the ocean.

All of these concerns, while they are in my periphery and path, they are not completely in my power. 

And I daily and hourly remind myself that there is a Greater Power that I can breathe my faith, energy, and concern into.

And I know I no longer want to sacrifice minutes, hours, or days to my Life Robbers.

I absolutely no longer want to sacrifice a single minute of sleep to a Life Robbers.

Because this mama has way more important things to focus on.

Like pretending I am going to do laundry.

And potty training a bubble.

And even after all of that, I still post my photos. Because, tradition.

Imma need this cookie and lightning bolt to match my shirt, 100%.

Sorry, Brix. You get a slumber party with cousins, we get delicious ramen. 

Steve’s eyes, Brix’s lips, Satan’s gas.

Christmas pjs in July? I’m sorry, do you not like to party?